LaMonte goes full-time in 2017

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: April 29, 2017

LaMonte goes full-time in 2017

Driver hasn’t raced full schedule at Slinger since 2008

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043

Gary LaMonte and his crew figured now was good.

For the first time since 2008, LaMonte will run a full season in the super late model division at Slinger Superspeedway, which opens its gates for the 70th season of racing Sunday afternoon.

Qualifying starts at noon, racing at 2 p.m.

“We don’t have a lot more years left,” LaMonte said. “We thought we’d give it a shot.”

It’s taken three years for LaMonte to get to this point. Three years ago, he and his crew began to build a new race car.

Already a low-budget team, time was precious for LaMonte and his team.

In 2006, LaMonte competed for Rookie of the Year at Slinger in the super lates. About halfway through that season, he got into a big crash, just about destroying the car. The repair bill was $12,000.

In 2007, he sat out parts of the season because of a concussion.

So in 2008, and for the next several years that followed, LaMonte raced part-time at other area tracks. From 2010-14, LaMonte didn’t make a start at Slinger.

In 2015, he made nine starts at Slinger and showed some flashes of being competitive. He had five top-10 finishes and two top-five finishes — both being a fifth-place finish.

In 2016, LaMonte and his crew rolled a new car off the trailer.

“We’re a small team and it took us two years to build it,” LaMonte said. “We decided it was a two-year process to build the car and we could only afford to run only 10 races a year.”

In the 2016 season opener, LaMonte led a race-high 45 laps in the 75-lap feature eventually won by Dennis Prunty. LaMonte finished fourth in that feature. Also on that day, he was secondfastest in practice, and turned the fast lap in his heat race and in the feature.

That was the start of one of LaMonte’s best years at Slinger in more than a decade.

He made 10 feature starts and outside of a 19th-place finish in the second race, LaMonte’s worst finish was eighth. He had six top-five finishes, including winning two of the final four races for his first two super late model feature victories of his career.

“It was huge,” LaMonte said. “It was great for my crew, it gave me a lot of confidence.”

So much confidence it was a big reason why he decided to give it a full-go in 2017 and try to win a championship in Slinger’s top division.

“Motivation was, I now have the equipment I feel I can win every time on the track,” LaMonte said. “You only have that advantage for so long. We figured we had a short window.” LaMonte thought he could’ve won two or three more races than he did.

LaMonte last won a championship in 2004, winning Slinger’s midwest sportsman title. He also won the 2001 legends division title and the 2003 sportsman championship at Lake Geneva Raceway.

The strategy to win the championship is simple.

“You have to finish,” LaMonte said. “I feel like if I can win four or five races, set fast time four or five times and finish the rest without bad luck, I think that’ll be enough (to win the championship).”

But that’s if someone else has something to say about that. Chris Blawat is the defending track champion in the division and is expected to challenge for a second straight title. Todd Thelen, co-promoter at Slinger, believes Steve Apel, the three-time champion (2013-15), will be stronger this year, and Apel knows all too well about the importance of finishing races.

Apel held a 97-point lead on Blawat on Aug. 7 — five races left in the season. A pair of finishes outside the top 10 by Apel, coupled with five straight topfour finishes by Blawat in that span catapulted Blawat to the championship.

“Luck is huge,” LaMonte said.

Others figured to play a factor in the super late battle include Brad Mueller, who has a new car owner and engine, and Alex Prunty, last season’s Rookie of the Year.

In 2016, eight drivers won a feature in the super late model division — the most since there were eight in 2010 — after back-to-back seasons with

five drivers winning a race in each season.

“I think it’s good for the fans to see different people in victory lane,” Thelen said.

This year, Slinger added a division to the program — Super Beez.

“Our entry level had became top heavy,” Thelen said. “It was getting harder for entry-level racers to keep up.”

The Super Beez will be 4-cylinder cars, but can have Hoosier racing tires, and can open up the suspension and engine. The Heros Bees will still be at the track, but the stipulation is a driver in that division can’t go faster than a 15.2-second lap. If they do, they are black-flagged. If they do it a second time, they are parked for the evening.

Thelen said it’s helped get some new racers into the track for this season and fulfills a request several years in the making.

Looking back at trees planted decades ago to celebrate Arbor Day

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: April 28, 2017

Looking back at trees planted decades ago to celebrate Arbor Day

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043

Jamie Brettingen was about 7 years old.

She made the couple-blocks walk from Saint Frances Cabrini School to her parents’ home on Cottonwood Court in West Bend, carrying what she described more than 25 years later as a couple twigs. Soon after, she went into the backyard and planted those twigs.

