Deb Prowse, Craftsman with Character – General Meeting, March 26th, 2025

Blackhawk Golden ‘K’ General Meeting
Minutes
March 26^th, 2025

Roger Willeford presiding, called the meeting to order with a ring of the bell at 9:30AM.
An Executive Board meeting occurred today.
30 members were in attendance today.

The meeting was led with the Pledge of Allegiance and the singing of America, the National Anthem.

Invocation: Carl Cramer, mentioning fellowship and the children.

Raffle: Glenn Disrude oversaw the ticket sales and drawing this week.
The weekly pot was $12 and the big (Joker) pot was $103.
Dave Caverley drew a ticket from the bucket, ticket number 6954. Congratulations to the winner, the Glenn Disrude – Jerry Langdok duo.
The deck of cards has 44/53 cards remaining. Maury Frey drew the 4♠.
A second drawing occurred, ticket number 6942 was drawn by Maury Frey. Ryan Lewis won a Bucky Book!

Roger Willeford thanks greeters Bob Knudson and Dave Figi, invocator Carl Cramer, rafflemaster Glenn Disrude and server Maury Frey.

Happy Box: Roger Willeford announced he is happy because his daughter came to visit.
Richard Johnson is happy because tomorrow baseball begins and the Cubs will win. He has liked baseball since he was six years old.
Steve Skelly is happy because a good friend introduced Steve to the sister, and Saturday they are married 45 years.
Maury Frey and Jerry Langdok are happy because they are able to donate their winnings to Rotary!
Luci Cramer is happy because the Cramers have been married 52 years, and they went to a musical.
John Janes is happy to be back from Texas visiting his family including a 14yo granddaughter who is always on the phone. It was pleasant hill country on the Southern side of the state, and a great place to visit.
Dave Peterson is happy because he is back after an ultrasound resulted in an aortic heart valve was operated on, on Thursday, and he left on Friday.

Jokes: Bob Knudson had a good joke about a guy mowing his lawn who took his shirt off. A woman pulls up and asks, “Excuse me, do you speak English?” The man nods. The woman continues, “how much do you charge for a lawn?” The man replies, “it do it for free, the woman in the house lets me sleep with her.” The woman quickly drove away.

Other Announcements: John Janes spoke upon the upcoming Tree Sale. The dates will be April 27^th, and May 2^nd and 3^rd.
Bob Knudson spoke upon the upcoming Easter Lillies day, April 19^th.
Tom Neumann spoke upon the Lions’ chicken roast. Kiwanis will have a booth this year, September 6^th, 11a-3p.

Committee Reports: John Janes announced the club is replacing the banners, and seeking input.

Luci Cramer introduced the day’s speaker, Deb Prowse of Craftman with Character. Deb taught 7^th grade to Senior mathematics at Beloit Memorial. She holds a Bachelor’s in Math and Coaching from UW Oshkohs, and a Master’s.
Craftsman with Character is a program designed by a gentleman named Dave Hataj who was completing his Doctorate. It is made for high schoolers to experience different industries, including construction, manufacturing and plumbing, among others. The program was started twelve years ago and now has a waiting list.
Craftsman with Character was created to help the trades. It is supported by the United States Navy. It was a response to Dave seeing the average age of his machine shop being over fifty. Deb stated, “a student now average $127,000 spent for an average four year degree, as compared to $7,000 when she was educated.
The program includes skills and “soft skills.” It teaches qualified high school students about trades on site, with mentors that are trained to communicate with the youth. The goal is to provide one on one time with the mentors, and allow the students to be hands-on, such as trying to weld or using a power drill.
The program was started in Beloit and Edgerton in 2022/23. It now has 50+ schools involved, spanning multiple states. All students are made to memorize the Craftsman with Character code. More information can be found on the website, cwcharacter.org .