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Howard-Suamico sees growth in 2017

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By Ben Rodgers

Staff Writer

Looking back on 2017 for Howard and Suamico one topic comes up in previous Press headlines again and again - growth.

The biggest story of the year is the Howard Commons project.

Throughout January of 2017 the Howard Village Board and Howard Planning and Zoning Commission took action on a variety of topics pertaining to the development.

It was decided the village would act as the developer after a lengthy search to find an outside developer working in the TIF district proved fruitless.

The groundbreaking for the first phase of the project, which will cost more than $20 million, was on June 22.

For that development phase two upscale apartments will be built with a total of 133 units.

In the Feb. 24 issue of The Press the board named Altius in Brookfield, Wisconsin as the construction manager.

Just in this last month all the bids have finally been awarded.

The project when completed will give Howard residents a central place to live, work and play.

Howard saw growth outside the residential sector in 2017 as well.

The May 19 issue of The Press covered the Meijer Superstore opening in Howard.

The building has 192,000 square feet and offers shoppers more than a little bit of everything.

Both communities also gained leadership and lost some in 2017 as well.

Dennis Duffy, longtime attorney for the village of Howard was honored in the March 3 issue of The Press for serving 28 years with the village. He retired.

Jessica Legois was named the new director of administrative services in Suamico, which was covered in the Jan. 6 edition of The Press.

Laura Nelson was voted president for the village of Suamico, defeating Sky Van Rossum.

Meanwhile in Howard Burt McIntyre ran unopposed for the village president’s seat.

The same election, covered in the April 7 edition of The Press, also saw voters in Howard and Suamico soundly reject a referendum for the school district.

A new referendum will likely be on the ballot in April of 2018.

The Howard-Suamico School District also named its academic leaders for 2017 with McKayla Wenner being named valedictorian and Gabrielle Every being named salutatorian.    

The April 24 issue of The Press also covered the Bay Port Women’s Choir, which under the direction of Tami Hockers participated in the Lakeside Women’s Choir Invitational at Carthage College in Kenosha.

In 2017 many people made donations of time and money to help those less fortunate.

The June 9 issue of The Press highlighted one of those, the Jerry Parins Cruise for Cancer hosted by Vandervest Harley Davidson.

With the help of those who partook in the event $112,500 was given to nine different local cancer organizations.

Help just doesn’t come from lots of people, sometimes one person can make a difference in the lives of others. One such person is Hannah DeMille.

The HSSD student served as a Kickoff Kid for the Packers preseason game against the Rams for her efforts in raising money for The Giving Tree.

The story was covered in the Sept. 8 issue of The Press.

People caring was a big part of the Howard Suamico area in 2017.

The story of a lost dog named Toby was the most popular story of the year in terms of online readers. The story garnered more than 16,000 views as of Dec. 26. This was before the story even hit the print edition.

The effort behind finding Toby shows just how remarkable people in the area really are.

A local celebrity also spoke to middle schoolers in Howard and Suamico about never giving up and how important it is to set goals.

In the Dec. 22 edition of The Press, Drew Knapp a Bay Port graduate spent the morning at Bay View Middle School talking about the importance of of hope.

Knapp competed on six episodes “American Ninja Warriors,” and was inspired by his brother Dalton, who beat cancer.   

It’s not just people who live here who know how great of a place Howard and Suamico are.

In the Sept. 22 issue of The Press, Money Magazine also named Howard one of the top 100 best places to live, giving the village the rank of 40.

Howard and Suamico had an eventful 2017.

Looking back at the year that it was it’s easy to see how 2018 will be just as impactful in terms of positive growth and even more positive people.

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