Christmas wreaths add a festive look to the fences around the new softball field at Oconto Falls High School. Community members purchased the wreaths in a fundraiser sponsored by the school’s athletic department and Panther Pride.

Victor “Vic” E. Bast, 91, Oconto Falls, died Monday afternoon, Dec. 23, 2013, at home, surrounded by his loving family. The only son of four children, he was born Sept. 17, 1922, near Gillett to William and Ruth (Flick) Bast. Vic grew up in the Oconto Falls area, where he attended public schools, graduating high school with the Class of 1938.

Despite all the negative stuff we see on TV and in the papers, I am still convinced of the inherent goodness of people. I see too many examples of the willingness of people to help others to not believe in good Samaritans. We use the term “good Samaritan” colloquially to mean someone who helps a person in need.

The tradition of making New Year’s resolutions goes back long before there was a path around the Falls. As far back as the Babylonians, it was recorded that people thought about goal setting as they began the new calendar year. Perhaps the catalyst in modern times is a bump in the needle of the bathroom scale after enjoying all the holiday goodies.

Panthers girls remain undefeated Undefeated Oconto Falls High School outscored Manitowoc Lincoln in every quarter en route to a 48-33 girls basketball win Saturday in Manitowoc. McKenna Larsen led the Panthers (5-0, 2-0 Bay Conference) with 17 points.

Randy Berndt, owner of the U.P. Fly Angler, will discuss the lightly fished area of the western Upper Peninsula when the Oconto River Watershed Chapter of Trout Unlimited meets on Wednesday, Jan. 8. The group will meet at 7 p.m. at Lone Oak Gun Club, located one mile north of Gillett on state Highway 32.

Heading into the always difficult Northern Exposure tournament at Merrill, Oconto Falls tri-head coach Marc Kinziger knew his team would have an uphill climb after sustaining a couple of injuries in the previous week. The Panthers cruised in the first four rounds of the tourney before running into three solid teams and ended up placing eighth out of 24 teams during the two-day event Friday and Saturday. “Eighth was about the best I thought we cou

After a tough beginning to the season, the Gillett/Suring wrestlers are starting to come into their own. However, the Tigers are still looking for their first victory. “With those first matches, we were down in the dumps. We can’t start much worse than that,” first-year head coach Mitch Szwet said. “But I was glad to see that they didn’t quit, they didn’t back down and showed up with a workman-like attitude every day at practice.

At 4:44 p.m. Dec. 20, an Oconto Falls man was traveling north on a John Deere skid steer on County Road C in the town of Morgan. At the same time he observed an Oconto County Highway Department truck plowing snow approaching from behind, also driven by an Oconto Falls man. The driver of the farm equipment turned left into a driveway, and the truck driver was unable to avoid a collision. There were no injuries. At 2:08 p.m. Dec.