By Katherine MichaletsFreeman Staff

CITY OF PEWAUKEE — Entering the gym in the Wisconsin MetalParts warehouse on a Wednesday, the mood is light as people of vary-ing ages pedal an exercise bike or move in a steady rhythm on an

elliptical machine. They also have a variety of physical capabilities — some are in

wheelchairs and others are able to spend 30 minutes walking quickly on atreadmill. Moving from station to station with motivational words, a smileand a helping hand is Dan Erschen, who has overcome significant physi-cal challenges due to multiple sclerosis, and in turn, has opened up hiscompany’s gym to others struggling with the same condition.

He insists it is these people dealing with MS who motivate him, but theyin turn credit Erschen with an improvement in their physical and emo-tional health.

“We are all being called together for a reason bigger than our vision andI don’t want to be a limitation for what that vision can be,” Erschen, 55,said. “We all know we’re being called together for a reason that is biggerthan our vision.”

It is his generous giving of his time, emotional and physical support andresources without expecting anything in return while still daily address-ing his own health concerns and running a growing company that earnedDan Erschen recognition as the 2016 Freeman Citizen of the Year.

“Blithe Spirit,” 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. today, 2p.m. Sunday, Waukesha Civic Theatre, 264W. Main St., Waukesha. 262-547-0708,www.waukeshacivictheatre.org

“It Might as Well be Swing,” 8 p.m. today, 3p.m. Sunday, Sunset Playhouse, 800 ElmGrove Road, Elm Grove. 262-782-4430,www.sunsetplayhouse.com

Waukesha Rotary Pancake Breakfast, 7:30a.m. to 1:30 p.m. today, Waukesha CountyExpo Center Arena, 1000 Northview Road,Waukesha. $5 in advance, $8 at the door.Kids 5 and under eat free. Fundraiser for the

Waukesha Rotary Club.www.waukesharotary.org

Prairieville Desperados, 1 p.m. today, WernValley Sportsmen Club, S36-W29657 WernWay, Town of Waukesha. Give Cowboy FastDraw shooting a try. Everything supplied.

Spring Treasures Craft and Art Show, 10a.m. to 4 p.m. today, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sun-day, Waukesha County Expo Center Forum,1000 Northview Road, Waukesha. $3 admis-sion, free for children 15 and younger. $1coupon on website.www.craftproductionsinc.com

Back to Bach, 3 p.m. Sunday, Sharon Lynne Wil-son Center for the Arts, 19805 W. Capitol Drive,Brookfield. Wisconsin Philharmonic concert fea-turing Frank Almond on violin. 262-547-1858 or atthe office, 234 W. Main St. No. 9, Waukesha.

Coin show, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, OshkoshConvention Center, 2 N. Main St., Oshkosh. Noadmission fee. Held by Wisconsin Coin ExposLLC. 70 tables of dealers from across Midwest.

Oconomowoc Winter Farmers Market, 9:30a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Oconomowoc HighSchool cafeteria, 641 E. Forest St.,Oconomowoc.

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WEEKEND EDITIONWEEKEND EDITION

Waukesha County’s Daily Newspaper

$1

SATURDAYFebruary 18, 2017

The FREEMAN

ADVERTISEMENT

See ERSCHEN, PAGE 4A

CITIZENYEAR

CITIZENYEAR

of the

The FREEMAN’S 2016

Dan Erschen

Julie McIntyre

2005

Past Freeman Citizens of the Year

Betsy Forrest

2006

Jay Walt

2007

Brian Dorow

2008

Rick Kobriger

2009

Mary Baer

2010

Cheryl Gemignani

2011

Nancy Major

2012

Larry Nines

2013

DianeMcGeen

2014

MiriamWellford

2015

TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREEMAN, call 262-542-2500 or go online at: gmtoday.com/subscribe

City of Pewaukee manufacturervalues employees, family and

friends and approaches life in ahumble, selfless manner

Submitted photo

Dan Erschen at the Bike MS ride of 2016. Through a healthier lifestyle andexercise Erschen has been able to go from barely able to walk due to hisMS symptoms to completing Ironman triathlons.

From the pen of Dan Erschen:“You certainly do not have to do an Ironman to make your life better ... pickyour own journey. I’m so thankful I was able to do this and I hope you pick aworthwhile journey of your own. Anything is possible!If I were to give you a few suggestions, my suggestions would be very simple.

