Join us on Wednesday, December 18th, for a fun evening of sea shanty singing. The event runs from 7pm to 8pm at Brewery Nonic and is free to attend. Everyone is welcome and no preparation is needed.
MadLee Band takes the stage at 8:00pm. Great Food and Drink specials. Party Favors and Champagne Toast at Midnight. Join us in ringing in the New Year.
Back by popular demand, St. Paul's is hosting a "Living Christmas Card!"
Come see real people dressed as shepherds, magi, angels, or members of Jesus' family and we will have live farm animals there to help us as we spread the Word.
We welcome all to come see and remember why this is such a joyous time of the year!
Another fun new addition to Winter Daze this year will be free holiday movies in the Harvey Hall Theater at University of Wisconsin-Stout!
These four short films are family-friendly and will play on a loop from 4-6pm so you can stop in to warm up while you're enjoying all the pre-parade activities downtown.
Harvey Hall Theater is located on 3rd Street just behind Town & Country Antiques.
Honors Chemistry student teams pair up to develop biodiesel, test toxic chemicals in the lab
By Abby Goers, UW-Stout
Menomonie, Wis. - At University of Wisconsin-Stout’s STEMM Student Expo, hundreds of first- to senior-year science, technology and engineering students will debut their applied research and projects from 1 to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12, in the Memorial Student Center second floor.
From research to prototypes to solving problems for an industrial or community partner to creative activities, it is an opportunity for students across the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Management to collaborate on projects and discuss their research with each other, faculty, industry partners and university and community members.
Among the STEMM students will be 23 Honors Chemistry first-year students, who worked in teams to develop and complete their own chemistry lab projects, including one team of brothers who created a biodiesel and another team who tested how different lab chemicals can damage clothing, equipment and event skin.
The STEMM Expo is one of a number of signature events taking place this week, which also include the Stout Game Expo and the School of Art and Design Senior Show, which showcase what distinguishes UW-Stout’s polytechnic model of education.
The Stout Game Expo, western Wisconsin's largest game developers’ event, will feature the works of about 250 students from 6 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 11, in the upper level of the Memorial Student Center.
During SGX, first-year to senior students in game design and development-art; and the game design concentration in computer science debut original, playable tabletop games, board and card games, conventional video games, virtual reality experiences and rhythm games.
The SOAD Senior Show celebrates more than 100 students’ works in graphic design, video production and animation, industrial and product design, interior design, game design and studio art. It is from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13, in Applied Arts and Micheels Hall.
Metals, comics, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking and photography exhibitions and sales by students will also be throughout the building.
Biodiesel and toxic chemicals in Honors Chemistry
In the first-year Honors Chemistry course, Professor Marcia Miller-Rodeberg gave the students free rein to decide what their projects would be for the STEMM Expo.
“The point of these projects is to give the students to opportunity explore things that are interesting to them and learn how to conduct experiments,” she said.
Connor Tieman and Carter Tieman, lab partners and twin brothers from Thorp, designed an experiment that would teach them about a specific field in chemistry.
“We decided to create a biodiesel – a renewable energy mostly composed of canola oil,” said Connor, a mechanical engineering major. “We became interested when researching renewable energy and the chemistry behind the process. We delved deeper and discovered that we could make our own, given the right materials.”
In their project, Blazing Biodiesel, they pursued developing a functional biodiesel that would perform as effectively as possible.
“To start our experiment on day one, we heated the canola oil, dissolved methanal and sodium hydroxide into the oil and allowed the solution to separate for a week. On our next lab day, we took samples of the biodiesel, the newly separated glycerol, and the stock canola oil and carefully combusted each sample to test how well they combusted,” said Carter, environmental science major.
They think the STEMM Expo is the perfect opportunity to implement their ideas. “Participating in the expo is allowing us to creatively engage with projects that allow us to have self-directed learning, which leads to a deeper understanding and the satisfaction of completing a project,” Connor said.
Lab partners and mechanical engineering majors Lauren Barclay and Allie Turany wanted to determine how skin, different fabrics and personal protective equipment hold up against common chemicals used in an average chemistry lab.
“In most chemistry labs, the instructor will issue a warning when strong chemicals are being used and will typically require the use of gloves and eye coverings, as chemicals can eat through clothing and should be used carefully,” said Barclay, of Prior Lake, Minn. “This made us think, ‘How toxic are these chemicals, and what would happen if they spilled on your skin or clothes?’”
