001[Music] hi good afternoon and uh welcome to the 24th annual Wall of Fame banquet here at the Beaver Dam high school thank you all very much for showing up today my name is Craig warmbold I am with Good Karma Brands and wbeb ESPN Beaver Dam and daily Dodge and I'm your Master of Ceremonies for today's program thank you for coming to Once Again pay honor to the most distinguished graduates of the Beaver Dam school system and those who lead by example it is good to see so many new faces and so many familiar faces out here today I would like to take a minute to recognize the teachers the Educators who are here with us in the audience today and joining us I just want to say thank you thank you for your hard work
002and dedication to our children who are tomorrow's leaders and our future friends of education and outstanding alumni so to all you teachers thank you and I know I've seen a few of you out there Brian and a couple of you others so thank you for your service oh [Applause] I'd also like to introduce some of the past friends of Education who are in attendance with us here today that includes case style fluke who was recognized in 2002 as a friend of Education okay thanks for joining us Roger Knoll uh is here he's well he was a 2003 friend of Education [Applause] of course our thanks to Roger for putting together portions of the program this evening that you'll be seeing shortly Annette camps is here with us Annette was a 2006 friend of Education [Applause]
003Barb link is here with us as well Barb is uh with the alpha zai chapter the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International and she was a 2018 friend of Education Barb now if there's any past recipients of the friend of Education award that we missed please please stand up raise your hand let us know thank you for all that you've done for Education here in Beaver Dam at the Beaver Dam School District thank you so uh that uh brings us now to the Friends of Education portion of tonight's program uh and uh to introduce our first friend of Education I'd like to welcome up to the podium Mark DeStefano [Applause] whoever you'd like to be good evening God is my distinct honor to have this moment to share a few words with you about Bev Bev
004Bill Lake While most of you that are here today know of her and have had the opportunity to work with her and know some of the work that that she has done I wanted to offer some specific context that might add value to your appreciation for the impact that her engagement as a true friend of education has had and I've cleared this with I have I believe four bosses with me this evening so four school board members and they reviewed this and there are several stories that were that I'm going to share on their behalf some of them may not no no I'm just kidding I'm not going to get into that um but seriously based on her slate of experiences and her commitments there's no doubt that she is engaged in good work that
005has supported our students and our community for several years her desire and willingness to go above and beyond on several fronts is nothing short of a direct reflection of her character and strong desire to give I have had my own journey and experiences directly with Bev we have worked together in community-based service organizations and roles during which she has always sought ways to add value to the group or the efforts that is she has been a part of and has never rested on her Laurels as a matter of fact she has called others to task through her modeling and her example to make sure that everyone is giving their best it's also common for Bev to promote and encourage the support of other Service Groups or efforts in our community even if she is not
006directly a part of it as long as she believes their work efforts or projects add value for the children in Beaver Dam she will support it and as a member of our Board of Education she has served in a variety of capacities her level of Engagement and Outreach were always high and she remained very grounded in her desire to find a way to do the very best for our students and their education during her service on the board she also spent some time as the board president and not only does that take an increased level of Engagement drive and accountability most recently she navigated that role with a fairly green Superintendent at that time sorry Bev and thank you thank you for having an intense commitment to service in our community thank you for the
007time and talents you have shared and your continued support of Education students and our community as a whole I know that while this recognition validates the great work you have done your commitment remains strong as ever and your desire to give and serve in this community will continue for many years to come on behalf of the Beaver Dam Unified School District thank you for being such a wonderful friend of education and congratulations on your recognition and award come on up [Applause] this reminds me of the time that my mother went to a school conference for her daughter Bev and when she came home she said I had to ask the teacher are you I'm Bev's mom are you sure you're talking about my daughter because I had a tendency to be very on in school
008and then let down when I got home from school so different personalities thank you I just have to say a few words honestly will just be a few and the first words are I have been so very fortunate to be able to spend most of my life whether it was growing up in Columbus or here in Beaver Dam in these communities that have been so supportive of Education not not just inside the classroom but outside of the classroom growing up I was blessed with great teachers and teachers that were University certified but also teachers that taught me more about life in general outside of the school day they taught me things that I could use as I made my way to adulthood things like practical skills although typing was not one of them moral and
