Posted 4:45 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, 2016
2016 parade marshals are UWL alums with long histories of community service.
2016 parade marshals are UWL alums with long histories of community service
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The 2016 Oktoberfest parade marshals are Brad Quarberg, '85, left, and Louie Ferris, '68.[/caption]
The leaders of La Crosse’s two Oktoberfest parades this year are both UWL alums.
Brad Quarberg, ’85, marched his first Oktoberfest parade as a trumpet player with the Marching Chiefs in 1981. He’ll be parade marshal at this year’s Oktoberfest Maple Leaf Parade, which starts at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 1.
Louie Ferris,’68, an 86-year-old, life-long north side resident and advocate for veteran’s issues, has long participated in Oktoberfest with his family. He will be parade marshal for the Torchlight Parade at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29.
Both Quarberg and Ferris have long histories of community service in La Crosse.
“86 years is a long time to live,” says Ferris. “When you get involved, you really get involved.”
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Brad Quarberg, '85, left, pictured during the announcement ceremony Wednesday night. Quarberg is also UWL's director of News and Marketing.[/caption]
During an announcement ceremony Wednesday, Sept. 13, at Loggers Field in La Crosse both expressed a deep love of La Crosse.
“The feeling of gemütlichkeit is real in La Crosse,” says Quarberg.
The word often spoken during the Oktoberfest celebration means warmth or friendliness. Quarberg said he noticed gemütlichkeit as a student entering UWL in the early ’80s. That continued as he started a career at UWL after graduation and then became involved in the Oktoberfest celebration with his wife, Gail, ’89, in the mid-1990s.
Quarberg started on the Oktoberfest parade committee for 12 years and then the continued serving on festival’s board of directors for six years. He went on to become Oktoberfest president in 2001. Gail and Brad have two children, Nicolas and Merideth, who grew up being part of the celebration.
“People think of Oktoberfest as a beer party, but when you are involved, you see a different side of it,” says Gail. “It is a great family, community celebration. Because of our involvement, we’ve gotten to know so many people … people who do so much for the community.”
Oktoberfest parade marshals are selected primarily for their strong service to the community. They are nominated by the public and then selected by a committee of past marshals and other fest leaders.
During the ceremony, Quarberg said he was honored to know many on that list of former marshals, including five from UWL:
- Jim Conway, 1966. Faculty emeritus who taught in the Mass Communications Department
- John Alexander, 1981. Former director of the Marching Chiefs
- Noel Richards, 1988. Former UWL chancellor
- Bob Wilhelm, 1999. Former employee in custodial maintenance for residence halls
- Roger Harring, 2001. Former football coach and teacher
About this year’s marshals
Brad Quarberg Brad Quarberg, ’85, graduated with a degree in mass communications and political science and then spent the next 32 years working at the university, eventually becoming UWL’s Director of News and Marketing. Quarberg said that along with family support, he attributes much of his success to public education. “From the days of the small elementary school I attended in Modena … to the large, pit lectures at UWL, I was encouraged and challenged to learn and succeed,” he said. Quarberg has volunteered for Oktoberfest for three decades, including being chief editor of the “The Fest of Times,” a book celebrating the first 50 years of the festival he helped produce. Quarberg said that Rotary’s mission of “service above self” is one he lives by. His list of volunteer commitments is long, including being involved with Rotary since 1999. He has served as Valley View Rotary club president, as well as on the district’s education committee and as an assistant district governor of Rotary. In August, he received a Lifetime Rotarian award from area clubs. Professionally, his service has also earned him regional recognition. He served on the Great Lakes District of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) for 14 years, serving as the district’s marketing coordinator, along with chairing the district’s conference in Chicago for two years. He was given the district’s Distinguished Service Award, the top honor awarded among educational advancement professionals in the Midwest region in December 2012. Other organizations he’s volunteered with include:- United Way
- Troop 18 of the Gateway Area Council of Boy Scouts of America
- La Crosse Area Day with the Milwaukee Brewers
- Board of Directors for Sugar Creek Bible Camp
- Lutheran Campus Ministry of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan
- La Crosse Area Synod of the ELCA
- Vision Board of English Lutheran Church
- Board of Directors for Junior Achievement of the Coulee Region
- Logan Parent Organization
- Logan Band Parents Organization
- Board of Education for the School District of La Crosse
- Board of Directors for the La Crosse Public Education Foundation
- Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity of the La Crosse Area
- Board of Directors for Bethany-St. Joseph Corporation
- Board of Directors for Western Wisconsin JDRF, and the La Crosse area committee of JDRF
- Chain gang for Eagles football
Louie Ferris, ’68, earned a degree in Spanish with a minor in art from UWL. After graduation he became a teacher and advocate for many local causes.[/caption]
Louie Ferris
Louie Ferris, ’68, is a first-generation American with parents from Lebanon. He has slept in the same bed and bedroom since he was born. Ferris is a Korean War veteran who spent two years in the National Guard and eight years in the Air Force.
He graduated from UWL with a major in Spanish and minor in art and went on to become a teacher, a passion he learned in the military drilling troops in military and academic subjects.
His list of volunteer work is long from fundraising for local organizations and causes to translating for non-English speaking patients at local hospitals.
Much of that volunteer spirit came from his mother who raised nine children during the Depression and “gave it all,” he adds.
The Ferris name is well-known in the La Crosse community, particularly for his volunteer efforts for veterans. For five years he protested a name change of the university’s football field because he wanted veterans’ sacrifices to not be forgotten or dismissed. An agreement was eventually negotiated with the university and local veterans' organizations to plan, fund raise and build the stadium and field. The Veterans Hall of Honor at Veteran’s Memorial Field Sports Complex now honors veteran’s for their service. His work on the Hall of Honor brought him closer to local veterans' issues, he says.
More recently Ferris raised funds for a Korean Veterans War Memorial, a $30,000 monument and walkway in La Crosse’s Veterans Freedom Park that was dedicated in July. The memorial is meant for everyone who served, including the 36,576 who gave their lives.
He has served in every position in the local VFW. He now heads the La Crosse Chapter of the Korean War Veterans Association.
When asked why he dedicates so much time to veterans' causes, Ferris said “All you have to do is visit a veterans' hospital to see why. Our freedom is not free: Someone had to pay for that freedom.”