Geneva Lakes Breeze June 2024

TheBreeze

Serving the Geneva Lakes area

New principal named for Badger High School

The Lake GenevaGenoa City Union High School Board recently announced that Andrea Kaplan will serve as principal of Badger High School beginning on July 1.

Kaplan, who has more than 26 years experience in education, serves as principal of Clarendon Avenue Elementary School in the Mukwonago Area School District.

Raised in Wichita, Kansas, Kaplan graduated from Newman University with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education, before earning a master’s in school leadership at Baker University.

Before Kaplan earned her master’s degree, she taught 13 years at the elementary and high school levels, according to a news release.

She also has served as associate principal at South Milwaukee Middle School and Wauwatosa East High School.

“I am pleased and excited to announce the hiring of Mrs. Andrea Kaplan as Principal at Badger High School,” said Peter Wilson, Superintendent. “ Kaplan’s wealth of experience, strong leadership, and unwavering dedication to achieving excellence will elevate the educational experience of our students and contribute to Badger’s continued success.”

Kaplan and her husband, Bryan, have two sons, Cade and Jacoby.

During her free time, Kaplan finds joy in family time, CrossFit workouts, and enjoying anything sports-related.

“Being named as the new Principal of Badger High School is an honor. I am excited about the opportunity to lead a school with a dedicated and talented staff, rich traditions of academic and extracurricular excellence, and a wonderfully supportive community,” said Kaplan. “Together, we will continue to engage, educate, and empower the students of Badger High School to reach their fullest potential and leave a legacy of success.”

Kaplan succeeds Jennifer Straus as the Badger High School Principal.

Straus announced her retirement in January following a 15-year career at Badger High School and 33 years in public education.

A view of the heavens

While Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay often provides clear astronomical views via telescope, the appearance of the recent Northern Lights offered a different look to the observatory.

Special visit

The Green Bay Packers Tailgate Tour made multiple stops in southeastern Wisconsin, including a visit to Badger High School in Lake Geneva, where players and officials delivered remarks to students during an assembly in April. According to the Packers, officials from the NFL team discussed the challenges of social media and the importance of students being themselves. left: Packers CEO Mark Murphy (left) talks to those gathered in the gym during the team’s visit to Lake Geneva as part of the tour. above: Former and current Green Bay Packers sit along the baseline at the school during the assembly.

Andrea Kaplan

MIKE HOEY The Breeze

Part of something bigger

100+ Women Who Care of Walworth County supports the helpers

By Callie Koehne

CORRESPONDENT

It started with a dream.

In 2019 Cherith Anderson was chatting with a friend about their neighborhood in Lake Geneva, marveling over how many nonprofits had popped up in the area.

There seemed to be so much need and it was inspiring to see so many doing something about it. She wanted to help in some way so started thinking about the immediate needs she’d heard of and wondered if there was a way to simplify giving so that donations reached their destinations quicker, maybe even immediately.

Anderson began to imagine gathering a few friends for a barbecue in her backyard where she would tell them about the amazing organizations around town then ask each for $5 to help out.

It was a nice idea, she thought, but she knew that even that would take time. Several things got in the way of making her dream happen, but she mentioned the idea to as many people as she could. Once it took off, she knew she would do it regularly and hoped that once in motion the time from donation to real help would be a day or two at the most.

Then, while on vacation in Michigan a woman told her that she should look into 100 Women Who Care because it reminded her of Anderson’s idea. She jumped on Google and almost immediately sent a text to her friend Sarah Augustson: “Let’s do this.” Both were on board.

They found there were chapters all over the world, including in Kenosha. It seemed like Cherith’s dream was right in front of her. They attended the next meeting in Kenosha and took notes on how it worked then scoured the internet for information. Soon after they built a website and began spreading the word to women in Walworth County.

The founding team consisted of Anderson, Augustson, Dana Furlo, Cherith Anderson, Sherri Gorecki, Cyndie DeVries, and Cari Alberts.

“We reached out to every woman we knew and asked them to come together to support the helpers in our community,” Anderson said.

Simple strategy

The model is simple: the group meets twice a year, every woman who attends brings $100 and they spend an hour hearing from three local nonprofits about their work and mission. Then they vote

Movement, which works to raise awareness and put an end to human trafficking, was

and the winning nonprofit takes all.