009ethical conversations that we were able to have along with their modeling of behaviors that were good good ways to work through certain situations in different situations so great role models and they really helped me learn how to better meaningfully interact with others while making good decisions I always told my kids and actually I like to list some of my 70 year old friends too or Plus older when they leave for the day to make good choices it's amazing the looks you get from a seven-year-old when you tell them to make good choices um all have all of this has really given me the opportunity to play a small part in contributing my time to organizations both inside and outside of school that I believe help all age levels but especially the kids my time spent
010on the school board was gratifying gratifying in so many ways and yes it was a lot of work and it was a lot of meetings but I really enjoy those activities and that allowed me to interact more directly with the children different levels of course while I was with board activities but a couple of other great examples that I have become more involved with over the last five years is I'm working with the Jefferson second grade class and Junior Achievement and second creators are so fun and they're at my skill level so that's even better they're just so honest and excited about learning about communities and businesses until the tax collector came to take their two dollars away that has been really great and we're doing that right now another organization that I've gotten involved
011with is the playground movement and the playground movement is another great example of what one person saw as a need in the residential area of a she has a business habitat Habitat for Humanity ReStore and that business is in a low-income area of Beaver Dam and she saw needs that went well beyond people coming into the restore um playground movement is now a 501c3 and is of course looking to go even further than her play dates that were started on Sundays and there is a board of directors I have been very privileged I think to be part of that and to get to know another set of families and children that I might not have otherwise to kind of sum it up to be recognized as a friend of Education alongside the many accomplishments of
012all the past recipients really is humbling because all of the previous recipients well deserved and really big rolled up to live up to I also want to thank the wall of fame committee I want to thank my family especially for my husband because while I was out running and doing activities he was probably home with the kids or figuring out how to make supper on his own appreciate that and also just so many of you out there I've worked with you one way or another in some volunteer Activity thank you because you've also helped me thank you what a fantastic speech and uh you know speaking personally I I covered as a news reporter the Beaver Dam school board for uh for many years uh and Bev was on it for for 90 of that
013time and she was always so gracious and uh in offering insights and I always do do appreciate that uh thank you for that Bev I'm also very glad that you're not on the school board right now and that's that's because there's a clear Quorum violation going on what are there like eight or nine of you here I think I hope there's an agenda for this okay all right that's good then sir um we do want to now go to our second uh recipient of our friends of Education award uh and here to uh to introduce that is Mary kloweter [Applause] I am really excited to be here to honor Gail prinson as a friend of Education Gail a little bit about Gail he is a retired elementary teacher from the Beaver Dam School District um
014I believe Gail was in probably three three different Elementary School scale um finishing his career at Jefferson as a third grade teacher and Jefferson has had a long history of celebrating Arbor Day Arbor Day is coming up this Friday as a matter of fact and there was a teacher at Jefferson and her name was Phyllis Frederick she started the tradition at Jefferson of celebrating Arbor Day and planting a tree and that was a partnership with can you hear me sorry about that that was a partnership with Kiwanis um and they started that Arboretum that is on the corner of Jefferson and Stone Street so Phyllis had that tradition of Arbor Day every year and when she retired um Gail was at Jefferson and he took that over so 70 years Gail has he's never missed
015a year even during the pandemic he and his wife Pam came to Jefferson and in the rain and made sure that they honored Arbor Day and planted a tree so we're just very appreciative of that because 70 years is a very long time and it's just something that Gail's really devoted to doing so I always know he's going to contact me at the beginning of April to set up that time and he connects with one of our third grade classrooms and they do a really nice job um information about Arbor Day and planting the tree so thank you very much Gail much deserving of this award today [Applause] Gail on behalf of the Beaver Dam Unified School District I'd like to congratulate you on being an identified friend of Education this year and thanks for
016what you do and I had the opportunity to spend a brief moment with you yesterday as you were getting geared up for uh later this week in rehearsing so I appreciate how serious um you take that and the dedication you bring thank you so much [Applause] it's an honor to have been chosen for the friend of Education award it was a total surprise to me because I just do what I do uh first of all I would like to thank Jefferson principal Mary kawitter for nominating me I would also like to thank the Rotary Club of beaver dam for funding the tradition on our of the Arbor Day tree planting that's gone on now as Mary said for 70 years at Jefferson School and the rotarian service to our community has now reached their 100th
