Board of Directors

Sitting left to right: Fred Bannister, Vice President, Tim Knutson, President, John Flor, Board Member.

Standing left to right: Shari Gaier, Board Member, Mary Huset, Board Member, Connie Olson, Secretary, Eunice Dewey, Board Member, Alyce Bannister, Board Member, Dawn Knutson, Treasurer

Missing from picture: Gary Waterhouse, Randi Osberg, Kris Hanson, Mark Rykal & Steve Vork

Tim Knutson
President

Tim Knutson is a 1986 graduate of Chetek who is employed outside the community as well as a small farmer. Tim is new to the CASF as of the spring of 2008 and comes with strong desires for the CASF to succeed. He and his wife Dawn have two kids. Tim's vision for the CASF is to have an organization that can eventually provide self sustaining aid to Chetek graduates in their quest to gain secondary education, go out in the world and make a difference, and hopefully return one day to give a small piece of their spoils back to the community in which they grew up.

Dr. Fred Bannister
Vice President

Dr. Fred Bannister has been involved with CASF since its inception date of 1996. He practiced medicine as a family physician in Chetek for 40 years. Dr. Bannister feels it is important to give the kids from Chetek a fighting chance in the world we live in. His three children had several great educational experiences attending the Chetek School District. Dr. Bannister feels post high school education is reaching cost level threatening education for new Chetek high school graduates and we need to work to ameliorate this.

Connie Olson
Secretary

Connie (Jacobson) Olson has been involved in CASF since its inception in 1996 and has several links with the school and the community. She graduated from Chetek, along with other members of her family, and her mother taught English in Chetek for 30 years. Connie's husband, Wayne, also taught at CHS in the industrial arts department, then later was elected to the Chetek Board of Education for 19 years. Connie wants to help graduates from CHS with their college expenses because she is very aware of the struggles students have to pay for their own education. Although Connie's parents helped her, the enormity of their gift didn't hit home until she helped her husband pay off his school loans. Later, the cost of college for their own children was staggering which is why Wayne and Connie are so appreciative of scholarship monies their children were awarded. Connie has taught in the Cameron School District for 25 years and currently enjoys her job as the K-6 library media specialist.

Dawn Knutson
Treasurer

Dawn has been the involved in the CASF since 2007, she is currently the treasurer. After graduating from Chetek in 1988 and experiencing the big world, her and her husband, Tim Knutson, realized the importance of a small community and knew Chetek would be the best place to raise a family. Dawn believes education is vital to achieving your life's aspirations. Every graduating senior who has the desire and ambition to continue their education should have the opportunity. The CASF can help these students achieve their dreams. Dawn's hope is the CASF scholarship recipients will learn an important life lesson that giving back to community is a significant responsibility of being an adult. Hopefully they will experience the same satisfaction as the members of the board have that helping others is a job well done. Dawn has the pleasure of being a homemaker for her family. This gives her the opportunity to be involved in many volunteer positions in addition to the CASF she is involved in Kinship of Chetek, the Chetek Lutheran Church, the Chetek Food Shelf and the David Busta Basketball Benefit. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire with a Finance Major and an Accounting Minor. Her previous employment includes Ernst & Young and Scotsman Industries.

Alyce Bannister
Board Member

Alyce Bannister has been a member of the CASF since 2003. She moved to Chetek in 1965 after marrying Dr. Fred Bannister who was a family physician in Chetek. Alyce knows that through their three daughters that Chetek High School gives students the skills they need to succeed beyond high school. She also feels it's a big world out there and to make the most of their opportunities, a student will need further education, be it through the technical or university systems. She is committed to helping them get a financial start through our Chetek Area Scholarship Foundation, which also says to them, We Believe in You and your success in the future. Alyce graduated from the University of Kansas in 1963 with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Having an education opened all sorts of doors for work and life experiences for Alyce both in Kansas and California. From 1986-2003 she was the Chetek School Nurse and started a Certified Nursing Assistant Program for high school students through the Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, which she is still teaching. It was through this experience that she realized the importance the role of the community takes in supporting our students with their encouragement and financial support. It can make the difference between success or failure of a student.

John Flor
Board Member

John Flor has been a member of the CASF since 2004. He was born and raised in Chetek and graduated from Chetek in 1986. John's family has lived in Chetek for 5 generations and he believes that having a strong community starts with having a strong school. He continues this tradition as him and his wife and four children live in Chetek. John feels as college education expenses increase we have an obligation as a community to support our children. Hopefully, this assistance will be a determining factor when many of our children decide where they would like to live, work and raise their children. After graduating from Chetek, John attended the University of Minnesota and received a Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree. After college, he was commissioned an officer in the U.S. Navy and served ten years as a Naval Flight Officer in the EA-6B Prowler. In 2001 he moved back to Chetek and joined the family business at Six Lakes Realty where John is a Managing Broker. John is very active in his community he is highly involved with the local and state Board of Realtors, currently serving as the President elect of the Realtors Association of Northwestern Wisconsin and Treasurer of the Wisconsin Realtors Association. He also serves on the St. Boniface Parish Finance Committee, the Chetek Chamber of Commerce and is active with the Chetek Lions Club.

Eunice Dewey
Board Member

Eunice (Hanson) Dewey has been involved with CASF since 1999. She graduated from the Chetek School District in 1970. Eunice feels that nothing could be more important than having CHS graduates realize the value of continuing education and then be a part of helping them to obtain that education. Education is expensive and anything CASF can do to help CHS graduates get started on post secondary degrees is important to her and to CASF. Eunice worked in three local education districts during her career; 13 years in the Barron School District, 7 years in the Bloomer School District and 13 years in the Chetek School District. She was hired as a middle school counselor in 1994 and became the high school guidance counselor in 1999. She has been involved in career planning and post secondary education for her entire career and believes that everyone; in this day and age, can realize their potential by obtaining specialized training after high school.

Mary Huset
Board Member

Mary (Burnham) Huset has been an active member of CASF since 1991 and was a 1971 graduate of CHS. Mary was born and raised in Chetek and has been employed in the Chetek community for over 30 years. She has worked at Knapp Haven for over 30 years and is currently the Director of Nursing. She has also worked with the Barron County Public Health and is currently an advisor to ADN nursing program and the CNA program through WITC in Rice Lake. Mary believes education is something that once you achieve can never be taken away and it is truly a person's foundation for their future.

Kris Hanson
Board Member

Kris (Wendt) Hanson is a new member to CASF. She and her husband, Mitch, are both graduates of Chetek High School. Kris is a ten-year employee of UnitedHealth Group and has served in a variety of leadership positions, most recently as Project Director for new product implementations. In this capacity she works with various states to implement their Medicaid Long Term Care products. She is part of the corporate team, based out of Minneapolis, but has made arrangements to work from the Eau Claire office. This has allowed the family to make Chetek home. Kris and Mitch value the opportunity to raise their three young children in the same community in which they grew up. They appreciate the culture and opportunities of small-town living. Kris looks forward to her involvement in CASF and sees it as an opportunity of social responsibility and a means to give back to the community while supporting youth, education and workforce development.

Steve Vork, DVM
Board Member

Steve Vork joined the CASF in 2009. He has lived and worked in Chetek since graduating from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinarian Medicine in 1980. His two sons graduated from Chetek High School and his wife, Patsy, teaches 6th grade in the Chetek school. He would like to see all young people with the desire for post secondary education have the opportunity. Reducing the large debt owed by many students at the end of their program is a worthwhile goal. Steve also serves on the board of the Chetek Youth Center and is a regular volunteer for that organization.