Door County Land Trust Purchases Sturgeon Bay Shoreline

• The Door County Land Trust recently announced a significant land purchase within Sturgeon Bay that preserves 112 acres along the west shore, near the entrance to the ship canal. The property lies along Strawberry Lane about two miles southeast of downtown Sturgeon Bay and Strawberry Creek bisects the parcel. This recent purchase expanded the new Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Nature Preserve by nearly 30 percent.

The Land Trust established the preserve in December of last year. Since this initial purchase, the Land Trust has been establishing a hiking trail system, cleaning debris, removing invasive species, and erecting informational signs and kiosks. The recent addition of 112 acres brings the total number of protected acres at the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Nature Preserve to nearly 450.

“The Land Trust is very excited about acquiring this property because its protection will have so many positive and lasting impacts for our community,” said Land Trust Executive Director Dan Burke.

Funds for the purchase were provided by a Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund grant and a Coastal Wetlands grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Private donations are now being sought to cover remaining project costs.

For more information about the Door County Land Trust, visit http://www.doorcountylandtrust.org.

• The Gibraltar Instrumental Music Department is pleased to announce that Emma Nickles is the 2010 recipient of the annual Betty L. Wiltse Memorial Scholarship. The $250 scholarship has been established by Wiltse’s children to honor the memory of their mother and her commitment to local area music students.

Music was always an integral and important part of Wiltse’s life. The Door County native played baritone in the first Gibraltar band in the 1940s and kept close ties to the music program in following years. In addition to playing piano for Gibraltar chorus and glee clubs, she accompanied students for solo/ensemble for many years. Through her dedication and countless hours of volunteering, Wiltse encouraged and enriched generations of Gibraltar musicians.

Nickles studies flute privately with Mary Bell and performs with the Gibraltar Middle School Band.

• Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Door County financial associate team, Glen and Grace Rossman, hosted a successful gala event on Oct. 1 at Stone Harbor Conference Center to benefit the Door County Habitat for Humanity Women Build project.

The gala event featured hand painted portraits of over 80 public features, celebrities and local community members, all created by Glen Rossman. During the event, attendees participated in a “name that portrait” game to try and identify the person in each painted portrait. Gala attendees also were able to bid on painted portraits of Green Bay Packers players and purchase “part of the house” by buying small components of items used to build a Habitat home.

The event was attended by about 100 people and raised around $4,500 for the Women Build project in Door County.

For more information on the Women Build project through Habitat for Humanity, contact the Door County Habitat for Humanity office at 920.743.2869.

• From 8:30 am – 12 pm on New Year’s Day, the Door County Humane Society (DCHS) is inviting area residents and visitors to kick off 2011 with a hearty breakfast feast at Ellison Bay’s Mink River Basin.

“Brunchin’ at the Basin” includes all-you-can eat pancakes and sausage, along with potatoes, fruit and coffee. Juices and other beverages will be available for purchase. The breakfast is $10 for adults and $5 for children; all proceeds benefit DCHS, which cares for more than 200 animals at any one time.

“It costs nearly $900 per day to continue our operations and services,” Carrie Counihan, DCHS’s executive director,

explained. “Approximately 5 percent of that comes from government sources, which leaves us to cover the remaining 95 percent through memberships, donations and fundraisers like this one.”

Reservations and advance payment are not required for “Brunchin’ at the Basin.”

The Mink River Basin is located at 12010 State Highway 42 in Ellison Bay. For more information call 920.746.1111 or visit http://www.dooranimals.com.

• The Hunt For The Hungry deer donation program would like to thank all those who donated this season. So far, 545 deer have been donated in the 11 counties served by Hunt For The Hungry. Many food pantries have also benefited in the area, including Paul’s Pantry in Green Bay. This total for the 2010 early bow, gun, and muzzleloader deer seasons has surpassed all the deer that were donated in 2009. The season still includes a late bow season running into the first week of 2011 for those who wish to donate.

For more information visit http://www.huntforthehungry.com or call Lee Dudek at 920.655.1284.

• The Sister Bay Post Office requests that customers clear their mailboxes of snow and ice during the winter months.

“We want to assure there are no delays in mail delivery caused by carriers being unable to approach mailboxes safely,” says Sister Bay Postmaster Karen Sunstrom. Letter carriers are advised to not risk a vehicle accident or a fall if access to a mailbox is not free of snow or ice. In those cases, mail may be returned and delivery reattempted the next day.