017year so they're having a dual celebration this year thankfully they still have a strong commitment towards helping develop an awareness of the world around us especially for the children of Beaver Dam I'm just part of carrying on a tradition Phyllis Frederick as she said was a fifth grade teacher and was there for the first 25 plus years of the arbor days tree planting Jan Richardson and maybe a couple other teachers were in between and I finally made my way back to Jefferson and have done it the last 30 plus years or so I believe personally that it's great to take a look outside and really look observe closely what's going on out there we all know that's not so easy anymore with with children and I can't believe how much it changed in my lifetime
018with the competition from handheld devices I myself still spend a lot of time among the trees and even up in trees as much time as I can adding to the stories of my own experiences like the ones that I used to tell my students so what turned into a teaching program connected to our Arbor Day tradition was a natural extension of what I love to do it's never a burden I enjoyed doing it gets the creative juices flowing a little bit and I worked my calendar of activities around the last Friday in April every year I'd like to thank my wife for keeping that clear for us and keep me my time free and also listening to all my ideas for the programs and helping think things through I work with a class at Jefferson
019most of the time a third grade class like Mary said we did we did the music chorus kids one year or two for something because that's that's I taught the third graders most of my career and I try to keep the program simple enough two or three sharp practices because the with minimal teacher assistance because they have enough on their plate already they're busy every day contributing to the growth of their students and I hope I can just add a a tiny bit more to that in the brief time that I I spend with them the Arbor Day program message has been the same every year the benefits of trees to us and our Earth what they give us and do for us and we we try to add a little bit of fun to
020it everyone in the class does something in the program they speak they narrate they move materials a couple of the braver ones do a commercial from a local sponsor which we make up of course and the whole of school is invited to attend then the class I'm working with sometimes others helped plant the tree and by being involved in the program and the planting I believe it helps the students take some ownership in what happens at their school we've had some occasional vandalism problems in the past where even whole trees have been destroyed but knock on wood I haven't seen that the last several years I like to think that there's a little greater respect for what the Jefferson Community of students has been a part of and helped with and now we're possibly entering
021a fourth generation of participants in that program you may have heard stories about the Courtyard at Jefferson Dr Barb link who you just heard about before had an idea of a hallway connecting an old Wing to a new Wing that was being constructed and that created an enclosed Courtyard so that was an opportunity to plant some more trees and some bushes and a few flowers and construct a couple of planters Stone and Timber and then a few years later a prairie plot benches were added so classes could sit and read or work on nice spring and fall days it was a science classes extension for me some things selected deliberately for that purpose but a lot of spontaneous teaching moments arose also we could hit the topics of soil geology ecosystems habitats and other things
022I had the fortune of being in a classroom that had Windows looking into the courtyard so sometimes it provided a way to just take a breath during the day and see what was going on in the out of doors that I loved the there was quite a bit of manual labor involved too you know there were spring cleanup fall cleanup you know sprucing up before the school year started and things like that so there was quite a bit of work involved but I enjoyed every minute of it the courtyard became a protective Haven for visiting birds bees butterflies and other insects and then mallard ducks if you've heard about the courtyard you've probably heard a duck story um when I retired over a decade ago now I know the number of hatchlings was approaching 200
023and I don't think they've they've stopped yet uh we learned from the ducks that nature has to take its course we tried Catch and Release and then I discovered something else and that's a long story but brow and then Mrs Higgins and Mrs Miller and Mrs Westra that were still there when I was gone became the escort service where the Ducks had be you know the doors are open to the hallway and then to the outside and they had to make sure they didn't take any wrong left or right turns and made their way into the the cruel world you know where they had cats and dogs and traffic and storm sewers and Hawks and whatever on their dangerous march to where they wanted to go probably the funniest story was um one spring day
024after some ducklings that hatched we usually left them in the courtyard for a couple of days so all the kids could see him and enjoy them for a little bit made sure there was water and everything out there before they were released and one day up parent was a little bit before the end of the day stopping in to pick up her kids and she pops her head in the office and says uh do you know you have a whole bunch of ducks down the hallway and a teacher had left the library door open uh because it was nice out to get some fresh air and forgot about it well mama duck took her little ones on a tour of the library and then out into one of the main hallways where she was looking
