November 5, 2009

I was called this morning and asked to write an article for the Shawano Evening Leader on what Thanksgiving meant to me. This is the body of that article. Remember gratitude goes a long way in life.

July 13, 2009

THe day is finally here. The time has come that I have been so lookng forward to. Gillett is finally going to have it's own ATV Event Park. After many meetings, discusions, arguments and letdowns there is now a push to open the park. Check out the Rail Runners Web Site to see what that club is doing. It is amazing. I am only grateful that I can be a part of what is happening in our community. OH HAPPY DAY!!!! 

July 12, 2009

Yesterday my good friend Perry Gilbertson and his family lost thier home to a fire. It was amazing to see the people that rushed to help Parry's family. As I stood by the fire scene wondering what Vicky and I could do to help All I could think of was a benefit. I sent out a text for a benefit breakfast to be held at Spirits today July 12, 2009. Friends Family and employees of Spirits volunteered their time and efforts. The text was sent our and was received by the community and we served 190 people and raised $2800 for the Gilbertson family. This all came together in less than18 hours after the fire call. The response was huge and again Gillett stepped up. It never ceases to amaze me.  

April 20, 2009

I just want to shout out a great thank you to Perry Gilbertson abd Todd Yancy for their work on signing the Suring leg of the Rail Runners Trails Sunday. The weather was lousy but that did not stop them. They had help from their children and their friends. Again a great big thank you. 

March 12, 2009

It happens again. I wake up and the people of Gillett show their faith in me. This past week Chief of Police William W. "Willy" Pecha announced his retirement after 28 years as Chief in Gillett. The common council has selected me to replace him. I will do my best for the Gillett Community. Thank you for your vote of confidence in me. 

February 22, 2009

It has been a sad and awe aspiring week here in Gillett. This week we lost our little buddy, Curt with a "c", Mr Runge, 40 year veteran Volunteer Firefighter, Business Owner, Father, Husband and Friend to all. Curt Runge age 65 and 363 days young.

I don't want to re write Curts Obit here. What I do want to do is express, in my words, what Curt meant to this community. I met Curt in 1979. Curt and his brother Mike were special Deputies for the Oconto County Sheriff's   Department and were working at Chute Pond Campground on weekends. Curt always was quite and unassuming. Never pretentious. I liked him immedeatly. I learned that everyone liked Curt immedeatly. Twenty Eight years later as I patrolled Gillett the night of his wake I understood how many lives Curt had touched in his unassuming way. The line at the funeral home had extended for almost the full block at times. After the wake, as I patrolled the number of cars here at Spirits was record breaking. I later learned that you could not walk in the building for all the people. Gail read for us a toast to Curt. Everyone drank Old Style that night. It was Curts brand of beer. Curt touched so many lives, he will be missed. Curt coached baseball  in his younger years. Curt was a huge Packer Fan and always wore his Packer Jacket. He was often called our "Little Green Buddy."  Recently he was involved in the WAlleye Club and we even got him to signup for a Cruise to the Western Carribian in 2010. You'll still get there Curt, in our hearts. There is so much to say about Curt and how he affected the lives of this community but Curt would rather us remember him as unassuming.

Rest in Peace Curt 

January 2, 2009

Christmas and New Years have come and gone.  Now it is time to start to concentrate on the upcomming year. As always to go forward every now and then we must look back. 2008 was a great year for Spirits, We had several fun events, ATV rides, Haloween Parties, Bean Bag and pool tournaments and more. Our greatest acievment was the We Believe Christmas Campaign. It is thing like these that can't be done without great friends. I have to say a special thanks to Gail Cole. Her determination and drive to organize and help Vicky manage this years campaign was so greatly appreciated by Vicky and I. Gail you are the best. here was so many people working behind hte scenes this year it was hard to keep it all straight. But it worked out fine. We are looking forward to next year already. Until then the elves are on vacation.

September 27, 2008

Today we held our first Ride a Thon. It was great fun, we raised $985.00 for the We Believe campaign. Not so many riders but tons of folks here for the prizes, food music and fun. We are looking forward to next years event. I am grateful for the folks who believe in what Vicky and I are trying to accomplish in our community. Not only are we the local bar & grill but we have become a social hub in Gillett. We continue to try to hold quality events that make a difference. In the works for the next year are a halloween bash, the We Believe campain and Distribution day, A cancer Society fundraiser, Super bowl party, spring poker run, Summer ATV Event, Coats for Kids Collection and then we will be back to our Ride a thon in fall of 2009. I appreciate everything this community does. It keeps me going to see so many people believing that Mankind still has a soul. 

September 19, 2008

I made an entry earlier this afternoon about not having much to be grateful for. Again I am wrong. Tonight when I went to work I found a FAX on my desk from a minister in Illinois. The fax stated he would be meeting six men at the GIllett BP at 9:30 pm. They were all members of his congregation in Illinois. These men would be challenged to see if the brotherhood of man still exsists. The minister took from the men their wallets, car keys, cell phone and all other electronic devices. Gave them each an apple, a quarter and let them keep their Drivers License for identification. He then gave them  instructions to meet him in Iron Mountain, Mi tomorrow morning no earlier than 8:00 am and no Later than 10:00 am at a local resaraunt there. At this point the paster left the six men standing in the parking lot at the BP in GIllett.

At 11:00 PM Vicky called me and said there were six guys in Spirits of GIllett. She started to explain that they all had an apple and a quarter. I finished her story. I told her it was ligitimate. The Patrons of Spirits all dug in their wallet and found gas money for the trip to Iron Mountain. Two patrons who had not been drinking volunteered to take them there. This is what I am grateful for today. Our Community is full of good people. Christians and they all care for each other. These six men, complete strangers to our community in less than 1 hour got a ride to thier destination. I can't say how proud I am to be from Gillett.

