By Mike Woods, Post-Crescent West |  GRAND CHUTE — A phone number, a prodding wife and a 32-year-old man who was judged a hero even though he had yet to fully understand what a hero really was.
These made for the ingredients of a Wisconsin success story.
Recently at Butte des Morts Golf Club, Bart and Cherry Starr received the Outstanding Lifetime Philanthropy Award from the Northeast Wisconsin Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals for more than 40 years of work at the Rawhide Boys Ranch, a facility near New London that has changed the lives of thousands of troubled young men.
"It has been quite a project," Bart Starr said from his Birmingham, Ala., office.
He immediately spoke of a photo that hangs on his wall, a gathering of boys at the Rawhide entrance.
"It's a very, very touching photo and I love to look at it every day," he said. "It's just so touching when you see it and recognize and appreciate the home and its team and what they've been able to do for these youngsters. I get very emotional when I look at it."
It was the fall of 1966, the Packers season was under way, and Appleton's John Gillespie was being pestered by his wife Jan. They had purchased a 714-acre parcel of property along the Wolf River that featured a 27-room home originally designed to be a retreat lodge for executives.
The Gillespies wanted to turn it into a faith-based home for troubled youth, but they were struggling.
"Several people said it's too bad you can't talk to Bart and Cherry Starr; they've talked about doing something for youth when they get out of football," John Gillespie said.
"My wife just said call information and get the number. I told her, 'I tell you what, you just don't pick up the phone and call Bart Starr. Besides, he has an unlisted number.' She said, 'How do you know that?' And I just said, 'I just know that.'
"After a couple of weeks, she just said to me, 'I don't understand why you just don't call Bart.' So out of frustration and just to show her, I called information."
Starr's number was available.
So Gillespie called and a man answered.
"I said, 'Is this the Starr residence?'" said Gillespie. "The man says yes and I ask if I can speak to Mr. Starr. 'There's no Mr. Starr here, but Bart is.' I said, 'Can I speak with him?' And he said, 'You are.'"
The Gillespies were invited up to Green Bay that afternoon, had dinner with the Starrs and presented their pitch. The Starrs got on board immediately.
And their help was needed almost instantly.
A short time later a $20,000 payment on a land contract was due. Gillespie sent a letter to the Starrs and basically wrote 'HELP!' in the middle of the paper. Cherry Starr opened it, called Bart at the Packers practice facility and Starr asked coach Vince Lombardi if he could speak to the team.
Teammate Fuzzy Thurston offered the use of his restaurant, the old Left Guard on W. College Avenue, and Starr asked his teammates if they would show up at a luncheon the following Monday — when the $20,000 was due at 4:30 p.m. — and asked them to bring a businessman with them.
Starr gave his pitch and asked if they were interested to please leave a check. One man lingered behind, asked Starr to total the checks and they came to roughly $14,000. He covered the rest, and off to the bank they went.
The Starrs have remained intimately involved with Rawhide over the past 42 years and continue to make multiple trips there every year, on their own dime, to meet, talk with and encourage the boys on hand.
To honor their son who died in 1988, they established the Bret Starr Memorial Fund, an endowment that provides money to young men who have left the program but are in need of assistance. For every autograph Starr signs, all the money is donated to that fund.
They've also spearheaded many fundraising efforts and have inspired others to get involved, and hundreds of individuals and business have.
"We've all been aware of the Starrs' prominence, but what struck me is that he has not just used his fame to get others involved,'" said Vicki Klein Schorse, a co-chair for the event. "They have personally contributed and are asking others to do what they have done themselves, and that's very impressive.
"That's the best of the best when it comes to philanthropy, one who steps up and makes their own contribution and encourages others to do the same."
Starr's sway extends far beyond Wisconsin.
"When he speaks to groups across the country, as part of that effort he always includes a reference to Rawhide," said John Solberg, Rawhide executive director. "As a result, every state in the country has donated to Rawhide because of his influence."
Yet for as much as the Starrs have given to Rawhide, it has returned much more to them.
"They have expressed many times that the greatest satisfaction they have derived, outside of their family, is their involvement with Rawhide," said Solberg.
To most, Starr will forever be the Packers quarterback who led his team to victories in the first two Super Bowls and is a NFL hall of famer. But Starr himself would rather be remembered for his contributions to humanity and Rawhide in particular.
"I'm delighted to see it that way, it's much more meaningful," said Starr. "I'm grateful to have been part of an organization like the Packers and play for a leader like coach Lombardi and be very successful for a long time. All of us were privileged to be there and are grateful for it.
"But to look at something like this, you're even more grateful because it goes beyond boundaries. To read and see and hear and experience the results of these youngsters is very impressive and humbling.
"It's meant everything to us."
The above article is reprinted with permission from Mike Woods and the Appleton Post-Crescent. |
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