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In this episode of All About the Car, Rob, Bryan, and Bill join Gregg, the director of marketing for the Amherst school system. Recording on location just outside of Amherst, WI, they talk about the newly renovated Heartland Farms Field behind Amherst High School and what it means to the high school, the students, and families in the Amherst area.

In 1855, seven short years after Wisconsin became a state, the first one-room schoolhouses were built across the state. The Amherst area started with the Fleming School and the Pipe School before a third schoolhouse affectionately called Little Red was built across the river at the side of the mill pond. Little Red stood for about 13 years before the two-story White Schoolhouse was built on that plot. When the White Schoolhouse was no longer used, they moved across the river to a larger plot to construct the brick school building in 1892, officially establishing the Tomorrow River School District.

Bill mentions that shows tremendous foresight that the early Amherst residents focused on education – Gregg says that dedication still holds true today with the current population of just over 1,000. Currently, the Tomorrow River School District is composed of the Amherst High School, along with a charter school at the Central Wisconsin Environmental Station by Sunset Lake, run by the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, a Waldorf-affiliated charter school, and a virtual school affiliated with the UWSP charter.
The Tomorrow River School District covers an 8-mile radius from Amherst, as well as some students attending through open enrollment from surrounding counties, including Portage, Waupaca, and Washara counties. Because of open enrollment, the Tomorrow River School District needs to be competitive and offer the best learning opportunities and experiences they can to attract those students.

Apart from the educational resources, a strong attractor is school athletics. Amherst is known for a tradition of athletic excellence, and the newly renovated Hartland Farms Field is a great indicator of their dedication to continue that tradition. Gregg feels that when families are looking for a school district to send their children to, academic performance is of course at the top of the list, but just below that (if not equal to it) would be the type of athletic programs offered. Academics and athletics don’t need to compete, either, as Gregg estimates the average high school student athlete’s GPA is around 3.5.

A strong holistic educational program tends to lead to higher performance in all aspects of school life. Students involved in athletic programs do well in class and faculty sees better overall behavior. It doesn’t even need to be athletics, as this applies to students in all extracurricular activities like band, clubs, or anything else. That’s why the Tomorrow River School District strives to offer as many options as possible for students to get involved in activities that interest them.

Speaking to the athletic program in particular, Gregg mentions that in 2015 Amherst was ranked #3 in the entire nation for athletic excellence among small schools. That football team only lost three games from 2012 - 2015. They were undefeated in 2012, putting Amherst on the national stage. The team featured current NFL players Tyler Biadasz and Garrett Groshek. In interviews, both Tyler and Garrett always mention Amherst, their coaches, and teachers. Rob says Tyler is the reason he watches the Dallas Cowboys!
Future NFL players who cut their teeth in Amherst will be able to enjoy the newly renovated Hartland Farms Field. The project started in 2017 when the school district realized the field was falling behind compared to other schools in their own conference. The old asphalt track was deteriorating, the football field was in bad shape, and they barely had enough bleacher space to accommodate the crowd. After their amazing four-year run from 2012-2015 it was time to capture the energy necessary to get such a massive project underway. The economy was good and Amherst pride was high. In fact, the community was so supportive the project didn’t even have to go to referendum – they would be able to renovate the whole complex. The Falcon Pride project was born to renovate and update Amherst’s athletic facilities.
They started talking to Point of Beginning, a Stevens Point based engineering and landscape architecture firm whose owner Scott Groholski is a graduate from Amherst High School. They donated the initial design and engineering plan for the project, which got the district off to a great start. The next question was how to get a $5.0 million project underway.

In stepped Richard Pavelski of Hartland Farms. When Richard’s grandfather moved to the United States, their family farm was located right outside of Amherst, growing potatoes. With Richard and Hartland Farms on board, they were able to ride that momentum through two years of fundraising. With each new company and donor who joined the project, more and more people got excited to pitch in. Gregg was one of the volunteers on the fundraiser committee, and he says it was a humbling experience to see so many people jump at the chance to help with such a massive project.

They had to raise a ton of money, but it wasn’t just for the football/soccer field. They needed to build a new 8-lane running track. They improved the baseball and softball fields. The whole complex needed to be updated and improved. Now that the project is complete, Amherst has gone from the worst facilities in their conference to the best - possibly even in the whole region. Because if you’re going to do it, do it right!

When Gregg worked for his college paper, interviewing the head football coach at his college, he asked the coach what makes kids want to play for the University of Wisconsin. The coach told him it’s a combination of three things: Facilities, tradition, and the opportunity to play. Amherst now has all three, especially with the Amherst football coach constantly talking to students early in their high school career about trying out for the team. He takes pride in his team and has a good feel not just for who is an excellent football player, but who can become one with the right guidance.

He's not the only one with pride in his team – Hartland Farms Field won the Home Field Pride contest held by WiSports.net. As the newly hired marketing director at the time, Gregg decided he should prove himself before he was traded to a different team, as it were. They had over 1,000 followers on their Falcon Pride Facebook page plus hundreds of donors who contributed to the renovation project. Due to the amazing support of Amherst’s fans and families, they won against 30 other nominees, some from bigger Division 1 schools. It was the same support that helped the entire project charge right into the end zone – and the community has a lot to be proud of.
The turf field was designed to be a multi-use field, able to host football and soccer games – up until this renovation, the Amherst soccer team had to use fields in Stevens Point and surrounding areas. Now they can host soccer games all the up to regionals for boys’ and girls’ soccer. They can practice on the turf field when normal fields are a swampy mess due to Wisconsin’s muddy spring weather. During the average school day there are athletic classes using the field for practice, as well as the color guard, marching band, and anyone else who needs that facility. The turf field will last 10 to 12 years before it needs to be replaced, but in the meantime there’s very little maintenance cost involved compared to a grass field.

