Visit Rapids – Wisconsin Rapids Area Sports Commission Awards – November ‘25

Hello world, welcome to WFHR's Rapid Support for this Friday November 14th, 2025.

Have your host James here, and thank you to Croc, except to give it this opportunity

to talk to some of our favorite locals, like we're going to do today.

And I want to send a big shout out to Meredith and the gang over the visit with Wisconsin

Rapid's Bureau, who set this interview up.

We can talk to our friend Dave Kahnz, Wisconsin Rapid Sports Commission, Dave, how you been?

I'm great.

Thanks for having me today.

Appreciate the time, as always Dave, and thank you again for joining us.

And I was just telling Dave in our pre-game here and everything.

This event is one of our favorites.

It's become more and more of a signature event in our community.

It also sneaks up on me from time to time.

I was prepping for it.

I'm like, oh, yeah, it's that time of year again.

And it's another time it's going to be over at Bullseye.

Yeah, well, the a banquet award that we have is to honor our best sports people here in Wisconsin

Rapids.

And the award celebration is something that I look forward to every year.

And it is something that we're trying to make Wisconsin Rapids a destination for sports.

And trying to honor the fine people that we have in this organization because there are

some really great sports that have been developed over the years with not only people that

are presently trying to put things together, but we have a lot of history here in Wisconsin

Rapids.

And that's what we'd like to bring out every year.

I think perspective is really important in life, Dave.

And one of the things that I try to do with this show, and I'm able to do with the

co-host, the guests we have, all of that, is kind of give people an opportunity to take

a step back sometimes.

There is a lot of our communities in Wisconsin that have been hit hard and some of that because

of the loss of a mill or something along those lines, the paper industry and that.

All right, we see our area that could have a very similar effect and not making light

of anything that we have felt from that.

But we have not felt it as heavy as some communities, major part because of the sports that we

have in this area.

Not only do we have river kings and rafters, but we have a new sports complex.

We have different other things that we're doing and bringing to this area.

Our location is very, you know, very attractive to different events and everything.

This is one of the few things we can count on on an economic level in this day and age.

And all of that said, our area has been a celebrated sports for a very long time.

It's having local minor, minor league baseball teams in this area, the wrestling in this area.

Like it makes sense to have something like this and for us to bring attention to this area

and sports wise and it being a hub.

Yeah.

Well, it's funny you mentioned that because it, you know, like right now at the football

field, we're going to have part of the state conference playoffs and the team eight is

going to be there with teams that aren't even related to Wisconsin Rapids, but because

we have the facilities, though we're going to be offering that as one of the teams.

And the other thing that we might want to mention too is that we're in the process right now

of developing a survey for a sports, sports complex or sports venue here in Wisconsin Rapids.

And we're looking at the possibility of potentially offering facilities that we can,

kids can play your round.

So it's, it's, it's in the process right now.

Can't say too much about it, but I know that we have folks here that are looking at our

venues, looking at our placement, looking at the kinds of teams that we have and we'll

give us some concrete numbers once it's all over to be able to move forward and to say,

hey, look, Wisconsin Rapids truly is a sports destination.

And because the loss of the mill, you know, there's real opportunity for us to continue

with this adventure in the sports area.

And for me, I'm thinking, you know, if we have the venues, we can start providing with

hotel spaces and those types of things, companies are going to see, hey, wait, there's a lot of

people that are involved and a lot of great parents, maybe we should bring some industry to go along

with it. So it's, it's a win or it's a gamble, but it could be a win, win for everybody.

Well, and even on the, in the gamble part of it, you're bringing people from out of town

to town that are going to use our restaurants, going to stay at those hotels you mentioned,

a lot of those things, a little lonely, added impact of what you're saying there and where

it could go from that. It's, it, again, it's also one of the few undivisive things.

As silly as it might say to say, you know, because it's crazy as we could be a sports fan

to everything, sports is sports, like it's just sports and it brings people together and

brings a lot of people together. Sometimes it wouldn't be in the same room together.

We need more of that in life in society, stranger sitting next to strangers and having a good

time. There's so many of these things. It makes me excited about this award show and being

able to highlight in some of our great locals that are really at the forefront of a lot of this.

Well, I don't know people aware of it, but we just held the State Cross Country Meet.

You know, they were, they were black and off city streets and all of these kids were coming.

And they're, again, you know, what the parents are staying overnight and unfortunately,

right now, though, we don't have the hotel base. So that's something that needs to be

worked on and try to develop that concept. So if we're going to continue to,

to bring these people, bring the teams, bring the sports to Wisconsin Rapids.

