River Valley School Fair

On our morning show today, we're going to put the spotlight on Greater Richland Area Cancer Elimination.

We have a couple of guests in here from the board.

Eileen Stevens is here, Rose Burkholz as well.

We'll talk about some year-end things for Grace because the year actually ended on August 31st.

Eileen, as you look back on it, certainly it was a successful year again, wasn't it?

Good morning, Phil.

Yes, it was a very successful year.

I mean, we're just kind of chatting here before we got on about

We're $380,000 and last year I believe our total was around $411,000 and we had the $80,000 from the Polar Plunge plus the car raffle and we're at $411,000.

So again, $380,000 without the extra bells and whistles.

I mean, that's fabulous.

We had a great year.

Nothing to sneeze at.

And then the new year begins.

And in fact, I know the Sandy Reets golf tournament is Saturday.

So, you know, we're getting right back on the horse again.

Yes.

Yes.

Teams.

I mean, there's teams that fundraise year round.

And, you know, so they've got their event out at Quail Run.

I ran into Rod the other day.

Of course, they have the raffles going on.

So, I mean, it's open to the public.

You don't have to have a golf team to go in there.

And

and participate.

In fact, I think he mentioned he had one spot open, so maybe it's filled by now.

That was yesterday, but yeah, go on out to Quail Run, support them on Saturday, put your bids in or buy your bucket raffle tickets.

I know they got stuff going on.

You don't have to golf.

That's for sure.

Don't have to golf to have a good time and help the cause.

Right.

Rose, I know we wanted to check with you about your year and reveal a little bit with, with client services and some of the services provided by grace.

Yeah.

Um,

In the past fiscal year, which was September through August, we had about 90 applications total, not all first timers.

We had, I think, 61st time and then 22nd time, 6th, 3rd time and 4th and 3 4th time applications.

And that's a rough estimate.

I'm not positive on the exact numbers.

But our expenditures went up quite a bit.

from year to year.

We had a budget of $238,000 plus for services.

And what we'd spent was about $175,000 of that.

So it was an increase of what we spent over the last year, the year before that, with about the same amount of people being served, the amount of applications being served.

So in the 24-25, we spent

We used 138,800 of our budget, and this year we spent 175,000, so we increased our usage by almost $37,000 for the same amount of people.

And I'm seeing a lot of, you can imagine what the expenditures are if you look at cost of transportation.

So the gas and the transportation, I call it, and that's usually when somebody gives a person a ride like a company like ADRC, that we paid them to, or we reimbursed them.

And so the gas and ADRC, the previous fiscal year, we did $35,000 for that.

This year, the expense went to $47,000.

So we increased $12,000 just in helping support

transportation to get people to and from appointments.

And that's one thing I've seen a lot of is we have a lot of calls coming in every week for quick trip cards that people really need the gas money.

And every time they call, they're apologetic for it.

They say, I'm really sorry, but I need more cards for gas.

It's not your fault.

I mean, you got to go to your appointments.

And the price of gas has just gotten out of hand.

All of us know it's quite an expense.

And then, of course, the groceries went up.

They went up almost

$14,000 using Walmart cart.

Well, I call them groceries, but it's a Walmart cart.

And that usage went up about $14,000 over the previous year.

So everything is going up on the heat.

When I say heat, I'm talking about using fuel, you know, having Premier come out and fill up your tanks, whatever.

And that went up $4,300 from the previous year.

So those are the ones that we're really seeing the big increase in are the gas, the groceries, and the heat, the fuel for the heat.

Everything's going up.

I can't say anything's really gone down.

Everything has gone up.

But that's what I'm really seeing is the gas, the groceries, and the heating expenses.

So the applications are staying a pretty level.

But for the same amount of people that we had, our increase in payments is going up, our benefits is going up.

So we still have room to grow.

There was $62,000 in this year's budget that we were under.

So we didn't spend $62,000 of what was allocated for benefits.

So we still have room to grow there.

So don't think you can't apply because we have the money there if you need it.

And people come in and need things all the time.

And we try to do what we can to help them.

Sure.

Hopefully gas will go back down.

It seems like groceries never do, you know, so, but you spent, I should say you gave out as much, almost as much gas as groceries.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Groceries was like $49,000 in gas.

Like I said, for the gas cards themselves and to like ADRC, I'm just using them as an example.

Um, other people that provide transportation, that was 47,000.

So that was the big chunk of our budget that we used went to gas and groceries, Walmart type things that you need for everyday living.

So,

We don't tell them what they can and cannot use at Walmart except for no tobacco, no alcohol.

But otherwise, they can use it at Walmart as they need.

Some use it for their prescriptions.

If they get their meds there, they'll use their Walmart cards to help pay for their prescriptions.

If you get your car fixed there, some use their Walmart card to get their cars fixed or put tires on their car, whatever you need done at Walmart for car service.

So that's, I think,

part of that went up due to that also is that you can use it in other places, but it's still something that you need for living.

You need your car, you need your prescriptions.

So,

yeah.

And a job.

And

a job going to and from work.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

And it's amazing how many people and they say, well, I'm going to work right now and I'm thinking you're at work and then you're going to go, I'm just amazed at the amount of how they do things.

It's like, yeah, well.