Much like Anderson’s initial dream, 100 Women Who Care began with a simple question: “What if?”

Karen Dunigan, a former Jackson, Michigan mayor and prominent business owner, was at lunch in 2006 with executive leadership from the Center for Family Health when she heard about a desperate need new mothers had for portable cribs. Looking into the issue more, she learned that mothers were putting their newborn babies in shoeboxes because of a lack of funds to buy them beds.

Dunigan decided she needed to raise $10,000 quickly. She knew she could call 10 friends and ask them for $1,000 but wondered what would happen if she got 100 and asked for $100. Her idea caught on like wildfire and she founded the 100 Who Care Alliance.

The Walworth County Chapter of 100 Women Who Care was set to have their first meeting in April of 2020. They’d announced it in March of that year and had over 200 women interested.

“It was phenomenal, we never thought we’d have so much interest,” Anderson said. “But then Covid hit and it was two more years before our first meeting.”

Lorrie Cain, a member of the 100 Women Walworth Chapter, said the idea is brilliant. Her sister lived at Inspiration Ministries, a residential community for those with disabilities, for eight years.

“Helping those in need is near and dear to my heart,” Cain said, adding that she and her husband volunteer at Inspired Coffee in Lake Geneva and spent a significant amount of time volunteering with the Walworth County Adult Special Olympics.

“Initially when I heard about 100 women I just wanted to help. Then I realized that it was an amazing place to learn about all the different non-profits in our area,” she said.

A platform for nonprofits

With over 100 nonprofits in Lake Geneva alone the sheer scale can seem

Dawn Heath-Fiedler is surrounded by members of the 100+ Women Who Care of Walworth County. Her nonprofit, Join The

the recipient of this year’s grant.

SUBMITTED PHOTO The Breeze

on the cover: The Geneva, one of eight boats in the Lake Geneva Cruise Line fleet, is loaded with guests ready to head out on a tour. The cruise line operates boat tours on Geneva Lake until the end of October. To learn more about the fleet, see this year’s schedule and purchase tickets, visit www.cruiselakegeneva.com.

All in the wheels: Historical Society presents on Schwinn family

By Fred Noer

CORRESPONDENT

Throughout the world the Schwinn name is synonymous with bicycles. The name is known in the Geneva Lake area because the Schwinn family has had residences dating back more than 100 years.

A program about the international and local identities of the Schwinns was presented Thursday, April 18, when the Historical Society of Walworth and Big Foot Prairie met in the Kelly Freeman Community Room of Walworth Memorial Library in Walworth.

Ed Schwinn, 75, of Lake Geneva gave the program. He served as chairman and CEO of the bicycle company beginning in 1979 until the business was sold in 1993.

The company was founded in 1895 in Chicago by Schwinn’s great-grandfather Ignaz Schwinn and the Arnold brothers, who were in the meatpacking business

in Chicago. Adolph Arnold also was president of Haymakers Produce Bank in the city.

According to Ed Schwinn, Ignaz was born in 1860 in Germany as one of 11 children and apprenticed as a machinist and designer. He worked at two bike factories in Germany, made ample money, and decided to go to the United States, arriving in Chicago in 1891.

“Ignaz worked for two bike companies in Chicago, but he was not satisfied with the variable managements, so he teamed up with the Arnold brothers,” Schwinn said. “The first factory was Arnold, Schwinn & Co., and it was one of 300 bike makers around the turn of the century. An economic boom at the time was the reason why because everybody was buying bicycles.”

In 1903, Schwinn built his first car. He stopped after 12 because “he got to know Henry Ford and decided he had a better

idea and the bike business was a better business to be in than cars,” Ed Schwinn said.

Still maintaining production of bicycles, Ignaz Schwinn next ventured into making motorcycles. He bought the Excelsior Motor Manufacturing Co. in Chicago. “My grandfather said almost every cop on a motorcycle in the city was riding an Excelsior motorcycle,” Ed Schwinn said.

Ignaz Schwinn bought out his partners in 1908, gaining sole control of the company.