Have faith, know that God loves you, is with you and has a plan for you.Open your mind and heart and allow Him to work with you.

Pick a part of your life that you would like to improve upon and commit toimproving it (I would highly recommend to at least consider exercise ... it gaveme my life back).

Ask for help ... when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. You don’thave to do it alone.

Be consistent. Work on it every single day with actions ... not just intentions.Be patient.Enjoy the journey ... it will be worthwhile.Love and show appreciation for those who help you along the way.Love and help as many people as you can along the way.”

Uses health lessons learned to help others with MS

Value of booksdepends on condition

BARBARA EASH ON ANTIQUES

By Lauren Anderson Freeman Staff

WAUKESHA — Voters inmunicipalities across Wauke-sha County will decide the can-didates for several races in nextweek’s primary election.

The primary will be heldTuesday. Information regard-ing polling places is available atmyvote.wi.gov.

The race for state superinten-dent includes three candidates.Tony Evers, the current Wis-consin Department of PublicInstruction chief, faces twochallengers: John Humphries,a Dodgeville School Districtcontractor, and Lowell Holtz, aretired superintendent in theBeloit and Whitnall school dis-tricts.

Contested races in WaukeshaCounty include:

Village President, Lannon Current Village President

David Nagler faces two chal-lengers, Jerry Newman andTom Gadex. Voters will beasked to cast one vote for a can-didate.

Village Trustee, Pewaukee Seven candidates have

thrown their hats in the ring forvillage trustee in Pewaukee.They include incumbents PaulEvert and Cathy Baumann, andEdmund Hill, Carole Stramm,Bob Rohde, Meaghan McBrideHayes and Colleen Clancy. Vot-ers will be asked to cast votesfor three candidates.

Elmbrook School Board Three are running for the

Elmbrook School Board’s AreaIII seat. They include newcom-ers Jimmy Schulgit, Jian Sunand Leanne Wied. The top twovote-getters from that electionwill advance to the April 4 elec-tion.

Mukwonago School Board Four will vie for the Central

Region seat on the MukwonagoSchool Board. Candidatesinclude Laura Prokop, CharlesHarwood, Jill Werner and Dou-glas Schmidbauer. The primarywill whittle the pool down totwo candidates.

Oconomowoc School Board In the Oconomowoc Area

School District, six hopefuls arerunning for the two SchoolBoard seats up for election inApril. The candidates includeincumbents Mike Bickler andSandy Schick and challengersGlenn Cochrane, Samuel Levin,Dan Raasch and James Wood.The top two vote-getters willadvance to the general election.

Email: landerson@conleynet.com

State DPIrace, other primaries

on Tuesday ballot

Page 9B

ErschenFrom Page 1A

A difficult diagnosisWhen Erschen was 29

years old, his first majorhealth crisis occurred onApril 4, 1990, when his handsfell asleep and within threedays he was not able to walk,nor did he have enoughstrength and coordination tolift a fork in order to feedhimself. Doctors diagnosedErschen with Guillain-Barre syndrome, which hasMS-like symptoms, butwhich comes on faster. Atthat time, Erschen was hos-pitalized for three weeks andspent three months in physi-cal and occupational thera-py. After that period,Erschen was able to buttonhis shirt and tie hisshoelaces once again, butthe next year was difficultand it took about thatamount of time untilErschen was able to walknormally again.

Then, his second majorcrisis occurred whenErschen was 39 years old inSeptember 2009 while hewas at a family wedding.While this bout causedErschen to spend only aweek in the hospital, he wasbarely able to walk for 1 1/2years. The diagnosis thistime was MS.

Erschen will always havesymptoms, but his dailyhealth has improved so thathe is able to run his compa-ny and work out regularlythanks to his Copaxone med-ication, healthy diet andphysical routine.

He, in turn, has run fourIronman triathlons, three ofwhich he completed. AnIronman triathlon consistsof a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and amarathon 26.22-mile run.

But getting in shape to runan Ironman triathlon start-ed with small steps. On thefirst day, Jan. 1, 2002,Erschen said he stretchedand used the elliptical train-er because he had to usesomething he could hold onto because he could hardlywalk. His time in the gymlasted only a handful of min-utes.

