Leaf it to the Badgers
November 02, 2018 | Softball, Badgers Give Back, Varsity Magazine
Badgers helping Badgers on a chilly fall morning
MADISON, Wis. — Every fall, Wisconsinites watch as their tree-lined yards transition from green to red, orange and yellow. It's a beautiful sight, but when those beautiful leaves start to drop they leave behind a lot of work to be done.
Yard work is a major undertaking, especially for senior citizens. Seventy-eight-year-old Badger alum, Steve Underwood, was a co-captain alongside Pat Richter of the 1962 Wisconsin football team.
Underwood had been in contact with the W Club, the Wisconsin Athletics program dedicated to maintaining relationships with Badgers letterwinners, about a task at hand: raking his fall leaves. After word spread that Underwood needed help, Badgers student-athletes and staff rallied the troops.
It was a damp morning on Sunday, Oct. 28, but the attitudes of the student-athletes and staff quickly brightened the day. A group of more than 20 drove out to Verona to get to work. It took the group only an hour and half to clean up Underwood's yard.
"What made me want to help was the idea of giving back to the Badgers community and showing appreciation for a previous Badger," said sophomore swimmer, Kelsi Artim.
"Raking leaves is a small gesture to help out someone who made an impact on Badger Athletics!"
Underwood was grateful the group could come out to help. Having 20 extra pairs of hands made a long, grueling job fast and fun. He was also very excited to meet and chat with the student-athletes as they worked and shared experiences of being Badgers.
Hard work wasn't the only focus that morning, though. The trip presented an opportunity to build generations of the Badgers community.
Freshman softball player, Jolie Fish, summed it up best when she mentioned that it was "a lot of fun being able to give back and meet other student-athletes, former or current."
A morning that started with a yard full of leaves ended with colorful memories. As many say, "Once a Badger, always a Badger."
