Platteville Optimist Club

Karin Peacock Wendy Johnson Kathy Kubitz L-R: President Terri Ellis and Master Gardeners Wendy Johnson, Kathy Kubitz and Carley Borcherding Three Master Gardeners, Karin Peacock, Wendy Johnson, and Kathy Kubitz spoke to our Club on Friday, May 8, 2026. A Master Gardener is a volunteer who has become certified by the Master Gardener program. They explained that they may not have all the answers but they know where to look or who to ask. They present only research-bas

L-R: Optimist Members Scott Onson and Amy Coffey, Darin Shireman from Wayfarer Coffee, Optimist Club President Terri Ellis Darin Shireman is the former owner of Badger Bros Coffee and current owner of Wayfarer Coffee. Wayfarer Coffee is a coffee roaster and shop in Dubuque known for ethically sourced, small-batch roasted beans, and a mission to promote community connection. They also supply their roasted beans to other local businesses. Darin admits that after many years in

Mattie Schutte Mattie Schutte left her home in Berlin, Germany to spend the school year as a foreign exchange student at the Platteville High School. She and last week's speaker, Nadia de las Rivas are both staying with Optimist Amber Monroe. Mattie has had to adjust from living in a large metropolitan area to the much slower pace of our small city. She shared pictures of festivals in Germany, which almost always include German beer. Both large and small Christmas markets a

Left and center: Nadia de las Rivas, PHS foreign exchange student. Right: Nadia and Optimist Victoria Hundhausen share a few words in Spanish. Nadia de las Rivas, a foreign exchange student at Platteville High School, is spending the school year with Optimist Club member Amber Monroe. Nadia is from Spain but more specifically from Palma the capital city of the island of Mallorca. Located in the Mediterranean Sea, Mallorca is the largest of the five islands comprising the Bal

Robin Fuller Pastor Lex Liberatore Today's speakers were Pastor Lex Liberatore & Robin Fuller from First Congregational Church. They spoke primarily about what they are trying to do to combat loneliness and depression through some of their secular outreach programs. Contrary to what many believe, loneliness and depression is more prevalent among teens and young adults than in senior citizens. Part of this is due to the excessive screen time in the younger generation

Center: Victoria Hundhausen shows her "Alien" green card. Far Right: Victoria Hundhausen with Optimist President Terri Ellis Optimist member, Victoria Hundhausen, is a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city in Argentina with a population of 17 million people. Victoria grew up in the city, where approximately 3 million reside, being a resident for 30 years. She shared her personal immigration story, prefacing it by saying she is n

Speaker Michael Bottrell Michael Bottrell, a retired dentist, maintains a Master Personal Trainer certification. Throughout the years, he has had on going knife, handgun and jiu-jitsu training. He has earned a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). Michael spoke to the Optimist Club about the world of violence, specifically about sexual assaults. One in four women report that they have experienced sexual violence. Most cases go unreported. While we like to think that these

L-R: Optimist Member Beth Frieders; Tera Montgomery, Pioneer Sweets; and Optimist President Terri Ellis Tera Montgomery is originally from the Fond du Lac area and earned her undergrad from UW-River Falls in Equine Science. She went to Maryland to earn her graduate degree and earned her PhD from the University of Illinois. In 2009, she came to the UW-Platteville School of Agriculture where she was initially assigned to teach a dairy products class. At the time, she had li

Far Right L-R: Optimist Member Beth Frieders, Juli McGuire from Blue Roof Orchard, and Optimist President Terri Ellis The Optimist Club was delighted to have Juli McGuire speak this morning about her passion for sustainable farming and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA's). Juli is a native Hungarian. After she graduated from college in Hungary, she had the opportunity to come to New York state for a year. It was there that she met her husband, Chris, who worked in a col

Middle: "Doodlebot"; Far Right L-R: Optimist President Terri Ellis, Cathy Corbett, and Optimist Member Beth Frieders As a child, Cathy Corbett's dream job was to "do stuff, learn things, and never go to meetings." She thought she would like to be a veterinarian or work as a scientist at 3M. Today, Cathy is a Professor in the biology department at University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Outside of work, she and her husband, Chuck, work with the "Dairyland Diamonds" 4H group

