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Volume 18 Issue 36 – Section 1

In this issue

  • Pulse Staffers Ring in 2013

    Angela Sherman spent New Year's Eve muddling Old Fashioneds, enjoying a variety of delicious appetizers, participating in a white elephant gift exchange, writing and reading 2013 fortunes, and of course a whole lot of shenanigans!

  • Standing Tall by Stooping

    My brother Dean has a pretty thankless job. He’s the director of the Minnesota Sex Offender Program. Even saying that makes most people feel a little squeamish.

  • The Children

    I want to hear their names / the soft and hard sounds / enunciated by the mothers and fathers / who loved them

  • Old Forestville Dam and Gristmill Put Bread on the Table for 42 Years

    In the late 1800s, northeastern Wisconsin farmers were wheat raisers. The grain was ground into flour for their personal use, and any extra provided income.

  • SeniorCare Program Renewed

    SeniorCare, a program that helps Wisconsin seniors pay for prescription drugs, will survive another three years. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved a renewal of the program through 2015 on Thursday, Dec.

  • 700 Swimmers Take the Polar Bear Plunge in Jacksonport

    It was 32 degrees in the water and just 24 in the air, but Sue Jarosh insisted it was a beautiful day for swimming. “The temperature is cold, but that is not a factor,” Jarosh said.

  • Solar Panels Providing Energy, Education to Washington Island Schools

    During this dark part of the year, a lot of people don’t even want to think about how often they’ll see the sun. But students at Washington Island Schools are not only looking at how often the sun comes out, they’re tracking how much power they’re producing because of it.

  • UU Fellowship Screens Crossing the Line: Defending Wisconsin’s Environmental Commons

    The UU Fellowship’s Movies That Matters series celebrates the power of people standing together at their free screening on Tuesday, January 15 at 4:30 pm.

  • New Osprey Platform is Great Place to Raise a Family

    Thanks to American Transmission Company (ATC), a nesting platform has been installed on the north side of The Ridges Sanctuary’s property at Highway 57 and Ridges Road in Baileys Harbor, future site of the organization’s new interpretive center.

  • In the Loop

    Hearing aids are a godsend for those with hearing difficulties, but there are some important places, like churches or auditoriums, where they just don’t work very well.

  • Egg Harbor Gets Aggressive With Grease

    Last summer as visitors swarmed the village and restaurants served baskets of cheese curds, french fries and burgers, the pipes beneath Egg Harbor ran thick with grease.

  • Free Introduction to Yoga Classes at Junction Center Yoga Studio

    People are never too young or too old to reap the health benefits of yoga. From the Sanskrit word for “union,” yoga is a practice that uses posture and breathing techniques to induce relaxation and improve strength.

  • Next Fire District Meeting Will Get Down to Business

    On Jan. 29, the Northern Door Fire District Exploratory Committee will start getting into the nitty gritty details of what it would take to make a Northern Door Fire District work.

  • Gibraltar Ecology Club Builds Bat Condos for Peninsula State Park

    The shop room at Gibraltar High School is noisy after the last bell on Thursday, Dec. 6, as Ecology Club members scrape, pound and saw. The students, along with volunteers with Friends of Peninsula State Park, park naturalist Kathleen Harris and volunteer teachers David Tupa and Andy Stimers, are putting together two bat condos to shelter the park’s bats “We’re making the bat condos as a way to give back and make Gibraltar a part of the community,” said sophomore Shelby Kahr.

  • What’s Coming Up in Door County?

    • The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) warns car shoppers of a potential influx of flood-damaged cars into the used car market, thanks to Hurricane Sandy.

  • What Happened in Door County?

    The Teresa K. Hilander Ice Skating Rink in Sister Bay is open for the season. The rink is open on weekdays from 4 to 9 pm, and on weekends from 10 am to 9 pm, weather permitting.

  • You Are What You Drink

    Astrologers rely on the stars and planets to determine who and what you are, perhaps they should open a coffee shop. (That’s right, your barista may know more about you than you think.)

  • Bay Shore Outfitters Offers Wednesday Walking Groups

    Dusk has long passed on the Door Peninsula when Ashley Lusk and a dozen others convene at the storefront of Bay Shore Outfitters in Sturgeon Bay. Once tennis shoes are laced tight, hats are pulled over ears, and dogs are securely leashed, the group sets off and walks.

  • Door County Band Students Showcase Talent

    Accomplished band students from area high schools have been selected to participate in the Bay Area Music Association (BAMA) Honors Band on Jan. 5. Conductor Dr. Phillip Ostrander, Associate Professor at UW – Eau Claire, will work with the students that day, culminating in a brief concert at the Door Community Auditorium in Fish Creek at 4 pm.

  • Talented Teens Compete for Door County Idol

    Live from Southern Door Auditorium on Jan. 5 comes Door County Idol. Modeled after the poplar reality competition, American Idol – minus Ryan Seacrest’s dramatic pauses, Simon Cowell’s sour attitude, and Steven Tyler’s distracting hair – the event features six talented teens with incredible pipes.

  • Religion and Giving in Wisconsin

    Door County is the most generous community in one of the least generous states in America. In several columns over the last few months, I’ve discussed what drives the high levels of giving in Door County.