“No one wants to inconvenience the customer,” Sunstrom said. “But we must ensure the safety of our employees.”

Customers are asked to clear enough snow from curbside boxes to allow mail trucks to approach the box, deliver the mail, and to drive away from the box without danger or the need for backing.

• The American Red Cross Lakeland Chapter Transportation Service in Door County will be discontinued as of January 1, 2011. This service began in Door County in 2002. Since the service’s beginning, the mission has been to meet the transportation needs of elderly and individuals with disabilities by providing safe, reliable and affordable transportation.

During the past two years, the overall transportation environment in Door County has changed, as there are now other transportation options available to residents.

“The American Red Cross is proud of the transportation service we have provided in Door County since its beginning in early 2002,” said Steve Maricque, executive director, Lakeland Chapter. “We appreciate the opportunity to have served many in the community and wish to thank our dedicated volunteer drivers, funding partners and donors for their wonderful support over the years.”

Please note that this announcement impacts only Transportation Service in Door County. The Red Cross will continue to provide disaster services, services to armed forces, and health and safety training.

For more information, visit http://www.redcross.org.

• Shepherd of the Bay’s Community Health Information Program (CHIP) Winter Series is designed for elders, their children and/or important persons in their lives to learn more about issues affecting elderly.

Beverly Bartlett, outreach specialist for the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Wisconsin will travel from Green Bay to speak and coordinate a series of four, one-hour sessions that will include other local professionals.

All programs are on Sundays from 4 – 5 pm. On Jan. 16, the topic will be “Normal Aging vs. Dementia.” Upcoming dates and topics include: Feb. 20, “Caring for the Person with Dementia/Memory Loss”; March 20, “Caring for the Caregiver”; and April 10, “I Need Help…Where Do I Go?”

Each session will include valuable resources, printed materials, and will be recorded on DVDs. The last session will feature a panel of experts on local support and care provision systems, financial assistance, and legal issues.

The sessions will take place at the Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church in Ellison Bay, except the April session, which will take place at the Immanuel Lutheran church in Baileys Harbor.

• Door County Habitat for Humanity received notification of a grant award in the amount of $49,500 to help build a new home in Sturgeon Bay as part of Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity in 2011.

In 2011, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, through its unique partnership with Habitat for Humanity International, will surpass more than $150 million in its total commitment over six years to create affordable housing. Door County Habitat for Humanity has built five homes as part of that effort.

“The Thrivent Builds partnership has helped Door County Habitat for Humanity increase the number of families served in our community,” said Executive Director Rick Nelson. “We are so grateful for Thrivent Financial’s support of our efforts to provide decent, affordable homes in partnership with families in need.”

While Thrivent Financial provides at least 55 percent of the funding for each Thrivent Builds home, local volunteers – many of them Thrivent Financial members and members of area Lutheran congregations – assist with construction and help raise additional funds.

For more information visit http://www.doorcountyhabitat.org or

ThriventBuilds.com.

• The Women’s Fund of Door County (WFDC) awarded its first grants to recipients on Dec. 14 at Crossroads at Big Creek in Sturgeon Bay.

Although young in years, the Women’s Fund is rich in spirit and proud of the community and individual support that has helped provide the means to make these first awards. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn how Door County non-profit organizations will use these funds to help build, enrich and nurture the lives of local women and girls. In all, eight grants were given in this cycle.

For more information call 920.746.1786 or email [email protected]. For additional information visit http://www.womensfunddoorcounty.org.

• At Green Drinks last fall, Dick Kaiser, a Sustain Door member, introduced fellow members to studying the Transition Town Movement founded in England and Ireland.

Sustain Door’s 2011 schedule will continue to focus on the Transition Town Movement. First, Sustain Door will show the film In Transition 1.0 at Crossroads at Big Creek on Wednesday, Jan. 12 at 7 pm. On Wednesday, Jan. 19, Sustain Door will host an examination of the movement using The Transition Handbook. The first study session will be held in the Basement Room of the Sturgeon Bay Library from 6:30 – 8:30 pm. There will be five further sessions, one a week.

For more information and/or to sign up call Dave at 920.333.0096 or email [email protected].

