Honoring those who serve the community 
by Brian Wilson
The Star News
March 11, 2010 —  In any organization or service activity there are those who collect recognition and visibility and others who move in the background getting tremendous amounts done and avoiding the limelight.
Some of these quiet giants of community service are getting their turn to shine as part of the annual Medford Area Chamber of Commerce recognition banquet to be held on Saturday, May 1.
The MACC recognitions committee met Monday afternoon to determine this year’s recipients which include the Employee Excellence Award, J.A. O’Leary Memorial Award, Business Milestone Award and a new award Memorial Health Center Employee Wellness Corporate Leader Award.
The award recipients will be recognized at the 40th annual recognition banquet to be held at the Simek Recreation Center on Saturday, May 1. Tickets for the banquet will go on sale on March 15 and will be available at the chamber office.
The selection committee met Tuesday and named David Brandner as person of the year. JoAnn Smith and Dean Klemm will receive lifetime achievement honors for their work. Audrey Stefancin will be inducted into the J.A. O’Leary Memorial Wall, a special recognition will go to the Wall that Heals Committee, Taylor County will receive the corporate wellness award and Kelly Schmidt and Diane Krueger have earned employee excellence awards.
The award recipients will be recognized at the 41st annual recognition banquet to be held at the Simek Recreation Center on Saturday, May 1. Tickets for the banquet will be available at the chamber office.
Person of the Year
David Brandner
"There aren't many people like Dave in our community,” wrote a letter supporting his nomination. “He is a promoter. From starting or buying businesses to starting new and improved events in our community, he jumps in and works hard. He does not do it for personal gain. He does it to make our community better.
Whenever he is asked, he helps in any way he can and he is not afraid to take leadership roles. We need more people like Dave to step up and give of their time. He has the positive 'Jim Metz' attitude of let's just get it done!" Some of Brandner’s achievements include:
Manager of Re/Max New Horizons Realty.
Owner of Medford U-Haul business and former owner of two taverns.
Medford City Council 2006-09.
Medford Planning Commission since 2009.
Jaycees Outstanding Young Wisconsinite in 2005.
State Jaycees Parlimentarian - received Statesman Award, highest award in Wisconsin Jaycees.
Junior Chamber International Award - Senateship, the highest national award.
Received the Upson Memorial, national Jaycees award.
State Jaycees Treasurer and Northcentral District Director.
President of the Medford Jaycees in 2003 and also held the offices of treasurer, community development vice president and director.
Memorial Health Center Foundation board member
Taylor County Tavern League member for six years. Served as sergant at arms and on the golf tournament planning committee.
Member of the Medford Area Chamber of Commerce for 10 years. Served as a team leader for the Chamber Ambassadors.
Member of the golf tournament and Home and Business Expo committees.
Pine Line Marathon volunteer.
Member of the Strawberries and Cream Committee and chairman of the wood bat softball tournament.

Lifetime Acheivement
Jo Ann Smith
Operates a Town of Little Black dairy farm with her husband, Delmar, since 1959. Mother of three, grandparent to five and great-grandparent to two.
Hosted the first Town and Country Dairy Breakfast in 1985. Has served on the Taylor County Breakfast Committee since its inception.
“JoAnn has devoted her life to making our community a better place,” wrote Chip Courtney, general manager of Medford Cooperative. “The remarkable thing about JoAnn is that her community service influence dedication and hard work has spanned such a wide range of services and over such a long period of time. Church, civic educational, healthcare and profession organizations across not only our community but also statewide and nationally have benefited from JoAnn’s wisdom, dedication and selfless service.”
Some of her achievements are:
Hosted the Taylor County Twilight Meeting in 1985.
Farm Family of the Year in 1990.
WLJY Farm Wife of the Year in 1991.
Taylor County Green Ribbon Program. Hosted farm mass.
FFA Alumni officer 1991-94.
Honored for FFA outstanding service.
FFA Chapter Farmer.
1992 graduate of Leadership Medford program.
1998 Dairy promoters of the year.
Town of Little Black Clerk since 2003.
Farm Service Agency director 2007-09.
Taylor County Electric Board since 2007.
Medford Cooperative Board since 1993.
Farm Credit Services Board 2007-2009.
AMPI and Foremost - director.
Memorial Hospital Foundation Board.
Officer in Black River Rock Dodgers snowmobile club.
Active member of Holy Rosary Catholic Church, including Finance Council.
Lifetime of involvement in 4-H.
Dean Klemm
The nomination letters for Dean Klemm describe him as a a “great friend, devoted family man, a good neighbor, an awesome boss and an incredibly loving and caring person.”
“I truly aspire to become the kind of person Dean is and strove to just come close to what Dean has accomplished,” wrote Leslie Hebert in support of his nomination.
Some of Klemm’s achievements are:
Member of the American and Wisconsin Institutes of Certified Public Accountants
Recipient of 25 year service award for Hawkins Ash Baptie
Trustee/treasurer and chairman of the Finance Council for Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church
Treasurer of Memorial Health Center Foundation
Member of the Capital Campaign Committee for Memorial Health Center
Treasurer of the Medford Lions since 1993 and treasurer for the Lions district cabinet in 2009-10.
Recipient of Melvin Jones Fellowship, the highest award from Lions International in 2007
Recipient of Medford Lion of the Year award
Treasurer of the Michler Hunting Club and Medford Investment Club
Secretary for the Cattail Tap fantasy football league
Little league baseball coach
Longtime Dairyland Baseball League player. One career softball home run.

