Community Quick Notes for Oct. 30 – Nov. 13

• The Wisconsin Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance recently recognized Christine Zvara, a Physical Education teacher at Gibraltar, with the Association Recognition Award, which is given as a commendation for continuous and extended service to the association and the profession after having had 10 years continuous membership.

Zvara is a shining example of what this award illustrates, having been involved with the association for over 30 years, serving as President, Jump Rope for Heart State Coordinator and chairing a major committee for the Association Legislative Health & Fitness at the Capitol in Madison events. Zvara is a former Teacher of the Year for Physical Education for both Wisconsin and the Midwest AAHPERD District.

• State Superintendent Tony Evers commended 83 middle schools, including Sevastopol Junior High, for being named an Exemplary Middle School in Wisconsin based on student academic achievement.

The Exemplary Middle School program, sponsored by the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators (AWSA) and Department of Public Instruction, is in its third year. The program recognizes middle schools with high growth in reading or math scores in the past school year; reading or math scores in the top 10 percent in the past year; or high growth in scores in reading or math for schools with a high poverty population.

Selection as an Exemplary Middle School makes schools eligible for the 2009-10 Wisconsin Middle School of Excellence Awards, which will be presented at the Middle Level Commission Conference in Appleton on February 18, 2010.

• Sturgeon Bay Community Church (SBCC) is pleased to announce that Shannon Souther has accepted the call to be their pastor

Souther, his wife Kim and their four-year-old daughter Madeleine are in the process of moving into the community. Souther was most recently a Pastor of Adult Ministries at the First Baptist Church of Hurst Texas – a mega church in the Dallas-Fort Worth community Metroplex and previously served in Virginia as Pastor of Students and Missions, Youth Pastor and Chaplain for Chesterfield County Police Department.

Souther will be at the DC Brew Coffee House in November every Thursday morning from 9 – 11 am to speak with members of the community.

SBCC is a nondenominational community church located at 515 N 12th Ave. with a Sunday service starting at 10 am that includes contemporary worship songs.

• The Hardy Gallery in Ephraim is pleased to announce that they are the recipient of a $1,000 grant from the Pamida Foundation. The grant money will be used to offset expenses from the Hardy’s Exposure to Creativity (ETC) program, an outreach program that the Hardy provides to all Gibraltar High School students in conjunction with the Friends of Gibraltar (FOG) organization, Gibraltar High School, and the Peninsula School of Art.

For more information about the Hardy, please call 920.854.2210 or visit http://www.thehardy.org.

• Kirk Knutson, Principal of Gibraltar High School, recently announced that Graham Edwards and Hannah Mickelson have been named Commended Students in the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program. A Letter of Commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the program, will be presented by the principal to these scholastically talented seniors.

Edwards and Mickelson are among 34,000 students throughout the nation recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2010 competition for National Merit Scholarships, Commended Students placed among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2010 competition by taking the 2008 Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

• Fifteen students at Gibraltar High School have earned AP Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on AP Exams.

Elijah Omernick, son of Karl and Carol Frakes Omernick, Ellison Bay, received a National AP Scholar Award by earning an average grade of 4 or higher on a five-point scale on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams.

Four students qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. These students are Harrison Hilgers, Elijah Omernick, William Pelrine and Samantha Prust.

Three students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams. These students are Samuel Ausloos, Graham Edwards and Allison Kjell.

Eight students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams, with grades of 3 or higher. The AP Scholars are Clayton Buske, Jennifer Moore, Ava Neddersen, Samuel Nelson, Eliza Pelrine, Andrew Phillips, Taylor Schultz and Toler Wolfe.

• The Kiwanis Club of Northern Door recently honored Door County native, Dale Seaquist, with their 2009 Citizen of the Year Award at their annual fall banquet held at the English Inn.

The award is presented annually in recognition of the contributions and dedication of a citizen or citizens who have consistently demonstrated their leadership and volunteered their time and skills to the Northern Door community. In addition to recognizing Seaquist’s many contributions to orchard horticulture, he was also recognized for his service to the community through his church, the Gibraltar school district, various local clubs, elected government service as well as his service in the U.S. Army.

• On Saturday, November 28, Sister Bay Trading Company will celebrate the holiday season by hosting their annual Christmas Open House, which will also feature a food drive to benefit Feed My People of Door County.

