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Christ Church in Bayfield just got a new shepherd. The Rev. Art Hancock has been called as vicar of the Episcopal congregation, bringing more than three decades of ministry experience to one of the region’s oldest faith communities.

For a church that’s been holding services since 1856, leadership transitions matter. This one comes at a time when small-town congregations across the Northwoods are balancing tradition with changing community needs.

Hancock’s appointment keeps continuity alive in a place where history runs deep and the summer crowds test a parish’s ability to serve both year-round locals and seasonal visitors.

What a Vicar Does in a Place Like Bayfield

In Episcopal terms, a vicar leads a mission or parish congregation. That means Hancock will guide worship, provide pastoral care, and shape how Christ Church connects with Bayfield and the wider Chequamegon Bay area.

It’s not just about Sunday mornings. Historic churches in communities this size often anchor civic life — memorial services, weddings, community gatherings, seasonal celebrations.

Bayfield’s economy leans heavily on tourism and lake life. A church vicar here juggles the needs of year-round residents and the influx of cottagers, boaters, and leaf-peepers who flood the town from May through October.

That’s a different kind of ministry than you’d find in a stable suburb or year-round city parish.

A Carpenter’s Gothic Gem That’s Stood Since Before the Civil War

Christ Church isn’t just old — it’s a mid-19th-century architectural survivor. The congregation dates to 1856, making it one of the oldest religious institutions in the Northwoods.

What’s remarkable is that the building itself remains largely unaltered. It’s described as a Carpenter’s Gothic gem, a style that was all the rage in rural America back when Wisconsin was still a frontier.

The church sits at 125 N. Third Street, right in Bayfield’s compact historic downtown. Walk past it on your way to the waterfront, and you’re looking at a building that predates most of the town’s commercial structures.

For a congregation to maintain a historic building this long takes more than luck — it takes people who care enough to keep it going generation after generation.

That kind of continuity matters in a place where heritage and preservation define the town’s identity. Bayfield isn’t trying to be somewhere else. It trades on historic charm and lakefront beauty, and Christ Church fits that story perfectly.

Why Church Leadership Matters in Small Northwoods Towns

When a parish calls a new vicar, it’s choosing more than a preacher. It’s choosing how that congregation will show up in the community for the next several years.

In Bayfield, that means questions like:

• How will the church serve seasonal residents who only worship there in summer?
• What role will it play in memorial services and life events for families with deep roots here?
• Can it attract younger families while honoring the traditions that long-time members value?
• How does a small congregation maintain a historic building when maintenance costs keep climbing?

These aren’t abstract concerns. They shape whether a church stays vibrant or slowly fades.

Hancock’s three decades of Episcopal ministry suggest he’s seen these challenges before. Small parishes, big parishes, seasonal communities, year-round towns — experienced clergy bring context that helps a congregation navigate change without losing its soul.

The Intersection of Faith, Tourism, and Community Identity

Bayfield’s visitor economy creates unique pressures and opportunities for institutions like Christ Church. The town draws people for the Apostle Islands, fall colors, ice caves, orchards, and marinas.

Historic churches benefit from that flow. Weddings in a Carpenter’s Gothic chapel have appeal. Memorial services for families with summer homes bring people back. Even casual visitors sometimes wander into old churches just to see the architecture.

That visibility can help with fundraising and community support. It can also complicate parish life when half your potential congregation only shows up between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

The church’s own materials highlight its role in weddings, christenings, and memorial services — all of which connect it to Bayfield’s service economy and the life-cycle moments that bring people to the South Shore.

A skilled vicar navigates that mix without turning the church into a wedding venue business or ignoring the spiritual needs of year-round members.

What Comes Next for Christ Church

Hancock’s arrival follows a period of leadership transition. Recent diocesan notices indicated clergy changes were already underway, so this appointment likely brings stability after a stretch of interim arrangements.

For parishioners, that means consistency in worship, pastoral care, and planning. For Bayfield, it means one of the town’s landmark institutions has the leadership it needs to keep serving the community.

