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Door County Habitat for Humanity Hosted Women Build Training

• Fourteen women participated in the 2011 Habitat for Humanity Women Build Training held Feb. 26 and March 12. During the training, the women learned about basic safety, construction terminology, measuring, and reading blueprints.

The second day of training was a workday at the Women Build Home in Sturgeon Bay. During the work and training day, participants were trained on a variety of power tools, which they used to repair drywall, install flooring underlayment, and remove trim boards to prepare for new flooring installation.

Volunteers Paul Stangel, Tom Young and Dave Link shared their expertise with the participants and the Women’s Fund of the Door County Community Foundation supported the cost of educational materials and construction supplies.

For more information about the Women Build project, call volunteer coordinator Katy Moore at 920.743.2869.

• The Jim Larsen Boys & Girls Club of Door County is recruiting community members to volunteer as mentors for T. J. Walker Middle School students of Sturgeon Bay. Mentors will serve as tutors, guides, and friends to students who could benefit from having an extra caring adult in their lives.

Mentors commit to spending at least one hour per week with mentees. Mentors will help mentees define and achieve goals, improve in school, solve problems, and increase self-confidence and self-esteem.

All meetings will take place on the T. J. Walker Middle School campus. The mentoring program will begin in April and continue through June, with a possibility of extending through summer and the following school year.

Interested volunteers are encouraged to contact Nicole Twardzik, the mentor program coordinator, at 920.746.5125 or email [email protected] for an application and informational packet.

• The Algoma / Sturgeon Bay Coast Guard Auxiliary flotilla will be hosting two Boat Safety Courses. The first will be held April 9 in Sturgeon Bay and the second on June 4 in Sister Bay. The courses will cover safe boat handling on personal watercraft, paddling sports, regulations, and aids to navigation.

Anyone born after Jan. 1, 1989 is required to take a safe boating course to legally operate a motorboat, including personal watercraft. For more information or to sign up call 920.327.1677 or email [email protected].

• Friends of Crossroads will host the second annual 2K, 5K, 10K Trail Run/Walk, “Running Green for Crossroads” June 25. Each year, this event is staged to promote and support Crossroads at Big Creek’s Environmental Learning Center.

Each kilometer marker along the trail will provide an opportunity for an individual or a business to be recognized as a sponsor. The options for sponsors include promotional signage on the trail and at a refreshment booth, a newspaper ad, and ditty bag flyers.

For more information call Gretchen Shcmelzer at 920.493.0090 or visit http://www.crossroadsrun.com.

• During the month of April, Curves of Sturgeon Bay will participate in the 13th Annual Curves Food Drive to collect non-perishable food and cash donations to benefit their local food bank. Members who make a $30 donation or an equivalent donation of food are eligible to receive a Curves reusable grocery bag. Also, from April 4 – 17, Curves will waive the membership fee for new members who donate a bag of non-perishable food or make a minimum donation of $30.

Curves International is offering gyms the opportunity to win cash prizes for their local food banks. Prizes will be awarded to clubs with the most food collected, clubs who beat their 2010 donation level by the largest amount, and to two randomly selected clubs drawn from all the clubs who enter the contest.

“Curves annual Food Drive is one way that everyone in the Sturgeon Bay area can make a real difference for a local family that is struggling,” said Curves founder Diane Heavin. “We encourage everyone to make a cash donation or drop off a bag of non-perishable food items in April.”

For more information about Curves of Sturgeon Bay, located at 3034 Park Drive, call 920.746.0399. For more information about Curves, visit http://www.curves.com.

• Door-Tran has secured a challenge grant for any new money donated to Door-Tran from March 17 – May 15. Paul Kok, Door-Tran president, is working closely with an anonymous donor to ensure that Door-Tran meets the need of $50,000 by the end of the year. The challenge grant is for $5,000. Any money donated to Door-Tran between the above dates will be matched dollar for dollar by this anonymous donor.

For more information about Door-Tran or to make a donation call 920.743.9999 or 877.330.6333 or visit http://www.door-tran.com.

• Door County Habitat for Humanity has scheduled an informational meeting for Thursday, April 14 at 5:30 pm at Crossroads at Big Creek located at 2041 Michigan Street in Sturgeon Bay to recruit potential new Habitat homeowners.

Members of the Habitat’s Family Selection Committee will explain the application process and eligibility requirements. A current Habitat homeowner will explain the benefits of building a home with Door County Habitat for Humanity. Refreshments will be served. Applications will be available to be completed.

