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Mother Nature can't Stop Us

First Game Underway

Great Crowds all Weekend

During the weekend of July 23-25, 2010, The Team Ready Foundation held our 6th Annual Charity Softball Tournament at Marathon Lanes in Marathon City. This year’s event brought in 8 teams and hundreds of spectators and volunteers to help raise money for the Tim Wissbroecker Family. Tim is currently undergoing rehabilitation after being critically injured in a hit and run accident while riding his bike on July 5th of this year. With everyone’s help, we were able to raise over $4500 to help the Wissbroecker Family with medical and living expenses.

In addition to the 20 softball games played in the course of the weekend, fans also enjoyed activities such as the numerous raffles, Home Run Derby, Dizzy Bat Races, Keg Toss, and our first ever Hot Dog Eating Contest.

First, we’d like to thank the teams and fans that came from as far as Appleton to play and support the concession stand, raffles and other activities. The teams included: Lindsey Bar (Marshfield), Domino’s Pizza (Schofield), Last Call (Wausau), Loading Zone (Wausau), Night Train (Marathon), The Checkered Flag (Appleton), Whitetail Bar (Mosinee), and Coach’s Sports (Wausau).

Second, thank you to our incredible sponsors: Miller Brewing, 1st Place Trophy & Engraving, Eastbay, Domino’s Pizza, The Green Bay Packers, The Milwaukee Brewers, The Milwaukee Bucks, and especially our major sponsor, Kwik Trip Stores. Through their amazing donations, we were able to return a larger profit for the Wissbroecker Family.

Third, thank you to Marathon Lanes Sport Complex for the use of their facility and their hospitality all weekend.

Last, an extra large THANK YOU to the other members of the Team Ready Foundation, and the Friends and Family of Tim Wissbroecker for the hours of work leading up to, through and following the event. Whether it be securing donations, frying cheese curds, serving in the concession stand, selling raffle tickets, umpiring games, chasing foul and home run balls, scorekeeping, picking up garbage, washing dishes, cutting grass or the preparation of the playing field.

Our goal has been to always make this event enjoyable for everyone involved while making a valuable contribution to our communities. Our softball tournaments have raised $20,000 for local charitable causes over our six years and hope to continue to increase our numbers every year.

Thank You again!!

Hot Dog Eating Contest

First Place to Lindsey's Bar

Team Ready & Wissbroeckers

* Click for Full Softball Tournament Photo Gallery *

75th Anniversary Camp Reunion -- June 11-13, 2010

Project Gallery Reunion Photos

A major intent of the Team Ready Foundation incorporation was to fill a gap caused by the absence of a camp alumni association. As part of this summer’s camp reunion, the official camp alumni association was unveiled. Team Ready officers have been instrumental in starting this association, so they have our full support to expand the CLSR Fellowship program.

We will work closely with the Samoset Camps Alumni Association officers to make a smooth transition. We thank all Team Ready members & friends that have contributed to our scholarship programs since 2004 and encourage you to join us in continuing to financially support staff scholarships through the SCAA. More details were shared at the reunion and are available on the alumni website.

Thank you to all alumni & friends that helped with the monumental anniversary projects, participated in events throughout the weekend, and in other ways helped to preserve the legacy.

Annual Banquet - January 23, 2010

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Thank you to all members and friends that attended our recent banquet at the Anderson Home (thanks again Jason & Liz). Thank you to all that made contributions to our operations fund and/or in support our family sponsorship project this year.

Thank you to Drew Nelson for years of leadership as Vice-President. Drew is stepping down to focus his efforts on the establishment of the official Camp Alumni Association. And welcome to Simon Larsen, who was unanimously approved to join the foundation's executive board.

Thank you to members that organized foundation events this past year - Jason & Liz, Will, Rob, Drew, Scott, Brian, Todd and Aaron, or made significant financial contributions - Jason & Liz, Will & Christy, Matt, John & Jess, Bill, Simon, Todd, Nelson & Lindquist, Roger & Shirley and Ed. Also thank you and congratulations to members that have reached new service levels this year - 25 hours: John, Andrew, Luke, Sam, Chad and Dallas, 100 hours: Mike, Joy, Dave and Shirley, and 250 hours: Drew and Aaron.

Thank you to all that support our mission!

