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Stoughton
Thursday, December 21, 2017 • Vol. 136, No. 22 • Stoughton, WI • ConnectStoughton.com • $1
of Stoughton 916 Nygaard Street • (608) 873-6635
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Courier Hub The
City of Stoughton
Recreation head gets promoted Council votes to maintain Parks and Rec structure BILL LIVICK Unified Newspaper Group
The city has a successor for retiring parks and recreation director Tom Lynch. The Common Council voted unanimously Tuesday to promote recreation supervisor Dan Glynn to lead the department after Lynch’s retirement in January. Glynn has been with the city for nine years. The city will also maintain the department’s leadership structure. It had considered
changing to gain efficiencies. But an internal review and the comments of several city employees persuaded alders to not only keep the structure but immediately choose Glynn rather than look for other candidates to compete with him for the job. A l d . K a t h l e e n Ta s s Johnson (Dist. 2) argued against promoting Glynn without first reviewing the director’s job description and looking at other candidates. She said the council was moving too fast on the change and voted against Dist. 1 Ald. Sid Boersma’s amendment to the Parks committee’s recommendation to explore hiring Glynn. But she joined the
Turn to Glynn/Page 5
Firefighter residency rules relaxed Department aims to add seven more volunteers BILL LIVICK Unified Newspaper Group
Stoughton fire chief Scott Wegner is hoping to add more volunteer firefighters to his department. The Common Council helped Tuesday, eliminating a requirement that volunteers must reside in the city. The change allows people who work but don’t
live within the city limits to join the department. “I currently have a shortage of volunteers, and the people I’m seeing apply for the fire department don’t live here,” Wegner said. Wenger explained that in particular, he’s lacking enough volunteers for an adequate daytime response. “Roughly three-quarters of the fire department works out of town,” he said. “So by changing the
Turn to Residency/Page 5
Courier Hub
Clarence Osland, 95, tells stories about being a soldier during World War II last week at the Stoughton VFW.
Photo by Jeremy Jones
Into the frozen void
Stoughton’s Osland helped turn tide in ‘Battle of the Bulge’
SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
If not for his diligence at washing barracks windows, Clarence Osland could have spent World War II in the steamy jungles of the Pacific. Instead, he ended up in the frozen forests of Belgium some 73 years ago, pushing back a German breakthrough during a fierce, month-long struggle known to history as “The Battle of the Bulge.” The surprise attack, launched Dec. 16, 1944, quickly overran American lines, creating the “bulge” that gave
the battle its name. After several days of fighting, retreating and heavy casualties, U.S. forces – including Osland – counterattacked, eventually pushing the Germans back and into full retreat. It all happened during one of Europe’s coldest winters, adding to the misery. All available troops were rushed into battle, whether they had winter gear or not. When it officially ended a month later, nearly 20,000 U.S. soldiers were dead and some 60,000 were wounded or missing after the largest battle the Army has ever fought.
“I didn’t think I’d live to get back home,” Osland, 95, told the Hub last week. “I said, ‘I’m either gonna get shot or I’m gonna freeze to death; one of the two.’”
Bound for Europe A 1941 Stoughton High School graduate, Osland said with war coming, many classmates figured they would be drafted. It turned out he was right, despite he and some friends’ best efforts to enlist in the Coast Guard and Navy.
Turn to Osland/Page 8
City-district group defines its mission: ‘To promote growth’ SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
When it comes to the mission of a recently formed ad hoc committee of Stoughton Common Council, Stoughton Area School District and Stoughton Chamber of Commerce, now it’s all in writing. The committee met Dec. 13 to continue discussion on the group’s intent and goals, creating a mission statement that committee member Jon Coughlin
said the group has “rallied around.” It reads, “Study the strengths and areas of improvement for the Stoughton Community in order to develop recommendations to the City Council, Stoughton School Board and Chamber of Commerce to promote growth in the student population.” In an email to the Hub on Tuesday Coughlin said the group’s goal is to “provide all community entities – initially focusing on
the city, school district and chamber – with the information or strategies they need to make themselves more attractive to the young families that will help keep our schools full.” He said the committee’s first task will be to collect data and community feedback “that helps characterize the current attractiveness of both our city and school district to these families.” “After characterizing our community, we hope to identify the strengths most
worth celebrating and the shortcomings most worth i m p r o v i n g ,” C o u g h l i n wrote. The committee was formed to improve communication and better address issues that affect both the city and school district – namely marketing the community, increasing housing availability and school enrollment and eliminating poverty. The group held its first
Turn to Growth/Page 3
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