  • County Sales Tax Figures

    With the Holiday Season now behind us, we move into the first quarter of the new year and find ourselves in that awkward position of needing snow to attract visitors while at the same time hoping for moderate temperatures so our heating bills don’t bury us before the tourist season returns in earnest.

  • Covotsos Joins Town Board as Supervisor

    Welcome to “Notes from the Grove” providing information about Liberty Grove Town government to residents and visitors. • At a Special Board meeting on December 21, the board appointed Lou Covotsos of Ellison Bay to fill the vacant supervisor position.

  • Q&A – Questions & Artists – Sally Berner

    Many readers will recognize Sally Berner as a gifted artist specializing in portraits of dogs. Some know she also does landscape and still life paintings.

  • Sleep Loss & Hearing Aids

    There is growing concern about the impact our diet has on the status of our overall health. Research publications dealing with the effects of diet concluded that certain foods can be correlated with chronic inflammation in patients, often in association with diabetes and heart disease.

  • Article posted Wednesday, January 2, 2013 1:57pm

    “I don’t think we’re overbuilt, we’re under-demolished.” – Daniel Hurwitz, CEO of the retail real estate firm DDR, on the state of shopping malls in the United States.

  • Coordinated Community Response Column

    As HELP of Door County, Inc. embraces the new year, we are thankful for the giving nature in Door County. It is this generosity of monetary donations, volunteer hours, and general support of our programs that allows us to continue to work towards our mission of preventing and reducing domestic violence.

  • Article posted Wednesday, January 2, 2013 1:52pm

    Routines are resuming for everyone as the holidays recede into happy memories. Is 2013 the year to adopt a new pet? A companion cat or dog can add another wonderful dimension to family life.

  • Vigil Held in Memory of Newtown Victims

    On the evening of Dec. 19, a vigil was held at the Washington Island School in memory of the victims of the tragedy in Newtown, Conn. In attendance were staff, students and families from the school, the Washington Island Fire Department, and the island's contingent of the DCEMS squad.

  • The Burliest of Beards

    Wally Vartanian of Ephraim was named King of the Burly Beards on Dec. 17 as part of the 2012 United Way Annual Campaign. Seventeen men from around Door County agreed to forgo shaving their whiskers to raise awareness for the campaign.

  • Christmas Tree Pick-up and Lights Recycling in Sister Bay

    The Maintenance Department employees from the Village of Sister Bay will conduct a free Christmas tree pick-up for Village residents and business owners.

  • Friends Community Church Celebrates 100 Years of Singing “The Old Rugged Cross”

    Friends Community Church will celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the first singing of “The Old Rugged Cross” on Jan. 12 and 13. The Rev. George Bennard first sang this song in front of the congregation on January 12, 1913.

  • Merry-Time Festival of Tree Winners Announced

    The Door County Maritime Museum announces the Merry-Time Festival of Tree winners. The inaugural Merry-Time Festival of Trees was a success, and all the trees were works of art.

  • United Methodist Church Hosts Annual Lumberjack Supper

    The men of the Sturgeon Bay United Methodist Church have hosted the Lumberjack Supper for the last 77 years, and will host the 78th Annual Lumberjack Supper on Wed., Jan. 30, 4:30 - 7 pm.

  • Covering the Door

    For over 85 years, Door County has been able to turn to the Koepsel family for one-on-one help planning for crises and dealing with them afterward. After 39 years, Don Koepsel retired from American Family Insurance.

  • Annual Business Planning Course Begins

    The Door County Economic Development Corporation (DCEDC) and the UW-Green Bay Small Business Development Center (SBDC) are once again sponsoring an entrepreneurial training program in Door County.

  • Friends of Peninsula State Park Receive State Farm Grant

    Thanks to the volunteer efforts of retired insurance agent John Plume, Friends of Peninsula State Park (FPSP) has received a $500 grant from the State Farm Companies Foundation.

  • Parallel 44 Introduces New Dessert Wine

    Parallel 44 Vineyard and Winery introduces the newest addition to their wine offerings, Frontenac Dessert. This dessert wine has an intense garnet color and is made from the Frontenac grapes grown at Parallel 44.

  • The Red-bellied Woodpecker

    One of our top favorite wild songbirds coming daily to the feeders for the past 30 years has been the Red-bellied Woodpecker. It’s a species I didn’t get to know as a boy in Kewaunee during the 1940s and ‘50s because, up to that time, there had been very few seen that far north of its usual southern environments.

  • Open House for Peninsula State Park’s Golf Learning Center

    Peninsula State Park and the Peninsula Golf Associates will hold an informational open house for a proposed Golf Learning Center on January 5 from 1 – 3 pm.

  • High School Sports Schedules

    Varsity sports schedules for Door County high schools.

  • Congratulations to Jerry Littler

    If you’re a guy it’s true, no question or fuss, There’s a bit of Tim Taylor in just about all of us. To the hardware store we all seem to descend, And before we become aware, spend hours on end.

  • FRAMED

    Sisters Sophia and Emilia Bass worked together to create this friendly little snowman near their Baileys Harbor home.

