Mary Monroe Brown

Director of the Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation

An outdoor industry executive, Mary Monroe Brown has built her life and career upon her passion for being outdoors, and connecting communities, businesses and nonprofits to make a difference.

Her work experience ranges from leading effective marketing and public relations teams for a major bicycle manufacturer, to fundraising and marketing for nonprofits, and owner of Bluebird Consulting specializing in the outdoor industry.

As Director of the Wisconsin Office of Outdoor recreation, Brown connects the dots in communities around health, economic development and inclusion.

Todd Poquette

906 Adventure Team

Hailing from Marquette Michigan, Todd Poquette is the founder of the 501(c)(3) Non-Profit 906 Adventure Team. Their mission is to empower people to discover the best version of themselves through outdoor adventure. 906AT supports nine youth Adventure Teams for boys and girls ages 5-17 in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio.

In 2022 their youth resilience programs reached more than 700 youth and trained 300+ volunteers to help youth develop a growth mindset, build confidence, and overcome obstacles by learning to embrace a “doing hard things.” Poquette also directs the Triple Crown Endurance Series (Polar Roll, The Crusher, Marji Gesick). He has become infamous for his ability to help people “find their limits”.

Josh Pedersen

Eau Claire County Parks Director

Josh has served as the Parks and Forest Director for Eau Claire County for the past ten years. During this time, he has established multiple partnerships across a wide array of special interest groups. Under his leadership, record park usage rates have been recorded and significant capital improvements have been implemented at all county parks.

Prior to working for ECCO, Josh served as County Forest Administrator in Clark County as well as Parks and Recreation Director for the City of Washington, MO. With a diverse background that includes park and trail design, programming, grant writing, planning and operations management, Pedersen has worked with countless community and civic groups over his 18+ years as a director. Josh lives in rural Fall Creek with his wife and son. When not working, he enjoys time in the outdoors fishing, hiking, biking, and the occasional round of golf.

Andrew Johnson

Chippewa Valley Nordic

Andrew is stepping into his 4th year as the Head Coach of Chippewa Valley Nordic. CVN is a cross country ski racing team for 5th -12th graders. We have 65 skiers from 11 different schools in the area. As a club we have built an outstanding community through the lens of ski racing. We work with our skiers to build the fundamentals of ski racing. As skiers progress they have the opportunity to race in higher stakes events. We have had a tremendous amount of competitive success including All-American performances, Conference and State Championships - but we will always hang our hat on the positive community that we build. Our team is an excellent opportunity to make friends, build fitness, and spend time outside in the winter regardless of our athletes competitive aspirations!

Jereme Rauckman

Eau Claire Youth Cycling

Jereme has served and volunteered in the Chippewa Valley trails community for 15 years, previously as a CORBA officer, founder of the Powder Keg winter races, local director of the US Snowshoe Championships, and a twice-certified trail crew leader. Now, he helps lead local nonprofit Eau Claire Youth Cycling Inc and is part of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Cycling League's core race staff. As a coach and team director with Eau Claire Youth Cycling, Jereme's goal is to help the program's student athletes discover their niche in the sport of mountain biking and to connect more kids in general with the trails community.

Christian Peterson

OutdoorMore, Inc/Pinehurst Park

Christian Peterson is a man with a passion for action sports that knows no bounds. With a heart that beats for adventure and a desire to share his experiences with others, Christian wields significant influence within the community of outdoor enthusiasts. As the founder of OutdoorMore, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit organization, Christian Peterson has embarked on a remarkable mission. His vision is to transform Pinehurst Park, once an underutilized city park, into an action sports oasis. Through OutdoorMore, Christian aims to provide a space where individuals of all ages can come together to experience the thrill of action sports, connect with nature, and build a sense of community. His commitment to this cause is fueled by a desire to give back to the community and provide opportunities for people to embrace the great outdoors.

Disa Wahlstrand

Ski Striders

Disa is vice president at Ayres, a firm founded in Eau Claire that provides engineering, architecture, planning, environmental and mapping services nationwide. In her first days at Ayres more than 28 years ago, her then vice president and the company’s president both insisted that skiing the Birkie was in her job description. The next winter she bought her first skate skis, took a few adult ski lessons, joined the Ski Striders, and helped coach Kickin Kids. The ensuing winters have been filled with snow fun with her Ski Strider, Kickin Kids, and Chippewa Valley Nordic community (and eventually the completion of her first Birkie)!

