Story originally printed in the Holmen Courier or online at www.holmencourier.com
Published - Thursday, April 17, 2008
News in brief
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.
Mississippi Valley Conservancy will host its first-ever bio-blitz at the Holland Sand Prairie just west of Holmen and north of McHugh Road near Highway 53.
A bio-blitz provides an opportunity for volunteers to work alongside professional biologists as they work to record an inventory of all the living organisms within a specific location. Biologists and ecologists work with members of the community to identify and document species of plants, animals, insects and fungi in order to plan future land management efforts.
The bio-blitz will take place on Saturday, April 26, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with a special “early-bird” watching at 6 a.m. and an extra nocturnal “blitz” from 7 to 9 p.m. Participants must register and can come for all or part of the day. No experience is necessary.
On the day of the bio-blitz, participants will meet up in taxon teams. These teams will work with experts to perform a rapid survey of the plant and animal species. Some of the blooming plants the participants may encounter are pasque flowers, bird’s foot violets and prairie smoke.
More information can also be found at MVC’s Web site at www.MississippiValleyConservancy.org.
To register for this event, send an e-mail to mrich@mississippivalleyconservancy.org. Registration is required so participants will have enough supplies.
YES AmeriCorps will host a Global Youth Services Day on Saturday, April 26, in La Crosse.
The YES AmeriCorps team’s goal is to recruit at least 100 youth and adult volunteers to participate in community service projects throughout La Crosse. Following service, a picnic will be held for the volunteers at Myrick Park.
Youths age 15 to 18 years old will need a release form signed by a parent or guardian in order to participate. Youths younger than 15 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. All volunteers must sign a waiver in order to participate.
Volunteers will meet at 8 a.m. in the north parking lot at the AmeriCorps headquarters, 402 N. Eighth Street in La Crosse, for registration and service assignments.
Community service work will run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., after which a picnic will be held for volunteers at Myrick Park, ending at 3 p.m.
If case of inclement weather, the location will be changed to the Copeland Park shelter.
For more information, call 785-7003.
regarding Global Youth Services Day or the YES AmeriCorps Program, contact Linda Zimmerman, director of YES AmeriCorps, at 785-7003.
The Holmen Community Choir is about to begin rehearsals for its annual Memorial Day program, and the choir is always looking for new singers to join.
The first rehearsal will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 29, at Holmen Lutheran Church, 228 Morris St. The choir will rehearse and perform five to six traditional patriotic songs.
For more information, call director Betty Baird at 526-4285.
One advance ticket sale session remains for this year’s Miss Onalaska Pageant, which will be held starting at 7 p.m. Saturday April 26, at Onalaska High School.
Reserved seat tickets for $15 will be available from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 22, at the high school box office. Any remaining tickets will be sold starting at 6 p.m. before the pageant.
This year’s Miss Onalaska Pageant will feature eight contestants, five of them in their first pageant. Pageant veterans participating this year include Sarah Beier, Gina Gentry and Jackie Hart, while the newcomers are Natalie Anderson, Cassie Dickow, Brittany Lee, Aimie Sella and Miranda Rosenthal.
A silent auction before the pageant and during intermission will add to the scholarship money at stake for the contestants.
The Brice Prairie Lions Club will hold a chickencue from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 19, at the Brice Prairie First Responders Building next to My Prairie Store. The chickencue coincides with a day of rummage sales being held on Brice Prairie.
Cost is $7 for a half-chicken dinner including coleslaw, beans and a roll.
Two area families that are adopting six children from Ethiopia between them are planning a garage sale fundraiser from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 26, at 413 Oak Ave. S. in Onalaska.
People with items to donate may call 526-1107 or 783-6837 to arrange for the items to be picked up.
The Holmen High School girls soccer team will hold its seventh annual kickoff spaghetti dinner fundraiser from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 3, at the high school.
Cost is $6 for spaghetti, salad, bread and beverage. There also will be a bake sale and raffle, and carry-outs will be available.