When the United States became involved in World War I, the company ceased bicycle production and made small engines for training airplanes, small

munitions, and similar items. During World War II, the scenario was repeated, as the company made .50 caliber machine guns and aircraft engines, earning a U.S. Navy E for Excellence Award.

“After the war, the company went back in the bike business,” Schwinn said. “They should have stayed in bombs and bullets,” implying munitions meant greater production and profit.

The 1950s brought a major change in the company, as it stopped making bikes for private-label companies.

“They wanted to have Schwinn bicycles and not a lot of different names on bikes that were basically built by

Ed Schwinn (at table) presented a program about the Schwinn bicycle company and the Schwinn family at the April 18 meeting of the Historical Society of Walworth and Big Foot Prairie at Walworth Memorial Library. Among the 35-plus people listening to his talk were (left to right) his wife Leslie Schwinn, Lake Geneva; Roxanne Van Dreser, Walworth Township; Keary Gallagher, Walworth; Richard Rasmussen, Walworth Township; Margaret Ontl, Walworth Township; and Viki Pfister, Delavan Township.

FRED NOER The Breeze

Raising awareness, making connections Model gives woman platform to shine spotlight on dementia

By Jennifer Eisenbart STAFF WRITER

It’s more than a little ironic that, when Nicole Petrie took a career aptitude test in high school, it ended up suggesting dance therapy.

“Which I always thought was so funny, because I didn’t do dance. I did theatre, choir, but I never did dance,” Nicole, now 29, said.

Ironic not because Petrie ended up becoming a dancer, but because dancing is a part of her life in a different way. She and her mother, Cheryl – who was diagnosed with frontotemporal degeneration, a form of dementia – have regular dance parties in the family kitchen.

“Just putting on old music that she loves and recognizes,” Nicole explained. The music varies, though much of it ends up being 80s pop tunes, including Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel and Prince. That suits Nicole and her mom just fine.

“She just immediately switches into this happy, dancing mode. It’s infectious for all of us and soon, we all join in,” Nicole said. “We have a full playlist for her.”

It’s been 10 years since the FTD diagnosis that changed life for the family. In that span of time, Nicole has pursued her ambitions, becoming a successful model, having appeared around the world in shows and even in a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.

Now, though, for the second time in her life, she’s taking to a different kind of runway – that of the contestants in the Miss Wisconsin USA pageant. With the pageant’s recent changing of age guidelines, Nicole is now eligible to compete again.

She competed for the first time in 2014 and finished in the top 15. She’s coming back for another try because it’s a platform she can use to promote research into FTD.

“Now that I have this platform and I am trying to get more of a national awareness for FTD, I think pageantry is a great way to do that,” Nicole explained.

Dreams come true

Nicole has been a model for much of her adult life. At 5 feet, 11 inches, she was an athlete in high school and her first year of college.

However, a bad experience that first year led her to walk away from the sport of volleyball and pursue another path in life.

“My original plan was to play two years there and go to a D1 school,” she explained. “I found modeling my freshman year and decided I didn’t want to play volleyball anymore.”

A friend of a friend set her up with a photographer for a test photo shoot, and those photos led to her first modeling jobs in Wisconsin.

Since then, Nicole’s modeling career has grown. She has modeled for Ulta, Bulgari and Balmain, traveling the country and then the world to places like Mexico, Nicaragua and The Dominican Republic.

But in 2022, Nicole decided to see just how far she could take modeling, submitting photos to the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit search. Beating out thousands of other models, Nicole’s work was among the select few featured in magazine.

She flew to Nicaragua to shoot photos for the issue in May of 2022, and since then, her career has taken off.

Lately, she has been modeling bridal wear, including doing promotional and social media work for All About the Gown in Lake Geneva. And she recently attended a gala in New York to raise awareness for FTD while modeling for the New York Bridal Market.

Nicole has also grown an impressive following on social media, with more than 1.1 million followers between TikTok and

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so she can take her advocacy for FTD research to a national stage. top right:

dementia that’s often initially misdiagnosed.

SUBMITTED

above: Model Nicole Petrie will get another shot at the Miss Wisconsin USA crown in June. She hopes to win

Nicole, Lake Geneva, serves as a caretaker for her mom, Cheryl, who suffers from frontotemporal degeneration, a form of

Geneva Lake Women’s Association announces recipients of six $5,000 ‘Diamond Grants’

The Geneva Lake Women’s Association has announced the recipients of six $5,000 “Diamond Grant” awards.

