Bill Warmbier, Steve Summerville, Loretta Warmbier, Marilyn Brockopp, Janice Engel, and Cheryl Milbrandt accepted the Wisconsin Rural Partners Top Initiative Award at the Stony Creek Inn in Mosinee last week. The Neshkoro Enhancement Committee was one of three awardees from Wisconsin. (Photo by Kathleen McGwin)

Neshkoro Enhancement Committee receives Top Initiative Award

By Kathleen McGwin
They were among good company when members of the Neshkoro Enhancement Committee accepted one of three Top Initiative Awards given out by Wisconsin Rural Partners (WRP) last Friday in Mosinee.  The other two awardees were the University of Wisconsin-Extension for securing two grants to expand broadband capabilities in Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Innovation Kitchen in Mineral Point.

The Neshkoro Enhancement Committee members were told that competition for the award was tough and there were many applicants. Karen Holseth-Brokema of Neshkoro wrote the application for the committee. WRP said, “There were a number of great nominations and the WRP board will give awards to the top three.  The vote was close and the judges loved what you’ve done.”

Since its founding in 2004, the Neshkoro Enhancement Committee, all with volunteer hours and donated money, has completed a memorial park, enhanced the mill pond park with trees and a gazebo, started a summer concert series in the park, created an annual garden tour, held their second annual Scarecrow Festival, and designated themselves a Mural Village in the county wide Barn Quilts and Hidden History Mural Trail. They have raised more than $75,000 for community enhancement projects since their beginnings.

“This is exactly what these awards are for,” said Ricky Rolfsmeyer, a Board Member of WRP. “What these volunteers have done is what we want to see. It’s rural Wisconsin at its best.”

Wisconsin Rural Partners is a statewide non-profit organization that develops leadership, networks, and gives voice to rural Wisconsin. It is the federally recognized State Rural Development Council for the state. It is the 12th year that the organization has recognized initiatives that have positive impact on rural Wisconsin. WRP hopes that other rural communities will use the awardee’s work as inspiration.

The members of the committee who accepted the award pointed to the words on the recently painted mural in their village which reads, “Have Faith and Believe…What one Village can achieve.”