[00:00:00] Fuzz Martin: Hey fam, thanks for listening to Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz. My name is Fuzz Martin. You know, the drill, this show features positive things happening in and around Washington County, Wisconsin. And each week, usually each week I sit down with someone to talk about an organization. Event person or a combination thereof that is doing good in our community.

[00:00:31] Fuzz Martin: This week, Liz Dreher returns to the show. Liz is the owner of Celtic Knot massage. In West Bend, she is also part of the St. Lucas Lutheran School in Kewaskum's PTO. And that's what we're talking about this week! St. Lucas School's PTO is putting on a fundraiser at Foundry 45 in Kewaskum it is called the Boots and Blue Jeans Ball, and they're doing that to help the school build a new playground.

[00:00:55] Fuzz Martin: It's a great cause, and I'll be emceeing the event, so that's fun, at least for me, hopefully for you too. And with that, here are 15 minutes on the Boots and Blue Jeans Ball for St. Lucas school with Liz Dreher right here on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.

[00:01:22] Fuzz Martin: Liz, thank you for coming back to talk with me about, this year's St. Lucas school fundraiser. Can you first tell us a bit about St. Lucas Lutheran School and the role that the PTO plays in supporting both the students and the staff there?

[00:01:39] Liz Dreher: Yes, of course. St. Lucas is a private little school located in Kewaskum.

[00:01:44] Liz Dreher: Kind of tucked away. Not a lot of people actually know about it. And the PTO is made up of lots of moms and teachers. We are responsible for raising money for anything kind of extra for the kids. As far as like last year, we did the security system. This year we're raising money for a playground.

[00:02:01] Liz Dreher: We're kind of responsible for anything that we can. Do to improve the school for the children.

[00:02:06] Fuzz Martin: Great. What, so this year you're doing the playground. What inspired the PTO to take on the mission of building this new playground?

[00:02:13] Liz Dreher: Our playground is really old. Um, we have, lots of families that kind of help and put band aids on it.

[00:02:22] Liz Dreher: And luckily nobody's gotten hurt or needed tetanus shots, but it's just time. It's, it's starting to fall apart and, it's just time for a new. A new playground.

[00:02:31] Fuzz Martin: Time to upgrade that for the kids and surrounding neighbors. And the neighborhood, yeah, for sure. Exactly. So, to raise funds for a new playground, last year you had a whole yacht a love, I think it was, right?

[00:02:44] Fuzz Martin: Was that the name of the, uh,

[00:02:45] Liz Dreher: Yeah,

[00:02:45] Fuzz Martin: the band, yeah. Oh, yeah, that was the name of the band. It was the, uh,

[00:02:48] Liz Dreher: Pearl of the Sea. Pearl

[00:02:49] Fuzz Martin: of the Sea, right, okay. So, it had kind of a sea theme. This year it's called the Boots and Blue Jeans Ball.

[00:02:54] Liz Dreher: Yes.

[00:02:54] Fuzz Martin: Which sounds awesome. Especially because it's at Kewoskon, which used to be the Amaron, which used to have a whole bunch of like country dances and stuff.

[00:03:02] Fuzz Martin: I remember from back in like the late 90s, early 2000s. So you're putting on the boots and blue jeans ball, Foundry 45 in Kewoskon. That's Thursday the 13th, isn't it right?

[00:03:10] Liz Dreher: Yep, March 13th.

[00:03:12] Fuzz Martin: What can attendees expect at this fundraising event?

[00:03:16] Liz Dreher: Another awesome party. We have Wes from The Antidote, partnered with Carnivore Craig, who's gonna handle the food, and if you haven't had his food, his food is pretty amazing.

[00:03:26] Liz Dreher: Yeah, it's amazing. So, it's gonna be kinda like that southern cooking idea, shredded pork, shredded chicken, things like that. Foundry, like you said, is absolutely beautiful, will fit the theme. We have FM Rodeo is the band playing and they're phenomenal. Their lead female vocalist plays the violinist.

[00:03:45] Liz Dreher: She's so talented. So they're going to be keeping the party going. And once again, we have tons of paddle raffles and live auction items and gift baskets and silent auction items. Again, the community has just stepped up and totally killed it on the donations. So we're super excited about all of that this year, too.

