RHINELANDER - Nothing says summer time like ice cream, but with cool temperatures this week and more to come next week, it doesn't feel much like summer.
One local ice cream shop says that hasn't stopped people from buying the treat. Jet's Dairy Bar in downtown Rhinelander has had a steady flow of business, despite the cold.
"Pretty consistent because of the holiday week and a lot of the Country Festers are up. So I think a lot of them were just kind of chilling around town waiting for Country Fest to start," said Aimee Kubiak, Jet's Dairy Bar Employee.
Employees believe tourists keep sales regular. Business for Jet's this Fourth of July weekend was up compared to past years. But surprisingly, Jet's employees say rain, not cold, can slow business.
"Because it won't melt as fast and, I don't know, there's less people here so you have more room to just pick from tables and I like ice cream any temperature," said Kubiak.
Other ice cream shops from around the Northwoods tell us they were also busy the past week despite the cooler temperatures.
MOSINEE - From here on out, Mosinee's Kevin Osterbrink will plow snow with a Stormy Kromer hat on his head--and a Stormy Kromer pattern on his plow.
Osterbrink entered his wife, Kayla Cisler-Osterbrink, in a prize drawing from Stormy Kromer and BOSS Snowplow. Her entry won, and BOSS delivered the red plaid patterned snowplow on Friday in Mosinee.
"I was tapping maple trees, and my wife showed up and said I had some homework to do because she won the plow," Osterbrink said, remembering how he found out they won.
"The first thing I told her was, 'That's the last thing I need, more work to do.' She said, 'Well, I think you want to do this, because you just won the Stormy Kromer plow," Osterbrink said.
RHINELANDER - Oneida County needs more foster care homes. Right now, there are nine licensed foster homes in the area, most of which are full according to the county's social services department.
Foster Care Coordinator Rachel Nelson says that in Oneida County there are 24 children currently living in foster homes. The department participated in a statewide foster care recruitment project last fall, and discovered just how great the need is.
RHINELANDER - A snow storm caught Hanson's Garden Village in Rhinelander off guard last weekend and collapsed a greenhouse. Now that spring weather is here, Hanson's is ready to move forward by making some adjustments. "We got by for 25 years doing what we were doing," said Hanson's Garden Village Co-owner Brent Hanson. Last weekend's spring snow storm set back Hanson's. "We thought we were ahead of schedule having that greenhouse nice and filled," said Hanson's Manager Beth Hanson.
"One bad storm and there you go. Things happen," said Brent. The storm collapsed a greenhouse holding thousands of plants. "For years we've gotten by with these lighter cheaper green houses," said Brent. "We'll be down a greenhouse for a little bit here," said Beth. Now Hanson's will only use sturdier and solid greenhouses so that collapses don't become a pattern.