Sue Aschliman became a Clintonville resident in 1998 and decided to get involved in the community to familiarize herself with the city and meet new people.

It all started by getting involved at her church. From there, she added work with the Chamber of Commerce, serving on the chamber board and as acting president, and working with the Clintonville Rotary and the Bear Creek Lions.

For her varied work in the community, Aschliman was awarded the Clintonville Area Foundation’s Community Hero Award on Sept. 23 during the regional affiliate of the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region’s annual fund-raiser held at Marion Body Works.

Former Clintonville resident Dan Olk created a Community Hero Award Fund with the CAF to honor an outstanding community member each year. Olk, who works in Ames, Iowa, as a soil biochemist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, returns to Clintonville each year to present the award. The honor comes with $2,000 for the recipient to donate to local charities.

“It’s very humbling. You don’t do work to get a nomination for it. You do it because you have a passion for those things,” said Aschliman, who owns B&H Footwear and B&H Fashionwear on S. Main Street in Clintonville.

There’s another reward that comes from her volunteer work.

“It’s just meeting new people and finding different things that they enjoy doing,” she said. “People are really fascinating if you take the time to listen to them and learn from them.”

Helping others is nothing new for Sue. It’s something she had learned at a young age.

“I believe I have inherited that from my mother. Not only taking over their business, but learning to not do selfish acts. Do selfless acts for other people. It’s so rewarding.”

She declined to view herself as special for her volunteer work. Clintonville is a  special community with many giving people willing to donate their time and efforts in a variety of ways, she said.

This post includes excerpts from TCHdailynews.com.

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