025for a way out well the kids flooded out of the classroom that day and so we had a kind of impromptu Catch and Release going on right right in front of all of them right there that was probably the funniest thing that ever happened with them we were in a classroom but if the teaching in a learning moment was occurring outside time out take the time for it I feel it's just as important to develop those observational skills and curiosity about nature and our physical world as it is the skills with words and numbers um okay I'm proud to have carried on the tradition at Jefferson School for these last 30 plus years I spent three-fourths of my career teaching there I have lots of fond memories of the students and staff members as I
026reflect on the past I know with gratitude how much the staff Administration and community support through the rotarians has made it a joy to be a part of all that finally I thought I'm getting a little long here I know finally I thought I'd leave you with some advice from a tree you've heard these before sometimes you just need to go out on a limb or maybe turn over a new Leaf and at other times we just need to stay grounded remember your roots Bend before you break and always keep growing I kind of hope that for the the kids that I've maybe touched a little over the years that they keep that interest going oh and I'll drink plenty of water that's another one I'm humbled by this honor and once again thanks to
027everyone for your support over the years thank you Gail of course Gail's the reason we didn't have duck laurage for meal today with uh with Arbor Day being tomorrow certainly an inspiration regardless of your age so thank you very much for that for our third friend of Education award presentation I would like to welcome up to the podium Roberta mark [Applause] hello for those of you who don't know me my name is Bobby Mark and I'm the president of the Beaver Dam chapter of the American Association of University women or AAUW we are pleased and honored to receive the friends of Education award you can tell because we make up the bulk of the audience here AAUW is a National Organization which works globally to support our mission of promoting gender equity for women and
028girls through education research and advocacy they have been on The Cutting Edge of the fight for equity for 142 years in that time AAUW has given over 100 million dollars in scholarships and grants to deserving young women around the world they've supported dozens of gender discrimination cases in state and federal courts they've published hundreds of scientific reports on topics relating to women and their families and they have been key supporters in the passage of major laws related to gender Equity including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 the Family and Medical Leave Act and Title IX in Beaver Dam AAUW has only been around for 90 years since our first local meeting in 1933 we have given scholarships to graduating high school seniors in the last 10 years alone we've given over sixty thousand dollars in
029scholarships we also give out scholarships to women returning to mptc in addition to scholarships our local branch has sponsored hundreds of educational activities and programs in the 50s and early 60s when few women went to college we hosted afternoon tea socials for high school girls encouraging them to continue their educations over the years we have given money to support literacy in Beaver Dam elementary schools we've sponsored Fine Arts projects at both the Beaver Dam middle school and high school and we helped to build the Beaver Dam High School Greenhouse we've also sponsored speakers and workshops for girls that encourage them to participate in science technology engineering and math most recently AAUW has begun to examine the issues of diversity equity and inclusion last summer we sponsored a community book read in conjunction with the Beaver
030Dam Public Library the book was the basis for a public panel discussion held in partnership with the Beaver Dam Area Community Theater and it was moderated by our own Craig wormbold this event was so successful that this summer we are encouraging Beaver Dam again to read a new book this book is the gift of our wounds by authors parid kalika and Arno mcallis from Milwaukee this book is a powerful story of friendship between two men one of the Sikh faith and one a skinhead that resulted in an outpouring of love and a mission to fight hate or to fight against hate harid kalika will be here in September to talk about his book and his experiences as a Sikh living in Wisconsin the Beaver Dam public library has multiple copies of the book and Mr
031kalika is tentatively scheduled to be here on September 20th we encourage anyone interested to read this wonderful book and join us for a fascinating discussion in September our AAUW members are proud to call Beaver Dam home we thank you for this award and we look forward to continuing to support our community thank you [Applause] you stay there Bobby and um I don't know what percentage of the membership is here [Music] over a third awesome so that's wonderful and thanks for allowing me to take your picture I hope I did a good job Margaret on behalf of the Beaver Dam Unified School District I'd like to thank you for your continued contributions in our community your leadership your willingness to ask questions sometimes the tough questions that need to be asked to help us be better
032for kids and to continue to model and exemplify leadership and advocacy to make sure that the best possible experiences are available for all of our students and obviously our our female students in particular so thank you very much [Applause] thank you very much and uh and it was uh truly a privilege and an honor to uh to host that program in the uh in the fall and and to have had um so many of the members of AAUW on uh our Airwaves at wbev over the years we certainly uh do value uh that opportunity thank you um our next uh our next presenter uh tells me that uh he will keep the video presentation to below two hours we want to welcome up to the podium Roger Knoll who will present the 2022 outstanding alumni
