A Message From Your President...
All any of us can do as individuals is to give our families and future generations an example to follow. The Belleville Area Cultural Foundation is that example of what our community can do with everyone participating. If you have a child, grandchild, niece or nephew, a business, are living or teaching in our community or just love good entertainment, you should be a shareholder of the Belleville Area Cultural Foundation.
I am proud to be a shareholder-member, a director, a founding father and President of the Foundation. In 1987 Rev. William Stevens, the founding father, brought Merrill Womack to Belleville with a personal bank loan and packed our high school gym with 1300 people - many from as far away as Lake Geneva and Green Lake.
The next year Rev. Stevens got school teachers or administrators Joe Hageman, Gary Loertscher and Anne Spencer and myself to meet several times to create a Foundation we all could be proud of for the Belleville area. Attorney Bill Fahey did all the legal work for us and we became the Belleville Area Cultural Foundation, Inc.
For 20 years, our organization has been bringing fine entertainment to Belleville. And, because of the way the Foundation and Trust Fund is setup and as a public 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation, we can continue to entertain you forever. With your help, we can do even more programs. With everyone’s help we can bring world famous talent to our community. With your share, contribution or memorial gift we can continue to meet our status as a publicly supported foundation and with interest earnings on the Trust Fund we can keep ticket prices very reasonable so everyone can enjoy our programs..
Membership is actually the purchase of a $500 share in the Foundation. As a member you can do no more than pay the amount over time or volunteer to serve the Foundation as much as you want. As a shareholder you can pay as little as $50 per year for 10 years, $100 for 5 years, $250 for $2 years or $500 for a membership share. To some that may seem like a lot, but the annual cost is equal to a tank of gas, a meal out for two, sales tax on a TV, or a ticket or two to an event in Madison. We have made a share virtually affordable to all, because all households and all businesses should be shareholders. We want everyone to be a shareholder because the Foundation is for everyone. And, every dollar you invest is put into a secure trust fund and only the earnings are spent on programs. Memorials and donations are welcomed and can also placed into the trust fund or otherwise used as directed. Your membership payments are even tax-deductible. The larger the trust fund the greater the programs.
There are now about 1600 households and businesses in the immediate area. That means an $800,000 trust fund could be possible within 10 years if every area household and business bought a share today. Think about that! Discuss buying a share with your family today and pledge to buy a share tomorrow. As a business, there is no better form of advertisng than doing something great for your community. With the kind of trust fund we could have with everyone as a member we could bring just about any program to Belleville! And, our town would be an example to all small communities in the world.
Recently, we brought you two great groups to the Belleville High School Auditorium. Dividends you can see and that inspire. If you missed the October 19th 2008 program of the BHS Vocal Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Sara Rupnow and the UW MadHatters, you missed great entertainment. A free will offering was asked and several contributed.
The Foundation loves to support and include our youth in programs. We do this with a donation this year to the High School Choir, by creating a $500 Scholarship Program for 2009 for a High School student of the arts, by bringing programs to Belleville to inspire our youth and future generations, and by making school talent part of our shows. You cannot out give your community Foundation that inspires our youth, the community and future generations.
We have many to thank for the recent show and especially the 125 individual, couple and business member-shareholders and memorial donations that make every program possible through their contributions and the earnings thereof. They have done their share. Find out who they are by visiting www.BACF.us and join your relatives, friends and neighbors as shareholder-members or memorial contributors. In addition we thank Sara Rupnow and the BHS Jazz singers; the UW MadHatters; the other Foundation Directors with special thanks to Jerry Remy for coordinating the program, Carol Eberhardy for advertising, Mark Dohm for sound and stage management, Jill Wennesheimer for helping notify members of the program, Joan Root and Jeanine Mabis for registering guests for door prizes and Marian Adams and Atty William Fahey for being directors. We also thank Jennifer Woods and the High School Office staff for distribution of tickets, the School District for use of the theater, Dave Remy for design of our poster, the Belleville Recorder for printing our articles, the Belleville Printing Company for a good price on our brochures and other printings, and everyone who attended.
It takes many people in our community to inspire our youth, bring great entertainment to our community and put on a program. It takes the whole community to bring great shows to our town and to inspire the entire community.
But, frankly, we can only do greater things when every household and business buys their share in the Foundation. There is no limit to the number of member-shares you can buy, memorials you can make, or the size of your donation; and, no limit to what the Foundation can do if everyone buys at least one share.
There is no better investment than the Belleville Area Cultural Foundation. Your contributions are safely invested in U.S. Government insured funds. The dividends you can see in the faces of our inspired children, teens and audiences at any program. No one else can buy your share in the Foundation. We want the Foundation to be community-supported by all. If 112,000 people can invest in Green Bay Packer shares, 1600 of us can invest in our community’s future.
Before the MadHatters show, I asked my wife, Dawn, “What can I say or do that will get every household to buy their share in the Foundation. She said, “Why don’t you sing a song”! I asked, “How will that help? She said, “After you sing a song everyone will want to help bring good entertainment to Belleville.”
So I wrote an original catchy song and sung it at the MadHatters show that you will be singing in the shower, humming while you drive, and clipping out to send someone you know who should also be a shareholder of the Belleville Area Cultural Foundation. Oscar Meyer would be proud!
The BACF Song
Oh I wish I were a Foun-da-tion Mem-ber.
That is what I’d tru-ly like to be!
Cuz If I were a Foun-da-tion mem-ber,
Every one would be in love with me.
Cuz If I were a Foun-da-tion mem-ber,
All the world shows could come to me.
Cuz If I were a Foun-da-tion mem-ber,
I’d own a share in our com-mu-ni-ty.
There is the proof we need to bring better entertainment than me to our community.
There is no limit to memorial amounts and there is no better memorial than a memorial to the Foundation. A gift will inspire our youth and others and future generations forever. It is a truly living memorial to your loved ones. You can include the Foundation in your will and leave a lasting memorial to your community.
Please, consider your household or business membership share or memorials today. You can join online or by calling me at 608-424-6074 or Email!
The Members, Directors, Officers and I thank you,
Gary Bahr, President - 608-424-6074
Belleville Area Cultural Foundation, Inc.
P.O.B 406
Belleville, W 53508-0406
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