Stevens Point Journal from Stevens Point, Wisconsin • Page 2

Local News Friday, February 26, Stevens 1988 Point Journal 2 Chemigation By NICK SCHULTZ of the Journal Chemigation can be an effective, efficient way to apply pesticides and fertilizers to cash crops. It also has the potential to be oversprayed, to drift and contaminate surface and ground water. State regulations are being drafted of applying chemicals through irrigato make mandate ate proper management tion systems, said Ned Zuelsdorf, of the state agriculture department's resource management division. was among speakers that discussed chemigation at an irrigated cash crops serninar Thursday at the Blue Top Supper Club. "Chemigation has been shown to be a real efficient way to use pesticides," Zuelsdorf said.

But it also creates risks and concerns if exposed to people or the environment, he said. Obituaries Mrs. Julia H. Piotrowski Mrs. Julia H.

Piotrowski, 86, 1600 Sherman Fireside Apartments, Whiting, died Thursday afternoon at the River Pines Living Center. Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Boston Funeral Home. The Rev. Devon Allen will officiate.

Burial will be in the Restlawn Memorial Park, town of Grand Rapids. No public visitation is scheduled. Mrs. Piotrowski was born Dec. 11, 1901, in Marcellon, daughter of the late John and Helen Schave.

She grew up and attended schools in that area. She was married to Ladislaus Piotrowski in 1951. He died in 1982. They lived in Milwaukee until her husband's retirement and then moved to Lake Emily in 1965. Mrs.

Piotrowski moved to Stevens Point in 1983 and to the Fireside Apartments in 1987. She was a member of the Peace United Church of Christ and the church's Women's Guild. She was an avid fisher. Survivors include three daughters, Mrs. Elroy (Ruth) (Cassabaum) Herman, 2116 Michigan Mrs.

Clarence (Violet) (Cassabaum) Pepin, Milwaukee, and Mrs. John (Patricia) (Craig) Meleski, Glendale; and seven grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. She was preceded in death by one grandson and one brother. Carol Turner Carol Turner, 81, Columbus, Ohio, died Thursday morning at a Columbus hospital. She was a former resident of Almond.

memorial service will be held at Bayshore, 1 p.m. Lutheran Monday. Church, Burial Shore- will be in Almond in the spring. She was longtime resident of Shorewood. Mrs.

Turner was born Aug. 12, 1906 in Almond, daughter of the late Ella and Gerry Crowell. She attended schools there and graduated from Almond High School and from Lawrence College in Appleton. She was a member of the Sigma Alpha Iota Sorority and alumni group, Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of the Nile, Milwaukee Elks Club, Shorewood Homemakers Club and Bayshore Lutheran Church. She was a past president of the Ladies of Shorewood and a past grand worthy matron of the Eastern Star.

She was married to Earl Leader, who preceded her in death. She then was married to A. Wayne Turner, who also preceded her in death. Survivors include a daughter Mrs. Forrest (Nancy) Brown, Westerville, Ohio; and four grandchildren.

Isabel (Strike) Shelbrack Isabel (Strike) Shelbrack, 83, Portsmouth, Ohio, formerly of Stevens Point, died recently at her home. Services were held at St. Mary Catholic Church, Rhinelander. Burial was in the parish cemetery. Mrs.

Shelbrack was co-owner and operator of the Rogers Hotel in Portsmouth from 1958 to 1972 and was a member of St. Mary Church. She was married to Ted Shelbrack. He survives. Other survivors include one son, Theodore Kaukauna; four daughters, Joyce: Stafford, New Fane, N.J., Mrs.

Donald (Mary) Gublins and Mrs. Al (Alice) Polansky, both of New Berlin, and Mrs. Larry (Bess) Grundy, Portsmouth; one sister, Mrs. Edward (Dorothy) Boyer, Stevens Point; and 14 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Recycling reminders Saturday is recycling day in the town and village of Plover.

Town residents may take recyclables to the town dumping station at Highway 54 and Hoover Road. For village residents, the recycling drop-off station is at Lyons Rental, 2105 Plover Springs Drive. Both stations are open from 9 a.m. until noon and will be serviced by Intra-State Recycling. on risks must be balanced with benefits "I don't think the public is aware many times that chemicals are being applied through irrigation," he said.

Water with pesticides can drift or be sprayed on non-targeted areas, such as other property, roads or surface water. Proposed amendments to an agriculture rule would require signs to be posted at fields that are chemigated. It may be similar to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruling for applying dangerous or poisonous pesticides, he said. That says signs should be at obvious entrances to a field or every one-fourth mile along public right-of-way.

Monitoring applications of toxic chemicals may be required I by a certified handler, Zuelsdorf said. Other amendments would address pesticide containment in fields to prevent chemicals in storage tanks from spilling. A minimum setback of the pesticide tank from the irrigation well is being considered. If a spill occurred, it would have less impact on the well. Other states have well setbacks of 50 to 500 feet, he said.

