SpaceX mission commander, NASA astronaut Raja Chari coming to Manitowoc — plus more news in weekly dose
MANITOWOC - Rahr-West Art Museum is bringing SpaceX mission commander and NASA astronaut Raja Chari to Manitowoc for a free event at Lincoln High School’s auditorium at 7 p.m. Oct. 28.
The presentation will include a Q&A session with Chari. The school is at 1433 S. Eighth St.
Chari was selected by NASA to join the 2017 astronaut candidate class. He reported for duty in August 2017. He served as commander of the NASA SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station, which launched on Nov. 10, 2021. He served on the Space Station as part of Expedition 66 and 67 before returning to Earth on May 6, 2022, completing the agency’s third long-duration commercial crew mission.
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► Visit Manitowoc unveils logo: City of Manitowoc’s Department of Tourism, Visit Manitowoc, unveiled its logo during a launch party Wednesday at Capitol Civic Centre.
The visual identity consists of a comprehensive color palette, series of fonts and logos, iterated for various end uses, the city said in a news release.
The color palette includes a primary family of blues that nod to Manitowoc’s lakeshore, secondary accent colors and neutrals. The broad palette offers Visit Manitowoc creative freedom and new opportunities in marketing efforts.
The main logo features an abstract Manitowoc “M” that was inspired by the waves of Lake Michigan, the sails of boats in the marina that also nod to the city’s shipbuilding history, and the landscaping of area farmland. Visit Manitowoc is all lowercase.
Wisconsin is included in the main font to serve as a place-maker as Visit Manitowoc markets to leisure travelers, in publications and at conferences nationwide, the news release said.
The logo can be viewed on Visit Manitowoc’s social media platforms, @visitmanitowoc, and will be a major piece of upcoming projects including Manitowoc’s official visitor information center at 824 S. Eighth St., opening Nov. 23; the joint Visit Manitowoc EXPLORE TWO RIVERS Visitor Guide set to release in January 2023; and the new visitmanitowoc.com that will launch in early 2023.
► MPU says to apply now for lead service line funding before it’s gone: Manitowoc Public Utilities received funding from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to assist homeowners in replacing their lead service lines through the WDNR’s Principal Forgiveness program.
MPU said it still has funds available for 2022 and is urging homeowners to consider applying for the funds.
The WNR is discontinuing the Principal Forgiveness program for lead service lines in 2023 and MPU said it’s not clear if any funds will be available to its customers in the future.
MPU said its current funds can be utilized through April 2023 and the program is administered on a first come, first served basis.
Anyone interested in applying can call 920-683-4600 or find more information at mpu.org/lead.
► Temporary closures set at Manitowoc parks for emerald ash borer tree removal: Ash tree logging operations will commence shortly at Camp Vits Park and Lincoln Park, resulting in temporary closures at both parks, City of Manitowoc said in a news release.
Camp Vits Park, 97 S. Parkview Road, and Vetter Trailhead, 1011 S. Parkview Road, will temporarily be closed to the public for an emerald ash borer tree removal project. The project began Monday.
The city hired a contractor to remove 127 ash trees within the 76-acre Camp Vits Park, focusing on areas with designated hiking and biking trails.
The closure is expected to last up to two weeks, the city said.
The public should also expect closures of areas within Lincoln Park, 1215 N. Eighth St., starting this week for an emerald ash borer tree removal project. The city said it has hired a contractor to remove ash trees throughout the park. Closures will be limited to the areas adjacent to where logging operations are occurring.
The emerald ash borer is having devastating effects on the city’s ash trees, according to the city. Once infected, the emerald ash borer is nearly 100% fatal to untreated ash trees. The city’s Forestry Division is doing its best to remove the infected trees before they become hazardous, especially in or near areas that are used by the public, the city said.
The focus of the Forestry Division is removal of trees infected with emerald ash borer, the city said. Small trees may die within one to two years of becoming infected and large trees may die within three to five years.
The emerald ash borer was first detected in Manitowoc in 2017, so many infected ash trees are already nearing the end of their life cycle, according to the city.
For more details, contact the city’s Department of Infrastructure — Parks Division at 920-686-3580 or go to www.manitowoc.org/parks.
► City to begin winterizing of public park restrooms: Starting today, City of Manitowoc’s Parks Division will being closing and winterizing a majority of the park restrooms and drinking fountains for winter.
The Parks Division said it expects restrooms to be closed on or before the end of the day on Oct. 31.
Meanwhile, public restrooms at these locations will remain open all winter: Halvorsen Park, Lighthouse Park, Lincoln Park Cabin No. 1, Lincoln Park Zoo, Manitou Park and Silver Creek Fieldhouse.
► Trick or treat at Farm Wisconsin Oct. 29: From 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Oct. 29, Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center, 7001 Gass Lake Road, Manitowoc, will host trick-or-treating.
Kids are invited to dress in their Halloween best and trick or treat for some goodies.
Admission to Farm Wisconsin is $16 for adults, $14 for ages 62 and older, $10 for ages 3-18, and free for members and kids 2 and younger. More info: farmwisconsin.org or call 920-726-6000.