Having a state-of-the-art field right in Amherst means more students are willing to sign up for athletics programs since they don’t have to travel to another city to practice and play. There’s been an overall increase in soccer and other sports programs. Due to the smaller enrollment size, there is less competition for athletics and other activities – students are more likely to get field time, a part in the school play, a good debate, or any other opportunity to show off their skill. That makes it more likely they will pursue their interests. That’s what “opportunity to play” really means, and local stars Tyler and Garrett probably appreciated the ability to spend more time on the field preparing for their NFL futures.
Gregg mentions that he used to coach Tyler…in baseball! His son was in the same grade as both Garrett and Tyler, so he got to see firsthand how suited for the rigor and discipline of sports both of them were. No matter the sport – baseball, basketball, football – they were just good at it. In their junior year, they were able to attend football camps to scout out some college options. Tyler visited the Badgers camp and ended up with a scholarship offer and a starting position. Garrett held out for the Badgers as well, trying different positions on the team, and ended up as the starting tailback for the Badgers.

There was never any doubt both of them would be fantastic professional players. Garrett still lives in the area, and during the off season comes back to help the coaching staff with the new players. He’s always talking to the kids and giving them advice – a great way to motivate future pros – right alongside current Head Coach Mark Lusic.
Coach Lusic has been with the Amherst team since around 2009 when he came from Waupaca with the passion needed to shape a solid team. Along with Doug Spadoni, Rudy Pate, and Mike Zblewski, they start with the ground up – weight training being one of the basic building blocks for a successful football player. Mark and Doug are also teachers at Amherst High School.

Right now, Amherst Football has 57 players (out of 350 enrolled students!) which is a testament to the coaching team’s eye for solid players. But a good eye doesn’t work by itself. It takes a whole community and teams of volunteers supporting and participating in the local athletics program to pull a great team together.
Gregg says if you come to one of their Friday night games, you’ll find many people staffing (and in line at) the concession stand, where you’ll find the best hamburgers in the area (Bryan swears by them). There are usually 4-5 people cooking the burgers, but they’re still watching the livestream of the game along with the other half dozen workers serving food. All are volunteers. The Tomorrow River Business Association and local PTO are always willing to help. Gregg says if they need anything, all it takes is a phone call or email and someone will jump in to make it happen.

It’s the community spirit that helped them get the renovation project underway, helped them win the Home Field Pride contest, and inspires young athletes to try out for an amazing team. When the mail campaign for the Falcon Pride project was sent out, the message was clear: Invest in Falcon Pride. And people did. Investing in a local school improves home value, the local community, and the attitude of everyone living there. For Amherst community members and alumni, it was a no-brainer. The Falcon Pride project team kept their supporters in mind, making sure to include thoughtful design choices during the renovation.
For example, the Amherst students have their own bleachers – not a corded-off section of the stands, but their own dedicated set of bleachers right on the end zone called The Nest. The fire department will dedicate a ladder truck to flying the Falcons flag over The Nest during games (ready to leave if there’s a call). At the end of the first quarter, Connie and her concessions team prepare around 20-30 hot dogs, wrap them in foil, and the cheer team throws free hot dogs into the bleachers to feed The Nest. Every Friday game there’s a theme, and all the students show up dressed on-theme. It’s fun for the home team, and a little intimidating for the visitors…which is fine, and all in good fun.
The new Hartland Farms Field is truly a feather in the cap of the whole Amherst community, and Gregg wanted to leave us with the following:
“To the families who are here with kids currently enrolled at Amherst, I would say ‘Thank you.’ And get your kids engaged – I don’t care if it’s being on the football team or trying out for the play. We have fundraisers that are happening at any given time, and we ask, and they help. Setting that aside, take advantage of what we offer here in Amherst! Get your kids as engaged as possible in those activities. It might be Future Business Leaders of America – we have one of the best FBLA programs here at this school. They’re always competing for regional championships, state championships. Kids who are engaged in extracurriculars are that much better equipped for after graduation. They’re going to go into a tech school, the military, a four-year, or directly into a career, so “future-ready” is something we talk about here with students. Trying to build graduate profile, that participation piece is critical. So take advantage of that and engage.” We wish the best to all the Amherst sports teams, students, and all the community members, volunteers, and businesses that pitch in to give Amherst students so many amazing avenues to explore.

Road Trip: Virtual Tour of Covered Bridges
The Red Mill Covered Bridge near Waupaca was made in 1970, one of five authentic covered bridges in Wisconsin. The only historic bridge on that list is the Cedarberg Covered Bridge, built in 1876. So what makes a covered bridge “authentic?” It must feature a lattice type structure making up the side of the bridge, where it’s attached to the structural beams for support to minimize lateral movement, strengthening and supporting the bridge.
Bryan says the first reason for covering a bridge is to keep the snow off the bridge and extend the life of the wood. The second reason from back in the day was to hide the river and valley so cows and horses wouldn’t get spooked when crossing. Bill says that while cars don’t really care about the drop-off, some drivers agree with the horses: nobody wants to see that.
One of the other covered bridges can be found on Rustic Road 105, crossing the Flambeau River in Chequamegon County. Even though it was built in 1991, it is still an authentic covered bridge, with the bonus of calling the gorgeous Rustic Road 105 home.