You could put Joe Beck’s talk at the Rotary Club’s Sept. 22 meeting in the
“who knew?” category.

Joe’s company, Blackstar Assets, located in the Waunakee business park, helps individuals and companies dispose of personal property that is either obsolete or simply unwanted. They have just about everything in their warehouse, Joe said, China dishware, building supplies, computers and more that they sell on consignment using mainly eBay. The customer gets a portion of the sale, and Blackstar Assets also receives a portion. 

But who knew that businesses or individuals could also sell their unwanted stuff and see the proceeds go to a nonprofit organization?

Joe told the story of Lana and Fred, who as part of their estate planning, wanted to dispose of Lana’s very large collection of collectibles. 

The collectibles were everywhere in the home, and Lana decided she wanted to donate them to the Boys and Girls Club of America. That wasn’t going to work, so Blackstar Assets agreed to sell them on consignment with the Boys and Girls club receiving a portion of the sales. Boys and Girls Club requested $10,000 as a guarantee, but the sales ended up generating more than $300,000. 

It was a big job as Blackstar Assets spent time sorting through the many collectibles.

Joe said the company would love to help businesses dispose of unwanted property rather than just calling junk companies to haul it away. Businesses, too, could see their excess property disposed of in a way to help nonprofits. 

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Other News:

-Phil Willems provided some preliminary numbers from Wauktoberfest. Tips received this year were about $6,455, up from last year when they were around $4,000. 

Last year’s beer sales were $56,924; this year they were $58,889.

-Ross Maurer thanked Ken Pesik for heading up this effort, and Ken via email thanked the volunteers. 

-A sign-up sheet went around for Food for Kidz. 

Guests: Jeff Kuehn, guest of Nancy Kuehn-Thomas. 

Visiting Rotarians: None.

Birthdays: Sept. 30, John Cullen.

Anniversaries: Oct. 1, Sara and Paul Whitley; Oct. 5, Dan and Kristin Statz.

Greeters: Sept. 29, Susan Vergeront and Ryan Walsh; Oct. 6, Sean Wayne and David Weishoff; Oct. 13, Alex Welk and Sara Whitley; Oct. 20, Phil Willems and Rich Wipperfurth; Oct. 27, Chris Zellner and Cassey Zickert.