“After that first five min-utes on the elliptical, the tin-gling sensations and weak-ness from the MS symptomswere so bad that I was wipedout for the rest of the day,”Erschen wrote about hisjourney.

Helping others with MSAfter assisting others with

MS participate in a triathlon

at Westwood Health and Fit-ness in Waukesha, Erschenrealized that they now hadnowhere to go for the sametype of camaraderie andacceptance. So he opened upthe gym he established at hisgrowing company, Wiscon-sin Metal Parts, to a few peo-ple he had met with MS.

“Everyone was excitedand making progress andthen there was no place forthem to go,” Erschen said.

The number of people whocame to the gym with MScontinued to increase asnews of the facility spreadby word of mouth. Andalong with it, the number ofpieces of equipment. Thegym now welcomes about 50people with MS.

“People come all the wayfrom China to be here,”Erschen said. That is not anexaggeration. One partici-pant was diagnosed with MSwhile living in China andreturned to the U.S. andjoined Erschen’s gym.

In a matter of days, a dif-ference can be observed inthe people who use the gym.

“The community part of itis so powerful,” Erschen

said. Todd Siewert, who nomi-

nated Erschen for FreemanCitizen of the Year, canattest to that. He has beencoming to the gym almostsince it opened.

“I can only imagine whatit would be like if I had notfound this place,” Siewertsaid. “It has just been atransformation.”

Siewert was diagnosedwith MS more than 20 yearsago when he was in his 30s.By going to the gym andpushing himself to over-come obstacles, Siewert saidhe became healthier.

“Once you start buildingup endurance, you can startgetting past enduranceissues,” he said.

Last year, Siewert partici-pated in the Bike MS, a ridefrom Pewaukee to Whitewa-ter to Madison.

This year, Erschen hopesto have his group, the PeppyPedalers, have the mostmembers with MS of anyregistered group.

Erschen said there arefour key factors to success-fully dealing with MS: nutri-tion, exercise, proper rest,and a need of a community.Working with a doctor andfinding a medication thatworks is also important, hesaid.

It’s been four years sinceErschen opened up his gymto others with MS and hefeels the results have beenastounding.

“It’s probably the mostpowerful thing in my life,”he said.

‘A place of miracles’Often when people first

arrive at Wisconsin MetalParts to use the gym,Erschen said they are deal-ing with depression andhave not been physicallyactive in some time.

“The big thing is to keepthem moving,” he said.Without that, atrophy setsin. “What we’ve reallylearned through the yearswith exercise is there’snothing you can do to makeyour MS worse.”

The gym is described as a“no whine zone.”

“Everyone here has someform of it and everyoneunderstands what’s goingon,” Siewert said. “It’s reallyturned their lives around.”

Chrissy Aukofer, who trav-els to the gym from the Townof Ottawa, said she is grate-ful.

“We always thank him forthis place and he’s like, ‘I amjust happy you came here,’”she said.

Carol Murdock of Pewau-kee describes the gym as“the best place on Earth. It’sa place of miracles.”

When she first startedcoming about two years ago,she said she fell off the fullbody machine, but nowthere is nothing she can’tdo.

“He really encourages usto do things we think wecan’t do,” Murdock said ofErschen.

Chris Wegner of Green-dale said she has never meta “more giving person” than

Dan who helps his employ-ees, his family and everyoneelse.

One person who attendsErschen’s gym wasn’t ableto feed herself and waswheelchair-bound when shefirst arrived. But, afterspending time at the gym,she is now able to feed her-self and walk with someassistance.

Brett Gawlick is stillstruggling with his MSdiagnosis, which came Dec.23, 2014. At the time of hisdiagnosis, Gawlick said hisneurologist told him not towork out, so he didn’t for ayear, which was miserablefor him as a person wholoved to exercise.

>> Continued on next page

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DanErschenreceives ahug fromChrissyAukofer during the2015 Christmasparty.

Submitted photo

Submitted photo

John Plumitis, Lynn Groth and Dan Erschen share a laugh during the indoor triathlon.

Submitted photo

Dan Erschen with his wife, Bonnie.

‘The community part of it is so powerful’

From Page 4A

Although he recently hada bad three-month boutwith MS, Gawlick was backat the gym recently workingout and helping others.

“It’s a pretty amazingplace under a metal roof,”he said. “I respect Dan somuch for all that he isdoing.”