Volunteers are being sought for Halfway Creek Trail clean-up day planned for the morning of Saturday, May 3.
Participants are to check in at Shelter A in Halfway Creek Park at 9 a.m. and the work is expected to be completed no later than noon.
Tasks might include picking up litter and downed branches, removing old tires and graffiti and minor pruning. Trash bags will be provided.
Workers will be split into teams and assigned segments of the 3.4-mile trail, which runs from Halfway Creek Park to the Great River State Trail in Midway.
Volunteers should wear appropriate clothing, including boots, long-sleeved shirts and work gloves.
Clean-up workers also should bring drinking water and any useful equipment they might have, including hand shears, loppers, pruners, rakes, motorized trimmers and gas leaf blowers.
For more information or to register to help with the clean-up day, call the Holmen Parks and Recreation Department at 526-2152 or e-mail brogan@holmenwi.com.
“Save a Life: Preserve Mom’s Memories” is the theme for this year’s Gundersen Lutheran Mother’s Day Tea to be held May 10, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Forest Hills in La Crosse.
Presenter Susan T. Hessel will explore the various stages of mother-child relationships with humor and love. She’ll talk about what people can learn from each other and offer tips for preserving memories.
Hessel is best known at Gundersen Lutheran for writing the book, “Medicine: The Gundersen Experience” in 1991. Since then, she has written more than a dozen other history books including the newly published, “A History of La Crosse, Wisconsin in the 20th Century,” which she co-wrote with Gayda Hollnagel.
The cost of the Mother’s Day Tea is $10 per person, which includes dessert, refreshments and door prizes. Registration is required by May 1. Download a registration form at gundluth.org/events, under Special Events. For more information, call 775-3079.
A plant sale sponsored by the Natural Arts Garden Club will be held on Saturday, May 17, starting at 8 A.M. in the Crosseroads Center parking lot on Highway 16 in Onalaska, across from Valleyview Mall. Perennials and many colorful annuals will be on sale.
Timothy Schorr and Mary Ellen Haupert, music instructors at Viterbo College, will present a four-hand piano duet at the Holmen Lutheran Church Friday evening, April 18.
The two will perform Mozart’s “Sonata in C Major,” Schubert’s “Fantasy in F Minor,” Barber’s “Souvenirs: Ballet Suite” and three movements for four-hand piano by Amy Marcy Cheney Beach.
Schorr and Haupert have recorded a CD of four-hand music and have performed on Wisconsin Public Radio. The concert, is a repeat of a performance the two gave in Scotland last fall.
It is sponsored by the Holmen Area Foundation and will begin at 7:30 p.m. The cost is $5 ($3 for students).
The third annual Intergenerational Fair will be held from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 20, at La Crosse Logan High School.
The fair is organized by Kristina Smaby, a former Miss Holmen and Miss La Crosse Oktoberfest who started a program called Connecting Generations dedicated to promoting more interaction between old and young.
The fair, which is free and open to everybody, is a day full of entertainment, food and beverages, face painting, games, crafts, booths and door prizes.
Some of the organizations participating include Clog Jam, Misty’s Dance Unlimited, Nicholas Marshal Arts, Eagle Crest, Simply Entree, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Sarah Mullenbach Foundation, Boy Scouts of America, Curves, RSVP, Gundersen Lutheran’s Community Preventive Care, MVP Golf Academy, Gifted Hands and Rotary International.
Fair visitors are encouraged to bring grandparents, elderly neighbors or a new friend from a nursing home/adult day care.
Onalaska High School dance team coach Jenna Schneider and members of the dance team will put on a youth pom and dance clinic on Saturday, April 26, at the Concordia Ballroom, 1129 La Crosse St. in La Crosse.
A session for those in grades 1-6 will run from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., with the session for grades 7-12 running from 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. The cost is $18, and registration in advance is appreciated. For more information or to register, e-mail Schneider at prepdance@gmail.com.
