Local News Briefs Tuesday 10/29/13

Downtown Awards

 

It was a huge weekend for historic downtown Fond du Lac at the Wisconsin Main Street Awards held in Wausau this past weekend. Sadie Parafiniuk of the Downtown Fond du Lac Partnership says Fond du Lac was well recognized.  She says Trinity Artists’ Lofts & D’anlann Art Gallary, Commonwealth Companies was named Best New Building Project.   Trinity Hall and Restaurant was a co-winner in Best Adaptive Reuse Project.  The Downtown Fond du Lac Partnership’s Financial Assistance Program was an Honorable Mention pick for Best Downtown Business Development Project.  Steve Schoofs was named a Main Street Volunteer of the Year, Sam Meyer was named Honorary Chairman of the Board, and Amy Hansen was given a Manger of the Year Service Award for her five years of service. Parafiniuk says the annual awards are presented by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. She says there are 36 Main Street Communities in Wisconsin and they nominate downtown businesses and activities for awards and the WEDC picks the best of the best.

 

Sheriff’s Department Skips Squad Car Purchases For 2013

 

The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department replaces its squad cars every year, but didn’t this year. County Executive Al Buechel says every year the Sheriff’s moves the purchase out a month, so at the end of 12 years they are able to skip the purchase for a year. He says they will be getting 11 new squad cars next January. Buechel says it couldn’t have come at a better time because they had a tough year coming up this year and that saved $285,000. He says next month the County Board will be asked to approve the squad car purchases for 2014.

 

Path To NFDL Veterans Memorial Will Be Paved

 

It turns out the North Fond du Lac Village Board will be helping out with improvements to the Veteran’s Memorial after all. Village Trustee and Veteran’s Memorial Chairman Keith King at first turned down the board’s offer to help with the paving of a gravel path to the memorial. Village Administrator Chuck Hornung says the path is hard for disabled and older veterans to negotiate. He says the Veterans Memorial group will repay the Village. He says the cost will be about $1,300. He says the group wasn’t certain if it had enough funding to pay for the paving costs this fall.

 

 

Thunder Dog Author To Give Talk

 

Area residents are invited to “A Talk with Michael Hingson” tonight at the Fond du Lac Public Library. Hingson is the author of “Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero.” It was the book chosen for this year’s Fond du Lac Reads program. Blind from birth, Hingson relied on his canine partner Roselle for his safe exit from the World Trade Center on 9/11. Hingson will talk via Skype. The presentation is at 6 p.m. It’s free and no registration is required.