The organization has ambitious goals for the 2011 construction season, including building two new homes, painting up to ten existing homes through the new “A Brush With Kindness” program, and assisting up to seven existing homeowners with remodeling and repairs.

For more information, contact Rick Nelson at 920.743.2869 or visit http://www.doorcountyhabitat.org.

• Kathy Navis and Nancy Fisher are spearheading a drive to raise $20,000 to complete Harbor Hounds Dog Park after a conditional use permit was granted by the Village of Egg Harbor. The land is an unused portion of Village View Park, on the corner of Church Street and Harbor School Road.

The estimated $20,000 total cost must be raised from private sources. The park is designed with two fenced sections, one for small dogs, and a more spacious area for large dogs.

“Having a place where dogs can run freely and play with other dogs is a valuable asset to both dog owners and their community,” said Navis. Both Navis and Fisher adopted two dogs each from the Door County Humane Society.

For a $200 donation, individuals can sponsor a 10’ fence section. Each 10’ section will have a metal plaque with the donor’s name or memorial dedication. A $500 donation will buy a picnic table and a donation in the amount of $1,000 will provide the weather shelter. A donation of any amount will be acknowledged with a listing on the donors’ register and a bag of dog treats, courtesy of Greens N Grains.

Additional information may be found on the Harbor Hounds Facebook page or by emailing [email protected]. Contributions may be sent to Harbor Hounds Dog Park, 5110 Alpen Lane, Egg Harbor WI 54209.

• Hope United Church of Christ will host the fourth in a series of five Lenten Vespers Services exploring alternative worship styles on Sunday, April 3 at 5:30 pm. Organist David Beck will be joined by Mona Pagel for a service of meditation, readings, and music.

Hope United Church of Christ is located at 141 S. 12th Street in Sturgeon Bay. For more information visit http://www.hopechurchdc.org.

• To help alleviate some financial burden, people have been turning to the Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP) to help meet their heating costs. The Energy Assistance Program helps low-income families in four ways: heating and electric benefits, help in energy crisis situations, furnace emergency assistance, and potential weatherization services.

In Door County this program is operated by Women’s Employment Project, which has aided 1,128 households in the community and will continue issuing energy payments until May 15, 2011.

For more information about the program and/or to schedule an appointment, call 920.743.7273.

• The Annual Meeting of the Namur Belgian Heritage Foundation will be Wednesday, April 6 at 7 pm at the former St. Mary’s Church building in Namur. The meeting will include a brief presentation to review and celebrate the work of the foundation, which was founded in August 2010 for the purpose of saving the former St. Mary’s building and to consider reusing the building for the proposed Wisconsin Belgian Heritage Center.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Jean van Stratum from the Netherlands. He will speak on his recently published biography on Abbott Bernard Pennings, one of the first Norbertine missionary priests in America when he was assigned to St. Mary’s in 1893. Refreshments will be served.

• Nelson Healing Center will host Theresa Evans and Lynn Tomjanovich as they teach Critical Alignment Yoga Therapy on Saturday, April 16.

Critical Alignment Therapy was developed by Gert Van Leeuwe after noticing that many of his students were experiencing chronic pain in the shoulders, back, and hips from repetitive lifestyle related activities. Critical Alignment Therapy uses special props to help relax the superficial movement muscles and engage the deep postural muscles designed to hold the spine in its most supportive position. This practice is perfect for those working with pain in the low back, upper back or neck area, as well as those who experience sciatica, carpal tunnel syndrome and headaches.

The workshop will be held April 16 from 9 am – 12 pm. There is a fee of $30 and all equipment will be provided. Subsequent classes will begin Monday, May 2 from 7:45 – 9 am and will run for six weeks.

Nelson Healing center is located at 44 S. 2nd Avenue in Sturgeon Bay. For more information or to register call Nelson Healing Center 920.818.0045.

• The Baileys Harbor Historical Society (BHHS) hosted the Friends of Gibraltar (FOG) and the Gibraltar 5th Grade in an afternoon of historical research and entertainment on March 25 at the Baileys Harbor Town Hall.

Forty-one students had lunch with twenty-four senior citizens as part of the Door County Senior Lunch program. After lunch, the 5th graders became “citizen historians” and recorded the childhood memories of the seniors in order to preserve that information within the BHHS local history archives.

Hedwig Peil (portrayed by her great grand-daughter Kristen Peil) returned to take the students back through time on a walking tour to give the students a glimpse into the odds and ends of life in old Baileys Harbor.