[00:04:04] Fuzz Martin: Awesome. Yeah. Last year, you guys had a ton of awesome prizes with those paddle raffles. So the way that works, right, is people buy a paddle, and then there's a ping pong ball with a number that coincides, right?

[00:04:16] Liz Dreher: Yep. So, The men are working on doing a spinning wheel because they think that's more exciting and fun, but either way, yes, whether we have the balls or the spinning wheel, we sell X amount of paddles for a certain amount of money for each item.

[00:04:30] Liz Dreher: And the odds are great. You're paying, you know, 20 to 40 for a paddle and you're up against 30 people. So it's, it's very exciting. And, and yeah, people get excited about it and it's very fast paced and fun.

[00:04:42] Fuzz Martin: Last year, I know some of the prizes were like power tools and coolers. What kind of things do you have this year?

[00:04:46] Liz Dreher: We got coolers again. We're hoping to maybe get a paddle board, from a certain special donor. We have, we had several guns last year, so we're actually doubling that amount. We had three guns. We're going to have six guns this year.

[00:04:59] Fuzz Martin: A lot of people, uh, paid to, to get into that, uh, yes,

[00:05:02] Liz Dreher: they're very excited about the guns last year.

[00:05:05] Liz Dreher: So we definitely, we doubled that. We have another car detailing, donation that went really well. Oh, we have a, I believe it's a year membership for 1840. So that's super cool.

[00:05:18] Fuzz Martin: So you mentioned, the antidote and carnivore Craig's coming, I assume with that, with having a bunch of food and having a limited amount of space and last year it was packed and it was a whole lot, a whole yacht of fun, um, that you have to purchase tickets in advance for this, right?

[00:05:34] Liz Dreher: Correct. So we actually have our own website this year, which is exciting. It's stlucaspto. com. Tickets are 50 again. We do actually have one table yet for purchase if anybody was still interested, but we got to kind of wrap that up in the next week. Tickets gets you in the door, dinner, access to the band, all of the raffles and everything.

[00:05:54] Liz Dreher: And then we have the 50, 50 raffle. We'll have raffle tickets for all of the gift basket donations. And then obviously you'll be there for the paddle raffles and the live auctions as well.

[00:06:03] Fuzz Martin: So, The website again is S-T-L-U-C-A-S pto.com? Correct. So, okay, so St. Lucas s st. Uh, and then Lucas, L-U-C-A-S.

[00:06:12] Fuzz Martin: Yep. pto.com. How much are the ticket, again? Uh, to get in

[00:06:15] Liz Dreher: $50 a person.

[00:06:16] Fuzz Martin: $50 per person. Okay. Very good. And you said you had one, one table lift. Is it

[00:06:19] Liz Dreher: one table that seats eight? Yep. One table

[00:06:21] Fuzz Martin: at seats eight. As of the time we're recording this, it may be gone when you get there, so get on the internet right away.

[00:06:26] Fuzz Martin: Let's talk about that playground, that you have. St. Lucas school's been around for. I don't know. 76.

[00:06:31] Liz Dreher: 76

[00:06:32] Fuzz Martin: years. We're the 76ers. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, that started in 76? Yeah. Okay. So, um, so let's see. I'm, I was born in 78 and I'm 46 of, uh, 48 years old.

[00:06:42] Liz Dreher: Yep.

[00:06:43] Fuzz Martin: I assume the playground's pretty close to that then, huh?

[00:06:45] Liz Dreher: Yeah. I believe it's, it's over 20 years. I know that for sure. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[00:06:48] Fuzz Martin: I suppose. Yeah. Cause like, playgrounds built in the 70s. You know, yeah. They were kind of dangerous back in the day. All metal. I'm sure, yeah. I'm sure that it's probably improved, over those years. But, why is the new playground so important to the students of St. Lucas?

[00:07:02] Liz Dreher: It's just such a big part of the being outside. We are building a new church too, which is super exciting. Um, as exciting as that is, the children have lost their sledding hill. Oh, they're a little depressed about that. So I think having a new playground and just a new start, Welcome the church too, which would just be an awesome thing for the kids, but it's also really good for the community.

