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(2008/07/25)
When the collection of buildings looming over the west end of downtown Bangor started to come down last week, it marked the end of an era. For well over a century the Hussa Brewery/Sprehn Feed Mill (or their remnants) dominated the local skyline.
(2008/07/25)
It would have taken a lot more than a little rain to keep the La Crosse Interstate Fair from being a success.
(2008/07/25)
Camp Decorah, a nationally certified Boy Scout Camp on the Black River north of Holmen, has been drawing praise this summer from Scouts and Scout leaders alike.
(2008/07/25)
Despite the average sale prices dipping from last year, the Junior Livestock Auction was still deemed a success and gave area youth an educational opportunity at the La Crosse Interstate Fair.
(2008/07/25)
The elderly in La Crosse County need a lot of help, and Joan Beebe has been volunteering to provide some of that help for more than 10 years. For that, she and the people she helps has her mother to thank.
(2008/07/25)
One adventure I always look forward to every summer is a visit to the sundew patches in Jackson County. Most people would probably look at the same place and see grass-like sedges, huckleberry bushes, sphagnum moss and any number of other plants and wonder where all the sundews were.
(2008/07/25)
Music fans won’t have to wait in line for a chance at a backstage pass to The Vans Warped Tour this summer if they’re willing to help save lives and give blood to the American Red Cross.
(2008/07/25)
I have a little confession to make: I had to turn over the grilling to my fiance Tim.
(2008/07/25)
I sometimes wonder just how much attention we would pay the Dalai Lama if he showed up in Madison wearing slacks and a sport coat, rather than saffron robes and sandals.
(2008/07/25)
When I was young, “The Old Oaken Bucket” was the title of an already old song about a moss-covered pail that had been made of oak lumber and suspended on the end of a length of rope for the purpose of lifting water out of an ancient open well.
(2008/07/25)
The West Salem Parks and Recreation Department is still accepting summer registration for the following activities.
(2008/07/25)
Hello, friends, This week I have a good news story about the kids group Kids and Mentors Outdoors or KAMO that I helped start back in February of 2007.
(2008/07/22)
Even if you missed the opening day yesterday, there is still an abundance of fair to enjoy as the La Crosse Interstate Fair continues through Sunday.
(2008/07/22)
Combined shifts, bigger projects, lots of lawn mowing and deep cleaning are some of the aspects of the job of custodial staffs in the Bangor and West Salem school districts during the summer months.
(2008/07/22)
When Brian Wierzbicki decided to start Precision Stump Removal LLC in West Salem, it was customer service that was the driving force.
(2008/07/22)
Anyone who’s ever had houseguests overstay their welcome can sympathize with the plight of architect Willum Cubbert in Lary Shue’s “The Nerd.”
(2008/07/22)
Now that the children are out of school, it won’t be long if it hasn’t happened already before they are complaining they are bored. Just in time, SimplyFun party planners are hosting game parties for kids and their parents to try out new games together.
(2008/07/22)
Heidi Lyga, a Bangor High School Spanish teacher who ran in the Boston Marathon in April, won her age group in the July 5 10-kilometer division at the annual Chileda Classic.
(2008/07/22)
Three West Salem residents finished in the top four in their age divisions at the July 5 annual Chileda Classic in La Crosse.
(2008/07/22)
Are teens and credit cards a risky mix leading to debt and financial woes? Or do teens with credit cards have an opportunity to gain money management experience and a good credit history?
(2008/07/22)
The United States Golf Association and Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews permitted the use of electronic measuring devices to aid golfers last year. That decision has come to revolutionize the way most tournaments are being played in Wisconsin, including with the Three Rivers Golf Association.
(2008/07/22)
A picture of a black bear in today’s La Crosse Tribune has prompted me to look backward in my files at copies of this series of articles to see when I last noted the presence of one of these animals in our area. Would you believe it was just short of one year ago?
(2008/07/22)
Over the last few weeks, I have seen a lot of the purple to pink flowers of the crown vetch (Coronilla varia) along our roads, highways and in many fields around the Coulee Region. The plant blossoms every year from May to August and they present vast fields of pretty color.
(2008/07/22)
Hello, friends, This past week I spent six days with friends and family camping at Wilderness County Park, which is located on the Petenwell Flowage in northern Juneau County.