Creating a businessErschen started what was

to become Wisconsin MetalParts in 1988 because he andhis wife, Bonnie, were nothaving a good time with daycare for their daughterSamantha. Dan stayedhome with Samantha forthe first 1 1/2 years andstarted the business out oftheir basement designingdies and then Bonnie stayedhome after the business wasmoved out of the basementin 1990.

The main operations arestill located at N4-W22450Bluemound Road, but sinceit was founded, it hasexpanded into two otherbuildings nearby. And now,Erschen said WisconsinMetal Parts is growing outof the third.

He credits the company’sgrowth to investing innewer technology, whichallows him to tap intoanother market. Recently, aspin-off start-up calledLean Manufacturing Prod-ucts, Inc. was started thatoffers period solutions foreliminating wasted timeand space while increasingflow by utilizing verticalspace efficiently. It is head-ed by his son, Jacob.

Erschen said he operatesWisconsin Metal Partsthrough a servant leader-ship model that results inempowering people, focuseson the development ofemployees and encouragesthem to perform as highlyas possible. The companyemploys about 100 workers.

“We are building the nextgeneration to be strongerthan this generation,”Erschen said.

To encourage the nextgeneration to go into manu-facturing, Erschen serveson an advisory committeefor tool and die at WaukeshaCounty Technical Collegeand brings in students toWisconsin Metal Parts toexpose them to a career inmanufacturing.

Joe Pease, general manag-er of Wisconsin MetalParts, has known Dan forabout 30 years after meetingat their place of work. Hesaid even though they grewup in different parts of thestate, the two men had simi-lar interests and formed afriendship that took themhunting, fishing and berrypicking.

When Erschen left to starthis own company, the menstayed in contact and about16 years ago, Pease movedover to Wisconsin MetalParts to help Erschen runthe operation.

“His MS is not business-friendly when it getsstressed, that sort of thing,”Pease said. “I took on thecustomers. I took on theproblem-solving, complaintdepartment.”

The two men continued tospend a lot of time togetherdriving to meet with cus-tomers and problem-solv-ing.

“Dan has always been apeople-driven person,”Pease said, adding that afterhis MS diagnosis that traitwas even more visible.

As the business continuedto do better, Pease saidErschen was able to help hisemployees more by forminga bonus program. It’s alsoan open-book managementcompany so the employeeshave access to its financialnumbers.

“Dan allows people togrow inside the company asmuch as they want to,”Pease said.

He even helps them seekother opportunities,whether through educationor with other employers.

“They can go pursueother opportunities. Welooked at (one employee’s)résumé, we helped him.Never once did it get nega-tive. It’s like your family.Treating your family likeyou would your children.It’s like I have 100 children,some of them are older thanme,” Pease said.

While Erschen could easi-ly make other choices,Pease said he is “driven tohelp humanity in some way,shape or form.”

“He’s driven to help peo-ple that want the help. Hedoesn’t force anybody. Hedoesn’t stand in front ofyou,” Pease said. “He isthere to support them ifthey need it. He does reachout there, there is no doubt

about it. If they reach out tohim there is nothing heldback.”

That even extends to tak-ing employees with alcoholaddictions to meetings andthen sitting there with themso they are comfortable.

“He will provide theresource, but you will haveto at least step through thedoor,” Pease said.

Family mattersErschen met his wife of 32

years at a Pewaukee laun-dromat where she wasworking and he came in todo his laundry. He said hepretended like he was“dumber than a box ofrocks” about doing his laun-dry and she’s helped himever since — and “with somuch more than laundry.”

He later returned to thelaundromat and asked a co-worker for Bonnie’s num-ber. Bonnie said she hadbeen hoping he would comeback because he was such anice guy.

The City of Pewaukeecouple eventually welcomeda son and a daughter, whoare now grown. DaughterSamantha even married oneof Dan’s friends and a vol-unteer at the gym, JakeThurner.

“He is the most loving andgiving and understandingand I always say the bestguy in the whole wideworld. I couldn’t ask for abetter husband,” BonnieErschen said.

They like to go hikingwith their Weimaraner,Daisy May, bike riding andtravel.

“We like to travel, but sit-uations kind of limit us togoing other places becauseof people we take care of.We just like to spend timetogether; it doesn’t matterwhat we are doing,” shesaid.

