A LOOK BACK AT THE TIMES
10 YEARS AGO
JANUARY 12, 2012
A rural Turtle Lake man, arrested December 7th for sexual assault of a child, was found to have been innocent of the charges following an investigation into the case. Paul Burritt, age 60, Turtle Lake, was charged with the assault after the female reported she had been driven from Hayward to a residence on Hwy. 8 in Turtle Lake and then sexually assaulted in the van. A Barron County investigator was able to verify through GPS data and other information the reporting child was not telling the truth about what happened. The child did admit to making the false allegation after being confronted with the facts.
Darcie Schindler, a fourth grade teacher at Turtle Lake elementary school, was placed on paid administrative leave January 2, 2012 while an investigation of possible misconduct was conducted. According to Administrator Sherry Baker, the district has conducted a very thorough investigation regarding an alleged incident. The last stage of this investigation is now being conducted by an entity outside the Turtle Lake School.
Due to the projected deficits looming over the Turtle Lake School District horizon in the next five years the school board voted to hold a referendum this spring to help address those budget deficit issues. Thrive viable options were put on the table – Survive, Thrive or Maintain.
Tabbed as the “world’s largest pep band” over 60 musicians participated in pre-game activities last Friday night at the Turtle Lake High School gym. Any and all musicians, past and present, were invited to participate in the annual event.
The Lakers made it two in a row since the holiday break and ran their conference record to 4-0 (6-3 overall) when they defeated the Northwood Evergreens 48-31 on the home floor last Friday night. Kyle Steffen led the Laker attack with 18 points, six rebounds, two steals and three assists. Tanner Arnold followed with 11 points, 8 rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot. John Lahti added 8 points, 10 rebounds, one steal and two assists.
The Laker girls jumped out to a 12-4 first quarter lead and then held on for a six-point, 40-34, win over the Northwood Evergreens on the home floor last Thursday evening, January 5. Hope Kuhl led a balanced Laker attack with 13 points, 7 rebounds and two blocked shots. Ashley Lahti had 10 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and two assists. Libby DeJardin added 8 points, one rebound and one assist.
20 YEARS AGO
JANUARY 10, 2002
When Mike and Jeanne Ottman opened Echo Hills Golf Course, north of Turtle Lake on Hwy. 63, little did they know they would receive national recognition from Golf Business magazine on the design and circumstance of their course. But they did, and in the October 2001 issue of Golf Business, Echo Hills was featured, along with others, for their unique features of being built using the natural lay of the land and designed by the course owner, Mike.
In preparation for the holidays, the Turtle Lake Elementary Student Council held its annual Christmas Food Drive. For twenty days students brought in non-perishable food items to help stock the high school’s SOS food pantry. In the course of those twenty days the elementary students collected a record number 1,782 food items. These food items in turn were distributed by the Turtle Lake SOS committee to 14 needy families.
Bob Popenhagen led the way for the Turtle Lake/Clayton wrestlers with his second place finish at 160-lbs. at the 17th Annual Northern Badger Wrestling Classic held on December 28-29 at UW-River Falls. Kel Klingelhoets finished seventh at 130-lbs. and Mike Knight placed eighth at 112-lbs. Luke Paulson (119) and Kenton Olsvig (125) also won matches to score points for the Lakers.
The Laker gals came out of the holiday break with their toughest match-up of the s4eason in the Luck Cardinals. The tone of the game was set early as the Cardinals only allowed a single Laker fieldgoal throughout the entire first quarter, cruising to a 59-25 win in which the reserves saw plenty of action. Steph Hanson led the Lakers with 11.
30 YEARS AGO
JANUARY 9, 1992
Residents of the Turtle Lake School District will be asked to choose a new member to the School Board in the upcoming election in April as incumbent board member David Frandrup has not filed nomination papers to seek re-election as of 4:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. Two district residents have filed their nomination papers for the position. They are Eugene Danca of Route 1, Turtle Lake, and James Gores of Route 1, Almena.
Current church-based efforts to help the destitute poor of the Third World will be among the subjects featured in a guest sermon planned for Parkview United Methodist Church on January 19. The guest speaker will be Rev. Dean W. Simpson of “Food for the Poor”, and international inter-denominational ministry currently serving in the Caribbean.
