Visitors who tour Hearthstone Historic House Museum in December will feel like they are wandering into the old poem, “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Rooms will be decorated with unique features of the season, along with aspects of Victorian yuletide traditions, including antique dolls and toys under the trees decorated with antique ornaments. Sugared and […]
Penny Svetlik volunteers every Monday morning at The Salvation Army-Fox Cities by assisting between 30 to 40 clients get their monthly allotment of groceries in the food pantry. She remembers one instance the first year she volunteered that brings tears to her eyes. “One older woman was just so painfully grateful and so timid about […]
The familiar “ding, ding, ding” of volunteer bell ringers will begin Nov. 15 for The Salvation Army-Fox Cities Red Kettle Campaign, and this year the organization is rolling out bell-ringing incentives for volunteers. Alli Oravec, volunteer coordinator, said there will be something special every day. “Monday is Music Monday, so if you are playing your […]
Jerry Roberts began visiting Elmer Feifarek at his home in Grand Chute as a volunteer for ElderMatch Fox Cities, but through the years, he has become part of the family. Jeanette Feifarek, Elmer’s daughter, moved from her home in Madison last year to be his primary caregiver. She explains that despite her father’s progressive vascular […]
Living in isolation can be deadly. Research has linked social isolation and loneliness to higher risks for a variety of physical and mental conditions, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, a weakened immune system, anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease and even death, according to the National Institute on Aging. To reduce isolation […]
Paul Anderson is a big-picture guy, while his wife, Carol, is detail-oriented, but both are passionate about education and have spent nearly the last two decades supporting Horizons Elementary School in Appleton. After teaching at Johnston Elementary School for 30 years, Paul retired in 2000 and began tutoring first-graders at Horizons in United for Reading […]
Appleton Area School District has been refining and improving its reading and math tutoring programs for more than two decades, but there is one thing that hasn’t changed – volunteers remain the heart and soul of the programs. Volunteer tutors who work with first-graders in the United for Reading Success (UFRS) program support their efforts […]
Most folks agree that exercise is healthy. According to the National Institute for Aging, exercise is good for people of any age and can ease symptoms of many chronic conditions. The Aging & Disability Resource Center of Calumet, Outagamie and Waupaca counties reports that only 20 percent of your health is determined by what happens […]
Cheryl Reissmann has been involved with the StrongWomen program since 2009, when she attended a class at the former Thompson Community Center. “The side-leg raise just killed me,” she said. “And I asked myself, ‘Why am I doing this?’” Because her leg muscles were so weak, she got leg cramps from doing the exercise. But […]
Bev School retired twice. The former medical transcriptionist left the field about four years ago and then in 2018. But she did not retire from being active in the community. When she became aware that the Outagamie County Nutrition Program needed help with its meal service program at Oneida Heights Apartments, she answered the call. […]
