Fond du Lac Success 2014

OCTOBER 2014

A salute to people who make a difference in the Dodge and Fond du Lac area… and beyond!

Successa measure of

BiLL Berry

MArk PiePLow

Joe Guyette

MeL koLstAD

Sara Immel

kALi LA Count

Derek seMenAs

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The Fond du Lac and Dodge County communities are a desirable place to live and work thanks to those driven and generous people who live just down the street. It is because of these individuals that positive change and inspiration can take place and develop a promising future.

The Reporter’s Success publication celebrates the many individuals who, through their own determination and will, have achieved much, not only for themselves but also for their community. Throughout the year, we received nominations for those whose accomplishments should be honored and ap-plauded and published so others may find inspiration. Success has become a much anticipated publication and a positive beacon of light in our strong and tight-knit communities. Bill Berry, Mark Pieplow, Sara Immel and Joe Guyette are among the fine people who have the zeal and heart to achieve great things while helping others along the way. While many of the nomi-nees are humble about their success, their work has not gone unnoticed and will resonate in the community long after the stories have been published.

Success is also a testament to how our area communities pull together to show support. A good support system, whether from a small group of friends and family or from an entire city, can move mountains, and in turn allow individuals, like Mel Kolstad, Kali LaCount or Derek Semenas to reach lofty goals.

This publication points out that success is often linked to one’s outlook on life. Mark Pieplow has educated countless students not only how to play music, but how to apply being part of a group to real life.

While success comes in many shapes and forms, at different times in our lives and for different reasons, one thing remains true: without the suc-cesses of people like those in this publication, our communities would not be the place to live, work and play that they are.

Great people make FDL, Dodge Counties a great place to live

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A salute to people who make a difference in the Dodge and Fond du Lac area… and beyond!

Successa measure of

on the cover...

BiLL Berry

kALi LA Count

Derek seMenAsMArk PiePLow

Joe Guyette

MeL koLstAD

sArA iMMeL

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P.O. Box 1955, Fond du Lac, WI 54936-1955 Phone: 920.922.4600 | 1.800.261.7323

FAX: 920.922.8640www.fdlreporter.com

StaffSuccess

General Manager/ Advertising Director

Karen Befus

Features Editor Katie Larson

Contributing Writers Dorothy Bliskey, Harley Buchholz,

Taima Kern, Sam Oleson, Monica M. Walk, Alex Wolf

Photographer Doug Raflik

Graphic Artist Marie Rayome-Gill

Advertising Sales Manager Heather Bradwin

Circulation Director Bruce Tischer

SucceSS is published by The Reporter, Fond du Lac. Contents of this section are published for The Reporter. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior consent of The Reporter. For more information, contact Heather Bradwin, Advertising Sales Manager at 920-907-7901 or [email protected]

contentstable of

Bill Berry ...............page 3From Flyway to Broadway –Mayville native Bill Berry directs his career to national theater.

Joe Guyette ..........page 6 Joe Guyette creates athletic alumni database.

Sara Immel ......... page 10 Winning the medical lottery – eden resident rebounds from meningitis, twice.

Mel Kolstad ......... page 13Printing and pressing, collaging and connecting, Mel Kolstad weaves art community, art education and personal pursuits into reputation.

Kali LaCount ....... page 16Fondy grad Kali Lacount improves safety on University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee campus.

Mark Pieplow ..... page 19Drum roll, please… Mark Pieplow, band teacher extraordinaire!

Derek Semenas ..page 23Laconia grad Derek Semenas plays professional hoops overseas.

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It takes a small village — a theater crew — to put on a show. When Mayville native Bill Berry fully understood that, he knew he could and would work in theater. But it required education, mentoring and experience to transition from high-school acting dreams to his current role as producing artistic director at the 5th Avenue theatre in Seattle.

By monIca m. Walk For Action reporter Media

Mayville native Bill Berry works with colleages at Fifth Avenue Theatre in Seattle.

Photo by Tracy Martin

Mayville native Bill Berry directs his career to national theater

From Flyway to Broadway –

contInUeD on PAGE 4 >>>

Berry’s first drama experience was in a production of “Music Man” at Mayville High School. “I discovered the magic of theatrical storytelling and being on stage,” re-called Berry, who graduated from MHS in 1990. “I discov-ered I was good at it, at telling stories.”

Berry credits Mayville High School choir teacher Todd Kruger for validating his early theater experience. “He energized all of us in arts and music. He gave us permis-sion to love and be good at it,” Berry said. “And he created pathways: He told us to figure out sets and costumes, and put on a show.”

“High school students can take on more responsibility than we usually give them,” said Kruger of his decision to have his students collaborate on all aspects of a production. “A complete actor understands the entire production, and knows that it takes teamwork and camaraderie.”

Kruger considers Berry a catalyst in the department he began developing 26 years ago. “I remember getting the program off the ground, and Bill was a major factor in get-ting it going and building to what it is today,” said Kruger, whose Mayville show choir has won 15 grand champion-ships. Berry, a former member of that show choir, has since created choreography for the group. Kruger counts seven prior students now working in professional theater,

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<<< contInUeD FroM PAGE 3

in addition to numerous others who contin-ue their dedication to drama in semi-pro-fessional and community roles.

“Bill was a really good student, very dedicated,” Kruger said. “I taught him lights, sounds, all the background. My fa-vorite Bill story: I had cast ‘My Fair Lady’ and we were two weeks into rehearsal, and the lead role just wasn’t working. I asked the performer if he would be ok with a less stressful part, and he said ‘yes.’ I came to Bill and asked him to play the lead, Henry Higgins. He learned the role and did great with it. It’s a hard role to play. The produc-tion did well.”

Berry recalls another, very different interaction with Kruger: “He almost can-celed a show because I was a jerk. I was telling everyone what to do. Now, I look back and think it was an early sign that I needed to be directing.”

The youngest member of a Mayville athletic dynasty — his father is renowned cross country, track, and basketball coach Bob Berry, who is in his 46th year of coach-ing after serving the district as a history teacher for 30 years and another 16 years in administrative positions — Bill Berry realized early on he didn’t share the fam-ily passion for sports. (Although he did run cross country for four years, and his father recalls him reporting that “he made friends back where he ran.”)

Finding his niche anchored the younger Berry. “He became a much better student when he got involved in music and theater,” Bob Berry said. “Once he was through high school, theater became his dream. We knew he was serious when he went to Green Bay.”

Bill Berry headed to UW-Green Bay intent on becoming a music teacher. “I could make a living and do high school musicals. That was in my frame of refer-ence,” he said. “But, by the end of the year, I switched to a theater major. I knew I had a passion for theater. Going into college, I really only knew to be an actor. Later, I be-gan to learn the other things I could be. My brain was interested in the rest of it: how to tell a story, where to stand. My professors recognized this and said, ‘You really need to come over here and direct.’ That was my big ‘A-ha.’”

