Lake Holcombe Schools receives WIAA Award of Excellence

Courier Sentinel

For the second time in the school district’s history, Lake Holcombe has received the WIAAAward of Excellence for the 20212022 school year. The award means the school is moving in the right direction related to academics, leadership and sportsmanship. +++ The Cadott School District had a little bit of a unique start this year. The district has seen nine new students arrive with special education needs in the elementary school, when typically they would have one or two. A number of students are also struggling to adjust to the structure of school, especially at the 4k and kindergarten levels. Nine students also need extra help toileting. These extra needs has resulted in the hiring of some additional hands temporarily. +++ Chippewa Valley Electric Co- operative has added a new fleet truck that is fully electric and comes with lots of upgrades, such as built in WiFi and a GPS map display to navigate with ease. The truck will be tested this winter to see how it operates in cold weather. +++ Cadott Booya Days was a success and all proceeds from the event will go toward a new speaker system for Cadott’s Main Street.

The Thorp Courier

Clark County 4-H Clubs celebrated National 4-H Week October 2nd-8th, 2022. With over 400 members, 4-H Clubs are the largest youth organization in the county. The eleven clubs spread throughout the county are open to youth aged 7-19. There are two 4-H clubs in the Stanley area: 1.) Borderline Rebels and 2.) Edson Hilltop. +++ The Thorp Cardinal football team took to the field Friday night, September 23, to face Greenwood in this year's homecoming game. From start to finish the Cardinals dominated the game. The final score was Thorp 65 Green wood 0. +++ Thorp’s street projects this year have been on North Church and West School Streets. Work began on September 6 and completion, with one coat of blacktop, is projected to be November 7. All infrastructure is being replaced.

Bloomer Advance

Bloomer is the home of Charter Next Generation, one of the largest employers in the local Bloomer area and North America’s leading independent producer of high-performance special- ty film and flexible packaging solutions. The company recently launched a program called the Community Giving Fund that empowers its employee owners to distribute funding to a group of hand-selected local charities in and around the Bloomer area. To kick the program off, $55,000 was distributed to five organiza – tions: the Bloomer School District ($25,000), City of Bloomer ($10,500), Ice Age Trail ($4,500), Beaver Creek Reserve, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Wisconsin. The Community Giving Fund’s mission is to strengthen the foundation of the Bloomer community, positively impact the quality of life within the region, and advocate for increased sustainability and recycling within the communities where CNG’s facilities are located. +++ If your looking for something different, it could be the Auburn Homestead pumpkin patch in New Auburn. It is a family owned and operated agribusiness that educates families about farming, while they enjoy a traditional fall past time. In their second year, the owner planted 700 hills of pumpkins by hand. Thus, they have available a variety of pumpkins of different colors and sizes. Other features of the business include a petting zoo, wagon rides, and an owner’s designed pressurized pumpkin cannon that can launch pumpkins over a quarter mile.

Auburn Homestead is open Saturdays and Sundays 10 am to 6 pm through October 30th. O-W Enterprise Owen has another new business and it is located in the back half of the Red Daisy Girl. Finishing Touches Upholstery is not really a separate business but fits in with Hargot Custom Resto rations. John Kitty will be doing the bulk of the upholstery work. He can do any type upholstery work that is part of the interior of a car, a motorcycle, a UTV, etc. +++ Autumnfest will be held at the Mill Pond Park in Owen on Saturday, October 16. Activities taking place that day will include a Chili Cook-Off, a pie-eating contest, vendors, pumpkin painting, a treasure hunt and train rides. There will be music by the Blue Moon Band.

The Tribune-Phonograph The Colby School board approved increases in pay for sup- port staff. Novice pay (starting wage) was set at $15/hour with an increase to $15.25 after six months of satisfactory employ ment. This covers cooks, instructional aides, media aides, and secretaries. Non-benefit positions, those working less than 30 hours a week, saw an increase from $14/hour for starting pay to $17.50. The Clark County Press

The Clark County Board of Supervisors is trying another route to bring broadband to the entire county. In August, the board did not get enough support to enter into an agreement with Bug Tusssel. In September, they passed a resolution to approve having Mosaic Technologies apply for a grant through the Re-Connect Program, which was established to help facilitate broad- band in parts of rural America that do not have sufficient access to broadband. For Clark County, that will be mostly in the northeastern part of the county. +++ Father Emmanuel Famiyeh is the new priest serving Catholic parishes in Loyal, Greenwood and Willard. He has lived in the Untied States for 23 years and hails from Ghana. He comes to serve these parishes after serving in the Black River Falls area the last 11 years. He states he is happy to be back in a farming community and he noted that people gel together and the friendship is so good.

Tri-Couty Area Times

Come early 2024 it is expected that the Augusta School District will have an early learning center and after school kids club operating. All this is being made possible by another gift from Jennifer Bathke. You will recall that it was reported in this column previously, that Bathke generously donated funds to the district for a new auditorium that will be constructed on the school grounds starting in 2023. Jennifer, and her late husband Victor, were proud graduates of Augusta High School, and had a strong sense of giving back to the community. The new childcare facility will provide options for the area’s young parents.

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