Any chemical spill that could affect the environment must be reported immediately to the state Department of Natural Resources, said Bill Furbish, DNR environmental specialist. "We know about 90 percent of the spills in the state are not reported," he said. "If you screw up bad enough and often enough and have disregard for public health, the state has the ability to make you stop." The amendments will probably include EPA's label improvement, system configuration and check valve requirements, Zuelsdorf said. The new labeling program will apply to pesticides released for shipment after April 30. New labels will have specific instructions for chemigation or will forbid that application method.

Until now, if the label said nothing about chemigation, the chemical could be applied through irrigation. Check valves are needed to prevent pesticides in an irrigation system from flowing back toward ground water. Chemicals must be injected on the discharge side beyond reduced pressure zone valves, Furbish said. He monitors the 6,520 high-capacity wells in the state, including 2,904 irrigation wells. A recent inspection in southern Adams County showed, 62 percent of the 180 irrigation wells did not comply with standards, Furbish said.

Wells had an average of three violations each. Most common problems are inadequate or no seals between the pump head and concrete base. Other faults included open well casings, lack of signs saying the wells do not contain drinking water, lack of hour meters, poor check valves, crude grade lubricating oil tanks attached to the pump, erosion around the base of well heads and improperly abandoned wells. Good management is the key to applying chemicals through irrigation systems, said Dave Curwen, University of Wisconsin Extension horticulturist. "If systems are not properly used or designed, they can turn the advantages into disadvantages." Chemigation can provide accurate, uniform application rates and distribution, which lessen environmental impacts, Curwen said.

It can be more timely and less costly than other application methods. If monitored and applied on windless days, chemigation has less potential to drift than aerial spraying, he said. "We think we can minimize if not eliminate overspray and drift problems." (Journal photo by Doug Wojcik) Jason Meeks (left) and Dave Tilma hurry along on snowshoes during winter fun activity at McKinley Elementary School this week. Days like today, when temperatures reached 41 by noon, hint that snowshoes and other winter sports paraphernalia will soon be gathering dust. Model guidance program has local ties Two Stevens Point natives are part of a Winneconne Community School District team that has developed a model guidance curriculum.

Jim Thompson and Nancy (Weisbrod) Wilhelm, Pacelli High School graduates, helped create the Winneconne Developmental Guidance Curriculum for kindergartners through eighth graders. Thompson and Wilhelm, along with Pat Barney, an elementary teacher in the Winneconne Community School District, spoke during the Wisconsin School Counselor Association Annual Conference Thursday at the Holiday Inn. The guidance curriculum began three years ago, according to Thompson, a counselor for kindergartners12th graders. The curriculum outlines suggestions and information on ways teachers can provide additional guidance in classrooms. The project, called a "total involvment process" by Thompson, was developed with help from the Community Guidance Committee and was written by counselors, teachers and administrators.

Thompson said there was a lot of strong administrative support, which was one of the project's key factor. One of the curriculum's features, Thompson said, is its organization and format. The curriculum is organized around monthly themes running from August through May (Getting Acquainted, Academic Fitness, Choices and Consequences, Liking Me, Family, Wellness, Friendship, Citizenship, Feelings and Careers). There will be two lessons of activities per month focusing on these themes, he said. By the end of the eighth grade, students should be familiar with these themes.

The curriculum resources are in three ring binders which make it easy to handle and revise, he said. "We try to make a program that is complete, but it will never be Thompson said. The curriculum can be adjusted without beginning again with a new program, he said, as new areas of need are determined. The entire curriculum is integrated with mandates in protective behaviors, human growth and development, suicide prevention, Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse programming, Children at Risk, and career exploration and planning. Many of the themes are centered around self-concept, learning to communicate and making good decisions, which relate to the mandates.

"We tried to meet mandates in a fashion where we're not dumping more on teachers," he said. Each month, counselors deliver some materials while teachers do related curriculum activities. Each month, signs are posted around the school, reminding everyone of the theme. During the "Liking Me" month, teachers made a "strenght banner" and the children wrote what they felt good about on the banner. If students were nice to another student during "friendship" month, they got their names up on the "valentine tree" in the hallway for everyone to see.

Senior citizens and students sang and read to each other during "Citizens" month. Wilhelm, a middle school counselor, called the themes "I really like the monthly themes," she said. "We came up with as many icebreakers as we could." Barney said the guidance curriculum is an important part of regular education and special education teachers. "We respond to crisis after crisis when children are young," Barney said. "We need tools to offer children guidance." Bucks in hand, state tourism chief is upbeat By ED BERTHIAUME of the Journal RIB -The boosted bank account of the state Division of Tourism will mean more promotion for Northern Wisconsin communities, the administrator of the division said Thursday.

Richard Matty, fresh from the 1988 Governor's Conference on Tourism in Green Bay, told the Central Wisconsin Press Club at the Rib Mountain Ski Chalet that much of that promotion will come via joint ventures, with the tourism division kicking in funds for a wide range of promotional projects. "If you don't remember Dick Matty for anything else, you'll remember him for joint ventures," he said. "We have to get to the rural areas in Northern Wisconsin. Come on in and let us help make it Tests at the Hancock Agricultural Research Station showed chemigation was a good way to apply nitrogen and sulfur. It's more effective with corn and snapbeans than with hilled potatoes, he said.