The Eau Claire Ski Striders have been the driving force promoting cross-country skiing and trail development in the Chippewa Valley and beyond for nearly 50 years. The Ski Strider community has raised over $275,000 (working toward $200,000 more for a new groomer) and provided thousands of volunteer hours resulting in projects that have continuously improved and expanded trails, facilities, education, promotion, and events in support of cross-country skiing.

Heather Mishefske

Ski Striders

Heather Mishefske is a Canine Behavior Consultant the owner of emBARK, a dog training facility here in Eau Claire. While her love of dogs comes first in life, her second love is the variety of offerings the Chippewa Valley has for outdoor recreation. Cross Country skiing, hiking, mountain biking, birding, back country skiing, skijoring, road cycling, foraging or just aimlessly wandering thru the forest, you will find her there. Building a love of all things outdoors is important for all members of our community. Creating and supporting spaces in our area builds hobbies and adventures for a lifetime, which in turn creates people that utilize and fund these spaces.

Jon Olstadt

CORBA

Jon Olstadt is an avid mountain biker with a deep-rooted passion for navigating challenging terrain, cultivating the adventure mindset, creating community, mentoring budding riders, and producing thrilling biking events. As Vice President of CORBA, Board Member and Coach for 906 Adventure Team, and past board member and coach for Eau Claire Youth Cycling, Jon’s contributions to the Chippewa Valley mountain biking community has resulted in two thriving youth biking programs along with a revitalization and expansion of CORBA’s mission of trails for all along with fun events like CORBA’s Coon Fork 40. Jon’s love of service to biking and all things outdoors is fueled by a personal wellness journey and driven by a belief in the power of shared community vision and collaboration to affect change right here in the Chippewa Valley. He aims to inspire all of us to get involved, make a difference, and explore the beauty of the great outdoors.

Kate Felton

Bike Chippewa Valley

Kate Felton is the owner of Eau Claire Outdoors and a board member for Bike Chippewa Valley. Bike Chippewa Valley seeks to build and promote a culture of bicycling in the Chippewa Valley for recreationalist and commuters by creating resources like the Chippewa Valley Bike Map, advocating for policies and funding that support bicycle infrastructure, and bringing bicyclists together in our region to build community with each other. Kate loves to road bike and also enjoys other outdoor activities on our trails like hiking, backpacking and cross country skiing.

Nick Meyer

Volume One / CORBA / Visit Eau Claire

Nick is the owner and creative director of Volume One – a community publication, event creation, and video production company in Eau Claire. Volume One’s downtown headquarters also plays host to The Local Store (a retail and event space), the Eau Claire E-Bike outfitter, and the Chippewa River Trolley Co, operating historical and modern-day community tours. Nick is also a co-founder of The Oxbow Hotel, a boutique hotel with a craft cocktail and music venue called The Lakely. He’s played roles on several local and statewide boards working in the arts, economic development, and tourism. He currently serves on the board of directors for Visit Eau Claire, and CORBA, the leading outdoor trails group for a four-county region. He lives on Eau Claire’s south side with his wife Sally and three sons. He’s an active road, gravel, mountain, and fat bike rider, and he’s still trying to figure out skate skis.

Jordan Duroe

Converge Radio

Jordan is the host of Farewell Transmission Radio, a weekly alt-country & indie folk show airing Monday nights from 5-6pm on Converge Media 101.9 FM. He’ll be spinning a “campfire mix” of tunes fit for a night in the woods with friends — a blend of classic country and folk, with a dash of modern Americana/indie in the mix.

Jerry Andrews

We’ve got a classic and fun live auction in store with some of the best items from the event, so we got the best auctioneer in the business from our area to do it up right! As a knowledgable and trusted auctioneer for 30 years, Jerry typically auctions off anything from equipment to cattle to antiques to real estate. But for this night he’ll be auctioning off some amazing sporting goods and experiences including bikes, boats, vacations, and more!