And our central location is key to a lot of that. Yeah.

I've been being the head coach of the crackings. I guess maybe I just kind of threw that in there.

You know, the biggest sports venues are on the lake. You know, it's it's Ashwabanan. It is

Racine. It's Milwaukee. All have the big venues and we all have to travel to them.

And if we had something here in central Wisconsin, it might be something that

to your point, I didn't even mention. I was rambling about our river kings, our rafters,

and some of those things that I didn't even mention. The world's biggest water ski show turn,

right? It takes place here every summer. It's speaking of sporting events that bring people

to town here and everything. But that's how many of them we have that I forgot one. We've got

a lot of different things and it makes sense to have that, you know, awards to kind of highlight

some of this. I feel that we've kind of gotten into the mission and talked about that a little bit

of what the council does here and everything. Can we talk a little bit about the awards itself

and the criteria for them? Then we'll get into the event, the dates of it and how people can get

tickets and attend. Well, absolutely. I joined the sports commission as part of the awards committee

last year and we had a wonderful group of people and we decided that maybe we need to expand

this a little bit. So each year it was just the MVP, most valuable participant, but then when

we looked at the vastness of the people in this community, we decided to, hey, maybe we need some

more recognitions. So from the MVP, we also went on to having the rookie of the year, which is

honoring that outstanding leadership in the sports industry to show exception and talent

dedicated within their first two years of participating. The other one that we did too was the

longtime achievement award. There are so many people in the background in this city that, you know,

have been forgotten and names that, you know, the soccer industry is very big in town and it has

its roots back into the Milwaukee, Milwaukee area and the German possibility of that piece

where people from Milwaukee came to Wisconsin Rapids and say, hey, let's do soccer. So the

Lifetime Achievement Award is to try to honor individuals that have been around for 20 years

and have had a significant contribution to our sports industry here in the Wisconsin Rapids area.

Everybody's familiar, probably with an MVP is honoring coaches, leaders, managers,

and support volunteers that have been within the area for about three years and have demonstrated

excellent leadership, dedication, and contribution to the sports industry.

You know, you mentioned the, thank you for that Dave, perfectly done. When it comes to the

the people that kind of forgotten people, the people behind the scenes sometimes, I think often

of referees, of umpires, a lot of that, especially when it comes to local sports because they don't go

on without them and more times than not, the only time we mentioned these individuals as when

we're yelling or something like that. I think that all these categories and the people that are

nominated, the people that win are very similar to this, where every one of them, no matter how much

we might talk about them, probably do a lot more than we even realize. You know, we may have

coach of the crackings or coach of this, but then you find out, well, Dave's also on the commission,

Dave does this. I mean, you're a perfect example of this. There's plenty of others out there,

very similar to where most of us wear many hats, you know, and it's nice to be able to note that

and note these individuals. Now it's time to certainly get the nominees, right? We're collecting

nominees now. So how can people recommend people? Well, there is a website that the the sports

commission has and that's part of our visitors bureau. So you're going to be looking to go to the

Wisconsin, well, visitors with rapids.com. And then you want to tab under the RSA's

SC dash awards and that'll take you directly to the page. And then on that page, then you'll see

the categories of the individuals that you'll be wanting to look for. So each category has for

these three. And then there's a nomination form that you should fill out. Now we've got a lot of

nominations forms right now, but the one thing that people are not providing us with is a picture.

It's great for you to tell us about this person, but we would kind of like to have a picture

because when we start to putting our nominations together and the information, I mean, we don't know

who Bill looks like. So as we're talking about it, you know, I nominated last year Bob Galletto

for the Lifetime Achievement Award. And he won. And we had all kinds of sports stuff available

for him and his pictures. And you know, it was great to have him honored at that banquet. So

really adds to this to be able to have those photos. So you got to complete the form and that's

one of the criteria that we have is that if you don't complete the form, you know, we'll try to

chase the down the best we can, but you know, do yourself a favor and really do your research on

the person that you're submitting. And then give us a simple photo and you know, and then we can

complete the process. And then I'm most guarantee as Dave was doing a great job giving us the

descriptions and the awards themselves and everything. We're all thinking of people and thinking

of individuals. You know, I wouldn't imagine that you have to write a novel, you know, certainly just

a couple of lines called a paragraph or two. We'll certainly probably cover it. And yes, please

include those pictures, everybody. Now the event itself, Dave, let's talk about that when it's

going on and how people can get tickets for it. Well, the event is going to be held Wednesday,

January 14th. And it's going to be held at the Bullseye Golf Course. Let me look up here. We've got

the address to that. We want to make sure that we have all the 28, 2800 Ridgewood Trail. There

you go. I got your back, Dave. I only say that because I'm new to the area. Sure, sure.

