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Club History


History

The Sauk Prairie Optimist Club was formed in 1961 with 29 members. The club was the first Sauk Prairie service club. Prior service clubs were either Sauk City or Prairie du Sac. Three of those original members are still members of the club, including the first president, Denman Kramer. The club now has about 50 members. The Optimist Club of Sauk Prairie is a member of Optimist International, an association of over 3,000 Optimist Clubs worldwide.

Past Presidents

1961-1962 Denman Kramer
1962-1963 Eldor Fruehling
1963-1964 Dale Kelley
1964-1965 Wally Westre
1965-1966 Woody Zantow
1966-1967 Dean Caflish
1967-1968 Edward Gruber
1968-1969 Jim Kirchstein
1969-1970 John Oakeson
1970-1971 Larry Pakys
1971-1972 Haakon Carlson
1972-1973 Robert Rentmeester
1973-1974 Bruce Koch
1974-1975 Don Johnson
1975-1976 John Gruber
1976-1977 Paul Moye
1977-1978 Ray Bayley
1978-1979 Bill Campbell
1979-1980 Robert Risley
1980-1981 Robert Enge
1981-1982 Patrick Byrnes
1982-1983 Don Frank
1983-1984 Dave Mangun - Melvin Sprecher
1984-1985 Larry Martin
1985-1986 Tod Meserow
1986-1987 Franklin Kirk
1987-1988 Cliff Lyon
1988-1989 Len Schlieger
1989-1990 Ken Powers
1990-1991 Dwight Pulfus
1991-1992 Wilbur Luetscher
1992-1993 Milly Zantow
1993-1994 Bill Curan
1994-1995 Jake Kuehl
1995-1996 Roy Perry
1996-1997 Todd Pieper
1997-1998 Todd Pieper - Jake Kuehl
1998-1999 Joe LaCour
1999-2000 Frank Marshall
2000-2001 Randy Hohenstein
2001-2002 Bill Stehling
2002-2003 Dick McFarlane
2003-2004 Rose White
2004-2005 Ed Jacobsen
2005-2006 Roxi Maier
2006-2007 Ken Boll
2007-2008 Nancy Breunig
2008-2009 Judy Boehnen
2009-2010 Ellen Paul


Charter Members

Owen Anderson, R.W Bayley, Melvin Bickford, Arthur Breunig, Dean Caflisch, Robert Curtin, Eldor Fruehling, Gilbert Gasner, Russell Gattshall, Edward D. Gruber, Earl Hall, John Hammerli, Floyd W. Harris, Wayne L. Huehns, Dale Kelley, John Koch, Denman Kramer, Paul McFarlane, Joseph L. Martin, Allen Maruyama, Al P. Miller, Ronald Nichols, Ken Poppy, Leonard Pulsfus, Henry W. Thies, Sterling "Wally" Westre, George Wiedenfeld, Gerald A. Young and Forrest M. Zantow