By: Karla Jensen
BD Community Activities and Services – Beaver Dam, WI
Ruth Mack is well known for her red dancing shoes and marvelous moves on the dance floor. Recently, Ruth has stepped into a new pair of shoes, temporarily welcoming a new project. She is the new Community Gifts Division Chairperson for The Watermark campaign. She and her team will welcome the final contacts and connections that will complete the campaign efforts supported by dozens of area businesses and individuals over the last year.
Ruth brings an array of gifts to the campaign of The Watermark. She is one of few women in an industry dominated by men and deals across the country and around the world in scrap metal. “I am the Public Relations Manager for Loeb-Lorman Metals, Inc.,” Ruth says proudly. “I’ve been with them 29 years and they are a major scrap processor with locations in Watertown, Fort Atkinson, and Reedsburg, Wisconsin, and Argo, Indiana.” Ruth buys and sells scrap metal from the public and specific industries.
Ruth is also a pilot. “I hold a single-engine land pilot rating. I am a member of EAA and a past officer,” explains Ruth. “Leaving earth is a passion of mine. Flying an airplane is unlike anything else I have ever done. It’s awesome,” she added.
Her connections to the business community and the general public are numerous; Ruth and her husband Jim are well known for their generosity to this community and others. Many know them from their involvement in Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the Macks were actually some of the first community members at large to donate personally to the Watermark campaign. Chairs John and Marge Haider, along with Friends of the Beaver Dam Community Center, are thrilled that Ruth has become part of the team who seek to wrap up solicitations by the end of March so that ground breaking will occur this spring.
Two vice-chairs and several team captains assist the role of the Community Gifts Chairperson. She and her team continue to rally for the campaign and make face-to face calls with potential donors, discussing details of The Watermark project and sharing the vision for a true community center for all ages. Ruth personally stated how amazed she has been to witness the generosity of our community over the years. “It never ceases to amaze me…the generosity of this community. I am proud to call Beaver Dam home.”
Ruth’s leadership is a natural fit with this community campaign. She admits that she loves to be at the helm of successful projects, service organizations, and in all aspects of life. “I need to fly the plane, drive the car, teach the class, give the blood, run the meeting, dance to the music and cook the meals,” Ruth jokes. She is certain that only a few women could match her dedication to giving blood because she recently reached the milestone of donating pint 146. She has proven her leadership abilities by being an active member of the American Foundry Society on its Board of Directors, along with having served as a past Chamber of Commerce Board Member in Beaver Dam, Sullivan and Juneau. She also participates in the Watertown Chamber and the Fort Atkinson Chamber, and is very active in her home church in Watertown.
Ruth Mack will become a familiar force in the efforts to bring to completion an exciting project that will benefit community members now and generations to come. One of her favorite quotes from Winston Churchill is, “We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.” She is committed and passionate about doing good works in a community that has a reputation for positive collaborations and partnerships. Watch for Ruth around town, cheering at any Badger Football game, or on the dance floor. “My husband – aka Fred Astaire – and I are members of two dance clubs,” said Ruth. “We are in-coming Presidents of the Watertown Dance Club. We don’t sit and watch – we dance,” she added. Exactly why Ruth Mack is the perfect person to assume the Community Gifts Chair of The Watermark capital campaign. She is someone who is full of energy, excited about meeting people face-to-face and confident to engage in the quest to accomplish a grand challenge.
Ruth is also a longtime passionate member of the Beaver Dam AM Kiwanis Club that will be sponsoring The Life & Times of Vince Lombardi A One Man Show starring John Pinero on Sunday January 27th at 2 p.m. in the Beaver Dam High School Auditorium. Reserved seating tickets for $15.00 can be purchased at Rechek’s Food Pride.
