Monday’s celebration of Groundhog Day took on a different look for people not spending the day on the path around the Falls.
Here it was a sunny but brisk, single-digit start to the work week. Some parts of Wisconsin had almost a foot of new snow, and much of the New England region was shut down due to a second winter storm in as many weeks. As they say in the real estate business, it’s all about location, location, location.
Getting back to the significance of the day, according to media sources, the two official ground hogs both saw their shadows, a prediction for another six weeks of winter. That can be good or bad, depending on one’s perspective.
Monday also marked the end of the NFL season. The most surprising finish of a Super Bowl game came down to the wire and is now history. Aaron Rodgers’ selection as this year’s MVP was a nice consolation prize if the Packers could not be on the field.
As always, when the Packers are not in the game, the commercials are the real reason local fans tune in. In preparation for the big game in which the Packers were a no-show, this observer spent time on Saturday and Sunday cutting down a few trees to restock the wood pile.
Many jokes have been made about the people who burn wood to supplement their heat source with cost saving in mind. Those who move in that direction might purchase a 4-wheel-drive truck, a burly chain saw, a hydraulic wood splitter and a variety of other tools in order to save money on fuel. In the end, the balance sheet might not come out in the black. But like a number of similar expensive pursuits, it can be written off as part of a “personal wellness program.”
Sometimes being prepared with all the right equipment does not work out the way it was planned. Such was the case on Saturday when the F150 was directed to plow through a small snow drift to get closer to the site where a couple of trees were being dropped.
Even though the switch had been set to “4 wheel high” as shown by the indicator light, the front wheels were not dancing in sync with the rear wheels. In fact, they were not dancing at all. An appointment was set with the great technicians in the service department at Peterson Ford for some dancing lessons. Hopefully, it will not be an expensive lesson.
Speaking of lessons, a number of Oconto Falls High School sophomores in tech ed instructor Dave Heisel’s intro to construction class, along with two upperclassmen serving as foremen, recently had a real hands-on learning experience to start the second semester. As part of the parking lot and site improvement project at Abrams Elementary, the former Methodist Church building is to be removed. The building was purchased a few years ago for that purpose.
The district will be coordinating with the Abrams Fire Department and a number of neighboring departments for training exercises with the building, ultimately reducing the building to ashes.
Prior to that, there was an effort to salvage as much usable material as possible. Almost all the pews went to a group in Oshkosh that hosts wedding ceremonies in a converted barn. Windows will be offered for sale for collectors and art projects. Several other items were removed earlier.
Originally there had been one church, and then another was moved to the location and the two were attached. The large space of the first church was remodeled into meeting rooms and lined with beautiful pine boards. The construction students took a day to deconstruct much of the interior of the building in order to use much of the lumber in projects in their classes.
A favorite learning activity for a number of youngsters is to take something apart to see how it works. That was the day’s goal with this effort. It proved to be quite successful.
Later in the afternoon one of the upperclassmen said how much he enjoyed the experience helping the underclassmen gain skills with this project. Not only was he having the experience of salvaging material for future projects, but he also was enhancing his own leadership skills.
Leadership got Aaron Rodgers that MVP award, and a couple of OFHS students earned their own MVP awards working with younger students learning the construction trade.
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