[00:07:22] Liz Dreher: Everybody's welcome to come and use our playground, you know, on the weekends and after school hours. And so it's not just a betterment for St. Lucas. It's a betterment for the whole community surrounding.

[00:07:32] Fuzz Martin: Yeah, exactly. And, and you know, River Hill Park's not that far away. Right. Right. I mean, that's probably the best sledding other than the ski hill.

[00:07:42] Liz Dreher: Yeah, right.

[00:07:43] Fuzz Martin: Fundraisers like this take a lot of support. What has the response been like from the local community and businesses, sponsors, things like that?

[00:07:51] Liz Dreher: The response is over overwhelming and always so humbling. We, I mean, we couldn't do this without the support of the local businesses.

[00:08:00] Liz Dreher: We have table sponsors from A1 Health and Fitness, Kane Kane, Anderson Action, Tiki Beach Resort, BCS, J. T. Rams, Kettle Marine Gardens, J. H. Universal, and J. R. Design. In addition to, I mean, smaller, like Coffee Corner and, Alter Ego and, I mean, just tons of support. And so, we just, it's, like I said, it's just so humbling and we're so appreciative because we wouldn't be able to do this without anybody.

[00:08:28] Fuzz Martin: Yeah, and, those donations that they make, last year brought in Enough to get you guys past your security cameras, right?

[00:08:35] Liz Dreher: Surpassed it by almost double.

[00:08:37] Fuzz Martin: Almost double. And you, you were worried that you weren't when we, when you came in here and you and your team, uh, blew the doors off the place.

[00:08:46] Fuzz Martin: It was, it was wonderful. And I'm guessing now that you're under your belt, it's going to be even better, right?

[00:08:49] Liz Dreher: Yes. Yes.

[00:08:50] Fuzz Martin: And so there's a lot that goes into this. So what is the planning process been like for you and the PTO team?

[00:08:57] Liz Dreher: Oh, a lot of late nights. We had a meeting last night until 1030, um, sifting through the donations and trying to make it better.

[00:09:05] Liz Dreher: We want to make last year. I do think everything flowed quite well. But we want to make the experience even better, even more exciting, even more fun. So it's the meeting of the minds. I'm just more of the mouth without my team. None of this would come to fruition. I'm, I'm so grateful for, Janelle and Alex.

[00:09:22] Liz Dreher: And now we have it. Two other women helping us out. We got like a little committee. So

[00:09:27] Fuzz Martin: excellent,

[00:09:27] Liz Dreher: super blessed to have those girls helping me.

[00:09:30] Fuzz Martin: What is the most rewarding part for you of putting together an event like this?

[00:09:37] Liz Dreher: After the event or midnight people coming up and saying, this is awesome. I can't believe you guys pulled this off.

[00:09:46] Liz Dreher: It's seamless and it's so much fun. Like just the enjoyment. And, and then of course, obviously the money raising is, is. Wonderful, but just, yeah, everybody's happy and having a blast. And that is awesome.

[00:10:01] Fuzz Martin: Again, I was the MC, I'll be the MC this year again. Uh, looking forward to it. I pretty much lost my voice from, uh, uh, cause there was a lot of, a lot of prizes to give away, and it was a lot of fun.

[00:10:13] Fuzz Martin: It was, it was a great time. Once the event is over you've raised the funds. I know from being on the the village board I know how much playgrounds cost So this probably won't get you all the way there with the playground because they're in most cases like at least six figures And maybe you'll raise that maybe somebody will come But What is the next step in making the new Playground a reality after this?

[00:10:44] Liz Dreher: So, we're going to try and do the Playground in sections, essentially, just because, yeah, the quote we got was six figures. Okay. We're definitely Decided to take next year off from the gala. We don't want to exhaust our donors. We appreciate them so much. So, hopefully this, this amount of money will get us into the first phase of the playground set.

[00:11:06] Liz Dreher: And then we'll revisit doing a gala in two years and hopefully raise more money. I would assume at that point we'll continue with the fundraising for more of a playground set.