From UW-GB, Berry headed to Brook-lyn College in New York City where he earned an M.F.A. degree in directing in 1996. He notes of his school choice, “It was a way to move to New York and go to school

in the theater hub and immerse myself in theater….I would go see every musical I could.”

Along with studying directing, course-work requirements led Berry to take a the-ater management class. “I really got into it and liked it, and the professor told me I had a brain for it. I said that was great to know, but I really didn’t want to do that.”

The skill would prove useful a decade later, when Berry began managing $12 mil-lion budgets in Seattle. But, first he had more to learn in NYC.

With his graduate education complete, Berry immersed himself in New York theater. He did mainly freelance work on shows — taking internships, and filling roles as stage manager and assistant direc-tor. He also worked day jobs to finance liv-ing in the city. “I stayed as afloat as I could, and then my parents would send a life raft,” he laughed about the reality of the cost of living in New York.

“My wife and I are practical people, and it is a hard life to make it in the theater,” said Bob Berry. “Bill did temp work, was a cater-waiter, and did theater part-time. Some of the temp work was in a bank, where he was good with the computers. He called and told us the bank had offered him a full-time job…and he turned it down. He

said, ‘I’m not giving up my dream yet.’ His mother and I thought he was crazy…he was living hand-to-mouth. But he did the right thing.”

Bill Berry’s persistence paid off. He used every New York opportunity

to meet people in theater and build rela-tionships. “I learned to tell people what I wanted to do, to be a director,” he said. “I learned you have to share what you want and not keep it to yourself.”

Among the people he met was David Armstrong, executive producer and artis-tic director of the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle. The non-profit 5th Avenue Theatre Association develops, produces and pres-ents live musical theater, including the de-velopment and production of new works. Many of its shows tour the country and are invited to Broadway.

Armstrong hired Berry in 2002 as the associate producing artistic director and casting director. Berry also managed the theater’s education and outreach pro-grams, and instituted the Rising Star Proj-ect which brings 150 high-school students in to remount a professional show by doing all of the marketing, producing, design, tech, music, choreography and acting. “We introduce them to the idea that it takes a community to create anything,” Berry said. “The program is a way to connect the dots and introduces kids to all parts of theater.”

Since Berry joined The 5th Avenue The-atre, staff has grown from 10 to more than 50 employees, as well as another 800 ac-tors, stagehands, ushers and artists hired for productions. Five years ago, the the-ater reorganized its management structure and Berry was promoted to the leadership team.

As producing artistic director, Berry fo-cuses on work from the ground up — cre-ating revivals and new productions by se-lecting shows, casting (he spends 30 days a year watching auditions), and hiring cre-ative teams to design sets and costumes. His productions have received favorable reviews and won awards from the Seattle Times. He also is involved in the business side of the theater, creating and managing budgets, hiring actors, and writing con-tracts. “Financial decisions are artistic decisions, and vice versa,” Berry said. “I actually do like numbers, and it gives me a better understanding of the art. I analyze if it’s worth doing; will we get money back from the choice. It helps me make the best decision.”

BILL BERRyAge: 42

YeArs in the CommunitY: Birth to age 18 in Mayville; in Green Bay until age 21

oCCupAtion: Producing Artistic Director, the 5th Avenue theatre, Seattle, WA

reACtion to nominAtion to suCCess: I was caught off guard and surprised. I feel there are others more deserving than I.

to whAt do You owe Your meAsure of suCCess? Passion. Loving what I do. Success comes when you put your whole heart into what you do.


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A recent creative coup was staging and directing the first pro-duction of the new musical ‘First Date.’ “I worked with the writers on their first show, and we got to see the vision on stage, and then on Broadway,” he said.

“I can’t describe what it was like to watch that show,” said Ber-ry’s father of the Broadway experience. “We’ve seen every show he’s directed. We’ve sat in the balcony with tears in our eyes, watching Bill showing leadership. We saw First Date in Seattle, and it was a success and backers took it to Broadway. The opening night party was unbelievable.”

“It was the fulfillment of a dream,” Berry said of his 2013 Broadway directing debut. “It’s the gold standard of musical the-ater, where shows end up when they are the best of the best. I re-member walking through Times Square and seeing the billboard for the first time and thinking, ‘Is this really happening?’”

Creative challenges continue, as another season unfolds at The 5th Avenue Theatre. Berry will direct “Carousel” (Feb. 5-March 1, 2015) and produce “A Christmas Story, The Musica”l (Nov. 25-Dec.30, 2014). In April, the theater premiers the new musical “Something’s Rotten”, a comedy from the director and choreogra-pher of “The Book of Mormon”.

How did Berry get to this professional level in a notoriously competitive field? “Find people who are passionate about what you want to do. Watch and learn. Listen to the people ahead of you. I am so lucky Todd Kruger in Mayville and the people in Green Bay let me pick their brains.”

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While coaching for more then 30 years, there were always

questions that popped up in Joe Guyette’s head.

“After coaching all of those years, I would always ask ques-

tions like, ‘what’s the record for this,’ or ‘what’s the record

for that,’ and people would say, ‘I don’t know,’” Guyette said.

“nobody had those records.”

By alex Wolf Action reporter Media

Guyette creates athletic alumni database

So last winter when Guyette decided to do something about it.

“Because of the ‘polar vortex’ this winter, I was pretty bored at home,” Guyette said. “I thought I would just take a look at the yearbooks and started to scan all of those year-books from 1960 to present.”

What started out as just looking at yearbooks, turned into quite the project for the retired Fond du Lac teacher, who created a website called www.cardinalathleticalumni.com, which consists of everything that you can think of when it comes to Fond du Lac High School athletics — no matter the sport — that dates all the way back to 1900.

How it StartedGuyette spent hours on hours looking into and scanning

past yearbooks, made trips to the public library and made phone calls to the Fox Valley Association Conference trying to get all of the information he could.

“After completing all of that (scanning the yearbooks), I started working on the website and put those on it,” Guyette said. “I got a hold of the conference and got all-conference, all-state and even included the hall of fame.”

The website contains everything from local team’s results, schedules and all-conference players to past coaches, their records, hall of fame information, pictures and even pictures of all of the buildings in the history of the school.


Joe Guyette, a former Goodrich High School graduate, created a website for Fond du Lac Alumni this last winter. Photo by Doug Raflik/Action Reporter Media

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There is even a “college participation” link on the website that lists every athlete that graduated from Fondy that went on to play collegiate sports. Guyette said that he has more than 360 email addresses for for-mer athletes.

After obtaining most of the information from 1960 to the present day, Guyette then spent a lot of his summer trying to get the years 1900 to 1959. Guyette said he had to search for all of the yearbooks and now has about 95 percent of them. He said he got a lot of help from former athletes to get some of the information from past yearbooks.

