OCONOMOWOC – Eightlocal high school seniorshave been named winnersof the annual OconomowocScholarship Fund andMount Family Future Lead-er awards.

Since it was created 66years ago by the founder ofthe Oconomowoc Enter-prise, the nonprofit, com-munity-based OconomowocScholarship Fund has givenout nearly $1.7 million toencourage the post-sec-ondary studies of 540 stu-dents based on character,academic achievement,community involvement,and financial need.

Donations from the publicare appreciated.

Jason BurantThe son of Charles and

Kathleen Burant ofOconomowoc, Burant is eli-gible to receive $2,500 a yearfor each of the next fouryears to study mechanicalengineeringat the Milwau-kee School ofEngineering.Jason madethe highhonor roll allfour years atOHS and wasnamed to theNational Honor Society hisjunior and senior years. Heserved as president of the

youth group at Lord of LifeChurch and was a standoutplayer on the varsity base-ball team. Jason also enjoyshunting, fishing, hiking andwoodworking.

Tori GuzabickGuzabick’s long-term goal

is to become a nurse in aneonatal intensive care hos-pital unit. The daughter ofMichael and Stacy Guz-abick of Oconomowoc is eli-gible to receive $2,500 a yearfor each ofthe next fouryears whileshe studiesfor a bache-lor’s degreein nursing atE d g e w o o dCollege inMadison. Toriwas a four-yearmember of both the OHSvarsity cheer squad and thewind symphony. She alsohelped to mentor incomingfreshmen, and is a frequentvolunteer in the community.

Caleb KlatyAfter earning high honors

in 10 of 12 terms at OHS,Klaty will seek a Bachelorof Science degree inmechanical engineering atUW-Madison. The son ofTammy and Kevin Klaty iseligible to receive $2,500 ayear for each of the next

four years.Caleb was amember of thehigh schoolrobotics team,started and leda constructionclub, playedvarsity soccer,and was aregional freestyle ski cham-pion the past three years.

Curt LemkeLemke is interested in the

private space industry andproduct design. He rankedthird in his graduatingclass at OHSand ultimate-ly wants toobtain mas-ters degreesin engineer-ing and busi-ness. He willbegin hisstudies at theRose-Hulman Institute ofTechnology in Terre Haute,Ind. As the winner of aHilbert Scherffius scholar-ship presented by theOconomowoc ScholarshipFund, he is eligible toreceive $2,500 a year foreach of the next four years.Curt was a Boy Scout andEagle Scout, and helped tolead Young Americans forFreedom. The son of Haraldand Hope Lemke ofOconomowoc also plays the

guitar, piano, and Frenchhorn.

Zoe QuinetteQuinette’s long-term goal

is to earn a Doctor of Phar-macy degree. She willmajor in chemistry at UW-Madison, andis eligible toreceive $2,500a year for eachof the nextfour years asthe winner ofa n o t h e rHilbert Scherf-fius scholar-ship, presented by theOconomowoc ScholarshipFund. The daughter ofBernard and Julia Quinetteof Nashotah ranked 10th inher class and received threeScholar Athlete awardsplaying basketball, softballand golf all four years atOHS. Zoe was also a mem-ber of Future BusinessLeaders of America, andhelped coordinate the highschool’s annual blood drive.

Sidney UllrichUllrich will attend UW-

Madison to study for aBachelor of Arts degree inmarketing. The daughter ofLori and Robert Ullrich ofOconomowoc is eligible toreceive $2,500 per year forfour years. She was a two-year member of the Nation-

al HonorSociety, serv-ing as vicepresident ofthe group hersenior year.

Sidney ledthe DECAm a r k e t i n gclub programto buy gifts for underprivi-leged children in Milwau-kee.

She also earned ScholarAthlete awards as a mem-ber of the OconomowocHigh School swimming, vol-leyball, and track and fieldteams.

Hailey MilakovichAs the winner of a Future

Leader award funded by theThomas Mount family,Milakovich is eligible toreceive $8,500 per year forthe next four years.

The daughter of NicoleMilakovich of Oconomowocwill attend UW-Madison,where she plans to enroll inpre-med with an emphasison biochemistry.

H a i l e ywas on thehigh honorroll andplayed var-sity lacrosseall fouryears atOHS. Shewas also the

first-chair viola and led hersection of the high schoolorchestra the past threeyears.

Hailey is an active volun-teer on youth service pro-jects at Whitestone Commu-nity Church, and helpedarrange a high school sleep-out to raise awarenessabout the plight of home-less people.

