Submitted by Ryma Lindquist, WWH

BALDWIN, WI – Western Wisconsin Health (WWH) is pleased to welcome Dr. Mark Bigbey, a surgical resident from the University of Wisconsin’s Rural General Surgery Program to its team. Dr. Bigbey is passionate about improving access to surgical care in rural communities and is completing part of his residency training at WWH.

Dr. Bigbey grew up on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona, where his early exposure to the challenges faced by underrepresented populations inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. “Participating in and witnessing care for family members gave me a firsthand look at the disparities in access to healthcare,” he shared. “It motivated me to become part of the solution.”

After graduating summa cum laude from Grand Canyon University with a bachelor’s degree in biology, Dr. Bigbey attended the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson. During medical school, he participated in the Rural Health Professions Program, completing rotations across rural Arizona, including in tribal and reservation communities. These experiences shaped his desire to pursue a path in rural general surgery.

“I was drawn to surgery because it combines my interests in helping people, serving underserved populations, and honing a craft that requires dedication and continuous learning,” said Dr. Bigbey. “The University of Wisconsin’s General Surgery Program offered exactly what I was looking for, exceptional academic training with the opportunity to practice as a true ‘general’ general surgeon.”

Dr. Bigbey is currently a PGY-2 (post-graduate year two) resident, and Baldwin is his first rural rotation site. He has been impressed by the range of procedures rural surgeons perform and the collaborative nature of care at WWH. “It’s incredible to see how general surgeons here balance their scope of practice to meet community needs while also knowing when to refer patients for specialized care,” he said. “You also feel a strong sense of connection; the people you care for are the same people you might run into at the grocery store.”

Mentorship has played an important role in his journey. Dr. Bigbey credits rural mentors including Dr. Nazhone Yazzie, Dr. Vanessa Jensen, and Dr. Carlos Gonzalez, as well as academic mentors such as Dr. Aaron Mason, for guiding him toward a rural-focused career.

Looking ahead, Dr. Bigbey plans to practice in a hospital setting that primarily serves American Indian communities, such as an Indian Health Service or Tribal facility. “I hope to build trust within the communities I serve and provide high-quality care close to home,” he shared.

Outside of the operating room, Dr. Bigbey enjoys staying active, camping, fishing, attending sporting events, and exploring local food spots in search of the best pizza, burgers, steak, and ice cream.

“We are thrilled to have Dr. Bigbey join our team and contribute to the exceptional care we provide,” said Nick Berger, Specialty Services Director. “His passion for rural health aligns perfectly with our mission of ensuring access to high-quality surgical care for our communities.”

For more information about surgical services at Western Wisconsin Health, visit wwhealth.org or call 715-684-1111.

Submitted by Melissa Meschke/Amanda Connelly, St. Croix EDC

ST. CROIX COUNTY, WI – The St. Croix Economic Development Corporation (EDC) coordinated study shows a disparity between types of housing available and the current and future needs of St. Croix County residents, offers targeted recommendations to help address these gaps.

As housing continues to be a complex challenge at many levels for St. Croix County, St. Croix Economic Development Corporation (SCEDC) and its partners today released the “St. Croix County Housing Needs Assessment.” The new, data-driven county-wide study identifies current and future housing challenges while also providing strategic recommendations to guide future work addressing housing needs across the county. The study was conducted by the West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (WCWRPC) and examines the county’s current housing market, future needs, and opportunities for action.

“Housing is a challenge at many levels, and the study helps define this to greater detail,” said Melissa Meschke, Executive Director of St. Croix EDC. “Our goal with the study was to share this critical data to help us all have a more informed conversation and include ideas that we believe can help create the framework for future discussions in this area. Our role at the EDC is to help our communities, developers, employers, and civic leaders work together to make St. Croix County a place where everyone can afford to live, work, and thrive.”

The report shows how St. Croix County’s strong population growth, aging housing stock, declining vacancy rates, and the fact housing costs rising faster than incomes are converging to create significant affordability barriers. Some of the key findings from the report include:

• Rental vacancy rates dropped to 1.4% in 2023, well below the healthy range of 5-7%.
• Homeowner vacancy rate fell to zero in 2023, signaling an acute lack of available housing stock.
• Over 36% of renters and 23% of homeowners with mortgages are cost-burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on housing.
• Younger and senior populations face distinct challenges: seniors lack options to downsize, and younger households face affordability hurdles.
• Croix County will need between 4,300–4,600 new housing units by 2050 to accommodate projected growth and changing household demographics.

