Last weekend, countless grateful citizens came together at the LZ Lambeau event to offer Wisconsin’s Vietnam War veterans an official Welcome Home. The Lambeau Field ceremonies were thoughtful and rewarding in every way for those who have served in harms way, for families who lost loved ones and for soldiers who wished to share their personal journeys with their comrades from decades past.

   This Memorial Day, we will come together again to join in celebrating the lives of those who have given their full measure in the defense of our nation and our way of life.

   As one nation under God, we believe in keeping the memories of our fallen soldiers alive, especially during annual Memorial Day celebrations. This year, let us also reflect upon the Four Essential Freedoms these heroes gave their lives to protect, the ones President Franklin Roosevelt focused the free world upon a generation ago: freedom of speech, freedom o...

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    Aquatic invasive species (AIS) are non-native plants and organisms that have the ability to dramatically alter aquatic ecosystems. Once these species get into a waterbody, they are virtually impossible to eliminate. Because aquatic invasive species alter the respective ecosystems they enter, the water quality, fishery and other recreational enjoyments we’ve become accustomed to, can be noticeably diminished.

    Therefore, we all n...

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           By Congressman Steve Kagen, M.D.

             Here in Wisconsin we have a rich heritage of hunting, fishing and many other family-oriented outdoor traditions.  During this year’s hunting season, our families and friends will come together to share yet another successful and safe experience in our bountiful woods, fields and streams.

            All of us remain committed to protecting our natural resources so we may enjoy these traditions for generations to come.  Likewise, I am committed to protecting our Second Amendment rights.  Our freedom to hunt carries with it the responsibility of being safe.

            I hope you will enjoy and use your essential freedoms and that you are doing...

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By Scott Eshelman
Rhinelander

Alex Pallagi looks up after taking a short break from scrubbing floor mats to say, “Cleaning up!’ when asked, “How’s business?”

The 15-year-old Rhinelander High School sophomore can safely wear the title of the Youngest Area Entrepreneur. Perhaps you’ve seen him.

He may be pedaling down Timber Drive with his bike and burley, or possibly in the McDonald’s parking lot grabbing a soft drink on the way to his next job. Or maybe you saw him at a dentist’s office with his reaching under the back seat of a car with all the car doors open.

When the recession hit last fall, it also affected young people. And that was the time that Alex decided to apply for jobs around town. He continued applying throughout the winter with no luck. When spring came, Alex got an idea.

He was cleaning his father’s car and thought, “Hey! I could make some money doing this.”

He started out slowly this year, posting flyers in v...

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By Jim Winkler
4-H Youth Development Agent

The Oneida County fair officially kicks off on Friday, Aug. 14, with the “Grand Opening” ribbon cutting ceremony at 11:30 a.m.  Thus begins a weekend long fair with many things for the whole family to enjoy. 

But, wait a minute! The 4-H fair begins on Thursday, Aug. 13 with exhibit judging beginning at 9 a.m. Junior exhibitors will arrive earlier that morning (8 a.m.) to pick up their exhibit entry tags at the 4-H Fair office located in the tennis courts. They will then proceed to put tags on the exhibits and take them to one of four judges which are located in the logging museum. The proposed schedule is as follows:

Judge 1: (located in the boat house)

[Editor's Note: This is the fourth in a series of guest columns by Jack French about high school reunions. See links below for his previous columns.]

By Jack French
RHS Class of 1954

A much needed rain was falling on Rhinelander when I  arrived on Friday, July 24, for our class 55th reunion. The event began that evening at the Taj Mahall with a pizza party. Since the name tags had not come back from the printer, we milled about in a sea of semi-strangers, trying (sometimes unsuccessfully) to match a face with the correct name.

A few classmates of ours had changed so little that they were instantly recognized by nearly all of us: Don Reed, Jean Peterson Miller, Delores Stefonek Johnson and Jack Schumann. But for the most part, it was a series of “Gosh, I should know you....er, ah, give me a hint....Oooh, yes, of course, now I remember.”

Obviously 55 years modifies peoples’ appearance and these physical changes are not eq...

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[Editor's Note: This is the third in a series of guest columns by Jack French about high school reunions. See links below for his previous columns.]

By Jack French
RHS Class of 1954

In the five years between each of our reunions, coordinator Bill Duncan, assisted by a few classmates, would spend countless hours trying to find missing graduates with whom we’d lost touch.

Progress was slow before the rise of the Internet, since inquiries were limited to phone calls and letters to relatives and last known associates. But after Internet searches became commonplace, the pace picked up and long-lost classmates were located, although sometimes too late.

By November 1996, I finally discovered the residence address of Bernard Pepper in Ellsworth, Wis., but tragically he had died one week before my letter arrived there. And it wasn’t until our 50th reunion that Bill Duncan’s years of persistent searching finally led him to Anna Marie Fa...

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[Editor's Note: This is the second guest column by Jack French, writing about his upcoming Rhinelander High School 55th Year Reunion. To read the first column, click here.]

By Jack French
RHS Class of 1954

By the time the 30th reunion of the class of 1954 appeared on the horizon, many Rhinelander residents had almost forgotten the old brick high school on the hill. The last class who had occupied that structure had graduated in 1959 and eventually, the building was reduced to ankle-high rubble.

The talented trio who organized our 30th reunion would continue their duties in this capacity for the next 25 years: Bill Duncan as chairman, with Dick Farrenkopf and Joan Manning Kucharski as his back-ups.

Despite their prep...

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By Willa Schmidt
Northwoods Land Trust Board Secretary

The many acres of forest in private hands that help make the northwoods the northwoods are increasingly threatened these days by paper company sell-offs and other consequences of a difficult economy.

It is therefore welcome news when landowners move to keep their forest lands intact, a decision Rhinelander residents Keith and Josie McCaffery recently made in partnership with the Northwoods Land Trust.

The McCafferys signed a land protection agreement, or conservation easement, to protect approximately 84 acres in the Town of Stella in perpetuity. The McCafferys have owned the land since 1976, when Keith, a Department of Natural Resources Wildlife biologist, purchased it as soon as it came up for sale. Keith often bowhunted in the area.

“Back when land was $2,000 a forty my brother told me I’d never buy any because it’d always be too expensive,” Keith laughs. “So I waited until it was...

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