Sale of Hanke’s Sentry Foods top 2022 western Shawano County stories

Alleged drug homicide sits at 2; alternate school option, new principals round out top 5
By: 
Luke Reimer
Reporter

The Hanke family, longtime Wittenberg residents and grocery store owners, decided it was time to hang it up and sell their Hanke’s Sentry Foods this year. That decision was chosen to lead the list of the top 10 stories in NEW Media’s Wittenberg Enterprise and Birnamwood News coverage area for 2022.

An alleged drug homicide at the North Star Mohican Casino and Resort, by result of a heroin and amphetamine overdose, and a pending alternate school option in Mattoon help to round out the top three news stories in the area for 2022.

School districts in the area were a major news source this year, as seven out of the top 10 stories are in-part related to the Wittenberg-Birnamwood, Bowler and Tigerton school districts. Two of those stories involve five principal hirings across Witt-Birn and Bowler, including Stuart Russ hired at Witt-Birn High School, Cole Irish hired at Birnamwood Elementary/Middle School, Nick Firari hired at Wittenberg Elementary/Middle School, Brandi Dove hired at Bowler Elementary and Trina Borneman hired at Bowler Middle/High School.

1. Hanke family sells grocery store

Hanke’s Sentry Foods has been owned and operated by Roger and Bernice Hanke, followed by their children, since 1951, when the grocery store was a Red Owl corner store. In 1989, the store became Hanke’s SuperValu, after SuperValu purchased the Red Owl name. Under the ownership of the Hanke’s children — Dale Hanke, Sherry Hersant, Gary Hanke and wife Sandy — the store moved to the corner of East Grand Avenue and South Mission Street.

Sandy Hanke said that in the time that the family has owned and operated the store, they have not only provided the community with groceries, but have also built relationships that will last a lifetime.

“I don’t see me stopping working with community groups,” she said. “I see us doing that, because it is what we do. I have made a lot of friends. I enjoy people, and I enjoy being a part of the community.”

Hometown Grocers, a subsidiary of Festival Foods, bought the store; the new company’s initial order of business when they took over was to understand and build relationships with the community, according to Vice President Steve Burkhardt.

“When we first go in, our goal is to keep as much the same as possible,” said Burkhardt. “We want to get to know the people, get to know the schedule and keep the shelves stocked.”

The Hankes’ last day in charge of the store was April 26.

2. French charged with homicide

Bond was set at $750,000 on Feb. 1 for Stephany French, 27, Green Bay, after she was charged first-degree reckless homicide after drugs she had allegedly delivered caused a death at the North Star Mohican Casino and Resort in the Town of Bartleme.

French was also charged with one count each of manufacturing or delivering less than three grams of heroin, manufacturing or delivering less than or equal to three grams of amphetamine, and theft from a person or corpse, as well as one misdemeanor count of failure to aid a victim or report a crime.

According to the criminal complaint, a housekeeper found a man’s body in a room at the resort. French was allegedly seen on security cameras entering the room. She later was arrested in De Pere, and a final pre-trial conference is scheduled for Jan. 13.

3. Organization for choice school in Mattoon underway

Mattoon Christian Organization Shepherd’s Watch unveiled plans in February to open a choice school in the village. Shepherd’s Watch President Wade Reimer, who is helping to spearhead the project, said that income levels in families can determine who attends the school. He added that the school is not limited to low-income families, but families whose income levels exceed a certain amount will not receive free tuition from the State of Wisconsin.

“Parents can decide where some of their tax money goes, which allows their kids to go to a voucher choice school,” said Reimer. “It is designed to work for low-income areas.”

He added that there has not been a school in Mattoon since 2016, something that the organization wants to change.

“If they decide to go to a choice school, they are going to Antigo. There is also one in Shawano,” said Reimer. “Otherwise, you have to go towards Wausau, or further yet.”

Reimer said that the plans are to open doors for the 2023-24 school year and the school will offer 4-year-old kindergarten through fourth grade, and could eventually go up to sixth grade, depending on the interest.

4. Wittenberg-Birnamwood hires three principals

After Bill Hass and Vicky Haas retired from their principal positions in the Wittenberg-Birnamwood School District and Randy Berndt moved positions, the school district hired Stuart Russ, Nick Firari and Cole Irish to lead Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School, Wittenberg Elementary/Middle School and Birnamwood Elementary/Middle School, respectively. All three principals were hired from outside of the school district, but each shared similar feelings about the new position.

“One of my big things is that I want to be a support — I want to provide services for our students, families and staff,” said Firari. “I want to provide an educational experience for these students that is impactful and really makes a difference.”

“I have heard really positive things about the district, school and community,” said Russ. “This is an opportunity for me to grow as a leader and to work with the team that is here.”

All three principals said that their first order of business in their new positions was to get acquainted with the community. Firari noted the strong support that he has received through his first couple of months on the job.

