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Vern Hollister

Correspondent

South Star out of Aurora, Wisconsin, picked up its second straight championship in the 23rd running of the Fence Volunteer Fire Department's slow-pitch softball tournament. With their victory, current tournament rules require South Star to sit out a year before competing again.

Shortly over five miles from Armstrong Creek, the tiny hamlet tried a ball tournament over twenty years ago to raise money for its own fire department. Behind tournament organizer and mainstay Larry Dzekute for all these years, the tourney has exceeded expectations and has allowed Fence residents not only to create a fire department but to sustain one. Dzekute and current fire chief Steve Nanninga sat on a raised platform behind home plate Friday evening for two games and throughout the day on both Saturday and Sunday before a winner was declared.

In a double elimination final, South Star twice defeated Dave's Auto. Fence Post, one of the local teams and favorites, came in third after suffering a second loss to Dave's Auto.

Another team from Forest County, Stan and Micci's, was stocked with familiar names and collegiate and high school talent from Crandon, Wabeno, Pembine, Goodman and Armstrong Creek. More used to baseball than to high arching softball pitches, the team that carried Stan and Micci's banner didn't reach the top three. Fence Post did, made up primarily of area players who compete in the summer Forest County Softball League.

Outside and inside a pavilion that sat on a hill which overlooked the playing field, volunteers sold refreshments and food to raise money for the fire department. Jim McLain, a Laona resident but a man who grew up in the Fence countryside, volunteered to work Friday evening. From the time McLain began flipping burgers and turning brats about five o'clock, customers kept him busy with a steady demand.

Other local teams that formed in support of the fundraising effort were Lake Hilbert Campground and Hedmark's Maple (Syrup). Fred Hedmark, a former fire chief, recently retired, for years joined Dzekute on the stand to call out the score and to assist in keeping the official scorebook. The tournament didn't end until early Sunday evening.

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