Fort Foundation celebrates 50 years of giving

By Chris Spangler

From scholarships to building projects and pretty much everything in between, the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation has been improving residents’ quality of life for a half-century.

The organization celebrated its 50th anniversary with a gathering Tuesday evening at Riverstone.

Sue Hartwick, executive director of the foundation, welcomed guests and thanked all who helped make it, as well as the foundation itself, happen.

Among them was PremierBank, which provides the foundation with back-office support, processing deposits, cutting checks and balancing its accounts.

“Their assistance seems only fitting as 50 years ago, it was the leadership at PremierBank that helped Mrs. Mary Hoard turn her idea of giving a gift to a future Fort Atkinson into the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation,” Hartwick said.

She also mentioned the late Jim Vance, who drew up the original legal documents for the foundation and then served on its board for the next 47 years as secretary and legal counsel.

Also speaking was Sue Johnson, who has served on the board for five years and is its 2023 chairperson.

She introduced her fellow board members — Sally Koehler, Jim Schulenburg and Bonnie Geyer. Director Lisa Caras was unable to attend.

In addition, she had past board members stand.

“Thank you for taking the time to serve our community, for your careful stewardship of the foundation and especially for your wise and always kind-hearted discussions around the boardroom table,” Johnson said. “We are grateful for your service.”

She saluted the dedication of Hartwick and Kaylee Kidd, foundation marketing and communications assistant, as well.

“I’d also like to acknowledge two other groups critical to the foundation’s success,” Johnson continued. “First, our donors, the lifeblood of our organization. 

“To those who came before us and left lasting legacy gifts — to Mrs. Mary Hoard, who will be forever making Fort Atkinson better; to Walter and Louise Buell, with their generous estate gift that continues to churn out scholarships to our best and brightest; to mother-and-daughter team Bertha and Marilyn Kuhl, whose fund, among other projects, has helped build every single playground in our community, including the one that went up last week at Luther (Elementary) School — we again say thank you for investing in our future.”

She also applauded all current donors.

“Whether you’ve opened an endowed a fund with us or donated to a fund doing the good work you support, you provide the fuel for our operations. Thank you for your trust and for your support. Your gifts, your generosity, your vision for a better Fort Atkinson is what moves us forward,” Johnson said.

However, to continue to move forward, the foundation also needs a destination, she pointed out.

“We need project champions — people and organizations who are invested in our community and have a vision for how to make it better and, most importantly, are willing to put in the work to make their ideas happen,” Johnson said.

She cited Jude Hartwick, president of the Fort Atkinson Beautification Council, which just was awarded two grants for its upcoming cow parade and mural projects, as well as Steve Mode, the catalyst for the timberframe warming shelter at Haumerson’s Pond.

“And people who aren’t here tonight, like Joan Jones, whose sheer tenacity turned a decrepit building into the beautifully restored Fort Atkinson Club, and Laura Becker, who turned the very personal sorrow of losing a child into a playground for small children at Jones Park,” the foundation board chairperson added.

She described the community foundation as a structure to facilitate philanthropy in the community. 

“However, without donors putting the money in and project champions giving us a reason to send it out, we are powerless,” Johnson said. “But when both sides of the equation get fired up, it’s amazing what we can do!”

Past projects

Hartwick reported that during the past 50 years, working close and in good-faith partnerships with the city of Fort Atkinson, School District of Fort Atkinson and the nonprofit community, the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation has invested more than $24 million back into the community and its residents.

“We’ve done that while growing our assets from an initial $25,000 gift to $35 million. It’s a remarkable feat and it speaks volumes about the unique generosity of this community,” she said.

She listed several project categories:

• City of Fort Atkinson.

“You can see the impact of this generosity by just driving around our city,” Hartwick said. “The quality of the Hoard (Historical) Museum and the Dwight Foster Public Library — recipients of our two largest grants at $1.8 million and $1.5 million, respectively — makes them unlike any amenities in other similar-sized cities.  As is our habit, these were matching grants, meaning the museum and library staff and volunteers had to be really committed to the task, and they were.”

