AROUND THE COMMUNITY: ‘Lady in Black’ topic for Oconto speakers

The Oconto County Historical Society will present “The Lady in Black” in its monthly speaker series program on Feb. 2 at 6:30 p.m. in the meeting room of the Beyer Home and Carriage Museum, 915 Park Ave., Oconto.

This true story has elements of mystery, suspense. Intrigue. romance and the ever familiar love triangle. The story centers around Rose Sharp, owner of the Enquirer, an Oconto newspaper, and the assault of Patrick Lynch, by a woman wearing a black fascinator or veil. The events unfold, finding Sharp accused, arrested and brought to trial. The outcome of the trial will be revealed at the program.

“The Lady in Black” is based upon material from the newspapers of the day, and put in a scrapbook by Lulu Sissons, of Oconto. Hugh Murphy read the articles in the scrapbook with great interest. Murphy gave the scrapbook to attorney James Martineau. After reading the material in the scrapbook, Martineau edited it from a lawyer’s standpoint, and then passed the material back to Murphy, with a suggestion to make it into a story.

Murphy wrote “The Lady in Black,” and the story appeared in installments in the Oconto County Reporter in 1965. In 1969, Duane Eberft adapted the story into the version that will be presented.

Program presenters will be Susie Groll, Loreli Dickinson, Kitty Werner, Peter Stark and Bob Klozotsky.

The program is free. Light refreshments will be served.

Wild game banquet coming to Oconto Falls

Hillside Assembly will be holding its annual wild game banquet Jan. 28 at Oconto Falls High School, 210 N. Farm Road, Oconto Falls.

The dinner starts at 5:30 p.m. with the featured seminar speaker, James VanSteenhouse, also known as “The Bear Man,” at 6:30 p.m. The doors open at 4 p.m.

Anyone who arrives at 4 p.m. can tour the gym and see the display of replicas of huge white tail deer. This year, Western Mounts including grizzly bear, elk and moose will be featured. New this year will be a youth Nerf gun range from 4-5:30 p.m.

VanSteenhouse, a retired CEO of Interlinc Mortgage Services LLC, is an avid archery hunter around the world. He grew up on a farm in Michigan, hunting with a shotgun and rifle. In September 2015, he was attacked by a grizzly while on an archery moose hunt, and it changed his life forever.

Canned goods are being accepted for the local food pantry. For information, call 920-855-2962 or go to www.hillsideassembly.com.

Webinar series to look at topics about forage

Focus on Forage is a free, 4-part webinar series being offered by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension.

The four sessions in the series will highlight research-based information and on-farm strategies to optimize forage yield, quality, and profitability in Wisconsin. The series is presented live every other Wednesday in February and March, from 12:30-2 p.m.

The four Focus on Forage topics are:

Feb. 1: Corn Silage, featuring disease management, optimizing corn silage economics, as well as corn silage budget projections for 2023.

Feb. 15: Alfalfa, featuring herbicides’ effect on stand establishment, pest management, fertility management, and the 2022 results of the Wisconsin Alfalfa Yield and Persistence project.

March 1: Alternative Forages and Pastures, with presentations on nitrogen decision-making, pasture management and renovation, and optimum utilization of alternative forages in beef production.

March 15: Forage Storage Management, will feature inoculant decision-making, hay storage, baleage inoculant study results, and silage management.

Registration is required prior to the webinar of choice, at https://extension.wisc.edu/agriculture/farm-ready-research/ or search for “Wisconsin Extension Agriculture Virtual Education”. You can register for any, or all four, of the Focus on Forage events there. After registering, a zoom link will be emailed to registrants.

For information, contact Scott Reuss at 715-732-7510 or scott.reuss@wisc.edu.

Ambrosius hired for Shawano’s Bank First

Bank First has announced the addition of David Ambrosius to its team.

Ambrosius recently joined Bank First as a retail banker with over six years of mortgage lending experience. In his new role, Ambrosius will be responsible for developing new and enhancing existing retail banking relationships in the bank’s Shawano market.

Ambrosius is active in the community and serves as the head boys basketball coach at Shawano Community High School. He graduated from St. Norbert College with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management. Ambrosius lives in Shawano and, during his free time, enjoys playing golf and spending time outdoors.

Family donates books to Lakewood library

To help raise awareness about the 11 Native American tribal groups that call Wisconsin home, Mountain residents Ted Hughes and Carol Lee Saffioti-Hughes recently donated books to the Lakes Country Public Library in Lakewood.

Their contribution was made to honor the memory of their daughter and sibling, Autumn Grace Hughes, who died in a tragic car accident.

