Despite a seasonal cold snap, the Amherst High School cafeteria was the hottest place to be on January 25 as students danced the night away at its annual Winter Formal dance.

This year’s royal court featured five senior couples – Ben Kisting and Cornelia Larsson, Trent Simonis andAnja Zimmerbauer, Evan Stuczynski and Kenya Groen, Eli Zakrzewski and Allicyn Venne, and King Carlos Lopez and Queen Jayden Goretski. For three hours, students packed the dance floor, enjoying songs ranging from Sabrina Carpenter and Pitbull, to LMFAO and Big & Rich.

Former AHS teacher and school board member Diana Bohman posted on Facebook that the first winter dance in Amherst, at the time known as Winter Carnival, began in 1986 for junior Kim Trzebiatowski. Kim was diagnosed with cancer in high school. According to Bohman, the event was started because Kim wanted to attend a formal dance but, given her condition, did not know if she would be able to attend her Junior Prom.

Kim’s mom, Barb Trzebiatowski, and Kim’s sister, Kelly Bird, shared some photos and a few articles about Kim’s cancer journey, from diagnosis in spring 1985 at age 15 until she passed away April 17, 1986, at just 16 years old.

During the last year of her life, Kim and her family did their best to fight the disease while letting Kim do all the things that a teenager wants to do. Barb said Kim was in and out of school during this time, attending whenever she felt she could. Before diagnosis, she played volleyball, softball, and was a cheerleader. But even after her diagnosis, Kim was still active as her class vice president and a member of the National Honor Society. She was a member of the 1985 Homecoming Court that fall, as well.

Despite treatments including surgery and chemotherapy, the cancer spread to Kim’s bones and the doctors declared her cancer as terminal in early December 1985. With only a few months left, Kim was determined to live each day. She traveled to Hawaii with her family before Christmas, and she was able to visit her grandfather in Arizona in January 1986

In an open letter published in the January 11, 1986, issue of the Stevens Point Journal, Kim mentioned these trips, which were fundraised by her family, friends, neighbors, and the students and members of the Tomorrow River School District. She also mentioned the upcoming Winter.

“Another event coming up for me is our school’s Winter Carnival, of which I am very honored to be queen. It will be a very special evening for me since I am unsure if I’ll see my Junior Prom.” Kim wrote.

Barb recalled, “When we returned from [Hawaii], we were presented with the idea of the Winter Carnival. Dream Weavers in Stevens Point donated Kim’s dress for the dance.”

The first Winter Carnival court was made up of Seniors Stacy Patoka and Brian Bronk, Juniors Janet Shulfer and Scott Groholski, Sophomores Jane Yohn and Kirk Helbach, Freshmen Traci Miller and Todd Groholski, and Queen Kim Trzebiatowski and King Dave Trzebiatowski.

Barb was unsure who came up with the idea of a winter formal dance. A phone call with Pete Sippel, one of Kim’s former teachers who eventually became principal of Amherst High School, didn’t reveal an answer, but Sippel remembers those last months with Kim.

“Kim was very special,” Sippel said. “She came over to clean our house on a weekly basis. She’d visit and do a few things like dust a little or do some dishes, and then I’d give her ride home. I think she enjoyed getting out and doing normal things. That was just a few months before she passed.”

Kim’s illness progressed quickly that spring, but her letter to the Stevens Point Journal was not about her suffering. Instead, she used the opportunity to thank the community for their support.

“My time is limited, but I asked not to know how long,” Kim wrote. “For a girl of 16 I feel sold short. There  are so many things I’m supposed to do and live for. But I’ve come to understand life better. I look at it differently and respect it, but most of all I live it, one day at a time. And in this time I have learned many things. The love and support of this community is No. 1.

“I received the fabulous gift of my vacation in Hawaii,” Kim continued. “I had a wonderful time with my family, and we can’t thank enough the generous couple (?) who paid for my brother and sister to accompany us. It made the trip extra special to me. God bless you!”

“I do remember the trip to Hawaii,” Kelly Bird said, who was still in elementary school at the time of the trip. “It was wonderful – all good memories of all the things we could experience together as a family. “Being 10 years old, I don’t have a lot of memories of this time, other than staying with my aunts and uncles and Mike and Arlene Trzebiatowski more than being home,” Kelly added. “But I remember her smile and all the wonderful friends she had.

“To this day, it is heartwarming hearing all the community support she received.”

Barb remembered that Kim was planning to be on Prom Court in April 1986. “She even had a purple dress ready to go,” Barb said.

Unfortunately, Kim passed away on Thursday, April 17, 1986, at the age of 16, just two days before her Junior Prom. But her spirit lives on in the form of an annual evening of music, laughter, and dancing at Amherst High School.

A Memorial to a Special Girl

Have you ever wondered about the marquee in front of Amherst High School? Before the two-story brick building was torn down around 1992-93, the marquee was located on the large grassy area in front of the oldest part of the school. After the brick building was torn down, the marquee was saved, moving forward from its original position so it sits closer to the street.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was tradition for the senior class to have its class picture taken while surrounding the marquee.

But how did this custom start? Well, we can thank Kim and her family for another Amherst tradition, although this one was shorter lived than Winter Formal. (In the last few years, the senior class has been photographed in the large high school gym just before the Senior Walk.)

While researching Kim’s final year and the origins of Winter Formal, I came across the January 30, 1986, edition of the Tomorrow River Times. On page 24, a student named Courtney wrote a story titled, MARQUEE TO ADD SPARKLE TO AHS.

