The Marathon County Historical Society asked the Economic Development Committee on Oct. 2, 2025, for a one-time county contribution to support America’s 250th-anniversary programming in 2026 and presented three scaled funding approaches ranging from sponsorship-only to a $60,000 county contribution that would support a legacy project.

Blake Opelwahaski, executive director of the historical society, told the committee the society’s goals are to increase countywide engagement, provide digital outreach, create school programming and, with higher funding, produce professional-grade video content, traveling exhibits, teacher materials and public murals. “With $20,000 in county support, we can build a balanced celebration of digital storytelling…engaging public events…and a rotating exhibit in 5 to 7 schools,” Opelwahaski said.

The nut graf: committee members said the project would provide countywide cultural programming and youth education, and they discussed fundraising plans and timing; the society said it would supplement county support with private sponsorships and foundation grants.

Opelwahaski described three approaches included in the packet: a modest, sponsorship-only approach; a $20,000 “balanced” approach that funds rotating school exhibits, small public events and some murals; and a $60,000 “full vision” approach that would fund a professional docuseries, multiple murals, traveling exhibits and teacher materials. He said the society expects private fundraising to match or supplement county contributions ("If you give us $20,000, we'll fundraise an additional $20,000; if you give $60,000, we'll raise about $45,000," he said).

Committee action: Supervisor Feifrick and others said the middle option was attractive given budget constraints. Supervisor Leimer moved to forward the $20,000 scalable approach to HR Finance; Supervisor Hagen seconded. The committee voted unanimously to send the $20,000 option to HR Finance for follow-up and funding-source identification.

Discussion versus decision: the committee made a referral decision rather than committing county funds at the meeting. County staff noted they will evaluate potential funding sources (administrator Lance indicated he would review special-projects and economic-development budget lines and could take a recommendation to HR Finance).

Ending: the committee requested that HR Finance review the funding request and report back; the historical society said a November timeline would still permit planning.