Brookwood starts new era with inaugural meet

The Brookwood track and field teams hosted their inaugural track meet on April 15 and with the new facilities, athletes … Read the rest

N-O-W hires new elementary principal

Longtime Norwalk-Ontario-Wilton Elementary teacher Kristi Vlasak will serve as the school’s new principal, the board of education decided at its … Read the rest

Brookwood’s adventure class offers outdoor lessons in life

 Last year, the Norwalk-Ontario-Wilton School District began offering an outdoor adventure program that exposes students to hands-on wilderness techniques while … Read the rest

EXTRA

Pedestrian struck on Highway 27, near Cashton

A pedestrian was struck by a commercial motor vehicle on Highway 27, about 1½ miles south of Cashton, in the town of Christiana at about 9:45 p.m. Saturday, April 19, according to Vernon County Sheriff Roy Torgerson.  The preliminary investigation revealed that...

Norwalk’s floral fundraiser

Contributed by the Norwalk Rails-to-Trails Committee One of the highlights of driving through Norwalk in the summer are the flower baskets hanging from the light poles and in the planters lining the street. These indicators of summer have been sponsored by the Rails...

One injured in Clinton rollover

The Vernon County Sheriff’s Office 911 Dispatch Center was notified at 4:45 p.m. Sunday, April 6, of a single-vehicle rollover on County Highway D, east of Hall Road, in the town of Clinton. Ralph E. Smalley, 62, of Richland Center, Wis., was operating a 1999 Ford...

Local Easter egg hunts set for April 19

Local communities will host the following Easter egg hunts April 19: • Elroy — 10 a.m. Saturday, April 19, at the Elroy American Legion Hall. For ages through fourth grade. Hosted by the Elroy American Legion Auxiliary.  • Ontario — Saturday, April 19, at the Ontario...

Brookwood track and field to host inaugural meets starting next week

Contributed by Brookwood High School Since it was established in the early 1960s, Brookwood has had a successful track and field program. Over the 60 years of the school’s existence, these athletes could be seen running in the parking lot and on the school’s hilly...

NEWS

Ridgeville church to host ‘On the Road with St. Paul’

The lecture “On the Road with St. Paul” will be offered at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Ridgeville on Monday evening, April 28.  The speaker will be Dr. Glen L. Thompson, who has been researching and following the route of Paul’s missionary journeys. Dr....

Easter in Elroy!

Children were able to guess how many suckers and jelly beans there were to win each, along with a door prize when entering the annual Elroy American Legion and Auxiliary Easter Egg Hunt on April 19. (Tasha Mueller photo) Many children up to fourth grade were able to...

Vernon County Sheriff’s Report for April 6–19

Sunday, April 6: Vernon County deputies, along with Hillsboro Police, responded to a residence on Mechanic Street in Hillsboro for a verbal domestic disturbance. Sunday, April 6: A deputy responded to E. Court Street in Viroqua for a locked vehicle with a 2-year-old...

Protect against measles

Contributed by the Monroe County Health Department Measles is a virus that can easily spread from person to person. It spreads through coughing, sneezing, and breathing the same air as a person with measles. About one in five people who get measles will be...

‘Wisconsin for Kennedy’ set for April 24 in Sparta

Contributed by the Monroe County Local History Room On a snowy March 9, 1960, day, then Sen. John F. Kennedy and wife Jacqueline entered a packed Tomah High School gym to be greeted with applause by 1,300 Tomah high school students and area residents.  Senator...

Signs of spring

A pair of sandhill cranes forage in a field along Highway 33, between Ontario and Cashton. 

Vernon County Sheriff’s Report for March 30 to April 5

Sunday, March 30: The driver of a car called into dispatch after attempting to miss a deer and striking a mailbox and road sign on Highway 162 in the town of Hamburg. No injuries were reported. The car was still operational, and the owner was able to return home....

Local man putting a light on the need for dark skies

Local man putting a light on the need for dark skies

By Pat Mulvaney | For the County Line Scott Lind of Ontario has had a thing for dark skies ever since he stood at 6,000 feet on a mountain in Yellowstone National Park in the mid-1970s. On that summer evening, he gazed up at the unadulterated night sky where a...

Norwalk to seek $728,000 in CDBG money for street work

By Sarah Parker | County Line Editor Norwalk will apply for $728,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funds to help offset the cost of its $1,092,000 street project, the village board decided at its meeting April 8. The venture will consist of roadwork and...

