Sometimes a ripple isn’t noticed right away but a gentle trickle whose water is felt more nearer the shore. On October 25, 2025, Wendell “Red” Thede, the man who told hunting stories to a young child and planted a seed that grew into a small forest of hunters (and huntresses) completed his journey on Earth and left those who loved him most with memories and a legacy to carry on. My husband, Brythe, grew up listening to hunting stories, looking at pictures, and touching antlers of deer harvested by his “Pa.” His parents purchased hunting land where many of our favorite memories have been made, it really is a slice of Heaven on Earth. Red took my husband to Hunter’s Safety, and made sure Brythe got to hunt every opening weekend as a kid until he was old enough to drive himself up to the land to go hunting. He was there in 1995 when Brythe got his first “big buck” and quite a few of the deer we’ve gotten since. Red never hunted that my husband got to be a part of but he planted the seed none-the-less. From there Brythe got me more into hunting when we were dating. He introduced it to our son, Zach, who introduced it to his wife, Jodi, while they were dating. Some of our favorite family traditions revolve around hunting- from the Friday fish fry the night before gun hunting, to Thanksgiving dinner cooked in crockpots and Nescos so we can all enjoy some time in the deer stand before dark-thirty and still enjoy a nice hot traditional dinner(including a turkey harvested during hunting season), to the ”original 4- wheeler” a 1955 Farmall 300 helping to drag out the big buck, a New Year’s Eve party at the cabin with surf and venison turf on the grill and the better half of a million memories of a life well lived and time well spent. I bet he had no idea how much of an impacted he started with what was probably just little conversations between a father and his young child touching the lives of many more people for years and possibly generations to come. My challenge to each of you.. tell the stories, show the pictures, share the jerky, have the conversations… your ripple is being made even if you aren’t watching the water.
Expo season is almost here and it is another of my favorite traditions. Our third date was to the hunting show in Green Bay in 2000, before I knew what SCI was. We’ve gone every year since and started attending the SCI banquets shortly after. The amount of friends we’ve made and things we’ve learned attending those shows and banquets. Funny story, one of the first SCI events we went to was at Lambeau and this guy named Boddington was doing a presentation on “buffalo” and naïve me thought it was on American bison.. it wasn’t. I have learned so much in the past 25 years!
The Wisconsin Hunting and Fishing Expo (February 27, 28, and March 1, 2026) is a great outing for the entire family! There is always a variety of venders, literally something for everyone (including the kiddos!) Our SCI banquet and fundraiser will again be held at Stadium View on Saturday, February 28, 2026. Tickets are ready, for more information or to purchase yours please call Zach Thede (our chapter’s treasurer) at 920-659-0868. We would love to have you join us! There will be a live auction, silent actions, raffles, raffles, and more raffles!! Mary Reetz, Kevin Ott, Sami LaCourt Marty LaCourt, Cal Ort, and Mark Snyder always have the auctions set up with sweet finds and awesome adventures! Tommy Kiel does an amazing job getting a good variety of things that go “Bang” (and their accessories!) Zach and Jodi Thede, Betsy Harrison, Mark Schultz, and Bobbie Windus do a ton of stuff behind the scenes to keep things flowing smoothly! And of course, we would be lost without Mark Jablonic helping to keep things going and encouraging us to up our bids!! Please visit NEWISCI.org for the most up to date information on our chapter, including our live auction items. As always please free to reach out with any questions or concerns that I can help you with (920)450-0765. I look forward to seeing you at the SCI booth at EXPO and at the banquet in a few short weeks!!
