Oconto County Times Herald

Oconto Falls grads urged to be hope leaders

Published by admin on Wed, 05/31/2023 - 11:52am

Martin Luther King once spoke of the dignity of all work, Oconto Falls High School Principal Dan Moore reminded graduating seniors on May 28.

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry,” King once said. “He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

The forgotten of Oconto Potters Field are recognized

Published by admin on Wed, 05/31/2023 - 11:39am

About two dozen people gathered at Evergreen Cemetery in Oconto on May 27 to remember more than 300 people whose memories had nearly been lost to history.

The occasion was the dedication of a memorial recognizing people who have been buried over the years in the Potters Field areas at the north and south ends of the cemetery. Speakers included state Rep. Elijah Behnke, Mayor John Panetti, and Peter Gabrielson, who spearheaded the effort to establish the memorial.

‘Too many memories to count’

Published by admin on Wed, 05/31/2023 - 11:31am

The year that this year’s Lena High School graduates entered kindergarten “was an amazing year,” Superintendent Ben Pytleski told the group at their May 24 graduation ceremony.

“The Hunger Games was still a book,” Pytleski said. “We finally found Osama bin Laden, and the Super Bowl champions were the Green Bay Packers.”

The 24 seniors were joined in spirit by one of their classmates, Kyle Hodkiewicz, who died of leukemia at the age of 10. Kyle was named honorary captain of the football team for this year’s homecoming game.

Oconto County Circuit Court proceedings

Published by admin on Wed, 05/31/2023 - 11:22am

Proceedings of May 26

• Autumn Fawn Gernon, 44, Mazomanie, pleaded not guilty to possession of narcotic drugs, possession of methamphetamine, and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, in connection with an incident that allegedly occurred June 6, 2022. A pre-trial conference was scheduled for June 15.

Proceedings of May 25

Gillett says farewell to 2023 graduating seniors

Published by admin on Tue, 05/30/2023 - 12:18pm

As 38 seniors’ high school careers came to an end, Gillett staff and administration made the final send off during graduation on May 28.

Gillett Secondary Principal Shawn Limberg looked to the recently released movie “Air” as inspiration for the goodbye. A story of a shoe company on a journey trying to recruit Michael Jordan proved to have great similarities to the journey that the graduating seniors are about to embark upon.

Suring Class of 2023 challenged and cheered

Published by admin on Wed, 05/24/2023 - 10:49am

Kindness was a theme at the 2023 Suring High School graduation ceremony, held in the school gymnasium May 20.

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted,” Principal Benjamin Kessler said, quoting from Aesop’s Fables in his welcoming remarks.

In her address, valedictorian Macie Reed encouraged her classmates to “radiate kindness.” She cited the familiar quote that 10 years from now people will forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel.

“I know it’s kind of cheesy, but throw kindness with confetti,” Reed said.

Oconto County Board upholds Second Amendment

Published by admin on Wed, 05/24/2023 - 10:37am

The Oconto County Board on May 19 joined about two dozen other Wisconsin counties that have passed resolutions declaring a commitment to preserve citizens’ Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms.

Unlike other such resolutions, the board included a clause supporting advancements in firearm safety education.

The clause says the board joins the sheriff in seeing a need to discuss violence in its totality, not just an issue of gun violence.

Veterans plan Memorial Day honors across Oconto County

Published by admin on Wed, 05/24/2023 - 10:35am

Oconto County Veteran Service Organizations will be conducting the below Memorial Day activities in the communities indicated. All events are on Memorial Day (May 29) unless listed otherwise.

• Abrams: Legion Post 523 will hold Memorial Day ceremonies at four area cemeteries — Stiles 9 a.m., Brookside 9:45 a.m., Little Suamico 10:30 a.m., Sobieski 11:15 a.m..

• Gillett: Legion Post 300 will hold Memorial Day service at 10 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park. Potluck for members and guests to follow at Gun Club.

Oconto County Board OKs White Potato Lake district

Published by admin on Wed, 05/24/2023 - 10:34am

The Oconto County Board on May 19 approved creation of an inland lake district dedicated to protecting and preserving White Potato Lake, the county’s largest inland lake.

An inland lake district is a specific form of local government with the power to levy a property tax to cover lake management projects.

Oconto County library planning committee established

Published by admin on Wed, 05/24/2023 - 10:33am

The makeup of a planning committee to conduct an in-depth review of Oconto County library services has been set.

According to a resolution the Oconto County Board passed in April, the library planning committee is tasked with developing a five-year plan to cover the years 2025 to 2029, including a “plan for reimbursement of libraries for services including funding formula changes and levy impacts, the feasibility of creating a new library to serve municipalities without a library and the feasibility of creating a consolidated library system.”