the sales and office areas ….
the sales and office areas received extensive damage,” said Spencer Fire Chief Jason Foth. He estimated the total loss at $75,000.
March 23 — For Sweet 16, Granton twins to help give gift of life to others As part of the celebration of their 16th birthday, twins Caleb and Abby Schoessow of Granton will be donating their first pints of blood during a blood drive they are hosting and are asking others to do the same. The drive will be at Zion Lutheran (Missouri Synod) Church in Granton on March 28. The goal is to collect 32 units of blood, which would help almost 100 people.
March 30 — Greenwood couple honored for their community contributions Diane Opelt and Kevin Syth were named Greenwood Citizens of the Year for 2021 and 2022 at the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet on March 27 at Parkway Pines. Diane was a longtime teacher at Greenwood Elementary School. Kevin owned and operated a local construction company. They with several local organizations. APRIL April 6 — Longtime Loyal firefighter, EMT named Citizen of the Year Dave Esselman was chosen as this year’s Citizen of the Year by the Loyal Chamber of Commerce during its annual banquet held March 31. He has been a member of the Loyal Fire Department for more than 30 years and an EMT for 28 years.
April 6 — Loyal school facilities upgrade referendum fails The Loyal School District referendum failed, 514-305. The referendum would have authorized the district to issue general obligation bonds for an amount not to exceed $11.7 million for the purpose of a school facility improvement project. The project would have included creating a new centralized office on the west side of the building, additions for tech. ed. and a commons space, and renovations to classrooms, including the 4K/5K, art and special education rooms and the elementary gym.
April 6 — Spencer school recurring referendum narrowly passes The Spencer School District referendum passed, 597-554. The referendum authorizes the district to exceed the school’s revenue limit for a total of $2,550,000 spread out over the 2022-23 school year and the next four school years, plus $150,000 per year for the 2026-27 school year and each year thereafter, for recurring operating expenses.
April 27 — Man charged for ordering “hit” that led to town of Spencer homicide Steven Crandall, 24, of Wisconsin Rapids, was charged April 8 in Marathon County Circuit Court with felony first-degree intentional homicide as party to a crime in the shooting death of Christian Schauer, 20, of Marshfield, on Dec. 29, 2020. Crandall resides in the Wood County Jail on a charge filed Oct. 15, 2021 for felony taking and driving a vehicle without the owner’s consent. In January, Crandall told Wood County Jail staff he wanted to talk about Schauer’s murder, prosecutors allege in the criminal complaint. He told two detectives he did not kill Schauer but he “put out a hit” on Schauer by hiring associates in Chicago to kill him, take the license plates off his car and get rid of all the evidence for $5,000, prosecutors allege in the complaint. A fur trapper found Schauer’s body at about 2 p.m. on Dec. 29, 2020, south of Swamp Road in the McMillan Marsh Wildlife Area in the town of Spencer. An autopsy showed Schauer died of multiple gunshot wounds.
April 27—Loyal firemen now well-equipped thanks to $118K anonymous gift The fire department recently completed its purchase of 22 new sets of turn-out gear and 12 self-contained breathing apparatuses, and is in the process of training its volunteer members on the new features of the gear, all thanks to an anonymous donation in the amount of $118,000. MAY May 11 — Bridge project bumped back a year A project that will replace the County Road G bridge over the Black River at Greenwood has been moved back a year to 2024 on the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s schedule. Contributing to the delay are questions regarding the 80-year-old structure’s historic value, according to Clark County Highway Commissioner Brian Duell. He said last week that the State Historic Preservation office is classifying the overhead truss structure as one with historic value, while the Federal Bureau of Structures and the state Department of Transportation contend it does not have such value.
May 18 — Ground broken on O’Neill Creek Trailhead and Opelt Park With a few shovelfuls of dirt overturned at a groundbreaking ceremony at 801 Hewett St. in Neillsville, a new park has been created that will serve as the first stepping point for a walking/biking trail that organizers hope will one day wind from Neillsville through Granton to Chili. The May 9 ceremony was attended by members of the Opelt family, the Neillsville Improvement Corporation and community members and leaders from Neillsville and Granton. JUNE June 8 — Local siblings break stilt-walking world record Ashley McCauley of Spencer and Jordan Wolf of Marshfield each took 10 steps on 54-foot, 1-inch stilts early the morning of June 4 at the Marshfield Fairgrounds to break the stilt-walking world record. Jordan broke the record for tallest stilts in The Guinness Book of World Records. Ashley’s attempt was not considered, as Guinness denied her application for establishing a female-only record; however, she still unofficially broke the record. Jordan and Ashley took back the record once held by both their father, “Steady Eddie” Wolf, and their brother, Travis Wolf.
June 15 — Guilty: Contreras Perez convicted on all counts in Ayon murder case A 42-year-old Mosinee man has been found guilty by a Clark County jury of stalking and murdering Cassandra Ayon of Loyal and then hiding her corpse in 2020. It took the 12-person jury about seven hours last Friday to convict Jesus Contreras Perez of first-degree intentional homicide, hiding a corpse and stalking. Contreras Perez was arrested and charged in 2021 after Ayon, 27, went missing on Oct. 3, 2020, having last been seen at a trailer park in Unity. Her body has never been found, and neither has the car she was driving.
June 29 — Spencer’s Zimmerman joins elite group in FFA Hall of Fame Longtime Spencer FFA advisor and agriculture teacher Mark Zimmerman was recently inducted into the Wisconsin FFA Hall of Fame in honor of the work he’s done for more than 30 years guiding the newest and brightest along their FFA paths.
The remainder of “2022: A Year in Review” will appear in the Jan. 4 edition of the TRG.