Whether you’re a regular at Sunday services or someone who just appreciates historic buildings, a well-led congregation benefits the whole town. It’s one more thread in the fabric that makes Bayfield feel rooted and resilient.

As the Northwoods continues to change — more seasonal residents, shifting demographics, economic pressures on small towns — institutions that have been here since 1856 offer something rare: continuity, memory, and a sense that some things endure.

A Sunday afternoon crash on a rural Price County intersection claimed the life of a 74-year-old Kennan woman and sent three others to the hospital, including a 13-year-old boy.

The collision happened just before 1 p.m. at the intersection of Highway 111 and County Road J in the Town of Harmony. Multiple 911 calls brought sheriff’s deputies and emergency responders to the scene where two vehicles had collided.

The woman was driving a Town and Country minivan and was the only occupant of her vehicle. She died in the crash.

Three Family Members Transported to Hospital

The other vehicle, a Volkswagen SUV, carried three people who all sustained serious injuries in the collision.

A 57-year-old man, a 54-year-old woman, and the teenage boy were transported to a local hospital. The Price County Sheriff’s Office has not released details about their current conditions or whether they’ve since been transferred to regional trauma centers.

In rural Northwoods counties like Price, serious crashes often mean longer transport times to advanced medical care. The nearest Level II trauma center is in Wausau, roughly an hour’s drive from the Harmony area.

Investigation Underway on Quiet Country Roads

The intersection where the crash occurred sits in one of Price County’s more remote corners, east of Phillips and surrounded by forest land.

Highway 111 and County Road J form a typical Northwoods crossroads — two-lane blacktop cutting through pine and hardwood stands, with minimal shoulder and the kind of sight-line challenges that come with rolling terrain and tree coverage.

The sheriff’s office hasn’t released information about what caused the collision. Standard crash investigations examine:

• Speed and travel direction of both vehicles
• Road and weather conditions at the time
• Possible distraction or impairment factors
• Mechanical issues or vehicle condition
• Intersection visibility and signage

Those answers typically emerge only after investigators complete their reconstruction work and review all available evidence.

When Rural Crashes Hit Close to Home

Small Northwoods communities feel crashes differently than urban areas do. In places like Kennan and the surrounding townships, everybody knows somebody.

A fatal collision involving a local senior and an injured child ripples through church pews, school hallways, and Friday night fish fries. These aren’t just statistics in a county crash report.

In Price County’s dispersed landscape, residents travel long distances for work, groceries, medical appointments, and school activities — putting thousands of vehicle miles on rural roads each year.

According to University of Wisconsin–Madison transportation data, Price County actually has a lower injury and fatal crash rate than the statewide average when measured per vehicle mile traveled. But when serious crashes do happen, the consequences can be more severe due to response times and distance to advanced medical care.

Reporting and Response in Wisconsin’s Northwoods

Wisconsin law requires drivers to report any crash involving injury or death to law enforcement immediately.

The Price County Sheriff’s Office handles most crash investigations on county and state highways within its jurisdiction, coordinating with local fire departments and ambulance services when injuries are involved.

Sunday’s collision likely closed or restricted traffic at the Highway 111 and County Road J intersection for several hours while investigators documented the scene and crews cleared debris.

For travelers in the Northwoods, that’s a reminder of how quickly a Sunday drive through the pines can turn into a detour — or something far worse.

Moving Forward on Northwoods Roads

The investigation into Sunday’s crash continues, and the sheriff’s office will eventually release more details about what led to the collision.

For now, a family waits for loved ones to heal, and a community mourns the loss of a neighbor. The wooded intersection of Highway 111 and County Road J will return to its usual quiet, but the impact of what happened there won’t soon fade.

If you’re traveling Price County’s back roads this week, take a moment to slow down at those rural intersections. The next car coming through might be carrying somebody’s grandma heading home from church, or a family on their way to the lake.

Up here, we share these roads with neighbors. Let’s make sure everybody gets where they’re going.