After going on the road to defeat New Auburn, 52-25, on December 12th, and Siren, 49-32, on December 19th before the holiday break, the Laker girls resumed their 1991-92 basketball schedule at home on January 6th defeating the Bruce Red Raiders 73-44. Taking scoring honors was Jacki Danca with 23 points, including five 3-point field goals. Also scoring in double figures were Jackie Young with 20 and Julie Koenig with 13.
The Laker boys began their basketball action following the holiday break at Cameron last Friday, January 3, and handed the Comets a 61-53 defeat. The win increased the Lakers’ conference record to 2-0 and their overall record to 4-1. Four Lakers hit double figures, led by Brian Thill with 12, ten of which were freethrows, Todd Richter with 11 and Jamie Torgerson and Kurt Molls with 10 each.
Ryan Shortess and Vince Graf won championships and seven others placed in the top six as the Lakers place fourth out of nine teams in the Frederic Invitational Wrestling Tournament last Saturday. Frederic won the tournament with 165 points, followed by Spring Valley with 133, Colfax with 128 and Turtle Lake with 121.
40 YEARS AGO
JANUARY 14, 1982
The Turtle Lake community was saddened by the death of one of its pioneer businesswomen, Miss Laura Blix, 86, on Friday, January 8. Laura was associated with her brother, Albert, in merchandising and they operated a general store for their father, A.O. Blix. She retired from the business in 1960. During her retirement years she gave private piano lessons to many area children and also helped many students with vocal studies.
Three candidates each for the Turtle Lake Village Board and Turtle Lake School Board have filed their intention tp seek the positions open for the spring election. The three Trustee positions on the Village Board are being sought by Nick Kathrine and incumbents Frank Klingelhoets and Richard Oldroyd. Cletus Licht did not seek re-election. The two positions on the School Board are being sought by incumbents LeRoy Kingsbury and Donovan Niemann and challenger Bonnie Broker.
Miss LaVerna Halberg, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. A.C. Halberg, Turtle Lake, will be one of eighty-nine nursing students to be recognized at a Nursing Convocation on Sunday, January 17 at UW-Eau Claire.
The 1982 Winter Carnival Court candidates at Turtle Lake High School have been announced. They include Freshmen Lynn Tutewohl and Randy Hanson; Sophomores Georgeina Jeska and Jim Arnold; Juniors Brenda Neuenfeldt and Gary Anderson; and Seniors Darwin Haines and Connie Outcalt. The 1982 king and queen will be crowned at the Winter Carnival Dance on Friday, January 22, capping the week-long observance.
Last Friday night the Lakers finally got on the winning track as they decisively stomped Shell Lake 89-64 in front of their home crowd. Mitch Dietrich, Mike Schradle, Phil Stauner and Eric Solum had 16, 14, 13 and 10 points respectively for the Lakers.
50 YEARS AGO
JANUARY 13, 1972
The local Housing Committee members are attempting to complete the housing survey for the Turtle Lake area. In the Village most residents have been contacted personally. In case you have not been contacted you are requested to contact Harvey McCann or Wm. Bay at Impact Seven, Turtle Lake.
Congressman Vernon Thomson, representing the newly reorganized Third Congressional District of Wisconsin, was guest of honor at a dinner luncheon at Breneman’s Nite Club in Turtle Lake Wednesday at 12-noon. About 50 persons from Turtle Lake and the area were in attendance at the dinner.
The Turtle Lake Schools, in cooperation with the Sno-Lakers Snowmobile Club, is sponsoring a snowmobile safety and handling course to begin in late January. The course will be taught by members of the snowmobile club beginning at 7:00 p.m. Snowmobile laws, safety precautions, liability, clothing and the proper handling will be stressed.
The Clear Lake Warriors, leaders in the Western Lakeland Conference, bombed the Turtle Lake Lakers by an 80 to 37 score in their regularly scheduled game at Clear Lake, Tuesday evening, January 11. Dan Tornio just managed to hit double figures for the Lakers with 11 points.
Turtle Lake slithered by Cameron, 31-18, in wrestling action. Winning for the Lakers was Mike Klingelhoets, Kenrod Sorum, Brad Ostermann , Tom Braml and Bob Flottum.
