Tag Archives: service organization

Kiwanis International President to Visit WI

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We are very excited about the opportunity to have the International President of Kiwanis visiting the Wisconsin area this year. Every 4 or 5 years the Kiwanis International President visits our District, and this year we are privileged to have the current president, Gunter Gasser visit our District in May.

He will be visiting for two days, May 2nd and 3rd in Milwaukee and Madison. On May 2nd he will be in the Milwaukee area and on May 3rd he will be in the Madison area. The visit on May 3rd is the Official District visit, but Kiwanians are welcome to attend either dinner. Check your calendars and see if you’re available on either of these evenings and maybe we can put an InterClub together.

 

Baseball Complex Seeks Kiwanis Support

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Monday Morning

We had 17 members at Monday’s meeting along with our guest speaker, Ryan Haus. Steve Millin had a “Happy Buck” for the Badgers wins in the NCAA Tournament in Milwaukee on Thursday and Saturday, and Gary Miller for his son still having all four of his teams still in the tournament. Gary Ring made a small correction to the Cheers for Volunteers award event; it’s going to be dinner on May 2nd vs. lunch as originally announced. Cocktails start at 5:30PM  with dinner at 6:30PM and the awards program to follow at the Holiday Inn. Gary Miller announced an InterClub to the Noon Club on Tuesday and was able to get four members to commit to attend. Bonnie Baerwald was the 50/50 Raffle winner and she drew the Ace of Clubs, not a winner. Next week’s drawing will have 27 cards with five pay cards and a pot of at least $331.

Ryan Haus, Lakeside Park Youth Baseball Complex

bildeRyan Haus joined us on Monday morning to talk about an opportunity in our community to build an exciting new multi-use baseball field complex at Lakeside Park.There is a significant need for this project and is being performed with cooperation between FDL Youth Baseball, Fond du Lac School District, Fond du Lac Recreation Department and the City of Fond du Lac. The proposed complex will allow our community to offer new, improved and expanded activities for resident of all ages.

The proposal is to build two new youth baseball fields that will be used primarily by youth baseball players (12 years old and younger). Part of Lakeside Park is being offered by and leased from the City to use for the facility. The facility will be managed by the FDL Recreation Department for scheduling and maintenance. Once the facility is built it will be funded through its use and concessions. The fields will expand the use and improve the beauty of Lakeside Park and will provide a new facility that will offer programs for all ages while being available for use to the public. The proposal includes fields, lights, batting cages, pavilion/shelter, bleachers, playground equipment, etc.

 The projected cost of the entire facility will be about $400,000. It is intended to be built in phases as funds are raised and not to incur any debt for this project. The baseball fields will be first followed by the concession/bathroom building and lastly the lights, almost $100,000 of the total.

Local Firefighter Shares Experiences

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Monday Morning

We had a nice turnout of 17 members at Monday’s meeting along with our guest speaker, Laura Ketelhut from the FDL Fire Department.  Gary Miller announced that we had 20 of our members at last Thursday’s Noon Club’s Grilled Cheese and Chili fundraiser.  Great job everyone that made it.   “Happy Bucks” were offered up by Sharon Kollman for the engagement of her granddaughter, while ice fishing on Green Lake and Glen Treml for the birth of his third grandchild, Brea Catherine on Tuesday, February 11th.  Dave Lefeber was the 50/50 Raffle winner and he drew the Five of Spades, a $5 winner.  Next week’s drawing will have 31 cards with 6 pay cards and a pot of at least $278.

Laura Ketelhut, Fond du Lac Fire Department

Laura knew coming out of high school that she wanted to be a firefighter.  She signed up upon graduation from high school at Fox Valley Technical College knowing that they had a two year waiting list for their firefighter program.  Then she went to MPTC and did her basic studies in anticipation of transferring to FVTC to complete firefighter training.  She graduated from FVTC at age 22 and was fortunate to land a job at the Fond du Lac Fire Department.  She immediately signed up for paramedic training and was sent to an accelerated program in Racine that helped her to get her paramedic’s license in six months vs. the normal year. Laura then returned to Fond du Lac and joined the department’s other paramedics.  She’s been with the department for 11 years and married a fellow firefighter. Laura is stationed at Fire House # 3 which is on Western Ave.  Fond du Lac has two other fire stations, one on South Main and the other on National Avenue.  Laura described the daily routine at the fire station and that they work 24 hour shifts.  It’s nice for her and her husband as they’re on alternating shifts so they don’t need daycare for their children as one or the other is always home.  Laura also told us that the two outlying fire stations have two paramedics and three firefighters on duty at all times while Main Street also has this staffing level plus all of the administrative personnel at Main Street.

In addition to Laura’s firefighter career she also is a world class cook and loves entering cooking contests. Some of her recent cooking competitions have been in 2007 when she was on the Food Network for the Ultimate Recipe Showdown, in 2009 when she was in New York competing as a finalist in the Tabasco Cook and Ladder competition, where her Smokey Chipotle Mac and Cheese took second place. And finally, in 2010 Laura was a contestant in the Coast to Coast Firehouse cook-off on the Live with Regis and Kelly Show.  Her entry in this cook off was her Stuffed Boursin Burger.