In addition, the foundation has awarded grants for many other city projects, including the riverwalk, Glacial River Recreation Trail, Fort Atkinson Aquatic Center, Wheels Park, Jones Park amenities and many playgrounds.

“We have worked closely with the city on so many projects over the years and have always been impressed with the commitment of city staff to make our community better,” Hartwick said.

• School District of Fort Atkinson.

Another critical partnership is that with the school district, she reported.

“Whether bigger projects like the high school auditorium or smaller

department-sized ones like lathes and mills for the tech-ed department or kitchen equipment for the ProStart Culinary Program, the foundation has been happy to partner with the school district to add value to our schools,” Hartwick noted.

She pointed out that thanks to the fund creators in attendance — Ed Karrels, Jim Fitzpatrick, Mabel Schumacher, the McHenrys and the Wallace family — and many others, the foundation was able to award a record $424,600 in scholarships to 80 local students pursuing post-high school education.

• Fort Atkinson Area Chamber of Commerce’s Project LEAD.

Hartwick said the chamber of commerce’s leadership program has spearheaded many community projects supported by the foundation.

“Whether the annual class went big for a veterans memorial or big and

practical for Barrie Park bathrooms or smaller and practical for energy-efficient LED streetlights, the chamber’s Project LEAD projects have always added value to our community,” she stated.

• The nonprofit community.

Hartwick added that many grants go out in response to requests from local nonprofit organizations such as the Fort Atkinson Food Pantry, Fort HealthCare, the BASE after-school program and Fort Atkinson Club community center, to name just a few.

“Recently, we funded two projects brought to us by the Rock River Community Clinic to help with developing electronic medical records and purchasing X-ray sensors for their dental clinic,” she said. “They do such critical work serving our uninsured and underinsured friends and neighbors …”

• People with an Idea.

“And then there are the fun little grants that get made because someone had a good idea and cared enough to make it happen,” Hartwick said.

Like Johnson, she mentioned Mode and Haumerson’s Pond and Becker and the Jones Park playground.

“To that, I would add Donna Fox, who a couple of years ago noticed the tennis courts needed an upgrade and called us to ask how she could make that happen, and a group of six disc golfers who donated to our Park and Recreation Fund so the Park and Recreation Department could improve the disc golf course with new concrete tee pads,” Hartwick said. “We love good ideas and are always willing to hear how we could be better.”

The executive director said that it is thanks to all of these groups that the foundation has been able to have such a positive impact on the community.

Looking ahead

Johnson returned to the microphone to look ahead at what the foundation’s next 50 years will bring.

She mentioned the foundation’s new website and creation of the Bur Oak Legacy Society.

“Members of the Bur Oak Legacy Society are those people who have made provisions in their estate plans to provide a gift to the community foundation in support of an organization or a cause they care about, ensuring that our work toward a better Fort Atkinson will be ongoing,” Johnson explained.

She said that planned giving helps people support charitable causes they care about while making the most advantageous financial decisions for them and their family.

Named for the deep community roots of the long-lived bur oak trees throughout Fort Atkinson, the legacy society’s first four members were the late Ted and Marilyn Batterman, Doug and Marianna Dexter, John G. Slater and Jim and Lee Vance.

Those interested in pledging their support more immediately may contact Hartwick at (920) 563-3210 or facf@fortfoundation.org.

In addition, the BASE Community Building Fund, Classroom Teacher Wish Fund, Dwight Foster Library Fund, Fort Atkinson Club Community Fund, Fort Atkinson Food Pantry Fund, Fort Atkinson Historical Society Fund, Friends of Haumerson’s Pond Fund, Friends of McCoy Park Fund, Hoard Curtis Scout Camp Fund and the Lorine Niedecker Fund, among others, remain available as avenues through which donors may support the community.  

A full list of funds is available at fortfoundation.org/funds. 

