Elmwood Village Board
There are four people running for three spots on the board.
Josh Bleskacek
Josh Bleskacek
Age: 42
Address: 130 N. Woodworth St.
Occupation: 4K teacher, Elmwood
Education: Early Childhood Education, UW-Stout
Family: Emily, 16, Brody, 14, Payton, 11, Hannah, 9
Civic engagement: Current Village board member
What makes you qualified to serve on the Elmwood Village Board?
I am an Elmwood citizen who cares deeply for the town I live in. I also have experience as a village board member.
What will be your top priority if you are elected and why?
My top priority is the safety of all the citizens of Elmwood because Elmwood is where I choose to raise my children. Not only do I want my children to be safe, but for all of our citizens to be and feel safe.
What is another big challenge facing Elmwood and how would you address it?
One big challenge Elmwood faces is during UFO Days. Our community is already amazing, but I would like to see more citizens get involved with volunteering their time to help make our celebration more special. It is a great way to meet people as well.
What life experiences will you bring to the table?
This will be my third time running for Village Board and I do have two terms under my belt. I have been an active citizen of Elmwood since I moved here in 4th grade. I am very familiar with Elmwood and proud to call it my home!
What sets you apart from your opponents?
I am very active in our community, I am a people person, and I have many years working with children.
Marge Binkowski

Marge Binkowski
Age: 70
Address: 231 So. Main St.
Occupation: Retired certified social worker
Education: Certification in social work, with continuing education credit throughout career.
Family: Husband: Tony, Two adult children and families.
Civic engagement: Trustee for Village of Elmwood the last two years, Member of Heritage of Elmwood Nursing Home Board due to position on Village Board. Volunteer for Elmwood Food Pantry. Member of Calvary Assembly of God
What makes you qualified to serve on the Elmwood Village Board?
I believe the last two years serving as village trustee qualifies me to continue to serve the Village of Elmwood residents.
What will be your top priority if you are elected and why?
My top priority as village trustee would be to work with our police department to enforce the village ordinances already in place. To make Village of Elmwood a desirable, clean place to live and work.
What is another big challenge facing Elmwood and how would you address it?
Assisting the village clerk with any concerns and closely monitoring the small budget that the village has to work with. The budget is a challenge for our clerk and along with other trustees to continue to be vigilant about.
What life experiences will you bring to the table?
I am a lifelong village resident since 1970, and my career in long-term care has its advantages in this area of being a trustee.
What sets you apart from your opponents?
I continue to learn new and interesting areas of local government in the village.
Rick Stohr
Rick Stohr
Age: 57
Address: 147 W. Winter Ave.
Occupation: Micro replication Process Technician, 3M, Menomonie
Education: Elmwood High School, class of 1982, B.S. UW-River Falls, business communications major, animal science and public administration minors, 1987
Family: wife, Renae; children Chad, Lindsay and Mitch; seven grandchildren.
What makes you qualified to serve on the Elmwood Village Board?
I have some experience as I have served five consecutive terms, being first elected in 2010. I have been involved in several committees such as: Public Works, Finance, Personnel, Parks & Buildings and Licensing.
What will be your top priority if you are elected and why?
I would like to continue moving forward with several projects that we are currently working with: street resurfacing, road repair, sidewalks, especially maintaining our village’s infrastructure; taking care of and maintaining what we have.
Continued work with our police department to keep Elmwood a desired destination to visit, to live, and raise a family. We have a beautiful town; we need to work to maintain improvements- that consistently continues. We all need to participate in this, as what we do individually adds to the idea of what we all can achieve if we do our part and work toward the greater good of our community.
What is another big challenge facing Elmwood and how would you address it?
Keeping our community and business district viable. I work in Menomonie and many of my co-workers live between Menomonie and Eau Claire. You would be surprised at how many of them have no idea where Elmwood is. We need to shop local as much as we possibly can, to support our local businesses as that’s what will help keep our town viable and be a destination. We need to make Elmwood a place that people want to visit, and live. We are becoming a bedroom community with easy access to the Twin Cities or Eau Claire. We have easy access to the freeway, located in a beautiful river valley.
I feel the biggest challenge facing Elmwood is attracting new businesses and new residents to our scenic river valley town. And yes, a river runs through it!
What life experiences will you bring to the table?
I have served on the Elmwood Village Board for 10 years. I also served a term on the Pierce County Board of Supervisors. I have been in sales and marketing working with people for over 20 years. I’ve worked with a variety of people over the years, and have learned that I can learn a lot by listening to what people want, and what they are saying. People in Elmwood are saying they like it here, but how can we make it better? I agree and feel the same. I continually ask how can we make it even better?
What sets you apart from your opponents?
Hopefully not too much! Those of us who have served in public office know the old saying “It takes a village to raise a child.” What that means to me is that although we all have our own unique stories of how we came to live here and what we do for our careers, we all need to be an active part in the community and take care of our friends and family to make our community a great place to live. We need to be a cohesive board that can work together and not have personal agendas get in the way.
Patrick Geraets