“Grace was only 2 at the time, but she was already a lover of books and being read to,” said Ted Hughes. “We want to bring that enthusiasm for learning via the printed word to other children.”

The Hughes are consulting with library director Katie Essermann to help build a collection, keeping with the spirit of Act 31, which mandates teaching accurate information about Wisconsin tribes, their past, present, and future. Previously, the Hughes helped Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in purchasing books and other learning materials. After retiring in Mountain, they decided to continue to bring their quest to make relevant learning materials about Native Americans more readily accessible.

“These books are available for parents and other adult readers, children, and young adults,” said Carol Lee Saffioti Hughes. They have often been written by tribal members and are grouped by grade level so that appropriate choices can be made. In addition, teachers may find that some of these books, though not readily available with tight school budgets, can be used in the classroom.”

For information or to contribute, contact library director Katie Esserman at www.lakescountrylibrary.org or visit www.wisconsinfirstnations.org.

NWTC starts Shawano scholarship fund program

Northeast Wisconsin Technical College has launched a long-term scholarship endowment available to residents of the greater Shawano area.

The scholarship endowment is created by donations through the NWTC Foundation. Through every donation, the invested earnings will be used to provide an annual scholarship fund, creating ongoing aid to greater Shawano area residents. For example, if the foundation receives $2 million in donations, $100,000 of that will be awarded in scholarships annually.

“We are excited for this truly unique opportunity to provide a permanent legacy for generations to come,” said Crystal Harrison, director of the NWTC Foundation. “This endowment is designed to change the lives of the Shawano community where every dollar stays local.”

The scholarship endowment is available to all current and prospective students residing in the greater Shawano area. Qualifying applicants facing financial and economic barriers are encouraged to apply. The scholarship endowment currently has more than $150,000 in pledged donations.

“NWTC is part of this community, and we want to create access to higher education and pathways to high-paying careers in the Shawano area for generations to come,” said Jeanie Otto, regional manager of NWTC campuses in Shawano and Oconto Falls. “This scholarship endowment helps us to ensure that is possible.”

For information or to donate, visit www.nwtc.edu/give.

Shawano library gets East Asia books grant

The Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has announced that Shawano Public Library is one of the winners of the recent East Asia in Wisconsin Library Program competition.

Grants have been awarded to public libraries throughout Wisconsin, enriching their collections with new titles that will enable patrons to deepen their understanding of East Asia — which includes China, Japan and Korea. Over $14,000 in funding will be distributed to 19 libraries, representing 10 of the state’s 14 library systems.

This is the third year of the competition, which generated a wide variety of programming when it was launched in 2020.

“This program started out as a way to make use of our federal grant in the midst of a pandemic,” said Laurie Dennis, assistant director for CEAS. “When everything else shut down, libraries found ways to keep serving their communities, and so we were able to continue to provide resources and spread knowledge about East Asia through the East Asia in Wisconsin Library Program. Now the program has become an integral part of our center’s mission, and we look forward each fall to reading the proposals from Wisconsin librarians.”

Student writing contest opens up for entries

Shawano Area Writers has announced that the 17th George Putz Memorial Student Writing Contest is now open for entries. All students, first grade through high school, who live or go to school in either Shawano or Menominee counties are welcome to submit entries in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry categories.

Students compete for a chance to win a cash prize and a certificate of achievement. There is no charge for entries, and students can submit as many entries as they would like. The contest deadline is April 3. All entries are judged by an independent panel of writers.

Through the years Shawano Area Writers, a nonprofit organization, has given away thousands of dollars to winning student writers. A couple of years ago, the group also began giving out a $2,000 scholarship for a graduating senior.

For information about the writing contest and scholarship program, go to www.shawanoareawriters.org or call John Mutter Jr. at 715-524-4520.

Glime receives Lena Lions Club award

Russ Glime was presented the Lion of the Year Award for 2022 at the Lena Lions Club’s January meeting.

The award is in appreciation for all Glime does for the club and the community. He was born and raised in Lena and graduated from Lena High School. He earned an associate degree in civil technology from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. He worked as an engineering specialist for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for over 35 years.

Glime has been a member of the Lena Lions for 10 years, where he has served as secretary, dairy fest dual chairman, fish fry chairman and raffle chairman.

Glime is a 15-year member of the Catholic Order of Foresters.

Glime has also been a member of the Lena Knights of Columbus for eight years, where he has served as grand knight, deputy grand knight and recorder.

Glime is a father to three sons and has grandchildren. In his spare time, he enjoys hunting, playing cards, telling jokes, following his grandchildren’s activities and spending time with family.