I go to work, then I'm gonna go to treatment, then I'm gonna, okay, good for you.

They persevere,

don't they?

They do, they do, they do persevere.

The annual meeting is coming up, Eileen, maybe we could talk about that.

Yes, it is, it's coming up fast.

It's Thursday, October 15th, and it will be back at the Phoenix Center this year, and Grace will be providing, we're just gonna do like light snacks and water, so we're going to encourage people to get there between five and six o'clock, and

They can place their own order.

They can buy their own foods off the menu.

We highly encourage them to do that to support the Phoenix Center for graciously hosting us for the event this year.

And the program is going to begin at six o'clock.

From my understanding, that's when the presentations will start taking place.

But we want people there between five and six to enjoy some snacks.

I'm not sure it's going to be a bucket raffle silent auction.

I'm thinking a bucket raffle.

and some stuff going on, so you want to get there, check that stuff out, get your tickets, see what's there for that, so they want to bring some cash for that.

We do take Venmo for the tickets as well.

The representative from UW-Carbone in Madison, I know June is working hard on that to get the representatives here and talking to different people to be here.

So, but as always, we'll have a representative from UW-Carbon and Madison coming out.

We'll have a representative from Gunderson Amplify on the cross to come out.

And that's the night that they'll accept their checks that we give them each year towards research.

As you know, 25% is split equally between the two entities.

And what they use that for is

like startup for research funding, because they have to have those little breakthroughs and show the work they've done before they can get some of those bigger grants, the millions that are out there for grants.

So they have to have those feeder funds, and that's what they use ours for.

And they're so great at coming out, and they tell us exactly what they did with their funds in the past year.

So last year, we gave each of them, I think it was $52,000 to each entity.

They will tell us, this is what we did with your money.

Here's what we learned in the last year.

And then, of course, I don't know what the amount is this year.

We will give them their checks for the next year.

But they're very grateful for the research funds that we're able to give them.

And then also, I think June is going to be reaching out to the Richmond Hospital.

We had a representative from there last year talking about what services we provided and how it helped them.

And this year, too, we'll reach out to Boscobel, Gunderson Amplify and Boscobel, because we did have some grant money going to them as well this year for some items that they needed for prevention.

Good.

So, big nine coming up on Thursday, October 15th.

You guys will be busy because the night before, you are going to officially, well, you're award winners, but you're going to be officially recognized on Wednesday, October 14th.

Tell us about the gratefully Gunderson honor that Grace will be getting.

Yes, gratefully, Gundersen.

We were nominated as the 2026 Outstanding Philanthropic Organization.

I probably messed that up.

I can never say that word.

But we'll be recognized the night before the annual meeting up in La Crosse.

So this event is put on by the Gundersen Medical Foundation, and it's the purposes to honor outstanding medical leaders.

community members, and philanthropic benefactors who have made lasting contributions to the health system.

And I took that right from their website.

So that's where I got that.

So I was thrilled, really, when I got the call.

I was actually down in Bosquebell, spreading the word about grace.

It was before our walk.

And so getting the word out to some of the businesses down there and talking to them about how they can participate and donate, stuff like that.

When I received a call from Olive up at the Medical Foundation,

And she asked if we would be willing that we were nominated for the award, and if we would accept that nomination.

Well, of course, I told her in a heartbeat, yes.

I said, however, that's not my call.

I have to take it back to the board of directors.

So we set up a Teams or Zoom meeting so she could present it to the board as to exactly what it was.

We did that.

We discussed it as the board.

And obviously, we all agreed that, yes, we will certainly

Accept this recognition for the 20 plus years that grace has been working and giving to the Gunderson Foundation and You know in the past 22 years or 20 over 23 years now We're just shy of one million dollars to Gunderson, which of course would be the same to UW-Carbone But that they use in cancer research and that that not only helps those in our service area But really that's worldwide impact when you have cancer breakthroughs that it's small but mighty is the way I look at it so

Gundersen Medical Marketing Team, they actually came to Richland Center and they did a interview, sit down interviews with Rob and Joanne and myself, but that myself wasn't supposed to be part of that.

I told them I'd give them a few words, but it's kind of one of those things where you look back, you know, that classic parental adage of wear clean underwear just in case, you know, that basically your parents telling you indirectly to look presentable and be ready for anything.

but I was up at the office working on auction stuff and I wasn't supposed to be part of that, but then we had a literally last minute cancellation.

But I tried to make it as personal as I could for the office.

I dug out some of the

pictures we had of the past ambassadors, and I put them on the table and lined them up.

One of the team members from Mighty Ducks painted a picture and donated it to the office, so I grabbed that off our office wall, took it back in the interview room, so I made it as personal as we could for the interview process.

And so Rob and Joanne talked with them about kind of how Grace started, how it evolved, and they were going to provide some pictures too of some of the

the early meetings of the get together so yes so coming up on the fourteenth we go up there to lacrosse to accept that that nomination to accept the award they will show the video that they put together and then after that they told us that they will give us a link so then we'll be able to share it on the facebook page and for others to see but it's really an honor to be recognized for

And that's everybody.

That's not just the grace board.

That is everybody who's had anything to do with grace over the last 23 plus years.

It's for everybody.

Everybody had a part in that.

