Scholarships Totaling Over $76,000 Awarded to Door County Graduating Seniors

The Door County Community Foundation is pleased to announce that, thanks to the generosity of our donors, over $76,000 in scholarships has been awarded to Door County students pursuing a post-secondary education.

Please join us in congratulating the following recipients:

John Bobb Memorial Methodist Scholarship
Brooke Klansky, Sturgeon Bay $250.00
Parents: Paul and Sheila Klansky

John Bobb Memorial Sevastopol Scholarship
Mallory Staats, Sevastopol $250.00
Parents: Jason Staats and Jennifer Taylor

Carole Counard Scholarship
Lamyra Adams, Sevastopol $1,000.00
Parents: Jacob and Sarah Duginski

Carole Counard Scholarship
Austin Vandertie, Southern Door $1,000.00
Parents: Dan and Julie Vandertie

Door Peninsula Astronomical Society Scholarship
Ava Hitzeman, Gibraltar $6,000.00
Parents: Brent and Camilla Hitzeman

Door Peninsula Astronomical Society Scholarship
Mackenzie Straub, Gibraltar $6,000.00
Parents: Carol Straub and the late Gary Straub

Door Peninsula Astronomical Society Scholarship
Zoey Kohler, Southern Door $6,000.00
Parents: Jason and Melissa Kohler

Door Peninsula Astronomical Society Scholarship
Nathan LeRoy, Sturgeon Bay $6,000.00
Parents: Michael and Lori LeRoy

Door Property Owners Scholarship
Ava Hitzeman, Gibraltar $1,000.00
Parents: Brent and Camilla Hitzeman

Tessa Erickson Memorial Scholarship
Collin Duffy, Gibraltar $2,500.00
Parents: Patrick and Julie Duffy

Tessa Erickson Memorial Scholarship
Raina Haleen, Gibraltar $2,500.00
Parents: Todd and Amy Haleen

Johnny G Family Scholarship
Raina Haleen, Gibraltar $1,500.00
Parents: Todd and Amy Haleen

Johnny G Hospitality Scholarship
Mercedes Zayac, Gibraltar $1,500.00
Parents: Karen Garza

Stanley Greene Memorial Scholarship
Andie Rockendorf, Sturgeon Bay $1,000.00
Parents: Todd and Kathy Rockendorf

Stanley Greene Memorial Scholarship
Jared Van Bramer, Sturgeon Bay $1,000.00
Parents: Dennis and Amy Van Bramer

Darlene and Wayne Harmann Scholarship
Connor Sannito, Sturgeon Bay $1,000.00
Parents: Pat Sannito

Ellie Helm Memorial Scholarship
Sofia Jauregui, Gibraltar $2,500.00
Parents: Armando and Martha Jauregui

Hope Church Scholarship
Nathan LeRoy, Sturgeon Bay $1,000.00
Parents: Michael and Lori LeRoy

Jacksonport Women’s Club
Claire Brauer, Sevastopol $1,000.00
Parents: Jay and Karen Brauer

Orville F. Kay Scholarship
Jared Baudhuin, Southern Door $5,000.00
Parents: Noel and Christina Baudhuin

Orville F. Kay Scholarship
Andrew Montana, Southern Door $5,000.00
Parents: Camilo and Hollie Montana

Orville F. Kay Scholarship
Austin Vandertie, Southern Door $5,000.00
Parents: Dan and Julie Vandertie

Adam LaLuzerne Humanitarian Scholarship
Allison Alberts, Sturgeon Bay $500.00
Parents: Jamie and Amy Alberts

Adam LaLuzerne Humanitarian Scholarship
Megan Richard, Sturgeon Bay $500.00
Parents: Mike and Heidi Richard

Mr. & Mrs. Lloyd H. Londo Scholarship
Mackenzie Straub, Gibraltar $500.00
Parents: Carol Straub and the late Gary Straub

Virginia Muckian Schneider Memorial Scholarship
Mercedes Zayac, Gibraltar $1,500.00
Parents: Karen Garza

