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Here are a selection of brief news items from this week's paper edition, and possibly a few news briefs that didn't make it in the paper.
Registration open for Kornfest parade
The Holmen Lions Club is taking applications for participants in the 26th annual Kornfest Parade, to be held Saturday, Aug. 16, starting at 11 a.m.
Entries are limited to 140 participants, and the deadline for submitting applications is Aug. 4.
Cost to be in the parade is $50 for political entries, $35 for business/commercial entries and $20 for others.
Application forms are available online at www.holmenlions.org or by stopping by the Edward Jones office at 106 S. Holmen Drive.
For more information, call Kornfest parade chairman Barry Ploessl at 526-9364.
Two join Aquinas Foundation board
The Aquinas Schools Foundation recently welcomed two new members to its board of directors, Jeff Kessler and Kathy Reinhart. They will serve four-year terms.
Kessler is the president of Allergychoices Inc. and practice executive of Allergy Associates of La Crosse. He and his wife, Sara, live in Onalaska. The couple’s oldest daughter, Clare, is a 2007 graduate of Aquinas High School and will be a sophomore at Lewis University in the fall. Their younger daughter, Sloan, attended St. Patrick Elementary School, Aquinas Middle School, and will be a sophomore at Aquinas High School in September.
Reinhart and her husband, John, a 1976 Aquinas High School graduate, live in La Crosse with their son, Riley, and daughter, Elle. Riley will be a sophomore at Aquinas High School in the fall, and Elle will enter seventh grade at Aquinas Middle School.
Special Olympics honors Onalaska pair
Pete Jakowski and Patti McDonah of Onalaska will be awarded the 2008 Special Olympics Wisconsin Volunteer of the Year Award on June 28. This award is given annually to volunteers whose efforts significantly improve the Special Olympics experience for athletes.
“We truly appreciate all the support and hard work Pete and Patti have provided for our local program,” supervisor Heather Stern said.
Jakowski and McDonah helped start the powerlifting program at the La Crosse Parks and Recreation Agency. With their help, the program has become a success and grown every year since its inception.
Jakowski and McDonah also volunteer at local Special Olympic fundraisers such as the Rotary Lights event during the holiday season.
The volunteer awards recognition will take place at the Home Plate Lounge at Miller Park in Milwaukee.
Viking Alumni Award nominations sought
Nominations are being accepted for the Holmen Viking Alumni Award. All Holmen High School alumni having graduated at least five years ago, living or deceased, are eligible for nomination. Nominees do not have to currently reside in the Holmen School District.
Nominations will be judged based on accomplishments in their respective communities in the following areas: community service activities; example of leadership; personal achievements; contributions to their school district; professional achievement; honorary awards and citations.
Previous winners include Leif Marking (1999), the Rev. Gregory Van Dunk (2000), Sigurd Hanson (2001), Barry Bertelson (2002), Paul “Andy” Anderson (2003), Ruth Granum (2004), Marilyn Pedretti (2005), Marna Holley (2006) and Rector Wall (2007).
Nominations must be received by July 10. Nomination forms can be found online at www.holmen.k12.wi.us/partnership/alumniaward.
For more information, contact Linzi Gronning at 526-3372.
Comedian Caliendo to perform at Center
Comedian Frank Caliendo will perform a show at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, at the La Crosse Center.
Tickets are $39.75 plus service charges and go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday.
Known for dead-on impressions of Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and George W. Bush, Caliendo is a seven-year veteran of sketch comedy, including a stint on “Mad TV.” He now has his own show on TBS called “Frank TV.”
Tickets are available at the La Crosse Center box office, all Ticketmaster locations, can be charged by calling 789-4545 or purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com.
Sons of Norway to hold potluck July 3
The Sons of Norway, Wergeland Lodge, will meet Thursday, July 3, at 6 p.m. for a potluck dinner at the American Legion, 711 Sixth St., La Crosse.