Either you gave 50 cents or 50,000, it makes a difference.

They'll get to critique yourself when you watch the video then, right?

Yeah.

Something

like that.

But representatives from there and from Carbone and Madison were at this year's walk.

They've done the last couple of years, but I believe from what I saw, they were pretty impressed.

They were very impressed.

UW was there last year, I mean the year before and this past year.

Gunderson came out this year and they gave us permission that night.

Anybody that was at the walk, that's when we were able to announce that we were receiving this award.

So that was kind of exciting.

on a rainy gloomy night to have such great, great information to share with everybody.

But yes, they were very impressed with what the service area does to pull this off every year.

Hannah Fry, you introduced her to us during the last year of Grace, and maybe you could talk about her, and she continues on with her research as well,

right?

Yes, she does, and it kind of ties in nicely.

I think one of the last words Rose was talking about was how impressed she was with

People are calling her, say, well, I'm at work right now, then I'm going to go to treatment, and then I have to come and pick up these cards.

And exactly what Hannah Fry is working on.

So you did interview Hannah Fry a few months ago.

She was referred to us by Gildus Club of Wisconsin.

And Hannah's a researcher at the UW.

And she's continuing her research project.

And she learned how strong the Greater Richinaria Cancer Elimination Program is.

that we pull in surrounding townships and we just pull it all together.

And so she wanted to reach out to us.

She's still looking to talk with adults in the rural area who have experienced cancer or had to or maybe currently are having to navigate work while living in a rural community with some of those.

those barriers are.

So getting back to work or staying at work during or after cancer treatments, that's especially challenging for people living in the rural areas.

So the UW Madison researchers, they're partnering with the rural cancer survivors to improve a job support program.

What can be done to help support rural communities who are dealing with cancer?

people that have to, they have to keep working.

They got to keep the farm operating.

It's not necessarily that they have to drive to work.

They've got a business.

They've got a farm.

They've got whatever that they've got to keep going while they're working, cancer treatments, family.

So she wants to do one-on-one interviews.

She was hoping at first to do a group setting here, but

It never worked out for everybody.

So we're like, okay, let's try this different.

So she wants to do the one-on-one interviews where the individuals can share their experiences.

They can share their challenges with her, whether they're currently dealing with it or did in the past.

Ideas for improving support for rural cancer survivors.

She'll schedule the interviews one-on-one.

It can be in person.

It can be by team or Zoom, however you want to do it.

And each qualified participant that she talks with, they will be eligible to receive a $75 stipend for part of the research grant, thanking them for their time in helping her out with her research.

And people do not have to be part of GRACE.

They do not have to have contacted us for services.

Absolutely not anybody dealing with cancer anywhere.

They can be in mineral point outside our service area.

She's looking for the rural area.

people to talk to.

And she did have, actually, one of our ambassadors did reach out with her and talk with her one-on-one.

Hannah was so impressed with the insight she got by talking with an individual one by one instead of in a group setting.

So she wants to get more of that.

And the struggles of living in rural communities while dealing with cancer, working, running a household, raising a family, she wants to hear the stories.

and how the researchers can help build a stronger support system.

So anybody out there, whether it's yourself, a neighbor, a family member, they don't need to be in our service area or have received our services, but reach out to Hannah.

She's the lead researcher on the project.

Her direct number is 608-571-4817, or her email, super simple.

Again, her name is Hannah Fry, so her email is H.

fry at wisc.edu.

You can call the grace office.

We can get you that that number and contact information.

But yes, reach out to her because it's, you know,

They're trying to make a difference in rural Wisconsin.

Sometimes people are intimidated when they hear the word interview.

But I presume she's just going to meet and take notes, right?

Right.

It's just ask questions.

Tell us your experience.

It's not an interview that's going to be publicized or anything like that.

It's just a one-on-one conversation is tell us, how did you do this?

Like Rose said, they're calling from work and they're going here and they have to go to treatment and tell Hannah that.

How do you make it work?

Yeah, wonderful thing.

Rose, we'll go back to you for a little bit.

We wanted to go over some of the numbers and applications through the last year.

How did it look?

Were application requests up?

Basically, what I tried to compare to what was in the annual report last year, and that was only for eight months.

And I think that's because why I just kind of started taking that position.

I didn't really have all the paperwork for the whole year.

So if you look at the first eight months, excuse me,

from January to August of 25 and then January to August of 26.

The applications were really not that different.

There was just a difference of a few applications in that amount of time.

So the applications haven't really gone up, but I think the need of the people who are applying has probably gone up.

I did notice, I just did some more work today on some of the

stuff I didn't have quite done yet and actually last year in the past 12 months we did not receive one application from Iowa County and I don't know how to get the word out to Iowa County but the areas that we serve in Iowa County are very rural you know it's the townships of Pulaski, Clyde and Wyoming.

There's really no villages certainly no cities so it's very rural and trying to get

Word out to them, you know as to how to get ahold of us what we can do to help them So we're still trying to break through in Iowa County to try to get more of those Crawford County has gone up and again, that's also again those townships are very rural again, no big villages or big village, but you know, there's no large population Area, it's all farmland mostly farmland

So that's where it is.

It's all spread out.

So it's not a condensed area like you have Richland Center or Lone Rock, LaValle, LaFarge.

