PHOTO OF THE DAY: HONORED AT THE GALA

Courtney Unruh, CEO of Freeman Regional Health Services, presents Ken Wintersteen with the inaugural “Friend of the Foundation” award at the 13th annual Freeman Regional Health Services Foundation (FRHS) Gala Saturday night, Jan. 27. Also pictured is Tabitha Schoenwald, the director of the foundation, and Dean Dreessen, master of ceremonies.

Wintersteen was honored with the award in appreciation for his many years of volunteer service as the event’s auctioneer; he has called the live auction every year since the gala began.

The award itself is a customized decorative license plate in tribute to a prank he pulled years ago when he removed the license plate from the vehicle of somebody he knew — Bob “Cubby” Wollmann — and auctioned it off.

Saturday’s sold-out gala, dubbed “Eat, Drink and be Giving,” was a formal affair with nearly 170 guests gathering in support of the foundation and this year’s goal of raising $60,000 to be used toward the purchase of an in-house DEXA Scanner, which measures bone density as a gauge against osteoporosis.

Guests were treated to a dinner of heavy hors d’oeuvres and a selection of wine and other beverages, a sprawling selection of silent auction items, the live auction itself and two speeches: one a personal impact story by Terri Behl, a PA at FRHS; and the other a history of the hospital presented by Jeremy Waltner, publisher of The Courier.

The total raised from the 2024 gala has not yet been announced but will be shared when the information becomes available.