4 • Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News

From Here to ThereBy Greg Blum,

President & CEO

Many times I write about what is happening nationally and state-

wide with politics and how our issues align with the priorities of each body of government. This month I want to talk about what we do locally and why we do what we are doing.

In 2004 we started Operation Round Up because there were many charitable organizations that do some pretty incredible things in our area to help other people, and we saw a need for our members to get involved. This program rounds up your bill to the next full dollar; this 0–99 cents of round up is used to fund educational projects and other charitable missions in our service area. Since starting in 2004, we have donated more than $250,000 to worthy causes. $160,000 has gone to chari-table groups and another $124,000 has gone to our members’ families in scholarships for continuing education.

Last year we started our food pantry garden here at the cooperative. In the past we have supported our food pantries with donations every year, but we found that what the pantries were lacking was fresh summer produce. Well, we had the land and we had employees who love to garden, so we started a garden and delivered fresh vegetables weekly to Iola and Rosholt Food Pantries. We hope to expand to others in our service area this year and you can help. We can always use extra help to plant and weed our garden, and we will let you know when we will do that. We also need seeds, so if you

have extra seeds packets and want to contribute, just slip a pack of seeds in your bill payment. This program was a great success and received national recognition, and we want to build on our last year’s success.

Another program we are really proud of is our Toys for Tots program, for which we work with the Marines to provide toys to needy children in our service area. This year we again provided toys to over 700 children just in our service area. Times are tough and with your help donating toys and money, we were able to put a lot of smiles on the faces of our kids. Thank you for all your help.

The last thing I want to touch on is our Revolving Loan Fund that we use to fund start-up businesses or busi-nesses that want to expand and need a little help. We received the majority of these funds from the USDA when we did projects in Wittenberg at the Business Park and at Iola Assisted Living Inc. to build Living Oaks. We

have already made low-interest 3 percent loans to 15 businesses total-ing $269,000. In total we will have $500,000 available to help local busi-nesses stay in business serving our members.

Of course we also do many more things than I can mention in this article, but each month in this magazine we will discuss more programs we pro-vide with and for each other like our Public Benefits, Capital Credits for Conservation, and our Co-op Connec-tions Cards.

As a cooperative, we feel our job is much more than providing electric-ity to your homes. Our job is about working together with you to provide opportunities to all our members to make all of our lives a little brighter and easier. Thank you for all you do, and don’t forget to put a packet of seeds in your bill payments so we can provide even more fresh produce this summer.

Have a great month.

Scholarship Winners’ Grades Needed

Here is a reminder to all 2012 Opera-tion Roundup scholarship winners

to submit a copy of their first-semes-ter grades and proof of enrollment for second semester to the co-op. Please mail grades to Central Wis-consin Electric Cooperative, Attn. Brenda Mazemke, P.O. Box 100, Rosholt, WI 54473 or electronically to brenda.mazemke@cwecoop.com.

Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative • 5

Toys for Tots Drive Helps Area Kids

Christmas was made a little brighter for more than 780 area kids thanks to the

generosity of many of you and help from the local businesses and organizations. Each year, Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative partners with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve to coordinate a Toys for Tots campaign. The toys were given to chil-dren in the Tigerton, Bowler, Wittenberg, Birnamwood, Rosholt, Manawa, Iola, and Scandinavia areas. In addition, this year we helped children through Waupaca County Health and Human Services, Waupaca Mir-acle Tree, Portage County Operation Boot Strap, and Shawano County. We would like to thank all of those who made this year’s program a huge success and helped put a smile on a child’s face on Christmas.

Left: Iola-Scandinavia High School Student Council Elves donated toys for the Toys for Tots program. Below left: Toys for Tots shopping day with Elves Cory Tap, Matt Ellie, Megan Mazemke, Michelle Ellie, Brittany Mazemke, and Nicole Tessen. Below: Santa all ready to delivery toys to the kids in Tigerton.

Abive: Tables full of toys at CWEC being sorted by Elves Lori Elmhorst and Patty Mork. Right: Iola-Scandinavia Elementary Student Council Elves donated toys for the Toys for Tots program.

Above left: Wittenberg Giving Tree Coordinator Nancy Nueske, with CWEC Elves Tim Kraft and Mark Forseth (back row l-r), and W-B students (front row l-r) Carsten Pazek, Bryson Bernarde, William Urquhart, and Simon Stewart. Above center: Bowler Fire Department Elves with CWEC Board Member Tom Smith (second from left) getting ready for toy distribution.

Below: Shawano County Elf Terry Moede(c) with CWEC Elves Lori Elmhorst and Patty Mork.

Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative

28 • Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News

What started out as an excavating project led to an astonishing discovery for CWEC member William

Wolosek—one that would excite any geologist or paleon-tologist. As he was digging and moving piles of dirt at his Rosholt property, Bill noticed several interesting-looking rocks. Upon cleaning the rocks, Bill was surprised to see many of the rocks were littered with fossils. This discov-ery set Bill on a mission to explore even further.