The event, which will take place from 10 am – 6 pm, has become an annual Door County tradition for many with ample holiday decorating ideas, tasty holiday treats and experiences that delight the senses, including piano music by Kim LaRae. Demonstrations on how to build a memorable holiday centerpiece will be held throughout the day and face painting will be available for the young – or young at heart!

All Sister Bay Trading customers will enjoy 20 – 50 percent off of merchandise throughout the entire store during the holiday open house. In addition, staff members are asking that customers help “Fill the Sleigh” this year. Sister Bay Trading will be offering an additional 10 percent savings to all customers who bring in five or more non-perishable food items. These donations will be placed in the large sleigh at the entrance of the store and then be delivered to Feed My People after the event.

Sister Bay Trading Company is located on the south side of Sister Bay at 2477 Hwy 42. For more information call 920.854.2554 or visit http://www.sisterbaytrading.com.

• The Ellison Bay Service Club meeting on October 15 at the Viking Grill Annex in Ellison Bay marked the changing of Officers for 2010-11. Outgoing President Phil Hansotia was presented with a leather-bound journal in which to keep his poetry, drawings and notes by incoming President, Carol Lango, who thanked him for his service and key role in the formation of the Service Club, consolidating the former Ellison Bay Men’s and Women’s Clubs.

The new Service Club Officers include: President, Carol Lango; Treasurer, Gary Kemp; Secretary, Kim Maedke-Shumway; and Membership Chair, Jan Forkert. Three new Directors were also elected: Lee Telfer, George Slight and Jan Forkert.

Dates for the 44th annual Olde Ellison Bay Days Celebration, sponsored by the Ellison Bay Service Club, were also set at the meeting for June 25, 26 and 27, 2010.

Regular Service Club Board meetings are held monthly on the third Thursday at 7 pm at the Viking Grill Annex. For more information call 920.421.1753.

• Instead of measuring dollars raised with the weather-weary thermometers, the new cutout LIVE UNITED people will proudly display the number of people in Door County who will be helped through United Way of Door County funding in the year 2010.

Between 9,000 and 10,000 residents were provided services through more than 40 programs in 2008. In addition to displaying the number of people impacted, the display also shows the percent of need already achieved during the annual fundraising campaign.

The cutout figures were the creation of some very dedicated volunteers and are standing tall in Brussels, Sister Bay, Baileys Harbor and Sturgeon Bay. They will keep everyone updated on the current status of local donations on a weekly basis until the end of the year.

The 2009 Annual Fundraising Campaign is well underway, with pledges of 30 percent of the need, which will positively impact the lives of 3,000 Door County residents.

The LIVE UNITED message encourages people to give of your money, volunteer your time and advocate for United Way of Door County by talking about the important work that needs to be done for Door County residents – allowing them to build a better life.

For more information contact the United Way of Door County at 920.746.9645, http://www.unitedwaydc.com or [email protected].

• The Door County Land Trust has raised 90 percent of the dollars needed from private donors to purchase and permanently preserve what is known locally as the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Property, which includes 332 acres and 740 feet of Lake Michigan shoreline along the south side of the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal.

Total project costs for the property are $1,992,000, and the Land Trust has applied for and expects to receive approximately $1,686,000 in grants from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Knowles Nelson State Stewardship Fund. The balance of $306,000 is needed from private donors.

If the Land Trust is successful in its efforts to purchase the land, the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Nature Preserve will be established. This premier nature preserve will be open to the public for low-impact recreational and educational uses.

Tax-deductible contributions toward the preservation of the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal property and the establishment of the nature preserve may be sent to the Door County Land Trust, P.O. Box 65, Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235. Donations may also be made online at http://www.doorcountylandtrust.org.

• The Community Clinic of Door County (CCDC) has assisted over 105 individuals with the Badger Care Plus Enrollment Process.

Since the state began accepting applications for Badger Care Plus back in June, volunteer staff at the CCDC have been extremely busy assisting people with the enrollment process. Volunteer staff logged in over 165 hours in assisting locally uninsured individuals with their applications. When the state announced they would suspend applications after noon on Oct. 9, CCDC volunteers adjusted their schedules to accommodate everyone on the clinic’s waiting list for assistance.

Moreover, the CCDC financially assisted many of these 105 applicants with the $60 enrollment/processing fee required with each application, with limited outside financial assistance from other community partners. Although the Clinic did not cover the $60 enrollment/processing fee for each and every individual applicant, significant financial resources were diverted from the clinic’s limited budget to assist those in deepest need.

To learn more about the Community Clinic of Door County visit http://www.communityclinicofdoorcounty.org or call 920.746.8989.