Service Awards Contributor Recognition

PICTURES SLIDE SHOW

Labor Day Weekend Family Campout

The Merrill Council Grounds served as the gathering site for the 2nd Annual Team Ready Family Campout. Family and friends were welcomed for all or part of the weekend, and participated in various activities including, swimming, boating, tubing, cooking (highlighted by a big steak dinner Saturday night), fishing, biking, hiking, and much socialization. When asked what his favorite part of the weekend was, Timothy Sackmann of Weston responded "Um, camping! and playing at the beach!". It was a great chance to get together in a laid back environment with people you don't always get to see. It is clearly an event that Team Ready will continue for years to come. Keep your eyes out for the location for the 3rd Annual Team Ready Family Campout, Labor Day Weekend 2010!!

Pontooning on Lake Alexander

Camping at the Council Grounds

FULL PHOTO GALLERY

2009 Fellowship Presentation

For the sixth year in a row, the Team Ready Foundation has recognized leaders on the camp staff at the Crystal Lake Scout Reservation with fellowship awards to assist those leaders with their educational goals. Jake Trantow, the Eagle Quest Director at Camp Tesomas and Ben Cooper, the Health Officer and Commissioner at Akela's World are the two recipients. Both young men are fine examples of leadership and dedication to scouting principals necessary for consistent and quality camp staff, which results in the best possible opportunity to pass sound moral principals onto boys. Congratulations Ben and Jake!

FELLOWSHIP HISTORY

5th Annual Charity Softball Tourney

Over the weekend of June 5-7, the Team Ready Foundation held our 5th Annual Charity Softball Tournament at Marathon Lanes Sports Complex. Despite record cold temperatures, wind and rain, a record $4046 was raised to support local community activities.

Look who is doing the work

Lots of field maintenance... again

In addition to using a portion of the proceeds to continue our support of scholarships, memorials and youth sporting activities, the Team Ready Foundation donates the bulk of the funds raised to varying charities each year. In 2009, the volunteers choose to support area food pantries – this year $3046 will be shared between The Neighbors’ Place in Wausau and Operation Bootstrap in Stevens Point (plus a $1000 donation was already made in April to take advantage of the Feinstein Foundation matching funds challenge, and over one hundred non-perishable food items were also collected at the tournament).

The continued success of this event is made possible through the combined support of many groups. Thank you to the dozens of volunteers and hundreds of players & spectators on hand throughout the weekend. Thank you to the sponsors of the participating teams – Werner Insurance, SD Ellenbecker, Domino’s Pizza, B&K Trucking, Loading Zone, Night Train, Thunder Lube and Jerry’s Music (with a special thanks to several teams that continue to donate their prize money back to the cause). Thank you to the businesses that donated concession stand supplies – lead again by the major sponsorship from Kwik Trip and their many vendors, along with contributions from Eastbay, Pepsi, Central Beer, 1st Place Trophy & Engraving, and the numerous area businesses that provided door prizes & gift certificates. Thank you all for helping make lives better in our communities.

First Pitch

Final Handshake

PHOTO GALLERY RESULTS SPONSORS ALL DETAILS

8th Annual Winter Banquet

In addition to formally accepting the annual operating budget, members approved Rob Hughes to join the Team Ready Board of Directors. Rob fills the role for the "retiring" Todd McDonald and Josh Stevens, who have served on the board since our incorporation. Thank you to Todd & Josh, and thank you to all of the event coordinators and financial supporters for the past year. Also congratulations to Dick Amelse, Troy Armstrong & Paul Sackmann for reaching the 25 hour level and to Will Churchill & Roger Sackmann for reaching the 100 hour level in our service award program.

Social Hour

Happy Hour

Friends & Family

Annual Food Drive

YEAR-END SLIDE SHOW BANQUET PHOTO GALLERY

Intramural Flag Football Tournament
October 25 - 1pm at Wausau East High School

Team Ready sponsored the cookout and supported the food drive for Neighbor's Place

Recognized by Wausau School District with Friends of Education Service Award

Chefs cookin' up lunch

Coach layin' out the rules

Players gettin' it on

Volunteers servin' the community

FULL PHOTO GALLERY

June 20-22 Safe Kids Charity Softball Tourney
Our 4th annual tournament raised $3,051 this year for the Wausau Area Safe Kids programs and the Team Ready Sponsorship Fund. Thanks in big part to all of our volunteers, participants, spectators, sponsors, host and good weather.
(Thank you Todd, Will, Troy, Stove, Brian, Drew, Dave, Roger, Shirley, Paul, Gretchen, Jeff,
Josh, Rick, Dick, Sandy, Luke, Sam, Rob, John, Simon, Justin, Andy, Chad, Dallas & Michelle)

Congratulations to the Champions - Electro Glo, Runner Ups & Beer Drinking Champs - Engine Co 54, Consolation Champs - The Crew, Home Run Derby - Mike Sadowska, Keg Toss - Brandon Zopfi, and thanks to all other teams - MEC Party Rental, Reede's Custom Curb, Steamin' Dragons, Loading Zone & the Black Sox.