Guest speaker

Guest speaker for the foundation’s 50th anniversary celebration was Ed Karrels, a 1992 Fort Atkinson High School graduate who earned a computer science degree at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and then went on to become the 56th employees at Google.

“Ed has been extremely generous to his hometown. Some years ago, he made a large gift to the computer science department at Fort High School so that teacher Dean Johnson and his students could create a wonderful computer lab,” Johnson said in her introduction. “ At the same time, Ed established a scholarship fund with us to provide scholarships encouraging students to give the field of computer science a try. 

“That fund has been generating scholarships since 2011, including the nine Ed Karrels AP Computer Science Scholarships we awarded just last week after hearing from AP Computer Science teacher Tyler Sarbacker  that all nine of his students who took the AP test passed the exam and earned the scholarship,” she added.

Johnson said that Karrels also has supported many other projects through the foundation, such as the Fort Wheels Park.

A story featuring Karrels’ address is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/ed-karrels-from-google-to-philanthropist/. 

Half-century of history

The foundation’s roots go back to the early 1970s, when Mary (Cunningham) Hoard wanted to make a monetary gift that would benefit the community well into the future. She worked with her nephew, Mark (Bud) Kerschensteiner, and officers at First National Bank, now PremierBank, to create the community foundation.

Hoard gave a then-anonymous $25,000 in seed money for the foundation, which was established on July 5, 1973, with the signing of the organization’s Declaration of Trust.

“Early concerns that we stay a public, and not a private foundation, led her to limit her initial gift, and the foundation board worked very hard early on to solicit lots of small gifts from the public to keep us on the right side of the IRS,” according to a Facebook post by the foundation. “Upon Mrs. Hoard’s death in 1998, she left a large gift to our Mary Hoard Fund – a fund that over the years has provided millions of dollars in grants to our museum, library, parks, schools and so much more.

“Mary was a gracious, thoughtful and generous lady and we think she would be very proud of what the foundation has been able to do for our community.”

Charter members of the board of directors were Allan Haukom, Milo Jones, Kerschensteiner, Milt Lorman and Robert Martin.

According to the foundation, one of its first grants was given to the Black Hawk Pageant Committee.

“In early 1975, Crawford Thayer asked the foundation for a contribution toward the purchase of bleachers to be put inside the fort replica for the hundreds of people who came to watch the Black Hawk Pageant every year. The foundation responded with a $100 grant to assist with the purchase,” the foundation reported. Titled “Black Hawk!,” the outdoor pageant at Rock River Park was written by William Starke and presented numerous years during Fort Fest. In 1971, Thayer was asked to direct the first pageant at the then-newly constructed replica of Fort Coshconong (later spelled Koshkonong).

“The historical drama was a huge undertaking and an even bigger success,” the foundation posted. “Already interested in history and surprised by the pageant’s enthusiastic audience, Thayer decided to compile his own history of the 1832 conflict.” A New England native, Thayer had earned a master’s degree in English literature from Yale University and came to Wisconsin in 1949 to take a position at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Two years later, he joined the advertising department at James Manufacturing Co in Fort Atkinson, where he worked for 30 years before retiring in 1981 to devote his full attention to researching and writing a three-volume history of the Black Hawk War of 1832. 

“In 1975, the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation awarded its first scholarship — a $150 Ormay Mason Freye Nursing Scholarship, created by Jerry and Tom Mason in memory of their mother, Ormay Freye, who was a registered nurse,” the foundation wrote. “The next year, the foundation added a generic Fort Atkinson Community Foundation Scholarship for graduating high school seniors and the foundation’s scholarship program was born.”

The initial committee reviewing applications consisted of high school principal Glenn Lepley, school counselor Orrin Bull and foundation director Milt Lorman. 

In 1977, the foundation awarded a total of $850 in scholarships: a $550 Fort Atkinson Community Foundation Scholarship and a $300 Freye Nursing Scholarship. In 2022, that award total had risen to $415,450.

Since 1973, the foundation has distributed more than $23.5 million in grants and scholarships. Its volunteer five-member board manages assets worth more than $33 million.