Posts by webworklife
Grant Herman to Lead Foundation in 2017!
Grant Herman has assumed the duties of President and looks forward to moving the Foundation forward. Grant has taken over the reins of the Boulder Junction Community Foundation as it begins its 7th year of service to the community. President, Barbara Boston, resigned her position with the intent of running for a town Supervisor position this Spring. We thank Barb for all her hard work and dedication to the Foundation, and wish her the best in her future endeavors.
For those of you who don’t know Grant, he is beginning his 5th year as the Operations Director for Camp Manito-wish YMCA. At camp, he chairs a team comprised of the Camp Director, Summer, Leadership and Wilderness Program Directors, and the Executive Chef and the Property Manager. In addition Grant sits on the marketing, recruiting and management teams and collaborates with all staff to insure overall risk management and camp systems function to promote youth development wherever they can. He also plays the role of sustainability advisor for the camp. Grant has lived in small communities his entire life and welcomes both the depth of community relationships which can be forged as well as the challenge of advancing the vision of a community foundation with the big vision of preserving and enhancing Boulder Junction for present and future generations.
“Boulder Junction has such an amazing diversity of talent, commitment and vision in the people who live here year round, those who have retired here and those who own local homes and property. In addition we have such a positive community organizational network between the Chamber of Commerce, the Town of Boulder Junction, the Boulder Junction Community Foundation and a number of other community non-profits and businesses in our area. At the Foundation, we hope to interact with all of these people to advance the long term viability of Boulder Junction,” Herman says. “In our first six years we have enjoyed great leadership and the support of our community and we have been accomplishing our goals. We plan to increase our positive impact in the community through a collaborative process with all members of the Boulder Junction family, both near and far.”
Boulder Junction Dreaming
This was the first summer for the Foundation’s DREAMBOARD. The Foundation had a write-on easel set up at the flea markets, Music on Main events, and on Musky Day. The board was meant to engage people in conversations about what they loved about Boulder Junction, what they could dream would enhance Boulder Junction and/or what they wanted to preserve in town. Throughout the summer, people wrote more than 100 responses. As you can imagine, we received a wide variety of ideas and comments!
Work has already begun and funds have already been donated to make some of these dreams come true. Janny Thomas & Lynn Mehrholz, owners of BJ Trading Company, were presented with the inaugural Dream Catcher Award at the Colorama Dinner, for making some of their dreams for Boulder Junction come true. They provided the resources and made arrangements for the work to get done – over $20,000 in improvements at the town sport and recreation area by the ballfield. The foundation applauds their vision and action!
The Dream Board responses did tend to fall into some dominant recurring themes/categories. We found outdoor activities reigned supreme, with ideas for the bike trails and downtown live entertainment topping the list. Many of these ideas are worthy of further research and a few will make you chuckle. While not all of the ideas are feasible in a town our size, they are all worthy of consideration and give us an insight into what people are looking for whether they are choosing us for their vacation spot or to live here. View the Dream Board list.
If any of the ideas on the list move you to want to donate to make them a reality, please contact us- we want to help you.
Foundation Thanks Two Charter Board Members
At the October meeting of the Foundation, two directors, Krista Maurer and Gene Klisnick, were presented with certificates of appreciation for their four years of outstanding service to the community and as directors since the Foundation was formed in 2010. With Foundation term limits, they will be completing their terms in November. This October is the Foundation’s 4th Anniversary.
2014 Focus: Building the BJCF Restricted Endowment Fund
During 2014 the Foundation Board will focus upon building the BJCF Restricted Endowment Fund. The Board has set a goal to raise a minimum of $50,000 for the Endowment this year. More than $44,000 was added to the Fund during 2013, increasing its total assets from $19,908 as of December 31, 2012 to over $76,000 today.
The Foundation intends to grow the long term endowment fund so that its earnings can be used to award grants to local organizations for projects and programs in the community. To this end, the Foundation is also planning to work with community organizations to understand and define what community needs exist that would fall within the mission of the Foundation. Stay tuned for more news as the work progresses!
Every gift to this fund demonstrates your conviction that together we can truly influence the future of our community. MAKE A DONATION TO THE BJCF RESTRICTED ENDOWMENT