Three Bears Resort

Financial troubles forced the closing of the Three Bears Resort in September, resulting in the loss of 244 jobs at the resort alone.

The resort closed on Sept. 15 after owner Ed Van Der Molen searched for a buyer for almost two months. Van Der Molen Recreational Properties informed Warrens village officials in late July that the resort may close by Sept. 29 if a buyer could not be found. The closing came two weeks earlier than expected after a series of financial troubles.

Jellystone Park Campground remained open through the end of the season, but the availability of refunds for reservations at the Three Bears Lodge remained an issue after the lodge was closed. The closing of the lodge came just weeks before the Warrens Cranberry Festival and the lodge was fully booked for the event.

The Three Bears Lodge includes a 93-room hotel and an indoor waterpark. The Three Bears Resort includes the hotel and Jellystone Park Campground, along with indoor and outdoor water parks, a skatepark and conference center. The campground originally opened in 1972. Van der Molen bought the business in 1989.

Van Der Molen Recreational properties filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago on Nov. 26 and issued a press release stating that the declining economy and its effects on tourism made running the business impossible without restructuring. A buyer is still being sought, and many in the Warrens area continue to feel the effects of the resort’s closing. Several villa owners face the possibility of foreclosure and some have sought rental management for their properties.

The delinquent balance on the 2007 taxes for the resort was $469,882 on Dec. 1. That figure does not include interest that is owed to Monroe County. The county could face a total delinquency of $1,786,238 from the resort by February of 2009, and may have to pick up the tab if the resort is not sold.

Other top stories

Art and religion

Art and religion clashed in the Tomah School District last spring when a Tomah High School art student challenged a classroom policy that banned religious symbols in any artwork submitted for a grade.

In a case that received national attention in conservative media outlets, a student identified in a lawsuit as “A.P.” sued the school district with the help of the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based legal group. The student had included a cross in a landscape drawing with the words “John 3:16 A sign of love” and was given a zero for the assignment. He then received two detentions after ripping the policy in front of the teacher and other students. Before the case was scheduled to be heard by a federal district judge May 1, the district agreed to drop the policy and pay the student’s legal fees.

Cross Country State champ

Tomah High School boys cross country runner Derek Storkel won every race he ran in 2008, including a stunning 12-second victory at the WIAA state cross country meet in Wisconsin Rapids.

Storkel, a senior, took the lead in the first half-mile and wasn’t seriously challenged by any of the 150 runners in the Division 1 field. His time of 15 minutes, 26 seconds, was the 12th-fastest winning time in the 94-year history of the meet. Storkel, who finished 13th at state in 2006 and was second in 2007, became the first Tomah runner to win a state cross country title. He’s the school’s first state champion in any sport since Tyler Laudon won a state wrestling title in 1999.

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