“Amherst High School is getting a marquee which will display messages and events for the school and the community Amherst High School students voted on three different styles and then decided on a billboard type sign. The sign will be put up in front of the school in the yard.” The story goes on to mention that a special fundraiser would be held to raise money for the marquee.

On the same page, a story about a Rock-a-Thon – an event where students would sit in rocking chairs and rock continuously from 9:30 am to 10:30 pm on February 1, 1986 – would also raise money for the marquee. The Rock-a-Than was organized by the Amherst Student Council.

The idea of the marquee started earlier in 1985, but its final iteration might not have happened without the support of the Trzebiatowski family, who donated money from Kim’s memorial in 1986 to the project.

In a December 4, 1986, article published in the Tomorrow River Times and written by then-student Beth Carey (our very own Beth Borgen, currently a sixth grade teacher at Amherst Middle School), “The future site of the Kim Trzebiatowski Memorial Letterboard is the front lawn of AHS…. The decision to use the money for the letterboard was made by Principal Robert Lane, a few teachers, and Kim’s parents.

“Mr. Lane contacted several companies about ideas for designs but wasn’t able to get enough information so he outlined one himself. He then asked Mr. Pete Blenker of Blenker Construction if the idea was workable and was told yes. The money for the memorial will come from a fund set up by Kim’s parents.”

So not only did Kim’s life inspire the formal dance that we celebrate every winter at AHS, she also made possible the marquee that many of us pass by every day, casually perusing to see what activities are going on this week at the school.

“Courage, bravery and determination are words that best describe Kim Trzebiatowski,” wrote classmate Jim Trzinski in the May 8, 1986, edition of the Tomorrow River Times. “She not only touched the lives of her family, but also her classmates and many others in the surrounding community.”

A Community of Love and Support

Kim Trzebiatowski was diagnosed with melanoma in the spring of 1985 when she was just a sophomore. “It started with a mole on her back that looked irregular,” said her mother, Barb, “so that’s why we got it checked out. The mole was removed but the cancer reappeared as a spot on her lung. They removed the spot on the lung, but after a monthly check-up and some achiness, they found the cancer had spread to her bones. With that news, they decided to try chemotherapy.”

After Kim’s chemotherapy treatments in Marshfield, the family was referred to the University of Minnesota Hospital to see about a bone marrow transplant. However, it was determined that her cancer was now terminal so the procedure was canceled.

At this point, in early December 1985, Kim’s aunts and uncles were invited to the family farm on Town Line Road. According to an article in the December 24, 1985, issue of the Post Crescent, written by regional editor Roger Pitt, Kim and her parents shared the news with her extended family.

“[Kim] called all her aunts and uncles out to the farm and there she told us all together that she had only a couple months to live,” said Barbara Konkol, an aunt who was quoted in Pitt’s story.

Despite their feelings of helplessness, the extended family wanted to do something for Kim.

“The family asked what they could do,” Barb Trzebiatowski remembered. “Kim was undecided between seeing her grandfather, Tony Trzebiatowski, in Arizona or going to Hawaii. It was then the family decided to send them on the Hawaii trip.”

Within a week or two, a trip was arranged with donations from the family to send Kim and her parents to Hawaii before Christmas. Chris Charewicz, a travel agent at the time, helped set up the trip. Everyone Charewicz talked to, from the hotels to United Airlines, was more than happy to help, granting upgrades, snacks, and even first-class tickets at the coach rate. One couple, who had read about Kim’s situation in the Stevens Point Journal, stopped at the travel agency and asked Charewicz about Kim’s siblings, Kevin and Kelly. Pitt related the story in his Post Crescent article. “[Charewicz told the couple] it was probably a matter of money. The man took out a credit card and said, ‘Make sure the entire family goes.’” The couple asked that they remain anonymous.”

“The anonymous donor that paid for Kevin and Kelly to go with us still touches our hearts today,” Barb said.

Pitt wrote, “The family had only four hours before it was to begin its journey. Charewicz faced the almost futile task of putting together the arrangements in that time span on a Saturday, but once again everybody did all they could to make it work.”

The Tomorrow River community heard about the trip and was able to raise more than $1,000 in spending money to send with the family to Hawaii. And according to Pitt’s article, two school buses filled with Kim’s friends were at Central Wisconsin Airport to send her off.

The Amherst Student Council wanted to make Kim’s wish to visit Arizona a reality, too. According to Pitt’s story, “Teachers, school cooks, maintenance staff and bus drivers asked to help. The school sent [Kim] a check for $1,180 for the Arizona trip.” There was also a benefit dance at the American Legion Hall in Rosholt on January 4, 1986. Kim was able to go see her grandfather and the Grand Canyon in late January.

In the January 11, 1986, issue of the Stevens Point Journal, Kim’s open letter was published. In it, she expressed her gratitude to the community for their support.

“I would like to thank everyone, especially my friends and faculty at Amherst High, for their contributions. I can’t find enough words to express my gratitude,” Kim wrote.

Kim also wanted to thank everyone for the benefit dance, too. “Funds that were originally supposed to be used for my bone marrow transplant at the University of Minnesota Hospital will now be used for any future hospitalization and medications of mine. You are unbelievable, I’m touched,” Kim added.

Editor’s Note: As a lifelong resident of Amherst, I had never heard this part of the story. I was a bit younger than Kim and didn’t have any memories of her personally, but I did know the family and remembered that she had passed away while in high school so I decided this was a story that needed to be retold for a new generation of Amherst students and residents. — Merry Dudley.