Bill hit the jackpot in early April when he unearthed a rock containing a cephalopod fossil. The cephalopod is the precursor to the modern squid and octopus that—are you ready for this?—inhabited the earth some 200 million (yes, million) years ago. By his own admission, Bill, a retired electrical mechanical engineer, “studies geology as a hobby and is no expert,” so he sought out someone who is an expert. That someone is University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point Natural History Director Ray Reser, who confirmed Bill’s newly found prized possession is indeed a cephalopod. According to Reser, finding a cephalopod fossil in Portage County is not that unusual but “it’s still pretty cool.”

Armed with his pick-ax, wheelbarrow, shovel, and sifting screen, Bill searches for buried treasures a couple of hours each day. “It’s nice to know you can find some-thing that no one else has seen,” Bill said.

When most people think of sites to dig fossils, we’re guessing Rosholt doesn’t come to mind, so how did these

pieces of history make their way to the property described by Bill as a jungle at the time he purchased it 30 years ago? According to Reser, a large coral reef called the Ni-agara Escarpment once covered the eastern portion of the state, extending north through the Door County Peninsula around the north of Lake Huron and east to New York near Niagara Falls. In addition to the cephalopod, Bill’s digging efforts have led to the finding of many pieces of coral from the Niagara Escarpment. The fossils Bill is finding were delivered to his property more than 10,000 years ago by a finger of a large glacier that covered what is now Green Bay. “The glacier pushed the pieces of the coral like a conveyor belt,” Bill explained. Many of the rocks Bill is finding are rounded, giving evidence they served as the “bearings” for the glacier.

Unearthing the treasures is just the start of the process for Bill. He tediously cleans and polishes a good share of the stones and proudly showcases them in a variety of displays. During my visit I watched as Bill placed a couple of stones we took from the ground under a faucet and transformed what I would call plain, dull rocks into shiny, color-ful works of art. One neat way Bill displays the rocks is on a sheet of bedrock. After he inserts a series of pegs into the bedrock, he begins the painstaking job of drilling holes into the rocks, a chore made difficult by the extreme hardness of the stones caused by what Bill describes as “them being baked

Member Spotlight….

ROCK FEST IN PORTAGE COUNTY

Armed with his pick ax, Bill can be found digging on his property a couple of hours each day. Inset: I wondered what burrowed in here millions of years ago.

Bill demonstrates how he drills into the rocks, a process made difficult due to the hardness of the rocks caused by them being baked by volcanoes. Above: The finished product, one awesome-looking display!

Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative • 29

Greg Blum, President & CEO

10401 Lystul Rd., P.O. Box 100, Rosholt, WI 54473

(715) 677-2211 • 800-377-2932www.cwecoop.com

Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative

Your Touchstone Energy® Partner

Dates to Remember in

February

Iola Winter CarnivalSaturday, February 4Free cross country ski & snowshoe trail pass, held at the Iola Winter Sports Club; ice sculpting, corner of State St. and Chet Krause Dr. in Iola; Norwegian dinner, including lutefisk, lefse, Norwegian meatballs, and all the trimmings, plus a craft show held at the I-S High School.Sunday, February 6Nordic Combined Cross Country Race and Ski Jumping, held at the Iola Winter Sports Club, Iola. For more information about the outside events go to www.iolawintersportsclub.org.

St. Adalbert Parish “Friday Night Fish Fry”Friday, February 8, through Friday, March 22, during Lent. Serving 4–8 p.m. Fish or shrimp with your choice of potato, coleslaw, bread, beverage, and homemade dessert. Cost – adults $8 and children’s meals $5. Located at 290 Grand Ave, Rosholt. For take-out orders call 715-677-4732. Come share a great meal and good conversation.

To submit your community events e-mail brenda.mazemke@cwecoop.com

or call Brenda at 715-677-2211.

Christmas is such a special time of year, especially for our chil-dren. They have so many opportuni-ties to display their talents whether it is performing in a Christmas pro-gram at school or church, or draw-ing a beautiful Christmas ornament to bring the Christmas spirit to the CWEC office. We had a number of submissions this year, making it very difficult for our judges. There is a lot of talent out there; keep up the great work kids. We want to thank all the

Winners in the 6 & under category are, left to right: Mara Raddatz, Hailey Kostuch, Kaydence Burclaw.

Winners in the 7 to 10 category are, left to right: Lexus Fuller, Faye Knapstein, Brooke Thiex.

Christmas Coloring Contest Winners!kids who entered for their hard work; we look forward to seeing your great drawings each year. Here are our choices in each category.

6 & under:$25 Winner – Mara Raddatz$15 Winner – Hailey Kostuch$10 Winner – Kaydence Burclaw

7 to 10 years old:$25 Winner – Lexus Fuller$15 Winner – Faye Knapstein$10 Winner – Brooke Thiex

by volcanoes.” In striking contrast, some of the coral stones I handled flake with even the slightest touch, making one wonder how they have survived for millions of years. The final step is placing a variety of polished stones onto the bedrock pegs. The contrasting colors and rock shapes make for a very impressive-looking display.

As I held these remarkable piec-es, I couldn’t help wonder what stories

they could tell if they could only talk, but I guess the fact that something 200 million years old made it to Rosholt is quite a story in itself. Bill intends to have samples from various stones analyzed to determine their mineral content and their place of origin. His long-term plans include making his discoveries available for public view-ing, but for now he’ll keep on with his version of a Rock Fest.