Putting the pieces back together

Jason from Masonry Restoration at work rebuilding a pillar

I’ve learned a great deal throughout this project including what “terra cotta” means.    And the word “corbel” (which I only knew as a brand of brandy before…albeit with a different spelling!)  And the way the “v” in the word “pvblic” was commonplace during a few years in architectural history.  I also now know that moving the pillars from the old entry to the new entry is painstaking word.  I’ve seen how much care the crew from Masonry Restoration has taken with the terra cotta.  *Thank you* to them for their expert efforts to preserve our important library history. 

Piece by piece they took it down, labeled it, removed it, stored it, and put it back together. The work is almost completed now.  I can’t tell you what a delight it was to see it today.  (Click on the photo to get a closer look).  

Almost finished!

 

Fort Atkinson Officials Receive Citation of Merit

I’m delighted to be able to share with you that Fort Atkinson’s city manager and the city council (of 2009) have been awarded Wisconsin Library Association’s Citation of Merit award for 2010.

The library board made the decision to make the nomination for this prestigious award as a way to publicly recognize the city’s important role in the library’s expansion and renovation project.

Over the course of the years we’ve been working on this project, city manager John Wilmet’s assistance and experience have been absolutely critical.   His willingness to prepare the city financially was important.  It allowed the project the ability to put together a funding package with a distribution of costs without undue hardship on any one segment.  His experience with fundraising was invaluable.   His support allowed early donors to feel secure in the viability of the project.  John has been through building projects before and is a great resource.  He never appeared to tire of my endless questions.  (He deserves a medal for that.)  John is well deserving of public recognition and thanks for his efforts which went well beyond the call of duty.

City council members deserve thanks as well.  Members participated in planning workshops and asked great questions every step of the way thereby ensuring that the library board and staff always did the necessary homework.  Their role as elected officials is a very important one.

The library board is well aware that philosophical support of a library is easy.   Saying, “I support our library and its important role in our community,” is a relatively safe statement for an elected official.

However, saying “yes” when the approvals were needed and keeping a commitment despite an economic downturn were the actions that allowed the project to move forward.  The forward-thinking leaders of Fort Atkinson deserve to receive statewide recognition for their commitment to Fort Atkinson’s well-being through their support of our library project.  They have set an example for other communities throughout Wisconsin.

Congratulations all on this well-deserved honor!

Some things are meant to be

You know it’s a really good match between the prize and the winner when you arrive to give away the library’s raffle grand prize of the Milwaukee Brewers luxury suite package and you see that the recipient has a wall of Brewers’ bobbleheads to select from to bring along to the photo op.

Scott Lastusky, head of the city of Fort Atkinson’s Parks and Recreation Department, won the grand prize in Saturday’s raffle drawing at the Farmer’s Market.

Raffle winner Scott Lastusky posing with one of his Brewers' bobbleheads

When I drew his name from the bucket, I knew instantly that the winner would not only make good use of the tickets, but he’d also be appreciative and excited.   He was still smiling two days after I’d called him to tell him the good news.

The Brewer’s package was generously donated by David and Julia Uihlein.  We are incredibly grateful for the donation because it was the grand prize in our raffle and allowed us to sell tickets to raise money for our library’s capital campaign.

The package included 14 tickets, food, and parking.  Scott tells me that he’s not *exactly* sure who he’ll invite to the game yet.   Perhaps people will have to write an essay.  Or maybe they can report how many Brewer’s bobbleheads they own.  He could challenge them to a batting competition.  Who knows what Scott might decide!

We sure hope he and his party have a wonderful night at the ballpark, compliments of David and Julia Uihlein and the Dwight Foster Public Library’s Foster Growth capital campaign.

Thank you to all the merchants and individuals who donated prizes to the raffle and all the people who bought tickets.   Even though this was our last official capital campaign fundraising event, I should mention it’s certainly not too late to donate.  We are still taking donations for our project and sincerely appreciate every dollar that is given!