March 20, 2002

Still going strong at 88
Kirschbaum celebrates 20 years of working at McDonalds
Goldie Kirschbaum started working at McDonald's at the age of 68, and now at the age of 88 she shows no signs of slowing down.
She did take a leave of absence from June of last year until this
winter, but store manager Nancy Rogers said they asked her to come back due to public demand.
"Every day we had customers coming in asking 'Where's Goldie? When is she coming back?'" said Rogers.
Goldie works on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, doing "whatever needs to be done." She greets customers, wipes tables, pours drinks, and even cleans the bathroom.
She says she loves working with the public. "I like serving people and everything that goes with it," she says with a smile. "There isn't anything I don't like about working."
Goldie has five children living - Raymond, Michael, Eva, Agnes (Rush) and Doran. She had two children who have passed away, Cletus and Duane.
Often one of her daughters or sons is her "taxi" to and from work.
Her son Michael works at McDonald's also, in maintenance.
Her customers say she is one in a million. "It wouldn't be the same
without her," said one customer recently. "She's the life of the party."
McDonald's recently held a celebration honoring Goldie and the nearly 20 years she has worked there.
In addition to her work at the restaurant, Goldie also enjoys baking, jellies and her family. She not only has great-grandchildren, she has great-great grandchildren.
Goldie doesn't have plans on going anywhere anytime soon. "I figure I'll keep working here until Digger O'Dell gets me," she laughs.
"It's really been fun having Goldie here. She is so friendly. It's like
having your grandma at work with you," Rogers said.
Goldie Kirschbaum enjoys a laugh with friends while working at
McDonald's. Through April 1, Paul Porvaznik's artwork, along with 17 other designs that best represent each of the six themes will be posted on www.wedfi.org.

Cuts to German program to be considered March 21
Teachers of the Prairie du Chien School District feel that strength in numbers played a part in their victory Wednesday night concerning recent staff reductions. Dozens of teachers hunkered down in the hallway outside the school board meeting room at B.A. Kennedy in a show of support for two teachers that had lost their jobs due to district budget cuts. The group shouted words of encouragement as high school math-science teacher Amanda Unbehaun and Bluff View School Psychologist Deb Peth, each in turn, went in to face the board and the district administrator to discuss the status of their jobs. After more than an hour, Unbehaun emerged with tears in her eyes, but unbowed as several teachers gathered around in support. Following another half hour, a determined Peth, armed with numerous statistics and numbers of her own, was called in to give her presentation. Intermittently, other teachers were called into the meeting room to speak to the board about Peth. Outside in the hallway, one teacher said that it could very easily have been any one of them who was given a pink slip by the board. Peth finally emerged, and the hallway began to buzz. After a short wait, open session was declared and everyone tried to cram into the room, with some listening from the hallway.
District Administrator Jim O'Meara recommended to the board that Unbehaun's contract not be renewed. Board member Brian Edwards made a motion to retain Unbehaun. A roll-call vote was taken and Unbehaun was reinstated by unanimous decision.
O'Meara then recommended that the board retain Peth at fulltime. She too, was reinstated by the unanimous vote of the board.
"Nobody should have to go through this," Peth said immediately following the meeting as she and her fellow teachers happily filed through the halls on their way out of the building.
"The support shown by the teachers here tonight and at Monday's meeting definitely helped. They were tremendous," said Peth as she and her colleagues moved down to the first floor of B.A. Kennedy.
With the retention of Unbehaun and Peth, three of the four teachers who were terminated Feb. 26 as part of a staff reduction have now been reinstated. Another teacher has been returned to fulltime, after having been reduced to halftime.
At a meeting scheduled for March 21 at 6:30 p.m. at B.A. Kennedy
Elementary School, the school board will decide whether or not to keep the German program.
If the German program is cut, one teacher will be terminated and another will be reduced to halftime. O'Meara said that both teachers would be retained fulltime if the German program is retained.
One management person, one employee through CESA 3 and two school district consultants have been terminated by the board due to budget cuts.
If the German program is kept, "the board may have to decide to make cuts elsewhere," O'Meara said, noting that the district's budget decisions will ultimately hinge upon what the state legislature decides to do about the state's $1.1 billion deficit. "We may end up with deficit spending for next year."
Depending upon the plan the legislature adopts, the district's budget could be affected by a reduction of state aid of $24,927 on up to $646,000. The total effect upon the district could be a reduction by as much as $1 million, O'Meara said.
Most school districts in the state are facing budget cuts and several
are making staff reductions. The Seneca School District has eliminated one halftime position and reduced two other fulltime positions to halftime. Seneca chose not to close its South Elementary School, but other budget cuts will have to be made.
The Boscobel School District has issued notices of non-renewal to seven teachers. The Boscobel School Board also passed a motion to lay off 10 other teachers, although in six of those instances, licensure problems were cited.

Area communities support Indians
They didn't come home with a state championship, but in the eyes of most area residents the members of the 2001-02 Seneca basketball team will not be soon forgotten.
Everywhere you went on Friday morning, from gas stations to hardware stores to area high schools, the televisions and radios were tuned into the Seneca versus Randolph basketball game.
Conversations were muted so as not to miss a single play of the game, and silent prayers were issued while furrowed brows kept up the hopes of the local team.
It was not a matter of everyone loving a winner, it was a matter of a small town team with big dreams, a lot of skill and a little luck. It was about hard work and dedication.
Seneca didn't hold classes on Friday, since most of the students, teachers and staff went to the game. There weren't many people left in town and some businesses even closed up shop.
Numerous Prairie du Chien students attended Seneca's game on Friday, and Wauzeka-Steuben School had 26 student absences on Friday for those attending the game, most of whom were high schoolers.
Seneca, 25-0 going into the game, was defeated by Randolph. Randolph went on to win the state championship. Congratulations Seneca on a fine season. You should be proud. We all are proud of you.
The Seneca fans came out in force and had a great time in support of their team as they cheered hard to inspire their Indians while at the same time displaying the utmost respect and sportsmanship. Seneca High School and the community did themselves proud at the state tournament and throughout a great season as the team finished with a 25-1 overall record.