What do those “twigs” look like today? They’re a good 30, 40 or maybe 50 feet tall.

On Wednesday, Brettingen, 34, sat in her parents’ dining area, reminiscing about those former twigs. A slight turn to her left and she looks out the window and sees two enormous pine trees reaching high into the sky, much higher than she ever dreamed of as a second- grade student at Cabrini.

“The fact that they were like twigs the size of my finger when I planted them,” Brettingen said when asked what she thinks of when she looks at those trees so many years after she planted them.

She admitted every time she goes to her parents’ house, she’ll check out the trees.

“Those are my trees,” she said with a big smile.

Brettingen (nee Maynard) planted those twigs as an Arbor Day project for school.

In all, she planted three. She planted a second one a year later and the final one the following year. Two of the trees are on the north side of the

property, the other is across the yard on the south side.

“I remember walking home carrying my little twigs in a cup,” Brettingen said.

That memory always resurfaces this time of year as today is Arbor Day. The same rings true for 2013 West Bend East graduate Landon Diel.

When Diel was about 5 years old, he planted a tree in his parents’ backyard. Seventeen years later, that tree is still around and at least 15 feet tall, he said.

“I think the message with the tree is that you can watch the tree grow as you grow,” Diel said. “It’s kind of symbolic to me. It showed me that things grow.”

Brettingen and Diel each remember having the tree was a way to teach them ownership and responsibility.

Diel remembered doing it because his parents were botany majors and they wanted to instill the importance of the environment into him.

Brettingen did it because it was a class project.

“I got to help dig the hole and put the tree in, fill in the hole,” she said. “They used to be these tiny little bitty trees. As a kid, I could never imagine they could be the size that they are now. We didn’t know they were going to survive.

“I mean, they were these two little twigs.”

However, planting them wasn’t required. Brettingen said there were classmates who probably didn’t participate, maybe even tossed them into a dumpster on their way home from school — but she kept them.

“I thought it was something really cool,” Brettingen said. “I couldn’t imagine it. It didn’t fit in my

brain that this little twig could possibly grow into a tree.

“I think part of it was I curious and I wanted to see if it would actually work. I say it did.”

This many years later, Brettingen is grateful she did.

“I love them,” she said. “It’s great.”

Brettingen and Diel each said the trees were symbolic in several ways. They are more than just a tree.

For Brettingen, who teaches Spanish and computers at St. Matthews Catholic School in Campbellsport, but grew up in West Bend, she remembered taking graduation photos next to them. She’s showed them to her young children — ages 1 and 3 — and she’s used the tree as a lesson to them. One of her children was baptized in the shadows of two of the trees.

“It’s definitely a symbol that I’ve been a part of this community and this house,” Brettingen said. “I love the fact that my kids are getting to play in the same yard, by the same tree and lose a ball under the same tree I lost a ball.

“The longevity of it. It’s still cool that they’re still here and thriving. It’s nice to be able to

come back and know they’re not going anywhere now.”

Brettingen realized the former twigs were transforming into a tree when she was in her freshman year of high school and the trees were the same height as her.

“I was like, ‘Wow. These things aren’t going to go anywhere,’” Brettingen said.

Though, there were times she was worried the trees wouldn’t make it because of some rough winters.

“Every Arbor Day I think back to the day I was planting those trees,” Brettingen said. “And they’re still there.”

A proud moment for Brettingen and her tree happened in 2007 when West Bend received a Tree City USA National Award.

“I thought that was cool. I helped with that,” she said. “It might’ve only been three trees, but darn it I helped.”

The trees took a piece of Brettingen’s heart, too.

“I would cry,” she said when asked if the trees had to come down. “They’re a part of my life. I’ve gone away and come back and the trees are still there.”

Former Heisman Trophy winner, NFL star Eddie George stars in ‘Chicago’

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: April 22, 2017

Former Heisman Trophy winner, NFL star Eddie George stars in ‘Chicago’

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043

Eddie George heard millions of fans roar in excitement throughout a 10-year NFL career when he broke loose for a big gain or carried the ball into the end zone.

Ten years ago, he connected with another audience, but much smaller than the one with an upward of 70,000 fans packed tightly into football stadium seats.

“I started getting involved in the community theater,” said George, 43, who won the 1995 Heisman Trophy in his senior year at Ohio State University.

“The stakes are so high in live theater,” he added. “The reaction, the energy is so intimate and right in the moment.

“To hear your effect on the audience about what you’re trying to do in the play, it’s gratifying to know you’re telling a story. That’s what drew me to the stage and playing various roles.”