033award Roger [Applause] the notes say you were supposed to come up um yeah like well like all of the alumni that I have nominated there's always that that one thing uh that they all had in common and that was that they they had a passion for a certain part of their life and whatever the obstacles they were going to overcome that passion overcome those obstacles to get to their passion and Margaret McFarland is no exception she is an amazing woman and I hope you enjoy this short video [Applause] yeah Margaret lamoreau was born on June 24th 1916. on the dining room table of her family home at 328 Park Avenue the laboral family had a long history of civic duty to the city state and Nation her grandfather Silas LaMore was a lawyer state legislator
034County Commissioner and judge a personal friend to president Grover Cleveland he would be appointed U.S land commissioner and serve in Washington D.C from 1893 to 1897. upon his return along with his sons Don Percy and Harlan who was Margaret's father they would establish and work at the Beaver Dam malleable iron company the company would dissolve in 1928. Don Percy built the lamoral mansion that would later be transformed into the Lutheran Deaconess Hospital after the company's dissolution Margaret's father would bounce around from job to job and the family would settle into a very middle-class lifestyle but Margaret would always treasure her grandfather's Legacy and throughout her childhood years aspire to follow him in becoming an attorney in order to serve others Margaret was a precocious child ever the studious yet greatly popular among her peers she
035would skip a grade and graduate from Beaver Dam High School in 1934. at the ripe old age of 16. but any thoughts of college and eventual Law School attendance were dashed by the Great Depression with limited employment opportunities in Beaver Dam on the day after her graduation Margaret was placed on a train headed to Washington D.C where her uncle had secured a position for her with the Agricultural Adjustment Administration as a typist Clerk but Margaret with hopes of becoming a lawyer had not taken any business classes in high school being from Wisconsin she was assigned to the dairy division she knew nothing about the dairy industry expecting her to type Dairy data on a long typewriter her Superior soon realized her deficiency on the machine and she was demoted to filing duties Margaret never want
036to disappoint enrolled in business school at night and within months was proficient in both typing and dictation now reinstated as a typist clerk she found great success at the position she had been so unceremoniously removed from at the start it was that proficiency that would lead to her next government position in 1935 the recently established National Archives moved into its brand new DC building its task to preserve the history of our great nation Margaret would be the 35th person to be hired by the institution she would work directly under the first head archivist Robert w d Connor Connor was a personal friend of President Roosevelt and Margaret would say her one brush with Fame at the time was that Connor who had many meetings with FDR would assign Margaret the task of running out to
037the local store to buy a pack of Chesterfield cigarettes to sneak into the president [Music] FDR was a staunch supporter of the National Archives and Margaret would have the opportunity to see him in person as the ramps would be rolled out at night for his many visits Margaret again would not be satisfied with remaining in her current assistant position while working full-time she would attend night school in order to be accredited as a professional archivist at the age of 18 Margaret would be promoted to Junior archivist and be assigned to the World War One Division among her many accomplishments in this position was co-authoring the handbook of federal War agencies and their records 1917 through 1921 but Margaret would refuse to sit on her laurels the need for improvement through education persisted from 1935 through
0381938 she would enroll in courses at George Washington University at night advised to seek a librarian degree in order for advancement at the National Archives Margaret instead took courses in pre-law with the intent to finally obtain her childhood dream of becoming an attorney the first part of that dream would be achieved when in the fall of 1938 she would without benefit of an undergraduate degree be accepted to National University Law School again she would work full time at the National Archives while attending law school full time at night founded in 1869 National University School of Law was one of the first American law schools founded in the United States it was known for its advancement of women's rights the first woman to practice before The Supreme Court of the United States and the first woman
039professor of law in the United States were graduates of the school the school existed until 1954 when it merged with George Washington University School of Law Margaret flourished in law school and her three years there would see her Excel not only in Academia but also interpersonal relationships with fellow students and faculty so popular was she that in her second year Margaret would be named Miss attorney of National University while maintaining a heavy workload at the National Archives and law school Margaret found time to be part of two academic sororities and co-editor of the University's yearbook her efforts would culminate in the spring of 1941. when at the age of 25 Margaret graduated from Law School a childhood dream fulfilled but she soon was returned to reality when after securing an interview at the Department of