A Family Fun Fest is planned for Saturday, April 19, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Holmen’s Sand Lake Elementary, 3600 Sand Lake Road.
The event, put on by the school’s Parent Teacher Group, will feature an inflatable carnival, wood crafts, a La Crosse Loggers pitching game, face painting, a deejay, raffle, silent auction and food. Proceeds from lunch sales will go to the Holmen Area Partnership for Youth.
The Holmen Park and Recreation Department is offering a spring paintball outing on Sunday, May 4, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Arrows in the Square, N7681 Casberg Coulee Road.
The event is meant for those 10 and older and participants must provide their own transportation.
Cost is $15 per person (payable to Village of Holmen), with extra paintballs available for $5 per 100 at the site.
Register by April 25 at Holmen Village Hall or online at www.holmenwi.com/holmenpr.
The Onalaska Area Jaycees will host a local Pitch, Hit and Run baseball skills competition on Saturday, April 19, at the ballfields on Quincy Street.
The competition is open to boys and girls ages 7 to 14, and there is no charge to participate.
Registration starts at 9 a.m. with the competition starting at 10 a.m.
The seventh annual St. Clare Health Mission Half Marathon and 5K Run/Walk will be held on May 3, with runners and walkers finishing again in downtown Onalaska.
The event offers options for for experienced and first timers alike. The half marathon course is a point-to-point run on the beautiful Great River State Trail paralleling the Mississippi River. The 13.1-mile course begins in Trempealeau and winds its way south bridging numerous streams and channels coursing their way to the Mississippi, finishing at the trailhead in Onalaska.
The 5K run will start in Midway (on Highway OT), and will also follow the Great River Trail, finishing in Onalaska.
Runners and walkers of all ages can participate and will receive a T-shirt. Awards will be given to overall winners and the top three from every age group within both male and female categories.
Time splits, water, sport drinks, volunteers and medical personnel will be provided.
Cost for the half marathon is $25 before May 1 or $35 on race day. Cost for the 5K is $20 before May 1 or $25 on race day.
For more information or to register, call 791-9544 or log onto www.stcarehealthmission.org.
Last September, The Wisconsin American Legion presented satellite phones to Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines Reserve Unit out of Madison and Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines Reserve Unit out of Milwaukee. Both units are currently deployed in Iraq.
The Legion purchased enough time in September to charge each phone with 5,000 minutes. Recently, the Legion received word that Fox Company had exhausted their minutes and that Golf Company is running low.
In order to recharge the phones with additional minutes, help is needed. The Wisconsin American Legion needs to raise $50,000 to provide deployed Wisconsin Reserve and Guard units with phones and sufficient calling minutes to allow all of their members to call home to Wisconsin.
To contribute to the “Wisconsin American Legion Troop and Family Support Funds,” send checks to The Wisconsin American Legion Troop and Family Support Fund, P.O. Box 1000, Portage, WI 53901. Donations are also accepted by credit card online at www.wilegion.org/howcanyouhelp.
In honor of Earth Day, Ace of La Crosse is coming to Gundersen Lutheran with a selection of “green” products to sell. A portion of the proceeds from the purchase of these environmentally friendly products will be donated to CMN.
“Go Green” products will include:
Sales will go on from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in two locations — the La Crosse campus dining room on Tuesday, April 22, and the lower level of the Onalaska clinic on Friday, April 25.
The Department of Natural Resources plans to conduct prescribed burns during April and May on lands in La Crosse, Crawford, Vernon and Trempealeau counties.
Sites targeted for prescribed burns range from 3 to 180 acres. Burns may be conducted on as many as 459 acres in the four counties, depending on weather and other factors.
Burns are planned for two state natural areas in La Crosse County — Midway Prairie and La Crosse River Trail 1.
Prescribed burns increase native plant diversity and density on grasslands, prepare sites for the seeding of warm season grasses, set back undesirable woody vegetation or invasive species and improve waterfowl habitat.
