Welcome everybody to Midday Magazine for this Monday February 24th, 2025.
Have your host James J. Mailoff here. And in part two today, we're going to speak with our
great friends from the Boys and Girls Club at the Wisconsin Rapids area. I will let you both
introduce yourselves and then we'll get going here. Hi, I'm Jessica Hernandez. I formally, well,
I think it's formally. I mean, I kind of get a little offended when people call me Jessica,
but Jess, I'm the elementary director at the Boys and Girls Club here at Wisconsin Rapids.
Excellent. Excellent. And it's nice to meet you, Jess. Thanks for being here.
Thank you for having me. And Katie. And I'm Katie Johnson. I'm the marketing and special events
director at the club. Katie, I thank you for coming back to see you again. Appreciate the time.
And I want to thank you both and the staff and everybody out there all the volunteers and all the
people that do so much great work at the Boys and Girls Club. You're really impacting our future
investment in our future. We greatly appreciate the work that's going on over there.
We're going to dive into some of that right now, Katie, because we've got certainly our
intros out of the way. Now, let's go on with what's going on at the club. Let's dive right into
that if you don't mind. Yeah, there's a lot of events and programs happening at our club this
year and the spring coming up. So the main thing happening right now is that we're planning for our
a toast to great futures. It's one of our biggest fundraiser events of the year. And we're super
excited to get the planning going right now and get the message out there that we're
gearing up for this event. And you know, before we can even get the planning going, we need to
think our sponsors. We have some really great corporate sponsors that help us get this started.
And so I just want to I want to do that quick shout out to Richard's liquor.
Zach does a phenomenal job behind the scenes for us making sure that this event is a success.
And he's really dedicated to our mission as well. Also, we want to thank our corporate club
sponsors of Wood Trust, Bell family, charitable foundation and Salaris and strong bridge wealth
advisors. So through their support, we can start planning and we're hosting a wine, beer,
and spirits tasting event. We'll get into the details of the event, but I do want to just make
a note to all those sponsors out there. Thank them and remind everybody buying local supporting
local and one of the greater ways at you know, marketing 101. You run it. You want to get your
most bang for your buck, attaching yourself to a nonprofit, attaching yourself to events like this.
You just never know who might see it otherwise. And it is one of the greater ways to invest in
your community. It's a true win-win kind of situation for the business and the nonprofit and the
event in these kids. It's a real big note to all those great businesses out there. For those that
may not be familiar with the event Katie, let's go ahead and let's break it down for them and
let them know what to look forward to. All right. So our event is a wine, beer and spirits
tasting event. It's an experience where you can come out to the ridges and have it all
enclosed as sampling of local brews, different wine, variety of different wines and as well,
top-notch vendors for our different spirits and mocktails that we'll be having as well.
So throughout the evening you can come in and get a complimentary glass and choose to explore
the different vendors and taste as well as participate in our raffles and fundraising events there.
We have a wine poll sponsored by Strongbridge as well and that way so everybody can win so
you can participate and get a chance to win the top-notch wine of the night as well as just
appetizers and desserts and just enjoying the evening together. It's an interesting event. It's a
great event and one of the things that I remember the first time talking about this was, well,
this is for the Boys and Girls Club. This is a very adult-centric event. That's an interesting
kind of combination there and everything. But in really working with the Boys and Girls Club more
and talking more about you all and everything, the understanding of how this is an opportunity for
so many adults out there. Maybe your adult and your kids are in school or something but there's
a lot of us. My kids are in their 20s. I haven't really even touched base with the school world
that much and everything. Here's an opportunity to create some empathy. Here's an opportunity to
create some understanding too of what it is like to have a kid in school right now. What it's like
even for kids nowadays. There are so many different factors now than there were 20 years ago or even
five, 10 years ago. The opportunity this gives for the empathy of that and the understanding of
that too is a great part of this event. Well, it's kind of a side story, if you will. It's not the
main headline or anything. I do look for these added bonuses to things all the time and especially
with events like this. Here's one of those added bonuses to this event where I guess people
an opportunity to maybe touch put their foot into that world a little bit more and get rehashed
with a little bit understanding of it. I do think it's very brave and Wisconsin to do an event
based on spirits. Very numb, Joe. I'm joking. It's really again a smart idea of this too. Another
fun part of this and yes, yeah, we all here in the state. We may know a drink, a have a drink,
have our favorite beer, what have you. Here's an opportunity to try some different stuff too.