RESULTS *FULL PHOTO GALLERY* SPONSORS

7th Annual Winter Banquet

January 12, 2008

Andersons' Home in St.Point

**You are welcome to arrive early for Packer game kick-off**
**Schedule may be adjusted pending completion of the game**

4:00 - Social Hour
5:00 - Buffet Dinner
6:00 - Program (Awards & Slideshow)
7:00 - More Social Time

Team Ready will be providing the Hot Beef Main Course, with participants asked to bring a dish to pass. Please also bring the beverage of your choice, if not wishing to join the community keg of Miller Lite.

Team Ready also wishes to continue our community service contributions by asking attendees to bring a non-perishable item(s) to donate to our annual food drive for the local "Operation Bootstrap" program.

We look forward to seeing everyone again!

Over 100 pounds of food collected in 2006

Inaugural award presentations in 2007

[2007 SLIDE SHOW] [2008 PICTURES]

Habitat for Humanity

October 13 & 20, 2007

Cutting Insulation for the Concrete Slab

Custom Fitting around Hydronic Piping

(Enthusiastically) Raising the first Wall

Adding Last Top Plate before Trusses Arrive

Coming together to help others has been the foundation of Team Ready's existence. Construction weekends first began while many members worked at the summer camp, then blossomed as families began to acquire their first homes, and now those skills are regularly being shared throughout our communities.

While having helped with assorted construction projects for different causes over the past several years, Team Ready is proud to have developed an on-going relationship with local Habitat for Humanity chapters for our annual fall service project - often spending several weekends per year preparing a home for an underprivileged family in our area. Lending a hand, regardless of skill level, is always welcomed as the news video of our most recent weekend helps to show such combined efforts.

Koskelin Welcome Center Construction

May-August 2007

The Koskelin Welcome Center is being constructed at the entrance of Tesomas Scout Camp in memory of Steve Koskelin. Steve was a Scoutmaster in Wausau and Land O' Lakes, and a big supporter of programs at camp. At the time of his death, Steve was in the process of putting together a log cabin for his troop and his family has donated that cabin to be used at camp.

The camp alumni members of Team Ready were asked to coordinate the assembly and provide some special touches to this memorial. The project began with setting the foundation and log walls during May, and the window & door were installed prior to camp opening in June. During July, volunteers from Week 5 custom built the roof & porch and throughout Week 6 other volunteers added the deck, installed the electrical, and got started on the staining. After camp ended in August, many volunteers returned to install the metal roof, custom build gable windows, add exterior trim, and complete exterior staining. A few finishing touches remain during the offseason, but the final product will be ready for full use in the summer of 2008.

Our thanks to all the volunteers who have helped with this special and significant undertaking, so far: Todd, Aaron, Will, Chris, Drew, Dave, Rob, Dick, Al, Larry, Mike, Don, Jerry, Dustin, Matt, Dave, John, Scott, Ken, Dave, Lyle, Tim, Mike, Don, Jade, Joe, Dylan, and Summer Camp Staff, Ranger Staff, OA Ordeal Crews, and the many part-time helpers at Fall Conference - THANK YOU ALL!

Staff Weekend Foundation & Wall Crew

Period 6 Deck & Electrical Volunteers

In-Progress Photo Gallery

3rd Annual Charity Softball Tournament

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June 22-24, 2007

With the help of great weather, volunteers, players, fans and sponsors, we will be able to make an increased donation of over $3000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation this year.

Thank you to all teams that participated and congratulations on your placements: 1st Place - Werner Insurance (Edgar), 2nd Place - ElectroGlo (Fort Atkinson), 3rd Place - Steamin' Dragons (Marshfield), 4th Place - Weston Lanes (Wausau), 5th Place - MEC Party Rental (Wausau), 6th Place - Loading Zone (Wausau), 7th Place - Partner's Pub (Stevens Point) and 8th Place - 4tk (Oshkosh). Congratulations also to the traditional homerun derby champ - Troy Armstrong (Loading Zone) and the inaugural keg toss champ - Ryan Bargender (Werner Insurance), and the drinking champions - Loading Zone. And a special thank you to everyone for supporting the concession stand, the raffle drawings, and the teams that donated their prize money back to our cause.

