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Minds in Motion set to roll on Saturday

The annual Minds in Motion Bicycle Tour is set for Saturday, with hundreds of bicyclists hitting the roads and trails around Onalaska. The event starts and finishes at Onalaska Middle School on Quincy Street and offers riders four route choices:

Sunrise paddle kicks off Brice Prairie day

A guided sunrise paddle will kick off a day of activities on Brice Prairie to include bike, canoe and kayak races on June 28.

The sunrise paddle will leave from Lytle’s Landing on the northern tip of Brice Prairie at 6:30 a.m. and travel downstream on the Black River through the backwaters of Lake Onalaska and the Upper Mississippi River Refuge to the Upper Brice Prairie boat landing. The trip will take about 2. 5 hours and return transportation to Lytle’s will be provided.

A $5 donation is requested for the sunrise paddle, which is sponsored by the Friends of Brice Prairie. For more details, contact Marc Schultz at 781-1662 or schultzma@charter.net.

The bike races start at 9 a.m. at Swarthout Park, and more information is available online at www.briceprairiebikerace.org.

The canoe/kayak races start at 1 p.m. from the Upper Brice Prairie boat landing, with on-site registration starting at 11:30 a.m.

More information on the canoe/kayak race is available online at www.briceprairiecanoerace.org.

Dubna group plans large rummage sale

More than 100 tables will be featured at this La Crosse Dubna Friendship Association rummage sale, to be held from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 14, at the Franciscan Skemp garage at 11th and Ferry streets in La Crosse.

Donations of any good rummage also will be accepted and are tax deductible. People who need item pick-up should call 457-3355.

Church plans garden tour June 26

The second annual Holmen Area Garden Tour, sponsored by the women of Holmen Lutheran Church (W-ELCA), will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday June 26.

There will be food, music, vendors, crafts, farmer’s market, perennial sale and flower show. People interested in being a vendor or participating in the flower show should contact Ellen Hesselberg at 781-2238 or ehesselberg@gmail.com.

Tickets are $5 and are available at The Blue Cup Coffee House, Christen Farm Nursery, Ethel’s Attic, Festival Foods (in Holmen and Onalaska) Hardware Hank, Holmen Locker and Rudy’s Feed and Seed. Tickets will not be available at the gardens.

Youth golfing contest set for June 24

Mutual of Omaha’s Drive, Chip & Putt, the world’s largest junior golf program, will swing into the area on June 24.

Boys and girls ages 7-14 are invited to hit the links of the Trempealeau Mountain Golf Course, W24411 Fairway Drive in Trempealeau, starting at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, June 24.

The event is free, with competitors divided into four age groups competing in driving, chipping and putting competitions. Multiple prizes will be awarded in each age group.

Participants can register at www.thegolfchannel.com/kids or at the golf course. Winners from this event will have the opportunity to participate in a regional competition and possibly the national competition in Orlando later this year.

Event to benefit Steppin’ Out in Pink

On Thursday, June 19, Steppin’ Out in Pink and Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation will team with Festival Foods to present a wine tasting at Pettibone Resort, 333 Park Plaza Drive, La Crosse.

Participants will have the opportunity to meet with wine experts beginning at 5:30 p.m. At 6 p.m. there will be a wine tasting program, in addition to a wine gift basket silent auction and door prize drawing. Semi-formal attire is encouraged.

Tickets are $25 and on sale at all Festival Foods locations in Holmen, La Crosse and Onalaska. All in attendance will receive a commemorative Steppin’ Out in Pink wine glass.

For more information about this event or about Steppin’ Out in Pink, contact Debbie Kroner at 775-5662.

No-call list extends to cell phones

Wisconsin’s no-call list at the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is doubling the number of intake lines from 48 to 96 in anticipation of consumers signing up their cell phones for the first time.

The law allowing cell phones on the list was recently passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jim Doyle.

“No call is the most popular consumer protection program ever in this state,” said DATCP Secretary Rod Nilsestuen. “We are happy to be adding cell phones to the list.”

Consumers have from June 6 until the end of August to get on the next no-call list starting in October.

Consumers can sign up 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year by visiting the Wisconsin no-call list Web site at nocall.wisconsin.gov or calling 1-866-966-2255

Transplant support group to meet July 1

The Coulee Region Transplant Support Group will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, July , in the Lower Level Conference Room at the Onalaska Clinic, 191 Theater Road.

The group will watch a video on the history of organ transplants. Refreshments will be provided.

New members are always welcome to attend.

Youth club at HHS for summer

The Boys & Girls Clubs’ Holmen Outreach Club will hold sessions at Holmen High School starting Monday, June 9.