Armella Rita Norton Scholarship Fund
Hanna Michalsen, Gibraltar $10,000.00
Parents: Bryan Broyles and Maia Michalsen

Robert C. Solomon Memorial Scholarship
Allison Alberts, Sturgeon Bay $1,000.00
Parents: Jamie and Amy Alberts

Southern Door Booster Club Eagle Award
Jared Conrad, Southern Door $250.00

Southern Door Booster Club Eagle Award
Samuel Gerend, Southern Door $250.00
Parents: Dean and Jackie Gerend

Southern Door Booster Club Scholarship
Gabrielle Atkins, Southern Door $200.00
Parents: Len and Stephanie Atkins

Southern Door Booster Club Scholarship
Samuel Gerend, Southern Door $200.00
Parents: Dean and Jackie Gerend

Southern Door Booster Club Scholarship
Meghan LaCrosse, Southern Door $200.00
Parents: Jeremy and Tracy LaCrosse

Southern Door Booster Club Scholarship
Hanna Pierre, Southern Door $200.00
Parents: Joseph and Kim Pierre

Southern Door Booster Club Scholarship
Jennifer Vandertie, Southern Door $200.00
Parents: Bill and Deb Vandertie

Southern Door Booster Club Scholarship
Logan Walker, Southern Door $200.00
Parents: David and Kirsten Walker

Robert J. Stoffel Sr. Memorial Scholarship
Bennett Rabach, Sevastopol $1,500.00
Parents: Stephen and Ann Rabach

The Sue Todey Drug Alliance Prevention Scholarship
Jillian Jorns, Sevastopol $500.00
Parents: Ethan and Pam Jorns

Applications for these and more than one hundred additional scholarship opportunities can be found by visiting the Door County Scholarship Network website at www.doorcountyscholarships.org. The Scholarship Network website links students to hundreds of thousands of available scholarship dollars.

Celebrate Water

Door County’s unique geography makes our water vulnerable. As a peninsula situated on the Niagara Escarpment, our thin soil layer, combined with the vertical and horizontal fracturing common in our bedrock, makes protecting our water a priority. Healthy water is essential to Door County’s human, environmental and economic health.

Honestly, it wasn’t until about four years ago that I learned enough about water to be able to write that last paragraph.

It was around that time Coggin Heeringa walked into the offices of the Door County Community Foundation to say we needed to be doing more to call attention to the threats to our water. I had known Coggin for several years by then, both as a friend to the community foundation and as the executive director of the environmental learning center Crossroads at Big Creek. More than anything else, Coggin is an educator. While she has taught most of my children, apparently the lessons in my family weren’t passing from the child to the parent so Coggin decided it was time to educate me directly.

What I learned is that my mother-in-law was right. I am part of the problem.

I absolutely love hiking through Newport State Park with my wife, walking north along the shore of Europe Bay then returning south along the banks of Europe Lake. We store our kayaks on a pulley system in our garage so we can quickly lower them onto the roof of the car, drop them in the water at Otumba, then spend many an early summer evening kayaking along Potawatomi State Park after a long day at work.

Water is an enormous part of our life and one of the things we love most about Door County. Yet we rarely thought about it. Like the fish in the sea that doesn’t think about the ocean precisely because it is immersed in it, I never thought about this magnificent natural resource precisely because we live on a peninsula surrounded by it.

If people like me who love being on and around the water don’t work to protect it, then who will?

Ultimately, Coggin’s passion found a kindred spirit in Annie Egan. With Annie stepping forward to chair this effort, on May 5 our community will formally launch a year-long adventure called Celebrate Water.

Administratively, Celebrate Water is an initiative of Healthy Water Door County, a fund of the Door County Community Foundation. That already sounds like a lot of players, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Celebrate Water is the banner under which an incredible number of charities and businesses are coming together to work to protect one of Door County’s most precious resources.

