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Sanderling Tracks
Newsletter of the Friends of Kohler-Andrae State Park
SPRING 2017
Superintendent’s Notes
By Carolyn Morgen;
Happy spring – does it feel that way today? If not,
wait a day, maybe it will feel that way tomorrow.
The wildlife is definitely confused at the park.
Apparently, the early “spring teaser” impacted the
south as well, sending the migratory species
northward bound. The Sandhill cranes, redwinged blackbirds, and many other bird species
have been back in the area for a few weeks
already. I’m sure they have been in a state of
shock after their first few days back in Wisconsin.
Somehow, they will find balance.
It seems as if more than just the birds are in a state
of transition. We, in the Bureau of Parks and
Recreation Management, are also experiencing
quite a bit of transition. As I write this, we are in
the middle of an “alignment” process. Currently,
there are many teams of employees working to
make the necessary adjustments to our structure,
to move forward. 2017 will be a transitional year,
with full alignment implementation occurring in
between January and July of 2018.
As you may already know, the Parks system will
be making some adjustments to how several areas
are managed; natural resources, recreation, habitat,
fleet (vehicles), and law enforcement. Throughout
our transition process, we will continue to provide
excellent customer service. In the future, park
properties will be broken down into either
Intensive Recreational Area, or Extensive
Recreational Area. The properties will be
evaluated along the way. Our primary focus is
people, external customers as well as our own
staff satisfaction, as employees’ transition into
different roles.
We will also be looking at our funding sources.
At some properties, we aren’t able to manage the
number of customers that enter on a daily basis
(Devil’s Lake and Peninsula). And, on the
contrary some properties are still free, and many
are relatively under attended. These are all issues
that are being evaluated. Each property’s carrying
capacity will be discussed. If you have specific
questions, or concerns about the alignment
process, feel free to give me a call.
We, at Kohler-Andrae, are really looking forward
to the upcoming season. We are putting the
finishing touches on staff and volunteer staffing
plans. Doris has been busy scheduling interpretive
and musical programs. We are always seeking
enthusiastic volunteers. If you are interested in
volunteer opportunities, make sure that you are
signed up. With the help of our amazing
volunteers, we just completed an overhaul of our
maintenance shop, and we are in the midst of
painting the interior of the park office. Very soon,
I’ll be scheduling the spring cleaning dates for
both the Sanderling Nature Center, and the
Accessible Cabin. The Work Play Earth Day
(WPED) event is right around the corner. WPED
will occur on April 22, 2017, 9 AM – Noon. As
always, lunch will be provided by the Friends of
Kohler-Andrae. If you would like to become
more involved, make sure to update your
volunteer interest list.
places, not sure of what to do now that they are on
their own. Most of them figure it out very quickly.
Doris Kultgen has been busy again this year. The
last schedule I received from her lists more than
seventy programs scheduled for this season
already and she is still scheduling more. Thank
You Doris for all you do for interpretive
programming at Kohler-Andrae. Say “Thank
You” to Doris for all she doe for the Friends and
the Park, when you see her.
Office Painters: Georgianne Liesch, Tim Prisland,
Terry Bourke, Dean Wendlandt, Bob Kuhn & Al
Lawrence
President’s Notes
By Jim Mohr;
Spring is slowly arriving at Kohler-Andrae. Some
Sandhill Cranes were anxious to get here and
returned at the end of February. Some of them
were probably wishing they had stayed where it
was warm just a little longer. There wasn’t much
for them to eat as there was still ice on the marsh.
They had to be content with picking through the
corn stubble in the fields for the few corn kernels
the harvesters missed last fall.
The early warm days also brought out campers on
the weekends but they could go back to a warm
home. The hikers and bird watchers were also out
in force on the warm days. It is great to see people
enjoying our beautiful park at any time of the year.
We didn’t have any candle light ski/hike events
this year due to the lack of snow cover. We had
snow just before Christmas but it only lasted a few
days. The rain and above normal temperatures put
an end to our cross country ski trail for this year.
Another sign of spring is the Female deer chasing
off last year’s fawns in preparation for the ones
soon to be born. It is interesting to see the
yearlings wandering around in inappropriate
I recently received a phone call from a local
Attorney. He has a client that wants to remember
the Friends of Kohler-Andrae in his will. The
Attorney needed our tax-exempt number and our
Federal EIN for the paperwork. I have no idea
who this person is but I was glad to hear that
someone is thinking of the Friends of KohlerAndrae as they plan their estate. Anyone can do
the same if they wish. It is always best to consult
with your attorney if you wish to remember us in
your will, to be certain that your wishes are carried
out.
The Friends also recently received a very generous
donation to our Endowment Fund from the family
of Steve Olig in memory of him. Steve loved the
park and was a volunteer at Kohler-Andrae. Thank
You to the family for the donation.
The Sanderling Nature Center is now open for the
season. It is open from 12:30 – 4:30 on weekdays
and from 10:30 – 4:30 on weekends. Stop in to see
the critters and pick up a brochure listing all the
upcoming programs.
The newsletter is a bit late this time due to a few
medical issues I am dealing with. I’m hoping the
next one will be on time
E Newsletter
You can receive the newsletter via e mail instead
of by snail mail. It would save the Friends group
the money spent on printing and postage. The e
newsletter arrives 3-4 days sooner than snail mail.
If you are interested, send me an e mail at:
[email protected]. Be sure to put e newsletter in
the subject line so it gets past my spam filter
Officers and Board Members
Jim Mohr (President)
452-6550
(Newsletter)
Fran Grandlic (Vice President)
458-3934
Mary Butts (Secretary)
458-4518
Charmaine Mohr (Treasurer) 452-6550
(Newsletter Assistant)
June Platz (Volunteer Coordinator)
565-2577
Keith Herbst
452-0833
Sue Meyer
457-4329
Bryan Casper
917-9526
Ted Bergstrom
208-2847
Mary Lutzke
458-2075
Joe Brunnbauer
668-8560
Al Lawrence
452-5662
Board meetings are held on the fourth Monday of
the month at 6:30 PM at the Park office. Guests
are welcome. Only board members can make a
motion or vote at board meetings.
Welcome New Members
Holly Smith
Judy Colson
Welcome New Life Member
David G Martyn
Thank You General Fund Donors
Mary Butts
Reggie & Barbara Geiger
Gerald & Cynthia Bertsch
John & Linda Draves
Judy Colson
Thank You Endowment Fund Donors
Janice Olig, In memory of Steve Olig
Friends of Kohler-Andrae State Park
Kohler-Andrae State Park
1020 Beach Park Lane
Sheboygan, WI 53081
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