Guyette said for every 10 years of year-books he scans and gets information about, he spends about eight hours working on them.

“Some days I would spend more time on it than others, but I did it all myself,” Guyette said.

Now that the fall season is into high gear, Guyette continues to update the website.

Back when he was involved with football camps, Guyette learned how to make a web-site. He said he used that knowledge to start



this one.

“Probably four or five years ago, I had a website for speed camps for young kids,” Guyette said. “I had that all put together and

I learned how to do that. I don’t do that any-more but I used that basis on how to set up this website.”

Joe Guyette currently works with the freshman football team as an assistant. He spent most of his time as an assistant for the varsity team. Photo by Doug Raflik/Action Reporter Media

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Filling in tHe HoleSWhile Guyette has had a lot of success find-

ing most of the history of Fondy athletics, 114 years is a lot to cover. Guyette is asking any-one to submit anything they have through the website.

“For instance, in the last couple of months I had two emails from the website and one of them was a guy that played for the 1951 foot-ball team,” Guyette said.

“If anyone has anything at all, concerning athletics, just go to the website and contact me through that and I’ll find it and do all of the work and scan it. I want the alumni to give back.”

Although Guyette does most of the work on the website, he would be stuck if it wasn’t for Dave Pickart.

“Many thanks to Dave in assisting in the website development,” Guyette said. “He took us to a whole new level of organizing the web pages.”

tHe real reaSon beHind tHe webSiteOther than wanting to learn a few statis-

tics here and there, the main reason Guyette started the website is the alumni.

“There are a lot of alumni that come back and are no longer in touch so they don’t know what’s going on. I felt like that was an impor-tant factor,” Guyette said.

Guyette said that he is in the process of making the website an incorporated link so that people will eventually donate money back to the school.

“My major project in the future is that I want to see all middle schools equipped with proper weightlifting equipment,” he said. “I got the wish list from all physical education teachers and we have a goal in mind to have all three schools with the proper amount of equipment.

“That’s what I’d like to see and every year what I’m asking is for a donation. Whatever they want to give. Just start giving back to the school and the best way for them to do that is to know what is going on and they will find that out through the website.”



Joe Guyette was a former athletic director and assistant football coach at St. Mary’s Springs. He spent 18 years there. Photo by Doug Raflik/Action Reporter Media

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Springs, he is in the process of helping out Springs any way he can.

“I actually have been in conversation with Kevin Shaw the principal and he and I have talked about forming a hall of fame there,” Guyette said. “Kevin has put together a web-site there for Springs, called ‘Legends of the Ledge.’ He’s put together a lot and we had the hall of fame here and I’m on the committee so I’m more than willing to help him out to

get that started.”

getting tHe name outGetting the name out there is Guyette’s

next goal. Because so many adults are on so-cial media now, such as Facebook and Twit-ter, Guyette has made pages for both social media sites trying to reach out to get as many alumni as he can.

Guyette said there is an app for the web-site that can be used on anyone’s phone.

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about guyetteGuyette graduated from Goodrich High

School — now Fond du Lac High School — in 1966.

Guyette played on the Goodrich football team and continued playing in college at the University of Iowa-Dubuque.

The varsity football team went a combined 0-24 in the first three years while Guyette played, but his senior year the Cardinals went 3-6. His first win, a 7-0 victory over Green Bay East, was one of his favorite memories.

“When we beat them, someone went up on the big water tower in town and painted ‘Fon-dy beats East,’” Guyette said. “Then I went on and played (in college). I was very fortu-nate to go on and play because not many high school athletes can. It was a great experience for me, I played against some guys that went on to play in the pros.”

After graduating from college, Guyette landed a coaching job at St. Mary’s Springs, where he was an assistant football coach to current head coach Bob Hyland.

Two years later, he was named the physi-cal education teacher. Guyette spent 18 years at Springs, helping coach sports other than football, while serving as the athletic direc-tor as well.

After his time at Springs, Guyette landed a job at Fond du Lac High School, where he continued to help coach the football team. He also served as the driver’s education instruc-tor for 33 years.

Guyette finally retired in 2010, but stuck around. He is currently serving as an assis-tant coach for the freshman football team.

wHat about SpringS?Guyette started the website because he

graduated from the high school. But because he spent so many years working at St. Mary’s


Joe Guyette currently serves on the committee board for the Fond du Lac Hall of Fame. Photo by Doug Raflik/Action Reporter Media

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Sara Immel is a medical anomaly. She is a two-time survivor of meningitis — a disease that is rare, but often deadly.

“the odds of getting it twice are the odds of a lottery,” said her mother, Mary Immel, who was pivotal in getting crucial medical care for her daughter both times. “Doctors call her their Miracle Girl.”

By monIca m. Walk For Action reporter Media

eden resident rebounds from meningitis, twice

Winning the medical lottery–

While meningitis can be deadly, it is a disease seldom contracted in the general population. Meningitis is the in-flammation of the protective membranes of the spine and brain. The bacterial form of meningitis is faster-moving and more frequently fatal than the viral form. Repercus-sions can include brain damage, limb amputations, kidney disease and hearing loss, or death. Immel had bacterial meningitis both times, at ages 9 and 25.

As she came through the treatment of her August 2014 illness, doctors discovered a hole in a bone that was allow-ing spinal fluid to leak and become infected. Bone was de-teriorating, like dripping water wears away a rock. This likely was the point of infection for both illnesses, and for a lifetime of earaches. “I always had an earache; that was my norm,” Sara Immel said. “She never complained,” her mother said, adding that the scar tissue in Sara’s ear was testament to numerous infections.

Surgery to plug the hole and remove damaged bones and the right eardrum was scheduled for Oct. 8. Immel will lose the hearing in her right ear. But she notes her spinal fluid will be regulated and no longer will drip down her throat or out her nose, and her chronic headaches will end. An im-plant will send sound signals to her left ear, which remains healthy. Considering that some survivors lose arms and legs from blood pooling in tissues, she feels fortunate.

And, for a second time, she avoided brain damage.

The first round of serious illness happened during a Tex-as camping vacation Mary Immel took with her three chil-dren, Sara, Sara’s twin Sam, and oldest son Jay Bob. Sara developed a headache, earache, vomiting and high tempera-ture. A local walk-in clinic was sending the family back to their camper with a prescription for Sara, when a nurse fol-lowed Mary Immel to the parking lot and urged them not to leave.

“She told me my daughter was too lethargic, and she wanted the doctor she regularly worked with to see Sara,” recalled Mary Immel, who was carrying her sick child. “That doctor came in and asked Sara to touch her chin to her chest and she couldn’t do it. A test showed spinal menin-gitis and she was going down fast. So we went from driving for help to flying Flight for Life.”