Patrick Geraets is on the right
Age: 40
Address: 511 S. Main St.
Occupation: Production Coordinator at Big Rivers Resources
Education: Associate’s Degree in Ag Science from CVTC.
Family: Wife, April; three children, two of them attend Elmwood school.
Elmwood Village Board answers:
What makes you qualified to serve on the Elmwood Village Board:
With my current managerial experience, I work hard to empower others to help solve issues and situations as they arise. If elected, I would use my experience to help improve and grow our community.
What will be your top priority if you are elected and why?
Attract new businesses into Elmwood to better serve our community and revitalize the downtown area. Continue to improve our roads and maintenance of the village without raising taxes.
What is another big challenge facing Elmwood and how would you address it?
I’d like to see upgrades to our bowling alley to make it a more family friendly environment so families can enjoy what we have in our own town instead of being forced to go elsewhere. I’d like to implement some type of open gym in the Auditorium where kids can come in and play basketball, bring in a bounce house or different activities geared towards families and bringing the community together. We have such a great asset right here in Elmwood and it’s not being utilized to its full potential.
What sets you apart from your opponents?
Elmwood has always been and will always be a part of who I am. I was raised on our family farm, which has molded me into the person I am today. I’m a husband, father, son, brother, and friend, with good morals and a strong work ethic, and I will use those traits to continue to fight for what I believe in. When I think of Elmwood, I think home. I love and care about our village and school and I want to continue to improve both and leave them better for the next generation.
Elmwood School Board answers:
What makes you qualified to serve on the Elmwood School Board?
With two of my children currently attending Elmwood school, I first and foremost want to advocate for the students and make sure to keep their best interests in mind when making decisions. I want to make a positive impact by being part of the solution to help education grow and continue to be outstanding in Elmwood, while ensuring the safety of all students during their school years.
What will be your top priority if you are elected and why?
Keeping students safe while they attend school is something that is highly important to me. I would research and work with the appropriate people to apply for eligible grants that would allow us to continue to update and improve safety and security throughout the school.
What is another big challenge facing Elmwood Schools and how would you address it?
Education is continuously evolving. I’d like to see the Elmwood School District stay up to date with the changes, while keeping the best interests of the students in mind.
What sets you apart from your opponents?
Elmwood has always been and will always be a part of who I am. I was raised on our family farm, which has molded me into the person I am today. I’m a husband, father, son, brother, and friend, with good morals and a strong work ethic, and I will use those traits to continue to fight for what I believe in. When I think of Elmwood, I think home. I love and care about our village and school and I want to continue to improve both and leave them better for the next generation.
Elmwood School Board
There are four people running for two seats on the board.
Bernie Christman

