Researched by Michael J. Caylor Jr
3-14-79
When Patrick Nugent was elected mayor last spring he became Merrill’s 29 th mayor, his sudden resignation due to health concerns promoted a search for his replacement, and now the city has that replacement seated, the 28 th Mayor in the city’s history. Ralph “Fata” Voigt won the majority of the votes placing him back in charge of the city he had previously led for 18 years before Nugent defeated him. Three other candidates sought the post in front of the council Tuesday night, Alderman Jean Rogers along with former Alderman Henry Golde and Dick Baumgart each presented their ideas to the council prior to the vote on the direction they wished to take the city if elected. Voigt had previously told
council members and the public that if he were to be reappointed as mayor he would not seek another term in 1980, but he backed off those remarks after the council meeting. The other three candidates each expressed their intent to seek the post in 1980 as well. Lorraine Trantow has resigned from the Merrill School Board. Trantow cited personal reasons in her decision in a letter to school board president Lester Voigt. According to state law, the board can seek a replacement, but Voigt will actually make the appointment which will then need to be ratified by the majority of the board. In briefs: Russell Leik has taken over the helm of Lincoln Hills School. The 41 year old new director comes from Madison and will replace John Ross. Leik was leery of speaking of any goals for the youth prison until he is able to do a complete exam of its operations. The local chapter of the Status of Women will hold a meeting tomorrow to discuss a shelter for battered women. According to organizer Carol Hoge, the local police stated 49 cases of wife beating were reported last year, four of which resulted in hospitalization. The Merrill Blue Jay boys’ basketball team has ended their season with a loss in the semi-finals of the
WIAA Sectional tournament at the hands of Ashland. The Oredockers led most of the game with the Jays only coming within five points during a scoring run to start the second half. Mitch Wickman led the team with 21 points followed by Rick Bonnell with 13 and Tom Dotter with 11 in the 68-57 loss.
3-15-89
Church Mutual Insurance Company held their 92 nd annual meeting this morning and reported excellent growth over the past year along with the opening its expanded facilities and the hiring of more employees. The company moved into their newly expanded area this past August, and the new space allowed the company to hire an additional 57 workers. Chairman and President of the company, Dieter H. Nickel reports a net income after taxes and claims, the third consecutive profitable year for the company which employs 304 people locally. Nickel also reported the expense ratio has been reduced to 22.4%, the lowest in company history. Policyholders re-elected R. Eric Carlson, Ted Jefferson, and Dr. Erling O. Ravn Jr. to three-year terms on the company’s board of directors. A full page ad welcomes the new addition to the city’s east side and invites residents to tour the new facility of Wisconsin Public Service. Tours of the new facility will be this Friday night according to district manager Bob Akey. Twenty five employees are based out of the new building. The Merrill Blue Jay boys’ basketball team season has ended after a loss to state bound Pulaski at the Brown County Arena last Friday. The game was close when the second half opened up, but Pulaski went on a serious scoring drive that Merrill was never able to recover from, losing the contest 73-57. Junior Jeff Krueger led the offense with 14 points and Jerry Sazama scored a dozen while junior Rory Osness
added nine.
3-17-99
Dieter H Nickel, Chairman and President of Church Mutual Insurance reports that his company had a respectable year despite major losses due to catastrophes all over the United States including three hurricanes, two tropical storms and numerous other weather related events. A single church fire in 1998 in Wisconsin was a loss of $4.4 million dollars, a fire Nickel stated was caused by lightening. The employees at the company remain healthy with 658 total employees, 430 of which are employed at the Merrill office. The quest for a gold ball fell short in Madison for the Merrill Blue Jay girls’ basketball team this past weekend. The girls took care of West Allis in the opening round by a score of 38-37 which pushed their
win streak to 10 games, but the undefeated Franklin squad proved too much with the ladies losing by a score of 42-30. Head Coach Bob Yuska was proud of his team’s defense which led their opponents in shoot in the 20% range but noted his offense came up short. Yuska is optimistic for next year with most of his starters coming back to play although his team will miss the play of Seniors Amy Schofield and Lacey Lemon.