8-29-73
The Labor Day co-chairpersons have announced plans for the event. Carolyn Boucher and Mrs. David Ament note the parade will start at 10 a.m. on Monday and will begin on Oregon Street in Merrill’s Sixth Ward ending at the fairgrounds. Walking units will join the parade at State St.; they include Oshkosh Warrior Cadets, Brass Regiment of Park Falls, Zephyrs of Wisconsin Rapids, Central Aires of Stevens Point, and the Royal Knight and Drum & Bugle Corp of Manitowoc. Six other units will be marching but holding their music for the field competition which will be held at the fairgrounds after the parade. The Imperials of St. Patrick and the Thunderbolts of Milwaukee combined group called “The Thing” is the defending champs.
On the sports page, the Green Bay Packers have announced that Ray Nitschke will retire. This makes space as coach Dan Devine looks to trim his roster to 49 players. Nitschke was drafted number three in 1957 after a successful college career at the University of Illinois. During his career, he was lauded as MVP of the 1962 championship game against New York.
In local sports, Bud and Dee’s claimed victory over the Blatz Bombers in the first half of the City Championship tournament played at Ott’s Park on Sunday by a score of 8-1. Lloyd Ackley and Dick Wegner led in hitting for the winning team. On Monday, Bud and Dee’s again faced the Bombers, winning by a margin of 6-5. The Bombers were scoreless in that game until Keith Burrows hit a three run homerun to tie it in the third. But scores in the sixth, seventh and eighth inning including the go ahead run by Mike Ourada proved the difference in the contest. Bud and Dee’s will face Russ’s Bar tonight for the second half of the crown.
8-31-83
Plans are set for this weekend’s Labor Day Celebration. This year marks the 40th year of the Central Labor Council’s involvement in the event and the 46th year for labor union involvement. The coronation ball will be held Sunday evening at Les & Jim’s Lincoln Lanes. The Jim Yunek Combo of Wausau will provide the entertainment at the two candidates for Labor Day queen find out the winner at 10 p.m. RaDell Bellin and Linda Zebik, both of Merrill, are vying for the post which will be decided by who sells the most tickets for Labor Day weekend activities. The runner up will be crowned Miss Merrill.
State Senator Lloyd Kincaid has agreed to attend a public meeting on the use of reflectorized glass in Merrill junior and senior high locker rooms. The senator has previously been critical of the use of the glass in the coach’s offices that overlook the shower areas as being an invasion of privacy. The school board was going to address the issue at a meeting in July but Kincaid refused to attend the meeting. Kincaid said he would attend the meeting as a gesture of support for the 200 people who signed a petition asking for the glass to be removed. He would not address the petition with over 1,100 signatures asking him to attend a public hearing on the issue.
Norm Heideman retires today as Lincoln County’s Emergency Government Director. He has held that position full time for the last 20 years. Heideman begin service to the county as the only full time deputy sheriff on May 1, 1955. The part time position of Civil Defense Director was added in 1959. The position was expanded to full time in 1964 and underwent a name change to Emergency Government 12 years ago. Heideman says he expects to relax, catch up on work, and do some freelance writing and golfing in his retirement.
9-1-93
City Attorney Jim Godlewski is cleaning up the files and Foto News will hold off on printing anymore unpaid fine lists until the City Attorney checks his records for accuracy. Last week the Foto News printed hundreds of names of individuals who owed money to the city for violating ordinances and traffic laws. Since then, at least two people have come forward and showed they had paid the listed fines. Godlewski was happy to report others have come forward to pay fines and though he regrets printing names of those who owe nothing, it gives the city an opportunity to clear their names off the books.
A proposal is in front of the Health and Safety Committee to raise the cost of metered parking in the City of Merrill. The recommendation is to raise the rate from a penny to five cents for 30 minutes. The city would begin by purchasing $12 conversion kits for 50 of the 327 two hour meters. The proposal originally went before the council, but was sent back to the committee for further research and public input. If you would like your opinion on the matter known, committee members to contact were Zonie Plautz, Sue Kunkel, and Bob Monti.
The Merrill Blue Jay football team dropped the season opener at Kaukauna last Friday by a score of 17-14. Bill Jaeger carried for 115 yards, averaging 6.4 yards per carry while quarterback Chris Berndt went 7-13 for 118 yards along with one interception and one touchdown. Coach Greg Schofield noted a defense lacking in experience was the difference between the two squads.