Eugene Lee Peterson, 89, of Shawano, passed away peacefully on July 25 at Sheridan Medical hospice in Kenosha after a brief struggle with colorectal cancer.

Mildred R. “Milly” (Schultz) Gross, 98, a lifelong resident of Shawano, passed away Dec. 12, 2013, while staying at her son and daughter-in-law’s (Karl and Lucy) in Novi, Michigan. A cremation and funeral service was held Dec. 18 in Novi attended by family and many of Milly’s Michigan friends. Milly was born July 1, 1915, to William E. Schultz, a German immigrant and a longtime Shawano barber, and Ella W. (Schulz) Schultz.

Beatrice M. Gipp, 94, of Racine, passed away on Wednesday, July 30, 2014, in Racine. Born in Cecil, she was the daughter of the late Paul and Hattie (Schutt) Galleske. Beatrice was united in marriage to Wilbert Gipp at St. James Lutheran Church in Shawano. Wilbert preceded her in death in 1994. Beatrice loved flower and vegetable gardening. She was a homemaker extraordinaire and loved canning, cooking and baking, especially her cookies and pies.

A few weeks back, a friend of mine from Nebraska put a picture of an old rusted thresh machine on Facebook. What is it? The caption read. I knew what it was but felt saddened that most people would not know. The arrival of the thresh machine and threshing crew was one of the big events of every farmer’s life back in the 1950s. It is a major part of my memory of growing up.

From time to time, each one of us needs a helping hand. Along our road, we have wonderful neighbors. We all mind our own business, but if any one of us needs something, we can count on each other to help. After all, it’s the neighborly thing to do. One day when we were trying to button up our second crop hay, wouldn’t you know, our baler broke.

Jo Ann Schedler is helping with the 38th annual Mohican Veterans Pow-wow being held Aug. 8-10 in Bowler. Schedler was born in Shawano but grew up in Milwaukee, graduating from South Division High School.

The history of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community is documented at the Arvid E. Miller Memorial Library Museum on the Stockbridge-Munsee Reservation near Bowler.

Organizers of the 36th annual Shawano Folk Music Festival promise it will be a weekend full of music, dance and crafts for the entire family. The festival runs from Aug.

Children’s musician Ken Lonnquist will headline Kids Day at the 36th annual Shawano Folk Music Festival. “He is one of Wisconsin’s finest and best-known children’s performers and he will be on hand all weekend, not just doing children’s music, but some adult performances, too,” said Dori Jerger, festival committee member. Lonnquist began writing folk music when he was 7 years old and has been recognized by multiple publications, including Audubon