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Category: People

  • Door County Coffee Remained Perked Up in 2020

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    The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on many retail sectors, but Doug Wilson doesn’t think it has curbed the desire for coffee. “Since they can’t get it at work, they’re ordering it from here,” said Wilson, chief executive officer and chief financial officer of Door County Coffee and Tea, a coffee-serving and coffee-roasting business. […]

  • This Old Barn: Wehrenbergs’ Modern Barn

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    Erin and Kevin Wehrenberg have a barn to highlight that’s actually not so old, but it’s a beauty. They began the building process in 2017 and finished it in time to host Kevin’s 50th-birthday bash during the summer of 2019.  “Luckily, that was last summer,” Kevin said. “We had Mojo Rosa’s cater; Charlie Berens did […]

  • Go Bo! Holiday Cookie Drive-Through Nov. 28 in Sister Bay

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    Cookie lovers can donate $15 to receive two hand-crafted “paint your own” cookies – an activity and treat in one! – during the Go Bo! Holiday Cookie Drive-Through on Nov. 28, 12-2 pm, at the Sister Bay downtown visitor center. Drivers and passengers should remain in their vehicle, and volunteers will be masked. Cash and credit cards […]

  • Beerntsen Retiring from Door County YMCA

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    Tom Beerntsen, CEO of the Door County YMCA, has announced his March 31, 2021, retirement. He’s served in the position for six-plus years but has long been a part of the YMCA organization. “During his tenure, Tom improved the visibility and image of the Door County YMCA, helped build a strong staff, improved staff culture, […]

  • Schultz Brings Fresh Perspective to Fish Creek Civic Association

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    by Vanessa McGowan, [email protected] Karlie Schultz is the Fish Creek Civic Association’s new marketing and outreach manager, joining the organization following her work as the member-relations coordinator for the Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce. Schultz started with the association in September, commuting at first, before becoming an official Door County resident last week. “I like being […]

  • Finding the In Between

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    Lynn Gilchrist’s art career has traversed the spectrum of the expected and unexpected The way Lynn Gilchrist talks about her life and art is to describe a series of breakthroughs – or pivots – in her thinking about art. She left a quiet Chicago suburb in 1968 to attend Oberlin, a top-ranked liberal arts college, to major […]

  • Trading the Big Apple for Whitefish Bay

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    Musician Todd Carey has come full circle to call Door County home after his career in pop music has taken him to Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City When COVID-19 started to make headlines in January, musician Todd Carey was about to set sail on a cruise ship to perform with the Grammy Award-winning […]

  • In Memory of Paula Symons

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    On Oct. 29, during Homecoming Week activities, Sevastopol School District students, faculty and staff members dedicated a bench in memory of Paula Symons, who died from cancer in May 2019. Symons served the school for 20 years as an elementary school secretary and secretary to the athletic director.  “She loved the kids, and she loved […]

  • Little Sweden Resort’s Robyn Kornusky is the Certified Tourism Ambassador of the Year

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    Robyn Kornusky of Little Sweden Resort has been selected as Destination Door County’s 2020 Certified Tourism Ambassador (CTA) of the Year. The annual award goes to an individual who exceeds customer expectations, possesses a strong knowledge of Door County, supports the CTA program and the larger tourism industry, and seeks to turn every visitor encounter […]

  • A Life in Music: Donald Bittorf Led Bittorf Brothers for 60 Years

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    It started with a show at the Carlsville Bar. Sixty years later, brothers Donald and Wally Bittorf were still at it, playing country and western music together up and down the peninsula until they literally couldn’t play any more.  Donald Bittorf, a member of the Bittorf Brothers country and western band, died Oct. 25 at […]

  • Karen Peterson on the Women’s Fund of Door County

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    by Vanessa McGowan, [email protected] Collective wisdom paired with philanthropy power the Women’s Fund of Door County (womensfunddoorcounty.org) to build, enrich and nurture the lives of women and girls.  At the helm of this female-focused organization is Co-Chair Karen Peterson. For the past three years, she’s drawn on her business experience – as the owner of the […]

  • Know Your Fisherman: Henriksen Fisheries

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    This week we pivot our Know Your Grower series away from harvesting produce to harvesting whitefish. The bountiful waters of Lake Michigan surround Door County, making it home to a vibrant fishing community that dates back to the mid-1800s. That community today includes several larger commercial fishing operations, including Henriksen Fisheries. The fishermen: Charlie and […]

  • A Musician in Quarantine

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    Vanessa McGowan on what happens when music is ripped away  During a normal year, Vanessa McGowan spends her time touring the country as a bass player with Grammy-winning and Grammy-nominated bands that command audiences of thousands. It’s a career that puts her on the road 10 months of the year. She’s accustomed to sleeping on […]

  • Diltz, Dahl Named DCA Directors Emeriti

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    Door Community Auditorium (DCA) has honored two longtime board members, each with the title of director emeritus. The Hon. Peter Diltz served on DCA’s board from 1996 until 2017 and held the offices of president and vice president. In addition to his significant support of the local arts community, Diltz had a 40-year legal career […]

  • Birch Creek Welcomes New Trustees

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    Birch Creek has welcomed Diane Taillon and Sam Carmen to its 18-member board of trustees.  Taillon, owner/broker of Arbor Crowne Properties, joined the board for the first time during the October meeting. She’s been in the real estate business since 2003, and prior to that, she was a pediatric orthotist who developed the largest orthotic […]

  • Planting for the Future at Gathering Ground

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    For Russell and Alessandra Rolffs, life on the farm on Washington Island started as a one-summer deal: a no-obligation taste of a simmering idea of combining agriculture with education. But once they got their hands dirty, it became harder to pry them out of the soil.  They were recruited to the island from Milwaukee by […]

  • The Street Clock on Memorial Drive

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    Vitses enhance their property – and the neighborhood – with Old World charm by Maggie Rossiter Peterman When Gary and Lonnie Vitse met in Colorado in 1972, Gary was already an avid clock collector. “That’s when I should have known better,” Lonnie said with a laugh about the man she’s been married to for 46 […]

  • Luminous Layers

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    The incremental process of painter Pamela Murphy Sweet and a bit sentimental without being sappy, Pamela Murphy’s paintings are, mostly, a blast from the past – sometimes based on real people, sometimes entirely imagined. She starts with photos, usually vintage, and uses them to create paintings with many layers of paint that she scrapes or […]

  • Know Your Grower: Door County Wildwood Market

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    Location: On the corner of Highway 42 and Wildwood Road in Sister Bay Acreage: 27 acres Meet Your Growers: Mary Pat and Mark Carlson; their daughter, Anna; and her fiancé, Scott What is known today as Door County Wildwood Market, was once – technically – an Illinois family homestead. That’s because the ancestors of the […]

  • Between Pandemic and Politics, Art Remains Relevant

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    Proprietors of art galleries in Door County report that business during this season of COVID-19 was not as bad as they’d feared, and in some cases, business was even better than last year. “We started six weeks late – the tail end of June,” said Dan Cross, owner and director of Idea Gallery at the […]