(2008/07/22)
There’s a new way to play and the Onalaska YMCA has it. On June 23, the facility opened its new Pepsi Prime Time Youth Lounge with cool, state-of-the-art interactive games.
(2008/07/16)
After school lets out around Memorial Day, it might seem like a safe assumption that most kids take a three-month break from learning.
(2008/07/16)
When the Boys & Girls Club of West Salem Area opened on July 16 of last summer, the earliest predictions were it would take three years for the club’s membership to reach 280 members. However, it took two short months to surpass that benchmark and, in the months since, club growth has continued at an incredible pace.
(2008/07/16)
With 116 teenagers signed up, Bethany Evangelical Free Church might have the largest teen Bible study group around. How did the church get that many teenagers motivated to study the Bible over their summer break? Take them water skiing.
(2008/07/16)
The high waters on the Mississippi and Black rivers aren’t keeping water skiers from enjoying the sport, including the River City Water Ski Club.
(2008/07/16)
The West Salem Sharks swim team traveled to Sparta on June 28 for the first of two away meets this season. It was a chilly, overcast day, but most of the events were able to finish before the meet was called because of rain. The Shark swimmers did very well.
(2008/07/16)
Christen Geyer leaves no doubt she is pumped up about taking part in her fourth Onalaska High School summer musical and seventh OHS show overall. For one thing, she landed a plum starring role as the witch in this year’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.”
(2008/07/16)
I’ve been at the computer for over an hour and I’ve deleted the last four articles. I have a lot on my mind and can’t seem to get my thought processes together.
(2008/07/16)
People attending the 2008 La Crosse Area Builders Association’s Parade of Homes chose a West Salem home built by Gorman Construction as their favorite of the 17 new homes and two remodeling projects featured houses in this year’s tour.
(2008/07/16)
It was at least three years ago (possibly four) that I made a quick trip out to the east end of our Prairie Natural Area along the La Crosse River Trail on an errand. I was hoping to meet a steam locomotive that was scheduled to pass our way that day as I wanted a picture.
(2008/07/16)
Often, I feel rather like a kid while chasing a frog or butterfly to get a good picture. I did much the same thing when I was 9 years old and I’ve been doing it ever since.
(2008/07/16)
Hello, friends, Last week and again this week I am writing to you about one of the most enjoyable and practical-joke filled trips (next to deer camp) of the year.
(2008/07/09)
If Sunday’s turnout at Rockland Park Progress Days is any indication of what people think of the village’s recreational facilities, the community loves its parks.
(2008/07/09)
For Doug Wozney, winning the People’s Choice award last weekend in the S&S Cycle 50th anniversary bike build-off competition was sweet. But in a way, the second place award he won was sweeter.
(2008/07/09)
The West Salem Sharks swim team hosted their first meet of the season on Thursday, June 26. It was attended by Sparta, Onalaska, Holmen, Trempealeau and Coulee Region Rapids.
(2008/07/09)
The West Salem Parks and Recreation Department has a variety of fun summer activities for participants of all ages.
(2008/07/09)
In addition to honoring wives, mothers and grandmothers at their annual Femme Party, Voiture 830 of the La Crosse County 40 & 8 recently presented awards to J.C. Penney and members of the staff at the Valley View Mall store.
(2008/07/09)
If you have walked outdoors much lately you might have seen some frothy masses of bubbles that resemble spit attached to the stems and leaves of a number of plants. In fact, the creatures that make them are called spittlebugs. Out of curiosity, I inspected a juicy wad of the foam to see what was inside.
(2008/07/09)
Popular media creates the notion of instant and romantic relationships. Even though we all know they don’t happen that quickly, most people hope for satisfying relationships in their lives.
(2008/07/09)
As a child, I remember fondly sitting on the countertop by my mother’s mixer and cracking eggs into a bowl and helping her to make everything from cookies to meatballs.
(2008/07/09)
It’s time to face some facts along the La Crosse River Trail. Although I think of myself as a genuine rural resident, I have now lived a bit more than half of my life 40 years, in fact as a villager, which is somewhat more restrictive than the life to which I was born.
(2008/07/09)
Air travel is not what it used to be. In years past, airline travel was considered a luxury with thoughtful flight attendants looking after sophisticated passengers. Today, airline travel conjures images of cramped cabins, delayed flights, lost luggage and correspondingly grumpy travelers.