Thank you to all of our sponsors, especially our lead sponsor - Kwik Trip, with special appreciation to the additional major support from Miller Lite & the Wausau East Intramural Programs, and other significant contributions from Four Seasons Screen Printing, Wausau Window & Wall Systems, 1st Place Trophy & Engraving, Sun Printing, Eastbay, the Milwaukee Brewers and Green Bay Packers. Thanks to Todd, Will & Rob for making arrangements with the donors and teams before the weekend. And THANK YOU to all the volunteers for helping throughout the weekend and in many different areas like umpiring, field maintenance, score keeping, concession stand, grilling, raffle drawings, special events, setting up & cleaning up - Todd, Will, Rob, Stove, Roger, Shirley, Brian, Sandy, Drew, Dave, Carol, Travis, Rick, Dick, Scott, Mike, Josh, Renee, Simon, Troy, Paul, Jeff, Andy, Dallas & Chris.

This year's event was hosted by Josh & Renee Stevens at their home in Plover. The social hour and potluck dinner was followed by the introduction of the Team Ready Service Awards and Special Contributor Recognitions. Another 100 pounds of non-perishable food items were collected for the local "Operation Bootstrap" food pantry, and we were treated to another of Brian's slide show retrospects of the past year.

The Team Ready Service Awards have been established to recognize increasing levels of volunteer hours for our community service events, with key rings and glass mugs presented this year - a current list of hours and recipients has been added here. The roofing fundraising crew was also recognized with a special utility knife tool (for future projects). And custom desk top ornaments and wall plaques were presented to members that organized our social events, made substantial financial contributions, and coordinated our incorporation & service projects. See our latest newsletter for a listing of all recipients.

This project turned out to be about twice the work that we expected, but it was also twice as profitable as a result. In addition to being able to fund our tax exempt filing fees, we will now be able to do a little extra because of the homeowners' appreciation for the extra efforts and quality on this project.

Whether for a couple hours or a couple of days, all help was greatly appreciated - especially those that came in early on Thursday to get things started and those that returned on Monday to put on the finishing touches. Thank you to everyone that volunteered to come and help us - Drew, Brian, Simon, Todd, Mike, Jason, Justin, Rob, Art, Dustin & Josh (and Mr. Goodness for lunch).

Congratulations to 2006 recipients Andy Haka (Tesomas Scout Camp Waterfront Director) and Kevin Keen (Hanna Venture Base Micro-Trek Leader).

Team Ready's annual awarding of fellowships is intended to provide financial assistance for deserving senior staff members that provide quality peer leadership during the summer, but might otherwise be struggling to afford to return to camp year after year. More history is included on our fellowship page, and if you would like more information or make a contribution, please contact our Fellowship Coordinator. Thank you to all alumni that contributed to this year's award!

Josh & Drew presenting................................Andy & Kevin receiving.

Despite another year of nasty weather, the Team Ready Foundation was able to raise over $2000 for Children's Miracle Network.

The heavy rain and lightning caused the cancellation of Sunday's championship games, with the managers of the remaining teams agreeing to split the prize money based on record of games completed. First place was awarded to Kim's Barrel Inn of Stevens Point, and second place was shared by Nasty Dogs of Wausau and Stepans of Mosinee. Remaining teams in the Toilet Bowl Bracket were MEC of Wausau, Jeykl & Hyde of Oshkosh, and Donger's of Wausau. Donger's was also awarded the custom Homer Simpson Beer Drinking Trophy. Thanks also to the other teams that participated in the tournament: Loading Zone (Wausau), Team Strupp (Marshfield), Kelly Club (Schofield) and Powell Realty (Minnesota); along with the celebrity & children's kickball game between WYTE & WAOW.

The success was due in large part to all the dedicated volunteers and supportive sponsors, especially some very impressive raffle prizes from Kwik Trip. Other sponsors including US Bank, Central Beer, 1st Place Trophy & Engraving, Subway, and the Loading Zone. Volunteers both on the field and off the field were lead by Brian, and included Sandy, Todd, Rob, Josh, Renee, Stove, Aurise, Jason Liz, Justin, Becca, Will, Drew, Rick, Roger, Dave, Lynn, Carolyn, Bethany, Kiara & Kris - THANK YOU to All!!!

Here's how the weekend started..................and here's how the weekend ended.

Our tradition of preparing meals for this year camp staff training continued for another season. With the meals being served at Hanna Venture Base, we expanded our contributions to camp by building bunk beds for the newly renovated HVB staff housing area. Between cooking & cleaning, we setup a workshop to construct 5 new bunk beds and refinish the existing 3 bunk beds. This weekend's motivational speech after dinner was given by Stove (ask him about video games sometime). Big thanks to the members and alumni that came together to make this another success - Renee, Josh, Jason, Stove, Todd, Will, John, Rob & Brian. Check out the gallery for a photo recap of the weekend.

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