Brillion Athletic Association: 1900-Present

Nov. 21, 2019

By David Nordby

The Brillion News

Dennis Miller, Earl Herring and Jeff Weber are three longstanding members of the Brillion Athletic Association. (David Nordby/BN)

BRILLION – Only one volunteer group holds the distinction of being the longest lasting in Brillion.

The Brillion Athletic Association (BAA) was founded in 1900 and is still going strong today.

“We’ve always been a quiet organization, kind of. We do a lot of things and we donate a lot of money,” Dennis Miller said. “It’s just kind of been a natural thing for us to support these youth groups.”

The association has close to 85-90 active members with nine serving as board members. Board members, including Miller, are some of the longtime members of the group.

“Through the years we’ve tried to be a good partner with the school systems and city programs, where there was a need, we could step up and try to work with them and make some things happen to support those programs,” Jeff Weber said. 

As self-proclaimed advocates of all sports, donations in recent years have gone to youth sports, Brillion High School athletes and parochial schools. Recent yearly donation totals have been $32,000 and $45,000.

“Our bulletin board is just filled with thank you cards and thank you letters,” Miller said.

A set of bylaws has been in place since 1946.

“There were times it kind of was very quiet. In the late 20s, early 30s it kind of disappeared and it revitalized. In 1946, it revitalized through Wilbur Behnke and Howard Hendricks,” Earl Herring, a distinguished lifetime member of the group, said. “It has maintained since 1946 from that period until today.” 

Please see the entire version of this story in the Nov. 21, 2019 edition of The Brillion News.