040Justice through law school contacts she would not be hired as an attorney but told she could start in the secretarial pool and maybe sometime in the future an attorney position might open up for her dismayed by this chauvinistic attitude Margaret felt it to be a downgrade from her Superior position at the National Archives so she returned there Margaret passed the bar to practice in the District of Columbia in 1941. and would later be admitted to practice before the United States court of appeals for the District of Columbia and the United States Supreme Court while maintaining her full-time position at The Archives Margaret would put out a shingle to practice law with another woman graduate they would try several cases in the few months following their graduation but that would soon end with the onset of
041World War II wanting to serve the war effort Margaret transferred to the board of economic Warfare in the quasi-legal position of senior Administrative Assistant in this position she would review products that were imported into the United States or exported from the United States to determine if they in any way hindered or abetted the war effort it was also in this position that she would encounter a superior named Archibald Hepburn McFarland once the war ended Margaret learned that the general Accounting Office had an attorney opening after a successful interview Margaret finally attained a position commiserate with her learning she would be one of the first female attorneys in the office of the index digest section in the corporate attorney's office the general accounting office now known as the government accountability office is a legislative branch government
042agency that provides auditing evaluative and Investigative Services for the United States Congress it is the Supreme audit institution of the federal government of the United States the GAO is known as the investigative arm of Congress and the Congressional watchdog it is highly regarded that the GAO is one of the most important offices in the United States it employs over 3 000 including investigators accountants attorneys and other sundry administrative staff after hundreds of Investigations and audits annually the GAO provides opinions and decisions on their findings some opinions are published for the general public in the office's index digests others are not as an incoming attorney Margaret would be tasked with reviewing the opinions and decisions in order to prepare them for publication in the index Digest she would also be called on to prepare her superiors
043on a number of various topics prior to their testifying in front of Congress it was during her first three years a superior was unable to edit the index Digest [Music] that task was thrust upon Margaret to complete with no training Margaret would perform the job with great success Margaret would never do anything half-hearted remember her Superior at the board of economic Warfare Archibald McFarland well after the war Archie was dispatched as a diplomat to open up the embassy in China after that two-year stint Archie returned to Washington out of the blue he asked Margaret out on Palm Sunday 1947. four months later they were married [Music] having proven her Stellar capabilities at the GAO in 1948 Margaret would be promoted to chief of the legislative digest section she would now be responsible for caring for
044all audits investigations and opinions relating to the hill in 1954 she would assume the position of chief of index digest section her responsibilities would now Encompass all audits investigations and opinions performed by the GAO and now affectionately known as Mrs Mack her star continued to rise when in 1960 she would attain the position of chief of all legal reference materials her duties would be compounded as her job description provided responsible for the administrative and technical management of the index digest section legislative digest section Law Library and index and files section which includes some 65 employees including attorneys legal clerks Librarians and clerical staff as a working Chief she has the responsibility for digesting and indexing decisions of the Comptroller General maintenance of the legal reference and citation files compilation of the legislative histories of public
045and private laws supervision of an extensive law and accounting library and management of the permanent files of the GAO she prepares material for the annual report budget and other report requirements for the office of general counsel and personally supervises the training Recruitment and career development of Staff of legal references now responsible for hiring Margaret would hire the first African-American attorney at the GAO she oftentimes would brief members of Congress on opinions and audits her two favorites were Senator William proxmeyer from Wisconsin and Senator Everett Dirksen from Illinois during her career Margaret was a recipient of many awards for her selfless dedication to serving the American public and upon her retirement in 1971 Margaret would be bestowed the Comptroller General's distinguished service award she was the first woman to receive the award and it is the
046highest award given to a government employee Margaret returned to Beaver Dam in 1971. but hardly slowed down her service to the community and state flourished she served as legal research counsel for the Wisconsin Hospital Association authoring a two-volume manual on Wisconsin Hospital law Margaret served several terms on the Beaver Dam City Board of Appeals she was secretary to the Dodge County Historical Society and secretary to chapter 1091 of the National Association of retired federal employees other memberships included Beaver Dam AAUW Dodge County Bar Association Wisconsin Historical Society Dodge County friends of animals and partners of the Beaver Dam Hospital in 1990 Margaret would be asked to return to Washington D.C to take part in a video interview to honor those women who blazed the trail for current women in the GAO Margaret after an hour
047and a half interview chronicling the many highlights of her career was asked to sum up her greatest accomplishments at the GAO rather than toot her own horn she humbly referred to Associates at the GAO did to be not too modest now and let us know your what you think your personal accomplishments were well this is Max they've all said it so well and of course I loved working in GAO too and I guess the greatest pleasure I had was seeing the people that I had come to my shop got a better positions in jail and the fact that many of them stayed in GAO and a few of them as we said this noon came back to GAO to office of general counsel and I always felt they were better attorneys for having had a
