Langlade Hospital’s New LeRoyer Walkway A Stunning Place For Rest, Reflection

The new Langlade Hospital is a very public place, but just a few dozen yards to the north, crews are working on a quiet place designed for rest and reflection.

The LeRoyer Walkway, which was disturbed from its home along Antigo Lake by the construction of the new facility, is being resurrected to the north of the hospital, with winding paths and graceful landscaping that, while not a replica of the original, should prove to be a fine substitution.

Hospital volunteers, along with Sisters Dolores and Adele Demulling and Sister Jean Bricco of the religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph, have been sorting the memorial bricks that were carefully plucked from the old walkway and preparing them for installation along the edges of the new paths. The focus is on keeping family members and groupings together as the donors intended.

When completed, the path will extend to the far longer city of walkway boardwalk and trail, offering hospital visitors an excellent way to get a bit of fresh air and exercise and enjoy nature.

Meanwhile trucks, machinery, men and women are scurrying across the south perimeter of Langlade Hospital and Aspirus General Clinic as the winter season is closing in and the public dedication of the new medical facility looms on Nov. 16.

The program calls for a ribbon cutting to open the activities at 3 p.m. and then a welcome and reflections on the hospital. A bit of history and the role of the major figures in providing health care to the region will follow.

At 4 p.m., a Mass will be celebrated with Rev. Robert F. Morneau, Auxiliary Bishop of Green Bay, officiating in the chapel.

That service will be followed by a blessing of the LeRoyer Memorial Walkway and from 5 to 6:30 p.m., time for fellowship has been set aside at the Three Sisters Cafe in the lobby of the hospital.

The public is urged to attend.

Crews work along the new LeRoyer Walkway north of Langlade Hospital