Officials revealed the six organizations on April 26 at the kickoff party for Women’s Weekend 2024, an annual event hosted by group, which noted the one-time grants are in recognition of the GLWA’s 60th anniversary.

Grant recipients include the Bethel House of Whitewater, Dementia Friendly Community Initiative, Geneva Lakes VFW Post 2373, HOPE NOW of Elkhorn, Sleep in Heavenly Peace, and the Walworth County Literacy Council.

Organizations at a glance

The Bethel House is an ecumenical project helping families facing homelessness, providing transitional housing and case management to families in need, according to a news release.

DFCI provides free training to

businesses, agencies, and churches to create dementia-friendly spaces and promote dementia awareness throughout the community. Initiatives include memory cafes and the cycling without age program.

The Geneva Lake VFW Post 2373 offers support and fellowship for veterans across the Geneva Lake region.

HOPE NOW is a charitable organization with a focus on providing urgent, necessary assistance for rent, security deposit, utilities, transportation and medical related needs to applicants within the Elkhorn Area School District.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace, known as SHP, is a volunteer-driven nonprofit dedicated to building and delivering hand-made, fully furnished beds to children in need. SHP’s mission is to tackle childhood bedlessness, which affects nearly 3% of the population.

The Walworth County Literacy Council

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Residential

Shingle Roofs

Flat Roofs

Metal Siding

SUBMITTED PHOTO The Breeze

The Geneva Lake Women’s Association presents a $5,000 check to Geneva Lake VFW Post 2373 April 26 (from left) Kathy Papcke, Parliamentarian, GLWA; Ron Grabski, Commander, VFW Post 2373; Catherine Rupp, Development Director, GLWA; Sunny Minx, Disbursement Committee, GLWA, and Pat Herman, Treasurer, GLWA. The VFW was one of six area organizations honored with grants from the association.

The way the music died

Summer season of Music By the Lake appears to be canceled

By Jim McClure

CORRESPONDENT

The big sound of big-name musical acts has gone silent.

There will be no summer season of Music by the Lake, the Williams Bay outdoor music concert series that has brought top performers and performances from the Doobie Brothers to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Beach Boys to Lyle Lovett.

Aurora University in Aurora, Illinois, no longer owns the property of its former George Williams College, which has been shuttered since its final class graduated in December.

There is no word yet from the new owner regarding the fate of the summer long music festival that combined the talent and aura of world class outdoor music venues like Ravinia near Highland Park, Illinois, which is familiar to many of the same Southern Lakes area concert goers who hail from the North Shore suburbs of Chicago.

The beautiful setting on the George Williams College of Aurora University campus was on a sloping hillside leading down to the shore of Geneva Lake where sail boats plied their way among waves aided by summer breezes and accompanied by a host of different music genres wafting through the lakeshore air.

Music by the Lake was a summer tradition of June through August weekends featuring top 40 pop acts in a range of music that included classical, country, big band, musical theater and classic rock.

Lakeside History Under the Stars

The concert programs first began under the Music by the Lake name in 1951 and wasted no time becoming a venue for the world’s best talent and the nation’s bestknown favorites.

Those appearing for the first 18 seasons included violinist Isaac Stern, trumpeter Doc Severinsen who was the band leader of NBC’s The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, the New York City Opera and the Chad Mitchell Trio with John Denver.

It was a long run from 1951 to 1969 that ended in part due to rising costs of inviting such front name performers. What ended beneath the men landing on the moon in Apollo 11 would find a new summer concert journey revival 31 years later.

2001, A Summer Odyssey

Under the stars of the Geneva Lake skies – above the concert which was astride Lake Shore Path segment from Williams Bay to George Williams College to Fontana and Walworth – a new tradition began in 2001 and the old tradition renewed as Music by the Lake first performed with the addition of an open-air pavilion tent.