The first phase of Celebrate Water lives up to its name. It begins with a series of celebratory events and activities to remind ourselves just how much water means to life on this peninsula. It involves concerts at Birch Creek and Midsummer’s Music, exhibitions at Edgewood Orchard and Margaret Lockwood Gallery, performances at the Steel Bridge Songfest and the Peg Egan, educational opportunities at the Peninsula Players and Björklunden, and too many other events to list here.

Virtually every significant arts and culture group in Door County is hosting some kind of activity as a part of this first phase of our effort to Celebrate Water. Look for the Celebrate Water logo in program brochures and playbills everywhere, or visit CelebrateWaterDoorCounty.org for a list of events. It’s being updated all the time.

That’s just phase one of Celebrate Water. Later this year will begin phase two, an exploration of the threats facing this critically important natural resource. We’ll help the community understand the vulnerabilities facing our water and how our failure to protect it could impact life in Door County. In fall our community will host presentations from scientists and journalists. Documentaries and discussion groups will pop up. Stories will appear in the local media. Our goal is to encourage a real community conversation about water’s importance to Door County and help people understand how much it needs our vigilance.

Then in 2019 the conversation will shift to phase three, inspiring people to take action to protect our water. We’ll learn about the best practices in the field. We’ll hear about how other communities are dealing with the issues we face. Then the entire effort will culminate in the first week of June 2019, with a Water Summit.

Celebrate Water is not a partisan nor ideological effort. Neither will Celebrate Water advocate for any particular legislation or course of action. Yet in this time of heightened political sensitivities and righteous indignation, it’s been asked whether our community can actually have a civil conversation on such a topic. We can if we begin by recognizing the one thing people on all sides of the political aisle have in common in our community.

We all love Door County. We need to have faith that each of us is trying to do what we think is best for our family and our community.

This is the fundamental principle that will be central to every event or activity that occurs. We intend to create safe spaces for differing ideas to be explored, discussed and even debated. While we want people to passionately advocate for policies in which they strongly believe, our goal is to foster a civil discussion in which each of us remains respectful of one another.

We have faith the people of Door County can have a civil dialogue on any issue when our conversation is rooted in our shared love of our families and this beautiful peninsula we call home.

This article, written by Bret Bicoy the President and CEO of the Door County Community Foundation, originally appeared in the Peninsula Pulse.

Community Foundation Announces Investment in Historic Downtown Sturgeon Bay

“Downtown Sturgeon Bay has had some rough news in recent months,” says Bret Bicoy, President & CEO of the Door County Community Foundation. “Yet we strongly believe that Door County’s largest downtown district has a bright future and we want to be a part of it.” Thus, the Community Foundation announced today that it has purchased the former Baylake Conference Center and Clock Tower property from Nicolet National Bank.

The Community Foundation will move its offices into roughly half the building and configure the remainder of it as a gathering and meeting space for other charities and community groups. “We envision everything from Girl Scout troops to non-profit boards using the community space,” says Bicoy. “We’re investing in technology which will allow the community to safely use the building after regular business hours and on weekends. We hope to create a true gathering place for the people of Door County.”

The Clock Tower and surrounding grassy area is also included in the purchase. Hence, the Community Foundation is pleased to announce its commitment to continue to host an annual Christmas Tree lighting celebration. “Sturgeon Bay Utilities has been a very generous partner in supporting this annual Christmas tradition,” says Bicoy. “We’re honored to be able to work with them to continue this holiday celebration.”

The Community Foundation is also exploring ways to partner with the Sturgeon Bay Visitor’s Center and other community groups to better utilize the Clock Tower green space for the good of our local residents. For example, one of the ideas being considered is a lunchtime outdoor concert series for people who work and live downtown. “The Community Foundation is making an investment in downtown Sturgeon Bay and hope others will join us,” says Bicoy. “We also want to express our gratitude to Nicolet National Bank for selling the Community Foundation this property at such a reasonable and fair price,” says Bicoy. “We hope to continue the bank’s tradition of opening up this facility to the community for the benefit of Sturgeon Bay and all of Door County.”