Since he retired from the NFL in 2006, George has performed in more than 100 shows and has appeared in several television shows and movies.

His latest venture brings him to the Marcus Center on Tuesday through April 30 in Milwaukee, playing the role of Billy Flynn in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, “Chicago,” as part of his touring Broadway debut.

“Chicago” is set in the 1920s and tells the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her onthe- side lover after he threatens to leave her. Trying to avoid a conviction, Hart hires the city’s slickest criminal attorney — Flynn — to transform her crime into a barrage of sensational headlines.

“I love playing the role of Billy Flynn,” George said. “It’s an iconic play, an iconic role, a great cast. To come to Milwaukee and do it is awesome.”

In 1996, the following spring after George won the Heisman Trophy, the Houston Oilers — now Tennessee Titans in Nashville — drafted him in the first round of the NFL Draft with the No. 14 overall pick.

He was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1996. For his career, he was a four-time Pro Bowl selection (1997-2000), second-team All-Pro in 1999 and firstteam in 2000.

Following the 1999 regular season, George played in Super Bowl XXXIV, where the Titans lost to the St. Louis Rams, 23-16. The game is best remembered for Titans receiver Kevin Dyson being tackled at the 1-yard line on the last play of the game by the Rams’ Mike Jones. The play is known in NFL history as “One Yard Short” and “The Tackle.”

“I think about it occasionally ... when people ask me about it,” George said with a chuckle. “It was

such a great experience to play in the Super Bowl. To finish at the 1-yard line ... it was kind of bittersweet. People still remember that game, but we didn’t end up on the winning side of it. That’s what hurts the most.

“Overall, to get to the Super Bowl is a once-in-a-lifetime thing and to get the opportunity to play at a high level in there, almost have a chance to win was even better.”

He played with the Oilers/Titans through the 2003 season. He signed a oneyear contract with the Dallas Cowboys in 2004.

He officially retired in 2006, finishing with 10,441 rushing yards — 27th-most in NFL history.

“I fulfilled a childhood dream playing not only college football, but professionally and at a high level,” George said. “That was an amazing experience for me. It goes by fast, a lot faster than you think.”

So what was next?

During his playing career, he was focused on playing well for his teammates and the fans, hoping to one day win a championship. But, deep in the back of his mind, he dabbled with ideas of what to do post-football.

“I wanted to find something I love to do,” George said. “I had a buddy that got me some acting roles after my playing days.”

He never participated in high school or college theater. His lone acting experience during his playing days was when he appeared in a 1996 episode of “Coach,” starring Craig T. Nelson.

When football was done, he began working with an acting coach.

“I really started to immerse myself into acting, tell a story on stage,” George said.

Playing on a football field and being on a stage, he thought they were similar, which helped him get started.

“It was the energy of the audience, camaraderie with the other actors, it was very reminiscent of (a football team) with a common goal,” George said.

After his playing career, George, a native of Philadelphia, decided to stay in the Nashville area and that’s where he got latched onto community theater.

His first role was an ensemble in a production of “Gods Trombones” with Belcourt Theatre in Nashville in 2006. He said he was more nervous for that than he was playing in a Super Bowl or any NFL game.

“It was foreign to me,” George said of acting. “Football was a different kind of nerves.

“(Being on stage) was something new and different. There’s no doubt about it.”

When he was done, he was relieved it was over and he thought it went OK. However, he also remembered

feeling, “Wow. That felt good. I feel comfortable doing this. I didn’t have stage fright. I didn’t care what anybody thought.”

In 2007, he was cast in the movie, “The Game Plan,” starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. He’s also been cast in “Best Man Holiday” and “Into the Sun,” starring Steven Seagal.

In 2012, he played Julius Caesar during the Nashville Shakespeare Festival. The next year he was Othello in the same festival. In 2015, he was in “The Whipping Man” by the Nashville Repertory Theater.

In January 2016, George made his Broadway debut with “Chicago.”

“I wasn’t looking for anything other than the pure joy of doing something I love to do,” George said. “It’s the same gratification I got out of football. It’s something I hope I can do for the rest of my life.”

Controversial story coming to UW-WC stage

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: April 15, 2017

Controversial story coming to UW-WC stage

‘Of Mice and Men’ can be seen Friday and April 22 in West Bend

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043

Dramas at the community theater level are a risk.

“When you’re not at the level of the professional level of theater, dramas are few and far between because, to be quite honest, dramas are hard to sell,” actor Nicholas Callan Haubner said. “People like to go and feel happy and entertained.”

Paul Steinbach and his cast believe they can do that as they get set to tell one of the most controversial stories of the last 100 years.

