January 2015

Mary Kay Baum is well educated, articulate and gregarious. But beneath the surface, she is struggling. The words she seeks are often elusive. Her train of thought wants to veer off course.

“It can get camouflaged by a good education or a large vocabulary – I often have to use a different word when I can’t find the one I want – but I’m working so much harder than most people do,” she explained. “If someone becomes impatient with me, it only makes it harder.”

Baum, 67, has mild cognitive problems that possibly stem from Alzheimer’s and vascular issues that run in her family.

She spent most of her life as a pillar of the community, serving on the Dane County Board of Supervisors, the Madison Metropolitan Board of Education, running for mayor in the City of Madison in 1987, and working as an ordained Lutheran pastor.

The Middleton Community Orchestra (MCO) rang in the New Year by earning an accolade from The Well-Tempered Ear, a popular blog focused on classical music in the Madison area.

Ear founder and writer Jacob Stockinger on Dec. 31 named the MCO “Musicians of the Year.”

Noting the orchestra’s “admirable achievements in only four seasons,” Stockinger went on to laud the group for keeping alive the age-old tradition of amateur music in a local setting.

“I’ve been very impressed with the quality of the stuff they do,” Stockinger told the Times-Tribune. “And with their featured soloists and the shows in general.”

“I think the Middleton Community Orchestra recaptures the integration of arts into our workaday world and daily life,” he added. “They really do a good job.”

Every team — regardless of sport — is hit with some form adversity during a season.

The great ones handle it and move on. The others fade to black.

That’s why Middleton hockey coach Steffon Walby was feeling awfully good about his team last Saturday.

Middleton rolled past visiting Sun Prairie, 5-1, with one of its most impressive performances of the season. Just 48 hours earlier, Middleton fell to visiting Madison Memorial, 3-2.

Middleton continues to lead the Big Eight Conference with a 7-1 record and is 10-3-1 overall. Madison Memorial (6-2, 11-4) is just one game behind the Cardinals in the league race, while Janesville (5-2, 9-4-1) and Madison West (5-2, 10-3-1) are one game back in the loss column.

“I thought we played really well,” Walby said of his team’s performance against Sun Prairie. “It was a great effort in a ‘bounce back’ game.”

Middleton took it to Sun Prairie from start to finish.

Two months ago, Middleton’s boys basketball coach Kevin Bavery was in the middle of breaking down his roster.

And when Bavery got to sophomore point guard C.J. Fermanich, he simply said: “C.J. is just so good.”

That was evident Tuesday evening.

Fermanich drilled a game-winning 17-footer with 5 seconds left and lifted Middleton to a 63-62 win at Madison West. The Cardinals overcame a nine-point halftime deficit and notched a critical win, improving to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the Big Eight Conference.

Junior forward Cody Markel led the Cardinals with 15 points, while Fermanich added 12. Fermanich had 10 fourth quarter points, made six of seven free throws, and knocked home the eventual game-winner.

“It takes a lot of courage to step up and take that shot, make or miss,” Bavery said of Fermanich. “Ultimately it's not the play, but the player who makes the play when the game is on the line.