May 15 – 29, 2009

• Door County Master Gardener Annual Plant Sale will take place on May 30 from 9 am – 12 pm at the UW Peninsular Research Station, 4312 Hwy. 42, Sturgeon Bay. The Master Gardeners have put their green thumbs to work at growing a long list of annuals and perennials, which will be available for sale. Also, plant sale visitors who venture into the free and open-to-the-public Garden Door, located behind the Research Station, will receive a free plant! Proceeds from this annual fundraiser go toward helping the Door County Master Gardeners’ efforts to beautify and green-up Door County. For more information email [email protected].

• The Peninsula School of Art will hold its ninth annual spring luncheon on Thursday, June 11 from noon – 3 pm at Gordon Lodge, 1420 Pine Drive in Baileys Harbor. The theme for this year’s luncheon, which benefits the art education programs of the school, is “Tablescapes:  Artful Settings for All Seasons.” Tickets for the luncheon are $45 and may be obtained prior to the event at the Peninsula School of Art School or by calling 920.868.3455. Advance purchase is recommended.

• Door County Silent Sports Alliance is celebrating National Trails Day June 6 by sponsoring a Volunteer Trail Work Day at Peninsula State Park. Volunteers will work under the guidance of park staff in clearing hiking, biking and ski trails at Peninsula State Park, which is commemorating its Centennial Anniversary on the following day. For National Trails Day – the only nationwide celebration of trails sponsored by the American Hiking Society – volunteers are invited to work locally on June 6 from 9 am – 1 pm. Volunteers are asked to dress comfortably, bring work gloves, safety glasses or sunglasses, as well as water, and meet in Lot 5 in the northeast corner of the park. For more information call 920.746.4911 or 920.421.0848 or email [email protected] or [email protected].

• Applications are now being accepted for the opportunity to play a key role in supporting the youth in Door County as an Americorp Member, working in conjunction with the Volunteer Center staff, local educators, students and agencies to build relationships that facilitate youth volunteerism and develop service learning programming. As an Americorp member, the individual selected will serve for 12 months, June 29, 2009 – June 28, 2010 for an average of 35 – 40 hours a week. Applicants must be 21 years of age by July 2009, have a high school diploma, and attend mandatory trainings on July 13 – 15, 2009 in Marshfield, as well as September 14 – 18, 2009 and January 18 –20, 2010 at Camp Manitou. For more information on how to apply call 920.746.7704 or email [email protected]. The application deadline is Monday, June 1, 2009.

• United Way of Door County encourages everyone to attend one of three community planning sessions to allow individuals to share their observations and ideas for improving the lives of people in Door County. Sessions will be held on Tuesday, June 9 at the Forestville Town Hall in Maplewood from 8:30 – 11 am, Wednesday, June 10 at Sister Bay Village Hall from 1:30 – 4 pm and Thursday, June 11 at Sturgeon Bay Methodist Church from 6 – 8:30 pm. For more information call the United Way office at 920.746.9645 or [email protected].”

• The Baileys Harbor Community Association kicked off its yearlong celebration on Saturday, May 16 with the Taste of Baileys Harbor, which was a huge success and plans are already underway for next year. Areal photos of the Town of Baileys Harbor were donated for public display with proceeds from the event. The next event in celebration of the Baileys Harbor community will take place on the Fourth of July. Enjoy entertainment all day long, a wonderful parade, and great fireworks at night.

• Door County Fair Association is looking to fill two open positions for Fair Board Officers. The Fair Officers plan and run the yearly Door County Fair, which is held in early August at the John Miles County Park in Sturgeon Bay. The position is a full year commitment of planning meetings that cover specific aspects of putting on a County Fair. Then, during Fair Week, the officers are expected to be on grounds fulltime. The selected candidate would start shadowing officers this year. A small stipend is provided. If interested, please send a letter of interest listing why you are applying and what you would be bringing into the position. Deadline for applying is June 9, 2009. Address the letter to:  Donna Henderson, Fair Secretary, 421 Nebraska St., Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235

• Friends, members, media and volunteers are invited to attend the Door County Humane Society’s Annual Meeting on Thursday, June 11 at 6 pm. The event will be held at Crossroads at Big Creek, which is located on TT at the corner of Michigan and Hwy. 42/57 in Sturgeon Bay. In honor of the shelter’s 10th Anniversary, the Staff and Board Members will be kicking off the evening with a wine and cheese reception. Afterwards, a vet panel forum will cover “Anything you ever wanted to ask your vet, but never had the chance!” RSVPs for the evening’s activities and ideas for discussion may be emailed by June 1 to [email protected] or call 920.746.1111, ext. 4.