During the school year, the club met at Holmen Lutheran Church, with a membership of about 80. The club is a joint venture between the Boys & Girls Clubs and the Holmen Area Partnership for Youth.

The club is closed Fridays and this month on Tuesdays, June 10 and 17, and Wednesday, June 25. The hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for most of the days the club is open. Thursdays in June the club will be open 2 to 8 p.m., except June 12 when a field trip is planned starting at 12:15 p.m.

A field trip to Mount Olympus in the Wisconsin Dells also is planned for Tuesday, June 24, leaving at 8 am. and returning at 5 p.m.

For more information on the club and its activities, call 399-4566.

Clinic offers workshop on childcare

Gundersen Lutheran will host the Kids Care Kollege Super Saturday program Saturday, June 21.

The program is open to childcare providers and parents. Experts will discuss children and social development, behavior, sleep and nutrition. Thanks to a grant from Kohl’s, Super Saturday will be held free of charge at Gundersen Lutheran’s Rasmus Center, 1900 South Ave., La Crosse, from 8 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

A continental breakfast and door prizes will be available. Space is limited so early registration is recommended. For more information or a registration form, call Jennifer Peterson at 775-3258.

Farmers markets kick off new season

The area farmers market season kicked off last week.

Onalaska’s weekly farmers market will be held 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays in the Festival Foods parking lot at 1260 Crossing Meadows Drive.

Holmen’s weekly farmers market will run from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays in the Festival Foods parking lot at 600 Holmen Drive.

La Crosse also has three farmers markets:

HHS Class of 1978 seeks classmates

The Holmen High School Class of 1978 reunion committee is looking for the following classmates: Lynn Sobota, Donna Nichols, Scott Johnson, Rhonda Olsen, Tom Deters, Rose Leisgang, Tony Seever, Paul Christianson, Marlene Kirchner, Steinn Bjornsson, Keith Myren, Tom Deters, Paul Solberg, Kim Morehouse, Cathy Taylor, Laura Vinson, George McCarthy, Bonnie Bay, Cheryl (Mikels) Weigand and Russ Jerome.

People with contact information for these classmates should call Terry Hegenbart at (608) 498-3338.

Memory Walk event volunteers sought

Volunteers are needed to help organize the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk 2008, the largest fundraiser to help those affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

Next fall, the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Wisconsin will join more than 600 communities across the United States in a 2- to 5-mile walk to remember those with Alzheimer’s disease.

The 33 walks are organized by teams of local volunteers who are assisted by staff from the Alzheimer’s Association. The planning committees are forming now. Anyone interested in volunteering for a walk near them is encouraged to call Lori Bagniewski at 784-5011.

CD features river stories, memories

Stories of life on the modern-day Mississippi River flow off a new CD available from UW-La Crosse.

Eighteen La Crosse-area residents share their river tales in the two-disc CD package, “First Person Wisconsin: Mississippi Memories II.” Their stories were first told during 13 programs airing on Wisconsin Public Radio station WLSU in 2006.

Among those interviewed were a group of Longfellow Middle School teachers, musician Calvin Mitchell, birder Fred Lesher and retired WLSU radio station general manager Jim Conway. UW-La Crosse history Professor Charles Lee captured the stories as part of UW-L’s Oral History Project.

The double CD package is available for $17.77. Order by credit card by contacting Paul Beck, UW-L Special Collections, at 785-8511. Or send a check payable to UW-La Crosse to: UW-L Oral History Program, 325 Wimberly Hall, 1725 State St., La Crosse WI 54601.

Medics to reward kids for bike safety

Tri-State Ambulance, Rudy’s Drive-In in La Crosse, The Frosty Mug in Holmen and the Dairy Queen in Onalaska are teaming up for a new bicycle helmet safety program called “Cool Kids — Cool Treats.”

When Tri-State Ambulance personnel observe a child 15 years old or younger wearing a helmet while riding a bicycle in public, the kids will be given a “ticket” entitling them to a free ice cream at The Frosty Mug or Dairy Queen or a root beer float at Rudy’s Drive-In when accompanied by an adult. The program runs through Aug. 31.

“Our hope is to raise helmet safety awareness,” said Matt Zavadsky, director of Tri-State Ambulance. “The goal is simple. Keep children out of the emergency room and provide some cool treats as incentive.”

Challenge Academy taking applications

The Challenge Academy, a tuition-free program for 16- to 18-year-old “at-risk” youths is now accepting applications for its next class of cadets, who will start July 25.