Husband and father Gary Immel was called to get on a plane from Wisconsin, and Mary pulled the family camper through the city of Ft. Worth to the children’s hospital. Sara was in the ICU. A minister was called. “They didn’t expect her to live,” says Mary. Sara says she can only remember needles and IVs. She was in a coma for two-days.

As the family sat at her bedside, they turned the TV on for Sara’s then-favorite program, Full House. “She woke up to watch it,” Mary said. Sara remained in the hospital for 11 days, and the family stayed in a local Ronald McDonald House.

The symptoms were eerily familiar when Sara became sick in August.

“I had just been in a wedding on Aug. 2,” Sara Immel said. “It was one of the best days of my life. Then, I went to the Eden parade. I would have thought spinal meningitis was

Sara Immel, a two time survivor of meningitis, sits outside her home near Eden. Photo by Doug Raflik/Action Reporter Media

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the least of my concerns. How quickly it happened.”

On Aug. 3, she felt ill.

“I went to [Agnesian] Convenient Care with an earache, I thought I had an ear in-fection,” Sara said. She went to Convenient Care a second time, as the pain increased. She doesn’t recall the next two trips to the St. Agnes ER. Armed with antibiotics and pain medication, Sara spent the night at her parent’s Eden home.

“I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and found her unconscious on the couch,” Mary said. “I couldn’t wake her up. I know I can make it to the hospital in 12 minutes for work, so I carried her to the car and drove to St. Ag-nes. They brought a gurney bed to the park-ing lot and we loaded her on it to the ER. It was five hours after her last visit. I told ev-eryone she had spinal meningitis before.”

Blood work showed Sara’s blood count was off, and a spinal tap was performed. “I knew then,” Mary said. “Pus came out of the spinal tap.”

The morning in the ICU was a blur for all of the Immels. Sara remained uncon-

scious, strapped to a bed with IVs. A scan showed mounting pressure in Sara’s brain, and Neurologist Eugenia-Daniela Hord, directed a transfer to the neurology ICU at Froedert Hospital in Milwaukee. Sara’s eardrum was lanced before the flight, and pus drained out. She was intubated for breathing.

“It was a quiet drive 62 miles to Fro-edert,” Mary said. Sara’s fiancé Lance Schumacher joined her parents in the car. “We weren’t sure she’d be alive when we got there.”

Doctors performed surgery to clean in-fection out of Sara’s mastoid. The estimated 45-minute procedure took three hours due to the complications of her infection. Sara was put into an induced three-day coma.

When she opened her eyes on Thursday and was told she was in the hospital with meningitis, Sara said, “I’ve had that be-fore.” That was her first memory since the illness struck on Sunday.

The severity of the infection led the med-ical team to expect brain damage. When Sara awakened, Mary was brought in to the room and asked, “Sara, do you know who I

am?” Sara responded with an eye roll, the universal response of daughters irritated with mothers. It was a positive answer.

Still on a breathing tube, Sara soon mo-tioned for her phone and indicated she was worried her employer didn’t know she would be missing work. “People around the

SaRa IMMELAge: 25

YeArs in the CommunitY: Lifelong resident of eden

oCCupAtion: nanny and server

reACtion to nominAtion to suCCess: excited. But, it made me realize how sick I actually was.

to whAt do You owe Your meAsure of suCCess? Prayer.

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world were praying for her,” Mary Immel said, telling her daughter that people knew she was sick.

Sara remained at Froedert until Wednesday, Aug. 13, and was sent home with a week’s worth of IV antibiotics that her mother learned to administer. After resting for that week, Sara returned to work a Friday shift at Sweet Basil, the restaurant operated by her aunt and uncle in Plymouth. “That’s in her blood, you don’t call in sick,” said Mary, citing the family work ethic and history of farming and self-employment.

And the next day, Sara ran a 5K race.

She intended to walk, along with other family members. She wanted to be at the colon cancer awareness event in Madison to honor a Sweet Basil restaurant patron.

“But, my body wouldn’t let me walk,” Sara Immel said, although she wasn’t at her usual pace. “I really went think-ing I would walk. But, I saw people pass me and I couldn’t do it.”

On Aug. 30, she joined her family for their annual par-ticipation in the Dobogai Memorial Run in Fond du Lac. Again, she planned to walk the 5K. Again, she ran. She enjoys running, which she began at Campellsport High School, and she felt good.

But on Labor Day, Sara Immel had to admit she was not well. Body aches and chills could be the flu, but she wasn’t going to take a chance. She headed back to the St. Agnes ER.

There, Dr. Peter McCool administered IV antibiotics and performed a spinal tap, to be safe.

“There was so much scar tissue, the needle bent,” Mary Immel said.

The antibiotics and medical attention prevented Sara Immel from getting meningitis a third time. The hospi-tal kept Sara overnight, and an MRI the next day showed infected fluid behind the ear, despite the temporary plugs blocking the hole in the bone. Sara Immel was put in an ambulance and returned to Froedert. The infection needed to be brought back under control before surgery, so Immel was sent home with medication to eliminate the infection and prepare her for surgery in October.

What did Immel do a week after this second trip to Fro-edert? She ran another 5K.

“I had a remarkable time,” she said, noting the doctor cleared her to run as much as she wants, as the exercise won’t worsen her condition. She is training for the Disney Princess half-marathon at Disney World in February. And, she is preparing for her wedding in Jamaica in January 2016.

“We’re so glad she’s back,” Mary Immel said. “It was touch and go for awhile. She had no idea….It’s good she was out of it and doesn’t remember.”

“I feel back to my normal self,” said Sara, whose glowing skin and animated personality radiate health. “I felt like I was on vacation or away for awhile, because I was out of it. I just think, through this all, God really has a purpose for me.”

Fiance Lance Schumacher stands by Sara Immel’s bed during her time in the hospital. Submitted photo.

Sara Immel sits with her dad in the hospital during her first bout with spinal meningitis. Submitted photo.

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Mel Kolstad’s path into art was not a straight one.

Discouraged and intimidated early in life by her inability to draw, Kolstad mostly avoided the art world and art classes in academia. Instead, she took delight in the art kits which came

By TaIma kern Action reporter Media

Kolstad weaves art community, art education and personal pursuits into reputation

Printing and pressing, collaging and connecting

with guidelines, instructions and everything she needed to make the pre-planned piece of art.

She also watched art from a distance, collecting vin-tage ephemera. Ephemera is defined by Merriam-Webster as an item that is important or useful for only a short time, and not meant to have lasting value. For Kolstad, this in-cluded a great deal of mid-century magazines, newspa-pers and advertisements.

“At one point I thought, well, I’m amassing such a col-lection, I wonder if I can do a collage with that,” said Kols-tad. “That was in 2006, and that vintage ephemera got me a gig.” A gig that ultimately led her to quit her job and let her art take off.

