Researched by Michael J. Caylor Jr.
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The Merrill Rotary Club has stepped up to aid in the doctor shortage in Merrill. Rotary President Rev. Dale G. Kuck announced this morning that the local group has pledged $1,000 in funds to launch the search for several doctors to come to Merrill to serve its citizens. Kuck noted the need for at least three additional doctors, noting that doctors who recently left practices in Merrill created an immediate void for an estimated 3,000 patients.
Next Tuesday will mark primary election time and several contests are on the ballot. District 1, which elects a county board supervisor from the towns of Rock Falls, Birch and Russell, will find Stanley Vaughn of Irma along with William Dexter and Harry Kysely of Gleason on the ballot vying for the spot. The District 6 seat, representing Pine River, will be vacated as incumbent William Hommerding is moving to District 5 and running for that seat. The four men running to replace him include Lloyd Buck Sr., Ewald Katke Jr., David Renken, and Edward Weege. Voters county-wide will narrow down the field of candidates for the state supreme court job. Candidates for that position include Christ Aleropoulos, Raymond Johnson, and incumbent Horace Wilke.
Sub-regional play at the East Gym last night brought the Rhinelander Hodags to town and led the local squad to an easy victory. The final score of the contest was 72-54 with Tom English leading the crew with 17 points. This Friday the boys travel to Wausau East where they will take on the D.C. Everest Evergreens in regional play. In other action in the East Gym this past Thursday, seven members of the Green Bay Packers took on the local Kiwanis Club to raise funds. Pictured on page 20 are Greg Pehlke as he hopes to get an autograph from one of his heroes and Jan Wickman getting her picture taken with the green and gold crew who included Center Carl Withrow, Linebacker Tom McCleod, Tackle Bill Hayhoe, Running Back Larry Krause and Tight End Rich McGeorge.
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Maybe you have heard the rumors about town, Weinbrenner Shoe Factory is closing its doors and moving the production and offices somewhere else. Well, according to factory president Peter Nicholls, those stories are just rumors. Nicholls went on to say that office staff may feel the pinch as some programs are consolidated in Belcamp, MD and the effects of that consolidation may trickle down to the Merrill office, but the 400 factory workers in Merrill can feel safe.
In regional action, the Merrill Blue Jay girls’ basketball team continues on with their march to Madison. The girls defeated Wausau West 68-39 and Wausau East 67-50 last week in regional tournament action and will play Marshfield tomorrow in sectional action to try and earn their third straight trip to state. Lisa Bonnell’s tough play in the regional competition led to new records. Bonnell set the conference mark for most points (333), highest scoring average (20.8) and most field goals in a season (140). Merrill also set the mark in the valley for the most points in a game by scoring 93 against Marshfield, most points in a season with 1,022 and most field goals in a game with 42 against the Tigers. The girls now head out on the road searching for the trail to Madison, leaving the friendly confines of the Merrill High School Fieldhouse where they enjoy a 25 game win streak.
The Merrill wrestling team came within one point of a state championship, instead sharing the second place crown with Oconomowoc, while Port Washington took the crown. Placing third for Merrill were Jay Van Der Geest at 155 pounds and Kevin Steidinger at heavyweight. Head Coach Roger Wendorf noted although he was disappointed in not taking the championship he knew every kid on the team wrestled at 100%.
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It must be spring, or darn close. The Dairy Queen is open for its 35th season. A coupon on page 11 gives you 50 cents off an order of $1 or more. The coupon expires next Wednesday.
Ursula Mueller and Lylas Staus are pictured shooting pool on the newly recovered pool table at the Merrill Senior Center. That is just one of the many features of the new senior center which fully re-opened this past week. Director Jane Deau is very upbeat about the program and looks forward to re-starting all of the activities that were curtailed during the remodeling.
From the sports page: The Merrill girls’ basketball team was knocked out of playoff contention early in the process with a loss to Antigo last Saturday. The girls had posted a 12-4 record coming into the regional contest. Antigo had defeated Rhinelander in triple overtime for the chance to play the Jays. The boys’ team defeated the Marshfield Tigers on Friday 58-40 giving them their 13th victory of the season, one shy of the second best tally ever set by a Merrill boys’ team. The Jays host regional action on Saturday as they take on the winner of the Antigo/ Rhinelander contest which will be held Tuesday. Kim Zulliger is still alive and kicking in the WIAA gymnastics series after her fourth place finish on the beam Saturday at regionals. The next stop for Kim is sectionals at Eau Claire on Saturday. And Merrill’s Bob Akey finished the 33 mile long American Birkebeiner XXII race held Saturday between Cable and Hayward. Billed as America’s largest ski race, over 6,500 people attempted the Birke or its half-the-size sister race, the Kortelopet. Tomas Casiavsky of the Czech Republic won the race at two hours, 16 minutes; Akey was slightly behind.