BURNETT COUNTY
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017 VOL. 56 NO. 5 www.burnettcountysentinel.com $1.00
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STEVE BRIGGS | SENTINEL
Thanksgiving Dinner for 250 people plus more than 100 carry-outs, made Siren Community Center a very happy and festive place on Thanksgiving Day 2017.
A Thanksgiving feast for 350 BY STEVE BRIGGS SENTINEL WRITER
SIREN—The popularity of the Siren Community Thanksgiving Dinner continues to grow every year, and with good reason. This year, according to Pastor Tom Cook of the organizing committee, more than 250 people came to the Siren Community Center to enjoy the meal. At least 111 more were delivered to homes from Webb Lake to Frederic. The meal is free, which certainly doesn’t hurt attendance. The sunny,
mild Thanksgiving Day probably encouraged a few more to let others do the cooking. It’s widely known that the food is delicious, which also helps spread the word. The meal is traditional, with turkey and all the trimmings including real mashed potatoes, stuffing as good as your mom’s, plenty of tasty hot gravy made by Chef Paul, fresh rolls, pickles, beets, olives. With hundreds of desserts plated and awaiting your selection. After the prayer, serving began at noon and the line of diners the circled the room, with more arriving steadily
over the next hour. Due to the limited size of the center’s kitchen, most take-out meals were prepared and packaged for delivery at one of the churches where drivers could park closeby and be on their way with the hot meals. The communty meal is a tradition for many. A Siren woman who now lives in Bloomer comes back every year to help serve the meal and see many of her friends as they pass through the serving line. The Hoffa family of Chanhassen, Minn., consisting of parents Tom and
Six candidates vye in Senate District 10’s Dec. 19 primary
Susan and teen daughter Melanie, happily served mashed potatoes and stuffing this year. They have a lake home near Webster. “We came to the dinner last year and were so impressed that we decided to come back this year and help serve it,” Susan said. “It’s our family Thanksgiving tradition now.”
Pastors as chefs Turkeys are roasted all over the
Four Cubs Farm to add robot facility for milking BY STEVE BRIGGS SENTINEL
Corriea
Calabrese
Schachtner
WESTERN WISCONSIN—Six candidates have announced a run for a fast-approaching 10th State Senate District special primary election in which candidates only had 11 days to gather signatures. Three Democrats and two Republicans met that challenge and will face off in a Dec. 19 primary. Senate District 10 includes all of Burnett County except for the area from Yellow Lake northward that includes Danbury, A&H and Webb Lake. The 10th district also en-
SEE FEAST, PAGE 2
Zimmerman
compasses the parts of Dunn and St. Croix counties that include Menomonie and River Falls respectively, plus all of Polk and Pierce counties. The Democrats approved to run in the Dec. 19 Primary Election are Patty Schachtner of Somerset, John Calabrese of Glenwood City and Reuben Herfindahl of River Falls. Sitting Republican Wisconsin Assembly Representatives Adam Jarchow of Balsam Lake and Shannon Zimmerman of River Falls will also
GRANTSBURG—When 24hour milking resumes sometime in 2018 at the Four Cubs Farm southeast of Grantsburg, most of the milking for the 900cow herd will be done by robots. A fire on Nov. 1 destroyed the farm’s milking facility that had been remodeled many times in the farm’s 122-year history. “We have decided to put a robot facility in the main barn,” said Cris Peterson, who with her husband Gary and next generation Ben and Nicki Peterson operate Burnett County’s largest dairy operation. “Right now we’re still doing demolition,” she added, as an employee using a backhoe
cleared and moved fire debris in piles for removal. What the impact of robotic milking will be on the current work force is unclear at this time, she said. “The facility will have 16 robots through the whole barn. The plan is still in the development stage.” The only Holstein cattle on the farm today are 100 dry cows and about 300 heifers. Their cows from the heifer grower’s farm were transported to the main farm to reduce expenses. “We have no milk, so we have no income. That’s why we brought those cows back – to eat our feed and cut our costs,” she said. “Having cows here keeps the barn from freezing too.”
SEE PRIMARY, PAGE 2
SEE FOUR CUBS, PAGE 12
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