Platteville Optimist Club

L-R: treasurer Duane Borgen, past president Bob Hundhausen, and secretary Jerry Schewe Each year, Optimist International announces the criteria for receiving various club awards. The two most visible awards are Honor Club and Distinguished Club designation. Quality programming, club operations, and community impact help determine the success of an Optimist club, and the criteria to be designated as an Honor or Distinguished Club are the foundation for long-term success.

Right: City Manager, Caz Muske, holding her son, Atlas, and Optimist President Terri Ellis Platteville's new city manager, Caz Muske, was our speaker this week. She was accompanied by her son Atlas, who was wide awake and very attentive while his mom spoke to our club. Caz grew up in Texas and has served in local government since 2015. She earned her bachelor's degree from McNeese State University and Master of Public Administration from Penn State. She is an ICMA Creden

Paul Budden, Amber Monroe, and Terri Ellis Hosting two exchange students was a challenging and rewarding experience for fellow Optimist Amber Monroe. Shortly after moving into a new home Amber saw a Nacel Open Door posting about hosting exchange students. She decided to do it and ended up hosting two 15 year old girls, Nadia from Spain and Mattie from Germany. Not having children of her own, she soon discovered it does take a village to raise a child. The very talented gir

L-R: Optimist Member Paul Budden, Rev Dr. Dale Young, Optimist President Terri Ellis Rev Dr. Dale Young spoke to the Optimist Club about "Navigating the Headwinds" at the July 24, 2026 meeting. Dale graduated from Platteville High School and UW-Platteville. He graduated from the Navel Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, and was commissioned a navel officer. He served in combat in Vietnam and later served as a communications officer at the Pentagon in Washin

Robin Fatzinger 2026 Volunteer of the Year Robin Fatzinger was recognized as the Platteville Optimist Club Volunteer of the Year at the "Salute to Volunteers" during the Party in Park on July 23, 2026. Robin volunteers to help with many of our club activities. She serves as co-chair of the Community Service Committee. She organized the hot dog give-a-way for the Ribbon Cutting of the new Platteville Family Aquatic Center. Recently she was involved in getting donations and r

The Platteville Optimist Club gave out cookies and milk at the Annual Chamber "Salute to Volunteers" during the Party in the Park held on Thursday, July 23, 2026. The milk was provided by Ernie Thalmann in memory of Dick, Mary Jo and Carol Loeffelholz. A big Thank You to Carley Borcherding, Linda Richardson, Ernie Thalmann, and Robin Fatzinger for working at the event. Congratulations Robin Fatzinger for being selected as the Platteville Optimist's Volunteer of the Year. V

Fire Chief Ryan Simmons Fire Chief Ryan Simmons was our speaker today. He spoke about the new fire facility and offered some helpful life saving tips that everyone can use at home. The new fire facility is progressing very well with occupancy of the new station hopefully around Aug 1st. The old station’s footprint could almost fit into the new stations apparatus bays it’s that big. The old station’s doors are only 10 ft x10 ft forcing the department to purchase custom built

Duane reacts to drawing the Joker. President Terri Ellis and Duane Borgen For the second time in 2026, we have a Joker Draw Winner. Fire Chief Ryan Simmons selected the winning ticket giving Duane Borgen a chance to draw the Joker.....And he did! Optimist President Terri Ellis presented Duane with a $319 check for winning the Joker Draw. Congratulations Duane!

Nicole Peterson Maggie Kleisath, Nicole Peterson, Terri Ellis Nicole Peterson Nicole Peterson visited our meeting to tell us about her Girl Scout Gold Award project. This is the highest honor available in Girl Scouts and requires the scout to identify a root-cause community issue and dedicate at least 80 hours to creating a sustainable, measurable solution. Nicole’s project was building raised garden beds at Family Advocates, allowing Family Advocates to gr

Stephanie Saager-Bourret, Chair of the Platteville Historic Re-enactment accepts a check from Optimist Club President, Terri Ellis This year marks the 28th Annual Platteville Historic Re-enactment being held at Mound View Park on September 11-13. Stephanie Saager-Bourret, Chair of the Platteville Historic Re-enactment, shared that the re-enactment started as a Wisconsin Sesquicentennial Project. It's an event where you can experience life as it was during the 1800's as you

Platteville's newly built Family Aquatic Center's Ribbon Cutting was held on June 25th. Our Optimist Club participated by handing out hot dogs. Thank you to all our volunteers! The weather cooperated providing us with a beautiful summer evening for the grand opening. Check out the pictures below.

