Marathon

COMMUNITY LIVING

Send Marathon news to: RR@tpprinting.com phone: 715-223-2342 fax: 715-223-3505 P.O. Box 677 103 West Spruce Street Abbotsford, WI 54405 Teachers of the year

St. Mary’s School, Marathon, has announced that two staff members have been recognized with teacher of the year awards by the La Crosse Diocese. The teachers are Katie Drexler, a four-yearold kindergarten

instructor, who received the Early Childhood Educator of the Year award and Maria Schroeder, a seventh and eighth grade instructor who won the Middle School Educator of the Year award. Over the past three years, St. Mary’s staff has won six of these awards.

Legion auxiliary

On February 10, 2022, vice president Betty Blume called the meeting of the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 469 to order at 6:39 p.m. with nine members present. Opening meeting protocol was followed.

Secretary Brenda Wirkus read the minutes from the January meeting. Jean Knauf made a motion to approve the minutes as read. Motion car- ried.

Treasurer Edee Zuleger presented the treasurer’s report. She reported donations were made to Children’s Miracle Network and Marathon Lions Club that were approved at the January meeting. An invoice from Color Vision for the magnets listing meeting and special events dates for 2022 was paid, she said, and reported purchase of envelopes and stamps to mail them to all auxiliary members. There were no outstanding bills. Bonnie Schult made motion to accept treasurer’s report. Motion carried. Membership chair Bonnie Schult reported there are 10 members that did not renew their membership. February birthdays were announced. There was no one on the sick list. Blume reminded members that the spring auxiliary conference will be April 9 in Tigerton. President Kathy Grell reported via text that there is only one girl interested in being Badger Girl. Joanna Grell is student teaching at the high school and is going to see if she can have a meeting with the junior girls to share her experience as Badger Girl to try to get more interest. Blume shared a letter from the department encouraging writing letters to our state representatives about bills being presented to legislation that affects veterans. After discussion, it was decided the letter will be emailed to all members and will be discussed at the next meeting after everyone has had a chance to read it.

President Grell reported via text that the essay contest info was delivered to Marathon Venture Academy and St. Mary’s School. Once the deadline for submitting entries has passed, those who have helped in the past by reading essays will be contacted to see if they are interested in helping to pick our local winners.

Schult brought up going back to celebrating American Legion’s birthday, which is in March. After discussion, it was decided that the auxilliary will have a cake delivered to its April 6 meeting since there will not be a March meeting.

The summer stand was briefly discussed. Ideas were talked about on how to get more volunteers to work both summer baseball and softball games and Fun Days weekend. This will be discussed again next month.

Closing meeting protocol was followed and the meeting was adjourned at 7:34 p.m.

The next meeting will be held Thursday, March 10, at 6:30 p.m., at Marathon Sports Center.

Easter egg hunt

The Marathon City Police Department and Marathon Fire Department will host an Easter egg hunt on Saturday, April 16, 10 a.m. at St. Anthony’s Spirituality Center, Marathon City. The hunt will take place at the Marathon Fire Station in the event of inclement weather.

Fun week

Marathon Venture Academy is enjoying a fun week of dress-up. On Tuesday, students dressed up in mismatched clothing and on Wednesday students wore sports team clothes. On Thursday, students will dress in green for St. Patrick’s Day and will wear beach attire, including flip flops, on Friday.

Covid dashboard

Marathon Public Schools on March 11 reported zero cases of COVID-19 out of 850 staff and students. The school has had 174 coronavirus cases during the 2021-22 school year.

Silent retreat

St. Anthony’s Retreat Center, Marathon City, will host a men’s silent retreat March 18-20. The presenters are the Rev. Michael John Groark, OFM Cap., and the Rev. Vito Marinez, OFM Cap. Groak is a Capuchin Franciscan friar stationed in Chicago who spent last year as a missionary to the Crow and Northern Cheyenne tribes at St. Labre School. Martinez is director of communications for the Capuchin Province.

Registration is on Friday. The retreat concludes after the noon meal on Sunday. To register, call 715-443-2236 or e-mail info@sarcenter.com.

Showcase

The Marathon Public Schools music department plans a showcase on Sunday, April 3, at 3 p.m.

History chats

Join the Marathon County Historical Society in March for a series of short history programs all about local and state maps. Maps don’t always get the credit they deserve, even though they are some of the most interesting and helpful resources out there. So for March, the Historical Society is returning to a month of History Chats dedicated to maps and the remarkable stories that they can tell us.

All History Chats programs begin at 12:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live simultaneously via Zoom, the Historical Society’s Facebook page and its You-Tube channel. If you can’t join them live, you can watch archived recordings anytime at the same places.

These programs, which are a collaborative effort between the Historical Society and the Marathon County Public Library, are free to watch and open to all ages, no registration required. Call the Historical Society at 715-842-5750 for more information.

The schedule for March includes: March 24: Topographical map from the U.S. Geological Survey, 1899. Gary Gisselman presents a series of maps showing the unique topographical features of Marathon County.

March 31: Railroad Map of Wisconsin, 1883. On some older maps of Marathon County, you can find small communities whose potential was never realized and that no longer exist. Ben Clark explores one of these small communities and the group of French refugees who took up farming in the Town of Texas.

Monster magnet

Stop by the Marathon City Branch Library in March and pick up a graband- go kit to create your own monster magnet at home with a fun, unique process called quilling.

The library will provide directions and most of the supplies (you will need a few of the basics at home) to create two monsters, perfect for your refrigerator or locker. If you’re unfamiliar with the technique, quilling involves rolling thin strips of paper into coils and then pinching, shaping and arranging them into decorative designs.

Free and open to all families. Limit one per child. Call 715-261-7220 for more information.

Garage sales

Marathon City community garage sales will be held Thursday and Friday, April 28 and 29. For more information, contact garage sales organizer Carol Salber at 715-581-4444 or go to carol.salber@ yahoo.com.