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...

[Read More]

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...

[Read More]

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...

[Read More]

[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...

[Read More]

[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...

[Read More]

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...

[Read More]

[Editor's Note: After Jack French graduated from Rhinelander High School, he earned a bachelors of science from UW-Madison, served four years as a Navy officer, and put in 23 years as an FBI Agent. He currently resides in Virginia with his wife, Cathy. They have six children and seven grandchildren. He now works as a professional actor and freelance author. His book, Private Eyelashes: Radio's Lady Detectives, won the Agatha Award and was narrated for the Talking Books program by the Library of Congress.]

By Jack French
RHS Class of 1954

More than five decades ago, 146 Rhinelander High School graduates of 1954 marched across the creaky stage of our assembly room and accepted their diplomas from Principal Richard G. Evans.

For a few of them, it would be their last contact with their classmates. For some, it would be their open door to a new world outside Oneida County. And for at least one-third, it wou...

[Read More]

By Marc DeBrock
Rhinelander

In Custer, located about five miles east of Stevens Point, a remarkable event is held each year on the summer solstice.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) hosts what has grown to be the world’s largest Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair.

This year, held June 19-21, the fair attracted more than 23,000 people who came together to educate, learn, promote and discuss almost every aspect of renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable living and building, green and organic lifestyles, transportation and career opportunities.

The first year the fair was held, 3,000 people attended, which amazed organizers. Seven years ago, 12,000 attended. This year’s attendance was up 5 percent over last year’s.

The workshop tents were standing room only as people flocked to participate in more than 200 available workshops and perused 270 exhibitors.