PRINT ADS

When the Boys & Girls Club of West Salem Area opened on July 16 of last summer, the earliest predictions were it would take three years for the club’s membership to reach 280 members. However, it took two short months to surpass that benchmark and, in the months since, club growth has continued at an incredible pace.

“The membership and growth in the first year has been phenomenal,” said Jim Quinn, a member of the club’s advisory committee.

“I think we’re reaching and servicing a lot of young people that need that structure in their day, and it’s just a great, positive experience.”

Current site director Deana Protz — who came on board in early January and took over for Sarah Wendland — said the club has grown over 100 members since she started. There are now 530 members.

“Every week we get new members,” Protz said. “It’s unbelievable — you can see there was a real need for this program in West Salem.

“We averaged 78 kids a day during the school year and it was more like 100 toward the end. This summer we’re averaging between 65 and 70 kids a day. The majority — about 95 percent — are from West Salem, but we also have kids from Bangor and La Crosse.”

Don Brenengen, chair of the club’s advisory committee, said the club has exceeded expectations.

“It’s been very rewarding — way beyond what we expected,” he said. “The rewarding part is the number of kids that come daily. We are giving them a safe place to blow off steam and just enjoy being kids.”

That success, though, according to both Brenengen and Quinn, is due in large part to the club’s staff and volunteers.

“The staff has been phenomenal; (it’s been) a key part of our success,” Brenengen said. “Sarah Wendland did a great job and then Deana came in and picked up where she left off. We were very fortunate to have two such highly qualified people — hats off to them and to their support staff.”

Protz said that she has six staff members, five of whom are from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and the other from Viterbo University.

“They are really great. I think highly of our staff,” she said. “They are caring, compassionate people who get excited about coming here, working with the kids and planning trips and outings.”

Outings’ destinations this summer include Fort McCoy for swimming, the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison and Wisconsin Dells. There is also an outing program with police officers from La Crosse.

“They take the kids bowling and canoe with them on Goose Island with a cookout afterwards. They also do a cookout here on Aug. 1 — it gives the kids a chance to see police officers in a different light,” Protz said.

Protz also had words of praise for her advisory board.

“Sometimes they don’t get the credit they deserve,” she said. “They meet once a month and work hard at all our fundraisers — last Saturday we were all here at 8 in the morning landscaping the grounds. They are dedicated to having a safe and positive place for kids.”

In addition, Brenengen said the community of West Salem also deserves credit for supporting the Boys & Girls Club and for seeing the need and benefit of the facility, if not for their own kids or grandchildren, then for the kid next door.

According to Protz, she has received plenty of positive feedback.

“The parents really appreciate us,” she said. “The kids have fun and are safe, plus they get educational experiences at really affordable prices.”

For Protz, the job is exactly what she envisioned doing after majoring in recreation at UW-L.

“At my last job I worked with older adults, but this is better. I really like being around kids — I’m a big kid myself. Every day is fun and the kids in West Salem are fantastic. They bring joy to my job every day,” she said.

The club’s expanding membership has created a few concerns, though, especially considering the relatively small size of the building.

“It is taxing the current facility, so we’re trying to evaluate where we go from here,” Brenengen said.

“You would think the membership would plateau after we get to a certain percentage of the kids in the area. Are we at that plateau yet? I don’t think so. Are we going to continue growing at the current pace? I don’t think that is going to happen either.”

Growing pains or not, it is apparent the facility is filling a huge need.

“It’s a great thing for the community and great thing for the kids — especially when you think about that core group of 70 or so kids that come every day and the positive impact this will have on their entire lives,” Brenengen said.