Corbin EllisEllis will receive a schol-

arship of $8,500 as the win-ner of a one-year MountFamily Future Leaderaward.

The son of Kevin andJulie Ellis of Oconomowocwill seek a Bachelor of Sci-ence degree in electricalengineering at UW-Madi-son.

Corbin was on the varsitytrack and field team for fouryears atOconomowocHigh School,played varsi-ty soccer forthree years,and servedas captain ofboth squads.His commu-nity service work includesprojects involving SpecialOlympics and the Milwau-kee Rescue Mission.

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

IN BRIEF

SHORELINES OCONOMOWOC ENTERPRISE6B • THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 2014

By Josh PerttunenEnterprise Staff

TOWN OF OCONOMOWOC– It is Mary Kay Sokop’spersonal mission to makesure no new resident orbusiness owner in the west-ern Lake Country areagoes without a warm wel-come to the community.

For more than a decade,she has made it her busi-ness to be one of the firstfriendly faces that newcom-ers greet at the door.

As the one-woman wel-coming crew for Lake Coun-try Greetings, Sokop travelsto the city and town ofOconomowoc, Okauchee,Ixonia, Dousman, Summitand Nashotah while carry-ing a red bag full of perti-nent information.

There are lists of thelocal area’s doctors,lawyers, dentists,plumbers, electricians,churches, schools and anyother services that new-comers to Lake Countrymay need.

“I’ve taken the old-fash-ioned way of welcomingnew people with a plate ofcookies just one step fur-ther,” she said.

After being caught in theact of welcoming businessowner Cathy Kane of Vin-tique Rental to the commu-nity, Sokop sat down withthe Enterprise to discussthe hospitality that she pro-vides.

ENTERPRISE: How doyou know when someonenew moves to the area?

SOKOP: The realtors letme know. Or by word ofmouth from people I’ve wel-comed before. They let meknow that they have a newneighbor.

I end up welcomingbetween 25 to 30 new resi-dents per month.

ENTERPRISE: Why is itimportant that new resi-dents and business own-ers receive your greet-ing?

SOKOP: I moved 14 timeswith my husband and chil-dren before settling inOconomowoc, so I knowthat moving is really diffi-cult for people. I had a wel-coming visit in several of

those locations, so I’mfamiliar with the conceptand how that felt.

ENTERPRISE: Why didyou move around somuch? And what are thereasons that other peopleare sharing for theirmoves?

SOKOP: Our moves weredue to my husband’s time

with the service and phonecompany. We lived in Man-hattan, New Jersey, GreenBay, Appleton and White-fish Bay.

Our most difficult movewas moving back to Mil-waukee from the EastCoast. This was because itwas the only move that was-n’t our choice; my hus-band’s job had a locationchange.

Many move because theirpartner has moved. Or theymove because of a new mar-riage or divorce, new job,death in the family or mov-ing out of the house at 18years old.

ENTERPRISE: How hasyour job changed in thepast 14 years?

SOKOP: It’s more difficultnow that people don’t havelandlines so I can callahead. I have to stop byunannounced. I really con-sidered not doing it any-more, because I didn’t wantto barge in on people’s per-sonal time, but I realizedthat’s my issue. If it’s not agood time, people are happyto schedule a time thatworks.

People continue toanswer their doors. I’m nottoo threatening; I’m a littleold lady with a bag of use-ful information.

ENTERPRISE: Whatdoes a typical visitentail? And what are

some of the more memo-rable moments thatoccurred during a visit?

SOKOP: I provide all ofthe information on whatthe community has to offer.I ask that they only takewhat they’ll use. The typi-cal meeting takes 45 min-utes, but some have takenfour hours.

People have invited me infor coffee or water. Morevisits than not end up in ahug.

Sometimes I end up sit-ting on boxes because thefurniture hasn’t arrived.One time I was standing ina garage with a bird on myhead, because the family letthe bird roam free and onlycaged it at night.

ENTERPRISE: Is this aservice that you providefree of charge? And howcan new residents orthose aware of new resi-dents set up an appoint-ment?

SOKOP: It is free ofcharge. My sponsors pay formaterials.

I can be called at 490-3527or they can send me anemail at johnmaryk@sbc-global.net.

I really do this to makethe world a better place andto share how uniqueOconomowoc is. I was thefirst to call it “The Heart ofLake Country.”

Email: Jperttunen@conleynet.com

A warm welcome Sokop’s sunny demeanor welcomes newcomers to Lake Country

Josh Perttunen/Enterprise Staff

Mary Jane Sokop of Lake Country Greetings welcomes Cathy Kane of Vintique Rental in the Townof Oconomowoc to the Lake Country area. Sokop greets new residents and business owners alike.

