2023 Commodore
Jake Erickson and First Mate Jessie Erickson
Commodore Career: CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater La Crosse
Commodore Date-of-Birth: May 28th, 1977
Commodore Hometown: La Crosse, WI
Siblings in order: Josh Erickson (Rachel), Jessica Erickson-Bacon (Shawn), Jenna Fernholz (Andy), Jordy Reinhart (Bobbie)
First Mate: Jessie Erickson
First Mate Career: Regional Account Manager at Dalton Education
First Mate Date-of-Birth: September 6th, 1978
Hometown: Germantown, WI
Siblings: Bret Hertzberg (Cheryl)
Children 2: Julian Erickson, (21) 2002, Molly Erickson, (18) 2005
Commodore Hobbies and Interests: Boating and jet-skiing, Badgers games, Packers games, running, music concerts, traveling – especially to Arizona and Florida.
Community Involvement: Rotary, Viterbo Board of Advisors, State & National Boys & Girls Clubs of America Boards, anything and everything for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater La Crosse.
First Mate Hobbies and Interests: Gardening, cooking/baking, boating, jet-skiing, music concerts, Badger games, traveling – especially to Arizona and Florida. Is shopping on Amazon a hobby???
First Mate Community Involvement: Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater La Crosse, Logan High School
Interesting Family History: When Jake was 20, he went to the Kohl Center to attend a Badgers basketball game. He was sitting next to an older gentleman whose seat was drawn to try and make a half-court shot. The man offered it up to Jake to try instead. Jake went down to the court at half-time and got in a few practice shots – none of which went in. When it came time, his name was announced to the arena, cameras were on him, and he took his shot…AND MADE IT!!! The crowd went wild while he was pumping his fists in the air and he won a brand-new Dodge Neon! Not only that, but the moment was aired on ESPN for the ESPY awards show.
Tell the story of how you were asked to be a Commodore and First Mate: Jake was asked to make a pitch at a commodore meeting for the Boys & Girls Clubs. Before he began, he was offered a beer, which he declined because he had to speak. He started presenting to the Commodore group and about half-way through, he was stopped and told that because of all his hard work at the club and within the community, he had been selected to become the next Commodore. He thought they were kidding, so he brushed it off with a joke and kept on with his pitch. It took him a moment to realize the group was staring at him and waiting for him to understand they weren’t pulling his leg. Once it sunk-in he said, “I think I’ll take that beer now!”
One thing on your Bucket List!
Jake: Run the Boston and New York City marathons.
Jessie: Travel to Greece and France.