The Transition Handbook is available at Book World in Sturgeon Bay, Novel Ideas in Baileys Harbor, and The Peninsula Bookman in Fish Creek.

• The Door County Department of Community Programs has established a 24/7 crisis telephone line beginning January 1, 2011. This will replace the crisis telephone services that have been provided by HELP of Door County, Inc. for the past several years.

Historically, HELP of DC, Inc. has taken calls for community information and referral, telephone counseling needs, and domestic abuse related issues. HELP of DC, Inc. will continue to take calls 24/7 related to domestic abuse issues, however the others issues will now be handled by two separate numbers.

The emerging 211 system is the new contact point for information and referral. Door County residents can receive suicide and mental heath counseling and support by calling a new crisis line phone number: 920.746.2588. The existing mobile crisis team made up of the clinical staff of the Door County Department of Community Programs will also continue to be available to respond to individuals as needed.

• Frank Weiss, a yearly volunteer at Peninsula State Park, was honored as Volunteer of the Year by Wisconsin’s State Park system.

Weiss has been giving his time and expertise to Peninsula State Park since 1996, when he and his wife, Bev, started as campground hosts. A few years later he switched to his present volunteer position. For approximately 12 weeks each year Frank works full-time as a skilled craftsman on the park’s facilities and grounds crew. Since 1996, he has donated more than 3,500 hours to improving the park. And while Frank is busy with outside work, Bev is working part-time on the Park’s Visitor Service Team.

Over the past 14 years, Frank’s work ethic, endless patience, and pride in his work have set an example to the many young staff that work at Peninsula each summer.

“His flexibility, team spirit, and willingness to do anything he is asked, have earned the respect of long term and younger staff as well,” says Gene Tiser, Acting Superintendent at Peninsula.

Frank and Bev have camped at Peninsula since 1976.

• Governor Jim Doyle salutes the Wisconsin nursing homes participating in Advancing Excellence (AE) in America’s Nursing Homes by proclaiming the month of December Advancing Excellence in Wisconsin Nursing Homes Month. Wisconsin currently has 229 of 396 nursing homes participating in this quality initiative, including Good Samaritan-Scandia Village located in Sister Bay

Good Samaritan-Scandia Village is a charter member having joined the AE initiative in 2007 as a pilot site for the program. Serving its residents with dignity, respect, and the highest quality of care is of upmost importance, and AE provides valuable assistance in doing so.

For more information about AE visit http://www.nhqualitycampaign.org or call 608.274.1940.

• Unity, leaders in hospice and palliative care, recently announced the donation of the use of “Snowman,” an original collage of construction paper and white paint created by the late Mariah Jean Klein, for its 2010 holiday card fundraising campaign, Gift from the Heart.

In 2007, Mariah was diagnosed with a very rare brain tumor, and Unity was invited into the Klein family’s home to begin care of Mariah as she continued on her journey of life with cancer. The snowman piece was created by Mariah at a daycare art session when she was just two years old.

Through 16 months of treatment, Unity was present, and at the age of four, Mariah lost her courageous battle. Her spirit lives on in the hearts of all of those she touched during her life.

“We are grateful to the Klein family for allowing us to be a part of their lives in caring for Mariah and now in the use of Mariah’s artwork in our annual holiday fundraising project,” comments Nicole Curran, executive director.

The Gift from the Heart fundraiser is a major annual campaign designed to raise awareness and funds for support of the non-profit’s palliative, hospice and bereavement programs in Northeast Wisconsin.

For more information call 920.338.1111.

• Wellness Center Executive Director and Nurse Practitioner, Michele Geiger-Bronsky recently returned from a course presented by the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology in Phoenix, Arizona.

Recent changes in national recommendations for decreased PAP testing/cervical cancer screening may result in women returning to their providers for exams less frequently and/or self-treating symptoms with over the counter medications. Some of these symptoms which are often thought to be related to aging or simply a yeast infection can be serious and an early sign of vulvar or vaginal cancer. Additional discussion focused on the management of abnormal PAP results, common gynecological concerns of women of all ages and the role of human papilloma virus risk reduction and vaccination program which is recommended for males and females ages 11 – 26.

Log onto http://www.wellnesscenterofdoorcounty.com for further information or to schedule an appointment for any Wellness Center service call 920.746.9444.