Category: People
-
Obituary: Russell Louis Kollberg
Russell Louis Kollberg, 92, of Sturgeon Bay, died February 24, 2016, at Ministry Door County Medical Center. He was born August 13, 1923, in Two Rivers, the son of Algot Charles Kollberg and Lulu Minnie (Liedtke) Kollberg. Russell graduated from Washington High School in Two Rivers in 1942 and entered into active service with the United […]
-
Feb. 3, 1927 – Feb. 11, 2016 Pete was born and raised on Washington Island, the fourth of five children born to Frank and Mary Oleson. During the war years, the family moved to Sturgeon Bay. Upon graduation in 1944, Pete enlisted in the Army and after the surrender of the Japanese became part of […]
-
Benefit for Michelle DeGuelle Maisonneuve at Door County Fire Company
Door County Fire Company will host a benefit for Michelle DeGuelle Maisonneuve on Saturday, March 12. Michelle was diagnosed with Stage 4 Synovial Sarcoma in 2000. After 14 years remission, the cancer returned in the cervical spine in 2014. She has had several major surgeries to stabilize her neck, chemotherapy and radiation. The benefit begins […]
-
Obituary: Mary T. Ambrose-McNeil
May 21, 1932 – Feb. 26, 2016 Mary T. Ambrose-McNeil, age 83, beloved wife of Dean for 16 years, and the late Robert L. Ambrose (44 years). Devoted mother of the late Margaret Czajkowski, nee Ambrose, Robert L. (Jane) Ambrose Jr., Mary (late Robert) Tourounjian, Kathleen (Scott) Smith, John (Dianna) Ambrose, and William Ambrose, Diane […]
-
Wage Gap Has Trickle Down Impact in Door County
When you tick off the reasons why someone would live and work in Door County — the beautiful landscape, stress-free commutes, great public schools, safety, laid-back lifestyle — competitive wages and salaries aren’t on the list for most job sectors. In nine of 12 job sectors listed by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development’s 2013 […]
-
Philanthropy Supporting Business
There’s a fascinating shift going on in modern philanthropy. Many of our nation’s most ingenious philanthropic institutions are broadening their focus. Rather than limiting themselves to awarding grants to nonprofit organizations, foundations are increasingly recognizing that the entrepreneurial spirit is an invaluable tool to achieve their goals for the community. As a result, these charitable […]
-
Congratulations 2015 Golden Heart Recipients and Honorees
The 13th annual Golden Heart Volunteer Celebration was held April 23, 2015, at Stone Harbor Resort in Sturgeon Bay to honor outstanding volunteers in our community. It also recognizes the importance of the organizations through which they work and support the Volunteer Center’s programming. Bret Bicoy, president and CEO of the Door County Community Foundation, […]
-
Serving Door County with an Artist’s Soul: Nancy and Bob Davis
On June 24, 2015, a few hundred people gathered at Horseshoe Bay Golf Club to join the Door County Community Foundation in celebrating Nancy and Bob Davis as the 2015 Philanthropists of the Year during the annual Celebration of Giving. As longtime seasonal Door County residents, this remarkably generous couple decided 20 years ago to […]
-
Golfers were clad in pink once again for the annual Pink Classic Golf Tournament on May 31, 2015 at Horseshoe Bay Golf Club. This year $18,550 was raised at the Pink Classic for the Sue Baldwin Fund, which provides breast and other cancer awareness, prevention and treatment to Door County residents. Photo by Len Villano. […]
-
A Global Philanthropic Revolution for Economic Well-Being?
More than a century separates the two comments above, yet they come from the same place. Industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie believed that instead of “hoarding great sums” and then passing it on to relatives or bequeathing it to good causes upon their death, the wealthy should wisely invest in the economic well being of their communities […]
-
A Community Land Trust (CLT) varies sharply from an organization like the Door County Land Trust (DCLT), which is so familiar to county residents. Rather than focusing on preserving habitats and open spaces for future generations like the DCLT, a community land trust focuses on preserving land in communities for specific uses in order to […]
-
Few, if any, organizations in Door County are more intimately involved with the affordable housing dilemma than Habitat for Humanity of Door County. Since earning its nonprofit designation in 1993, the organization has built 38 affordable homes for low-income families on the peninsula. To qualify, applicants must earn 60 percent of the median family income […]
-
Sandy Duckett believes it is time for young people to forget the romantic notion that college is the place to find themselves before moving on to the real world. “It’s too expensive these days. There are better ways to find themselves,” said the CEO of Sturgeon Bay-based We Are HOPE, Inc. Duckett and her team […]
-
COIN: Investing Small and Thinking Big
COIN: Community Opportunity Investment Network A few years ago, the Door County Community Foundation (DCCF) convened a small group of people to talk about the future of employment and the wellbeing of employees in Door County. DCCF CEO Bret Bicoy recalls, “It was summer. We were sitting outside around a picnic table. With a couple […]
-
Bay Area Workforce Development Board: The Future Comes
One might be excused for expecting a dry conversation with the director of an organization called the Bay Area Workforce Development Board (BAWDB), but one would be wrong. Talking with Jim Golembeski is a little like talking with a college professor; the discussion is riveting, wide-ranging and thought provoking. Golembeski is a self-described “resigned Catholic […]
-
Employment and the Philanthropic Community
The question of employment — too much or too little — is multi-faceted and complex with a plethora of moving parts. It’s affected by really large, global forces (think the retirement of Baby Boomers) and smaller local forces (like the success of the Door County Visitor Bureau in growing our tourist economy or the newly […]
-
The Summer Workforce: J-1 Visa Students
Leading up to the summer of 2007, Nataliya Vasilyeva spent $1,000 and dozens of hours applying for the opportunity to clean hotel rooms for near minimum wage. In Ukraine, the cost to apply would equal one family’s annual salary, not including a plane ticket across the world and back. “You gain work experience, language experience, […]
-
Similar to anywhere else in the world, the number of people in the Door County workforce is cyclical. Even looking outside of seasonality, the Door County economy functions in relation to the national economy, and workers ebb and flow along with the work. Despite facing a labor shortage in 2015, with businesses struggling to find […]
-
An Inspired Move: Kit & Elizabeth Butz
When Kit and Elizabeth Butz took a weekend trip to Door County for Fall Fest weekend in 2013, they didn’t think it would end with a life-changing decision.
-
Therma-Tron-X: A Model for Rural Employment
On a trip to Door County in the mid-1960s, Otto Andreae and Ray Sherman fell in love with Door County, daydreaming about retiring to the peninsula one day. But as the thought percolated, they decided retirement wasn’t soon enough. In 1971, they moved their industrial ovens manufacturing business to Sturgeon Bay, choosing to locate where […]