L-R: Optimist Club Vice President Barb Stockhausen, Bart Neis from Delta 3 Engineering, and Optimist Member Jerry Schewe Bart Neis, President and Owner of Delta 3 Engineering, spoke to the Optimist Club about community planning and project financing. Delta 3 Engineering works with 91 communities throughout Wisconsin and Iowa. Bart personally works with 80 of them taking care of their public works needs and grant writing. He estimated that they work with ~400 projects/year a

L-R: Mary Weigel with Optimist Club Vice President Barb Stockhausen We inducted Mary Weigel into the Platteville Optimist Club on June 26th. Mary recently retired but has no problem keeping busy in the community and with her friends and family. We are excited she chose to join our group. Welcome Mary!

Our Platteville Optimist Club assisted with the Grant County Deputy Sheriff's Outing by donating two gift baskets for the silent auction, as well as soliciting local businesses for donations, raffle items, gift basket items, or hole sponsorships. Libby, Terri, Joy, Linda, and Kevin Optimists Libby Sides, Terri Ellis, Joy Schewe, Linda Foht, and Kevin Bernhardt worked hard preparing for the event and helping at the golf outing held at Platteville Golf and Country Club on Satur

Josh Grabandt, Platteville Chief of Police with Optimist President, Terri Ellis Josh Grabandt began his career with the Platteville Police Department in January, 2000. On March 2, 2026, he began his duties as Platteville Chief of Police. Chief Grabandt spoke about his transition from officer to chief noting that the biggest adjustment is that everyone looks to the chief for directive. He's responsible for writing policies, setting goals, and engaging staff and keeping them

New member Brenda Crossfield with Optimist President Terri Ellis The Platteville Optimist Club inducted Brenda Crossfield as the newest club member on June 19th. Brenda is Pastor at First English Lutheran Church, where our club holds various events during the year. Brenda, thank you for your collaboration and welcome to the Platteville Optimist Club!

Nathan Manwiller, Angie Wright, and President Terri Ellis After receiving our donation of $2,117, Angie Wright and Nathan Manwiller, of the aquatic center fundraising committee, provided additional details on the new center. Overall, construction has gone very well. The only snag, and the reason why the grand opening had to be delayed, is the continual delay in receiving some filters that were originally scheduled to arrive April 1. A positive to the delay, though, is th

President Terri Ellis presents a $2,117 donation for the Platteville Aquatic Center to Angie Wright and Nathan Manwiller Our Club was able to donate $2,117 to the new Platteville Aquatic Center after receiving a $1,000 Childhood Health and Wellness matching grant from Optimist International. A special thank you to Jerry Schewe, who applied for the grant on behalf of our club. The remaining $1,117 came from our generous club members whose mission is to impact the lives of yo

New members pictured are Karin Peacock, Werner DeBrondt, Linda Richardson, Noah Tashner, Dale Young, Doris Young, along with Optimist Club President Terri Ellis. The 2026 New Members Welcome (NOW) Event was held on Saturday, June 6th at First English Lutheran Church. Eight new members joined, six of whom were inducted by Optimist Club President Terri Ellis at our Friday morning meeting. Welcome Karin, Werner, Linda, Noah, Dale and Doris!

Nuzaira Rabbini along with her mother, Farzana Marni were guests at our Friday morning meeting on June 5th. Nuzaira, Platteville Optimist Club's 2026 Oratorical Contest Winner, gave her speech for club members to enjoy. Optimist Ken Kamps talked about the history of our involvement with the Oratorical Contest, which continues to draw amazing talent from Platteville and the surrounding communities.