When Carla Gerstenberger survived breast cancer in 2011, she didn’t just count her blessings — she started counting the ways she could help others facing the same fight. What began as a small support network for women battling breast cancer has grown into Ties That Bind Us, a Tomahawk nonprofit that now helps anyone in the community facing a cancer diagnosis.

This June, the group hosted its 10th annual Cleavage Open at Inshalla Country Club, a nine-hole scramble that’s become much more than just a day on the links.

More Than a Round of Golf

The Cleavage Open isn’t your typical corporate golf outing. Held every first Saturday in June, the event blends competitive scramble format with on-course games, raffles, and contests that keep the atmosphere light even while raising serious money for a serious cause.

“It’s a fun day,” says board member Carmen Perrodin. “We have contests, raffles, games on the course, everything. It’s really the only fundraiser we do for ourselves.”

Last year alone, the event raised around $16,000 — funding that goes directly into the hands of local patients navigating one of life’s toughest journeys.

Gas Cards, Groceries, and Getting Through

In rural Wisconsin, cancer treatment often means long drives to specialty centers in Wausau, Marshfield, or even Madison. Those miles add up fast, and so do the bills.

Ties That Bind Us addresses that reality head-on with practical support:

• Gas cards to cover trips to treatment appointments
• Food cards for groceries when budgets get tight
• Starter totes packed with essentials for newly diagnosed patients
• Lodging assistance when overnight stays are needed for appointments
• Informational books and resources about what to expect during treatment

“If someone is diagnosed with cancer, we give them a tote to start with,” explains treasurer Lori Rogney. “We give them gas cards, food cards.”

It’s the kind of help that doesn’t make headlines but makes all the difference when you’re trying to keep your household running while fighting for your life.

From Breast Cancer Focus to Community-Wide Support

When Gerstenberger founded the organization in 2011, the mission centered on women facing breast cancer — survivors helping survivors through a uniquely difficult experience.

But needs have a way of expanding, and so did the nonprofit’s reach. Today, Ties That Bind Us supports people fighting all types of cancer, from prostate to lung to leukemia.

“In a small community like Tomahawk, when someone gets a diagnosis, we all feel it. This is our way of making sure nobody faces it alone.”

That evolution reflects something important about Northwoods communities: when neighbors need help, folks find a way to step up.

Why This Fundraiser Matters in the Northwoods

The Cleavage Open concentrates donations, volunteer energy, and community awareness into one highly visible event each year. In a smaller town, that concentration matters.

Insurance might cover chemotherapy, but it won’t fill your gas tank for the 90-minute drive to treatment three times a week. It won’t pay for the hotel when weather makes the drive back impossible.

Those gaps hit especially hard in the Northwoods, where distance to specialty care isn’t just an inconvenience — it’s a significant barrier that can affect whether people stick with treatment plans.

Research from the American Cancer Society confirms what locals already know: community-based fundraising plays a vital role in Wisconsin’s cancer support infrastructure, particularly in rural areas where patients travel farther and have fewer nearby resources.

How to Support or Get Help

While the Cleavage Open serves as the nonprofit’s main annual fundraiser, Ties That Bind Us accepts donations year-round. The need for cancer support doesn’t follow a seasonal schedule.

If you or someone you know in the Tomahawk area receives a cancer diagnosis, the organization provides assistance without lengthy applications or bureaucratic hurdles. You can find more information through the Tomahawk business directory.

For those who want to help, next year’s tournament will happen again on the first Saturday in June. Mark your calendar now — whether you golf or just want to support the raffle, every dollar stays local and helps a neighbor when they need it most.

That’s the thing about the Northwoods: we take care of our own. One golf scramble, one gas card, one moment of support at a time.

Every weekday morning in Merrill, volunteers arrive early at Christ United Methodist Church to prep hundreds of meals. By 11:30 a.m., families are already lined up at the door.

What started as a small effort to help a few neighborhood kids in 2013 has grown into a community institution that now serves more than 200 free lunches daily throughout the summer.

“We used to think that 100 in a day was a lot,” says Rachel Bergmann, program co-coordinator. “But now we’re serving 100 within the first half-hour.”