Looking back on it from a short eight years later, Kols-tad remarks “I’m finding that if you are enthusiastic about what you do, then other people will be enthusiastic about it and that’s when the opportunities crop up. I’m floored by the amount of things that I’ve done.”

The list of things Kolstad has done in and for the Fond du Lac arts community is lengthy.


Mel Kolstad stands in her home studio space. She has recently had to split her time between this studio and another at Sheboygan Area High School, where she is the artist in residence through January 2015.Photo by Taima Kern/Action Reporter Media

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“I was one of the six founding members of Fond du Lac Visual Arts, and then I joined Fond du Lac Artist Association in 2010,” said Kolstad. “I joined Wisconsin Visual Arts in 2010 as well and I’m the chair of the Northeast Chapter, and pro-gram chair for them as well this year.”

Kolstad sits on the state board for Wis-consin Visual Arts, as their secretary and treasurer, and is the Vice President of Fond du Lac Public Library Board of Di-rectors. Kolstad was also one of the char-ter members of Tour the Town Committee and is behind every Facebook post that the group makes, and is instrumental in con-necting artists with local businesses for the monthly art walk.

Kolstad is also involved in Bar Camp, which takes place in late September. An unconventional convention, Bar Camp is a place where guests are presenters and vice-versa, where talks are given on every topic from tech support to cooking ideas.

“I am a docent (tour guide) with the Mu-seum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend,” adds

Kolstad. “What’s won-derful is we get training every six weeks because of new exhibits and they want us to know about it, so you get a master class in all these Wisconsin artists. I’ve learned so much from being a do-cent there.”

When she isn’t work-ing on a committee or board or with another organization, her art includes collage, print making, paper making and embroidery.

“I am loving the em-broidery and print mak-ing together right now. I’ll put the fabric in my press and then embroider around it,” said Kolstad. “Right now when I do them, it’s vintage letterpress blocks that I find online or whatever. I’m also doing some free-form embroidery, and it’s a joy.” She has also started making plates with chip-

board.

Kolstad said she can better express her art and ideas through her work with presses, as op-posed to more traditional drawing or painting. She may consider paint-ing if she needs a wider color palette, but she doesn’t mind working with mono- or dual-color schemes.

artiSt in reSidenceOn top of her other du-

ties, Kolstad has found time to be artist-in-resi-dence in the Sheboygan Area School District.

“I just started an artist in residency in Sheboygan … and it’s awesome,” said Kol-stad.

As an artist in residence, she works with the faculty of the school to incorporate art into different areas the curriculum.



One of Kolstad’s more recent pieces, this embroidery item is made to imitate the paper collage Kolstad is known for. Submitted photo.

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“What they’ll be doing is coming into the studio that Frank (Juarez, an art teacher in Sheboygan) set up for me. I can talk to their classes, and I can cater the artwork that I make for the day specifically to what they are discussing in their class. For ex-ample, if they’re in a chemistry class I can talk about dyes react with fabric, how mixing varnish and beeswax makes a dif-ferent hardening agent, that kind of stuff,” said Kolstad. “Artists use chemistry a ton; and history, and math, we use math all the time, especially if you stretch your own canvases or mat and frame your own work.”

Near the end of her time there, Kolstad will have a show of the work created dur-ing the residency in the high school’s gal-lery.

“The teacher wanted to show that be-ing an artist is a viable career option … to show the parents that it’s not scary when your child says ‘I want to be an artist.’” Said Kolstad. “I don’t think people realize … a lot of companies are hiring artists.”

Kolstad said working as an artist is rarely a nine-to-five job, but there is plenty out there to do to make a living.

Kolstad’s residency is ongoing and has been extended through the end of the se-mester in January.

pHiloSopHy and adviceKolstad hopes that art can be accessible

to everyone, and feels that it shouldn’t be locked away.

“I think people are intimidated some-times by going into a gallery,” said Kols-

tad. “That the art will be too expensive or they are going to have art pushed on them by the gallery owner or they don’t feel like they know enough about art history to have any semblance of an opinion on a particular piece. Especially with modern art and abstracts.”

Kolstad’s goal is to let people know that their ideas in regard to art are valid.

“If you like it and it is pretty than it works,” said Kolstad.

“I do believe that if you have a chance to see art, it can actually help you think more creatively,” said Kolstad. “I think the more visual art we see, the more ideas you get about things.”

Kolstad believes that making a living as an artist is possible. She said that though she has sold many pieces, most of her art-related income comes from teaching. That margin would be larger, however, if she didn’t volunteer as much as she does.

“If I wanted to make my life go that way, I know that I could get teaching gigs with corporate locations,” said Kolstad. “A lot of my friends do that; they travel around the country and teach.”

Kolstad has taught every age group and loves teaching each one, but if she had her choice, she would teach adults.

“Kids are free, kids are, for the most part, into it,” said Kolstad. “They have no qualms, no hang-ups about self-doubt. When you break into adults, and you get them working again, that is extremely re-warding. We all have creative baggage, for lack of a better term. I had it, where I didn’t think I could do anything and then all of a sudden you are creating stuff that

MEL KOLSTaDAge: 46

oCCupAtion: Artist

hometown: originally from Ashwaubenon, living in Fond du Lac for 18 years.

reACtion to being nominAted: no WAY!!!! that is AWeSoMe!!!!

Attributes her suCCess to: You know the adage, ‘start before you’re ready,’ that has fueled me greatly. I say yes to everything that I think I’ll enjoy or will benefit me in some way. Sometimes I know how to do it backwards and forwards, but sometimes I go into whatever it is completely green. It helps me to do my best and really be in the moment. But most importantly, I could never have gotten where I’ve been without the love and support of my husband Brian. he’s always there for me, in whatever way I need him to be! I only hope that I’m as good to him as he is to me.


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For two semesters Kali Lacount and the rest of her team of journalism students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee doggedly searched out answers for an investigative story on the safety of fellow students should someone started firing a gun on campus. the video series they produced has won 10 different awards for broadcast journalism, including the pres-tigious edward r. Murrow Award and a couple of collegiate emmy nominations.

By Harley BucHHolz For Action reporter Media

Fondy grad LaCount improves safety on UWM campus

“We’re going to go (to New York City for the award pre-sentation) and celebrate our accomplishment,” said the Fond du Lac High School and UWM graduate. Her college experience has led to a career-path associate producer po-sition at Milwaukee’s WISN-TV where she assists various show producers. On occasion, she said, she gets to do the writing and editing for the announcers.

Broadcast news has always been her aim. Back at Fondy High she took a news broadcast course with then-teacher Brian Carriveau. He’s gone on to become editor-in-chief at Cheesehead TV, a sports-oriented web TV station located at Beaver Dam.

“He signed my yearbook,” Kali said, “saying he knew I’d do great things and (I should) just remember to thank him when I win my first Emmy.”

