J.D. Simons Community Volunteer Award for 2023 presented to Jeanna Berge & Heather Logslett
AWARD WINNERS — Jeanna Berge (on left) and her twin sister, Heather Logslett, are the recipients of the 2023 J.D. Simons Community Volunteer Award. Mark Johnson, president of the Colfax Commercial Club, presented the awards at a meeting of the Colfax Booster Club at the Viking Bowl. Berge and Logslett had no idea they had been nominated and were surprised by the award. — Photo by LeAnn R. Ralph
By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — Colfax residents Jeanna Berge and Heather Logslett are the recipients of the J.D. Simons Community Volunteer Award for 2023.
Mark Johnson, president of the Colfax Commercial Club, presented the awards as a surprise to the twin sisters at a meeting of the Colfax Booster Club at the Viking Bowl on June 26.
Since 2020, Berge and Logslett have been organizing events in Colfax as part of the Colfantastic Events organization.
Events have included a Halloween costume parade on Railroad Avenue that ends at the Colfax Fairgrounds and features trunk-or-treats and vendors.
The parade has consistently drawn several hundred children in costume — along with their parents.
Other Colfantastic Events have included Christmas in the Village in December featuring a lighted parade and visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus.
Christmas in the Village also has previously included a holiday lighting contest and a Christmas “train” parade through Colfax to see the holiday lights.
The first Christmas in the Village event in December of 2020 featured Chris Kroeze performing at the Colfax Fairgrounds.
This year, Berge and Logslett launched the Colfax Booster Club.
The booster club has had several meetings so far to work on organization and membership.
J.D. Simons was considered to be the founder of Colfax in 1864.
The J.D. Simons Award reads, “In honor of your dedication to ‘all things Colfax’ and your outstanding community involvement, your willingness to volunteer your time across many organizations and for many individuals, and most importantly — for making Colfax a better place to live.”
Berge and Logslett are originally from Glenwood City, and the sisters both ended up marrying “Colfax boys” and moved to the Colfax area.
Anyone who knows the sisters recognizes their boundless enthusiasm for the events that they organize.
J.D. Simons
According to the nomination form for the J.D. Simons Community Volunteer Award, “The distinction of being the founder of Colfax goes to a man named John D. Simons. As a businessman and philanthropist, he was one of the most influential characters in the early history of this locality, and many a poor man could point to him as the man who ‘helped him out’ in time of dire distress. Beginning with Mr. Simons, there have been many business owners and residents that have carried on the values of volunteering, supporting and promoting the village of Colfax. In this spirit of volunteerism, the Colfax Commercial Club is seeking to recognize an ‘unsung hero’ in our community.”
Past recipients
The first J.D. Simons Award was presented in 2016 to Troy Knutson, author of “Looking Through the Lens.” Knutson has devoted all of his adult life to gathering an extensive collection of photographs and other memorabilia related to Colfax history.
The second J.D. Simons Award in 2017 was presented to Ernie and Geri Bates for their dedicated devotion to the Caring Ministries Food Pantry, the Colfax Community Cares Food Pantry and the Support for Sunday backpack program for school children.
The third J.D. Simons Award in 2018 was presented to Mona Thorson, who has served tirelessly in a variety of organizations over many years, including the Colfax Woman’s Club, at her church, Colfax Lutheran, with the Red Cedar Sounds Sweet Adelines Chorus, the Colfax Municipal Building Restoration Group and as “Daisy the Elf” when her husband, Gary Thorson, dons his Santa Claus suit to bring the magic of Santa to children in the area.
The fourth J.D. Simons award in 2019 was presented to Claudia and Kyle Kressin, owners of Kyle’s Market in Colfax. While Kyle and Claudia owned the store, they employed local students at Kyle’s Market and worked diligently around their school schedules so they could be fully involved; sponsored community events like the Easter Egg drop; recognized special groups and organizations by handing out flowers and donating food and prizes; and allowed bake sales, cookie sales and brat sales at the grocery store.
In the time since Kyle and Claudia Kressin received the award, Kyle’s Market has been taken over by their son and daughter-in-law, Nick and Hannah Kressin.
The fifth J.D. Simons award in 2020 went to Susan Hill, who grew up in Colfax and operated the Tapestry Trunk Bed and Breakfast.
Hill has devoted countless hours to volunteer efforts around the community for the American Legion Auxiliary (she is the vice-president and the historian), the Colfax Municipal Building Restoration Group, at Colfax Health and Rehab, at her church, as the curator of the Colfax History Room in the Colfax Municipal Building and as a member of the Hill Grove Cemetery committee.
Hill also has generously shared her many collections through presentations at the Colfax Health and Rehabilitation Center, at the Merry Mixers senior citizens meetings, and at events she has held at the Tapestry Trunk.
The sixth J.D. Simons Award in 2021 was presented to Annie Jenson, who lives in Colfax and owns and operates A Little Slice of Italy on Main Street. Jenson was nominated for her willingness to work with community members in a variety of capacities, such as the Colfax FFA Alumni auction during the Colfax Free Fair in June (clerking the auction, donating items and purchasing items) and donating coupons for ice cream for all the participants in Colfax Lutheran Church’s Vacation Bible School, and for her service on the Colfax Village Board for more than 10 years.
2022
The seventh J.D. Simons Award in 2022 was presented to Michelle Knutson, who has worked with her husband, Troy, on the book “Looking Through the Lens” for the Colfax Sesquicentennial in 2014, which contains hundreds of (if not more than a thousand) photographs detailing Colfax history, as well as Troy and Michelle’s book, “The 1958 Colfax Tornado,” published in June of 2019 as part of Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series.
Michelle also was instrumental in the successful completion of the project to place stone pavers at the Highground in Neillsville in September of 2022 in honor of the Russell-Toycen American Legion Post 131 of Colfax, the American Legion Auxiliary and the Gold Star Mothers of Colfax.
She also has volunteered her time to set up, work, and clean up afterwards for the thrift sales held by the Colfax Elevator Commission at the Colfax Fairgrounds to raise money for an elevator in the Colfax Municipal Building to improve the building’s handicapped accessibility and has has volunteered her time on fund-raising activities for the Colfax Municipal Building Restoration Group.
Michelle Knutson is an active member at Colfax Lutheran Church, too, and has served on the church council, as Sunday School superintendent, as an accompanist on the piano, reads scriptures during church services and prepares coffee and refreshments for after-church fellowship.
J.D. Simons Community Volunteer Award recipients receive a plaque, and a name plate is placed on another plaque that is on display in the Colfax Municipal Building.