Why Summer Lunch Programs Matter Up North

When school lets out in June, thousands of Northwoods kids lose access to the free or reduced-price breakfasts and lunches they rely on during the academic year. That creates what food security experts call the “summer hunger gap.”

In 2013, members of Christ United Methodist noticed that gap right here in Merrill. Some children in their neighborhood had little access to food when school cafeterias closed for summer break.

By 2015, the church had formalized a Monday-through-Friday lunch service that runs for 12 weeks straight, through the end of August. The program is part of Wisconsin’s broader summer meals network, which is backed by USDA funding and administered through the state Department of Public Instruction.

Every meal includes an entrée, vegetables, and snacks — no cost, no paperwork, no questions asked for kids and teens 18 and under.

A Whole-Community Effort

Sandy Huxtable, who co-coordinates the program with Bergmann, estimates her team of volunteers prepares and distributes thousands of meals over the course of each summer.

The church doesn’t do it alone. Christ United Methodist has partnered with the Merrill Food Pantry and four other local congregations to keep the operation running smoothly.

“This whole community really helps support that program and they’re all coming together to make sure that the kids have something to eat during the middle of the day.” — Sandy Huxtable, program coordinator

Parents stop by to thank volunteers in person. Some families arrive early to make sure they don’t miss pickup, which runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. weekdays.

“We hear stories from them, their parents thank us,” Bergmann says. “It’s great to be able to make these connections with parents and with the kids as well.”

How the Program Works

The Merrill summer lunch program is open to all children and teens 18 and under. No registration or income verification is required — kids just show up during pickup hours.

Here’s what families need to know:

• Pickup is Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
• The program runs through August 28th this year
• Meals are completely free and include a full lunch with entrée, sides, and snacks
• No paperwork or sign-up needed — just come to Christ United Methodist Church in Merrill
• Volunteers are on hand to help families and answer questions

Similar programs operate at hundreds of sites across Wisconsin, especially in communities where access to affordable food can be a challenge during the summer months.

The Growing Need Across the Northwoods

The explosion in daily meal counts at Merrill’s site mirrors trends across rural Wisconsin. Transportation distances, seasonal work schedules, and rising grocery costs all add pressure to family budgets when school meal programs pause for summer.

In smaller Northwoods towns, fewer nearby food options and longer travel distances can make summer even harder. Programs like Merrill’s don’t just feed kids — they ease the financial strain on households trying to stretch paychecks through the summer.

Wisconsin’s statewide Summer Food Service Program serves millions of meals each year, according to state reporting. Families can use the Department of Public Instruction’s site finder or call 2-1-1 to locate the nearest summer meal location.

Some rural communities have adapted by offering meal pickup or even delivery to reach families who face transportation barriers.

How to Support or Find Summer Meals

The Merrill program thrives because of volunteer hours and community donations. Churches, businesses, and neighbors pitch in with food, funding, and hands-on help in the kitchen.

If you’re looking for a summer meal site for your family or want to support a program in your area, the state’s online site finder lists locations across the Northwoods and updates regularly starting in May.

For families in the Merrill area, Christ United Methodist Church remains the go-to spot through late August. Volunteers will be there every weekday, packing lunches and welcoming kids.

As Bergmann and Huxtable see it, the program isn’t just about filling stomachs. It’s about showing up for neighbors when they need it most — a very Northwoods way of doing things.

A packed room at Nicolet College in Rhinelander recently hosted a conversation about the future of 70,000 acres of Northwoods forest — acres that most locals have driven past, hiked through, or hunted in without realizing they’re at the center of a national policy fight.

The topic was the Roadless Rule, a federal policy that’s protected undeveloped national forest lands since 2001. Now the Trump administration wants to rescind it, and what happens next could reshape how the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest is managed for generations.

For those of us who love these woods, that’s not an abstract debate. It’s about whether future visitors will find the same quiet backcountry we cherish today.

