This week's top stories

  • Sandra ‘Sandie’ Lundquist will be marrying her fiance Kel French on Dec. 21. The family makes annual trips to Nebraska to visit family and watch the Husker games in Lincoln.
    Sandra ‘Sandie’ Lundquist will be marrying her fiance Kel French on Dec. 21. The family makes annual trips to Nebraska to visit family and watch the Husker games in Lincoln.
  • New Aurora girls basketball coach Scott Phillips brought an intense but fun flair to preseason practice last week. Aurora begins the 2025-26 season at home Thursday against Adams Central as well as Saturday versus Wahoo.
    New Aurora girls basketball coach Scott Phillips brought an intense but fun flair to preseason practice last week. Aurora begins the 2025-26 season at home Thursday against Adams Central as well as Saturday versus Wahoo.
  • Coral Kowalski takes a moment to recall just what’s on her Christmas gift while visiting with Santa and Mrs. Clause Saturday afternoon at Svoboda Benefit Solutions.
    Coral Kowalski takes a moment to recall just what’s on her Christmas gift while visiting with Santa and Mrs. Clause Saturday afternoon at Svoboda Benefit Solutions.
  • Pictured from left in Danish Oak’s new showroom are Shauna Pursley, Drake Schafer and Dane Schafer. The Hampton business celebrated its 20th anniversary last year and recently expanded next door into the former Smith True Value Hardware Store.
    Pictured from left in Danish Oak’s new showroom are Shauna Pursley, Drake Schafer and Dane Schafer. The Hampton business celebrated its 20th anniversary last year and recently expanded next door into the former Smith True Value Hardware Store.
  • It took 900 feet of wire and 400 bulbs to light up Marquette’s Main Street on Wednesday, Nov. 5. With the donations and support received through the Marquette Improvement Repair Fund, the group has more lighting projects planned for the future.
    It took 900 feet of wire and 400 bulbs to light up Marquette’s Main Street on Wednesday, Nov. 5. With the donations and support received through the Marquette Improvement Repair Fund, the group has more lighting projects planned for the future.

    Every day when R.R. Oehrli Elementary School principal and Aurora grad Sandra “Sandie” Lundquist walks through the halls of her school in Montague, Mich., she looks forward to making a fun and welcoming learning environment for her students and teachers. “Every day is different, and you never know what you’re going to wake up to,” she said. “It’s why we keep coming back every day. There’s something that happens that just solidifies why you are in this business.” Lundquist is the subject of our latest “Where Are They Now?” feature which can be found on Page A7.

    It didn’t take very long for Scott Phillips to make a couple clear distinctions in his life. “My girls” refers to his three daughters and wife at home. “The girls” represents his newest venture in life, head coach of the Aurora girls basketball team. Nevertheless, the opportunity to take over the Lady Husky program and stepping into his first-ever varsity coaching role has been a long time coming for Phillips.  “It was weird for me, filling out pre-season forms and whatnot asking my overall varsity record and putting 0-0,” Phillips said, laughing. “When you’re an assistant, you pick up things you’d eventually like to do on your own and I’ve always had aspirations to be a head coach.” See the story of Phillips's journey on this week's Sports page (B1).

    For the first time in its 7-year history, several Come Home to Christmas events scheduled for Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend had to be postponed due to inclement weather. Events like the visit from Santa, the firemen's soup supper and the performance by Tempo Performing Arts went on as scheduled, despite the weather, but the lighting of the square and  the tractor parade have been rescheduled for this Saturday and the Jingle Bell Fun Run will now take place on Saturday, Dec. 13. See the front page story on this week's ANR for the full schedule of events.

    Danish Oak has expanded its operations yet again, acquiring the building next door on main street in Hampton and hiring additional staff to take founder Dane Schafer’s custom cabinet making venture to another level. Less than 18 months after celebrating the 20th anniversary of the business owned by he and his wife Jennifer, Schafer announced another key milestone with the purchase of the former Smith True Value Hardware Store building, a 10,000 sq. ft. structure located just to the north. Crews began working in January to remodel that space, which is now ready to debut with a large showroom and offices in the front, and an expanded assembly/shipping area in the back. For more details see the story on the first of this week's two Business pages (A4).

    The Village of Marquette became brighter last week as over 400 white light bulbs on more than 900 feet of wire were strung up from the corner of Scotty’s Bar to Cornerstone Bank on Main Street. The lights were installed on Wednesday, Nov. 5 as part of “Marquette Improvement Repair,” an ongoing project to improve the village and boost community pride. One of those volunteering for the project was Randy Beckman, owner of Scotty’s Bar, who shared that the project had started after Scotty Pierce, the original restaurant owner, died 15 years ago.

    For these stories and more see the print or e-edition of this week's ANR.