Well, she’s been nominated.

“We were officially nominated (in late September) for two (Emmy) awards,” she said. (They’re called Student Pro-duction Awards at the collegiate level.) In the newscast cat-egory she was nominated with 11 classmates. In the general assignment news category it’s Kali and four classmates.

And from Oct. 4-7 she and the rest of her team were in New York to receive the Murrow Award – won in compe-tition with all broadcast journalists. Kali finished course


Kali LaCount, second from right, celebrates receiving an award with some of her classmates. Submitted photo.

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work in August this year with a degree in journalism, advertising and media studies, with a focus on broadcast. She was in a class aptly titled “Television News Reporting” when she suggested the student safety story and was assigned to a team to investigate it. An earlier class had explored the story for a semester but Kali and her team found changes since and areas that needed more investigating.

“I went to the professor (Mark Zoromski, who guided the team through the series) and he said, go ahead. That led to the rest of the investigation. We did six pieces,” Kali said.

A segment telecast early last December over UWM’s PantherVision and on Time Warner Cable in the Milwaukee area, titled “An Act of Malpractice,” earned the colle-giate Emmy nomination.

Each segment of the series was done by a reporter and a photo journalist.

“I did both” in front and behind the cam-era, Kali noted. She explained that “to de-termine what the school was lacking we checked with other schools. We looked at what we didn’t have. There were some spe-cific things that weren’t being done on cam-pus that should have been.”

Kali and her team reported what they saw as campus deficiencies in how students were alerted to danger via texting and loud-speakers, in how students were trained to react and in locking of classroom doors.

The series led to the numerous awards and some local fame for Kali, a woman who relishes serious reporting but can lapse into giggles and “Oh, wow!” moments.

She’s a do-it-yourselfer, into crafts, works out and just bought a condo.

“If I ever get a free moment I like to read,” she confided. “I have a ton of books.” She also likes family time and tries to get back to Fond du Lac, where her mother, Con-nie Millard, lives “as much as I can.” Her fa-ther, Weslie LaCount, is in Milwaukee.

Kali was interviewed twice by WISN anouncers in connection with news stories on the series. The most recent, last May, gave her close to 10 seconds of on-camera time – lengthy for a TV interview – as she discussed “Run, Hide, Fight” training for students. She sounded like a TV pro, com-posed and articulate.

She and her team have celebrated awards from the likes of the Milwaukee Press Club, Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, Soci-ety of Professional Journalists and the Eric Sevaried Award. (Both the Murrow and Se-varied awards are named for early televi-sion news announcers.)

“We have won 10 separate awards,” she noted. “The highest was the Edward R. Murrow.”

It’s all a heady experience for Kali, who grew up in Fond du Lac, attended Waters and Theisen elementary and middle schools and graduated from high school in 2009. She also has a part-time job as a clerical worker for a distributing company in addition to the 28-29 hours a week she spends as a TV pro-duction assistant.

Being a producer is not her first career choice, though.

“I really, really want to be a reporter,” she exclaimed with the enthusiasm of a 23-year-old recent college grad. “Ulti-mately I want to be an educator – go back to school and get my masters and then teach journalism.”

Carriveau, Kali’s old high school journal-

ism teacher, remembers “more than any-thing, her attitude. I don’t remember ever a day when she didn’t come to class with a smile on her face.” Carriveau taught Eng-lish and journalism at Fondy High for four years between 2006 and 2010. In his broad-cast course students prepared a daily tele-cast for the entire school.

Some students, he noted, joined simply so they could be seen on TV. “She (Kali) took the opportunity to take it seriously for the right reason,” he said. “To learn about jour-nalism.”

Oh, yeah – and she aced that UWM broad-cast course.


Kali LaCount is hard at work at her job at WISN. Submitted photo.

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educators who make a difference in the lives of their stu-

dents – and in the community and school district they serve –

stand out from the crowd. Mark Pieplow, recently retired band

teacher at Laconia high School, is a prime example. With a

passion for music as well as for teaching, he touched the lives

and hearts of the community and students for 33 years.

By DoroTHy BlISkey Action reporter Media

Drum roll, please… Mark Pieplow, band teacher extraordinaire!

As he prepared to bid farewell to the community, his parting role was that of parade marshal in the annual Eldorado Community Parade this summer. The honor il-lustrates the passion his community has for him.

“The students absolutely loved playing for him, and the concerts were incredible,” said Gary Hansen, admin-istrator at Rosendale-Brandon School District. “In a high school of 320 students, he would have 170 out for band. His former students often state that he was their favorite teacher and that he had such a major influence on their lives.”

In addition to the camaraderie with students, Pieplow’s ability to develop a rapport with fellow staff and the school board served the district well. “He had such a positive attitude,” Hansen said. “As president of the Rosendale-Brandon School District’s Education Associa-tion, he had major input in creating a good relationship between the staff and the school board. He was a trusted voice of reason. He will be missed.”

Of the many band students Pieplow taught, more than 25 have gone on to teach music – two (Bob Kunz and Tammy VandeBerg) are in the R-B District and have been teaching alongside him in recent years.

Pieplow, who has directed almost 1,000 concerts over the years, developed a variety of top-notch performing bands at Laconia including the Jazz Ensemble, Polka Band, Pep Band, Marching Band, and the Concert and Symphonic Bands. His Laconia marching band per-formed in every Homecoming parade and half-time show, the Rosendale Memorial Day Parade and the El-dorado Parade.

“We also performed anywhere from 30-35 Pep Bands a year, and the Jazz Band gave two annual concerts,” Pieplow said, explaining the array of performances un-dertaken by the various bands he directed, including concerts given for elementary and middle schools in both Rosendale and Brandon at Christmastime.

“Concerts were always my favorite time of year,” Pieplow said. “I loved creating a program and then see-ing it come to life on stage. Sometimes it was like I

MaRK PIEPLOwAge: 60

CitY of residenCe: three Lakes, Wisconsin

how long lived there? About 6 months

reACtion to being nominAted: It is very humbling to realize that there were so many people I influenced during my teaching career.

whAt i Attribute to mY suCCess: never take yourself too seriously. treat each student as an individual, not a number. Get to know what interests your students beyond the band room.

Band director Mark Pieplow speaks to the audience during a performance. Submitted photo.

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Locating former students and staff who were willing to share a few memories about Mark Pieplow was an easy job for this writer. having raised three sons in the r-B District, I found that spreading the word to gather a little input was almost effortless in this age of social media. I got rapid-fire action. here is a sampling of the feedback.

• tammy (stahmann) vandeberg, rosendale, who was a band student at Laconia from 1989-92 and currently is a general music teacher in the district said, Mark Pieplow’s great sense of humor always made class enjoyable. “But, if we started to get too rowdy, we knew when we had crossed the line. he created a fun, relaxing learning environment with high expectations. A favorite memory is long bus rides to Florida to perform at Disneyworld – something I’ll never forget.”