The Rule That Saved 45 Million Acres

The Roadless Rule does exactly what its name suggests: it restricts roadbuilding and most commercial logging across roughly 45 million acres of national forest nationwide. In Wisconsin, that means about 70,000 acres of the Chequamegon-Nicolet remain undeveloped.

Michael Dombeck helped design the rule during his time as Chief of the U.S. Forest Service under Clinton. Speaking at the Rhinelander town hall, he made a case that might surprise folks expecting partisan talking points.

“It’s probably one of the most conservative policies you could have. It doesn’t cost taxpayers money — it saves money. It doesn’t create roads that require maintenance year after year. And it keeps options open for future generations.”

When the Forest Service developed the rule in the late 1990s, they collected over 1.6 million public comments. Ninety percent were positive. That’s rare consensus in American land policy.

Why Congress Is Fighting Over Forest Roads

The push to eliminate the rule kicked into high gear this spring when Representative Tom Tiffany, who chairs a House subcommittee on natural resources, held hearings on bills to nullify it. His main argument? Wildfire risk.

With catastrophic fires becoming common out west, Tiffany and other supporters say we need road networks and defensible space, not “overgrown thickets ready to level entire neighborhoods.” The USDA backs this up, noting that 28 million roadless acres sit in high or very high wildfire-risk zones.

But new research from The Wilderness Society found that wildfires are four times more likely to start near roads than deep in roadless forests. More roads can mean more human-caused ignitions, not fewer fires.

What Local Foresters and Conservationists Actually Say

Here’s where the Northwoods perspective gets interesting. Henry Schienebeck runs the Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association, and he doesn’t think rescinding the rule will change much locally.

“I don’t think it’s going to make any difference in how we’re managing the Chequamegon-Nicolet,” Schienebeck said. The roadless areas are roadless partly because they weren’t economically valuable for logging to begin with.

At the town hall, about 100 people showed up. Twenty speakers raised concerns that felt distinctly Northwoods:

• Wasting taxpayer money on new roads when existing forest roads need repair
• Protecting rare old-growth stands that survived earlier logging eras
• Preserving backcountry hunting and fishing spots that define the region
• Maintaining water quality in the streams and lakes we depend on

One attendee put it plainly from the lectern: “I don’t want more money going to roads on public lands when the massive network of roads already exist are in disrepair and lack the funding.”

The Tribal Consultation Gap

Governor Evers wrote to the USDA in April supporting Wisconsin tribal organizations who say they weren’t consulted on the proposed rule changes. That matters because roadless areas in the Chequamegon-Nicolet sit on ceded territory — lands where tribes retain treaty rights to hunt, fish, and gather.

Federal law requires consultation with tribes on decisions affecting their treaty rights. Skipping that step isn’t just poor policy — it’s potentially illegal and disrespectful to the original stewards of these forests.

The final rule isn’t expected until late 2026, which means there’s still time for meaningful tribal input if the administration chooses to seek it.

What Happens Next in the Northwoods

Dombeck warned the crowd that what’s happening isn’t really about forest management. “What we’re really seeing is the politicization of agencies that have served the country very well for a long time,” he said.

The question for Northwoods residents is whether we want more access and active management or more protection for undeveloped character. Both matter to the mixed economy up here — tourism, recreation, hunting, fishing, and forestry all depend on these public lands in different ways.

The Sierra Club, Wisconsin’s Green Fire, and partner organizations are organizing to defend the rule. They argue it protects the backcountry experience that draws people to the Northwoods in the first place.

Meanwhile, some in Congress see roadless protections as obstacles to forest health and fire prevention, even if local foresters aren’t convinced that argument applies here.

As the USDA moves toward a final decision in 2026, Northwoods voices will matter. These 70,000 acres belong to all of us, and how we manage them now determines what kind of forest our kids and grandkids inherit. The town hall format worked because it gave regular people — not just lobbyists and politicians — a chance to weigh in on land they actually use.

Whether you’re a deer hunter who treasures roadless solitude, a snowmobiler who relies on trail access, or someone who just wants intact forest for clean water and wildlife, this debate touches your corner of the Northwoods. Pay attention to what happens next.