• The Door County YMCA will be holding a garage sale at the Northern Door Program Center in Fish Creek on Saturday, June 6 from 9 am – 1 pm. All proceeds from the garage sale will support youth programming at the Northern Door Program Center. The entire community is invited to attend the garage sale to shop and enjoy a cookout. The YMCA is also accepting donations of items to be sold. All donations should be dropped off at either the Fish Creek or Sturgeon Bay program center by Thursday, June 4. For more information call 920. 868.3660.

• Eight months of construction culminated in a celebratory final construction meeting at Ephraim Historical Foundation’s brand-new Archival Resource Center recently. Construction is nearly complete for the two-story facility added on to the existing Anderson Barn History Center. The Archival Resource Center will open to the public on Monday, June 22, from 2 – 4 pm. For more information on the Archival Resource Center and the Ephraim Historical Foundation, visit http://www.ephraim.org or call 920.854.9688.

• FISC Consumer Credit Counseling Services, Inc. has received a $3,000 grant from the Door County Community Foundation Children and Youth Fund to use for their “MonKY – Money, Kids, Yikes!” project. The purpose of this project is to provide Financial Literacy education and teach money management/communication skills to both parents and children. In collaboration with the Family Centers of Door County, Gay Pustaver, FISC Director and certified consumer credit counselor, will provide money management tools to youth who take the Family Center’s Babysitting Clinic in June. Partial funding for this project has also been provided by the Raibrook Foundation. For more information call 920.743.1862.

• This summer, the Door County Sail & Power Squadron will offer free Vessel Safety Checks in an effort to continue their mission of boater education. A Vessel Safety Check is a courtesy examination of a boat to verify the presence and condition of certain safety equipment required by State and Federal regulations. Vessel Safety checks will be held on the following dates from 9 am – 3 pm:  Saturday, May 30 for trailered boats at West Marine, 1449 Green Bay Road, Sturgeon Bay; Saturday, June 6 at Quarterdeck Marina, 705 Quarterdeck Lane, and Harbor Club, 133 North Madison Avenue, both in Sturgeon Bay; Saturday, June 20 in Fish Creek at the Municipal Dock and Alibi Dock; and Saturday, June 27, in Sister Bay at the Municipal Dock and Yacht Works Marina. For more information call 920.868.3631, email [email protected] or visit http://www.usps.org/door.

• Dr. John Herlache of Sturgeon Bay was recently awarded the highest honor from Rotary International for humanitarian service. Herlache was cited for a number of accomplishments, including efforts promoting Power Flour, a nutritional supplement that prevents malnutrition in Third World countries. Herlache also organized the Door County Service Club Coalition to support youth activities, served as chief of staff at Door County Memorial Hospital, was a founding member of the Door County Community Foundation and the Door County Transportation Consortium.

• The USDA Rural Development’s Rural Housing Programs offer a broad range of homeownership assistance available to individuals and families who wish to or currently live in rural areas, cities, and communities, including areas of Door and Kewuanee Counties. The Rural Housing Program area of USDA Rural Development has the ultimate goal of providing affordable homeownership opportunities to Wisconsin residents. For more information contact the USDA Rural Development Shawano Area Office at 715.524.8522, ext. 4, Monday through Friday, 8 am – 4:30 pm or send an email to [email protected].

• The Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line announced an expansion of Operation Quit Tobacco, an innovative program designed to help Wisconsin military personnel and veterans quit tobacco addiction. Operation Quit Tobacco offers coaching and a full course of free medication through the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line to all Wisconsin military personnel (active and veterans) who want to quit tobacco use. Military personnel can call 1.800.QUIT.NOW to receive free coaching as well as a full eight-week supply of nicotine patches, lozenges or gum.