“It has been a steep learning curve, coming in new after being a teacher the last couple of years,” said Irish. “It has been a lot to learn, but I am also really lucky, because we have teachers that have been here for while. Stuart (Russ) and Nick (Firari) and I are all kind of in the same spot — it has been fun getting to know how the school runs and getting to know everybody here.”

5. Bowler hires two new principals

With two open principal positions in the Bowler School District, Brandi Dove was hired to fill the elementary school position, while Trina Borneman was hired to fill the middle/high school role.

Both principals have plenty years of education experience, with Dove spending the last five years as a reading specialist in the Bowler School District. She was also a second grade teacher in the district. Dove, who was a student in the school district from fifth grade to ninth grade, said that she came back because she wanted to make an impact on an area that she knows so well.

“My entire goal of coming back to Bowler was that if I could make a change anywhere, this is where I want to be,” said Dove. “As I have grown in my own educational leadership, I now not only impact students, I am impacting teachers. Now I have the opportunity to make the positive change that I originally wanted to make in the place that I grew up.”

“In small, rural schools, you know all of the students and their families,” said Borneman. “I also love that all of the students are in one building here in Bowler. You can really make an impact knowing everyone.”

6. WBHS senior announced as National Merit semi-finalist

Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School senior Taylor Bergner qualified for to be a semi-finalist for the National Merit Scholarship Program. The National Merit Program is an academic competition for scholarships for students beyond high school. Bergner was one of 16,000 semi-finalists who qualified nationwide. Bergner attributed her qualification to her enjoyment and commitment of learning and developing lifelong skills through education.

For her plans after high school, Bergner has a couple of schools in mind that she would like to attend and wants to study engineering.

“I am applying to a couple on the East Coast, one or two in Wisconsin and then a few down south,” said Bergner. “I want to go into either environmental engineering or aerospace engineering.”

7. Tigerton operational referendum passes

In April, voters authorized the Tigerton School District to pass an operating referendum, increasing the revenue limit to $450,000 in the 2022-23 school year, increasing by $50,000 each of the next five years, up to the 2026-27 school year, when the district would increase its revenue limit by $650,000. Kelley Strike, who was the Tigerton superintendent at the time, noted that the student population of Tigerton has decreased from 327 students in 2009 to 253 in 2022.

Tigerton’s interim business manager Louise Fischer said that the amount that a school can budget for is based on student enrollment. With declining enrollment numbers, a small school like Tigerton can be very hurt financially, she said.

The successful referendum will be used to pay debt within the operating budget, funding long-range plans for facilities, equipment, safety, technology, infrastructure, curriculum and instruction and fair and competitive staff compensation.

8. Nowak new leader for Tigerton schools

The Tigerton School District welcomed Douglas Nowak to head the school district as the new superintendent after Kelley Strike resigned from the position in August. Nowak, who has roots in Shawano County from being raised in Navarino to graduating in Bonduel, said he was excited to come back to the area that he knows so well.

“This was an opportunity to come back home, if you will,” Nowak said in a phone interview Aug. 15. “I have a familiarity with the Shawano County area. There are a lot of fond memories. My mother is still alive and living in the county, and it feels very homey. I have been here for two weeks now, and people are extremely inviting.”

Nowak has spent the last 16 years of his career in education as an administrator, working in the Waupaca, Denmark and the Albany school districts.

9. Bowler breaks ground on new building

In Bowler Superintendent Glenda Butterfield-Boldig’s first year in the district, she moved quickly, helping to spearhead a project to construct a new agriculture and technical education building next to the existing school. Ground was broken May 31.

“This had been a goal of our school board for a couple of years,” said Butterfield-Boldig, noting that the building should be completed for the start of the 2023-24 school year. “They have really done a great job making some tough decisions as time has gone without going to referendum. We are very proud of that.”

“This building is going to open a lot more opportunities for students,” said Bowler freshman Derek Schreiber, who is looking at going into engineering after high school. Schreiber pointed out that he and his fellow students will have access to a car lift and high-tech computer numerical control, or CNC, machines. “It adds more avenues in the program here. It is a great time to be a Bowler student.”

10. Wittenberg-Birnamwood FFA recognized as chapter of the year

In a busy year for the Wittenberg-Birnamwood FFA program, the apex of it came when the Shawano County Agricukture Ambassadors recognized Witt-Birn as chapter of the year for 2021 among the 10 FFA chapters in the county.

Ag teacher Matthew Christian attributed the recognition to his students’ work, as well as the chapter’s numerous hours of volunteering to make the community a better place.

“We have been striving to succeed in everything that we do,” Christian said. “We do a giving tree over the winter months; we focus on the household goods. We give that back. We always donate 300 or so pounds of fresh produce to the food pantry here in town. We do a farmer’s appreciation day where we deliver goods to farms all over the school district.”