Sep 15, 20238 min read

Alumni Newsletter Fall 2023

A Message from the Director of Mission Advancement

Hello from Manitowoc Lutheran High School to all of our alumni,

Something that has been on my mind and my heart lately is the idea of connection or connectedness. We all have lots of connections in our lives. Probably the easiest one to point to is our own family. Like it or not, we are connected to them. That connection is important and lasts a lifetime. That feeling of belonging to a family gives such comfort and security in tough times as well as in the smooth waters of life.

As Christians, we know that staying connected to our Savior is also an absolute necessity. John 15:5 (NIV): "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." Jesus spoke these words to illustrate the vital connection between believers and Him. Just as branches draw their sustenance and life from the vine, we Christians are encouraged to stay connected to Jesus through faithful use of the means of grace. By doing so, we will bear spiritual fruit and experience a fulfilling and purposeful life with the end goal of eternal life in heaven.

Staying connected to your high school also is important in our lives. Many of you were connected to MLHS through Scott Reinhard. Scott was your link to what was happening here at Lutheran High. When he passed away, for some, that connection passed with him. My prayer is to help restore and grow that connection. Beyond being a reminder of the “good old days”, this connection fosters a sense of belonging and community. It allows alumni to maintain strong ties with the institution that played a crucial role in their personal, academic and spiritual development. A strong connection to your high school can lead to the chance to give back through volunteering, prayer, or donations. This can be of great benefit to you as the alumnus and also to the school. Your continued connection to MLHS can serve as a great example to our current students. We very often use the phrase “Once a Lancer; Always a Lancer”. When our students hear that those who came before them here at MLHS are successful in their lives and using that success to give back to the school, it is a great source of inspiration and it validates the choice that their own family made for high school.

It is the goal of the Mission Advancement Department to send one of these Alumni Newsletters to you all once per quarter. We are targeting the 15th of September, December, March, and June. Please watch for an email and stay connected to your Alma Mater.

God be with you all until we meet again.

In Christ,

Kevin M. Buch

Director of Mission Advancement

Manitowoc Lutheran High School

kmbuch@mlhslancers.org

Cell 920-973-0465

Donate Here

31st Lancer Golf Classic Review

Thank you to all golfers, sponsors, donors, and volunteers for another successful Lancer Golf Classic. This year we welcomed 110 golfers of all ages and ability levels to Quit Qui Oc Golf Club in Elkhart Lake. The weather was beautiful, and our hosts were once again excellent. We were blessed to raise over $16,500! This money will go to much needed athletic equipment upgrades to be used in our new gymnasium! Big news will be coming in our December issue regarding the 32nd Annual Lancer Golf Classic!

2o Years Ago...

Abbey Bubolz, '04

This year celebrates 20 years since our 2003 Cross Country team qualified both the Girls’ and Boys’ teams for the WIAA State Division 3 Meet which was held at Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids (site of the current CC State Meet). This was a historic season for our Lancers as both teams managed to win their Sectional held at Sheboygan Lutheran to qualify for State.

The Lancer girls were coming off a dominating Conference championship the week before led by Senior Abbey Ring who took the individual Conference title and what would still stand as the 4k school record as well the week before. The Lancer girls were a heavy favorite going into this meet, but still had their work cut out for them with some good competition in Howards Grove, the 2nd place team that day. The Lancer girls’ team consisted of Abbey Ring (Bubolz) ’04, Annika Duveneck ’06, Beth Bitter (Weiss) ’06, Lydia Stuebs (Tanney) ’05, Jenny Meineke (Beckman) ’04, Stephanie Volz ’04, and Tammy Schunck ’06.

The Lancer boys, had you asked anyone the week before, were not a favorite to make it to State that year. In the days before automatic timing they didn’t actually know they made it to State until the announcement at awards for team scores. Not only did they qualify for State, they upset the field winning the meet by 1 point. The Lancer boys were led by Zach Bitter ’04 and Zak Hackmann ’05, both of whom had been All-Conference the week before. The rest of that team included Jake Ring ’06, Justin Nickels ’05, Matt Potthast ’04, Jeremy Seeger ’05, and Jeremiah Drews ’04.

