Oshkosh Local Primaries Today

Don't forget to vote today!

Local primaries today in Oshkosh include OASD School Board (Vote for 2)
John Daggett
Kevin Jahnke
John Lemberger
Tom McDermott
Michelle Monte
Ben Schneider

Winnebago County Board of Supervisors District 14 (Vote for 1)
Donna Lohry
Harold Steineke
Claude Thompson

Click here for polling locations and election results.

People's Beer

There is a great article in the Scene about People's Brewery in Oshkosh, which in 1970 became the Nation's first black owned brewery. Lasting only until 1972, the story of People's is a fascinating piece of Oshkosh history. Some excerpts:

“We, like most of northern Wisconsin at the time, had very little exposure to blacks,” Gruberg said. “Appleton and Sheboygan at that time had ordinances that blacks couldn’t reside in those communities.”

It was in this climate that 41-year-old Theodore Mack Sr. not only became president of Peoples Brewery in blue-collared, steel-toed Oshkosh in April 1970, but also announced that at the end of the 1970 school year he would move his wife and four children from Milwaukee to Oshkosh.

“I grew up in Alabama where they threw rocks at me and called me nigger,” Mack said at an introductory press conference in April 1970. “I don’t scare easily. I will not run, no sir.”

How did People's do in Oshkosh

Trouble started almost immediately, mostly in the form of rumors, the first one being that Mack was going to fire the 21 white employees and replace them with blacks. That rumor may have been started by a short, anonymous newspaper account from early April 1970 about the group’s offer to buy the brewery, which ends by saying that the UBE’s attorney and spokesman, Harold B. Jackson, “has said that if a brewery is acquired, all top and middle management jobs would be filled by blacks and the policy would be to hire blacks.”

That, however, is the only reference to a black hiring policy in the many documents and newspaper reports and interviews with Ted Mack from that time.

“I want to get away from the blackness and the whiteness,” Mack said at an April 1970 press conference. “I don’t believe in black power, and I don’t believe in white power. There is only one power in this country. That’s green power – money.”

“I want to be happy here making beer,” he said.

...

Several tavern owners said they had stopped serving Peoples because their customers wouldn’t drink it. At one of the taverns, the reporter observed a worker just “off the 7-3 shift” amble in and say, “Gimme some of that smoky stuff,” and was promptly served a glass of Peoples beer. Since Peoples was a golden American lager, the patron was not referring to “smoky” beer.

“People wouldn’t drink it. I had to take it off,” recalls Alan Repp, the 69-year-old owner of Repp’s Bar, a proudly blue collar establishment on the south side of the Fox River, just across the bridge from the sprawling lumber baron mansions on Algoma Boulevard.
With 65 years in business, Repp’s is considered to be the oldest family owned bar in Oshkosh. Alan took the business over from his father, Al, in the 1960s.

“We were the third largest distributor of Peoples at the time,” Repp said.

So why take the beer off if it was that popular with the mill workers who once filled the place?

“An ultra-conservative town like this and a black person owns the brewery?” Repp said. “Just like anything else, if it doesn’t sell, you take it off.”

A great article, I encourage you to read it!

Winnebago Cty Labor Stats 2007 Qrt 2

The Wisconsin Dept of Workforce Development recently released the2007 2nd quarter labor statistics for Winnebago County., which also includes certain employment stats through the end of 2007. Included in the county "snapshot" are the following:

Unemployment Rates:

• Winnebago County Dec 07 - 4.0%
• Winnebago County Dec 06 - 4.3%
• Wisconsin Dec 07 - 4.6%
• Wisconsin Dec 06 - 4.5%

Employment:

• County Civilian Labor Force Dec 07 - 92,508
• County Civilian Labor Force Dec 06 - 92,979
• Number Employed Dec 07 - 88,776
• Number Employed Dec 06 - 88,972
• Number Unemployed Dec 07 - 3,732
• Number Unemployed Dec 06 - 4,007

Employment Industries:

• Manufacturing – 27%
• Health Care / Social Assistance - 13%
• Retail Trade - 9%
• Accommodation & Food Service – 6%
• Education Services – 6%
• Transportation and Warehousing – 5%
• All other Industries – 34%

Unemployment Insurance Benefits:

• Initial Claims Dec 07 - 2,032
• Initial Claims Dec 06 - 1,912
• Continued Claims Dec 07 - 9,760
• Continued Claims Dec 06 - 8862

Winnebago County is part of the Fox Valley Workforce Development Area.