And some people say, well, it's going to be at the Bullseye. Well, it's where is it? Yeah,

I don't know exactly what you mean. Yeah, it's, it happened to be in my family too.

Google Maps is pretty good. I can just say get me to the Bullseye. Sure. And then I find my way.

So you have a beautiful spot. The events are going to start at around five o'clock with

open bar and the, the, our derives will be, will be served. We're looking to get $15 if you

register at advance and you can get that registration by emailing the visitors,

with the visitors board here at Wisconsin Rapids. Yes. And then there'll be links that you can

actually pay up ahead of time or $25 at the door. The years that I've been going, most of the time

everybody's just happy to pay at the door and really have a lot of, because every once in a while,

you don't know if you're going to get a babysitter or things happen. You don't want to put that

money out there ahead of time. So you know, and it's a great, great activity. And I've been,

I've been there a couple of times now. And it's, and it's really great for seeing everybody

catching up with a lot of people from the community that you haven't seen before.

And we're going to serve like a, a heavy or derives type thing. So it's, you know, it's a,

a buffet line. Yeah. So, yeah. You know, help yourself to what we got. I love events like that,

by the way. Yeah. dinners are nice. But I like an event where I could, I'm a scavenger. I like

that. Yeah. I've gone back a couple of times in the line. Yeah. But just a couple of quick things

day before we let you go here. One, I did want to send a shout out to Bullseye. We appreciate

them. They host so many of these events. They do such an amazing job. Their team, their staff

over there. Such a beautiful location. You can have a glass of water out there and have a good

time. Bullseye is a great spot. And when it comes to people submitting nominees, mention the photo

and, you know, how long of a thing you need there. I'm curious. Dave, can you nominate somebody

who's already been nominated or won before? You can. You can. Because if they haven't been picked

for the particular award, you can certainly nominate them again.

And, you know, I don't want to keep you too long, Dave. So I'll just do this more off air

and everything. We just need to get that category for best, you know, sports and commentator

in the area. We need to get that category. Best radio sports commentator more specifically.

No, I still would win. It'd be, it'd be ready or Michael that would win. But I do appreciate

you, Dave. Well, you could certainly come and be our MC for the evening. You know, and if you

can't make it right there at the five o'clock, we probably won't be doing these awards types things

until around seven. So you can still, even if you got something else you got to do and you want

to show up a little bit later, we'll still have that. Now, last year, what we did is we let the

winners know ahead of time. And I just didn't think that we got the turnout like we did. So right

now we're going to keep everything under the hat. Okay. We are going to go out and once we've

made our choices and of the nominees, we'll let everybody know that they've been nominated.

And we're hoping that they're going to come and bring their posse along. Yeah, yeah. And be part of

this celebration. I think that's a great way to do it. And everybody, everybody will get a chance

to spend a little time and tell us about themselves and tell us about the sports and how you've grown

in Wisconsin Rapids and how Wisconsin Rapids has grown around you. And then we'll make our

awards at that point. Say there's three nominees for MVP. In years past, you certainly get

to put the spotlight on that one individual and their actions and what they do. Here you get a

chance to mention all of these. And in this way, you know, regardless of who wins, we're getting more

attention and more notoriety to these individuals. It's a really cool idea. I like that. And as you

said, my big turnout and everything certainly helps everybody keep doing the great work that they're

doing over there at the Rapid Sports Commission. Dave, appreciate the time so much. If people

follow up questions, want to know more about any of this? For one, we will put a link in our

Lord does a great job of this. We'll have a link in the email, the podcast here about where

you can go to vote and get your nominations in. Is that the same place to go if you have questions

or want to reach out to you guys at all? Oh, you bet. Again, just a reminder that entries are

due on December 5th of this year. And January 14th will be the banquet. Maybe I didn't say the year

because it will be 2026 is the is the date for that. We are going to wrap with it. So we got we're

okay there. But yeah, I wouldn't have thought of it either. That's a great note. FG is 2026

already. And again, as Dave mentioned, those nominations, you want to get it them in by Friday,

December 5th, everybody. You can go to visitwistrapids.com to find that list to find where you enter your

nominations. We will have a link in the podcast here for you and cannot wait for this event, Dave.

This is going to be a good one. And thank you so much for joining us again. Oh, you're welcome.

Thanks for having me. Well, thank you, everybody, for joining us for another edition of WFHR's

Rapids Report.