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Middleton Good Neighbor Festival organizers are seeking nominations for the 2013 Good Neighbor Awards.  Each year, in association with the Middleton Good Neighbor Festival, the Good Neighbor Award is given in recognition of individuals whose volunteer efforts have made a difference in the Middleton community and who embody what it means to be a Good Neighbor.

In this fast-paced era replete with technology, Rudy and Malinda Stutzman prefer keeping to the old ways.

The Amish couple, hailing from outside Readstown, run R&M Bakery & Candy Shoppe. They’ve only been in operation since April 2012.

Twenty-seven-year-old Rudy Stutzman explained they founded the business to support their three young children because of dire circumstances.

“The reason we got started was for four years I used to go out and help a guy who takes down old barns and resells the wood,” he recalled. “One year, me and my brother were on our way to work and a bad car accident shattered the buggy into 100 pieces,.”

“Actually, I’m lucky I’m still here,” he said.

Stutzman remained in the hospital for twelve days with a badly broken leg, and admitted his back still pains him.

“So I quit working, and we had to do something,” he concluded.

Dagmar LeMans learned a valuable skill that could come in handy during months of Wisconsin winters – and even in spring. She said if she ever sees someone fall through lake ice, she’ll know what to do. LeMans, age 16, is one of twelve Junior Firefighters with the Middleton Fire Department.

According to Battalion Chief Brad Subera, 16 high school students participated in the “Juniors” program over the past four years. Although not allowed to actively fight fires, or on EMS assists or at car accident sites, at the station they learn and practice skills along with the rest of the department, he said.

Skills include extrication, ice rescue, search and rescue, and fire attacks. In addition, they are allowed on fire calls as adjunct staff.

While Middletonians heading to the city’s post office likely expected a logjam in the parking lot, they probably didn’t anticipate meeting Judy Clark, who was holding a large sign that depicted the President of the United States with a Hitler-esque mustache.

Today marks 10 months to the day since the howling waters of the Wolf River silenced 20-year-old Lina Vergara’s laughter forever. But on Saturday in the Pheasant Branch Conservancy, the late Middleton woman’s family hopes the community will smile, laugh and honor Lina's life, even as they continue to mourn her death.

The first annual Glowing Smiles 5k Run/Walk and Kids Dash will raise funds for the Lina Vergara Memorial Scholarship at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, the school where Lina was majoring in bilingual education and English as a Second Language at the time of her death. It will start at Orchid Heights Park in the City of Middleton, continuing through the Pheasant Branch Conservancy.

Vergara, who was swept under the rain-bloated Wolf River during what was intended to be an innocuous outdoor adventure in July, had a passion for two things, according to her mother, Margarita Vergara. “She loved kids and she loved nature,” she said.

Tickets are on sale now for REAP Food Group’s 6th Annual Burgers & Brew event, taking place Saturday, June 1 from 3:30-7:30 p.m. at the Capital Brewery Bier Garten in Middleton.

Burgers & Brew is a celebration of three of Wisconsin’s favorite traditions: grilling out, enjoying craft beers, and supporting local farms.                         

Each $30 ticket entitles guests to three combos featuring a fabulous mini-burger paired with a five-ounce beer pour. Unique burgers, grilled onsite, will feature dynamite flavor combinations of locally raised meats, vegetables and cheese found only in Southern Wisconsin. Wash them down with local craft brews, served by brewery representatives and selected to complement each chef’s creation.

Growing since 2012, the burger/beer pairing will increase from 14 to 16 stations.

Thanks to area businesses and groups, Middleton Outreach Ministry (MOM) Food Pantry guests will find shelves full of food this summer.

MOM hosted the third annual Canstruction® Madison Thursday, which in conjunction with a community-wide food drive raised 27 tons of food. The event took place at Keva Sports Center.

Canstruction is a competition in which community members come together to build highly imaginative structures out of canned goods and packaged food.  After the structures are built and the winners are declared, all food used in the structures is donated to the MOM Food Pantry.  Teams plan their structures weeks in advance, and then come together on the day of the event to build their displays.  Prior to the evening event, the structures are judged by design professionals and community leaders.

THIS YEAR’S WINNERS ARE:

Don’t miss the opportunity for some real family entertainment as Middleton High School presents “The Music Man” scheduled for May 2, 3 and 4 at the Middleton Performing Arts Center, 2100 Bristol Street. All shows begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. 

Reserved seating can be purchased through www.brownpapertickets.com, for $10/Adults and $8/Seniors and Students.  Tickets will be sold at the door on performance nights beginning at 6:45 p.m. For more information, please feel free to contact the ticket information line at 829-9770.

Pictured above during a recent rehearsal: Mayor Shinn (Stephen Kolison) reprimands Tommy Djilas (Sam Ropa) for fancying his daughter (Megan VandeSande) as his wife Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn (Chelsea Bergman) and younger daughter (Conor Mead) look on. 

A city employee is spearheading an ambitious plan to transform the pond at Lakeview Park from a morass of overgrown weeds into a sustainable fishery. And he wants to do it without using any tax dollars.

Kurt Breunig, a Middleton Public Lands Department worker, is focusing on making the three-acre fishing hole particularly accessible and welcoming for young anglers and disabled individuals.

In a sense, the project began several decades ago, when a young Breunig began experiencing the great outdoors with his father.

“I’ve been fishing with him since I was five years old, and not just once or twice a year but all the time,” he recalled. “We’d go to Governor Dodge [State Park], and I remember always stopping for ice cream on the way home.”

Years later, Breunig still enjoys fishing with his father, who now uses a wheelchair.

Looking for a feel-good story after the tragic events in Boston this week?

Middleton High School, 2100 Bristol St., will host Relay for Life Saturday and Sunday. MHS will be the first high school in Dane County to put on a Relay for Life event.

Relay for Life will begin Saturday at 6 p.m. and conclude Sunday at 6 a.m. Due to the predicted cold weather, all activities will take place in the MHS Field House, Concourse and Main Gym. Nearly 320 students have signed up to participate and as of Thursday $31,891 has been raised.

An Opening Ceremony will begin at 6 p.m., followed by Survivor and Caregivers laps. Among those participating will be the Lisa and Jeff Helmuth. Their youngest son, James, a fifth-grader at Elm Lawn Elementary School, died on March 23 after a 13-month battle with a rare and unusual form of cancer.