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Alumni and Friends: La Follette Notes: Spring 2008
WWIG seminar alum reigns as clerk, Mrs. Oktoberfest
Participation in a La Follette School seminar led to Sue Schultz running for the town of Onalaska’s clerk — and, in part, to being named Mrs. Oktoberfest as part of La Crosse, Wisconsin’s annual celebration.
Marc and Sue Schultz, aka Mrs. Oktoberfest, attend the St. Paul Winter Carnival banquet. Schultz completed the Wisconsin Women in Government seminar and went on to be elected the town of Onalaska’s clerk in 2003.
Schultz decided in 2003 to run for clerk after she graduated from the seminar the La Follette School runs in partnership with Wisconsin Women in Government, a bipartisan organization promoting women’s participation in public affairs.
“After I finished the class, I felt I was ready to run for public office, something I had wanted to do for quite a while,” she says. She won the 2003 election and was re-elected in 2005. After voters and the town board decided to make the clerk an appointed position, the board named her clerk in March 2007.
As clerk, Schultz keeps the town of Onalaska running. She maintains the web site, updated the town’s emergency plan, keeps records and assists residents. She serves on the town’s new hall committee and as secretary for the plan commission.
Being named Mrs. Oktoberfest recognizes Schultz for more than her governmental work; it honors her community involvement with a hunger task force, community gardens, and a canoe and bike race. As Mrs. Oktoberfest, Schultz visited schools, nursing homes and Oktoberfest events. This summer she will be in about 20 parades.
The WWIG course added to the skills she uses as clerk and as Mrs. Oktoberfest.
“The WWIG seminar helps a person to understand herself better, the workings of government and the world,” Schultz says, “all of which make you a better person in whatever you choose to do and where life’s experiences lead you.”
Seminar alum named Mrs. Oktoberfest to recognize government, volunteer work, October 17, 2007, La Follette School News