The holiday season is just around the corner, and Shawano County Toys for Tots is preparing to make Christmas brighter for children and families throughout the community.

With the 2026 campaign underway, organizers are inviting families to apply for assistance and encouraging community members, businesses and organizations to help spread holiday joy.

Megan Suehring, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension 4-H educator in Shawano County, has been awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the National Association of Extension 4‐H Youth Development Professionals during its annual conference held in Kansas City, Missouri.

It is about 50 miles and about an hour’s drive from Neenah to Cecil. Then another 40 miles or so to our summer home in Townsend. So it really wasn’t the exact halfway point, except to our psychological framework.

Leslie Fischer-Preuss has a passion for creating unique flower arrangements suitable for many occasions.

“Unique” doesn’t come close to describing the arrangements because each flower in them is made of wood. The arrangements feature wooden flowers that are hard to distinguish from the real thing. Fischer-Preuss’ lifelike floral arrangements are lasting, sustainable and look like real flowers.

At the end of October, I will be celebrating my 80th birthday. During those eight decades, I have forged precious relationships and made priceless memories. I’m planning to spend the next year tying up loose ends, getting my memoir finished and showing my loved ones how much they mean to me.

Boost the pollinator and songbird appeal in your landscape with the addition of goldenrods. You’ll enjoy the bright yellow flowers and many visiting pollinators and songbirds. With a wide range of native species and cultivars available, you are likely to find one or more suited to your landscape.