048chance to see what private practice or some other government agency was like and then returned it didn't take a little talking to get people back on the road once they had left I mean fortunately I guess always made it but in terms of the kinds of activities you were involved in in Gil legal research I would call it a lot of uh aspects of GAO that involved its activities with the Congress or as you mentioned earlier also with the media is was that a satisfying activity is this the kind of uh work that you felt most comfortable in were you ever thinking of maybe joining the the other groups that into decision writing or that sort of stuff not really particularly I guess although I prefer doing things rather than being a supervisor because I
049like doing the Congressional Record and doing legislative histories and so forth and research I notice you got promoted frequently I noticed you got uh 12 outstanding ratings in 21 years and I got that from some of your friends plus so many different Awards and things and of course you all got you sadly Margaret lamro McFarland passed away October 26 2008 at the age of 92. but Margaret McFarland's Legacy is an inspiration to us all especially women and girls of all ages at a time when all looked hopeless from the Great Depression a 16 year old teenager took on the world never forsaking her dream at every point in her life when faced with an obstacle rather than claim herself a victim of her circumstances she did not just overcome it she obliterated it no glass
050ceiling would hold her back for 38 years she dedicated her life to the betterment of our nation and in a town where backroom deals are common and success is sometimes measured by the bodies you walk over to climb to the top Margaret lamrow McFarland succeeded by excelling at her job and treating others with respect and kindness [Music] there you go how about another round of applause for Roger Nolan putting that together that was absolutely amazing thank you so much Roger truly an inspiring story and a lot of obvious connections to some of the other Awards and recognitions this evening so very excited about that and at this time I'd like to welcome Tom Halford up to receive the award on behalf of Margaret lamrow McFarland great thank you all right I would love to you
051I think what I heard in that very interesting story from Roger was Blazing a trail for women quite honestly most of the stuff that Rogers got on that nice short little video I didn't know Margaret was one you started talking about Washington talking about things were going on that's just foolishness back back well you heard her on there take it right back it wasn't about what did you accomplish no no that was the people that were at geo with me what did they accomplish it was just never that just wasn't her so I guess I can't say anything more than Roger did about her professional career I I think it was absolutely outstanding I can't imagine being 16 years old graduating from high school not even getting a party on the terrain off you go
052to Washington D Washington DC back in what 34 that you went out there that had to be something she did say one time that yeah I used to I used to walk from work to work she lived up near the embassies in Washington DC and she had to walk several blocks to work she said I used to walk with then send it to Harry Truman and he was then would go on to the Capitol now how many of them do you think are walking to the Capitol these days [Laughter] bodyguards and drivers and everything else but uh she and he said he was quite a quite a character as she would be walking along with him uh like I say I can't say a whole bunch more about all of the stuff that you heard
053and she was amazing person but I guess I've heard everybody else getting the awards and a lot of it was very student oriented and very much like you know I know Fred McMurray got it a reward and you know I can understand that he was a famous person but I just never thought of her as famous I guess she just not not like the woman I just heard about here um I do remember that once you did that little thing with going out to Washington DC and she got out there and the uncle I don't even know she knew that Uncle I never heard much about him but Roger said that he gave her a bunch of coins of tokens and said go find where you're going to work teen would we send our kids
054even to Washington DC by themselves now I I don't think so but not then off she went also I can remember that there was many a times that she you know we would talk about the various things of Washington and like I said she would have nothing to do with it but it was always about well how's your family how you're doing I always kind of considered her like an extra set of parents for me and for sure an extra grand mother and dad Archie and her Mrs Mack for our daughter Lisa I just want to give you a little bit about my personal history with her back in 1969 I was in the U.S Navy my dad was the editor of the newspaper here in town he knew Margaret because he needed somebody to
055get information from for the stories for the paper when you get out to Washington D.C call Margaret Archie I was in lots of places where I call people and I got lots of help for things that I needed so we called they said well come on over for supper well you got to remember this is the third year in the Navy out of a four-year tour and we were not exactly overly welcomingly paid back in those days so didn't have a lot of money and we got out there and it was just a real quaint small apartment I would have thought after seeing all that was going on there that but they were very felt very comfortable where they were we sat down and Archie was really good at making old Fashions and when you're
