Community reached soaring heights and devastating lows in 2011
By Tracy Ouellette
Staff Writer
The state of Wisconsin made national news on more than one occasion in 2011 – the good, the bad and the ugly.
The home to reigning Super Bowl champs the Green Bay Packers was thrust into the national spotlight when newly elected Gov. Scott Walker unveiled his budget repair bill on Feb. 11.
The bill, which called for stripping unions of their collective bargaining rights and other unprecedented measurers, set brother against brother.
Thousands of protesters flocked to the State Capitol in Madison and 14 Democratic senators fled the state in an effort to avoid voting on the bill, all while public employees were under attack by many who accused them of being a drain on taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars.
Walker’s two-year budget, which was designed to eliminate the state’s projected $3.6 billion deficit over the next two years and called for state workers to contribute 5.8 percent of their earnings to their pensions and 12.6 percent toward their health insurance, was approved in June.
Area school districts and local municipalities faced many challenges balancing budgets due to the cuts in state spending as a result of the budget repair bill.
The backlash over the budget fight in Madison spurred several recall attempts forcing a special election in August, where two state senators lost their seats and a recall petition is circulating to gather at least 540,000 signatures by Jan. 17, 2012 to force a spring recall election for Walker.
It appears that the year has ended much as it started, but it was the local stories of tragedy and triumph that really show what the community is made of. Here are a few that impacted the area in more ways than one.
Up, up and away
In a leap of faith that defied the current economy, officials in Waterford set about organizing the Hot Air Balloon Festival in July.
The event exceeded expectations with about 15,000 people attending over its three-day run.
“I think it was a huge success,” said Jim Phillips, past president of the Waterford Area Chamber of Commerce. Phillips co-chaired the event with the chamber’s Executive Director Jennifer Thomas.
Vendors selling food at the event couldn’t keep up. Phillips said the Kiwanis Club ran out of pancakes at 11 a.m., on Saturday, while the Lions Club had to run to the local grocery store several times for more hot dogs.
“Everybody ran out of everything,” he said.
The festival was the idea of Phillips, who had attended similar events years earlier in the Wisconsin Dells.
When balloonist David Ross of Kansasville brought his vehicle in for repairs to Phillips’ shop, River City Auto Body, Phillips noticed the sign on his car promoting his ballooning. The two got talking about a Waterford balloon event.
Ross and his wife, Kathy Lester-Ross, provided tethered balloon rides for spectators on Saturday. The rides proved to be very popular, with long lines of people waiting to go up.
Soar on Magical Moments 2012 will be July 20-22 on the Evergreen/Fox River school grounds.
Football first
With passion and pride, the Waterford Union High School football team beat Green Bay Southwest Nov. 12 in the WIAA Level 4 playoff game at Kimberly, sending the Wolverines to their first-ever state championship.
“It’s kind of like an unreal feeling,” said senior Jordan Underly. “Just making it here, after all the hard work we’ve put in during four years, it definitely paid off in the end.”
At the start of the Southern Lakes Conference season, the Wolverines lost their first game 14-10 to Wilmot and quarterback Zach Fisher.
But after winning two games with Ryan Danbrea as quarterback, Fisher was back – and the Wolverines have been almost untouchable.
The only close game was a 7-0, double-overtime win over Badger in the final week of the regular season.
Unfortunately for the Wolverines, the turf at Camp Randall Stadium was unforgiving and Waunakee, the two-time defending state champions, held Waterford’s offense at bay cruised to their third consecutive title, 45-0, Nov. 18.
Gunderson accepts DNR appointment
For 16 years, Scott Gunderson, R-Waterford, represented the Wisconsin State Assembly in the 83rd District.
He stepped down from that position Jan. 4 after accepting a new appointment from Gov. Scott Walker as executive assistant for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Gunderson admitted it was a very tough decision to step down as state representative.
“I’ve been a rep for the last 16 years – I’ve been involved in some very good things in the legislature,” he said.
Gunderson is very proud of a legislative amendment that he introduced, and was passed in 2003, guaranteeing people the right to hunt, fish and trap.
“I feel pretty good about that,” he said.
David Craig of Big Bend was elected to the State Assembly for the 83rd District in a special election May 3.
Musical milestone
When Derek Machan, director of choral activities at Waterford Union High School, was looking for music for the 2011 Winter Choral Concert he knew exactly what piece he wanted to do – Grammy-nominated “Calling All Dawns” by Christopher Tin.
It was an impressive project for a high school choir to take on, Machan acknowledged. Especially since the piece had never been performed in public before. Machan’s vision for the winter concert would actually be the piece’s world premier.
The three-act, 12-song collection had, until last Sunday, only been recorded in the studio for Tin’s album, also titled “Calling All Dawns.”
Tin himself attended the concert, flying in from Santa Monica, Calif., to witness the world debut of his work.
Tin was surprised by Machan’s wish to perform his musical piece.
“I thought to myself, that’s the gutsiest high school choir director I’ve ever heard of,” he said.
The concert was so anticipated, a third performance needed to be scheduled after the first two sold out within hours.
Main Street revival
Hopes on revitalizing downtown Waterford turned more promising when the state Department of Commerce formally announced that the village was being awarded the Main Street Program grant that is expected to help pump $125,000 worth of resources into revitalizing the district over the course of the next several years.
Early in 2011, a group of officials, along with members of the non-profit group Absolutely Waterford, which is helping spearhead the redevelopment, made a formal presentation in Madison in their quest to be chosen for the program.
While receiving a verbal commitment that they would be selected following that presentation, only recently was the selection and subsequent commitment formalized.
With the help of its new Main Street designation, officials are seeking to turn the downtown district into the booming catalyst it once was through a multi-pronged approach that includes building façade improvement, streetscaping and an infusion of new businesses that will additionally generate foot traffic in the downtown.
Editor injured
Award winning journalist and editor of the Waterford Post and Westine Report, Mark Dudzik, was critically injured Sept. 17 while riding his bicycle in the Maywood Earth Ride in Sheboygan County.
Dudzik, 42, of Franklin, was struck by a pick-up truck at highway speeds when he failed to stop at a stop sign on Highway E and Garton Road. He was airlifted by Flight for Life to Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah where he spent nearly a month in a coma.
Southern Lakes Newspapers Editor in Chief Ed Nadolski said Dudzik, who has been in a rehabilitation facility since coming out of a medically induced coma in October, continues to improve by leaps and bounds. He recently began walking with the aid of a walker and is looking forward to the day he’ll be able to return home. His wife, Denise, who has been at his side daily, said she is amazed by the progress he’s shown since the accident.
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