Bernie Christman
Age: No reply
Address: Elmwood,
Occupation: supervisor/welder at Meyer Steel Structures, Hager City
Education: High school plus one year vocational school
Family: Wife, two sons, two daughters and 10 grandkids
Civic engagement: School Board member for 28 years
What makes you qualified to serve on the Elmwood School Board?
Lifelong resident of Elmwood School District. I care deeply about the education of our students and want to help them prepare to be a success at whatever they choose to do in life.
What will be your top priority if you are elected and why?
Keep improving the education of our students. Our students are the future of this country. They need to have a solid education and they need to be well informed.
What is another big challenge facing Elmwood schools and how would you address it?
Student enrollment. We have stayed fairly level in our student enrollment over the last several years, but we need to keep “selling” our school to draw in more open enrolled students and to have less students open enroll out.
A few things that will help in this is to keep our facilities in top notch shape, have a great staff and most importantly, keep our educational bar very high and become one of the best schools in the state and country.
What life experiences will you bring to the table?
Having graduated from Elmwood myself, my four kids graduated from Elmwood and I have three grandkids going to Elmwood now with one graduating this year. I have seen both sides of educating kids.
What sets you apart from your opponents?
I think all of the candidates running for school board care about what happens to the Elmwood School District. One thing that set me apart from the rest of the candidates is that I have more experience in running the Elmwood School District. I have been on the board for a number of years and I have been here for the good times and the not so good times.
Brooke Glaus

Brooke Glaus
Age: 42
Address: Elmwood
Occupation: Accountant
Education: BS in accounting from University of Wisconsin-River Falls
Family: Husband, Erik; children, Maggie and Lucas
Civic engagement: School Board for nine years
What makes you qualified to serve on the Elmwood School Board?
My background in accounting helps tremendously to understand the ins and outs of budgeting and school finance. I have a supervisory role in my job as an accountant, which gives me insight into managing employees.
I have two children in the district, a vested interest in making sure the kids in Elmwood receive a well-rounded public education.
My prior board experience qualifies me to serve as well. I’ve been on the board for nine years, currently serving as the board president.
What will be your top priority if you are elected and why?
My top priority is to ensure that the children of the Elmwood School District receive a top quality education. It’s always been my priority to make sure that our students have the resources they need to achieve their goals.
What is another big challenge facing Elmwood schools and how would you address it?
One of our biggest challenges in the Elmwood School District would be declining enrollment. The board has supported a virtual charter school, which can service any student, anywhere. The Early Learning Center, housed in the school, services our youngest area children as a day care center, with the hopes that these young learners will be students in our district as well. It’s also important to foster good relationships with our surrounding districts, sharing resources as needed.
What life experiences will you bring to the table?
My financial background is a definite asset to my duties as a board member. I understand the financial statements, budgets and policies. I have experience in human resources, and managing employees. I’m a mother, with children in our district. I see the school from many different angles, which helps me to have an understanding of what we’re trying to accomplish from different points of view.
What sets you apart from your opponents?
My commitment to the kids in Elmwood sets me apart. I’m a mother, taxpayer, and current member of our board. I’ve already made it my priority to be involved in ensuring that our kids receive a quality public education that prepares them for their future.
Andrew Zierl

Andrew Zierl is on the left
Age: 35
Address: Elmwood
Occupation: Self-employed carpenter
Education: BS-construction management minor business University of Wisconsin-Stout
Family: Wife, Ashley, and son, Zakary
What makes you qualified to serve on the Elmwood School Board?
I am both a father to a child attending Elmwood Elementary school and a small-business owner in the community. Being involved is the best way to give back to our school and town.
What will be your top priority if you are elected and why?
My top priority is to ensure all children of the Elmwood School District are always at the forefront of every decision.
What is another big challenge facing Elmwood schools and how would you address it?
Another reason I am running for School Board is to be more informed and a part of the solution if/when challenges arise.
What life experiences will you bring to the table?
I have worked in various fields throughout my schooling and adulthood. I feel I will be an asset to various committees and a strong voice for the tax paying citizens.
What sets you apart from your opponents?
My youth brings a different viewpoint as well as the experience of currently raising a millennial child.