Kennel Club of Fort Atkinson celebrates 30th anniversary

By Kim McDarison

Acknowledged with an informal gathering at the Fort Atkinson Club Community Center Thursday, the Kennel Club of Fort Atkinson celebrated its 30th anniversary. The club officially formed in 1992. 

Club treasurer and longtime member Mabel Schumacher noted Tuesday that the gathering was intended to thank the club’s longtime supporters. 

“It was to thank our supporters for staying with us and being so true, even through the (COVID-19) pandemic,” Schumacher said. 

Begun as a mechanism used by three women — Patty Beran, Marleen LaPlant and Rita Hasel — to prepare their dogs for shows, the institution, which incorporated in 1993 and applied for tax exempt status in 2009, soon morphed into a charitable organization dedicated to educating the public about dogs, while working to enhance the animals’ well-being and promoting responsible dog ownership that would better the community, according to a written history supplied by the club.  

The group also provides training, including “Puppy Kindergarten,” which promotes steps toward healthy and responsible pet ownership while fostering the human-animal bond. 

Today, the Kennel Club of Fort Atkinson is involved in a number of community-oriented events, including a variety of therapy dog activities, the Fort Atkinson holiday and Gemuetlichkeit Days parades, Photos with Santa, community dog walks and the Furry Friends 5K Run/Walk, held in conjunction with the Humane Society of Jefferson County. 

Educational activities, past and present, include: forming a team obedience group to participate in the World of Dogs Exhibit at the Wisconsin State Fair, as well as sponsoring training opportunities to demonstrate the proper methods and techniques for raising healthy, well-behaved dogs, and seminars featuring speakers who are experts in fields of interest to dog owners. 

The group has participated in such actives as Safety City, to introduce dog safety principles to children, and hosts its own Responsible Dog Ownership Days to promote a community-wide overview of dog-related activities, health issues and information regarding pet selection. 

The club also offered its support to the creation of the Jefferson County Dog Park, which, a history of the club notes, is “deemed one of the top ten dog parks in the nation.”  

K-9 Veterans Day 

Additionally, led by Schumacher, the group has been instrumental in the formation and continued observance of K-9 Veterans Day, a statewide tradition since 2015. That’s when three state legislators — Sen. Steve Nass, then-Rep. Andy Jorgensen and Rep. Cody Horlacher — spearheaded a legislative effort to officially recognize the observance throughout the state. 

With the support of the three legislators, a history of the club states, the Wisconsin Assembly unanimously passed Assembly Joint Resolution 4, making the proclamation official in March 2015. 

The club sponsored Wisconsin’s inaugural K-9 Veterans Day ceremony on March 13, 2015, and has held an observance ceremony annually on March 13 ever since. The observance brings K-9 teams from across the state, as well as national speakers and participants, who share stories about heroic deeds performed by teams and are recognized and honored, along with dogs and handlers in the audience, for their service. 

The observance honors military working dogs, fallen working K-9s, their handlers, and the history of the K-9 Veterans Day effort. 

A K-9 Veterans Day flag was introduced on March 13, 2015. 

The Kennel Club of Fort Atkinson also was the driving force behind a K-9 Veterans War Dog Memorial placed in Fort Atkinson’s McCoy Park. 

The monument features granite panels engraved with the likenesses of fallen K-9 team members Marine Corps Lance Corporal Terry Beck and his German Shepherd scout dog, “Seato,” both of whom were killed in action in 1967 during the Vietnam War. A second component of the monument is a bronze statue of a working dog created by Fort Atkinson sculptor Mark Dziewior. 

The monument was dedicated June 25, 2017. 

A story about the most recent K-9 Veterans Day celebration is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/k-9-veterans-day-celebrated-at-american-legion-banquet-center/. 

Monuments and memorials 

Additionally, the club has worked to install several public works throughout the community. Among them is the Marie Heinke Rainbow Bridge Memorial, a canine/human drinking fountain situated along the Glacial River Trail, and “Puppy Serenade,” also a canine/human drinking fountain created in honor of the club’s three founding members — Beran, LaPlant and Hasel — and their respective dogs, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever “Cody,” Dalmatian “Dottee” and Scottish Terrier “Scarlett.”  The fountain, which features a bronze statue of the founders’ dogs, also is the work of Dziewior. 