Archives

Community

Kendall Public Library to show ‘Proud Rebel’

Contributed by Lynette Vlasak The Kendall Public Library’s May movie night will be Friday, May 2, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at St. John’s Church fellowship hall.    The western “Proud Rebel,” starring Alan Ladd and Olivia de Havilland, will be...

Wilton Public Library to offer programs

By Kelly Lupton | Wilton Public Library director The Wilton Public Library will host the following events: • 10 a.m. Friday, April 25: Current-Events Discussion Group • 4 p.m. Monday, April 28: Lego Club • 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 29: Book Club for Adults with Special...

Vernon County Museum Notes

By Kristen Parrott | Vernon County Museum curator This is National Volunteer Week, and the Vernon County Historical Society gratefully acknowledges all of its volunteers and their many contributions to the success of the organization. The society was founded by...

Seeing Stars: Big city lights

By Susan Cushing | Kickapoo Dark-Sky Initiative Tucson, Ariz., has become one of my favorite places, partly because it has a long commitment to best lighting practices. With just over a million people, this city has shielded, low-temperature streetlights because of...

Senior menus for April 28 to May 2

Kendall and Norwalk meal sites Call 463-7622 (Kendall) or 343-3158 (Norwalk) by noon one day before to reserve a meal. Suggested donation is $4 per meal. One-percent milk is served with each meal.  Monday, April 28: Chicken sandwiches with cheese on whole-grain...

Obituaries

Deanna Rae Bell

Deanna Rae Bell, 78, of Kendall, Wis., passed away on April 15, 2025.  Born on Feb. 24, 1947, to Everett and Donna (Severson) Walter, Deanna spent her early childhood in Minneapolis, Minn. At the age of 7, she moved to a family farm outside Kendall, where she was...

Metro Palamaruk

Metro Palamaruk, 94, of Kendall, died Saturday, April 19, 2025, at Touch of Home.   He was born Feb. 7, 1931, to Konstantine and Victoria (Mamoff) Palamaruk in Fort William, Ontario, Canada. After graduating high school, he served in the Canadian Armed...

Timothy J. Downing

Timothy J. Downing, 66, of rural Ontario passed away peacefully at his home on April 21, 2025, recently diagnosed with liver/pancreatic cancer.  He was born on March 31, 1959, at Tomah Memorial to George and Delphine (Dorner) Downing of Ontario.  He...

Loreen Hendricks

Loreen Hendricks, 83, passed away Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.  Loreen was born at home on Nov. 28, 1941, to Earl E. and Inez Pearl (Burch) Ferries. The youngest of six children, she grew up on a farm located near Ontario, Wis., a small village in Vernon County on the...

Geraldine R. Gerke

Geraldine R. Gerke, 89, of Tomah died Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at Elroy Health Service, surrounded by her family.  She was born to Lyle and Gertrude (Mistle) Henry in Tomah. She was a member of the Tomah Senior High School graduating class of 1954. She was...

Opinion

Letter to the editor: ‘Hands off’

By Lee D. Van Landuyt | Hillsboro On April 5, there were massive, coordinated national protests involving over three million angry citizens. This protest was entitled “Hands Off!” Sign-carrying protesters rejected massive cuts to essential government programs relied...

Sports

Brookwood has end-of-season banquet

The Brookwood girls basketball team held its annual end-of-the-season banquet March 18. Pictured are the Brookwood Girls Basketball team players who received Scenic Bluffs All-Conference awards (left to right): Deanna Wallace, Scenic Bluffs sportsmanship award;...

Brookwood halted in first round of play

The No. 15 Brookwood boys basketball team traveled to No. 2 Royall on March 4 in the first round of the WIAA Division 5 regional tournament. Here, Jackson Cunitz leads an offensive play early in the first half. (Tasha Mueller photo) Brennen Mack started the game...

Brookwood students named athletes of the month

The following Brookwood High School students were named athletes of the month for February. Coaches’ comments follow the students’ names. BOYS BASKETBALL • Julian Cunitz: “Julian has really put all the pieces together to finish off his sophomore season on a...

Brookwood girls conclude season

The Brookwood senior girls basketball members (left to right: Deanna Wallace, Emily O'Rourke, Willow Pasch, and Alice Wiedmeyer) were honored at their last home game of the season Feb. 18. The team traveled to Cochrane-Fountain City on Feb. 25 in their first round of...