We have smaller places where the population is going to be a little denser.

They just don't have that there.

So yes, we do expect the.

usage to go be lower in those areas, but we still want them to contact us if they need us in those areas.

Iowa County cell has the Iowa County Cancer Coalition, I believe.

Yes, they do.

So there

could be some cross over

there.

And then I'll get, sometimes I will get calls from people who are in Iowa County and don't not in our service area.

And that's where I'll refer them back to us.

You know, make sure you talk with the Iowa County Coalition.

We try to go each way, you know, that we send people to Iowa County Coalition, Iowa County Coalition will tell them to call us.

We're also reaching out.

I've noticed in the past year the Dean SSM Health, yeah, I think it used to be Dean.

I've been getting more referrals coming in from them.

And so when I call back and talk to them, they say, hey, we really appreciate what you're doing.

We're just hearing about you.

We didn't even know you existed.

And so now SSM Health is also

leading people our way and most of those I find come from the Bosqueville area down into Grant County because that's probably just their way into Madison that they probably move in that that direction.

So I get more of that from Grant County and maybe even Sought County that SSM Health is now referring people to us.

I had one person call and when I talked to him I said how did you hear about Grace and whatnot and he said SSM Health referred me to you.

So we are getting out there into the

other clinics besides UW and Gundersen, but we want to keep going out there.

So we just keep kind of pushing around to see who can help us and to help the people who need the support.

The percentage of denials aren't very many.

I

mean, so basically if you apply and you're within the area, you've got a pretty good chance, right?

You had a pretty good chance.

Um, I think one thing I got to look at a little closer is, you know, and we, I try to set up policy, but you don't just set up policy on day one.

You know, you have to kind of do that over a long period of time.

And one thing I think we, I have to define and I'm going to need somebody with, um, you know, current medical license or practicing that to help, you know, what exactly defines

active cancer.

What's the current active cancer diagnosis?

And there's several things that can go into that, but I guess we're trying to probably stay away from somebody who is diagnosed with skin cancer 10 years ago.

Yes, they have a cancer diagnosis, but do they really need grace?

Maybe they do, but where do I draw the line?

And so that's where I'm kind of looking for some help, trying to figure out do we go further into restricting what people

which people are eligible or not.

I really don't want to get into that because I'm not qualified to make that call and nobody in our office is qualified to make that call.

So we're just going a lot on people's good word and then we do have to call the physician back.

So if they send us a, their release that says, yes, this person has cancer, we still have to call that physician's office and verify that information because as we all sadly know,

There is fraud, and we just don't want to be caught in that.

So we do want to make sure that we do have to verify that they do have an active diagnosis.

And I have not had any problems for the most part, getting a response from the clinics.

Because I don't ask them for information.

I just say, do they have an active cancer diagnosis for which they are receiving treatment?

Yes or no?

And then they'll say yes, or no, whatever.

And they said,

I said, this is what they have written down on the paper that they have.

And they said, yes, that is correct.

That's all I ask.

We don't ask anything else at all.

We don't ask what treatment they're getting.

We just say, are they an active cancer patient receiving some sort of treatment for their cancer?

So we don't go into details.

And none of that information is given out to anyone either.

So it's all kept pretty much in our office.

A lot of responsibility there rose.

Is it rewarding work?

It is it is It's hard sometimes when the people come in and they're when they're first diagnosed I know that's very hard for them and You kind of let them lead the way what?

How do they want to do?

They just want to say here's the papers.

Let me know when it's approved That's fine.

That that's all they need to do I don't want them to have to come in and give me their story That's none of my business what their story is if they want to tell me that's fine

But yeah, it's hard sometimes when they come in and they think they're just going to come in and drop off those papers and they just break down.

It's like, I don't know.

But then they say, they're so grateful.

You hear from a few weeks later, four months later, when they've kind of got their heads around it and they're dealing with life in general.

And they say, this has just been a godsend to me.

I don't know how I would have paid this.

I had somebody come in when I was in the office on this week and say, can you help me buy a furnace?

Yeah, I can give you money.

So I said, we may not be able to buy the whole furnace.

It depends on what funds you have left.

How much have you spent?

How much do you have left?

And we can put what you have left of your funds toward a furnace if that's how you want to spend your money.

So it's up to them.

But yeah, we have a lot of different things.

But yeah, it's rewarding when you are able to actually help somebody.

I mean, if you need a furnace, you need a furnace.

You know, it's not something you can do without in Wisconsin.

So yeah, it's rewarding to see it.

And a lot of the people are, not all of them, not most of them, all of them are very grateful for what we do.

So I haven't had a complaint yet.

We need volunteers though, right?

We could use some more help as always, right, Aileen?

Yes, we can always use volunteers.

You hear a lot of people say, let me know how I can help.

Let me know how I can help.

There's numerous ways.

And I always tell our board members and our committee chairs, our team captains, we should always be grooming somebody to replace ourselves, because you don't want to burn out.

And change is good.

Having new blood is good.

That brings in new ideas.

You've got to attract the younger generation.

So some of what we've done in the past, such as the walk, that's the heart and the soul of the foundation of who we are.

that'll always be the core of grace.

I mean, I truly believe that will always be what grace built on around that walk.

