Dinner & "A Little Golf" Benefits Monroe Clinic Hospice
Local businessman Hans Lenzlinger vital to event's success
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Photo courtesy of Leslie Schmidt
Hans Lenzlinger and former Monroe Clinic Hospice Director Carla Stadel hope that you will come out and support Monroe Clinic Hospice by participating in Dinner and A Little Golf on Tuesday, June 28th. Golf begins at 4:30 p.m. with dinner to follow at 6:30 p.m.
The idea hatched 23 years ago for a fun, summer evening event has grown into a successful fundraiser for a worthy cause.
New Glarus, WI, businessman Hans Lenzlinger recalls how the idea came about. "It was 1992, and I was a member of the Monroe Clinic's Board of Directors. The President at the time, Bill Robichaux, challenged each of us to do something to benefit the hospital."
Lenzlinger, then-owner of a mini-golf course and two restaurants in New Glarus, decided to put the enterprises together, and the event known as Dinner & "A Little Golf" was born. A lively round of mini-golf at Swissland Miniature Golf Course is followed by a gourmet meal at the New Glarus Hotel. The first year, the event raised around $5,000. In 2015, over $50,000 was raised.
The growth of the event has included the addition of both a silent and live auction, many years benefiting from Lenzlinger's ties to the University of Wisconsin athletic department. Past head coaches of both the men's basketball and football teams have attended and donated auction items.
Lenzlinger remembers the year that University of Wisconsin Football Coach, Bret Bielema, donated football tickets to be auctioned off. Two people were bidding furiously on the two available tickets. Bielema agreed to get two more tickets and match the bids if each party agreed on the highest bid of $2,000. This brought the total for tickets to $4,000, and with Bielema's match a total of $8,000 was raised.
Over the years, Lenzlinger and former Monroe Clinic Hospice Director Carla Stadel recall some logistical ups and downs, including the year a storm threatened the outdoor dinner, which was to be held at Chalet Landhaus. "We moved the whole event to the New Glarus Hotel in about two hours," Stadel says.
Two things about the event have remained the same over the years: the New Glarus Hotel and Chalet Landhaus, now owned by Mike and Shawna Nevil and Roland and Megan Furst, have donated both event space and food to benefit the event and all proceeds are used to benefit Monroe Clinic Hospice programs for both patients and families.
This year's event is on Tuesday, June 28, 2016, at Swissland Miniature Golf Course and the New Glarus Hotel in New Glarus. Golf begins at 4:30 p.m., and dinner at 6:30 p.m.
For more information, or to purchase tickets, contact Sue Wegman at (608) 324-1264.
About Monroe Clinic
Monroe Clinic is a not-for-profit, single hospital health system serving communities in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Sponsored by the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes, the system includes a multi-specialty physician practice with 122 employed providers, 12 clinic locations, a 24-hour emergency department, a home care and hospice agency, retail and urgent care clinics, rural residency and fellowship programs, and primary care sites offering preventive, acute and rehabilitative care.
In 2015, Monroe Clinic provided $17.7 million, or approximately 10 percent of total net operating revenue, in unreimbursed services to benefit the communities we serve. Monroe Clinic is a Top 100 Rural & Community Hospital (iVantage 2015), earned five-star patient satisfaction rating (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 2014), and a "Top Performer" (Joint Commission 2013). The hospital building is certified LEED® Silver. For more information about Monroe Clinic, visit http://www.monroeclinic.org.
