Meet Our Board Members

Peter Fromm Wade

President

Peter Fromm Wade was born in Milwaukee, WI and raised in the Town of Hamburg, Marathon County. Peter attended Maple Grove School grades 1-6, Trinity Lutheran School grades 7-8 then Merrill Area Public School 9-11. Peter graduated High school from Wayland Academy, Beaver Dam, WI. He attended University Wisconsin Stevens Point and Marathon Campus and graduated from Northcentral Technical College, with an Apprenticeship Plumbing degree. Peter worked in the Plumbing, Soil Testing, and Well industry and is currently employed by Marathon Co. as a Waste Water Specialist. Peter and his wife reside in the Town of Corning, Merrill, WI.

Cindy Artus

Secretary

Cindy Artus has had ties to the Hamburg area since before she was born. Her great-grandfather built his homestead in Hamburg in the late 1800’s. This house is the same house her Mom was born and raised in and Cindy spent every school vacation visiting. As a young child, Cindy remembers driving past the Maple Grove School on her way to her Grandparent’s house, and always saying, “I wish I could go to school there!” After graduating from Merrill High School in 1979 and then from the University of Wisconsin-Stout in 1983, Cindy returned to the area and married a “Hamburg man”. She and her husband have raised 3 children in Hamburg; their 2 sons attending Maple Grove School and their daughter who is “special needs” and required special education services, attended school in Merrill. At that time special education services were not offered at Maple Grove, however, when Maple Grove became a charter school, special education services are now available. Cindy is a very active proponent of keeping special education available at Maple Grove knowing what it was like not to have a child be able to attend the school in the community where they lived. Both of Cindy’s sons received the Walter and Mabel Fromm Scholarship and have returned to Hamburg after college graduation and plan to raise a family in the township as well as send their children to Maple Grove. Cindy has been a substitute teacher for Merrill Area Public Schools for 18 years and since 2017 has devoted her availability as a substitute only to Maple Grove School. Ironically, Cindy’s daughter, Emily, although unable to attend Maple Grove School as a student, now volunteers every day in the Kindergarten class room as a classroom aide. Cindy has been helping with the fight to keep Maple Grove School open when it was threatened to be closed in past years and she plans to continue to work hard to keep the doors of this amazing school open for many years to come.

Pam Plisch

Treasuer

Pam was born and raised in Hamburg, Wisconsin. Her Hamburg roots run deep back to when her grandparents moved here over 100 years ago. She attended Maple Grove School for grades K-6 and graduated from Merrill High School in 1985. She received the Walter & Mabel Fromm scholarship for furthering her education at NTC. Pam’s husband, their two children, as well as numerous other family members of hers went to Maple Grove. She is a part of four generations that attended this great rural school. Her two children were also recipients of the Walter & Mabel Fromm Scholarship and both received bachelor degrees in education. Maple Grove has been an important part of her whole life through going there herself, getting involved with her children, and staying involved as an active community member. Pam wishes that the traditions of the “little red schoolhouse” can be continued with current and future students and their families and that this school impacts others’ lives as it has her life.

Kristin M. Natzke

Director

Pam was born and raised in Hamburg, Wisconsin. Her Hamburg roots run deep back to when her grandparents moved here over 100 years ago. She attended Maple Grove School for grades K-6 and graduated from Merrill High School in 1985. She received the Walter & Mabel Fromm scholarship for furthering her education at NTC. Pam’s husband, their two children, as well as numerous other family members of hers went to Maple Grove. She is a part of four generations that attended this great rural school. Her two children were also recipients of the Walter & Mabel Fromm Scholarship and both received bachelor degrees in education. Maple Grove has been an important part of her whole life through going there herself, getting involved with her children, and staying involved as an active community member. Pam wishes that the traditions of the “little red schoolhouse” can be continued with current and future students and their families and that this school impacts others’ lives as it has her life.