• lisa (wachdorf) mick, Fond du Lac, said she played French horn in band in the late 1980s. “Mr. Pieplow made me feel like I was something special – even though I was always last chair.”

• beth (milfred) bartelt, Sheboygan, who was a band student in the mid-1980s, recalls the days when she, along with her dad and brother, played with Mark Pieplow in an area (non-school) band called Grandma’s Jam. She recalls a black suit Pieplow always wore. “he wore it to every school concert, marching band performance and Grandma’s Jam performance.

Someone put a piece of paper in his coat pocket. Months, possibly years, later, it was still there, proving our suspicion that he never dry cleaned it.”

• bob Kunz graduated from Laconia in 1983 where he played the trumpet in band. As a vocal music teacher in the district currently, he has been working alongside his former band teacher. “When I went to Laconia we didn’t take overnight trips like they do today. We performed at the State Fair. Mr. Pieplow had an extra ticket to see chicago that night, and I was able to go.” As teachers together, Kunz says he has enjoyed getting to know him on a different level. “We’ve worked on concerts together and played some pep band together for “old time’s sake.” I’ve also enjoyed getting to know his family and how important they are to him.”

• Growing up in Rosendale, Abby smit who is employed as a first grade teacher in the district, says Mark Pieplow, as well as others, inspired her to become a teacher. She recalls a moment that illustrates the passion he had for teaching. “I always enjoyed when we had a song pretty well mastered. I would glance up from playing to see Mr. Pieplow jamming out and taking all the music in!”

• “i was a true band geek, thanks to mr. pieplow,” said emily (hoyt) bechler, ripon, who was a Laconia student from 1996-2000. “I played

French horn and trumpet and was in the orchestra, jazz band, marching band and participated in solo ensemble all four years. Mr. Pieplow truly loved what he did, and his passion for music was inspiring. It made you want to be great! A fond memory would be Mr. Pieplow taking time-outs between songs so I could replace the wax in my braces (so the inside of my lips didn’t get all cut up) and pointing out to the crowd what I was doing… embarrassing at the time, but funny now!”

• Jenny (guy) pilsl, now a social studies teacher at Laconia, graduated from Laconia in 1990 and had Mark Pieplow as her band teacher – and as her cross country coach all four years. “Under his direction, band was never dull. It was a class you truly enjoyed going to each day. I feel privileged to have been able to work with a teacher who was such a big part of my high school career.”

• terry milfred, who was the principal at Laconia high School when Pieplow was hired, and whose three children were all band members at Laconia, sums it up. “In my opinion, Mark’s secret to success was the ability to expect excellence from his students while at the same time allowing them to enjoy the process of achieving success. he had a great sense of humor which the students enjoyed, and he knew when to push/demand and when to relax and have fun. In my opinion, the results spoke for themselves.”

MEMORIES ShaRED By fORMER STuDEnTS anD CO-wORKERSbY dorothY blisKeY

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IROnIC TwIST… RETIREMEnT MIxED wITh TEaChInG (aGaIn) When Mark Pieplow, the longtime Laconia high School band director retired this year, it was with the idea he and his wife Phyllis were going to begin the next phase of their life together in three Lakes, Wisconsin – more than three hours from rosendale. Mark’s new lifestyle would include a healthy dose of fishing, woodworking and lazy days on the lake. But as fate (or luck) would have it, Mark, who is passionate about teaching band, stumbled upon another teaching opportunity.

“there was an ad in the paper for a band director in the three Lakes School,” Mark said. “I know how to band direct so I thought I would apply, not knowing if it was the right decision but letting fate decide. I got the job and am now right back in the saddle again.”

Mixed in with his days of teaching, which seem to operate at a less hectic pace than his prior teaching role, is a fair amount of “retirement” fun – even if he is still working. “It’s so laid back here I don’t need to take a vacation. Living in this area on the lake, it’s like a vacation. I can fish, hunt, run, snowshoe, make firewood and sit and watch the sunsets. Life is good.”

dreamed it would be…sometimes it was like I feared.”

Later on in his career, Pieplow oversaw the formation of Laconia’s Polka Band which evolved from the Jazz Band. The Polka Band performed annually at “Se-nior Prom” at the St. Francis Assisted Living Home in Fond du Lac and at Polka Fest held at Laconia’s open house each year.

<<< contInUeD FroM PAGE 19 “Playing polkas and seeing dancers on the floor was a highlight,” Pieplow said. “I told the kids that this may be the only time they get to play for someone dancing – and to enjoy the moment. I really think they got the point.”

Band trips out-of-state were also high-lights of his teaching career. Bus ride journeys took students to perform and compete at faraway destinations every two years – Ohio, Missouri and Disney-

Mark Pieplow directs band students at Laconia High School during a performance. Submitted photo.


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world in Florida. Considerable fund-raising and preparation took place in the year or more leading up to each trip. “The trips would not have been possible without the help of parents and facul-ty,” Pieplow said, noting one of the most memorable occasions was marching at Disneyworld. “It was a very cool expe-rience as we marched in the Parade of Lights and headed toward the castle.”

Pieplow is especially proud of the fact Laconia won “Best Band in St. Louis” in 1992. “We performed against some pretty large schools from across the Midwest.”

In addition to bringing his own unique talent and musical skills to the classroom – he majored in trombone in college and says the piano has become his specialty– Pieplow is known for adding a hefty dose of humor to his teaching style.

“Not a day went by that we didn’t laugh heartily many times…it was good for the soul,” said Larry Conrad, the district’s retired vocal music teacher who worked closely with Pieplow through the years. “He was an excellent accompanist for my vocal jazz groups and was a really

strong improviser. His accompaniments were never quite the same twice in a row, and that was wonderful for the students learning to work in this style.”

Conrad relates a humorous prank that occurred at the start of the school year. “Mark stepped into my freshman choir practice to accompany them on the piano. He played badly, on purpose. I slammed my fists on the top of the piano and start-ed yelling at him – saying he needed to get it right. The freshmen didn’t know either of us very well, and their eyes got huge,” Conrad said, noting it was a prank he and Pieplow pulled on the kids. “They didn’t know what to make of the situation. I’m sure they were thinking ‘Why did I sign up for this class?’ We waited for the right time and burst out laughing, and the kids joined us in laughter. Moments like that really made being involved in the music programs fun and helped develop a rapport with our students.”

When asked to recall a comical inci-dent during his teaching years, Pieplow related one where the joke was on him. “One time when I was directing the band, I fell off the steps by my podium, disappeared into the floor and landed in

the front row of the band,” Pieplow said. “Talk about dead silence!”