And even if you look at the walk, that's changed over the last 25 years compared to how it started to where it is now.

And I think now is the time to we need to massage it again, draw the interest of the younger generation.

And, you know, I can attest grace is strong.

It's working towards growing even stronger in the next couple of years.

I mean, we've got our 25th year coming up here.

just, you know, 12 months from now, that's what we're talking.

We're all in our 25th year and 12 months from now.

So we have, you know, people who are interested in being on the board, we do have a board member, board positions open.

One thing we have done in the last couple of years is we've incorporated term limits into our bylaws.

And, you know, so we're always looking, we're always filtering new people onto the board.

And that's,

you've got to take a break.

You've got to take a break, step back, refresh a year or two, and then come back if you still wish to be on the board.

There's just so many ways to volunteer.

You don't have to be on the board to volunteer.

There's a lot of things that can be doing year round.

If you like helping, there's teams that fundraise year round.

events going on that even if you're not on the team, maybe you can help out at the walk or the golf or the bowling, they always need volunteers.

And especially when it leads up to the auction, the annual event, lots of volunteers are needed.

So if you're interested, let us know.

Well, absolutely.

What's the best way to contact someone then?

They can contact the general line, which is 608-604.

8255 or they can email us all one big word grace local cancer at gmail.com or google just google walk with grace rich in center you'll find our contact information

I thought it was a successful year, you know, and some people were, well, you know, there, the numbers were down at the walk.

We got to take into account there was a rain.

Some people stayed away.

There were a lot of people in the community building and that kind of thing.

But you also have to understand how much money we made and the, and there's more symbolism in the walk than actual making money that night.

Exactly.

Yes.

There's just, it's so neat to walk around and, you know, look at the luminaries, just look at the work done with them.

The people that do them, you can just say, oh, that was a little kid that did that, or some organizations will do them.

And you've got the team tents, and each team tent has something different going on.

They might have a silly little game going on, they might have some fresh baked goods, their free will donation.

There's a lot of camaraderie going on, and they said, people just give from their hearts.

You look at the baked,

the bucket raffle and the silent auction.

And you can just see people just give.

Some give a lot, some give a little.

It all makes a difference.

The food vendors, they seem to love it.

And even in the rain, you know, there were still lines of people waiting to get some of that.

There's just something about food truck food.

It's great.

Yes, there were lines.

I noticed that.

And that was good news.

Anything else you would like to add here this morning to our

morning show?

I just say, you know, Grace,

It's such an amazing organization.

I mentioned that the night of the walk.

It started out with cumulative conversations that started out, and then you get talking, and then it's like, hey, yeah, but what if?

What if?

That's how grace started on a what if we take this next step.

And there's many, many players, many participants.

You know, you always take it, you know, compare it to the basketball game where you've got the player that takes the shot and gets all the glory.

They can take all the glory or they can say, hey, you made the difference.

You set up the shot.

You sent me the pass.

You, it all, it took all the players to make that great shot, not just that group.

And I think that's what you see with Grace is it started as a small group, but you look at the thousands of Grace team members over the 25 years.

I mean, thousands.

over 25 years.

The numerous businesses, all of that makes grace what it is today.

I mean, it's just, it's fabulous.

We're built on a strong foundation.

And like Babe Ruth said, yesterday's home run isn't going to win today's game.

So we always have to be looking forward and always building.

And I just, you know, we want grace here for years to come.

Any of us can get a cancer diagnosis any day.

And we want grace to be here.

We want grace to be strong.

Absolutely.

Makes our community special, right?

Rose, anything else you want to

add?

No, just make sure that you contact us if you do have a cancer diagnosis and need help.

Don't be afraid to call us.

Don't think that we're going to look down and you say, oh, they need help.

Everybody needs help.

Some people don't use their benefits.

Some people use all of them.

I don't care which one you are.

And nobody else is going to know who gets benefits.

Eileen has no idea who I give benefits to.

So it's in my office is the only place where that information is.

It's not even in the office next to me.

So feel free to come and come in and just ask if you have a question.

Now, I said we are located above the Royal Bank.

And when I do say above, it is above.

There's 30 steps you have to go up, but even if you can't make those, we can talk on the phone.

I have delivered stuff down to the street to people that cannot make the steps.

So yeah, make sure that you contact us if you even think you need us and we can talk to you and see what you want.

Thanks for what you do, ladies.

Okay.

All right.

Thank you very

much.

Congratulations on another great year for grace.

And again, keep in mind the annual meeting is coming up Thursday, October 15th.

They'd love to see you for that event at the Phoenix center in Richland center five to six o'clock hour and the program begins at six.

Our data spotlight grace today on the morning show greater Richland area cancer elimination.

We have made a quick trip to the River Valley School Fair.

It is the annual event that's been going on since 1963.

Welcome to the River Valley School grounds.

I am Phil Knee.

It's a flutter of activity.

In fact, if we don't look out, we might get run over here.

The show is underway right now and lots of people in the stands watching it.

A little bit of a crisp and cool day.

Hank Bray is

here as well.

How you doing, Hank?

Good morning, Phillip.

How are you doing?

Made it here on time?

Well, for us, we did.

Well, yeah.

The key

thing is to get here before, after all the work is done, and then you can

kind of stand around.

