Northwest Regional Planning Commission Program Manager Jeff Dietrich, pictured third from the left, behind the children, attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Wild Rivers Habitat for Humanity (WRHFH) ReStore in Spooner on Saturday, September 14th.
Northwest Wisconsin Business Development Corporation (NWBDC) funds are being used to support the new store that will operate out of the former Spooner Country Store building on Highway 63.
The opening of the Spooner ReStore is one result of a merger between Wild Rivers Habitat for Humanity, serving Polk and Burnett counties, and the Habitat affiliates in Rusk and Washburn counties which took place this summer. Eric Kube, executive director of Wild Rivers Habitat for Humanity, said during the ribbon-cutting that the affiliate has moved from helping two families a year to 85 families this year, in large part due to the funds brought in by the ReStore.
Photo: Pictured are, left to right, Amy Grunow, her four sons and their cousin; she and her partner Tony LeTourneau, not present, are now building a home in Amery with Habitat for Humanity volunteers; Sue LeTourneau, Tony’s mother; Jeff Dietrich, Northwest Regional Planning Commission; Paul Nedland, Spooner ReStore manager; Tony Ritten, Board President of WRHFH; Rep. Nick Milroy; Spooner Alderman Fred Schluter; David Sandmann, manager of WRHFH’s ReStore in St. Croix Falls; Donny Strunk, WRHFH board member; Amy Mathews of HGTV holding her son Eli; and Eric Kube, executive director of WRHFH.