According to the Music by the Lake website, “the Allyn Pavilion showcased artists such as The Irish Tenors, the 5th Dimension, Maureen McGovern, Glenn Miller Orchestra, Ramsey Lewis Trio, Duke Ellington Orchestra, and the New Sousa Band. Opera was first offered in 2002 with a young artist performance of Puccini’s La Bohème.”

Crowds in the thousands necessitated hiring of a full slate of temporary security guards for each concert to augment the normal complement of a half dozen college security professionals, and a parking crunch was handled by shuttle buses that would pick up concertgoers from the large parking lot of the new Williams Bay High School.

Music by the Lake continued to thrive and grow, with one brief hiatus. It was canceled for the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic that canceled many music and sports events across the United States.

Just as what is to become of the new property owner’s site is a mystery, so is the future, if any, of the music event.

The days of lying in the grass or sitting in an auditorium seat to enjoy the likes of Three Dog Night, Judy Collins, Peter Frampton, Michael Bolton and the Chicago Philharmonic appear to be gone.

Former neighbors like Richard Dreiser, who lived nearby as a resident and educated nearby as a tour guide at the adjoining

DIAMOND GRANTS •

University of Chicago Yerkes Observatory, wonders what the future will bring.

“I was astonished to find out,” said Dreiser, echoing many who are just learning of the closure. Having been familiar with it since arriving at Yerkes in 1980, he sees an effect on area tourism as well. “The number of tourists will definitely drop.”

One of Music by the Lake’s best-known performers, Kenny Loggins, retired last summer without a final visit to Williams Bay. His music will live on, as will the legacy of the concert series that brought the best to the area.

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educates and partners with adult learners to reach their literacy goals, thereby empowering themselves, their families and communities.

Decades of support

Since 1964, the Geneva Lake Women’s Association has supported charitable organizations serving those in need. GLWA was originally an extension of the Lake Geneva Jaycees known as the Lake Geneva Jaycettes. This dedicated

group of women devoted their time and talents to the community through direct service projects. In 1986, the group declared itself independent of the Jaycees and became the Geneva Lake Women’s Association.

Today, GLWA members are innovators in developing and administering programs to answer the needs and issues facing the Greater Walworth County community. For more information about GLWA, visit www.glwa.net.

Music By the Lake, a long-time summer tradition in Williams Bay at George Williams College of Aurora University, appears to have come to an end with the closing of the college. MUSIC BY THE LAKE FACEBOOK PHOTO The Breeze

Schwinn,” Schwinn said. “It was a good marketing way to establish yourself in the marketplace, and they started selling only to authorized Schwinn dealers.

“From the 1950s until the company was sold in the early 1990s we had approximately 3,000 dealers across the country. They also were authorized to sell other bikes,” Schwinn said.

“In 1967-79 there was a tremendous bike boom in this country,” Schwinn said. “In our factory in Chicago we couldn’t possibly keep up with demand.” He noted if a bicycle were in a box, the number of bikes made daily in Chicago would have been as tall as the John Hancock Center in the city. The structure is 1,128 feet high.

“The demand was so high we began sourcing bicycles overseas and did that for many, many years,” Schwinn said. “First in Japan utilizing companies that were very, very fine manufacturers making bicycles to our specifications and also in

Taiwan. We became the second-largest exporter out of Taiwan for nine years in a row, second only to Sears Roebuck.”

Overall, annual production reached a million bicycles.

Schwinn said today the company is owned by Pacific Cycle in Madison and bikes are made overseas by various companies.

“Unless you look at specialty, high-end, and racing bikes, there are no average bicycles built in this country anymore and haven’t been for 25 years,” he said.

The Schwinn family’s connection to the Geneva Lake area began in 1922 when Frank W. Schwinn, Ed’s grandfather, bought a house in the Congress Club subdivision in Williams Bay. Frank made the purchase so he could go fishing, Schwinn said.

The house remained in the family until the 1960s. Schwinn said how the home was used for many of the years was “a

gray area. Maybe it was lent out to various relatives in the summertime for them to come up and enjoy Lake Geneva.”

He did state after the 1938 death of his great-grandmother Helen his grandparents moved in with Ignaz to care for him until his death in 1948. He was living in a house he had built in 1926 on four acres on the south side of Cedar Point in Williams Bay after buying the property a year earlier.