(2008/07/09)
Wisconsin consumers need to be prepared for a new twist on a phone scam, warned the Wisconsin Bankers Association. The current scheme involves an offer to lower interest rates rather than previous scams that warned of compromised accounts.
(2008/07/09)
Hello, friends, I recently returned from what is probably my best annual outdoor adventure.
(2008/07/01)
The Mindoro Cut a roadway passage 74 feet deep and 26 feet wide carved out of mostly solid rock turns 100 this year. In celebration, the community of Mindoro is going all out this Sunday to ensure a happy and memorable birthday for the deepest hand-hewn road cut in the nation. Food, fun and history especially history will dominate the proceedings.
(2008/07/01)
Rockland will again gather to promote its parks as its annual Park Progress Days will be held on Sunday.
(2008/07/01)
For those that thrive on revving engines, smoke, noise and stunts, Saturday’s motorcycle stunt show at the Harley-Davidson store in Onalaska will be a treat and a free one at that. Labeled “The American Daredevil,” famed stunt motorcyclist Bubba Blackwell will thrill crowds with his riding stunts on his tricked-up Harley.
(2008/07/01)
Malory Hendrickson, a graduate of Bangor High School (2004) and Luther College, is going on a mission to Mexico beginning this August as part of the Young Adults in Global Mission program of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She will be raising funds for her trip in the Bangor/West Salem area before her departure.
(2008/07/01)
The death of George Caffrey last month prompted West Salem resident Bob Selbrede to send The Coulee News an old picture of Caffrey taken in the Pischke Motors showroom, back when that business was still downtown on Leonard Street
(2008/07/01)
Employees of the county’s sheltered workshop for people with disabilities at the Lakeview Health Center in West Salem are hoping they will get the chance to help out area businesses in the Coulee Region this summer and maybe earn some spending money in the process.
(2008/07/01)
Every summer, Red Cross officials say blood and platelet donations lag as many donors vacation or are otherwise occupied with summer activities and neglect to donate.
(2008/07/01)
I usually have a healthy diet rich in leafing greens and vegetables, but today is not going to be one of those days.
(2008/07/01)
Daniel Gollnick, an Eagle Scout and recent graduate of Bangor High School, recently built a precious gift for the residents of Mulder Health Care Facility in West Salem a raised plant bed so residents in wheelchairs could do a little gardening or perhaps once again enjoy the smell of fresh dirt or a blooming flower.
(2008/07/01)
The second-annual West Salem High School Alumni & Friends Golf Outing will be held on Saturday, Aug. 2 at Fox Hollow Golf Course in Barre Mills.
(2008/07/01)
When I was a kid, growing up in the back of a rather tight coulee, the sky was a lot smaller than it is today. At least my sky was.
(2008/07/01)
I have expressed disappointment at times that Pettibone Park on the Mississippi River near La Crosse hasn’t been utilized more as a wildlife observation area as it was originally intended. I should note, however, that I have noticed lately that a few areas on the western side have indeed been left uncut and more natural plant growth has been allowed to grow.
(2008/07/01)
Hello, friends, As you are reading this week’s column, I am more than likely just returning from a nine-day, fly-in fishing trip to Ontario, Canada.
(2008/06/24)
Kick with your left foot. Set it down. Step right. Step left, now rock back onto the right foot. Keep the rhythm now: kick, one, two, three. Kick, one, two, three. Now kick the left foot as if scooping a rock, making contact with the floor. Set the toe back down making another sound. Step the heel down. Now scoop the right toes, tap them back down. Heel down. Step back on the left foot. Scoop the right foot. Heel down. Step left. Rock backward.
(2008/06/24)
The hills really will be alive with “The Sound of Music” as West Salem schools will perform its summer musical beginning tonight.
(2008/06/24)
Col. Mark Greenwood, deputy commander of the 32nd Infantry Brigade of the Wisconsin National Guard, spoke at a Flag Day celebration June 12 at La Crosse’s Myrick Park.
(2008/06/24)
When people are confounded by life, they often ask the big, sometimes unanswerable question: why? Many need to find the answer to give events meaning. For some, the question “why are we here” translates to what is the meaning of life.