Oconomowoc Scholarship Fund honors eight OHS students

Klaty

Burant

Lemke

Guzabick

Ulrich

Milakovich

Ellis

Quinette

Kiwanis club holds award ceremonyThe Oconomowoc Kiwanis Breakfast Club held the 49th annu-al Hall of Fame Awards ceremony on May 13.The award honors an OHS senior in each education depart-ment who has displayed excellence and superior performancein citizenship and academics.Pictured in the first row, from left: Mary Lou Wille, OHS teach-er and Hall of Fame coordinator; Madeleine Ehlers, special edu-cation; Heather Casterline, science; Olivia Lipke, English; Mor-gan Anderson, marketing; Zoe Quinette, business; Lexis Punzel,physical education; Chevelle Van Wagner, art; Sandra Karkossa,Kiwanis president. Second row: Genevieve Rohrer, world lan-guages; Joseph Thiel, music; Austin Borchardt, social studies;Jonathan Carfagna, mathematics; Jason Burant, technology;Nathan Nord, physical education; and Troy Essmann, agribusi-ness.Submitted photo

WAUKESHA – Exportnumbers released recentlyby the Wisconsin Depart-ment of Agriculture, Tradeand Consumer Protectionshow a 25 percent valueincrease for the first quarterof 2014 compared to thesame time period in 2013.

Dairy products, includingdairy derivatives, jumped 63percent compared with thesame period last year, with acombined value of $140 mil-lion.

Wisconsin ranked fourthamong U.S. states in theexport of dairy products.

Another product showing

strong export growth in thefirst quarter of 2014 wasbovine genetics.

These exports were valuedat $19 million, an 81 percentincrease over the same timeperiod in 2013.

That now ranks WisconsinNo. 1 among all of the statesin the export of bovinegenetics.

Wisconsin also ranks firstin the export of ginseng,sweet corn and mink furskins for the first threemonths of the year andcomes in second for theexport of cheese, whey andcranberries.

Wisconsin ag exports keep growing

Kids From Wisconsincoming to Oconomowoc

OCONOMOWOC – TheKids From Wisconsin arecoming to the OconomowocArts Center on July 25.

Andy Wagner of theOconomowoc KiwanisBreakfast Club announcedthe concert recently.

He said the club was “veryhappy to be able to bring thistalented group to theOconomowoc Arts Center.”

The Kids From Wisconsincontinue to be one of themost popular youth musicgroups in the Midwest.

Performances feature 20

singers and dancers and a 13-piece band, all chosen fromamong the state’s top musi-cians between the ages of 15and 20.

This year’s theme is “Can’thold us!”

Tickets are for salethrough the OAC box office,by calling 560-3172 or atwww.theoac.net.

Ticket prices are $20 foradult, $17 for seniors (60years old and older), $10 forchildren 17 years old andunder.

This performance is afundraiser that is designedto support the club’s commu-nity projects.

Sussex to hold Chamber Day

OCONOMOWOC – Sussexbusinesses will be participat-ing in Chamber Day on Sat-urday. There will be specialdiscounts, games, and prizes,including a drawing for agrand prize basket. Entryforms and stickers for thedrawing will be available atparticipating businesses;three stickers equals onedrawing entry. Receive anextra entry by bringing anonperishable food item.

The grand prize drawingand brat fry will take place at

Weyer Park. The drawingwill take place at 1 p.m. Pres-ence is not necessary to win.Benefit proceeds go to theSussex Food Pantry.

First Bank FinancialCentre Donates toOASC

OCONOMOWOC – FirstBank Financial Centrerecently donated $1,000 tothe Oconomowoc AreaSenior Center.

The OASC serves as a col-lection site for several com-munity causes including theOconomowoc Food Pantry,

Oconomowoc Lions Club,and Wildlife in Need Center.

The center office is openMonday through Fridayfrom 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more informationabout the OASC call 567-4288or visit oconomowocse-niors.org.

Oconomowoc PublicLibrary hosts summerreading program

OCONOMOWOC – “Liter-ary Elements” is the themeof the Oconomowoc PublicLibrary’s 2014 Adult Sum-mer Reading Program,

which combines science andliterature in a variety of pro-grams.

Participants can learnabout beer making, skincare, or the science of com-posting while enjoying dif-ferent types of literature,and get rewarded for partici-pating in the reading pro-gram.

Registration begins onJune 9.

For more information callthe library at 569-2194, orcheck out its website orFacebook page.

All programs are free ofcharge.