Onalaska native retires from Air Force
Chief Master Sergeant Mark Brown recently retired from the Air Force after almost 28 years.
An Onalaska native, Brown joined the Air Force in June 1980, and spent the first part of his career in aircraft repair and maintenance before being assigned to the 6903rd Electronic Security Group at the Osan Air Base in Korea.
During his career, he served at bases in Illinois, Florida, New Mexico, California, Nebraska, Iceland, Germany and Korea. At the time of his retirement, he was the superintendent of Wing Quality Assurance with the 57th Maintenance Group at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
Brown graduated from the NCO Leadership School, the NCO Academy and the SNCO Academy. He also earned his Community College of the Air Force associate of science degree in avionics systems technology and a bachelor’s degree in information systems management.
He is the recipient of the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Air Force Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Aerial Achievement Medal, Combat Readiness Medal. , National Defense Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.
Tomah VA honors volunteers from the area
Volunteers who tirelessly work to serve the nation’s veterans were honored recently during National Volunteer Week.
The Tomah VA hosted a National Volunteer Week ceremony on to celebrate the work done for veterans served by the Tomah facility.
“VA volunteers perform countless acts of service and are one of our medical center’s most valuable assets,” said Jerry Molnar, acting director of the Tomah VA. “During the past year, our corps of 400 volunteers has contributed over 38,000 hours of service.”
The Tomah VA gets a wide range of help from volunteers, including services such as drivers, hospice, tax preparers, golf course attendants, as well as the more traditional assignments such as recreation, patient visitors, office work and patient escort.
Volunteers from the Onalaska area include:
Mary Ann Schelfhout, who has given more than 1,000 hours in nursing.
Arlene Leibold, who has given more than 750 hours helping with recreation at the community nursing home.
Ronald Przybylski, who has given more than 300 hours providing transportation.
James Schauls, who has given more than 100 hours providing transportation.
People interested in becoming a VA volunteer are invited to call Tomah VA Voluntary Service at (608) 372-1727 or send an e-mail to Laura.Bishop@va.gov.
Dave’s Guitar Shop teams up with Guitars for Vets
Guitars for Vets and Dave’s Guitar Shop in La Crosse recently announced they will team up to supply guitars and instruction to veterans.
Dave’s will become a drop off point for donated guitars and funds along with hosting periodic events and possible clinics for the Milwaukee-based Guitars for Vets.
Dave’s Guitar Shop is a nationally recognized retail and Internet outlet for new, used and rare collectable instruments, in business since 1982. The store, with its trademark guitar neck sign, is located at 1227 Third St. S.
“It is truly exciting and speaks volumes when someone of Dave Rogers stature in the industry gets involved in helping America’s heroes to heal wounds both physical and mental.” said John Lindner, executive director of Guitars for Vets. “The power of music and its ability to allow you to emote in a positive manner through the instrument does wonders in the healing process.”
Dave Rogers, owner of Dave’s Guitar Shop, said he believes it is important for businesses to give back. “I can think of no better cause than America’s veterans,” Rogers said. “Having had the blessing to be successful over these years, teaming up with an organization like Guitars for Vets is a great fit for us.”
Guitars for Vets began in late 2007 with musicians performing at the VA every Friday in the spinal cord injury unit. The organization is seeking donations to fund current programs and future expansion.
More details are available online at www.guitarsforvets.org.
‘Cabaret’ coming to UW-L stage June 27
The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Department of Theatre Arts SummerStage production this summer will be the powerful musical, “Cabaret.”
Kander and Ebb’s musical immerses the audience in a turbulent pre-war Berlin, where the dynamic and wicked Emcee runs the seedy Kit Kat Klub, while its star, Sally Bowles and American writer Cliff Bradshaw suffer a doomed romance.
Performance dates for “Cabaret” are June 27-28 and July 2-3 and July 5 at 7:30 p.m. Sunday matinee performances are June 29 and July 6 at 2 p.m. Performances will be held in the Toland Theatre in the Center for the Arts on the corner of 16th and Vine streets.