(2008/06/24)
I’m hoping that the monsoon season has passed and we will soon get into a summer pattern. At least weather-wise.
(2008/06/24)
Recently you might have noticed a bushy, thorny plant growing along shorelines and roadsides with one- to one-and-a-half-inch, pink five-petaled blossoms. It’s most likely a wild rose, possibly the Virginia rose, and the blossoms give promise of a nutritious treat to follow. When the blossoms fade the fruits that follow, called rose hips, will be a good source of vitamin C and other nutrients.
(2008/06/24)
Anybody who might read these words has likely seen the term “loosestrife” before. I’ve certainly mentioned it as an infamous weed with reddish flowers that has been destroying our wetland habitats for a number of years. But I want you to know that this same term is also used as the English name of a whole passel of well-behaved native plants with attractive yellow flowers.
(2008/06/24)
Hello, friends, We all have our weaknesses, and mine, which I explained to Sawyer County musky fishing guide Mike Cookas, is catching musky. I gave Mike Cookas a call in attempt to receive information on how to fish musky on Sawyer County’s 15,000-acre Chippewa flowage.
(2008/06/17)
You may have seen her out at area community events, or you may have seen her during local parades, but no matter where you see her, you’ll be thinking about the La Crosse Interstate Fair.
(2008/06/17)
After an eight-year layoff, a La Crosse County farm will once again host a dairy breakfast and it won’t be a cozy little gathering either.
(2008/06/17)
West Salem’s Heider Center for the Arts will continue its popular lineup of shows as it recently announced its 2008-09 Family Series and Mainstage Series.
(2008/06/17)
School’s out and summer is approaching, so that can only mean one thing: it’s pool time.
(2008/06/17)
When Kyle Rogers decided to do his senior exit project at West Salem High School, it’s unlikely he ever imagined that it might take him on a trip to Africa this summer. However, it appears that is exactly what is going to happen.
(2008/06/17)
The Green Bay Printmaking Studio of La Crosse recently sponsored a juried art show called the Visions of Youth Print Exhibition, which is currently on display at the La Crosse Public Display.
(2008/06/17)
I’m trying to find ways to relax. My personality and relaxation just don’t seem to understand one another.
(2008/06/17)
The vast majority of us who live in the United States and Canada must know the wild geese that we all call Canadas. The “honkers” certainly fly past almost everyone in these two countries at least twice a year, once in spring and again during the fall, while the great migrations are going on.
(2008/06/17)
More than 60 people from throughout La Crosse County attended the 2008 June Dairy Days recipe contest sponsored by the La Crosse County Association for Home & Community Education on Friday, May 30.
(2008/06/17)
Thoughts of Hawaii, Mexico, Green Bay Packers, John Deere tractors, birthday and garden parties all came to mind April 14 as 14 La Crosse County 4-H members displayed their nutritional and creative snacks or menu items for judging at the annual 4-H Favorite Foods Revue.
(2008/06/17)
If you have enough patience, it’s always fun to watch a great blue heron in action, or inaction as it turns out much of the time. They can stand in one position for an amazing length of time as they wait for prey. But once they pinpoint a potential meal, they go after it. If the prey is close, they might strike quickly, but if it is some distance away they stalk more cautiously.
(2008/06/17)
Hello, friends, By MARK WALTERS This past weekend I went on what turned out to be an excellent family fishing trip.
(2008/06/11)
“What a shock and what an honor!” That was the reaction of longtime community volunteer Jim Quinn last Friday morning at the June Dairy Days Breakfast when he learned he was going to be this year’s parade marshal. The honor, always a closely guarded secret, caught Quinn completely by surprise.
(2008/06/11)
This year’s Neshonoc Dayz netted more than just fun it landed a positive impact for Lake Neshonoc.
(2008/06/11)
The La Crosse County Library System’s summer reading program will have an international flavor this year, with a wide variety of special programs that go along with the theme: “Go Global: Read.”
(2008/06/11)
Rummage sale fans should mark June 13-14 on their calendars as those are the days that Bangor will hold its village-wide rummage. The affair, in its fourth year, is always held on the second weekend in June.
(2008/06/11)
All during the week after Onalaska’s annual Sunfish Days, I heard bait dealers and anglers lament that the sunfish spawn had not actually begun yet. It seems that the chilly weather had delayed the usual start of spawning activity.
