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As promised, here’s May 1^st already! Things around my place, and I’m sure yours, are greening up with the long awaited arrival of spring. We’ve had some of the much needed rain that will eventually give life to the trilliums behind my house. Can there be a more welcome sign of the rebirth that comes this time of year? Maybe the lilacs that will be blooming by the end of the month. For me it’s the trilliums, and the robins, and of course the return of the sandhill cranes.

Spring also brings lots of fun and exciting times for our guys too. There’s always a lot of enthusiasm for fishing, the Prom, the renewal of racing fever, and of course, school coming to an end for the year. Spring fever has lead us to the usual spring cleaning, but also some redecorating of the dining room at Reynolds Group Home. Check out the photos on our web site.

The list of activities this past month has been truly spectacular; almost too much to report it all. I’ll have to hit the high points and refer readers to the web site for more detail. We’ve seen everything this month from aiding a food drive to attending a Milwaukee Bucks basketball game. The coming month looks to be just as eventful as April was, including another food drive and wrapping up the 2003-04 school year. And, this will be our boys last year in the old (original) Wausau East High School. Next year will be the inaugural year of the new high school! Everyone is excited about that.

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Director’s Column

Well, its racing season one more time, and again we started with a car show on a beautiful sunny day. That same evening, we brought the car and some fans to Marshfield Super Speedway to compete in our first night of racing! We qualified 3rd out of an 18 car field. The feature had us in fourth place on the final lap into the 4th corner when an over-eager rookie bumped us into a wild spin onto the front stretch. The result was an adjusted placement in the race, but quite a show for the crowd of over 2000 in the stands.

This season we re-introduce a driver for our team. Detective Bill Kolb will be driving many races this year, perhaps adding more wins to our MYS statistics (car #22b). My son Deven and I will drive for many races also this year (car #15a and car #15d).


                                                Detective Bill Kolb

Be sure to keep track of our website, www.marathonyouthservices.org for racing updates, as well as a listing and web links to our special supporters. We might also try to post some in-car video and other features during the year. If you're a race fan, also watch for the special races this year, especially the children’s "ride night" and "Northwoods Alliance Night". Also, perhaps at the end of the year, we can have another "come drive with us - day at the track" where you and staff can come drive our car.

Our racing project continues to provide activities for our youth and our young adults. We look forward to having you come join us at State Park Speedway, and Marshfield Super Speedway.
Do you feel the need for speed?
                                                                        Doug Adams, MS


                                    Mike and Adam enjoying the car show
Reynolds Group Home continues to be a full house with 8 residents. We are anticipating a vacancy in early June, so now would be a good time to discuss your placement needs. With a call to Doug or Rick, they’ll be happy to arrange a time to get together with you.

As usual, April has been a really productive month at RGH. The guys started the month with a little walleye fishing in the Stevens Point area,

although Thao was the only successful fisherman… The month also included some spring cleaning and yard cleanup, capped off by redecorating of the dining room. Our resident staff decorator, Carol Gruening, again made her influence known with the help of other staff and residents. Another step in the ongoing updating/renewal of our living space.

Last Saturday, April 24, was Prom Night for the Wausau Area high schools. One of our guys, Cha, took part in this year’s event at Wausau West High School. For the other guys, in addition to their other responsibilities, Saturday was a community service day with them helping out with a Salvation Army food drive. Once more, giving back to the community occupies an integral part of our programming. In fact, we’re already scheduled to help with yet another food drive, this time on May 6 with the US Post Office.

Also scheduled for early May is participation in the Drug Awareness Program at Northcentral Technical College. Also, the guys are already looking forward to fun summertime activities. Staff has already planned a canoe trip for June 10^th! That should provide some good photos…

One of our guys, Jason, will be embarking on independent living soon. He is currently engaged in the search for affordable housing, and learning many valuable lessons in the process. Jason is making good progress and we all salute him for his efforts…Good Luck Jason!

Some of the other guys had successful experiences in school this month. Curtis participated in a class play this month at DC Everest Jr. High School, and Cha was nominated as Student Of The Month at Wausau West! Wes finished up his job at Granite Peak with the close of the ski season, and has already started a new job at Subway…

Congratulations Guys! Job Well Done… It sure looks like May will be as busy and productive a month as April was. We’ll be sharing more with you next month at this time.
Our staff is always on the lookout for new opportunities for the young men at our several residences. When Josh Schuch came across some tickets to see the Milwaukee Bucks, he seized on the chance to take some of the guys on a road trip. Josh submitted this article and photo as proof of a good time by all…

On Wednesday April 14th, the guys at Prospect Place got an opportunity to go see the Milwaukee Bucks vs. the Toronto Raptors, live at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.   At the last minute, 4 tickets were handed to me to go see the game. Mike Smith, Adam Domino, Mike Pribanich and I jumped at the chance and left Wausau for our 3 hour tour.

With traffic not being a problem, we arrived at the Bradley Center 10 minutes before tip-off. Once we walked into the Bradley Center, our eyes were fixed on the players, or were they on the cheerleaders? Anyway, we went to our seats. And if being at the game wasn't good enough, the seats were 3rd row right behind the Buck's bench!!! What a thrill. We were so close that we could hear all the players talking and planning their strategy to beat the Raptors.

As we sat there waiting for tip-off, we turned around and saw Wisconsin’s U.S. Senator and Milwaukee Buck's owner, Herb Kohl. What a night!!! The game finally started and it was a battle from the opening tip-off. Both teams shared the lead throughout the game. We were on the edge of our seats the whole game.   With 6 seconds left in the game, the Raptors hit a key basket and took a 1 point lead. The bucks drove down the court and took a shot to win the game, but it fell short and the Bucks lost.

It was not the ending we were looking for, but the experience was simply awesome. Not only did we get to see a great game, Herb Kohl, and the Bradley Center (did I mention the cheerleaders?) but we also got to see life in the big city, up-close. The numerous cars, the big buildings, and people from all walks of life. This gave us an opportunity to talk about the differences and similarities between Wausau and Milwaukee. This truly was a very memorable experience for us all, and one that we all will talk about for a very long time. Thanks for going guys!!!
                                                Josh “take it to the hoop” Schuch

And a special thanks to you Josh, on behalf of all of us….



           Josh, Mike S, Adam and Mike P enjoying their courtside seats!

Watch “Child and Family Focus”
with Doug Adams and Dr. John Kolhoven
every Tuesday at 7:00 AM and 10:30 PM, and Wednesday at 5:30 PM.
Local Public Access Television Channel 3

If you have any questions or program requests, feel free to contact Doug at 715842-3240 or dadams@marathonyouthservices.org. We are always interested in your thoughts or comments.

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