Lena Lions invite public to Dairy Fest

The Lena Lions selected Dick and Dolly Gilles as parade marshals for the Lena Dairy Fest, scheduled for Saturday.

The parade will begin at 10:30 a.m. on the west end of the village and end at St. Anne Parish, where many events will take place on the parish grounds.

Dick is the son of Francis Sr. and Susan Gilles, and Dolly the daughter of Oliver Sr. and Gladys Shallow. They grew up neighbors, attended Pershing Grade School and graduated from Lena High School. They are the parents of three children who were actively involved in the farming operation from an early age, helping with milking, chores and field work before eventually moving on to greener pastures.

Richard (Dick) and Shirley (Dolly) Gilles owned and operated a dairy farm in the Town of Lena, retiring in 2004 after selling the farm to John and Katrina Zak. Dick operated the farm for 48 years, beginning while a junior in high school, with the help of his brother, Leo, an eighth-grader. The duo received much needed advice, help and guidance from their older brother and mentor, Merne.

Dick has years of government service, having served as Lena town clerk as well as town chairman. He also served on the Oconto County Board of Supervisors and was on the economic development and Wisconsin County Mutual claims committee. He presently serves on the operations oversight committee for Wisconsin County Mutual, a company that insures Wisconsin counties, including Oconto County. He was a director of Maple Valley Mutual Insurance Co. for 48 years, serving as chairman for 37 of those years.

After six years working at Suring State Bank as a bookkeeper/teller, Dolly quit her job in 1967 to become a mom and part-time farmer. Her duties included bookkeeping, milking, calf feeding, helping with field work, riding herd on the kids, and holding down the fort while Dick was engaged elsewhere.

The couple have received numerous awards over the years, including Outstanding Young Farmer in 1967, Wisconsin Association of Mutual Insurance Companies Distinguished Service award, Wisconsin Land & Water Supervisor Award, and recognition at the Rural-Urban Banquet in 2012. They also hosted and sponsored an agriculture trainee from Poland for a year in 1976, and an exchange student from Denmark for the 1990-91 school year whom they still communicate with.

Dolly and Dick are members of St. Anne Parish where Dick is a Eucharistic minister and weekday Mass server. Past service includes parish council president for many years. He is an active 50-plus-years member of the Knights of Columbus, currently holding the position of treasurer. Dolly serves as secretary for St. Charles Cemetery Association and is a reader at weekday Mass. Some past involvements include parish secretary for six years. Both are volunteers in the Feed My Sheep food pantry.

The Lena Dairy Fest sponsored kicks off with the Stampede 5K Walk-Run at 8 a.m. (registration begins at 6 a.m.) followed by the parade at 10:30 a.m. The complete day’s events are listed below. All events are free including admission into the tractor and truck pull. “Please no pets or carry -ins.”

Schedule of Events

Stampede 5K Walk-Run registration: 6 a.m.

Stampede 5K Walk-Run: 8 a.m.

Parade: 10:30 a.m.

Farm tractor pull: noon

Truck pull: approx. 6 p.m.

Petting zoo: all day

Face painting by Vickie Magee: 12-3 p.m.

Balloons by Sidney: all day

Free kids events (bouncers): all day

Food & beverages for sale: all day

Free live Music: noon-10:30 p.m. (Party Boyz, Logan Spicer, Carlin & Cain 12-6 p.m., Rockabilly Kid 7-10:30 p.m.)