September 19, 2008

I have not made any entries lately,seems it's tough to be grateful with the markets going crazy, banks failing and election rhetoric all around. I have found one bright spot though.  In the final lines of the Desidrada I find my Solice.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

July 6, 2008

Working in the community has proven not only to be challenging but rewarding too! I directed traffic at the intersection of West  Main and South Harding during the Fourth of July parade. I got to watch the parade as it turned East onto Main street. As the parade went on I thought of all the folks that work hard annually to make our local 4th of July celebration happen. I am going to attempt to list them here. If I fail to give credit where it is due please let me know. Gillett Civic Club and it's members, Barb, Allan, Chris Engebretsen and Julie Yonkers. The Finnigan Lake Walleye Club, The Americal Legion, The Gillett High School Band, Special thanks to Bill Cole. Every club and organization which works hard every year to get a float or presentation into the parade. Special thanks to Cakes Anderson, John Hicks and Bob Schumacher for helping Chris Engebretsen with the FIreworks. Also Rick Beyer for helping clean up the fireworks mess on Sunday. Additioanl thanks to the Gillett Street Department TIm Christensen and Shane Rank for running around barricading streets for the parade. I hope I have not missed anyone. It take a communiyt effort to make this happen. I am going to say a very special thank you to Barb Engebretsen for all her years of service. I am told she is contemplating retiring from her responsibilites. She will be very hard to replace.       

June 28, 2008

I had to work for the Police Department today. I had a call wherer a large limb fell accross what was reported to be power lines on N McKenzie Ave (state Hwy 22) Luckily they lines were phone and cable not power, although the road was still blocked. Appreciataion is what I need to express. Tim Christensen lives directly accross the street from the downed tree. Tim is Gillett's new street department supervisor. Tim stepped up and got the city loader tractor and using it in conjunction with the fire departments equipment got the limb moved and the traffic flowwing again. Tim has been trying hard to do a job that was old hat for his predecesessor. I comend him for all his efforts.Another person whom I must say thank you to is Jennifer Keisling. Jennifer watched me direct traffic and thought I could use a drink. She went out of her way to bring me a couple of cans of soda. It was greatly appreciated Jen.  

ahh, the joys of small town life.. people really do care!

June 25, 2008

Again I am thankful for members of hte ATV club who step up to try to make a difference. President Jeff Thomson, Perry Gilbertson and David Stage and outgoing Trail Boss Jordan Rank met with Treasurer Rick Beyer tonight to try to hash out our trail funding issues. These guys are going above and beyond normal volunteers to make things happen in Gillett.  

June 22, 2008

Vision

Today I rode the ATV to the store in Gillett from our home in Breed, As I traveled down the Nicolet Trail I thought of all the work, volunteer hours and people who make daily sacrifices to make our trails happen. Our trails are managed by the Local atv clubs. They are granted the priviledge to manage the trials by Oconto County. Many people work hard in all the clubs to keep the trails well groomed, clean and pristine for all of us to enjoy. I am a member of a club. I feel it is important to support the clubs efforts. I have a list of people who I feel should be congratulated for their efforts. One of the people on the top of the list is Dan Hoppe. Dan and the other members of the Dusty Trails ATV Club had the forsight to see that Oconto County had a resource it was not using. The county forest would be a perfect place to build and maintain ATV trails. Dan and his group organized, got the permissions and grants to make it happen and they succeeded in building one of the best trail systems in the State of Wisconsin. Another person on the top of the list is Bob Skiletsky, the Oconto County Forester. Bob helps maintain the grants and directs the clubs in their efforts to keep the trail system usable. He is tireless and always has a warm smile even in difficult times. The other person who is on the list is Gary Hansen of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Gary Manages the state funding of the trails in Northeast Wisconsin. Gary has visited our city and club meetings and is always there with the answers we need. We may not always like the answers but that is his job. Thank you to these three men who work to make our free time more enjoyable.

June 21, 2008

Great Ride

I got the chance to ride the trails with Don and Arleta from Fond Du Lac. This husband and wife are amazing. They travel all over the state and ATV. They run a 2006 Suzuki Quad King and as of today they had 12733 miles on that machine. They gear up with helmets and headphones, GPS and Compass and ride. They called me on Sunday and invited me to go with them. I rode 78 Miles with them. They rode more as they  dropped in Gillett and I met them at the Trail Head on Robinhorst Road. We explored some of Dusty Trails Trails that I had never been on. I told Don, as a kid I played in the county forest in Breed where my Parents vacationed and finally relocated to in 1976. I still am amazed at the expanse of the forested areas both county and federal in Oconto County.  Thanks for a great day Don and Arleta!

June 20,2008

Knee-Buckl'in Burger

I worked Sunday at the Bar, I did the cooking as I usually do on Sunday. It was a slow day and we had a few new customers in. Mostly passing through town. We had a husband and wife on motorcycles stop. They were on their way home to Milwaukee. They had been dodging thunderstorms all morning as they stayed in the U.P. overnight for their anniversary. I never got their names but they ordered a 1/4 lb cheeseburger and a Grilled Chicken Sandwich. When I checked on them the husband stated," I bit in to this burger and my knees buckled!" I don't know what you did but it is the best hamburger I have ever, ever tasted." I didn't do anything different than I do with any burger when I cook it. I just thought that Knee Buckl'in was quite a compliment. Especially when three years ago I couldn't boil water.