056from Wisconsin I guess that's really important but he was good at it and he would made us old-fashions and then had some stuff for our daughter of you know Kitty cocktail or something and then brought out these hors d'oeuvres which are absolutely wonderful tenderloin on crackers uh he made crab balls fresh from the the uh you get it out of the markets and stuff and just all kinds of really good finger food and my wife Joanna and I and our daughter Lisa that we sat and we ate until we were about that full thinking that was it not so aren't you as a gourmet cook he had a whole pork loin made and everything was from fresh and was wonderful I didn't like sweet potatoes you would like and I did everything was just and
057here we'd ate all that other food now we ate all this food and we're just about dying we're so full then he says oh and by the way there's this great Swiss Bakery down the way and I've got a cake and it comes up with this big cake and so he had cake so by the time we got done with that we were just absolutely full so every month they would have us over every month I got to call my folks every month my wife got to call her folks back in Beaver Dam here and our daughter got to talk to Grandma and Grandpa all three of them and this happened all the way through for two years while I was in the service I retired out of the military and they retired out of
058the government Archie had already retired before that but Margaret maybe it was that we were going and she was too and they came back here and that house you saw in Park Avenue was recreated into the McFarland household it put I'm sure they had stuff over all of it to keep it for all those years but beautiful old house and so we got back and from that point on we would be over visiting with her Archie passed away I think six years later and they were just wonderful people the the lady you saw up there that was doing all those things that just didn't seem like Margaret and it sure didn't seem like Archie found out he was also a diplomat over in Turkey he was and I just when we cleared out of my
059Beaver Dam house this year I found his passports and there was all these things from China and turkey and stuff and it was like amazing just what that must have been like back in their days and when they were doing to get things going but I think the main thing I I thought of while we were going through this whole thing tonight thank you by the way everybody for doing this for her it just and Roger hope thank you Roger that that's you you are you are a treasure for Beaver Dam you really are uh thank you much and I sent that to my wife last night and she said amazing so he is you have a treasure there but um the thing that I think about this is if you had tried to do
060this while she was alive you'd had to drag her up here she wouldn't have done it she just wouldn't have done it so I'm so glad you did I'm so glad I could be here to grab this for her some were up there and know she's watching that was the first time I saw her live since you passed away and I tell you a little tear came to my eyes so uh you know thank you for for thinking of her and thank you Roger for nominating her and doing that wonderful piece it's just made my day [Applause] and how about a round of applause for all of our recipients today foreign and I would like to thank all of you for uh for joining us for uh today's uh 24th annual Wall of Fame program
061that includes all of the the presenters uh Mark DiStefano Mary clouder Roberta Mark Roger Knoll even if he wasn't expecting it uh also to those uh the recipients uh Bev bielake kale Prince and uh the American Association of University women Beaver Dam Branch absolutely a remarkable work you've done for the district thank you very much for that um to the uh the nominators who have nominated those people I know the wall of fame committee wants those nominations to uh to keep coming in a special thank you to uh to Roger and all that that was really an exceptional video it was under two hours I wasn't I wasn't wrong about that but it really was quite an exceptional video also a special thank you to Mary pastima uh who uh I I don't think I've
062ever thanked up here in all the years that I've been doing these so I just not easy to pull one of these things off High School culinary arts class wonderful job Mrs Shore the culinary arts teacher and taher food for all the the delicious food that they provided today we really do appreciate it a special thank you to Russ Johnson and his whole team here at the the high school for welcoming recipients this afternoon and coordinating both the assembly and the tour Russ very much appreciated the wall of fame committee members could we get the the whole committee to stand up that any members of the committee that are are here thank you thank you for for everything you've done we do appreciate it uh and again encouraging those nominations of of yourself of your
063friends you don't have to put a video together it's it's not a it's not a mandate but again a thank you to Roger for that uh don't really have a graceful way to end on on the notes that they asked me to have all of you return the name badges we don't want to we don't want to create any extra in costs for the school district you know taxes and everything what they are stealing is a criminal offense uh Beaver Dam Unified School District will not hesitate to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law I'm sure no uh but again thank you all so much for coming this is a video that will be available on the school district YouTube page so please share it with your friends family share it on your social
064media so that other people could see the remarkable work of the American Association of University women Beaver Dam Branch Gail Prince and Bev Beale Lake and of course our 2022 outstanding alumni Margaret lamoreaux McFarland thank you so much for joining us today