We're kind of like blisters, Phillip.

Always show up when the work done.

But no, what an exciting time here.

It's going to be another exciting day here.

You can see they're already working in the ring.

They're pretty much everywhere you can see.

And we have the rabbits, so we have the, I'm always a little bit leery of the poultry after my early childhood trauma.

There's even a, looks like a camel.

It's hump day!

Looks like there's two of them, Phillip.

We're going to have to go get a ride if we can.

That is pretty awesome.

And of course all of the activities, the entries in the gymnasium here as well at the intermediate school.

So we will be up for some reports for you coming up here along the way from WRCO radio on a great day to be a River Valley Black Hawk.

People are enjoying the fair and we're going to be telling you more about it coming up here with more reports from WRCO and WRCO.com.

Sherry Grafunder is our guest from the River Valley School Fairgrounds.

It's a center of activity here.

Hank and I, well, we're lazy, but we feel lazy because everybody else has got something to do here today, Sherry.

Yes we have been here since 4 a.m.

and then some more came at 4 30 working the dark getting this all set up for people today to be here.

Wayans happened earlier this year just so that we had a chance to get around construction and more so that's the fun part about where we're placed here in the valley but thankful that everybody's coming out and we're getting to see the camaraderie and it's an awesome day today so cool weather great camaraderie happening and a lot of people stepping up to help.

And the animal show is going on right now.

Can you give us an idea of the numbers we're looking at today?

Yes, so we want to thank Bree Gaffney for coming over to judge our animals today as far as the livestock show goes.

We have 10 beef showing, 14 goats, 42 swine, 14 dairy cattle.

We have nine rabbits here, 20 poultry exhibits, four exotics, eight cats, and then the horse show has just started.

So we are working our way on getting things going.

Wonderful.

I think Henry wants to buy a cat.

Are they for sale or not?

Oh, you can't take the cats home.

They're all attached.

Yeah, tell us about the camel.

That caught our eye the first thing here today.

So we brought in Haven's petting zoo.

So River Valley FFA alumni and Wix buildings donate money to have us have the petting zoo here for the students and we get to choose on the exotic animal of choice.

So I turned around to my eighth grade class and I said camel or zebra?

So that's how we got the camel here today is that my fourth hour egg teacher egg students got to vote and that's what they wanted So I hope you all come out to see those camels that you wanted to see earlier

Awesome, so the schedule of events when's the sale gonna be and some other things going on here today people should know

so today we have Registration at 10 30 to 11 30 auction starts at noon so we encourage you to bid often and Support these students because they're all doing awesome work.

Sounds good.

Sherry gruffinger

joining us in this report from the River Valley School Fair.

Lily Spahn is here.

Great to see you, Lily.

I want to start out by saying what a great job you did on the National Anthem last

night.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And then later on, you found out that you were homecoming queen.

How exciting was that?

I did.

It was a really big shock.

I was really excited.

Instantly went to tears.

It was just, it was a really great moment.

Awesome.

Well, I know you're involved in so many things here.

Can you kind of give us a breakdown of everything you've got going this fall?

Right now I'm in the cross-country season.

I just joined this year.

It's my first year.

I'm involved in an FFA.

I've got musical.

I'm in the chamber choir.

I'm just kind of all over the place in the high school.

I'm in student council, just everywhere, honestly.

Tell me about the role you landed for the musical.

Um, I got one of the supporting leads.

I got Mama Morton, which is like this girl who runs the jail because we're doing Chicago.

I don't know if you heard about that, but Chicago, so that'll be really fun.

I'm excited.

And what about FFA?

What do you got going this weekend for FFA?

Um, I'm just here helping out.

I'm not doing too much right now because I'm not an officer, but I am helping a lot for FFA and I also go to like the state competition for a couple of different things.

So that'll be fun when it gets to that point.

Do you remember as a youngster running around here the day of the River Valley school fair?

I do.

It was so much fun.

I remember getting like the t-shirts and going on the scavenger hunts around the school and it's so crazy to think that I'm like the oldest people here now as a senior in high school.

That is incredible.

What would you like to be doing this time next year?

I'm not really sure.

I want to go to college.

I'm thinking about a four-year college somewhere in state and hopefully I can get a degree somewhere around.

and homecoming uh... festivities as a queen now what are what are your duties other than rain over the dance tomorrow night i guess right

um... i've got to i'll be in the back of the parade today um... i'm just kind of hanging around i don't know there's not too much special about being homecoming queen i just get a pretty crown

and you're not going to sing for us

today

Probably not.

We'll

have to go back and find the tape from last night of your national anthem.

It was wonderful.

Thank you, Lily.

Congratulations.

Lily Spahn joining us from the River Valley School Fair.

We're here with Brinkley Esslinger, a student advisor here at the River Valley School Fair.

Well, tell us about what some of your duties are today, Brinkley.

Mostly set up, but

I help out with the showing of pigs, dairy, beef, and the small poultry, like the chickens.

How long have you been here today?

Since six.

So I actually don't know what time it is.

So since six.

So goes the day.

That's right.

Are you showing any animals or anything today?

No, not today.

What is the significance of the corsage that you're wearing?

It's like all the officers wear them.

It's like basically like kind of royalty thing.

Oh, okay.