  • Overheard, Shout Outs and Pet Peeves

    Are there tid-bits of conversations you’ve heard while standing in line at the grocery store, serving a table, or walking down the sidewalk that make you smile, cringe or laugh out loud?

  • Article posted Wednesday, January 2, 2013 11:24am

    Dear Mary Pat, We just arrived at our second home to find that our neighbor shoveled all of their snow onto our driveway! We don't come up that often, but that doesn't mean that our driveway should be the dumping ground for someone else's snow.

  • Article posted Wednesday, January 2, 2013 11:19am

    Capricorn (December 22 – January 19): It’s about time you took to wearing an eye accessory. Not because you need it, but because they look darn cool.

  • Article posted Wednesday, January 2, 2013 11:18am

    Fill in the blanks: Sturgeon Bay is known as the ______ and ______ Capital of the Midwest.

  • The Clearing Starts Winter Classes

    Begin the year and refresh your spirit by learning something new this winter at The Clearing. Registration is currently open for The Clearing Folk School’s winter classes.

  • “How to Live Forever” Screened at Greens N Grains

    On a mission to live forever, film director Mark Wexler travels the world trying to find out what it means to grow old. On Jan. 10, Greens N Grains Café and the Green Door Film Society invites the community to join in a comical exploration of aging at the screening of Wexler’s How to Live Forever.

  • Scrapbooking Events at the YMCA

    Learn something new at Ladies Night Out: Scrapbooking Night at the Sturgeon Bay YMCA on Jan. 11, 4 – 8 pm. Women are invited to show off their artistic side, take a walk down memory lane, and meet new people while putting together creative scrapbooks during the second annual “Ladies Art Night."

  • Crossroads Shares “The History of Penny Candy”

    The program “The History of Penny Candy” will be offered at Crossroads at Big Creek in Sturgeon Bay on Jan. 5 at 2 pm. Penny candy is a cherished memory of anyone mature enough to remember when candy really cost a penny.

  • Snowshoeing Opportunities at The Ridges

    Snowshoeing is a great way to experience The Ridges Sanctuary during the winter. Join a Ridges Naturalist on Fridays and Saturdays, from Jan. 4 through Feb. 23, for a relaxed hike through the woods and over the swales.

  • Snowshoe Walk and Woodpecker Talk at Peninsula State Park

    Join the Peninsula State Park naturalist on Jan. 5 at 1 pm for a snowshoe walk on Sentinel Trail. Hikers should meet at Eagle Tower and provide their own snowshoes.

  • Crossroads Hosts The Clearing Workshops

    At their November meeting, Crossroads at Big Creek’s Board of Directors determined the education theme and the action goal for 2013 would be “Biodiversity."

  • Kelly Joe Phelps Features Lap Slide Guitar at White Gull

    Singer, songwriter and guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps will perform at the White Gull Inn in Fish Creek on Jan. 16 at 8 pm. Since Lead Me On, his debut album, came out in 1994, the Pacific Northwest-based Phelps has written and performed some of the most compelling slide guitar music ever recorded.

  • January Events at Artists Guild

    Is January looming as a long, dull month? Artists Guild in Sturgeon Bay announces a number of art opportunities to start the year.

  • Salon Celebration at Peninsula School of Art

    The Peninsula School of Art invites the public to attend the free festivities to close the 11th annual Guenzel Gallery Salon on Jan. 19, 6 – 9 pm. Singer/songwriters Jess Holland and Nick Hoover will perform throughout the evening and complimentary appetizers and wine will be served.

  • Ekholm Unveils New Painting

    Judi Ekholm recently completed an oil painting of Poppies and Delphinium entitled “The Joys of Spring.” The new painting is available for purchase and may be viewed at the Ekholm Gallery, located at 3913 Little Spring Road in Fish Creek.

  • UU Gallery Exhibits Graphic Renderings

    The UU Gallery in Ephraim is pleased to exhibit magical graphic renderings by Gary Hanks throughout January and February. Hanks focuses on light in his renderings, and says, “For me light is magical, having the power to lift the spirit and move the emotions.

  • January Exhibit at Hope Church Gallery

    The Hope Church Gallery will feature two local artists in January, Sherry Mutchler and Kerry Vavra. Both artists live in Sturgeon Bay, prefer watercolor as their medium, studied with Ed Fenendael and Bridget Austin, and exhibited their works throughout Door County.

  • Door County Reads Selects “The Beekeeper’s Apprentice”

    Door County is getting ready to read in 2013 thanks to support from the Door County Library Foundation, the Friends of Door County Libraries, library staff members and volunteers from community organizations and businesses.

  • Dickinson Poetry Series Features Estella Lauter

    Estella Lauter is the featured Dickinson Poetry Series reader on Jan. 9, 7 pm, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Since her retirement from teaching in the UW System, Lauter has published two chapbooks with Finishing Line Press in Georgetown, KY.

  • Readers Rampant Book Club Announces Schedule

    Readers Rampant Book Club of the Sister Bay/Liberty Grove Library will meet on Jan. 8 at 2:30 pm to discuss West With the Night by Beryl Markham. All are welcome and cookies will be served.