"For other nutrients, it's probably not as effective as other application methods." Chemigation is an excellent way to apply herbicides, Curwen said, because many need to be incorporated into the soil or activated by water. Its effectiveness with fungicides depends on the disease. It works well with fumigants to treat potato early dying. But its effectivness decreases as disease pressure increases, he said. Ground applications are best for treating foliage.

Insecticide applications also vary, depending on the material being applied. Chemigation works better with oil base formulas. In some cases, yields and potatoes were lower. Wind erosion control session planned here A statewide wind erosion control conference will be held Wednesday Thursday at the Stevens Point Holiday Inn. Government, agricultural and conservation leaders and University of Wisconsin specialists will assess wind erosion control progress and discuss social and other barriers.

The conference is meant to enhance interaction between those people and growers, processors and concerned citizens. It is sponsored by the Wisconsin Chapter of the Soil Water Conservation Society, state Land Conservation Association, Wisconsin Potato Vegetable Growers Association, Golden Sands Resource Conservation Development Area and state Association of Land Conservation Employees. On Wednesday, landowner perceptions of government conservation programs and Portage County's ad hoc wind erosion recommendations will be outlined. A panel discussion on perceptions of wind erosion problems will include a grower, processor, citizen, educator, local and federal government representatives. Participants will attend workshops that afternoon to identify barriers to wind erosion control and to set priorities for solutions, such as technical and financial assistance, education, research and government policies.

They will make reports Thursday morning. Point man trains for USS Wisconsin A Stevens Point man is a member of the U.S. Navy's USS Wisconsin Special Recruit Co. John M. Malinowski, son of John J.

Malinowski and Bernice Jankowski, both of Stevens Point, was among 78 people who were administered the oath of enlistment by Gov. Tommy Thompson at the state Capitol recently. Malinowski, a 1981 graduate of Stevens Point Area Senior High School, has joined other recruits for basic training at Naval Recruit. Training Center in Great Lakes, Ill. Following graduation, recruits will enter job-specific training to prepare them for their assignment aboard the battleship.

Malinowski entered the Navy's Seaman Apprenticeship Program. The USS Wisconsin was decommissioned in 1957. In February 1986, the ship was moved for preliminary work prior to reactivation. After drydock in New Orleans, the ship was towed to Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. for a complete modernization and reactivation, including the installation of guided missiles.

The ship is scheduled to join sister ships, the USS Iowa, USS New Jersey and USS Missouri, as part of the 600- ship Navy on Oct. 22. Matty admitted that promotion in many Northern Wisconsin areas has been lacking in past years, partly because of a regional boundaries system that forces communities to work jointly with communities that have completely different needs. He said he favors the elimination of the regional boundary system, which has been in effect for better than a decade. The Legislature has approved a $5 million annual tourism budget for 1988, which came on top of a $2 million "emergency" allocation last summer.

That, Matty said, puts Wisconsin tourism spending close to Minnesota, but still far behind Illinois and Michigan, which annually spend $20.5 million and $12 million, respectively, on tourism. Wisconsin's planned tourism campaign, which includes television commercials by Bob Uecker and radio spots by Al McGuire, was unveiled during the Green Bay conference. The additional dollars for Wisconsin tourism has put new excitement into tourism promotion here, Matty said. The conference in Green Bay, which ended Thursday, attracted more than 550 people, the most ever, he said. "That means that tourism is indeed coming into its own," Matty said.

"People are beginning to see what it means." Monday will be the official kick-off date for the state's new promotional slogan, "Wisconsin-You're Among Friends." The slogan has drawn some criticism, mostly because it's similar to the name of a gay newsletter in Madison. "No matter what you select, some people wouldn't like it," Matty said. The criticism has not dimmed the enthusiasm of tourism officials for the slogan, which replaces the "Escape to Wisconsin" message. The tourism division plans more concentrated advertising in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area this year, Matty said.

"In the past, Minnesota has been neglected" in terms of Wisconsin promotion, he said. Matty, a former Republican state legislator from Crivitz, had high praise for Gov. Tommy Thompson. The governor has worked hard to gain additional funding for tourism, plus has made himself available for tourism promotion. "I've worked under five governors," Matty said.

"He's the first governor who has recognized that tourism is a viable industry." Matty said the state's ice sculpture effort at the Winter Olympics in Calgary didn't turn out as well as hoped. The 40-foot ice castle, which featured outlines of various winter sports and a banner promoting Wisconsin, was the centerpiece of the Olympic Art Festival Snowsculpting Competition. But unexpectedly warm temperatures played havoc with it. "We had one problem," Matty said. "God wasn't with us and it melted.

But in six languages, they knew what we were trying to do." Matty and several other state officials are off to Hollywood next week to promote Wisconsin as a desirable location for making movies. About 300 people involved in the film industry, mostly directors, are expected to attend a "tailgate party" exhibit, he said. "These are things that couldn't be happening without the extra funding from the Legislature and the governor," Matty said..