These history-making teams were coached by Dave Ring, long time Cross Country coach of the Lancers. Assistants that year included Randy Kramer, Dave Nickels, Greg Stuebs, and Nancy Ring.

Important Dates

New Gymnasium Groundbreaking | 9/27 - 5:30PM

You are invited to join us for a Groundbreaking Ceremony and cookout!

Groundbreaking - 5:30pm

Cookout - 6:00pm

Location - Parking Lot on east side of building between by baseball field.

Homecoming Pep Rally and Bonfire | 9/27 - 6-9PM

Homecoming Football Game | 9/29 - 7PM

Fall Festival & Concert | 9/22 - 2PM & 4PM

Grandparents & VIP Day | 9/23 - 8AM

Veterans Breakfast & Service | 11/8 - 8:30AM

One Act Plays: "Rip Van Winkle" & "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" | 11/10 - 11/12

MLHS Christmas Concert: Joy to the World! | 12/21/23 - 4:30PM & 7:30PM

Spring Musical: "Bye Bye Birdie" | 3/8 - 3/10

Spring Gala | 3/24

MLHS Graduation | 5/25 - 10AM

Building and Campus Updates

Over the summer we had our gym floor completely overhauled, thanks to Gary Zander and Hardwood Specialists and Craftsman! If you have not seen our resurfaced gym floor with updated Lancer logo in person, stop in and check it out!

If you have been around outside, you certainly have noticed a large number of trees removed from the southern portion of campus near the trailer park. Last spring the city identified dozens of trees; dead, dying, or infected with emerald ash borer which needed to be removed. Future plans for beautification, security, and use are being considered.

First Ever Lancer Alumni Baseball Game

On Friday, May 26 we hosted the first ever Lancer baseball alumni game. Twenty-two Forever Lancers joined in the fun. Team Uhlhorn defeated Team Durkee in year one; the final score is still in question. One thing that is certain, fun was had by all! For year two we are hoping to make this even larger with more alumni, --spread the word!

Lancer alumni baseball players who participated this year:

Coaches:

Dave Uhlhorn - MLHS head coach | 2002-15

Paul Durkee - MLHS head coach | 2016-22

Jeff Dolan - MLHS head coach | 2023- Current

Base Umpires:

1st: Logan Brooks (MLHS Junior)

2nd: Kamden Baye (MLHS Junior)

3rd: Logan Haupt (MLHS Sophomore)

Home: Caden Stanzel (MLHS Senior)

We hope to see many more next year, spectators are welcome! Save the date Friday, May 24, 2024 | 5:00PM | Lancer Field | 2nd Annual Lancer Baseball Alumni Game

Check out the photos from the game.

If you follow us on Facebook or Instagram we often have ALUMNI ALERTS. They are fun way for us to stay connected to our alumni and share exciting news about you. If you would like to be featured, or for us to feature a Lancer graduate please message us on either of those two social media sites, and we are happy to share! We are hoping to grow this section each month. For those who do not have social media, those updates can be sent directly to Paul Durkee pdurkee@mlhslancers.org in the Mission Advancement Office.


*Kaleb Buch ('09)* and wife Emily nee Bolda welcomed their third daughter, Kamille Lynn to the world on 6/28/23 at 4:08am	*Katie Krug nee Malley* ('10) and husband Chris welcomed twins; Ayda Rose and Nolan Michael! Born on 8/23/23 at 3:51am and 4:03am.	*Jonathan Otto ('17)* & *Madelyn nee Kutz* ('18) announced they are expecting their first child in January.