Maybe sample some different things. Exactly. And like you said, it's a great community event.
Networking with each other. Just a nice night out. Something with a little variety and
an opportunity just to try new things. So it's going to be on Friday, April 11th at the
ridges golf course and banquet facility. And it runs from 7 o'clock till 10 o'clock that night.
Are there still sponsorship opportunities? Can people still be a part of the event if they'd like?
Yes, we're like I said, we're just starting off with our planning. So we have some great
corporate sponsors that we mentioned, but we're also looking for sponsorships. Opportunities
not to be part of the event and help us again, make that connection to our community, to our local
youth. So get all proceeds to this event. It does stay right here in Wisconsin Rapids area
for our Boys and Girls Club kids. So it really supports our mission and we are looking for
local businesses to help support that in different sponsorship opportunities.
Let's dive into that one a little bit more, Katie and Jess, because this event and you touched on
this before, this is one of your, if not your biggest, you know, a fundraiser. Certainly one of
the major ones that you have. And to be fair, Boys and Girls Club is not able to have that many
events. We deal with this. I'm on the board of the family center and it goes on over there too.
We can only have so many events a year. We really got to make them pop. We really got to make them
work and help and benefit the work that you guys are doing over there. Can we dive into
how this event impacts this, what you guys do over there and some of the impact the event has on
the club? Right. So like I mentioned, it goes, you know, all proceeds do go directly to our club
here. And it helps us to continue to serve over 1,300 area youth and teens. And we offer again
after school and before and after school programming, our summer programs. And again, we're can
continue to build our support in the local school districts as well as start new developments in
our programs throughout our different centers. As Jess here has been leading our team through
building up our club to be a trauma informed team. We're also focused on engagement with our teens
as well as recruiting more teens and continuing to build on that social emotional support that
and role models and great positive environment for our youth. Great. Great notes there,
Kate. Thank you for that. Just how has this impacted like spring break, programming,
some of these things, some of the stuff that Katie's talking about there? How has it done for you
from what your perspective, from what you can see? I mean,
really the biggest impact right now, I would say, especially with the time spring break.
Coming up, we have a lot of things planned. So during spring break, we are open from 730 to 530.
So, you know, our youth, our community youth have somewhere to go during that week. So typically
for long extended breaks or no school days, we like to kind of plan our programming around a theme.
So this year, I am going to have spring break kind of themed around like a Hollywood Red
carpet theme. Yeah. That's cool. That's a cool idea. I know, I'm really excited. I like, you know,
looking on Amazon and Pinterest and like, you know, trying to figure out how we can make it like
just, you know, dramatic and, you know, I'm debating on buying like this 50, 50 foot long red carpet,
you know, just because I want the kids to have that, you know, that sense of like,
you know, wow, they did this for us. Yeah. And like, it's fun and it's just, you know, inviting
instead of a couple of posters like, you know, Hollywood, we want the kids to feel like, you know,
the work that we put in and the things that we receive, like the input output, it's for them,
yeah, they deserve it, you know, yeah. So I'm hoping this year with this spring break,
it really makes the impact on the kids as far as, you know, having that sense of belonging
and feeling like, you know, they kind of have fun. Well, it sounds like you're on to something.
You really got something there. It sounds like they are going to have a great one. And we're
able to do things like that because of this event and events like this. It helps fund having
spring break, having some of these programs that we have over the Boys and Girls Club. So,
when you're attending this great event and you're having a good time and you're maybe trying
a different wine you haven't had before or beer or something like that, you can know that you're
also investing in your community. You are literally investing in your community and helping
the greatest resource we have in this world in our kids. I double checked before the interview.
They're still the future, everybody. I did just double check. Just real make sure and everything.
It turns out kids are the future. There is not a better investment we can make. And these
programs too, not only did they have an impact like Jess was speaking to there and everything.
But also, it's not lost. I'm sure on the audience, even if again, you're like,
your kids aren't in school or need daycare. The lack of daycare and some of the lack of some of the
things we have in this community, let alone around the country right now. So, the things that the Boys
and Girls Club are offering are not only fun and interesting for kids. They're vital to our
community. They're incredibly important to our community right now.