Employee Excellence
Kelly Schmidt is sales manager at The Star News in Medford. “Kelly has always looked for ways to promote The Star News even when she was in the composing department. Because of her drive and desire for a quality product she moved from designing ads to the sales manager,” wrote Kris O’Leary, Star News general manager. In addition Schmidt has assumed the office manager duties.
“Kelly has never been one to watch the clock. She comes in early and stays late until the job is done. When other employees in other departments are out sick or on vacation she steps into a number of job positions to make sure deadlines are met and the work gets done. She doesn’t tolerate negative attitudes and wants The Star News employees to to work as a team to put out the best product we can,” O’Leary wrote.
Diane Krueger is a paralegal at Jensen, Scott, Grunewald and Shiffler law firm in Medford and has worked at the firm for more than 30 years working her way up from being a secretary/receptionist to paralegal. Her nomination letter stated: “Although our firm would likely still function if Diane Krueger were not part of it, it would not function nearly as smoothly or as well as it does with Diane. Beyond her regular duties, Diane is also willing to step up and do what is needed whether it is answering phones, typing an appellate brief when my secretary was out sick on the day the brief had to be completed and put in the mail, or coming into the office at 11:30 p.m. on a Sunday night to assist one of the attorneys in a pressing legal matter.”
“Not only does Diane make our office work well, she also makes it a fun place to work. . . . Diane has a good sense of humor which helps lighten the mood at our office and when someone wants to vent or needs someone to talk to, Diane is always willing to listen. When Diane goes on vacation, our office not only becomes a little less productive, it becomes a little less fun.”

J.A. O’Leary Distinguished Community Service Memorial Wall
This award recognizes those who were struck down in the midst of their service to the community and who have not been honored in other awards.
Audrey Stefancin
Audrey A. Stefancin, died Tuesday, Sept. 15 after a battle with cancer. She was director of religious education for grades preschool through grade six at Holy Rosary Catholic School, where she was also parish secretary for over a year until the time of her death.
She was a member of Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Women's Auxiliary of the Knights of Columbus, Christian Women's Group and Cardmaking Club. She enjoyed crafts, stamping, scrapbooking, reading, playing board games, going to Grandma's cottage in Eagle River, traveling without an agenda, cooking, and most of all being around family and friends, especially children.
Audrey was a giver who worked in the background making things happen. “If we had 50 names for the giving tree she would find 10 more,” her husband Deacon Joe Stefancin said in an interview following her death. Her efforts were felt by all those who worked with her in various capacities over the years. She was a doer, someone who did not seek the spotlight but made sure tasks were completed. The guestbook of her CaringBridge site has hundreds of posts from people who have felt her touch over the years, some in small ways and others in large ways.

Other honors
In addition to the other awards, two area businesses are being recognized for achieving milestones of service to the community.
The Medford Fire Department has served the community for 125 years.
Hoffman’s Ben Franklin and Tee Hi Golf Course have served the community for 75 years.
Wanke Builders has served the community for 50 years.
Medford Farm Home Center, Hope Hospice, and Firnstahl Flooring have all served the area for 25 years.
Taylor County will be recognized with the Corporate Wellness Award and the Wall that Heals committee will receive special recognition. “Over the week that the Wall was in Medford, it brought thousands of people to the community generating a tremendous economic, educational and cultural impact on the Medford community. The work in bringing the Wall to Medford brought together a diverse group of individuals representing a wide array of backgrounds and ideologies and gave visitors an opportunity to pause and reflect on war and its consequences and the sacrifices made,” wrote the person nominating the committee for the recognition.

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