“I really enjoyed the special relation-ships that developed with the students,” Pieplow said. “Watching them mature from freshmen into young men and wom-en was always rewarding. I also enjoyed the camaraderie that we experienced in the band.”

Thoughts of retirement came gradu-ally as health issues arose. “My wife Phyllis and I decided it was time to look at beginning a different phase of our lives.” Pieplow said, explaining that in 2012 they built a home on property that was his parents on a northern Wisconsin lake. “When we sold our house in Pickett, we knew it was a sign to begin thinking of moving. One-and-a-half-years later we pulled the trigger. While the fire to teach still burned, it was time to move on.”

“Laconia’s band program will contin-ue through the strong foundation Mark Pieplow built – and with what we be-lieve to be an excellent teacher in James Blashe who will build upon that founda-tion,” Hansen said.

“Mark is very much missed in our dis-trict, but we wish him well.”


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throughout Derek Semenas’ basketball career, he’s usually been the best, or at the very least, one of the best players on the court at any given time.

From his days starring on the Laconia boys basketball team to his time doing the same at cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Semenas had the size, skills and determination to do whatever needed to be done — score, direct the offense, shut down an opposing player.

By Sam oleSon Action reporter Media

Laconia grad Semenas plays professional hoops overseas

On many occasions, his all-around play put him in a class of his own.

Now, Semenas will need to start over. His skill on the court, while still considerable, won’t be head and shoulders above his competition. With the next step in his career, Se-menas is at a level so many basketball players dream about, yet so few actually attain — the pros.

Journey to tHe proSFor nearly the past decade, Semenas showcased his tal-

ent on the court for a number of teams in eastern Wisconsin, beginning with his time playing for Laconia High School.

Semenas helped lead Laconia to three Flyway Confer-ence titles in three years on varsity and capped off his ca-reer with the Spartans averaging 23.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists as a senior in 2009 and was named The Re-porter Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

Semenas then played a couple years for the UW-Green Bay men’s basketball team before transferring to Cardinal Stritch, immediately making an impact for the Wolves.

As a junior in 2013, he played a key role on the Cardinal Stritch team that won the NAIA Division II national title. As a senior, he was named a NAIA Division II first team All-American. In averaging 24.4 points per game his senior sea-son, Semenas earned Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Con-ference Player of the Year honors and ended his career as


Cardinal Stritch’s Derek Semenas takes a shot during a game last year. Semenas is playing professionally in

Denmark this season after a successful college and high school career.

Submitted photo

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the second-leading scorer in school history.

Cardinal Stritch men’s basketball coach Drew Diener described his star player as a scorer first, but someone who had devel-oped into an all-around player by the end of his college career.

“He can really score in a lot of ways,” Diener said. “He’s a tough guy to game plan against because he can shoot it, he can get his own shot off the dribble and he got re-ally good at getting to the foul line. He’s a really dynamic scorer because he can do it in so many ways. He’s an athletic guy with a good first step to get by (the opponent). Defensively, he has a great mentality. He’s tough-minded. He doesn’t back down from anyone. Both ends of the floor, he’s winning his matchup.”

Following the end of his senior season, Semenas and Diener began the process of finding an agent for the talented 6-foot-3 guard. Semenas had shown enough at Car-dinal Stritch to attract interest in the Euro-pean professional ranks and was intent on taking the leap.

“Ever since I was little I’d seen myself playing as a professional basketball player,” Semenas said in an email to The Reporter. “Obviously when I was young I envisioned myself playing in the NBA because I didn’t know much about overseas basketball, but after I saw the alternative to the NBA when Drake and Travis (Diener) played over there. I saw it as a nice alternative to con-tinue my basketball career and to make a living for my family while enjoying the sites that the world has to offer.”

croSSing tHe atlanticAfter signing with an agent, Semenas

soon began the process of finding a team in Europe to play for. Semenas and his agent eventually settled on the Horsholm 79ers of the Danish League 1st Division, based in Horsholm, Denmark.

While the milestone of signing a profes-sional contract was an important one for Se-menas, as it signified the accomplishment of a lifelong goal, he knew it was only the starting point.

“My reaction when I found out that I was offered a contract was an emotion beyond excitement where I finally realized all the hard work that I put into the game of basket-ball since I was young up to this point has paid off, and that I have to start all over and make another name for myself as a profes-sional overseas,” Semenas said.

When Diener first started coaching Se-menas, he wasn’t quite sure he had what it took to make it at a professional level. It wasn’t long before Semenas began to de-velop not only physically, but mentally — something even more important as a player begins to play tougher and tougher competi-tion. That’s when Diener began to believe.

“He was always very talented and al-ways competitive and skilled,” Diener said. “I think the biggest step he took his senior year was from a mental standpoint. He re-ally matured into not only a leader, but just a guy who had a great approach to every game. That’s when I realized and thought that this guy could definitely make it over-seas or make it at a professional level.”

So far, Semenas is still adjusting to overseas basketball and Danish culture. Through the early part of the season, Se-menas is starting and playing roughly 30 minutes per game, getting time both as a

shooting guard and small forward. While he doesn’t have to go to school anymore, his team practices six days a week, which means he needs to keep his body in top shape. Luckily for Semenas, most Denmark residents speak English and much of the culture is Americanized,

though healthy eating is emphasized more.

While he’s still getting used to a few rules differences and a 24-second shot clock, Se-menas is happy playing for the 79ers and overseas in general. He credits his experi-ences at Cardinal Stritch and Laconia as be-ing crucial to his development as a player and putting him in the position to succeed at a professional level.

“Playing for Cardinal Stritch helped pre-pare me for professional basketball because I was able to work on my game every day with coaches that knew what it would take to get to the next level and never let me get content with where my talents were at,” Se-menas said. “Drew and Dick (Diener) were able to help me take my game to the next level and help me through the process of not only becoming a better player, but a better leader and teammate. That goes a long way with clubs overseas because they take huge risks in Americans representing their orga-nizations, so they not only want a great play-er on the court, but also a great individual off the court.

“Laconia helped me prepare for profes-sional basketball because this is where it all started in the dream of playing professional basketball, and I always had coaches grow-ing up that would do anything I asked to get me there and I am thankful for each and ev-ery one of them.”

As far as where Semenas hopes to go from here, he’s not even thinking about that at this point. Right now, he’s focused on im-proving as a player and helping the 79ers win games — a pretty similar attitude to the one he took while at Cardinal Stritch and Laconia.

“As of now, it’s a great starting point for my first year as a professional and for a class act organization so we’ll see what my options bring after my first season here in Denmark, but I wouldn’t be against playing here again next year if that is my best op-tion,” he said. “I am confident in my abilities as well as my agents to put me in the best situation to help my career overseas pros-per. I’m not really thinking too far ahead for what my basketball future may hold. I’m just taking it day by day, continuing to im-prove in the gym to be able to put myself in the best position possible for the years to follow.”


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