Let's dive into that we got to the spring break a little bit. There are some other events
we wanted to keep in mind with the Club 2 Katie. Let's go ahead and touch on some of those.
Right. We've got a great lineup this year. Like I said, getting ready for spring and this great
weather today helps out. But so again, our toast great futures is April 11th. That's our first
event coming up. And then we will have our summer registration. So the open to get ready for
our summer programming. So again, Jess will have a lot to get ready for and planning and she does
a great job. Like she said, getting that focus around our kids and making them feel belong to
our Club. But summer registration is going to open up on April 1st at 8 a.m. And that is all done
online. So that so parents and families can go out to our website to register. And that is
at bgcwa.org. As well as coming up, we have our wonderful golf outing. That's our next big
fundraiser. We partnered with next home partners and Richard's liquor again as our presenting
sponsors, getting that event going for us. But that will be held on Friday, May 16th. And again,
at ridges with a T off time at 3 p.m. So it's a nine hole event. Sponsorship for that is open
as well. We can do a whole sponsorship with with golfers. So a team of four. We're also promoting
that the teams come up with a theme or even dress up and character or have more fun with it. So
we're looking for that event on Friday, May 16th. Other events we have going on. We again, we're
right next to the YMCA. We're community partners. And so we've been in our building at our location
on West Grand now five years. So we open in 2020. Actually this summer will be the grand reopening
or anniversary party that we're going to be having. So it's our five year anniversary picnic
in partnership with the YMCA. And right now we have that scheduled in for June 12th from the afternoon.
We also have then the summer program besides registration happening soon. The summer programming
just to just to get parents and families to know that date because there is a little bit of it
in between time from the time school ends to the time we open. And that's to get our staff
prepared and our club prepared for the the long summer. And as we have kids are all day long.
So summer program will actually start on June 16th.
Excellent. And just the last event right now that we have planned is in partnership with
the cranberry festival this summer, which will be the chalk it up event that we host outside of our
club. Another fun one. And all of these are great. They're exciting. They're fun. The community has
a lot of fun with them. I just want to take a moment to kind of touch on a couple of these real
quick. And we'll certainly have you guys back and talk about more talk about these more when we get
closer to them. And we'll be talking about it on our morning show and encouraging a good turnout
for all of these. The summer registration, that one, if people want to know more about what's
registered, what there is open or what different things they can certainly go into the website,
certainly can find out more details on that. But the golf outing is one that, and I'm not a
golfer, but my little brother is. And he lives in Oshkosh now with his family and everything.
He will reach out to me. I guarantee you a week or two before this. Hey, do you hear anything about
the golf outing? Like it's still something he comes back for. There's so many people in the
community that love this event. The themes that you mentioned there as a big selling point is
a big fun part of this and everything. But one of the things, and I feel like every year after the
event, I have so many from midday magazine that comes in that attended it. And they're raving about
it. And one of the things that they're talking about is how much fun they had and how much they
missed golfing and being out there or that. But the knowing that during all of that, you're also
investing in our community. It's not lost on the people that we're, we're very fortunate in this
area. We got a lot of good people in this area. A lot of people that love to put into their
community. But so many of us, you know, well, how, how do I do that? What can I do? How can I,
sometimes these things can seem so big in such a gigantic problem? How can I do something?