The Door County Community Foundation, Inc. is a collection of separate charitable funds set up by individuals, families, non-profit organizations, private foundations and businesses that are managed, invested and disbursed for the current and future good of Door County. The Foundation was launched in 1999 and currently administers more than $20 million in charitable assets.

Community Foundation Awards Sustainability Grant to Door-Tran

The Door County Community Foundation has awarded Door-Tran a Sustainability Grant from the John and Nell Community Impact Fund. This grant supports the vehicle Repair Grant Program. Door-Tran’s Vehicle Repair Grant Program assists individuals who are on a fixed income, such as SSI and SSDI, with car repairs.

“One of Door-Tran’s main strengths is the role it continues to play as the central coordinator and catalyst for addressing the highly complex problems of available, affordable, and accessible transportation for a diverse and widespread number of Door County residents,” said Dick Egan, Board Member of the Door County Community Foundation. “We are pleased to provide this grant to an organization that is doing such great work in our community.”

Pictured from left to right are Nikki Voight, Mobility Manager Assistant and Dick Egan, Board Member of the Door County Community Foundation.

Door-Tran is a creative community network dedicated to connecting people to transportation services that are affordable, available, and accessible.  For more information on Door-Tran, visit http://www.door-tran.org.

The Door County Community Foundation’s Sustainability Grants program distributes grant dollars from funds such as the Arts Fund, Children & Youth Fund, Green Fund, Health & Human Needs Fund, Education Fund, Historic Preservation Fund, Healthy Water Fund, and the Women’s Fund.

For more information about the Community Foundation’s services and various grant programs, please visit www.GiveDoorCounty.org.

The Door County Community Foundation, Inc. is a collection of separate charitable funds set up by individuals, families, non-profit organizations, private foundations and businesses that are managed, invested and disbursed for the current and future good of Door County. The Foundation was launched in 1999 and currently administers more than $20 million in charitable assets.

 

Community Foundation Awards Sustainability Grant to the Sturgeon Bay School District

The Door County Community Foundation has awarded the Sturgeon Bay School District a Sustainability Grant from the Arts Fund and the Carol Coryell Scholarship Find for Deserving Students. This grant supports Opera for the Young.

Opera for the young is a professional opera company that presents one day artist residencies to school age children bringing to life a classical opera story. This year’s Opera for the Young selected “Rusulka.” The operatic adaption for elementary school students, originally composed by Dvorak, teaches students the lesson of our human need to understand and accept our differences through the tale of magical romance, loss, and the power of love.

“Living in Door County, many students do not have exposure to opera,” said Polly Alberts, Chair of the Door County Community Foundation. “Music teachers certainly have the means to help students study the world of opera and learn though song and video, but the means to provide live exposure to high level operatic singing is rear in our county He are pleased to help provide that opportunity to school age children in our community.”

Pictured from left to right are Cheryl Pfister, Sturgeon Bay Elementary Music Teacher and Polly Alberts. Chair of the Door County Community Foundation.

The Door County Community Foundation’s Sustainability Grants program distributes grant dollars from funds such as the Arts Fund, Children & Youth Fund, Green Fund, Health & Human Needs Fund, Education Fund, Historic Preservation Fund, Healthy Water Fund, and the Women’s Fund.

For more information about the Community Foundation’s services and various grant programs, please visit www.GiveDoorCounty.org.

The Door County Community Foundation, Inc. is a collection of separate charitable funds set up by individuals, families, non-profit organizations, private foundations and businesses that are managed, invested and disbursed for the current and future good of Door County. The Foundation was launched in 1999 and currently administers more than $20 million in charitable assets.

 

Find the Right Mr. and Mrs. Jones

Keeping up with the Joneses. It’s a uniquely American phrase that typically has a negative connotation. It’s commonly used as shorthand for a concept sociologists call “competitive acquisition.” Our neighbors the Joneses buy some stuff, so we feel a need to buy the same stuff along with more stuff. As a result, the Joneses then feel compelled to buy more stuff to match all the stuff you just bought. Thus begins the neverending arms race to acquire more stuff than the Joneses. That’s competitive acquisition.