L-R: Optimist President Terri Ellis & Sean Wolfe Sean Wolfe, Hardware Asset Manager from the UW-Platteville Information Technology Services department delivered an informative presentation about artificial intelligence to the Platteville Optimists using his AI-generated PowerPoint. He shared that he's always been curious about the world around him and interested in technology thanks to hours of Star Trek, Star Wars, and Bill Nye, the Science Guy, so his career in Educati

L-R: Dr. Daniel Rowland, UW-P Music Department and Optimist President Terri Ellis Dr. Daniel Rowland from the UW-Platteville Music Department describes himself as "just a tuba guy that loves to travel." He shared his experiences on how he uses travel points and travel miles to allow him to travel at a minimal expense. Danny got hooked on collecting travel points and travel miles after reading "The Points Guy Book" and "10x Travel." The goal is to strategically earn and red

Left: Lindsay Hollingsworth, Professor of Education and UWP Associate Director of the School of Education Center: Les Hollingsworth, Professor of Marketing and Director of UWP School of Business Right: Les and Lindsay Hollingsworth with Optimist President Terri Ellis Dynamic husband and wife duo, Lindsay and Les Hollingsworth, spoke to the Platteville Optimist Club on January 16th, 2026, about their roles in two of UWP's pre-professional schools at the University of Wiscon

Amy Coffey and Barb Stockhausen Fellow Optimist Barb Stockhausen talked about the tax ramifications of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that was passed by Congress on July 3. The bill includes some challenging changes and will require more thinking and work by the tax filer. Whereas lots of the income data was included on the W-2, there is an expectation that the taxpayer will be more responsible for maintaining records to receive many of the credits. The entire bill relies o

L-R: Optimist Member Bob Hundhausen, Ironman Competitor Mandi Jacquinot, Optimist President Terri Ellis Our speaker on December 12, 2025 was Mandi Jacquinot who spoke about her love for running and competing in marathons and Ironman competitions. Originally from Decorah, IA, Mandi played volleyball and softball in High School but never considered herself an "athlete". She started running during her college years at Loras College in Dubuque, IA. After she graduated, she si

Royal Palmer Doreen Hlavaty, Royal, President Terri Ellis Royal Palmer Royal Palmer, co-owner of the Driftless Market & Deli spoke to us about the challenges of being a small business owner in rural Wisconsin. In late 2019, Royal left his job with Target Corporation in Minneapolis and moved to Platteville with his husband Tony. Together with Royal’s sister Robin and her husband they purchased the Driftless Market in February of 2020. The timing of the purchase could no

L-R: Optimist Member Doreen Hlavaty; Monica Mueller, FASD Community Resident; Epiphany Garner, CNA; Angie Coffman, FASD Community Resident Epiphany Garner, CNA, spoke to our club about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), which are lifelong physical, developmental, behavioral and intellectual disabilities caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol and drugs. It can impact as many as 1 in 20 children in the U.S., more than twice the rate of autism, according to the CDC. The

Bruce Richardson Clark Anderson, Bruce Richardson and Optimist President Terri Ellis On Friday October 31st, our speaker was Bruce Richardson, a hunter safety instructor and pheasant guide for Wounded Warriors. Bruce became a safety instructor “by accident”. He was turkey hunting in 1991 when he was shot by a companion. After repeatedly being asked to speak at various safety courses and subsequently encouraged to become an instructor, he did. Bruce said hunter safe

Coach Gard and Joey Fuhremann Joey Fuhremann, Optimist President Terri Ellis, Coach Gard and Optimist Charlie Clark Today we enjoyed our annual visit with UW-Platteville Men's Basketball Coach Jeff Gard. Coach Gard was accompanied by Team Member and Senior Joey Fuhremann. Coach talked about how the team's trip to Greece in April of 2025 was a valuable because it gave returning players an opportunity to bond and grow as a team. Fuhremann was unable to play in Greece due to a

L-R; Optimist Member Clark Anderson; Renee Clark, Kieler Farms; Optimist President Terri Ellis Renee Clark is a third generation owner of Kieler Farms with eight other family members who all have a great passion for, and commitment to, Wisconsin's dairy industry. Renee is also a mom to three daughters, a marathon runner, and a cross country coach at Platteville High School. Her grandfather, Lawrence Kieler, bought their original 250 acre farm in 1947 where he milked 13 cows