Tickets go on sale June 23 at 1 p.m. The box office is in the lobby of the Center for the Arts. Tickets are $16, $14 for non UW-L students, senior citizens, and children and $9 for UW-L students. For reservations call the box office at 785-8522.
Hockey booster golf event set for July 14
Onalaska High School’s hockey booster club will conduct a golf fundraiser Monday, July 14, at the La Crosse Country Club in Onalaska.
Cost for the four-person scramble is $100 per golfer, which includes 18 holes of golf, dinner, hole events, prizes and a silent auction. Dinner tickets also can be purchased separately for $25 each.
Hole sponsors are needed, with costs ranging from $150 to $750.
For more information on the event or to register as a hole sponsor, call Tom Trannel at 781-8506 or Eric Guth at 782-5293.
Sunrise paddle kicks off Brice Prairie day
A guided sunrise paddle will kick off a day of activities on Brice Prairie to include bike, canoe and kayak races on June 28.
The sunrise paddle will leave from Lytle’s Landing on the northern tip of Brice Prairie at 6:30 a.m. and travel downstream on the Black River through the backwaters of Lake Onalaska and the Upper Mississippi River Refuge to the Upper Brice Prairie boat landing. The trip will take about 2.5 hours and return transportation to Lytle’s will be provided.
A $5 donation is requested for the sunrise paddle, which is sponsored by the Friends of Brice Prairie. For more details, contact Marc Schultz at 781-1662 or schultzma@charter.net.
The bike races start at 9 a.m. at Swarthout Park, and more information is available online at www.briceprairiebikerace.org.
The canoe/kayak races start at 1 p.m. from the Upper Brice Prairie boat landing, with on-site registration starting at 11:30 a.m.
More information on the canoe/kayak race is available online at www.briceprairiecanoerace.org.
No-call list extends to cell phones
Wisconsin’s no-call list at the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is doubling the number of intake lines from 48 to 96 in anticipation of consumers signing up their cell phones for the first time.
The law allowing cell phones on the list was recently passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jim Doyle.
“No call is the most popular consumer protection program ever in this state,” said DATCP Secretary Rod Nilsestuen. “We are happy to be adding cell phones to the list.”
Consumers have from June 6 until the end of August to get on the next no-call list starting in October.
Consumers can sign up 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year by visiting the Wisconsin no-call list Web site at nocall.wisconsin.gov or calling 1-866-966-2255
Transplant support group to meet July 1
The Coulee Region Transplant Support Group will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, July , in the Lower Level Conference Room at the Onalaska Clinic, 191 Theater Road.
The group will watch a video on the history of organ transplants. Refreshments will be provided.
New members are always welcome to attend.
Farmers markets kick off new season
The area farmers market season kicked off recently.
Onalaska’s weekly farmers market will be held 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays in the Festival Foods parking lot at 1260 Crossing Meadows Drive.
Holmen’s weekly farmers market will run from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays in the Festival Foods parking lot at 600 Holmen Drive.
La Crosse also has three farmers markets:
At the county parking lot bounded by Third, Fourth, Vine and State streets, starting at 6 a.m. Saturdays.
At Bridgeview Plaza, 2500 Rose Street, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays.
On King Street at Cameron Park from 4 to 8 p.m. Fridays.
People who want to sell fruits, vegetables and other garden products or homemade craft items can obtain a permit for $45 in advance or $55 at the market for one parking space. Additional parking spaces are $15 each.
The permits are valid for the entire season and can be obtained in advance at the La Crosse County Health Department, 300 Fourth St. N., La Crosse.