Located at Fort McCoy, the academy offers high school dropouts or habitual truants a chance to earn a high school equivalency diploma, learn essential job and life-coping skills and develop the strength of character to become responsible citizens.

Cadets spend 22 weeks at Fort McCoy, learning in a highly structured environment. After returning to their home communities, they work with local mentors for another year to pursue the goals they have set for themselves.

Would-be cadets must apply voluntarily, must have dropped out of school or be at least a year behind in credits and must not have been convicted of a felony.

More information is available from the academy’s admissions department at (608) 269-4605 or www.challengeacademy.org.

Free child lead screenings offered

As part of Project LEAD, the EPA grant received by the La Crosse County Health Department in October 2007, free blood lead screening will be available the last Friday of each month from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Parents should call 785-9865 to reserve a time and come to the La Crosse County Health Department, 2nd Floor of the Health and Human Services Building, 300 4th Street La Crosse.

As part of Project LEAD, the Nutrition Services Department which houses the WIC Program, will offer the free blood lead testing. The test also is available at other times through public health nursing by making an appointment at 785-9723.

Children younger than 6 who have never been screened are encouraged to have a blood lead test done, and all children younger than 2 who live in a home or spend time in a home built before 1978, should be tested.

The testing is done with a finger prick sample of blood. Children whose screening results come back greater than 10 ug/dl are recommended to have a confirmatory blood draw done through their doctor’s office. There is no cost for the blood lead screening test.

Project LEAD is working with agencies that serve families with children younger than 6 to increase awareness and screening for lead poisoning, which continues to be a risk to children residing in homes built prior to 1978.

Outreach is being conducted to educate home owners, contractors and landlords of the need to remodel with regard to disturbing lead paint which was very likely to be used on surfaces painted in the 1970s and earlier.

For more information, call the La Crosse County Health Department at 785-9872.

Low-income phone discounts offered

Low-income consumers may qualify for assistance programs that discount initial telephone installation and basic monthly service, according to a recent announcement from CenturyTel.

The assistance programs, known as Link-Up and Lifeline, are available to qualifying consumers in every U.S. state (territory and commonwealth). Link-Up helps these consumers pay the initial costs of getting telephone service. Lifeline provides certain discounts on monthly service for qualified subscribers.

Qualifications for participation vary by state. States with their own programs have their own criteria. In states that rely solely on the federal program, the subscriber must participate in one of the following programs: Medicaid, food stamps, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Federal Public Housing Assistance or the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Head Start, the National School Lunch Program’s Free Lunch Program, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) or if the household annual gross income is at or below 135 percent of the federal poverty level.

The amount of the discounts also varies by state. This federal Link-Up program offsets one-half of the initial hook-up fee, up to $30, for qualified households.

People living in a CenturyTel service area should call 800-201-4099 or log onto www.centurytel.com/lifeline to inquire about eligibility.

Easter Seals offers special camp in Wisconsin Dells

Easter Seals Camp Wawbeek in Wisconsin Dells will hold its summer session July 13-18 this year for teens and adults who have a mild cognitive delay and no physical disabilities.

Trailblazers is a program of discovery for people who have mild to moderate cognitive delays and no physical disabilities. Trailblazers is designed for people who enjoy sharing an active lifestyle with their peers and who will benefit from the guidance of our supportive staff.

As Trailblazers, campers spend their time in the sun and fresh air, participating in activities they love while discovering new interests and making new friends.

Campers can choose to take part in numerous traditional camp experiences such as canoeing, fishing, arts and crafts, music, drama and dance, and are treated to field trips and attractions in nearby Wisconsin Dells.

Trailblazers are divided into two age groups — 7-18 and 19 and older — and are then broken into smaller peer groups, where they will enjoy participating in a wide variety of age-appropriate activities. There’s an experienced counselor for every three campers.

For more information or an application, log onto www.East-erSealsWisconsin.com or call 1-800-422-2324.

County offers low-cost radon test kits

The La Crosse County Health Department once again is offering radon test kits to anyone interested in checking the radon level in their home.

Radon test kits can be purchased for $5 at the following locations:

Franciscan Skemp hosts moms group

Franciscan Skemp Healthcare is offering new moms and babies a chance to find support, friendship and new information through a new weekly program called New Mom and Baby Group.

New moms can listen to speakers and find advice for the new chapter in their lives. The group meets at two locations and is free for everyone.

On Wednesdays, the group program meets from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Franciscan Skemp Onalaska Clinic, 191 Theater Road, in the lower level conference room

On Thursdays, the program meets from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Franciscan Skemp Family Health Clinic in the Sally Olson Conference Room, 815 S. 10th St., La Crosse.

For more information, call (608) 392-4172.