[00:11:16] Fuzz Martin: Great. Excellent. Thank you. If people, again, they want to buy tickets, when do they have to have those tickets purchased by for this?

[00:11:22] Liz Dreher: March 8th will be the last day.

[00:11:25] Fuzz Martin: Okay. March 8th. Again, they can buy tickets at St. Lucas, PTO st lucas pto.com. Yeah. Right. And if somebody maybe can't make it to the event, but like the cause want to help, kids have a nice place to play, maybe they're, you know, a part of the church or neighborhood and they want to improve that, how can they donate to the cause?

[00:11:44] Liz Dreher: I absolutely, they could mail a check to St. Lucas school. It's 1417 Parkway.

[00:11:51] Fuzz Martin: Yes,

[00:11:57] Liz Dreher: if they wanted to make a monetary donation, absolutely. And if, if, using the website or internet isn't their thing and they don't feel comfortable purchasing a ticket, um, on the website is my contact information. I will drive to your house and drop a ticket off.

[00:12:11] Liz Dreher: I have no problem doing that.

[00:12:12] Fuzz Martin: Excellent. I assume if they're listening to a podcast. They probably know if, uh, if you're Liz, that's kind of like a level two of using the internet. Um, but, but it's good if you're sharing it with somebody and telling them about it. Uh, you know, Liz's contact information is on the website.

[00:12:31] Fuzz Martin: So again, can you give us, uh, one more time? What are, what's the date of the events, uh, and when, what time does it start?

[00:12:38] Liz Dreher: Thursday, March 13th at Foundry 45. Doors will open. It's 5 to 7. We'll be there ready for you a little bit before. I know people were coming a little bit early last year, but 5 to 7 is the food and then we'll clean that up and the band starts about 7 30.

[00:12:54] Fuzz Martin: And then we get to the raffles and and the whole lot of fun.

[00:12:57] Liz Dreher: Yeah. Yep. Absolutely.

[00:12:59] Fuzz Martin: Or is the raffles before the raffles

[00:13:00] Liz Dreher: will start before the raffles

[00:13:01] Fuzz Martin: start before the band. Okay. So, okay. So food, yeah. Then raffles, then FM, FM rodeo,

[00:13:07] Liz Dreher: then a set break and we'll do, the basket pulls and, and that way if people want to head home being a Thursday night, they can, but the band will do a second set.

[00:13:16] Liz Dreher: So,

[00:13:17] Fuzz Martin: excellent. And then, uh, it's a huge party. So, uh, come out, you will not feel like you're supporting, a school fundraiser. You will feel like you're at a, FM rodeo party. And, it'll be great.

[00:13:28] Liz Dreher: Absolutely. Oh, one more thing. We, we have signature drinks too. Oh,

[00:13:32] Fuzz Martin: so,

[00:13:32] Liz Dreher: uh, we're going to do old fashioned.

[00:13:33] Liz Dreher: It can be brandy or whiskey, and we're also going to have Jack and Coke. So 1 of each of those drinks also goes to the fundraising event as well. So,

[00:13:41] Fuzz Martin: all right. Very good. Thank you so much for helping out the kids. I know this is a lot of work for you. Thanks for coming in and we'll see you on March 13th.

[00:13:49] Liz Dreher: Thanks for having me Fuzz. I appreciate it.

[00:13:54] Fuzz Martin: Thank you again to Liz Dreher of the St. Lucas school PTO for joining me on this week's episode of 15 minutes with Fuzz. Guests are what make this show work. So if you ever have an idea for a guest for the show, let me know. You can email me fuzz at fuzz, martin.

[00:14:11] Fuzz Martin: com. That is fuzz at fuzz martin. com. That's probably the best and easiest way to do it, but you could also go to fuzz martin. com slash guest. There's a form there. If you fill it out, it'll come to my email. It'll be just like you emailed me, except for you used a web form. New episodes come out on Tuesdays.

[00:14:28] Fuzz Martin: You can listen wherever you find podcasts, including Apple podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, and at fuzzmartin. com. Thank you again for listening. And I will talk to you next time, right here on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.

Shhh! Scarecrow here.