SCEDC’s goal is for the study to be a starting point for new discussions that can bring public and private sector groups together to focus on expanding the housing supply to support the county’s growing workforce and aging population. To help drive this process, SCEDC’s report includes four key recommendations that span county, municipal, employer, community, and developer levels to encourage collaboration across sectors.

Key initiatives include:

• Create a County Housing Task Force to coordinate efforts, monitor demographic and economic trends, and support housing project efforts.
• Identify and Redevelop Infill and Underutilized Sites to expand housing options without requiring major new land acquisitions.
• Leverage Financing Tools such as Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and the Affordable Housing Extension to fund workforce and affordable housing.
• Educate Employers, Residents, and Community Leaders about the realities of local wages, housing affordability, and the importance of a balanced mix of housing types.

“Housing is both a community issue and an economic one and the report clearly shows that,” Meschke said. “Our role as the EDC is to raise awareness of these challenges and help facilitate ways we can find solutions. We know that employers across the county need workers, and workers need housing they can afford near jobs, schools, and services. Without expanded housing options, local businesses risk losing talent to other communities.”

The St. Croix County “Housing Needs Assessment” was developed to help County officials, residents, developers, and other stakeholders better understand the housing challenges within the County.  The report findings include:

• Population Growth Driving Demand: St. Croix County continues to be one of the fastest-growing counties in Wisconsin. Ongoing in-migration, combined with natural household growth, is creating sustained pressure on the housing market.
• Shortages of Affordable and Workforce Housing: Many of the county’s top employment sectors—including retail, food service, healthcare, and education—have wages below the county’s median income. Workers in these fields often struggle to find housing they can afford near their jobs.
• Aging Population and Housing Stock: As the county’s population ages, the need for smaller, accessible, and diverse housing types—such as townhomes, duplexes, and senior-friendly units—is increasing.
• Community Perceptions: Persistent misconceptions about “affordable housing” remains a barrier, underscoring the need for broader community education about what affordability means and why it matters.

The study was made possible in part by the financial support of key partners, including St. Croix County, the villages of Baldwin, Hammond, and Somerset, the cities of New Richmond, River Falls, and Hudson, the Town of Richmond, the Hudson Area Chamber Foundation, Westfields Hospital and Clinic, the Hudson Hospital and Clinic, and Western Wisconsin Health. The full “St. Croix County Housing Needs Assessment” and detailed recommendations are available at stcroixedc.com/housing-study.

The SCEDC is a 501(c)6 that serves all of St. Croix County, Wisconsin by focusing on fostering economic development through workforce development, housing, entrepreneurial development, business expansion and retention, business attraction and recruitment, and ecosystem building. St. Croix EDC also strives to grow collaboration between the 35 towns, cities, and villages in St. Croix County as well as working closely with Pierce and Polk County to grow the St. Croix Valley as a whole. To learn more please visit stcroixedc.com.

By Julie Huebel, Pierce County Historical Association

ELMWOOD, WI – X is for…I mean what IS X for? I’m going to have to cheat on this one. The first thing that comes to mind is a name with an ‘X’ in it and one just came up in a previous article, so X is for…er…Weix. I ended up being so glad I chose this family, as I was able to identify another area Civil War veteran that wasn’t on a list I have been working on to help Elmwood’s Crain-Ottman American Legion Post. They are working on a special project to honor the Civil War veterans buried in the Elmwood area cemeteries.

Joseph Weix (1823-1907) was born in Germany. He and Theresa Molter (1831-1893) married in 1853. Their daughters were mentioned in last week’s article, Theresa and Mary both married Wild brothers. Interestingly, another set of their daughters, Barbara and Katherine, also married brothers, Charles and William McKernon, respectively. They have 10 children linked to them on the Findagrave website, with six buried in the Catholic Cemetery at Farmhill (Ellen Kohl, Frances Sperger, Barbara McKernon, Frank, Caroline Kroseman, Kathern McKernon) and the other four buried in the Poplar Hill Cemetery (Theresa Wild, Mary Wild, Sebastian, John).

Joseph’s parents were Andreas (1794-1880) and Catherine Preisser (1801-1838). I don’t know the original source, but Kristin Neubauer had shared a photo from a document labeled, “Family History of Julia Weix Budde” that gave the following information about Andreas/Andrea Weix:

“Andrea Weix operated a baker shop in a village named Strohn, located between Weiszenburg and Munich, in Upper Bavaria, Germany. He was born on August 12, 1794. The family name of his wife Catherine is unknown today. The couple married about 1821. They had five sons, Joseph, Michael, Andrew, Lorenz, and Frank; and two daughters, Catherine and Mary. Andrea’s wife died when her youngest child Mary was about two weeks old. The brothers Joseph and Lorenz Weix emigrated to America in 1848. Joseph traveled on to Wisconsin and began to work on a farm in Dodge County. Lorenz stayed in New York and worked in a flour mill for about three years. Then he worked on a railroad being built from New York to Michigan. In 1853, he was working in a lumber mill in Muskego, Michigan where he received minor injuries in a boiler explosion. He went to Milwaukee to recuperate where he met Barbara Bachuber who became his bride in 1854. Joseph Weix returned to Germany to marry and in about 1854 brought his wife, his father Andrea, and his brothers Michael, Andrew, and Frank and his sisters Catherine and Mary back to the United States. Andrea Weix and his sons purchased a 160-acre farm in Dodge County near LeRoy on which was a store, a tavern, a sawmill and a grist mill.”

Joseph and his brother Lorenz (Lawrence) both served in Company A of the 45^th Wisconsin Infantry. We are very lucky to have this photo of these brothers while they served. The unit participated in the Battle of Nashville in December of 1864, then performed garrison and guard duty in Nashville until being mustered out in July of 1865. (Dennis Skalstad shared it to their Findagrave pages. Dennis has worked tirelessly to collect and share photos of Wisconsin’s Civil War veterans for many years. He runs a Facebook page, Wisconsin Volunteers 1861-1865.)

Early on in this series, before they were being published in the Sun-Argus, I was posting them on the Elmwood, WI History Facebook page and printing off a copy to hang in the window of the PCHA History Center in Elmwood. I wasn’t sure if anyone was reading them from the window, but I continued to put them there just in case. I had taken a break from posting while on vacation and Sandra Weix stopped in shortly after inquiring about the next article in the series. Sandra regularly walks by the office, and I was delighted to learn she had been reading the articles on her walks. I hope she enjoys this one.

Doing all this research and writing the articles has been quite a lot of work, but it was encounters like this along the way that fueled me to keep going. So, thank you to everyone who told me they enjoyed the articles or those that commented such nice feedback on the Facebook posts.

Submitted by Kim Dupre, St. Croix CURES

HUDSON, WI – St. Croix Citizens Uniting for Responsible Environmental Stewardship (St. Croix CURES), Wisconsin Farmers Union and Emerald Clean Water for All are hosting an event bringing citizens together to connect with their local food and water resources.

Protecting our water. Growing our future.  Be part of an inspiring, community-powered event focused on clean water, healthy food, and sustainable solutions. The St. Croix River Watershed Clean Food & Water Forum brings together local voices, national experts, and grassroots changemakers to ask—and answer—four critical questions:

Where are we now? How did we get here? What can we do differently? What next?

This year’s forum features compelling short-format talks by leading advocates like Dr. Chris Jones, author of Swine Republic, and Sonja Eayrs, author of Dodge County, Inc., as well as updates from Tim Stieber, St. Croix County Conservationist, and Dr. Steve Oberle, Ecologist/Farmer. You’ll also meet a panel of regenerative farmers and innovators who are proving that it is possible to farm with care for our land and water. You’ll also hear from on-the-ground changemakers—farmers and stewards—who are already doing things differently and proving that sustainable agriculture and clean water can go hand-in-hand.

But we’re not just telling the story of our watershed—we’re reshaping it. This year, we’re proud to spotlight area youth using cutting edge technologies to explore local environmental issues and envision creative pathways to solutions.

The ‘This is Stillwater/Synergy’ partnership will share their unique approach to capture, visualize and experience water data. Their creativity and innovation are exploring new ways of understanding our natural resources to more effectively protect them while giving future generations the power to act.

Girl Scouts of River Valleys are invited to think like citizen scientists and discover how they can take action to protect our environment. Additionally, the K-5 Pop Up Players, led by a local educator, will showcase their original production about water.

Together, we can merge what we know with what we can know—through innovation, collaboration, and care. Why? Because it’s our legacy to children and youth who come after us.

Come for the conversation, stay for the celebration: Local farm vendors, hands-on learning, and a wood-fired Pizza Night with ingredients straight from the Camp St. Croix farm will round out the day. Bring a sample of your tap water for free nitrate screening by St. Croix County staff!

The future of the St. Croix Watershed starts here. Be part of the movement.

Saturday, October 4, 2025, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., at Camp St. Croix RCU Center, Hudson, Wisconsin in partnership with the Camp St. Croix Fall Harvest Festival & Pizza Night (2:00–7:00 PM).

Additional information and to register at this link: forms.gle/PirFrNULUWZZRCsY8.

There is NO cost to register. Additional $10.00 fee to order a box lunch. Event funded in part by grants from the St. Croix Valley Foundation and Wisconsin Farmers Union.