► Zoo Boo set at Lincoln Park Zoo Oct. 29: Manitowoc’s Lincoln Park Zoo will be hosting a Zoo Boo event from 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 29.
This pre-trick-or-treating event will have fun activities for the whole family. Entry fee of $1 per child 14 and younger will be collected.
The event will include trick-or-treat surprises for the zoo animals plus games and activities for kids.
A costume contest will run throughout the event. A picture will be taken by staff and placed on the Manitowoc Lincoln Park Zoo Facebook page after the event. Visitors to the site will get the chance to vote for their favorite until Nov. 12. Entry fee for the contest is $2 with a grand prize being a Manitowoc Family Aquatic Center gift. Concessions will be provided by HP Enterprises.
For more info, contact the zoo office at 920-683-4685. The zoo is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays and 1-5 p.m. Sundays until Nov. 1.
► Manitowoc Symphony replaces Holiday Tour of Homes with holiday raffle: Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra will not hold its annual Holiday Tour of Homes fundraiser this year.
In lieu of the Holiday Tour of Homes, the MSO is planning a holiday raffle with a goal of raising $10,000. One-hundred tickets, $100 each, will be sold. Of the proceeds, $5,000 will support the MSO, one winner will receive $2,000, two winners will each receive $1,000 and two winners will each receive $500. Details about when and where to get the tickets will be released soon, according to a news release.
For 30 years, the symphony has worked with community members to have them open their homes for the Holiday Tour of Homes fundraiser. During the event, attendees toured homes decorated by professional florists and decorators for the season.
In recent years, the tour was canceled because of COVID-19. But the MSO’s Board of Directors had been optimistic about reviving the tradition this year, but after much discussion and deliberation, decided to cancel it in 2022, the news release said.
“This difficult choice was made based on three major concerns,” said MSO Executive Director Peggy Pitz in the release. “Homeowners and volunteers alike have valid concerns regarding COVID-19 and crowds during the winter season; similar events are seeing low participation and community turnout; and the cost of hosting the event is quite high while the return on investment is low.”
Manitowoc is the smallest city in Wisconsin to have its own symphony orchestra. The MSO is celebrating its 70th season, which continues at 3 p.m. Dec. 11 with Holiday Pops at the Capitol Civic Centre. For more info, go to manitowocsymphony.org.
► An estimated 125 Civil War and other grave sites have been restored at Evergreen Cemetery: Seventy-four Civil War grave sites were restored along with numerous stones of Civil War veterans’ wives and family during a grave site restoration at Manitowoc’s Evergreen Cemetery Oct. 1.
This was the second year of the restoration work. With both years combined, an estimated 125 grave sites have been restored at the cemetery, according to event organizer Daniel Reinke.
Thirty-six volunteers worked to restore grave sites this year, up from 12 in 2021. There are 231 Civil War grave sites in the cemetery.
In addition to the Civil War grave sites, one War of 1812 stone was restored this year along with one Spanish-American War stone.
“The idea of Civil War grave site restoration started with Joe Tadych (a Manitowoc veteran),” Reinke said in an email. “Joe was the first to point out the unreadable condition of Civil War grave sites at Evergreen Cemetery. The unreadable conditions are not unique to Evergreen Cemetery. For Joe’s effort, he is now referred to as ‘Cleaning Agent No. 1’ and that title he wore proudly on his name tag all day Saturday.”
Reinke thanked staff at Manitowoc City Hall for supporting the event. Mayor Justin Nickels spoke to volunteers to kick off the 2022 restoration effort.
Reinke said a “big” announcement will be coming in a few weeks to complete the 2022 Civil War restoration project. He said there may be an opportunity to remember all veterans on Veterans Day by using the photos and stories uncovered under 150 or so years of dirt at Evergreen Cemetery.
People can connect with Reinke by emailing SaveTheVeteransDan@outlook.com.
► 200 lives lost to COVID-19; Health Department recommends updated booster vaccine: Manitowoc County Health Department recently reported the 200th COVID-19-related death among Manitowoc County residents.
In a news release, the department reminded residents the updated COVID-19 bivalent booster is available.
“The vaccines have been updated to better protect against the circulating variants of the COVID virus, similar to why we update our flu vaccine each season,” said Stephanie Lambert, Manitowoc County health officer, in the release. “If it’s been several months since your last vaccine or infection, I would recommend getting your COVID-19 booster soon.”
Both vaccine and infection-induced immunity for COVID-19 fades over time, the Health Department said. The updated booster vaccine targets the original strain of the virus and the BA.4/BA.5 Omicron subvariants and can strengthen the level of protection against COVID-19.
COVID-19 boosters are recommended for people 12 years of age and older as a single dose at least two months after primary or booster vaccination with any of the original COVID-19 vaccines.
Manitowoc Health Department offers COVID-19 vaccine, including the updated boosters, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Friday. The department is at 1028 S. Ninth St. in Manitowoc and can be reached at 920-683-4155.
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This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: SpaceX mission commander, NASA astronaut Raja Chari to visit Manitowoc