The property was in the family until the 1980s. “I really grew up in my entire summer times throughout my early years from the day we got out of school and came up to Lake Geneva until the day before we had to go back to school and came back to Chicago,” Schwinn said.

“When the company was sold in the early 1990s, my family moved up to Lake Geneva on a permanent basis, and we’ve been here ever since,” he said. “We have a long, long history around Lake Geneva and in Chicago.”

Ed is married to Leslie, and they have two children, daughter Taylor and son Andrew. “I am the fourth generation, and our children are the fifth generation. Andrew has a daughter, who is the sixth generation,” Schwinn said.

After concluding his talk, Schwinn received gifts from the society. One was a book titled “Schwinn: The Best Present Ever” by Don Rauf.

The other gift consisted of a large rectangular banner and small triangular flags with “Schwinn Grand Opening” on them. Society member Diana Bird explained the items were donated by a man she met two weeks earlier.

Bird said the man was going to dispose of the items, so she figured Schwinn might be interested in them. He noted they were used at an event marking the grand opening, reopening, or relocation of a Schwinn dealer’s store. The store owner was entitled to keep the signs after the event.

WOMEN WHO CARE

overwhelming. But 100 Women Who Care has found a way to highlight six worthy causes each year, and though there’s only one recipient at each meeting, each nonprofit nominated walks away with a victory.

“Initially the idea felt awkward,” Anderson said. “To hear from three groups and to only give the money to one while the other two sat there looking on, I didn’t know if I could do it.”

With 100 Women Who Care, winning for one is winning for all.

“The nonprofit community is so interconnected; we all know people in other organizations. It’s a big web,” Anderson explained.

During each nonprofit’s 3-minute pitch and 2-minute question-and-answer time, they share the many ways they could use support, and the group of women listening gets it. Members of 100 Women end up volunteering for organizations they never heard of and find ways to help and support each of the three. There are also women who donate three equal checks at the meeting, one to each presenting organization.

“Spreading the word about three oftentimes continues and benefits all three even if only one of them walks out the door with the money,” Anderson said.

The 100 Women Who Care of Walworth County believe that there’s a role for everyone to play in bringing good about in the community.

“We say at the meetings that if we each do a little bit, we can make some big things happen,” Anderson said.

She believes in the community involvement model – that some people need to do the work, and some people need to fund it. Anderson’s work as a

Program Manager at a local nonprofit, Jill’s House, has made her beliefs her life’s work.

“I want to know what’s going on in our community,” Anderson said. “As women who care we all want to be connected to our communities. We want to be part of something bigger than we can do on our own.”

The

givers win, too

Jenni Weber was drawn to the group

in part because of its simplicity. Showing up two times a year an hour with $100 felt easy for a busy mom who has always prioritized giving back and serving her community. She said that what she really loves about the organization – along with it allowing her to branch out and learn about volunteer and financial needs of nonprofits in the area – is that it demonstrates the power of women.

“I love being in the presence of community-minded women.” Weber said. “We have fun, laugh, network, and support these organizations all within an hour. It’s pretty powerful.”

More than 700 chapters of 100 Who Care are making an impact in local communities around the world, and while the organization allows for branches of men, people, teens, and women, women have put it on the map and make up most of the chapters. In Wisconsin alone there are 24 groups of 100 Women Who Care.

Humbled and blessed

“Women know how to get things done,” Dawn Heath-Fiedler, Founder and President of Join The Movement said.

As the most recent recipient of the Walworth County 100 Women, she had no idea what to expect when she attended the recent meeting but said it was a wonderful experience as she connected with other nonprofit leaders in the area.

“It was a total surprise that we received the grant. I can’t tell you what a blessing it was,” Heath-Fiedler said.

JTM, like many other nonprofits, is privately funded and careful with every

penny received.

“It’s hard to explain what this money means,” she said. “It will change lives.”

Heather Peterson, Founder and Community Directory of Heartland Community Farms, Inc., received a transformative donation in the spring of 2023 from the group.

“It was akin to catching a lifeline in stormy seas,” she said. “We were able to not only provide essential veterinary care for our horses but also inaugurate a vibrant summer program for children.”

