An editorial from the Feb. 21 Tomahawk Leader

The official announcement came as part of last week’s Tomahawk School Board meeting, barely receiving the hype it actually deserved: The Harley-Davidson Foundation, through the recommendation of its Tomahawk Plant Contributions Committee, had agreed to replace the laminate floor in the Tomahawk Elementary School fieldhouse with a much safer wood-based gymnasium floor.

Harley-Davidson will contribute $165,000 – the total cost of the project!

Word had it that, while Harley-Davidson wanted to receive its well-deserved recognition, it also wanted to be sure the light shone brightly on the Hatchet Booster Club, which had spearheaded the fledgling fund-raising drive and did a lot of legwork helping to meet any foundation requirements needed to secure the funding. The two worked very closely, both Dave Duncan, Booster president, and Mike Heerhold, general manager, Harley-Davidson Tomahawk Operations, quickly acknowledged.

What can one say about such generosity by a locally-based business? Comments made at the board meeting, like being “really, really blessed,” “awesome gift” and “kind of boggles the imagination,” don’t begin to put the gesture into perspective.

Health concerns about stress fractures and other athletic injuries were at the crux of the wish-list item that was being passed from one budget year to the next. The Tomahawk School District simply didn’t have the funds for such a large capital outlay, so the Booster Club stepped into the picture. And, then Harley-Davidson wanted to join the team and stepped to the plate with a homerun.

This isn’t the first time our corporate neighbor and large employer has come to bat for local needs. Back when our Tomahawk Public Library was a $1.1 million dream in the making, Harley-Davidson stepped forward and authorized $200,000 in matching funds. The ultimate $400,000 raised help make that facility a reality.

Thank you, Harley-Davidson.

Pretty impressive!

Kudos to everyone involved in this!!!

Wow! The company I work for would not ever even think of doing something so selfless. I makes me proud to ride one of their motorcycles and proud of the people I know that work there!!

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Spay or nueter your pets!!!!!!!

It's about time, someone, did something!! I for one wish I could prove the need for a class action suit against the makers of that old, supposedly state-of-the art floor that is currently in use. I'm sure the good folks at SPASH would agree.

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Life is too short for drama & petty things!
So, laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly!

in reply to Deb R. If you are going to throw out a comment about Spash, you need to explain. This board is for all to comment on the issues posted. Please explain what is meant by "I think Spash would agree"?? I don't know what you exactly meant by "it's about time someone does something" I am assuming you don't mean this in general, since Tomahawk as a whole is a very caring community.

Poor on my part. SPASH (Stevens Point) has the same gym for as the field house. I am of the opinion that numerous injuries over the years may have been eliminated had we had a wooden floor. I for one believe that an injury that my son suffered was related to the type of floor in the field house. A knee injury sustained while playing at SPASH. The orthopedic doctor we saw at the time was of the same belief, he had seen the same type of injury over the years from kids that attended SPASH and played basketball and volleyball. I know that their are other parents that feel that their kids knee, ankle, shin injuries are related to that floor.

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Life is too short for drama & petty things!
So, laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly!

A considerable donation. Too bad we can't find corporations that are willing to contribute to the education facits of schools. How about something for the english, math, or science department?

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If all the atheists left the United States it would lose 93% of the National Academy of Sciences but less than 1% of the prison population.

"Harley-Davidson wows us"


I think Tomahawk has been wowing Harley Davidson for quite a few years now....See ya in Sept.

SO SAD that Harley did not use the money to train their POOR supervisors!!! They really need the training, ask ask any employee!!