Royall girls stop at first-round tournament play

The No. 10 Royall girls basketball team traveled to No. 7 Hillsboro on Feb. 25 in the first round of regional tournament action. Elizabeth Klipstein steadied the early first-half pace, and the game was close going into halftime. (Tasha Mueller photo) Kayla Rick posts...

Backtalk

It will be a seemingly endless campaign season

By KAREN PARKER County Line Publisher Emerita I would imagine if Eric Hovde has secured any demographic in his campaign for Wisconsin Senate, it would be lonely ladies over 40 swooning over his rugged, Marlboro-man-lookalike appearance. You may have noticed that a...

A vibrant press is essential to democracy

By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher Emerita Sadly, there was no obituary in the paper for the Vernon Focus. You likely did not know Vernon, but in his past life, you might have known him as Foxxy Shopper. In my salad days, the Foxxy Shopper was the 800-pound...

America’s bent toward fascism

By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher Emerita Imagine living in a country where the simple act of gathering together to lay flowers after the death of a prominent person could result in a two-week jail sentence. Worse yet, two weeks in a Russian prison possibly...

In 2024, remember that politics were ugly 100 years ago, too

By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher Emerita Good grief! We are barely into the new year, and I am ready to go back to 2023 or leap ahead to 2025. Are we really in for an entire year of presidential election babble? While they exerted monumental efforts to convince...

Looking back on our 40th year, 1983–2023 (part two)

By KAREN PARKER County Line Publisher Emerita Forty years is a long time. Sadly, it’s long enough for most of our area business to have gone away. It’s hard to believe now, but in 1983 Ontario had two bars, two grocery stores, three gas stations, a variety store, and...

Pictures from the Past

Tuttle Hill, 1910s

Men construct the road on what is now County Highway ZZ, on Tuttle Hill, just southwest of Ontario, most likely in the 1910s. The back of the photo has the inscription, “Grandpa Phil Bolden driving 1st team working on Tuttle Hill.” Do you have more information about...

Wilton baseball, 1937

WILTON BASEBALL 1937: The village of Wilton’s baseball team won the Milwaukee Sentinel’s state championship in 1937. Left to right, kneeling, are Hunts Steffen, Don Harrison, Vern Ferries (manager), Bud Martalock, Bud Schneider and Bill Heilman. Standing are Bud...

Ontario, 1915

This 1915 photo depicts the road from Hillsboro into Ontario, past the Charles Lord house (a pillared house that's still in place), as the road turns the corner into Ontario. (Photo courtesy of Bob Breidenstein)

Wilton senior quartet, 1955

The following students  were members of the senior quartet at Wilton High School in 1955: Orvis Schindler, Roger Pasch, Charles Zellmer and Merlyn Eckelberg. This photo appeared in the Wilton High School yearbook, “Wiltonian.”

School

Brookwood trap club fundraiser

The Brookwood Trap Club hosted a fundraiser April 13 at the Wilton Fire Station.  Brookwood students serve up hamburgers and brats.  Allison Maulsby and Amiyia Zimbauer accept payments for the meals. Alice Wiedmeyer and Payge Clark work the grill. 

N-O-W goes to Kid’s College

Norwalk-Ontario-Wilton Elementary School sent a group of sixth graders to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse’s Kid’s College on Friday, April 11. The UW and the Mississippi Valley Gifted and Talented Network partner to offer the event. Students were able to get a...

Brookwood forensics excels at state tournament

Contributed by Brookwood High School Brookwood Forensics had 27 entries that were presented at the Wisconsin Interscholastic Speech and Dramatics Arts’ State Competition on April 11 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Speakers spoke one time and were assessed by a...

Royall celebrates prom

Royall celebrated its prom last weekend. The following made up the court (left to right, back to front): Trenton, Savannah, Brycen, Liza, Dylan, Aunika, Lucas, Emma, Brock, Ella, Carter,  King Trey, Queen Bria, Maddison, Beau and Oaklyn. (Contributed photo)

Brookwood students named to third-quarter honor roll

The following Brookwood Junior/Senior High students were named to the third-quarter honor roll: SENIORS High Honors: Payge A. Clark, Brayden T. Thieman and Deanna M. Wallace Honor Roll: Carter H. Arbuckle, Emma J. Baldwin, Alexander Bautista Velasco, Camden L....