Peterson said the generous contribution they received breathed new life into their ministry and propelled them forward with renewed vigor and purpose. And for six months, it sustained them and empowered them to continue enriching lives through their programs.

“Every hoofbeat and laughter-filled summer day bears testament to the profound impact 100 Women Who Care’s donation made, igniting hope and possibility for both our organization and the communities we serve,” Peterson said.

She has since joined the 100 Women to help further their mission.

“We gain more members at each meeting. It’s just so much fun to spend an hour learning about all the good work being done and then handing out a big stack of checks that we know will make a difference,” Anderson said.

The group was pleased to have a lot of interest initially, but with only two meetings a year – in April and October –there’s a lot of down time in between so the average attendance is currently 60 to 75 women at each meeting.

“Life is busy. Some women can’t come so they send checks with friends, but we would always welcome more women. Walworth County is counting on them,” Anderson said.

The average donation the past few years has been $6,500 but the group hopes to be able to contribute more as interest in 100 Women continues to rise.

“So many nonprofits have to beg, borrow, and steal to support their good work,” Cain mused. “This makes it so simple. We see the need and we fill it, and we work to inspire others to come along.”

100 Women Who Care of Walworth County will hold their next meeting at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 9 at Horticultural Hall, 330 Broad St., Lake Geneva. All are welcome.

For more information, visit 100whocarealliance.org.

Some of the founding members of 100+ Women Who Care of Walworth County – Sarah Augustson, Cherith Anderson, Dana Furlo, Sherri Gorecki and Cyndie DeVries – meet to discuss starting a chapter and getting the word out.

SUBMITTED PHOTO The Breeze

Shown at the April meeting are this year’s recipient with some of the founding members, from the left: Cherith Anderson, Dawn Heath-Fiedler (Join The Movement), Cari Alberts, Dana Furlo and Sarah Augustson.

SUBMITTED PHOTO The Breeze

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Instagram. Her content creation there is near and dear to her heart – videos of her as a young caretaker, of the dance parties with her mom, and even of her cooking vegan pancakes, a recipe passed down through the family.

It doesn’t make the FTD diagnosis any easier, though. Nicole and her significant other moved back to Wisconsin in the last year, after a sudden downturn in her mother’s health.

A devastating diagnosis

Nicole has a close family and admits being on the road with her modeling work isn’t easy – not with her mother at home with what will eventually be a terminal illness.

“It is always hard to travel, and I definitely get anxiety about leaving,” she said.

“But my dad has always encouraged me to continue pursuing my career. He’s always told me my mom would want me to follow my dreams,” she added.

“As much I want to be here and care for her and do as much as I can, I need to remember my wants and needs are important, and I think that’s a good lesson for caregivers in general…taking care of yourself so you can take care of other people,” Nicole said. About 10 years ago, they began noticing some changes with her mother. In her late 40s at the time, Cheryl started struggling with cooking.

“Recipes she’d made hundreds of times, she wasn’t necessarily making correctly,” Nicole explained, adding that other examples included leaving the popcorn in the microwave for 20 minutes instead of two, or getting frustrated helping her children with homework.

“It’s just little things that add up over time,” Nicole said. “That’s how we ended up going to the doctor.”

It took between 3 and 5 years for the Petrie family to get her mother’s diagnosis – which is not uncommon with the disease.

The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration says it takes, on average, more than 3 1/2 years for a person to be diagnosed with FTD. They are often initially diagnosed incorrectly with any number of diseases including Alzheimer’s, a psychiatric condition, depression, and Parkinson’s.

“So many doctors still don’t know much about FTD,” Nicole said. “Many people will go and try to get an FTD diagnosis, and they’re told, like my mom, was, ‘Maybe it’s Lyme Disease. Maybe it’s bipolar disorder. Maybe they’re just giving up on life.

“In reality, it’s dementia,” she added.

Nicole had just switched back to UWWhitewater and was getting settled when her mom was diagnosed.

“Getting that diagnosis was worldshaking,” she said.

The FTD diagnosis led to Nicole choosing her college major – psychology – in an effort “to understand the brain a little better.” But she also was dealing with her own anxiety

and depression at the same time.

“That was very difficult,” she said. “Working through my school and my studies was helpful as well.”