Steinbach is director and producer for the University of Wisconsin-Washington County’s and Seventh Row Center LLC’s production of “Of Mice and Men,” which goes on stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday and April 22 at UW-WC’s Theatre on the Hill in West Bend.

For Steinbach, he’s wanted to perform this story on stage for almost five years. To him, it’s a nobrainer of a story that needs to be told.

However, getting others to agree with him has been a challenge.

“I really wanted to do this play,” Steinbach said. “I shopped it around to the local groups that I’ve been a part of in the past and nobody expressed great enthusiasm to do it.”

“Of Mice and Men” was written by John Steinbeck and published in 1937. It is the story of two men, George Milton and Lennie Small, two migrant workers moving from place to place in California looking for work during The Great Depression. A few months later, it was adapted to the stage and premiered on Broadway. Two years later, the story made its big-screen debut. Since then, there have been several adaptations.

However, since its release, according to the American Library Association, “Of Mice and Men” is consistently on the organization’s list of the “Most Challenged Books of the 21st century.”

The reason is because of its offensive language, such as the use of the “n” word, racism and violence.

In an effort to get the story told, Steinbach launched Seventh Row Center LLC. It is Steinbach’s first appearance on the UW-WC stage since he was in “Sound of Music” with Musical Masquers in 2012.

“Its language is very raw and we haven’t sanitized our version at all,” Steinbach said. “That’s out of respect to John Steinbeck. I wouldn’t do it any other way.”

In 2001, the story was No. 2 on ALA’s list, behind the Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling.

Yet, Steinbach said a poll of American literature teachers once ranked “Of Mice and Men” at No. 4 on a list of the 100 titles in U.S. literature history.

“That says a lot,” he said.

“In a simple way, it touches so many things that we are still dealing with in the U.S. today,” Steinbach said. “Racism, classism, sexism, how we treat individuals with disabilities. I mean, it was decades ahead of its time. Obviously, those issues existed in 1937,

they still exist and that’s why the story still resonates.”

Steinbach also said the story remains important 80 years later because it still represents what is believed to be the American dream.

“The dream of one day having your own little piece of dirt and living on your terms. Not somebody else’s,” Steinbach said.

It is a story that should be appreciated, not frowned upon.

“This story is beautifully written,” Steinbach said. “I’m a writer by day. Steinbeck use literary devices, most notably foreshadowing, in brilliant ways, in ways that I can read this story dozens of times and still find examples of how we weaves the plot so deftly.

“It’s really a pleasure to read every time.”

He believes he has the cast to tell the story as it was meant to be when it was published in 1937.

This cast doesn’t lack experience or talent.

Haubner plays one of the lead characters, Lennie, who is mentally disabled, but physically strong. It is already Haubner’s third production of 2017.

The 28-year-old Milwaukee native portrayed Michael in “33 Variations” at Waukesha Civic Theatre and John in “The Lion in Winter” for the Pride Theatre Company.

Last summer, he played Gaston in the Hartford Players’ production of “Beauty and the Beast.”

He also played Hubert in “King John” and Astrov in “Uncle Vanya” with Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Recently, Haubner was nominated for two Footlights Performing Arts awards — Best Supporting Performance in a Play with “33 Variations” and Best Leading Performance in a Play as Oscar in “Odd Couple” with SummerStage of Delafield.

Jake Cox, who plays Curley, received a Tommy Award in 2013 for his portrayal of Lumiere in Slinger High School’s “Beauty and the Beast.” The Tommy Award recognizes high school musical theater performances.

Melf Gourlie, who plays Candy, has appeared in 17 productions with Mayville’s Marais Players since 2000. Simon McGhee, who plays Whit, was recipient of the Tom Vogelsang Memorial Scholarship for UW-WC communications and theater majors.

They are taking on a controversial story in a hard-to-sell genre with their best.

“It was Paul’s dream to do this, has been for years since I’ve known him,” said Peter Gibeau, who is a UW-WC music professor and president of Musical Masquers in West Bend.

Gibeau also has a part in the story, playing Slim.

“I’m on the fine arts committee here and I thought, ‘Well, we’ve had drama before,’” Gibeau said. “We could do this.”

Haubner said he is drawn to dramatic roles.

“As an actor I look for text that has humanity in it that I feel like I want to tell, tell that story,” he said. “I think with the language like you have in this, things

that are raw, things that speak truth, tell great stories, lots of drama fulfill that.

“What’s great with ‘Of Mice and Men,’ if you strip everything away from it, it’s really just ... everyone’s looking for their own little piece of happiness, their own American dream.”