AUXILIARY NEWS

By Datonn Hanke, vice president, WPGA

Hi all. Happy August!

We hope your summer didn’t fly by too quickly and you were able to enjoy time with family and friends. We’re having a very busy summer, and it kicked off with our Annual Banquet in June. It was a fun-filled night beginning with our board meeting, then we had a State Fair meeting followed by our Annual Meeting and a delicious dinner. Our banquet was held at the beautiful Bula Barn, in Antigo, and it was so wonderful to catch up and see everyone. We had a great turnout, so thank you to all who made it. Our Annual Banquet is when we vote in new board members if we have anyone that’s finishing their term, and we also elect officers. Marie Reid and Jody Baginski, two amazing ladies who do so much for the State Fair, Kids Dig Wisconsin Potatoes program, and every program that the Auxiliary has, had to step down this year after fulfilling their terms.

Above: After elections held during the Annual Banquet, the 2022-’23 Wisconsin Potato Growers Auxiliary Board of Directors are, from left to right, Brittany Bula (president), Devin Zarda, Datonn Hanke (vice president), Becky Wysocki and Heidi Schleicher (secretary/treasurer). Inset are Board Directors Erin Baginski (left) and Misti Ward (right).

We are so thankful to them and all the amazing things they’ve done and continue to do for our board and the potato industry.

WATCH FOR INTERVIEWS

I’ll be conducting exit interviews with both Marie and Jody for the September Auxiliary News, so be sure to watch for those. With two open positions, we were excited to have Misti Ward of RPE, Inc. and Erin Baginski of Baginski Farms step up into board positions, and we can’t wait to see all the awesome things they bring to the Auxiliary Board. I’ll also be doing an article in the next few months so we can get to know Misti and Erin a bit better. I can’t wait for you all to meet them! We have a new board president, Brittany Bula. Brittany has led our Potatoes in the Classroom and Membership committees for many years, and we know she’ll do an awesome job. A big thank you to Devin Zarda for being our 2021-’22 president and

Above and Previous page bottom: Held this year at the beautiful Bula Barn, in Antigo, the Annual Banquet is always a nice way for Wisconsin Potato Growers Auxiliary members to catch up with each other and enjoy some food and fun.

fearless leader. She will serve as our past-president for this year. As for the rest of the officer positions, those didn’t change much as I’m still vice president and Heidi Schleicher will continue as the secretary. We are excited to see what our 2022-’23 year brings, and I’ll be sure to keep you up to date on all the programs and activities the Auxiliary Board conducts. Until next time, Datonn