(2008/06/11)
Hello, friends, I had a blast on my last trip, and if you keep reading, you can find out why.
(2008/06/11)
I apologize for not having an article in last week’s paper, but I missed my deadline due to no fault but my own.
(2008/06/11)
The world into which I was born nearly four score years ago was a vastly different place from the one we know today. For one thing, life in the Driftless Area was an almost entirely rural affair.
(2008/06/03)
Hunter Miller, a fifth-grader at West Salem Elementary, was one of 20 finalists in a nationwide contest to see who would be on the cover of a book called “The Model Child.” The winning child received a round-trip airfare and a free hotel stay in New York with a parent or guardian and the opportunity to meet with agents from the leading child modeling agencies in the world.
(2008/06/03)
Gratitude was the theme of the day at Saturday afternoon’s commencement ceremonies for the graduating seniors of Coulee Region Christian High School. But it was far more than gratitude for making it through the last year of high school. Instead, graduation day was seen as a time to count one’s blessings while looking to the future.
(2008/06/03)
West Salem High School celebrated the academic achievements of 121 seniors on Sunday as the school held its 128th annual commencement ceremony.
(2008/06/03)
When Josh Miller of Mindoro graduated from UW-La Crosse last May with a degree in computer science, he did what most college graduates do he started looking for a job.
(2008/06/03)
As a kid, I avoided it and called it itchweed. When I got a little older, I learned that the proper name was stinging nettle. Botanists call it Urtica dioica. But Nicholas Gale, the Vernon County outdoor expert, calls it food.
(2008/06/03)
For a large part of my life, I have had to listen to a number of adages dealing with the rules that supposedly govern life.
(2008/06/03)
Hello, friends, My job was all about learning experiences this past week, and, as usual, I had fun doing it. I became friends with a Bill Needles, of Necedah, and Doug Kreger, of Hartford. Kreger and Needles fish four Masters Walleye Circuit tournaments each year.
(2008/05/27)
A longtime West Salem resident will have an extra reason to give thanks this Memorial Day. Almost 60 years after Elvera Soper’s brother, Harry J. Laurence, disappeared while fighting in the Korean War, his remains have finally come home to the United States.
(2008/05/27)
Pity the band that must go head-to-head in musical battle against Zetus Deamos. The hard rocking quartet played its first live gig at the 2005 Oktoberfest Gong Show in La Crosse and won with an original song, just a month after forming. Six months later, the band won the regional Launchpad competition, and then a year ago they triumphed in a local battle of the bands to open a concert at the La Crosse Center headlined by Buckcherry.
(2008/05/27)
If there’s one lesson to be learned about medicine, it’s that miracles do happen, and in ways least expected.
(2008/05/27)
A Memorial Day weekend tradition of folk singing and picnicking is set to fire up at Bangor Village Park once again this Sunday. As always, there will be no charge for admission, although donations for beer and pop will be accepted.
(2008/05/27)
The Visual Arts Series at the Marie Heider Center for the Arts ends for the season with the 2008 Senior Art Show. The works of two dozen graduating seniors are on display at the Heider Center from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., Monday through Friday and will remain there until June 4.
(2008/05/27)
The Boys & Girls Club of West Salem Area have announced Ashton Lincoln and Sarah Novak as the April members of the month.
(2008/05/27)
So I’ve gained a few pounds recently. Seven to be exact, and this is no fault but my own. I should be eating the recipes that I place in the paper and take my own advice.
(2008/05/27)
It must have been two weeks or more since I noticed the first green leaves along the La Crosse River Trail. In typical seasonal fashion, the bearers of those bits of good news were from one of the two gooseberry species that grow in our neighborhood.
(2008/05/27)
A couple weeks ago when timber rattlesnake researcher Chris Hamilton found some of his subjects still hibernating in their dens, he did find one snake sunning on the rocky hillside. An adult female yellow-bellied racer (Coluber constrictor), another of Wisconsin’s protected species of reptiles, was warming up in the sun.
(2008/05/27)
Hello, friends, This past week my stepson Joey Dushek and I were invited to join some friends on an annual trout fishing and camping trip on the Rush River in Pierce County.
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