FTD – which is also referred to as frontotemporal lobar degeneration or Pick’s disease – can basically present itself in two different forms: Behavioral Variant FTD and Primary Progressive Aphasia. though there are others.

Ironically, another family member of Nicole’s, though not a blood relation, was also diagnosed with FTD.

Her uncle, Joe Spiegelhoff, died last August – 10 years after his diagnosis. Though Spiegelhoff and Cheryl had different variants of the disease, the timeframe from diagnosis to death is roughly the same, seven to 13 years, according to the AFTD.

“It’s something that’s always looming,” Nicole said about the possibility of her mother’s death. “Knowing that the inevitable will eventually come is a very scary thing.”

There are no current treatments that specifically address FTD.

“It’s just treating symptoms,” Nicole said. “There are no treatments, no cure.”

And yet, Nicole considers herself lucky for the time she’s gotten with her mother and has used that time to create memories, getting to know Cheryl better than she did before in the process.

“I’ve put in so much time and effort to continue to get to know her,” she said. “We never had a ‘best friend, mother-daughter relationship,’ but I think through getting to know her now, I’ve also learned more about who she used to be.

“My mom was diagnosed when I was just becoming an adult, just finding out who I was as a person,” Nicole explained. “Which was really difficult for me, not having her guidance and advice.”

She’s learned that the support from her mother is there, just in a different way.

“She helped me get to a million followers on TikTok. That was a gift from her,” Nicole said. “Those followers have opened up many opportunities for me. Getting Sports Illustrated, doing Miss Wisconsin USA, it’s all because of her.”

A new pathway to advocacy

When she first competed in the Miss Wisconsin USA pageant in 2014, Nicole was just a year removed from high school.

“I competed that year without any preparation and not really knowing what I was doing at all,” she said, adding that she remembers getting ready with her mom, and shopping for a dress. “I just decided to go more for the modeling world.”

And make no mistake – modeling is Nicole’s passion. But along the way, between studying psychology and pursuing her modeling work, she “fell into an advocacy role.”

She is now an official brand ambassador for the AFTD and said she wants people to

know they are not alone in their journey.

“We need more attention to the cause,” Nicole said. “I always say, ‘Everyone knows a caregiver.’ You may not realize you know a caregiver, but you know a caregiver.”

When she began exploring options to continue to raise awareness for FTD, her agent, Mara Martin, suggested going the pageant route. The Miss America organization was closed to Nicole because of her age (she’s now 29), but a recent rule change that removed the age limit for Miss USA gave her another chance.

The pageant is June 15 in Verona and Nicole has a clear goal – to win it.

“I want to be Miss Wisconsin USA 2024,” she said. “Not only so that I can help families that are affected by dementia here in Wisconsin and the caregivers here in Wisconsin, but also to get to that national platform and be able to talk about it there.”

Regardless of how she does, Nicole is grateful for having a platform to advocate.

“Modeling is definitely my passion. It’s something I’m still doing and am going to continue doing. I think Miss USA is only going to help that,” she explained. “But my reasoning for wanting to do it is to raise awareness and connect with other caregivers and other families who are affected by FTD.

“FTD and dementia in general can be extremely isolating,” Nicole said. “If you don’t know other people who are going through it, you don’t have people to look up to or talk you through it. It’s really difficult to go through.”

She wants the opportunity to talk to lawmakers and work through the various aging and disability resource networks, and she has two primary goals – to get more research into FTD and to help caregivers get more support.

“The main thing I’ve taken out of it, from sharing my story, is that so many people have a stigma about dementia and how it affects someone,” Nicole said. “For so many people, it’s scary, it’s ‘They’re not going to remember me.’ It’s all sad.

“That’s just not true. Within the past 10 years, we’ve seen so much joy, so much happiness,” she added. “I want to encourage other people to run toward people living with dementia, and their caregivers, rather than running away from them.”

For more information about FTD, call the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration at 866-507-7222 or visit theaftd.org.

Nicole Petrie runs her own website, nicolepetrie.com, for her modeling work and FTD advocacy.

Nicole has put together an entire product line geared toward caregivers to help raise money for frontotemporal degeneration, a form of dementia her mother suffers from.

NATHAN WATERS PHOTO The Breeze