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Brewery Foundation Fundraiser A Success

Raises Between $80,000 - $85,000

by Jennifer Davis

DICKEYVILLE, Wis. - On Monday the Potosi Brewery Foundation held their biggest fundraiser yet, the Potosi Brewery Foundation Restoration fund Banquet, and to the shock of everyone raised a preliminary estimate of between $80,000 and $85,000.

According to Potosi mayor and foundation member Frank Fiorenza, never in his wildest dreams did he think the fundraiser would make that much money.

"The restoration committee did a lot of work to make the fundraiser a success, but the real success goes to those people who were at the banquet and sponsored the banquet. Potosi, as well as the surrounding communities have supported this project and they are the ones who deserve the credit for making this fundraiser a success."

Although the $80,000 to $85,000 is just a preliminary figure right now, the amount raised will be matched by the state.

The brewery restoration project was given a matching grant for $150,000 with $30,000 free and clear for a structural analysis. The remaining amount $120,000 is what the foundation needs to match.

Fiorenza remarked that it is his understanding at this time that they do not need to match the entire amount at one time, therefore they could still match what is left of the $120,000 after the final amount is calculated.

The actual restoration project for the front section of the brewery is estimated to cost $1.2 million.

The money from the fundraiser and the match will be used to re-erect the limestone wall in the front of the brewery, which should be done by April, put a new roof on the front section and put on new windows and doors.

Fiorenza did say that the members of the Brewery Foundation will meet with the architect on Feb. 20, and at that time the architect will give them opinions on how best to utilize the interior space. Once the building is enclosed the interior work can be done.

The money made at the fundraiser came from the cost of the tickets of which there were 335 sold and they were sold out six weeks before the fundraiser, raffles, auction and sponsors. There were four sponsor levels, $1,000, $500, $250, and $100. Fiorenza said that in last count there were between 15 and 20 $1,000 sponsors, 15, $500 sponsors, 35, $250 sponsors and 35, $100 sponsors.

Schumacher Family Members

There were also 10 to 12 members of the Schumacher family, the original brewery owners, at the fundraiser. Fiorenza said that some were local and others came from Michigan and Missouri.

Some of the highlights of the evening included a standard size quilt hand-embroidered by Virginia Koeller and Rosemary (Schumacher) Markus and quilted by about 12 to 15 quilters in two days. Pearl Menne and Millie Curtis volunteered their time to set the quilt together and then hem it when it was finished. This quilt went up for auction and sold for $1,000.

However, the person who purchased it did not feel that was enough money so he gave it back to be auctioned again. This time it went for another $1,000 and went up for auction again. This continued three or four times and the quilt finally brought in approximately $3,800, according to Fiorenza.

An original watercolor painting "Morning Deliveries" done by Roger Scholbrock of Potosi brought in $1,650. There were also a collection of prints created and donated by Terry Downs that were put up for auction. The audience was given a choice of any of the three small prints and the first bidder spent $320 for his choice.

The winner of the 50-50 raffle had his choice of $1,000 or a Luger 12-gauge and took the $1,000 and gave it back to the foundation. Chances were then sold for the Luger and that generated approximately another $1,100.

One of the big prizes of the night was the ATV from the raffle and the winner was actually from the state of Washington. He purchased the ticket while here visiting board of director member for the foundation, Denis David, and having lunch at McCartney Corner's.

Fiorenza remarked that another highlight was the original Potosi Brewery memorabilia that was sold, such as glasses, bottle openers, cigarette lighters and a cone top can that brought in $170.

"When we first started with this fundraiser we thought that if we could raise $25,000 to $30,000 we would be happy. As we got going and started getting more sponsors we figured we would be doing great to raise $40,000 to $50,000. However, I never imagined in my wildest dreams a figure like $80,000 to $85,000. There are no words that can express the thanks to the people who supported this," said the mayor.

State representative Steve Freese, who is a member of the Brewery Foundation, commented that he felt the fundraiser was absolutely much better then he ever imagined. "It definitely surpassed my wildest expectations," he said. "We have enormous local support to have the building saved. We had such phenomenal success with this fundraiser because of the support we have for the project."

The foundation is planning more fundraisers for the project in the future, but at this time those plans have not been set in stone.

Fiorenza said that the ultimate goal, once the initial work is done to the brewery and people have seen what is being accomplished with the project is to create a sponsor board for the project itself.

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