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9/16/2015
Hometown Heroes: Bangor FFA
Under the direction of FFA Advisor and Bangor Agriscience teacher Rick Bierbrauer, members of the Bangor FFA have been dutifully tending to one acre of land all summer long. This garden was made possible by a grant from WinField’s Answer Plot service of West Salem. And all the fruits and vegetables grown in the garden are donated to WAFER food pantry in La Crosse. And believe it or not, this is just one small part of the great work that this organization is doing in our community.
8/25/2015
Hometown Hero - Chase Jones
This week’s Hometown Hero is Chase Jones of West Salem and his dad Jon. Together, they are hiking the entirety of the Ice Age Trail and if all goes as planned, they will finish next summer making Chase the youngest person ever to do so.
7/24/2015
Hometown Hero - Mai Chao Duddeck
I first heard about author and art teacher Mai Chao Duddeck in the La Crosse Tribune earlier this week. Last year she taught at Central High School and Longfellow Middle School and this year she will be teaching at Lincoln Middle and Logan Middle School. And on top of all that, she wrote a book. So I figured she would be an excellent candidate for my “Hometown Heroes” feature, which I admit has been a bit neglected of late.
2/25/2015
Hometown Hero - Jeff Boyne
Earlier this week, I was reading through the paper and came across an article about a meteorologist who makes hats for charity. How perfect, I thought, because they are always telling people to bundle up against the frigid winter weather. As I read more about the story, I learned about Jeff Boyne of West Salem who has made over 2,675 wool hats through his program “Spread the Warmth Project” and decided he would be a perfect Hometown Hero.
5/21/2014
Hometown Hero Talyah Schmidt
I first heard about Talyah Schmidt and her project from the article about her in the Courier-Life. She is a Senior Girl Scout, a member of Troop 4009 and been in the Scouts for 11 years. And unlike the majority of Girl Scouts, she was determined to complete a Girl Scout Gold Award project, the highest honor in all of Girl Scouting.
3/27/2014
Hometown Hero Bud Hammes
“The Town Where Everyone Talks About Death.” Every once in while you come across a headline that makes you stop and do a double take and this one was certainly one of those. Where everyone talks about death? When I saw that on the NPR website last week, I knew I had to take a closer look. It turns out that the article was about Gundersen Health System’s own Dr. Bernard “Bud” Hammes, our resident medical ethicist.
3/24/2014
Hometown Heroes - The People Behind the Collaborative Community Center
Known as the Collaborative Community Center, this project began as an expansion to Holmen High School and turned into a project involving three municipalities, a school district, members of the community and now all of us. So this week, I want to do something a little different. This week’s Hometown Heroes are everyone who has been involved in this worthwhile project.
2/25/2014
Hometown Hero - Roger Haro
One of the things I like best about the Hometown Hero project, aside from getting to honor my constituents, is giving people the opportunity to nominate someone to receive this recognition. And it is always special when the person being nominated is a friend who has done some extraordinary work. That is where today’s Hometown Hero came from.
2/20/2014
Hometown Hero - Keith Valiquette
There are simple things we all can do to help improve the health of those around us. We can donate blood to the Red Cross, we can donate money to hospitals and clinics and we encourage our best and brightest students to go into the medical profession. But what about being a donor to a biobank for future medical research? That is what Keith Valiquette does and that is why Keith is this week’s Hometown Hero.
1/30/2014
Hometown Heroes - James Steinbrink, Joe Nueman and Brady Dockendorf
This year for me, the State of the State was a chance to recognize three individuals from our community who are working hard to provide employment opportunities for people with disabilities and who are bringing a smile to all of our faces with their friendly service at Features Bar and Grill in Holmen.