At the May 6 Spring Meeting, Jonathan Hunter, Jacob Huseby, and Carrie Eaton (pictured left to right) were named the 2024 Klister Klub Award recipients.
The Klister Klub Award was officially established by the Board in 2005 and is given to up to 3 members each year–An award of great distinction to acknowledge those that have continuously given or dedicated a great effort to our sport of Nordic Skiing.
We are very proud of the three Madnorski members honored this year with the Klister Klub award! Enjoy reading about their contributions to the club and to our community of skiers. Cheers!!
Carrie Eaton–Communications Chair, Madnorski Board
“Such a solid, genuinely lovely human being and a really positive advocate for all things MNS! Klister Klub 2024!!!! — anonymous survey comment
Carrie Eaton joined the board in 2021 as Communications Chair and has been a steadfast leader for the club. Carrie spearheaded the valuable annual member survey that has been so instrumental in our board strategic planning for the future. Her behind-the-scenes leadership in connecting members to offerings of the club has been vital: responding to the many membership emails and questions, doing systems management related to how we collect membership information and making that system “talk to” our emailing system, creating awesome artwork and advertising for our Elver Park Trail Run, doing the many “Have you met” interviews with club members that we put in newsletters, proofreading newsletters, designing and promoting the popular Madnorski knit pom hat, and of course helping to add many fun and engaging social media posts. Carrie is also a great athlete as well as an ambassador on the trails. Wearing her Madnorski gear, posting on the Madnorski Strava account, Carrie is an inspiration when it comes to living a healthy outdoor and active lifestyle. Thank you, Carrie! Your thoughtful leadership in so many areas of the club has been greatly appreciated and helps connect members to what we do and care about.
Jonathan Hunter–Race Director, Madnorski Board
“Jonny is a super volunteer! He not only coaches with our youth programming, he serves on the board of directors and our youth committee, and his cooking has become well known among Wisconsin youth skiing. Jonny and his family are cherished members of the Madison Nordic community.” — anonymous survey comment
Jonathan Hunter, who goes by “Jonny,” jumped fully into the club when his children began skiing in the Madnorski youth programs. Passionate about skiing and being outdoors, Jonny became the Youth Committee Chair in 2021 and then the following year agreed to take on the Race Director position since it had been vacant for several years. Jonny has an wonderful gift in making difficult organizational challenges seem easy and even fun. His fearless leadership has been felt in many areas of the club. He has been a constant administrative resource due to his successful entrepreneur and business skills. For instance, he brought back the Tuesday night races using the racesplitter app for easier timing. He provided valuable advice and support for the GoFundMe 2024 project for the new snowmobile, and he has been central in creating the fun community atmosphere with great food, local prizes with his friendly and easy going personality for Up, Up & Away Rollerski Race that happens in August and the November Elver Trail Run . More recently, Jonny has also become an incredible wax tech for the junior team. He has learned so much about waxing and even came up with a great design for the team for holding skis! Thank you for sharing your brilliance with the club, Jonny!
Jacob Huseby–Membership Director, Madnorski Board
“Jacob has impressed me with his passion for kids and for skiing. He brings such energy to practice that is truly infectious. He invents wonderful, silly games that make the participants want to ski and play. And he is happy to share a love of skiing with those who want to compete at the highest level as well as skiers who are simply there for the scene; everyone has a place on his team.” — anonymous survey comment
Jacob is the perfect example of the Madnorski Long Term Athletic Development model. He has developed through all the stages of development with the club: learning how to ski, learning how to train, learning how to compete, and now thriving and mentoring as a coach and leader of the club. He started as a Junior skier and began racing in high school when Pam Schneider and Chris Pappathopoulos led the team. After graduation, he really never left the team as he began helping coach the Junior team. Jacob loved skiing even though he admits that he really wasn’t a very good skier in the beginning. He just kept working hard every year and kept at it!
Jacob’s love for the club, the sport, and the junior skiers is evident. He puts his whole self into the sport. He has been a head coach for the Juniors Middle School team for the past several years, and at the same time he has served on the club board. He is a person that continues to develop and grow in all that he does: as a coach, as a contributing board member and as a professional wax technician working as a Marketing Director for Enjoy Winter. Jacob’s reach and influence extends past our club and shows his commitment to Wisconsin skier development. He is an active member of the Wisconsin Nordic Ski league, and has given his coaching and waxing skills to help the Great Lakes teams made up of top skiers from Wiscosin and Michigan. Jacob volunteered to support our Great Lake athletes when he was selected as Great Lakes staff for the US Junior National Championships in Lake Placid this past winter; the Canadian Nordic National Championships in 2023, and the Western Division Championships in 2022. He has also taken advantage of the coaches training opportunities by attending as coaching staff at the summer regional rollerski camps for the last 3+ years. Jacob thinks about skiing and supports our Madnorski Junior team all year round. Jacob’s passion for the sport is infectious. He is a very positive spirit, a funny person, and always is looking for ways to improve and advance the Madnorski youth programs. And as Jacob says, “Fun is Number 1!”