Well, that's cool.

How long have you been in FFA?

I've been in FFA since my freshman year.

So I'm not a, now I'm a junior.

So I, this is my first year being an officer, but I've been in FFA since freshman year.

Tell me about some other things you're involved in here at River Valley during the school year.

I shoot trap in the fall in spring, play volleyball in the fall, and then club volleyball in the winter.

and just a lot of like other academic things, I guess.

Seems like you're staying pretty busy.

What's your favorite part of the fair here today?

Um, I'd say probably watching the younger kids show the like pigs and cows.

I think it's really cute when they're like three years old.

Right.

Do you remember as a youngster and what you thought about it when you came to the fair?

Was it kind of magical?

I, I mean, yeah, I guess it was probably, I don't really remember much of it, but.

What would you like to be doing after your school days are done here at River Valley?

I'm not really sure yet.

I'd like to go to UW Madison, probably study animal nutrition or like sonography, neonatal sonography.

Wonderful.

Nice to talk with you.

Good luck.

Enjoy the rest of the fair.

Yeah, thank you.

You bet.

Joining us here, student advisor Brink Lassingler on WRC or Radio's coverage of the River Valley School Fair, 2026.

We have Max Theroux joining us and also the football players.

Kayden Price is here, right?

Is right.

Kayden, how you doing today?

Good.

How about you?

Good.

Are you ready for the game tonight?

I feel like the whole team's ready for tonight.

Good deal.

What's been the favorite game here so far of the year with football?

Favorite game, I'd say, is probably going to be tonight.

But I'd say Dodgeville was one of our better games.

One of the ones that everyone kind of liked the most.

But I feel like tonight we're going to set a new.

new win for the best game that we like.

What is football doing here today instead of, you know, resting up for the game?

You got some other duties today at the fair?

Yeah, we got a couple of football players that got to show animals.

We were just in games.

We got a couple of guys coaching the girls' football team.

And then we got some people that got to get some community service hours for school.

So I think everyone's just kind of cranking those out.

Awesome.

What

are some other things you're involved in here at River Valley

Schools?

Only really in football.

I help up with FFA every once in a while, but I'm not really a part of FFA, just football team, mainly.

Well, Max is here as well.

Max, what about the crutches here?

What happened to you, man?

The game against PDC is making a tackle, and my knee just popped.

And then I was on the ground.

I've got you circled as a starter tonight, but I'm probably going to have to erase that, it sounds like.

Yeah, I was a starter, but now I'm hurt.

Yeah.

What's the prognosis for the rest of the year?

I have

to wait for an MRI next week, hopefully, or talk to my doctor and get everything situated.

Sure.

Well, that's not good to hear.

You're going to be more of a coach here tonight as well, right?

Yeah.

I'm going to be a coach, help the football team, try to get a

win.

So if you're a coach, what are you going to tell the guys?

What do they have to do for a good game tonight against Platteville?

Just have to lock in, keep stuff, keep your head up.

Don't worry about the guy across from you.

We're a team.

We're a loving team.

You guys have such an awesome field here.

How cool is it to run out on the field, the turf field, Kaden, when you get out there for the game?

It's definitely exhilarating.

It's a new feeling.

It's not as it used to be, but it's definitely one that you can't imitate or anything like that.

What are some of the things, Max, that you're involved in here during the River Valley School Fair Day?

I'm just doing a walking around, helping people find ways.

I might go back coach football.

But that should be all.

What about some other things you're involved in at River Valley during the year?

Extra curriculars?

I've helped with F-Wave once in a while.

I do wrestling.

I'm a wrestler for a valley.

And it's really all.

What about next year, have you thought about your post-schooling days?

Not really yet.

Nothing yet.

Good.

Well,

good luck with that decision.

You got a little time there.

Good luck guys.

We appreciate you coming over and talking to us

today.

Thank you.

You bet.

Kate and Price joining us and back Saru on WRC Radio.

We'll be right back with more from the fair.

River Valley soccer represented here Gavin Abbott and Cameron Lilla.

We're talking soccer here River Valley School Fairgrounds.

I saw you guys play against Richmond Center this year.

So I know that you guys have got a good club.

Hugs illerating was the win last night of a Prairie to

Sheen.

It was a great win.

I mean, you know, homecoming spirits were all all great energy from the team and just overall great win.

Good deal.

What's the favorite game been so far this year?

Um, for me, it's probably been rich and center just because, you know, that's a school rivalry for all sports, you know, so it's a great win to have.

What are some other things you're involved in here at the River Valley School of Fairgrounds?

Um, here I'm involved with the band.

So when the parade comes around and then, uh, FFA and, uh, that's about it.

Okay.

Gavin, let's talk to you here a little bit.

What about yours, your role on the soccer team?

What position do you play?

I play mostly defense.

Once in a while, I play midfield.

That's pretty much it.

You guys, I know early on you struggled a little bit getting some wins.

You're kind of back on track.

What's made the difference here so far with the team getting a little better?

I think we've just upped the energy.

Everyone's locking in and just more energy overall with everyone on the team.

Who do you have next on the schedule?

Putting you on the spot here guys

I'm gonna tell you

you just know that you beat pervy to sheen last night What what did it take to get over the top in that one?

It was a close one.

