Ice fishing contest on Wissota to benefit UCP

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By ROD STETZER / The Chippewa Herald
Friday, February 8, 2008 8:04 AM CST

Ruth Gullerud has been to Europe at least three times and is proud to say she’s also visited Alaska.

It’s a good thing, too. As executive director of United Cerebral Palsy of West Central Wisconsin, she’s hoping people take part in the first Wissota Winter Classic ice fishing contest at The View on Lake Wissota from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday.

Over $3,000 in prizes are available for anglers who pay $15 per hole on lake ice.

And with a predicted high of 13 for Saturday, having experienced the chill of Alaska might help Gullerud feel warm.

Gullerud, 60, has had cerebral palsy all of her life.

Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that affects muscle movement. It pops up in early infancy or early childhood.

There’s no cure, but many people with cerebral palsy can lead nearly normal lives as adults, provided they can properly manage the disorder.

That was a lot harder to do when Gullerud was growing up as a girl with eight siblings in Mankato, Minn.

“When I grew up, there were not as many support systems for families with disabled children. They just weren’t there,” said Gullerud, who gets around using a wheelchair.

“I decided I wanted to do something about it.”

So she went on to get her bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and her master’s in guidance counseling at UW-Stout in Menomonie.

She began getting involved with UCP and served as the president of the local UCP board for years.

The local UCP chapter had only two employees when Gullerud started working as executive director in 1984. Now the Eau Claire-based agency has 12 employees and helps 650 families every year.

Gullerud said the agency also serves people with autism. She said about 55 percent of the people the agency serves have cerebral palsy and the rest have other conditions, such as autism.

The toughest time for people with cerebral palsy is when they move from school to the community to find their niche, Gullerud said. She believes that more employers and organizations need to include people with disabilities.

“I hope in the next few decades we will see that improve,” she said.

Saturday’s ice fishing tournament is aiming in helping UCP grow, although the agency isn’t directly sponsoring it.

The event is the first to be sponsored by the Friends of United Cerebral Palsy West Central Wisconsin Foundation, Inc.

“We’re hoping we can add programs as we add resources,” Gullerud said.

So far, the tournament idea has been warmly received.

“The Chippewa Falls community has amazed me,” she said, adding that UCP is a partner agency of the United Way of Chippewa County.

For Saturday’s event, Gordy Schafer of Gordy’s County Market and Jake Leinenkugel of Leinenkugel’s Brewery have signed on as honorary co-chairmen.

St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls and Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire are two of many sponsors of the tournament, which was proposed by Reba Sheridan, a former manager of The View on Lake Wissota.

Registration is from 6:30-8 a.m., and a continental breakfast menu will be available on site. Food will also be sold at the event.

Raffle tickets will also be sold to win a 16-foot Lund boat, four-stroke Mercury motor and trailer. And entertainer Larry Heagle will also be on hand and a heated tent will keep people toasty between fish bites.

What’s billed as an “Ice Jam” will start at 11 a.m. on Small Lake Wissota. Music will be provided by Heagle, Mike Mareksh, Dokter DJ and Boogie Junction.

The jam is sponsored by the town of LaFayette, the Lake Wissota Lions, Lake Wissota Fishing League, Cadott Bakery and Catering, Chippewa Fire District, J. Theisen Realtors, Brown Builders, United Way and Saturn Hummer of Eau Claire.

Reach Rod Stetzer at rod.stetzer@lee.net.