The day ended with a skit contest in which students put their own spin on their research of Baileys Harbor into a one-minute reenactment in front of their peers. Lots of clever ideas and laugh-out-loud performances ensued!

The Town of Baileys Harbor, the Baileys Harbor McArdle Library, and the Door County Senior Lunch Program supported the event.

• Sunday, April 10 the Health & Wellness cabinet of the Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church will present the fourth in its series on Elder Issues entitled “I Need Help: Where Do I Go?” The free presentation will take place at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Baileys Harbor from 4 – 5 pm.

Beverly Bartlett of the Green Bay Alzheimer’s Association will lead the discussion, which will feature a panel of four other experts who will speak about local care, financial assistance, and legal issues.

• Sunshine House Inc. (SHI) announced that, with the help of Door-Tran, the County of Door, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, and a Federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant, five new wheelchair accessible buses have replaced the organization’s aging fleet. A sixth bus will join the fleet at a later date.

SHI has been providing transportation services to Door County people with disabilities for 40 years. The new buses will operate five fixed bus routes Monday through Friday as well as transport some employees to community jobs. The buses and van will also be used to provide transportation to other Door County residents and organizations needing occasional specialized transport.

“We provide over 20,000 individual passenger rides and put over 75,000 miles on our bus fleet each year,” said Pete Bosman, director of transportation at Sunshine House.

For more information call Bosman at 920.743.7943.

• United Way of Door County will celebrate 50 years of service at their annual meeting April 13 at the Sturgeon Bay Yacht Club.

A Community Gathering will be held from 5 – 6 pm, with a program to follow from 6 – 7 pm. A short business meeting will give way to honoring award recipients, including the Bob Steifvater “Magnificent” Volunteer of the Year Award, given to a United Way volunteer who displayed exemplary community service. Tickets are $15 per person.

In addition, new board members will be elected and outgoing board members will be honored for their combined 29 years of volunteer service to United Way of Door County. Peter Kerwin, Sue Todey, Nancy Hanson, Cozy Helm and Leslie Gast are acknowledged for their dedication.

For more information or to register to attend call 920.746.9645 prior to Thursday, April 10.

• The United Way of Door County is now accepting applications to grant funds. They are opening their Annual Community Investment process to any non-profit organization that meets the needs of people in Door County and strengthens the United Way’s mission.

Executive Director Amy Kohnle said, “After extensive research, four critical areas of focus were identified by residents of Door County: Basic Needs, Community, Health Care and AODA (Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse). Each of these areas have multiple goals that we are committed to achieving through our funding process. Any qualified program in the community that can help achieve those goals, is strongly encouraged to apply.”

Applications are due Friday, April 29 prior to 3 pm. During May and June, applicants will meet with the volunteers who are on the Community Investment Committee to review their application. The programs that are awarded grants will then receive their funds in monthly installments in 2012.

For more information or to receive an application form, call the United Way 920.746.9645 or visit http://www.unitedwaydc.com and click on the “NonProfit Resources” tab.

• Unity, leaders in hospice and palliative care, announced that Kristen Moen and Barb (Zenker) Voigtman have joined Unity’s expanded clinical team. Moen will assume the role of nurse practitioner and Voigtman will assume the role of clinical nurse specialist. The clinical team, overseen by Unity Medical Director Rance Hafner, has seen significant growth since the fall of 2010 when its second physician, Amanda Sommerfeldt was hired to help meet the growing need within Northeast Wisconsin for end-of-life care.

Unity is based in the Green Bay area with offices in Marinette, Shawano and Sturgeon Bay. For more information call 920.338.1111.

• The Women’s Fund of Door County (WFDC) will be accepting grant applications through April 12 to support programs that directly affect women and girls in Door County. Application forms may be downloaded at http://www.womensfunddoorcounty.org. Awards will be announced within four to eight weeks of the April deadline.

The Women’s Fun of Door County is a comprehensive resource established to promote community-wide understanding and support for issues surrounding the status of women and girls. Grant priority will be given to applications that provide education and information about women’s issues, build self-esteem and dignity, and support solutions for critical issues.

Applicants must be either a non-profit public charity or a government unit; no grants will be given to individuals.

• The Baileys Harbor Community Association (BHCA) will sponsor the 23rd Annual Brown Trout Tournament April 15 – 17. The association is seeking volunteers for the weigh-ins each day. The event draws many people to Baileys Harbor and the entire Door County area.

BHCA will not be able to hold the event next year if they do not have adequate help to run it this year. For more information or to volunteer call Gene Stanis at 920.839.2112.