Oh, pick up a golf club. There you go. You just helped out the community just by being a part of
this event and getting out there, getting some sun. I don't know enough about golf to really
reference too many things. But, but I do know that it'll anybody that does it has fun. And there you
go. You had a good time while also investing in the community. The five year anniversary, I can
remember touring the building when it was just being put together. It feels like it was two days
ago. That's incredible. Five years in that building. That's, that's an accomplishment. That's a
good feeling. And I think we're really getting the space, you know, utilizing the space to our
best ability as well. We've continued to develop that space. Again, Jess says our, our Wisconsin
Rapids director, youth director, she has created a Zen zone and and and made that space for our
kids as well as just the type of programming and rotations that she does to keep it entertaining
there. But we also do encourage anybody, you know, if they want to come in and see the club,
we do, you know, we can schedule tours with your group or yourself. We'd love to have people come
in and visit. And a big tip of the hat too of the work that you're doing there, just
all of you are doing. But just mentioning it's been brought up a little bit here about the,
you know, the physical activity and the kids having fun and keeping their minds engaged and ready,
that's a big part of, you know, these programs and what's going on over there. But again,
one of the subjects that I am so encouraged by is the approach to mental health and the focus
on that with our youth. So many of us at our ages at our very different ages here and everything
really didn't have a ton of this growing up. And it's a different world now. And the more we're
approaching that at a younger age, the better these kids are going to be off when they're ancient
like me in their 40s and stuff. They're that much better off. They're that much more. We're making
the idea of having making a better future. It seems almost black and white in some ways. Oh,
we invest in this. We help kids with education in this. They're going to go off and they have
careers and all that. But we lost sight a little bit of the other aspect of that and the mental
health part of this. And now we're getting better about it. We're talking about this in a raised
voice. We're approaching the topic. Now the real heavy lifting gets done. And it begins a lot of
it with our kids and in focusing on that and caring about that, asking the simplest of questions
of how your day was and truly listening, not just waiting for us to tell how your day was or
something. So much of the work that you guys are doing is at that ground level. I really admire
that. I really appreciate it. I think it's one of the better investments of all the things
we're talking about that goes into these programs and goes into what our future of these kids.
Yeah. Good work, Jess. Good work. Thank you. Thank you. Let's wrap up and just mention the
details one more time about a toast to great futures. Katie, if you don't mind, let's get into
the details of when people can mark this on their calendars and also be a part of it as far as
sponsors go. Yeah. So again, it's going to be held on Friday, April 11th, our toast great
futures event, wine and beer tasting. And it will be at the ridges from seven o'clock till 10 o'clock
that night. It's a Friday night to sign up for sponsorship or learn more about the event.
You can definitely reach out to myself, Katie Johnson at the Boys and Girls Club. You can contact
me by email at kjohnson at bgcwra.org or my number is 715 818 6126. We're getting right through
our website. We have that information out there, which is bgcwra.org. Again, that's a great fun
night. We're looking for sponsorship. There's the list of the different levels of sponsorship
sponsorship are on our website as well. We do have a Facebook event page for it and event page.
So specifically to this event is it's separate from our current club Facebook. So the Facebook
it's facebook.com slash a toast to great futures. And do want to remind everybody that we can always
use more hands on deck whether it's this event or other events coming up. You can always use
volunteers with different things and certainly even everyday things that are going on over the
Boys and Girls Club. It's a great opportunity especially for people out there looking for ways
to impact their community, help out in their community. Here's a great one for you right here
and you get to work with these great people. Yeah, you can't go wrong. It's a great building too
by the way. I encourage you to do that. And if you want to do that or possibly donate, Katie just
send it into the website. Is that kind of the best way to get a hold of you guys? Yeah, definitely
for volunteer. We have a volunteer application online as well. And then we'll work with our member
membership coordinator and kind of go through the next steps so we can always call into the club
or look at the information online. And if you want to find out more because we've only scratched
the surface about things going on over the Boys and Girls Club everybody. If you want to find out
more, encourage you again to go to that website. Look under their program info or getting involved.
They have some great tabs and it's a fantastic website by the way. I really do love the website.
I find out more about that at bgcwa.org bgcwa.org and be sure to follow them on social media.
It's a great way to keep up the date and everything they're doing over there and share those posts
on your page. You just never know who might see them that wouldn't otherwise. Appreciate the time
you two and everything you're putting in the community. Thank you. Thank you. We will have more
midday magazine coming up for you throughout the week. And keep in mind this was just a start of
a great week of midday magazine. Tomorrow at four we will welcome in our friends from the heart
of Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce and in part two the family center Wednesday. We'll have woodconey
board chairman Lance Plymo with us along with Wisconsin rabbits community media and in part two
the ODC Thursday our friends family really family natural foods will be with us along with UW
extensions to Janelle Weir and we'll wrap up the week in part one with the 80 RC and in part two
Wisconsin rabbits public schools Ron Rasmussen going to be joining us. It's going to be a great
week of shows a big decade of Pam Hilkin the amazing scheduling she does week in a week out.
Stick around we got more coming up right here at WFHR locally grown radio.