For their project, You Vs. Toxic Lab Substances, they tested whether what they’d heard was exaggeration or truth, having never experienced a chemical spill or accident themselves.
They used common clothing materials, rubber gloves, and untreated and untanned squirrel hide as a substitute for human skin, placing each in beakers of various acids with high molarity.
“We hypothesized that the cotton and the gloves would fare the best in terms of testing, since they are used for PPE. The synthetics – a half cotton blend and full polyester – were likely to have worse results, or lose more mass, than the cotton since it is a cheaper alternative and made with plastics. The skin was most likely to have detrimental results,” said Turany, of Cornell.
Barclay and Turany look forward to seeing the diverse range of projects displayed at the expo and learning about their peers’ studies in different majors and classes.
“People attending can learn a lot about many different topics. We put a lot of work into completing our projects. We would love to show them off to those interested,” Barclay said.
The Mustangs wrestling team made their first ever trip to Madison for the WIAA Division 1 State Tournament a season ago and have high hopes to duplicate that experience. Menomonie lost to Mukwonago 35-26 in the state quarterfinals, but the Mustangs return three quarters of their starting lineup with piles of varsity and tournament experience.
Third year head coach Rylan Lubeck commented, “Like last year we should have good numbers, which leads to good depth” when asked about his team's strengths for the upcoming season. “The kids buy into the five C’s of our program pillars,” Lubeck added about his team.
This stacked Mustangs wrestling team will be immensely challenged throughout the season. “Tough duels will lead to guys having to step up,” said Lubeck about the strength of schedule the Mustangs have in front of them. The Clash (https://clashnationalduals.com/), held in LaCrosse, and the Minnesota Christmas tournament, held in Rochester, are wrestling meets that will host schools from all over the country and have nationally ranked teams and individuals scattered throughout. “There is going to be a lot of tough competition individually and as a team with our schedule,” said Lubeck.
Key returners include four of five individual state qualifying wrestlers in Bailey Casey, the younger brother of Brayton Casey, Aiden Aure, Luke Pember and Ray Pember with more talent throughout those large program numbers. Sectional returning wrestlers include Aaron Howard, Jake Anderson, Ben Helminski and Bryce Shepard. With 20 total returning wrestlers, weight classes will fill in throughout the season. “Varsity will work its way out as we get into the season,” said Lubeck about his varsity roster. “We will have a couple of weight classes where we are pretty young,” added Lubeck.
The Mustangs lost excellent wrestlers and leaders from last season in Brayton Casey, who took second place at the individual state meet, Steel Schaefer, Walker Ferguson and Andrew Schaefer.
The Mustangs wrestling schedule can be found below.
Head Coach Rylan Lubek: Dual Meet Record (44-11) / 3rd season as head coach at Menomonie
Lubeck was an assistant wrestling coach at Middleton High School from 2017-2019.
Graduate, and Minnesota Gopher wrestler, Brayton Casey finished his high school career 150-17. He captured a state title in 2021-22 at 113 and was a three-time state finalist.
Bailey Casey needs 22 wins to reach 100 career wins. His overall record is 78-20 coming into his junior season.
Returning wrestlers Aaron Howard, Aiden Aure, Bailey Casey and Ben Helminksi traveled to Estonia to compete in the Tallion Open in the spring of 2024. (Watch for an article about this trip soon to be posted on the Menomonie Minute.)
Fargo National Participants this past summer were Aidan Aure, Aaron Howard, Luke Pember, Ben Helminski and Bryce Shepard.
Bryce Shepard was also a member of the Team Wisconsin National Cadet Greco Team this past summer.
Current collegiate wrestlers from Menomonie: Kellan Aure (Central Michigan University), Cody Kwak (Minnesota-Mankato), Brayten Casey, (University of Minnesota, RTC)
The Menomonie Mustangs girls cross country team received the Academic All-State Award. To qualify teams must run at the state meet and have an average team GPA above 3.40. The Menomonie girls have an average GPA of 3.90.
Five Menomonie Mustangs football players have received WFCA 2024 Academic All State Honors. They are James Hoff, Max Kinney, Ray Pember, Anthony Sakry, and Brody Thornton.
The Menomonie Mustangs boys cross country team received the Academic All-State Award. To qualify teams must run at the state meet and have an average team GPA above 3.40. The Menomonie boys have an average GPA of 3.97.