For more information, visit http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/sna/bycounty.htm.
Lutheran Social Services will hold an informational meeting about its adoption programs, Tuesday, April 22, at 5:30 p.m. at 2350 South Ave., Suite 206, in La Crosse (just one block south of Gundersen Lutheran).
For more information or to register, call 788-5090 or e-mail mweinsto@lsswis.org.
The Onalaska Tourism Commission is sponsoring a the Sunny the Sunfish coloring contest for kids.
Coloring sheets are available online at www.discoveronalaska.com and at the Onalaska Center for Commerce and Tourism, 1101 Main St. in Onalaska.
All entries must be postmarked by April 30. Prizes will be awarded to the best entry in each of the three age groups — 4 and younger, 5 to 7 and 8 to 10.
Winners will receive dining gift certificates for the Onalaska area and will have the opportunity to ride in the Sunfish Days parade on Saturday, May 24. Winning entries also will be posted on www.discoveronalaska.com.
For more information about the coloring contest log onto www.discoveronalaska.com or contact the Onalaska Center for Commerce and Tourism at 781-9570.
La Crosse County is participating in the Wisconsin Wildlife Damage Abatement and Claims Program for 2008, with USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services providing program assistance.
The program covers damage to crops by deer, geese, turkey and bear. Emphasis is on damage abatement first. Compensation for damages exceeding $250, up to a maximum damage claim of $15,000, may be paid.
To be eligible for abatement property owners must:
To be eligible for compensation property owners must:
For more information or to enroll in the WDACP for 2008, contact USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services at 1-800-433-0663.
The Wisconsin Lions Foundation is seeking nominations for its annual Youth Service Project Awards program.
A service activity carried out by a school or youth group will be recognized in each Lions district. From the 10 district winners, a state winner will be selected and recognized during the Sept. 13 Lions Camp open house in Rosholt, Wis.
District prizes vary. The state winner will get $500, with second and third place getting an award of $300 and $200, respectively.
The application deadline is April 30. All entries must be typed, and only one application per organization will be accepted.
Applications can be found at the foundation’s Web site at www.wlf.info. For more information, call 877-463-6953.
The Franciscan Skemp Auxiliary is now taking orders for its 28th annual geranium sale. All proceeds go toward nursing scholarships at Viterbo University and Western Technical College.
The 2007 geranium sale raised more than $14,000 in scholarship funds. This year’s sale is April 30 and May 1-2 at the Franciscan Skemp Healthcare garage building, 11th and Ferry streets. Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Certificates are available in the Franciscan Skemp volunteer office or by calling 785-0940, ext 2709. To pre-order geraniums or for more information, call Nancy Padesky at 784-5332 or the volunteer office. All pre-orders are due April 11.
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.
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 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.
Women in the Coulee Region are invited to celebrate the importance of friendship and help raise funds for the La Crosse Community Foundation’s Women’s Fund at the fifth annual Coulee Region Women magazine “Thank You for Being a Friend” event on Saturday, April 19.
The emcee for the event, which runs from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Drugan’s Castle Mound in rural Holmen, will be Debbie Brague of Magic 105.
The theme of this year’s event is the “Giving from the Heart” and members of Heart of La Crosse/Comedy Alley will be the speakers. The event also features an hors d’oeuvre luncheon, a silent auction, display booths and a chance to win door prizes including a $500 travel certificate from Carlson Wagonlit Travel.
A portion of the proceeds from the event will be donated to the Women’s Fund, which aims to enrich the lives of women and girls so they can do the same for others. It is a permanent endowment fund of the La Crosse Community Foundation.
Tickets are available at Carlson Wagonlit Travel in La Crosse and Onalaska, Grounded Specialty Coffee Shop, Drugan’s Castle Mound, Honig’s Gift Shop and at Coulee Region Communications in Onalaska.
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:
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 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.
All stories copyright 2006 Holmen Courier and other attributed sources.