District 34

Beastrom wants to improve broadband; Wilhelm to protect freedoms

Marathon County Board District 34 incumbent Gary Beastrom, village of Athens, will face newcomer Jason Wilhelm, town of Berlin, in the spring election on Tuesday, April 5, for a twoyear term on the board.

District 34 encompasses the village of Athens; townships of Bern, Halsey and Hamburg and one ward in the town of Berlin.

Gary Beastrom

Gary Beastrom believes he’s served at least five two-year terms on the Marathon County Board. He serves on the Marathon County Board’s Extension Education and Economic Development committee, Marathon County Public Library Board and the Golden Sands Research Conservation and Development Board in Stevens Point.

“I feel that I still have more to give to the Marathon County Board because I offer experience in the board’s decision- making process,” he said. Beastrom grew up in Ellsworth and he graduated from Ellsworth High School in 1962 and UW-River Falls in 1966. He was the Athens middle/high school agriculture teacher for 34 years until his retirement in 2006. He was an Athens High School assistant wrestling coach during Jerry Wagner’s last 10 years guiding the program, and he served as the Athens middle/high school athletic director during two different stints for a total of 15 years.

He and his wife, Barbara, live in the village of Athens. They have three children: Eric, Rob and Heidi. Eric lives in Hudson and he has a computer job at Anderson Windows, Rob lives in Littleton, Colo., and he’s a supervisor in the engineering department at Excel Energy and Heidi lives in Monona and she’s a pharmacist at UW Hospital in Madison. Gary and Barbara have four grandchildren: Parker, Brique, Ethan and Elliot.

Gary Beastrom has served as secretary of the Athens Fair for the past 54 years since 1968. He’s been a member of the Athens Area Trails Association for many years, served on the Athens Area Fire Department for 43 years and he’s been an EMT on the Athens Area Ambulance Service since 1974.

Beastrom hopes voters will re-elect him to the Marathon County Board so he can keep trying to get improved broadband service to people in northwest Marathon County, because he says the county’s current broadband improvement plan isn’t good enough.

Beastrom values his service on the Marathon County Public Library Board and the Marathon County Board’s Extension Education and Economic Development committee, which oversees the university extension.

“I want to keep the university extension and the service it offers residents as part of the county programs,” he said.

Jason Wilhelm

Jason Wilhelm has lived in the town of Berlin for about the past seven years. He grew up in Phlox, which is near Antigo, and he graduated from Antigo High School in 2002 and from Northcentral Technical College in Wausau in 2004 with a degree in electrical mechanical technology. He’s worked for the past 18 years as a maintenance electrician at Jarp Industries in Schofield.

He’s married to his wife, Jodie, and he has a stepdaughter, Justice, and a step grandson, Xander.

Wilhelm chose to run for Marathon County Board to protect people’s freedoms.

“I feel our freedoms are being encroached on and I think that I can make a difference at the county level,” he said.

He said rural people, including some farmers, are concerned about their personal property rights being violated. For example, he said District 34 residents told him zoning prevents them from doing what they want with the land they own.

Wilhelm wants to ensure county government is spending its taxpayer money wisely. He said Marathon County has a wheel tax yet some of its roads are still in bad shape.