It was a close one.

Um, I think just Everyone brought the energy second half We got two goals like right away at the start of the second half and then we just continued to bring the energy and we Brought it to them.

What are some other things you're involved in here at River Valley as far as extracurriculars are concerned Gavin

Um, I'm also just involved in band and that's it for now.

Band sounded good last night.

Yeah, it was good.

Cameron, what are some things that you're involved in other than soccer?

Uh, just again, yeah, the band marching band, so drum line.

So again, we had our performance last night for the Pepper Alley and that was fun.

Are you ever involved in the musical with the music or anything like that that's coming up?

Yeah, we're both in the musical.

Just

ensemble.

Ensemble, all right.

Good.

Chicago, are you excited about putting it on,

Cameron?

Yeah, I'm really excited.

This is both of our first years doing this, so stepping out of the comfort zone and going out into a new area.

That's what it's all about.

What about post high school?

Have you thought about what you'd like to do after high school?

I'm looking to going into education and so I'm either looking to do like high school or like elementary teaching.

What about you Gavin?

I'm not too sure.

I'm thinking just like like sports therapy or like physical therapy for now, but anything could change.

Well have a good fair guys.

Thanks for coming over and joining us.

You as well.

Thank you.

You bet.

Good to see you.

Cameron Lilla, Gavin Abbott joining us representing River Valley Soccer on WRCO.

We are here talking to more of the River Valley FFA representatives.

We have Tyler Glykoff and we have Brinkley Elsinger and we have Hayden Spencer.

I think Brinkley she just ran off again, but that's that's all right We'll let her go Hayden.

Let's talk about your role.

What is your role with River Valley FFA?

I'm the Sentinel and stuff I help welcome people to the classroom and we're also putting on a tractor pull through a Bunch of our FFA members are working.

What do you like most about being an FFA?

Getting to meet new people and sing new people.

Did it take much convincing to join FFA?

Did somebody encourage you?

They didn't take much convincing.

It's fun.

Kind of did it on your

own.

All right, Tyler,

what about

you?

What's

your role?

I am the reporter this year.

I manage the social medias, make all the posters and everything.

That's why you're walking around with a camera today, right?

Yep.

Trying to capture those special moments.

Yep.

So tell me about the tractor pull guys Tyler or what's up with that?

So we have kids there is these weights and we tie it to the back of the tractor and then they try and pedal to see if they are strong enough to move the weights.

Wonderful, how much setup does it take?

It takes roughly around 10-15 minutes I believe.

Not

very

much there.

So is this a fundraiser Hayden for FFA or is he just kind of doing it for fun?

Just doing it for fun.

What are some other things that you're involved in here with River Valley, extracurriculars, anything else you're involved in outside of school?

Not really.

Okay.

There's stuff that I'm involved.

Just FFA.

FFA is the main thing.

What about you, Tyler?

I'm also in Math Club.

All right.

Math Club.

So do you have math contests coming up soon?

Yeah, but I'm not going to that.

Okay.

I think ironically today is like math problem celebration day.

Math story.

Do you like math stories or not?

It depends.

Sometimes if they're, you know, harder.

I don't.

I

don't like them, so to speak.

Guys, have a good fair.

We appreciate you joining us.

Of course.

Good luck.

Yeah, you bet.

Hayden Spencer joining us and Tyler Glykov from the River Valley School Fair representing the River Valley officers.

We'll be right back.

Mrs. USA, Stephanie Kramer joins us.

Well, good luck today.

It's gonna be a fun day.

Have you ever been to the River Valley School Fair today?

No, this is actually my first time here and I'm super thrilled and cannot thank you all enough for having me and Peyton over here on my right for inviting me.

So thank you.

Wonderful.

What has impressed you the most so far that you've been here, Stephanie?

Well, being the huge animal advocate that I am, I absolutely love seeing all of the animals.

Not necessarily always the showing aspect of it, but really teaching the young minds, teaching the younger generations what it is to respect animals and also, you know, why we do need them in our lives.

Tell us about your reign as Mrs. USA.

How long does it last?

Being Mrs. USA is incredible and I just assumed it would last.

I don't know, nine to 10 months, but actually it is a full year.

If not just over one year, I was crowned back in July.

So this is still new, but the experience has been incredible for me.

My platform is called pause and purpose.

So it really is all about animal advocacy.

And I'm out there in the communities, not just here in the spring green area, not just in Wisconsin, but really traveling across the nation, talking about adoption, talking about the importance of spay, neuter, and really educating the younger generations.

That is awesome.

And where was the pageant?

What did you have to do to become Mrs. USA?

The pageant was in Houston, Texas, like I said, in July.

And pageantry has come a long way from what it used to be.

So some of the systems out there still have you in the swimsuit.

But for me, it was fitness.

So again, health and wellness is also important.

So aside from your evening gown, your onstage question, of course, your interview, which, by the way, is 50% of your score.

I don't think it's a shock to anybody that I love talking.

So give me the microphone and I can talk all day.

But yes.

And then finally it was the fitness wear.

So all of that in summation gives you your total score.

And the top four, it was getting close, right?

Standing there on stage, being announced.

I was the first one announced of the top four.

And then the final two were Wisconsin, Illinois.

So yeah, the best in the Midwest.