A story about the Puppy Serenade installation in here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/kennel-club-to-unveil-puppies-statue-in-rock-river-park/. 

Some 16 days after the fountain was dedicated in July of last year, LaPlant died, succumbing to what was described in commentary published by Fort Atkinson Online as “a long illness.” She was in attendance for the dedication. 

Commentary about the fountain and club founders in here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/off-the-record-kennel-club-co-founder-marleen-laplant-remembered/. 

The club also worked in conjunction with the Fort Atkinson Parks and Recreation Department to place a memorial fountain along the Glacial River Trail at Eighth Street. Components of the public rest stop include a drinking fountain, bronze puppy statue and a picnic table donated by the city. A bench at the site was donated by the Northey family in memory of its members Harold and Shirley. 

Displaced by fire 

Also included within its history is a list of the locations from where the club operated. Among them is the former Thomas Industries Building, 701 Oak Street. 

In August of 2021, the site became infamously known as the “Oak Street fire” building. The 60,000-square-foot north side of the more than 300,000-square-foot building was lost in a five-alarm fire that burned for several days and was battled by at least 48 agencies responding from across the state. The building’s north side was used as a transit warehouse. A cause of the fire was deemed undetermined, with Fort Atkinson Fire Chief Daryl Rausch then noting: “I’ve been in contact with the state fire marshal and I can tell you from experience this will most likely go down as an undetermined fire because the building is a complete loss and collapsed, and it is unlikely that we will ever prove definitively what the cause was.” 

The 250,000-square-foot south side, used as a small business incubator and where the kennel club rented a training and records storage space, was saved from the flames, but suffered some water and smoke damage. After the fire, the club opted to search for new space. 

A story about the fire is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/d-b-oaks-buildings-north-side-is-total-loss-south-side-saved/.

The club has since been utilizing training space made available through the Humane Society of Jefferson County and the Celtic K9 Academy in Fort Atkinson. Locations for various club activities are listed on its website, Schumacher said. 

The training solutions have been very appreciated and are temporary while the club continues to look for a permanent home, she added. 

A story about the club’s continued search for a new permanent location is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/fort-kennel-club-in-search-of-new-home/.

COVID-19, Terry Beck scholarship announcement

In March of 2021, in her capacity as chairperson of the annual K-9 Veterans Day statewide observance, which, traditionally is held at the Paul Frank Florine Post 166’s American Legion Dugout, Fort Atkinson, Schumacher made the decision to observe COVID-19 precautionary protocols. Instead of honoring K-9 teams with an in-person ceremony, she opted to make a video in honor of the event. 

She lamented at the time that she would miss seeing the handlers and dogs and handing out their treats, made annually each year for both man and dog by Bon Ton Bakery in Jefferson. 

Within the video, Schumacher announced the inception of a fundraising campaign to help form the Marine Terry Beck Protective Services Scholarship in memory of the Fort Atkinson High School alumnus who lost his life in Vietnam. 

Commenting about the scholarship during the videotaped observance, Schumacher said that the Fort Atkinson High School scholarship coordinator said that between two and five Fort Atkinson High School graduates typically enter the field of protective services annually. 

“This scholarship will satisfy an unfilled niche for these students in addition to acknowledging Terry Beck’s passion to protect and serve his country and its citizens,” Schumacher later remarked in a press release shared with the media.  

A story about the videotaped 2020 K-9 Veterans Day observance, the scholarship and details about Beck’s life is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/k-9-veterans-day-observed-terry-beck-scholarship-announced/. 

During the Fort Atkinson High School Senior Scholarship Ceremony held in May, graduating senior Mason Marowsky was named the first recipient of the scholarship, receiving $1,000 from the scholarship fund. In May, Marowsky announced his plans to study fire protection at Blackhawk Technical College.

To learn more about the club, its projects and training classes,  visit: http://www.kcfadogs.org. 

A slide show shared during the anniversary celebration about the club’s history is here: http://fortatkinsononline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/30th-Anniversary-Memories.pdf.