The room tax received from the city of Shawano and six other municipalities in Shawano County surpassed the $200,000 mark in 2023 and shows a marked increase from the year before. Shawano Country Tourism, part of the Shawano Country Chamber of Commerce, received $214,208.82 from the city, the villages of Pulaski and Cecil, and the towns of Belle Plaine, Washington, Wescott and Wittenberg.

David Carl Vander Koy, 83, of Elderon, passed away peacefully on Friday, July 12, 2024. He was a beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend who will be deeply missed by all who knew him. David was born Nov. 24, 1940, to John and Eleanor (Sinski) Vander Koy. He married the love of his life, Marelia Narloch, on June 11, 1966, at St. Florian’s Church in Hatley. David grew up in the Town of Elderon and graduated from Wittenberg High School.

Victoria H. Merow, 71, of the Town of Matteson, passed away Wednesday, July 10, 2024. Eberhardt-Stevenson Funeral Home and Crematory, Clintonville.

  I decided to read “Wormwood Abbey” by Christina Baehr. It is the first in her Secrets of Ormdale series. George Worms has a good life as pastor in St. Giles, England. He almost never speaks of the family who disowned him when he married his first wife. George struggled as a single father when she died shortly after giving birth to Edith until he met and married Emily. She turned out to be just what he needed. Edith is now 21.

UPDATE The bodies of two children were found July 15 in the waters of Green Bay near Fish Creek, but the search continued for their father, who was piloting the family’s sailboat when they failed to return from an outing the night of July 13. Door County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Pat McCarty told reporters that searchers found the missing sailboat at about 6:23 a.m. just south of Chambers Island.

Late spring, I was asked by my sister-in-law to join a women’s Bible study, meeting every Monday night for six weeks from 6-8 p.m. My first inclination was to say no. Nights for me are a struggle. Keeping busy during the day, after supper and a hot shower, I’m liquid putty; lights out, no brain power left and energy ebbing like a tide out to sea.

As I write this column for the month of July, our summer school experience for our students has come and gone.

We put out our Baltimore oriole feeder this spring, festooning it with half an orange and a small dish of grape jelly to hopefully attract those beautiful orioles. We’ve seen no orioles; instead the gray catbirds are here daily enjoying the jelly. Their loud insistent calls let us know when the feeder is empty and more jelly is called for.

The Shawano School District and the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Bay and Lakes Region have announced the award of a 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) grant to support and establish after-school programming at Hillcrest Primary School. This prestigious grant, aimed at enriching the educational experience of students, will significantly enhance the opportunities and resources available to Hillcrest.