Lavender Oshkosh

Oshkosh is becoming a friendlier place for LGBTQA students and their friends and families.

Last summer, a group of community members (some of whom had worked together against the anti-marriage equality Amendment) recognized the need for an organization which would serve lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning youth and their allies. It may be hard to believe, but not one of the Oshkosh High Schools has a gay/straight alliance. Not one.

Students of Oshkosh Finding Acceptance (SOFA) was started late last summer with the help of progressive clergy, students, LGBT adults, mental health professionals, and other allies. The group grew slowly at first, depending on word of mouth to let students know the group was forming and where it was meeting. Guidelines for facilitators and students were created with help from other LGBT youth organizations and most of the paperwork was done to establish this non-profit organization. The Winnebago Peace and Justice Center graciously allowed the group to meet there at minimal expense, but because so many kids started showing up every week, SOFA had to move to a space with a larger meeting room. SOFA now meets weekly at Arc-Winnebago, 115 Washington Avenue, which is a wonderful and well-suited facility.

SOFA offers a safe, fun, supportive, and confidential environment for Oshkosh are youth who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, are questioning their orientation or gender, or are straight allies. It is a youth-driven organization where all are embraced for who they are and encouraged to talk about their experiences in order to find similarities and to also celebrate their uniqueness. SOFA strives to empower youth and help them develop life and leadership skills through educational and social opportunities. Weekly “check-in” and programming is geared toward ending the isolation that so many LGBTQA youth experience in their daily lives. As many as 25 students have been participating and many will attend even when the weather’s bad enough to close schools. Every one of these kids is valuable to the Oshkosh community and all adult facilitators have to pass a background check before working with the students.

Because of how quickly the group of students is growing, SOFA needs your help. There is a need for more adult facilitators and, as always, there is a special need for increased monetary donations. There’s a lot more outreach work to be done, especially to reach those who feel particularly isolated. Any donation will be extremely appreciated and will be used to directly serve these students.

More information about SOFA can be found at www.oshkoshsofa.org or you can send comments/questions to info@oshkoshsofa.org.

Please send contributions and other snail mail to: SOFA, PO Box 2892, Oshkosh, WI, 54903.

While organizing SOFA, it became apparent that Oshkosh needed an organization for parents and friends of LGBTQ people, too, so PFLAG of the Greater Oshkosh Area, Inc. has also been established. Regularly scheduled meetings will begin February 12, 2008 at 6:30 pm. Meetings will take place at First Congregational Church, 137 Algoma Blvd. in Oshkosh. Monthly meetings will be held on the second Tuesday of each month at the same time and location. PFLAG of the Greater Oshkosh Area, Inc. invites all who are interested to attend meetings. Each chapter meeting will include a guest speaker. The February 12th speaker will be Dr. McConkey speaking on the law suit he has filed. There will be time for questions for the speaker and a time for those looking for support and education.

Dr. William McConkey will serve as the chapter’s first president. He has taught several courses at the college and university level, has made presentations and conducted hundreds of seminars at conferences, conventions, and meetings and has been recognized as an outstanding teacher. Dr. McConkey filed a law suit against Wisconsin's amendment to ban gay marriages and civil unions for all people, in 2007. He is straight, Christian, married and the father of seven.

PFLAG supports GLBT people, their families and friends through local PFLAG chapter help lines and support group meetings and locally and nationally produced resources. PFLAG educates families and provides public education on sexual orientation, gender identity and GLBT issues. PFLAG chapters educate their communities through a variety of local projects and nationally PFLAG continues to provide fair and accurate information about GLBT people and their loved ones. PFLAG also advocates for equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Locally, PFLAG activists work for change in their communities. Nationally, PFLAG staff and volunteer leaders lobby for fairness and acceptance.

For further information: www.oshkosh-pflag.org and go to the "Contact Us" page. Or contact Joe Wiedenmeier at joe.wiedenmeier@oshkosh-pflag.org.