Yet the desire to keep up with the Joneses is not inherently a bad thing. Distilled to its essence, keeping up with the Joneses is nothing more than a form of benchmarking. Benchmarking is a common business practice in which we compare our results to those of our peers or some objective standard. The purpose of benchmarking is to analyze our own performance and determine how we might improve.

Benchmarking, used properly, is a phenomenally effective business tool. The key is to identify the correct benchmark – the standard by which we are judging our own performance.

As humans, we tend to compare our lifestyles and life choices to those we respect, people whose values and priorities are closely aligned with our own or as we would like them to be. A neverending cycle of buying useless stuff is not an inevitable outcome of keeping up with the Joneses. It all comes down to the kind of people you select as the Joneses in your life. It’s whom you choose as your personal benchmark.

If your Joneses have a noble set of values and priorities – ones that are focused on community and living a generous life – then personal benchmarking can be a powerful tool that encourages us to more virtuous behavior. It’s what the charities of our community count on every day.

Consider what you do whenever you receive an annual report or quarterly newsletter from your favorite charity. If you’re like the typical American, it won’t take very long before you’re looking through the list of donors, often divided by giving levels, to see how you compare to those people whom you like and admire. Wow, look at how generous the Joneses are to Birch Creek! Geez, it’s great to see how much the Joneses love the Land Trust!

These donor lists are the most explicit way charities help you benchmark your own giving against people whose values and priorities you respect. Another subtle but even more inspiring way to accomplish this goal is to tell the story of the Jones family and why they choose to give.

Look again at a charity’s annual report or quarterly newsletter and you’ll often see several donor stories. These are typically well-known and respected people in the community who have agreed to publicly share the reasons behind their generosity. While you may not identify with every story that is shared by the charity, the hope is that over time, you’ll find a donor whose narrative resonates with you. If the charity can help you find your own personal Jones family, you too might be similarly inspired to be generous.

That’s why at the Door County Community Foundation we spend so much time telling stories. In our communication materials we share stories of people like Greg and Marsha Meissner. After a lifetime building a successful landscaping company in Door County, they now spend much of their energy volunteering and giving back to our community. Then there’s Bill and Mardi Glenn, a couple that had already created a legacy of giving in their original home community in Illinois. They brought that tradition with them to our peninsula after purchasing their first home in Door County in 1975.

Mike and Orlaine Gabert retired permanently to Door County in 1999 after visiting us every year for virtually all of their adult lives. They’ve included a remarkable gift to charity in their estate plans. Similarly, Julia Van Roo Bresnahan first arrived as an art student in 1970 and has spent part or all of her time in Door County every year since. She too has included significant gifts to Door County’s charities in her estate.

When good people like these allow us to tell their story, it helps others see what is possible in their own lives.

Perhaps our community’s ultimate example of a story of generosity is the Community Foundation’s annual Celebration of Giving. This free luncheon brings the community together to celebrate and recognize a Philanthropist of the Year. The people we honor aren’t necessarily donors to the Door County Community Foundation, but all of them are exceptional donors to Door County. These philanthropists give of their wisdom, leadership and financial resources to the causes and charities they care about most.

In the last dozen years we’ve celebrated and shared the stories of Door County’s great philanthropists like Nancy and Bob Davis, Anne Haberland Emerson, Miriam Erickson, Jo Guenzel, Tim and Sue Stone, Dave and Vonnie Callsen, Cyndy Stiehl, and too many other wonderful people to list here. We hope that celebrating people like these might inspire you to give back in your own way.

For you, the Joneses might be named Meissner, Glenn, Gabert or Bresnahan. Ultimately, we at the Community Foundation don’t care what part of Door County you are most passionate about. We care that you find your passion and are then inspired to take action.

If each of us is able to identify with another whom we admire, a person whose values and priorities are focused on making our community a better place, then keeping up with the Joneses would be truly a beautiful thing to behold.

This article, which originally appeared in the Peninsula Pulse, was written by Bret Bicoy,  President and CEO of the Door County Community Foundation.