ON TO NEW ADVENTURES

     As many of you already know, this past Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, marked the end of my career with the Shawano Leader, after close to 12 years at the newspaper.
     I started at the Leader in 2001 after working at a local television station. Newspapers were always something I enjoyed being a part of and will miss working at one, but I am excited about the new adventure that will begin on Monday in Northern Wisconsin.
     I've covered events while at the Shawano Leader that not many people ever get to cover -- like Green Bay Packers games for example -- and some of those events I still think of quite a bit. I've covered events like presidents visiting the area -- President George W. Bush, President Barack Obama. I've covered numerous fires, accidents, snowstorms. I've covered several Packers events besides games, like the Lambeau Field expansion where they added the atrium, Brett Favre's original retirement from the NFL, the retirement of Reggie White's No. 92 jersey.
     I've done some awesome stories in my years at the Leader, like riding along with a DNR fire ranger for a day. It was supposed to be a slow day, but it turned out to be the busiest day of the fire season for the DNR. I got to capture deer with the DNR, I got to ride along with some Shawano area officers for a story on K9 units, I got to watch fire departments train with full access.
     I've seen a side to fatal accidents and fires that no one ever should see and those will always stick with me.
     It's been a memorable almost 12 years with the paper and I've worked with some great people in the past at the paper. I'm not sure what the future holds for the Shawano Leader, but I wish them the best.
     Here is a look at some of my favorite images over those 12 years and you can see more on my website at http://corydellenbach.wix.com/photo
     

Green Bay Packers cornerback Charles Woodson returns an interception against the Arizona Cardinals.

An employee with Rainbow Valley Rides sets up a children's ride before the start of the Shawano County Fair in 2012.

A young boy drinks from his sippy cup as he watches the Menominee Winter Pow Wow at the Menominee Casino and Resort in early 2012.

Green Bay Packers defender Al Harris (31) runs back an interception while getting blocking help from teammate Charles Woodson (21)

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources officials along with the Stockbridge-Munsee Conservation officers work at removing a bear from the woods between Olga Brener Intermediate School and Shawano Community Middle School.

A young boy watches the rodeo action at the Midwest Rodeo in Manawa in 2010.

Green Bay Packers fullback John Kuhn (30) goes over the top of a Minnesota Vikings defender to score a touchdown in a game in the 2012 season.

The Oconto Falls Fire Department moves its aerial truck closer to a bar fire in the city of Oconto Falls. The bar was a total loss and fire crews from Oconto Falls, Lena and Gillett assisted at the scene.

ENJOY RETIREMENT

     Sitting at home today and watching the retirement ceremony for Green Bay Packers receiver Donald Driver -- a receiver for the team since he was drafted in the seventh round of the NFL Draft in 1999.
     Driver has been one of the most exciting players that I've photographed over my 11 years of covering the Green Bay Packers when I worked for the Shawano Leader. He was an explosive receiver, not afraid to get him and always fun to watch -- especially his celebrations.
    I've seen him get hit and cartwheeled into the air by defenders, I've seen him carted off the field on a stretch after sustaining a neck injury, I've seen him just miss a catch, but he always had that contagious smile on his face.
    There aren't many NFL players out there anymore like Donald Driver who play the game for the love of the support and interact with the fans as much as Driver did.
     My favorite and he most memorable image I got of Driver during my time with the Shawano Leader came in the 2007 season against the New Orleans Saints. I got the photo of Driver hauling in a catch while being defended by cornerback Mike McKenzie. The photo also brought in my first photo award from the Wisconsin Newspaper Association (WNA).
    Good luck to Driver in the future. Here are some of my more memorable images of Driver that I've taken.

WINTER WONDERLAND

     The Shawano area got hit with a pretty good snow storm on Wednesday, dropping about seven inches of snow throughout the day.
     Of course when there is a snowstorm, newspaper photographers are some those insane drivers still roaming the streets looking for images for the paper. It can be fun driving around looking for photos during a snowstorm.
    Why?
    1) You get to test your winter driving habits, stopping fast when you see something to photograph.
    2) You get to laugh at everyone shoveling and snowblowing ... until you realize you get to do it after work.
    3) You get to see the excitement on the kids faces when they slide down the sledding hills as you're snapping away photos
    4) You get to see just really how different everything looks with a coating of snow on it.
    5) When you get back to the office you get to see the great photography by other photojournalists from around the state by checking out their twitter feeds or newspaper websites.
     For the last couple snowstorms I've been trying to find that perfect red barn to get a photo of with snow falling around it. Today, I found that barn and it turns out it was just outside of Shawano. Next, I knew I needed to get some photos of people snowblowing or shoveling. More were snowblowing so that was an easy shot.
    Then I knew that travel was a nightmare during this storm, so I went to a high vantage point and got a few photos of vehicles driving Highway 29 slowly.
    Overall, it was fun day to be out and snapping away photos. I'm sure I'll get doing some more tomorrow, maybe a visit to the sledding hill is in order.
   Here are some of my favorite photos from the day.
    Enjoy!

RACING ALL YEAR LONG

     Racing is a popular sport around this year with the Shawano Speedway and USA International Raceway, so folks get their fill of racing during every season of the year except winter, right?
     Wrong!an
     You see, they even get racing in the winter months around here. On Sunday, the Fire on Ice Auto Racing Club kicked off the 2013 season with its first race of the year on Shawano Lake in Cecil. There is a track set up on the ice about 100 yards from shore and cars, ATVs, motorcycles all take to the icy oval for a few laps.
     Fire on Ice isn't the only ice racing auto club in the area. There's a club located in Tilleda, Marion and Caroline as well.
     These racers are serious about the sport too. Some of have been doing it for over 10 years and work on their cars during the summer and fall months in between their summer racing opportunities.
     Spectators can easily watch the sport in the warmth of their own vehicles while listening to the announcer on a local radio station channel live.
     Here are my favorite photos from Sunday's race.
     Enjoy!

FIRST RESPONDERS

     These last few weeks have been strange. I have been at The Shawano Leader for close to 12 years now -- started in March 2001 as a sports reporter. Just last week I submitted my two-week notice after finding a new opportunity in northern Wisconsin.
     I've had folks contacting me that I have spoken to in a while to say best wishes. I know I'll miss some of what I do, like covering the breaking news. The thing that has has made covering news easy to cover for me has been the relationship I've built with many of our first responders in our area -- from police officers, sheriff's deputies, firefighters, ambulance crews to DNR officials.
     This week reminded me of that. On Friday morning the Bonduel Area Fire Department received a call of a large shed fully engulfed. Thankfully there was no one in the shed, but I knew we needed a daily photo for the paper, so I took a swing out there. I was able to get up to the scene, get some great photos and talk with the fire chief immediately.
     I've known the Bonduel fire chief, Robbie Woldt, my entire 12 years here in Shawano. He was probably the first fire chief I met. Throughout my time here I've learned that you have to respect the emergency responders and they'll let you do your job the way you need to and sometimes they'll even help you out. They want to keep you out of danger and they can't be focused on you when they are trying to put out a fire, free someone from a car or anything of that nature.
    A lot of that stuff I learned from talking to Woldt and our other area first responders. In return, if they ever needed anything, they knew they could come to me, whether it be photos for training for for a photo album, photos for evidence. Sometimes I even just dropped off photos of the firefighters off at the fire houses for no reason at all as a way to say thank you.
    Please respect our first responders and don't forget to say "Thank you" to them every once in a while, they'll appreciate it.