HHS Class of 1978 seeks classmates
The Holmen High School Class of 1978 reunion committee is looking for the following classmates: Lynn Sobota, Donna Nichols, Scott Johnson, Rhonda Olsen, Tom Deters, Rose Leisgang, Tony Seever, Paul Christianson, Marlene Kirchner, Steinn Bjornsson, Keith Myren, Tom Deters, Paul Solberg, Kim Morehouse, Cathy Taylor, Laura Vinson, George McCarthy, Bonnie Bay, Cheryl (Mikels) Weigand and Russ Jerome.
People with contact information for these classmates should call Terry Hegenbart at (608) 498-3338.
Memory Walk event volunteers sought
Volunteers are needed to help organize the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk 2008, the largest fundraiser to help those affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
Next fall, the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Wisconsin will join more than 600 communities across the United States in a 2- to 5-mile walk to remember those with Alzheimer’s disease.
The 33 walks are organized by teams of local volunteers who are assisted by staff from the Alzheimer’s Association. The planning committees are forming now. Anyone interested in volunteering for a walk near them is encouraged to call Lori Bagniewski at 784-5011.
CD features river stories, memories
Stories of life on the modern-day Mississippi River flow off a new CD available from UW-La Crosse.
Eighteen La Crosse-area residents share their river tales in the two-disc CD package, “First Person Wisconsin: Mississippi Memories II.” Their stories were first told during 13 programs airing on Wisconsin Public Radio station WLSU in 2006.
Among those interviewed were a group of Longfellow Middle School teachers, musician Calvin Mitchell, birder Fred Lesher and retired WLSU radio station general manager Jim Conway. UW-La Crosse history Professor Charles Lee captured the stories as part of UW-L’s Oral History Project.
The double CD package is available for $17.77. Order by credit card by contacting Paul Beck, UW-L Special Collections, at 785-8511. Or send a check payable to UW-La Crosse to: UW-L Oral History Program, 325 Wimberly Hall, 1725 State St., La Crosse WI 54601.
Medics to reward kids for bike safety
Tri-State Ambulance, Rudy’s Drive-In in La Crosse, The Frosty Mug in Holmen and the Dairy Queen in Onalaska are teaming up for a new bicycle helmet safety program called “Cool Kids — Cool Treats.”
When Tri-State Ambulance personnel observe a child 15 years old or younger wearing a helmet while riding a bicycle in public, the kids will be given a “ticket” entitling them to a free ice cream at The Frosty Mug or Dairy Queen or a root beer float at Rudy’s Drive-In when accompanied by an adult. The program runs through Aug. 31.
“Our hope is to raise helmet safety awareness,” said Matt Zavadsky, director of Tri-State Ambulance. “The goal is simple. Keep children out of the emergency room and provide some cool treats as incentive.”
Challenge Academy taking applications
The Challenge Academy, a tuition-free program for 16- to 18-year-old “at-risk” youths is now accepting applications for its next class of cadets, who will start July 25.
Located at Fort McCoy, the academy offers high school dropouts or habitual truants a chance to earn a high school equivalency diploma, learn essential job and life-coping skills and develop the strength of character to become responsible citizens.
Cadets spend 22 weeks at Fort McCoy, learning in a highly structured environment. After returning to their home communities, they work with local mentors for another year to pursue the goals they have set for themselves.
Would-be cadets must apply voluntarily, must have dropped out of school or be at least a year behind in credits and must not have been convicted of a felony.
More information is available from the academy’s admissions department at (608) 269-4605 or www.challengeacademy.org.
Free child lead screenings offered
As part of Project LEAD, the EPA grant received by the La Crosse County Health Department in October 2007, free blood lead screening will be available the last Friday of each month from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Parents should call 785-9865 to reserve a time and come to the La Crosse County Health Department, 2nd Floor of the Health and Human Services Building, 300 4th Street La Crosse.
As part of Project LEAD, the Nutrition Services Department which houses the WIC Program, will offer the free blood lead testing. The test also is available at other times through public health nursing by making an appointment at 785-9723.
