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Thursday, February 8, 2018 • Vol. 136, No. 29 • Stoughton, WI • ConnectStoughton.com • $1
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Stoughton Public Library
Redevelopment Authority
RDA unsure about visioning exercise To move forward, Highway Trailer decision needed BILL LIVICK Unified Newspaper Group
Photo by Amber Levenhagen
Ella Loup, 11, and Emma Kemppainen, 13, act a scene about a scientist and a burning science sign during an improv activity at the library on Jan. 31. The improv group is part of the library’s new initiative to bring more teens into the library, led by a new intern that helps coordinate teen-focused programming.
Calling all teens Library initiative targets new audience through part-time intern
AMBER LEVENHAGEN Unified Newspaper Group
“Do not bong my dip-dip-dee.” It sounds ridiculous, but to the group of young teens gathered at the library Jan. 31, the phrase quickly became a mantra. The teens were playing an improv game that challenged them to send an imaginary ball of energy around the circle with various hand gestures, a few silly phrases and lots of laughter. The improv group is part of the library’s new focus on teen activities.
Though the library has always held activities for various age groups, including weekly storytimes for young children and book clubs for adults, the number of activities geared towards teenagers was severely lacking. Before the program started, the library only hosted one or two teen events a month. Amanda Bosky, youth services librarian, teamed up with adult and teen services librarian Cynthia Schlegel in 2016 to help change the trend. That was around the same time the library completed renovations to the then-new teen area on the second floor.
“I started daydreaming about hiring a teen services paraprofessional,” Bosky said. “Budget wise, we knew it would be very difficult to add another position to the library’s staff, so we started looking for alternatives.” One such alternative was crafting an internship through the UW-Madison’s School of Library and Information Science. The library adapted the position to a 15- to 18-hour per week internship for a student working on their Masters in Library and Information Science.
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Dancers lead Norse Afternoon of Fun Destination Weekend returns for 65th year AMBER LEVENHAGEN Unified Newspaper Group
Fondly dubbed “a cure for cabin fever,” the Stoughton High School Norwegian Dancers will ease the winter blues during their 65th year with Norse Afternoon of Fun
this Sunday. The performance, a highlight of Destination Weekend, will begin at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11. Doors to the event, located at the SHS gymnasium, will open at 12:30 p.m. Though the performance is the highlight of the weekend – with the eagerly awaited announcement of the best kept secret in Stoughton, the
Syttende Mai king and queen – numerous traditions will return, sure to bring a little Norwegian out in everyone. The festivities also include the announcement of the Community Appreciation Award, which this year goes to Troy Wieser.
Afternoon of Fun The SHS auditorium will transform into a sea of
bunads in the audience and across the performance floor as the SHS Norwegian Dancers perform for the first time in 2018. The dancers present a program that includes “humorous, gymnastic and audience participation dances” appealing for all ages, according to a news release.
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T h e R e d eve l o p m e n t Authority met for two hours last week to discuss a visioning exercise it had unanimously approved weeks earlier for its riverfront redevelopment project. But by the end of the meeting, members still weren’t certain whether the RDA would organize and conduct the planning session. The one thing everyone seemed to agree on is the need for the Common Council to decide what to do with the Highway Trailer building on East South Street.
“Everything revolves around that,” said consultant Gary Becker. But he told the RDA on Wednesday, Jan. 31, he doesn’t think it needs to hold a visioning exercise. He said the organization got enough ideas about what the public wants included in the redevelopment project when it conducted a design charrette last summer. “Let’s focus on the topics that still need resolution,” he suggested. Becker added that any decisions about the project should probably be made after the Common Council election in April, which will put as many as three new alders and a new mayor in office. Early in the meeting, RDA member Peter Sveum moved to cancel
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1892 building
Maintenance is first step District facilities study looms large in 1892 building decision SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
It will likely be months, if not years before a final decision is made on what to do with the former Stoughton High School 1892 building on North St. But a small step forward was taken at last week’s Stoughton Area School District facilities committee meeting, where members of a coalition of historic preservationists presented some ideas to district officials. They would like to see an educational component on the first floor – a mix of
school district and adult education – and community meeting space on the second floor. At its conclusion, the committee moved to seek a cost on fixing the building’s ongoing flooding issues. More definitive steps on the building’s future will have to wait until the summer at the earliest, though, when a district-wide facilities study could shed more light on how feasible it is to restore.
A ways to go Facilities committee chairman Joe Freye called the meeting a “good discussion,” though in an email to the Hub, he cautioned there’s “a lot of work and discussion to go before any decision is reached about the future of the building.”
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