Noah Ungemach ('19) & Becky nee Loescher were married on July 2, 2023.	*Samuel Ciha ('17) & Erin nee Krueger ('17)* were married on July 29, 2023.	*Emily Behnke ('19)* & Noah Roffers marriage date announcement for 6/22/24 at Lambeau Field.


*Dayna Hubbartt ('18)* & Lucas Reisdorf Engagement announcement	*Joshua Lafleur ('18)* & Kala Peterson Engagement announcement	*Aaron Lischka ('18)* & Shalyn Behnke Engagement announcement


*Brock Staudt ('18) & Madeline Schleis ('18)* Engagement announcement	*Cameron Strutz ('22)* & *Sydney Stubbe ('22)* Engagement announcement	Justin Nickels ('05) & Wife Shauna nee Gadzinski Announced they are expecting their first child.

Join the Lancer Network today!

The Lancer Alumni Network is growing!The short-term goal is to create a list of alumni who are willing to help current students learn about careers and industries for which they don’t currently have any contacts. To learn more and take a short survey, please click below; it takes less than five minutes and we will never sell your contact information. Thanks for the help in passing along the word!

Learn More

Planning a Reunion? We are here to help!

Please contact Kevin Buch at kmbuch@mlhslancers.org or 920-973-0465 in the Mission Advancement Office when when you begin the process; we have many options to take advantage of when planning your reunion.

SAVE THE DATE

Let us do the work and send out a Save the Date notification email. MLHS recommends that you send this out six months prior to the reunion. (A postcard will be mailed to any classmates who do not have an email)

MLHS can design the save the date announcement/image. All we need from you is the following: (If you have a design in mind we can work with you.)
- Date of the Reunion
- Time of Reunion
- Location of Reunion
- Any extra information you want on there.
- If you have an image you would like included you can attach it to your reply.

Please Note: You will receive a list of your classmates and their contact information to verify before we send out the Save the Date. That list will come to your email soon, so watch for that.

INVITATION

Let us do the work and send out your Class Reunion invitation. MLHS recommends that you send this out six to eight weeks in advance of your reunion. The invitation will look similar to the save the date, but will include all of the detail about your reunion that you provide.

PROMOTION OF YOUR REUNION ON MLHS SOCIAL MEDIA

MLHS is happy to help promote your reunion through our social media, website, and upcoming publications. If you form a social media group, we can share a link to that as well!

BOOKLET

Let us put together a Class Reunion Booklet for you to share!

This booklet would contain any updated information that your classmates want to share. Their updates are collected by having them all fill out an online form. A link to that form would be included on the Save the Date email/mailing, or on the invite, whichever you prefer.

MLHS will print them all out for you and have them available for you to share at the class reunion. A digital copy can also be sent to everyone. This is a nice feature especially for those that are not able to make it to the reunion.

TOURS OF YOUR HIGH SCHOOL

A lot has changed since you have graduated, and we would love to share these blessings with you. This is a guided tour with lots of fun facts and maybe even some stories you didn’t know about. These tours tend to bring out memories from your time at MLHS. You might even learn about something you never even knew about!

SPEAKER AT YOUR REUNION

If you would like someone to come to your celebration and give a presentation on MLHS, or be available for a short Question and Answer Session, we can line up someone to do just that!

PHOTOGRAPHER?

Would you like an MLHS representative to come and take some updated class pictures? Don’t worry about finding someone in the building to take the picture! Just let us know and we can provide someone to take a class picture and some candids too! For 1 hour of your reunion we can capture the memories for you!

VIDEO MONTAGE/SLIDESHOW:

If you would like MLHS to put together a short video of your times here at MLHS from photos that we have on file or photos submitted from your classmates, we can do that too! This feature will depend on whether there is enough turned in to make a montage. Some classes have each person’s senior picture on the screen with any updated photo they submit along side of it. Sort of like a “that was then, this is now” type display. Of course, all of this depends on what can be pulled together. On the Save the Date and Invitation, we would include instructions on how classmates could submit their photos or short video clips for the montage.