Children younger than 6 who have never been screened are encouraged to have a blood lead test done, and all children younger than 2 who live in a home or spend time in a home built before 1978, should be tested.
The testing is done with a finger prick sample of blood. Children whose screening results come back greater than 10 ug/dl are recommended to have a confirmatory blood draw done through their doctor’s office. There is no cost for the blood lead screening test.
Project LEAD is working with agencies that serve families with children younger than 6 to increase awareness and screening for lead poisoning, which continues to be a risk to children residing in homes built prior to 1978.
Outreach is being conducted to educate home owners, contractors and landlords of the need to remodel with regard to disturbing lead paint which was very likely to be used on surfaces painted in the 1970s and earlier.
For more information, call the La Crosse County Health Department at 785-9872.
Low-income phone discounts offered
Low-income consumers may qualify for assistance programs that discount initial telephone installation and basic monthly service, according to a recent announcement from CenturyTel.
The assistance programs, known as Link-Up and Lifeline, are available to qualifying consumers in every U.S. state (territory and commonwealth). Link-Up helps these consumers pay the initial costs of getting telephone service. Lifeline provides certain discounts on monthly service for qualified subscribers.
Qualifications for participation vary by state. States with their own programs have their own criteria. In states that rely solely on the federal program, the subscriber must participate in one of the following programs: Medicaid, food stamps, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Federal Public Housing Assistance or the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Head Start, the National School Lunch Program’s Free Lunch Program, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) or if the household annual gross income is at or below 135 percent of the federal poverty level.
The amount of the discounts also varies by state. This federal Link-Up program offsets one-half of the initial hook-up fee, up to $30, for qualified households.
People living in a CenturyTel service area should call 800-201-4099 or log onto www.centurytel.com/lifeline to inquire about eligibility.
Easter Seals offers special camp in Wisconsin Dells
Easter Seals Camp Wawbeek in Wisconsin Dells will hold its summer session July 13-18 this year for teens and adults who have a mild cognitive delay and no physical disabilities.
Trailblazers is a program of discovery for people who have mild to moderate cognitive delays and no physical disabilities. Trailblazers is designed for people who enjoy sharing an active lifestyle with their peers and who will benefit from the guidance of our supportive staff.
As Trailblazers, campers spend their time in the sun and fresh air, participating in activities they love while discovering new interests and making new friends.
Campers can choose to take part in numerous traditional camp experiences such as canoeing, fishing, arts and crafts, music, drama and dance, and are treated to field trips and attractions in nearby Wisconsin Dells.
Trailblazers are divided into two age groups — 7-18 and 19 and older — and are then broken into smaller peer groups, where they will enjoy participating in a wide variety of age-appropriate activities. There’s an experienced counselor for every three campers.
For more information or an application, log onto www.East-erSealsWisconsin.com or call 1-800-422-2324.
County offers low-cost radon test kits
The La Crosse County Health Department once again is offering radon test kits to anyone interested in checking the radon level in their home.
Radon test kits can be purchased for $5 at the following locations:
La Crosse County Health Department, 300 Fourth St. N., La Crosse
Hazel Brown Leicht Memorial Library, 201 Neshonoc Road, West Salem
Onalaska Public Library, 741 Oak Ave. S.
Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers and kills 20,000 people every year. For more information about radon, call 888-low-radon or visit www.lowradon.org.
Franciscan Skemp hosts moms group
Franciscan Skemp Healthcare is offering new moms and babies a chance to find support, friendship and new information through a new weekly program called New Mom and Baby Group.
New moms can listen to speakers and find advice for the new chapter in their lives. The group meets at two locations and is free for everyone.
On Wednesdays, the group program meets from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Franciscan Skemp Onalaska Clinic, 191 Theater Road, in the lower level conference room
On Thursdays, the program meets from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Franciscan Skemp Family Health Clinic in the Sally Olson Conference Room, 815 S. 10th St., La Crosse.
For more information, call (608) 392-4172.
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