2013 Book of Golden Deeds Recipient JoAnn Witte surreounded by family

Mrs. JoAnn Witte became the 61st recipient of the Book of Golden Deeds Award. Mrs. Witte, the wife of Fred and daughter-in-law of former long-time Exchangite Buck Witte, was recognized for her work with the Gene Grawe Fund. Mrs. Witte began the fund eight years ago to assist families with tuition assistance at St. Anthony's School. The fund was named in memory of her father. After two years of providing assistance with those in St. Anthony's, the program was expanded city-wide to provide tuition assistance for families at all four primary Catholic schools as well as Quincy Notre Dame High School. In those eight years, over $600,000 has been raised and distributed for tuition assistance. Hundreds of families, including many Exchangite families, have benefited from a simple program where people buy gift cards at businesses that they were already going to spend money with. In return for the cards, the businesses donate a percentage of each card sold back to the program. The percentage ranges from 2% all the way up to close to 20%. Jared Haugh, who delivered his seventh Golden Deeds address estimated over $12 million worth of cards have been sold during this time! Accompanying our recipient was her aforementioned husband, Fred, their son, Andrew, her mother, Mary Ann Grawe, in-laws, Al and Mary Witte, and one of JoAnn's best friends, Nancy Boone. Fred and JoAnn's other two children, Matthew and Hannah were unable to attend.

Gary Peters served as the master of ceremonies and offered his usual stellar performance. Monsignor Leo Enlow from Church of St. Peter offered the invocation and benediction while Rick Gengenbacher stood in for Golden Deeds Chairman Dave Reese and presented the actual award. Mrs. Witte made several comments after the presentation showing her appreciation and true humbleness. Jared Haugh then did what he does so well.

Jared Haugh, before his remarks about Mrs. Witte, appropriately noted the unfortunate anniversary of the passing of our good friend, Mr. John Tripp. John's sudden death on May 16, 2009, still brings sadness to many of us who called him friend. Prior to Jared, John delivered the keynote address each Golden Deeds banquet.With all of the proceedings for Golden Deeds, the card draw and tail twister were tabled until this week.

It's getting late and we are in desperate need of Gus Busters for the Memorial Day weekend. See David Adams, Scott Westhaus, or Rick Gengenbacher, if you can give a few hours, a day, or preferably both days.

Diane Disseler, good friend of Mrs. Witte, and wife of Mike in attendance.

The next Gus Macker meeting will be tonight (May 14th) at The Dock. Still need more court sponsorships. A court sponsorship costs $300. Contact Vic Welper or Cory Watson if you have any questions. Speaking of Macker - We'll need help taping the streets this Sunday, May 19 beginning at 8 a.m. With enough help, we're usually done by 10-10:30.

Our Flag Day event is set. We will once again have our family picnic on the evening of June 12th. The shelter house at Madison Park has been reserved and Dan Veihl and The Butcher Block will cater our meal with free shaved ice provided by Gengenbacher Ice. You are invited to join us for the meal which starts at 5:30 and then when the concert starts we'll pass out the flags to the audience in the park.

Don't forget about the Exchange Club Golf Tournament at Spring Lake Country Club on Friday, June 21st. Contact Jared Haugh for more information.