ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE GUARD...

In 1996, because of my work with the young people of our community, I was selected by the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) to be a Torchbearer and carry the Olympic Flame in the Torch Relay across the United States ..... The Hilltoppers and the Flag Corps of the Sparta (WI) High School marching band, under the direction of our daughter, Laurie, presented the flags as I passed by on my 1 kilometer run in LaCrosse (WI) on June 2 .... What a thrill it was! .....

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In 1994 we completed 30 years of continuous activity as "Richland Center's Teenage Ambassadors." To commorate that event, I wrote a book --- a history book --- of the many adventures we have had through the years .....
The book begins with the story of our origin and continues, year-by-year, with descriptions -- oftentimes humorous -- of the trips we have taken throughout our country and into Canada, and the things we have seen and done ..... The book includes many pictures of our adventures .....

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In 1988, I was asked by the Richland Center High School band director, Randy Meinen, if I would be interested in organizing a Flag Corps for the marching band ..... Prior to that time, the routines used by the Hilltoppers were written to the beat of our percussion section ..... It was great fun to write routines to the musical charts chosen for the field shows and parades ..... After retiring from teaching at the completion of the 1991 school year, Randy and I still work together --- we have developed some awesome shows! .....

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Several years ago we purchased a Tow-Low trailer and converted it to be used as our concessions stand at many local events, such as: the Wisconsin State High School Rodeo Championships, our annual Centerfest Celebration, the Frank LLoyd Wright "Happy Birthday" Celebration (Frank LLoyd Wright, the world-famous architect, was born in Richland Center), plus many more ..... Selling things from the trailer is a great source of income .....

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Just recently, Richland County was host for the American Cancer Society "RELAY FOR LIFE" and the Hilltoppers entered 4 15-member teams ..... We earned nearly $5,000 of the $100,700.00 grand total that will be used for cancer research and other cancer projects ..... We were proud when the Cancer Society asked the Guard to present the Flag in the opening ceremonies .....

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The June Dairy Days/Wisconsin High School Rodeo parade is always an outstanding summer event in our community, and we organized an Alumni Guard to participate in the '99 edition of the parade. We had people in the lineup who represented every one of the 34 years the Hilltoppers served as "Richland Center's Teenage Ambassadors," including two of our original 19. The alumni had a ball ... and they were just as crisp and sharp as they were when they were kids. It was hard to believe that a couple of the ladies are grandmothers! .....

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What awesome times we have had! As you know by now, our memory bank is full of the things we have seen and done ..... I may not remember the names of the hundreds of kids who have gone through the ranks, but I'll never forget their faces .....

I would like to conclude my story of the Hilltoppers Color Guard with an event that will always remain in the thoughts and hearts of both my wife, Jan, and I ... forever.
When the Guard went east for the Freedom Festival parade in Philadelphia and then on to New York City for the Centennial Birthday celebration of the Statue of Liberty, we planned to be away from home for nearly two weeks. We placed out little toy poodle, Cham, in a kennel for that period of time. Cham was nearly 14 years old, and it was the first time we had ever been away from him for that length of time.
When we returned home, we retrieved Cham only to find that he wasn't quite the same as when we left. Eleven days later, Cham died. We have always felt that he probably died of a broken heart ... that he thought we had deserted him.
The girls of the Guard felt so bad about this, thinking that it was because of them that we were gone for such a long time, that they "passed the hat" and collected enough money for us to purchase another puppy. The hole that Cham left in our house was huge!
To make a long story short, we purchased a Bichon frieze ... and named her Muff, because on the way home, she looked like a hand muff lying on Jan's lap. We will never forget the kindness of the Hilltoppers of that time period ... we will be forever grateful to the 1986 edition of the Guard.
Here is a picture of Muffy .....

It was great fun constructing this site, and we hope that you have a good idea of what we have done with the youth of our community ..... Thanks you for visiting our pages --- and tell your friends about us .....

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