As his parents, John andJanet, get older, Erschentries to help them still enjoytheir hobbies and will begoing with his dad to Bran-son, Mo., for fishing soon.

Family has always beenimportant for Erschen, whogrew up as one of eight kidsin Hazel Green on thesouthwest side of the state.Growing up, he said hespent much of his time out-side playing, hunting andfishing. He also was athleticand competed in cross coun-try, finishing ninth in thestate one year. It wasthrough high school crosscountry that Erschen saidhe learned how important

community was, a resourcehe later fell back on whenhe was diagnosed with MS.

Bonnie Erschen remem-bers the fear the couple feltwhen Dan was first diag-nosed and their daughterwas 18 months old. Therewas a time when they wor-ried they would not be ableto have a second child.

“Once he changed his dietand started leading ahealthier life a lot of thosefears lifted,” she said.“There is still a fear of if Iam going to be in awheelchair.”

The MS has limited thefamily’s life in severalways, including that theydon’t go out much at nightanymore, which is when theMS often acts up. Bonniesaid Dan also has a tenden-cy to push himself so as notto hold anyone back.

“When he gets out of thecar and he can hardly walkback into the house is heart-breaking for me to see himlike that,” she said. “He hasnever been a selfish guy.Even through this MS story,he always put others first.”

That’s also reflected in hiscompany ownership. Bon-nie Erschen said one yearthe couple took money outof their savings account,

which was already fairlydepleted, so they could buythe employees somethingfor Christmas. Or if Danpasses someone whose caris in the ditch, he’ll be thefirst to stop to help pullthem out.

“I am just trying to helpother people. It’s kind of aself-centered world. If itcould be more of a selflessworld, it would be a betterplace,” he said.

Jake Thurner started outas a friend and is now a fam-ily member. He developed afriendship with Dan whileparticipating in a runninggroup at Westwood Healthand Fitness. There, Thurn-er said Dan took him underhis wing and showed himhow to ride a road bike andgot him into triathlons. Hethen helped Erschen openup his shop gym to peoplewith MS and later wasintroduced to Dan’s daugh-ter, Samantha. The couplehas been married for a littlemore than nine months.

“He’s always there to giveadvice and to help out. He

has a unique perspective onlife, very positive and very,very willing to help people,”Thurner said. “He has a bigheart for helping people. Heis very supportive of hisfriends and family.”

Thurner said his positivenature is contagious.

“Some people that comeinto the gym, you can tellthat they are a little down.Dan doesn’t give them anyslack whatsoever. He putsthem to work and does it ina cheerful way. After a fewminutes people start tolaugh and have fun,”Thurner said, adding Dandoes “talk the talk and walkthe walk.”

“He is a really, really goodfriend. And now he’s myfather-in-law and he’s anamazing father-in-law,”Thurner said. “He has a bigheart for the MS communi-ty and helping people ingeneral. He’s a great rolemodel and a great exampleof what a person can be.”

Email:kmichalets@conleynet.com

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2017 • THE FREEMAN • 5AGMTODAY.COM CITIZEN OF THE YEAR

WNAXLP

LOCATION AND HOURS OF POLLING PLACEAt the Spring Primary Election to be held on February 21, 2017, in the Town of Brookfield,

the following polling place locations will be used for the wards indicated:

Location Wards

Town Hall Wards 1, 3, 4, 9 & 10 645 N. Janacek RoadBrookfield, WI

St. John's Lutheran Church Wards 2, 5, 6, 7 & 820275 Davidson RoadBrookfield, WI

WNAXLP

ALL POLLING PLACES WILL OPEN AT 7:00 A.M. AND WILL CLOSE AT 8:00 P.M.

All polling places are accessible to elderly and disabled voters.

If you have any questions concerning your polling place, contact the municipal clerk.

Jane F. Carlson645 N. Janacek RoadBrookfield, WI 53045

262-796-3788Monday thru Friday

8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

‘We are building the next generation to be stronger than this generation’

Submitted photo

Wisconsin Metal Parts employees saying “We are here for you!”

Submitted photo

Dan Erschen’s family with his dad, John, during his 80th birthday party on Feb.4, 2017. Pictured from left to right are: back row, Jake Thurner, SamanthaErschen–Thurner; and front row, Jacob Erschen, John Erschen, BonnieErschen and Dan Erschen.

Submitted photo

Dan Erschen at the MS Bike Ride of 2016.