15 Things You Might Not Know About Me: Kim Butler

Editor's Note: '15 Things You Might Not Know About Me' is part of DrydenWire’s 2020 election coverage. Each Thursday, we will feature a different candidate for this segment to publish. That candidate will also appear as our guest on Meet The Candidate, a special edition of DrydenWire Live! the following morning (Friday) at 8:30a on our Facebook page.

This week's '15 Things You Might Not Know About Me', features Kim Butler. Kim is the democratic candidate in Wisconsin's 28th Assembly District race.

15 Things You Might Not Know About Me: Kim Butler

1. I was the biggest baby born in the Bethesda Naval Hospital until a boy was born the next day. My dad was serving in the Marines at the time.  

2. I went to seven different schools between kindergarten and graduation from high school. I hoped my own kids would attend Unity from K through 12, but they both wanted to open enroll at St. Croix Falls as they got older.  My son is now at University of Chicago, and my daughter is at UW Madison. 

3. I have lived longer in Balsam Lake than anywhere else in my life. We moved here in 2001. My mom moved here from New York about four years later. My first visit to Half Moon Lake was in 1995, the year I met my husband. His mom’s family has been coming to the lake since the 1930s. 

4. I am a 14-year cancer survivor. I had Stage 3C Breast Cancer the year my daughter started kindergarten and my son was in first grade. I took every treatment they offered, determined that my kids would grow up with a mother. So far so good!

5. I was a “Candy Striper” in high school at the local hospital. We were young volunteers in pink striped uniforms. I spent most of my time helping patients order meals.

6. I earned a B.A. in English from Grinnell College in Iowa, where my step-dad also attended. I am the Alumni Representative for my graduating class and plan reunions and write a class newsletter. 

7. I met my husband at work. I was a producer at Twin Cities Public Television and he was a videographer. I thought he was really nice. I still think that, and this summer we celebrated 22 years of marriage. 

8. I loved the variety in my job as a TV producer.  Some of my adventures included being buried in a snow cave on a mountain in Switzerland, and being found by avalanche rescue dogs, visiting a river with over a 1,000 flamingos, working with professional wrestlers, and hanging out backstage at a KDWB Star Party.

9. My husband and I own the small business “Greatmats” in Milltown, which he started in our basement almost 20+ years ago. We have traveled to China and Taiwan multiple times to visit mat and tile factories. At business dinners and lunches there, I have had the opportunity to eat stinky tofu and shark cartilage soup. 

10. I won the prize for “Most Diligent” in 9th grade, the year I attended an all-girls’ Catholic school in Chicago. We had to wear a black watch plaid skirt. I graduated from a high school in Oklahoma City.

11. I was married at the old Paradise Restaurant on Balsam Lake. We’d hoped to be married outside, and rented tents and tables and chairs, but it downpoured almost all day long. We had a nice ceremony in the restaurant, and our reception in the bar. They say rain on your wedding day is good luck. I think I’d agree. 

12. I once caught a fly ball at a Twins Game and was on the Jumbotron. I let my (then young) kids play with the ball, and it got lost in the bleachers. Oh well.  Another “claim to fame” is that I powdered the nose of Monte Hall, the host of Let’s Make a Deal. We were shooting a segment on probability with him. 

13. I played on the first women’s soccer team at my college, back when it was still a club sport.  When my kids were little, I taught myself how to coach from a book because our program needed volunteers. I then ran the program for six years. I am also a certified AYSO Referee. 

14. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. Good food and good company. I am known for my moist, flavorful turkey, which I brine in sugar and salt water. I also make a delicious apple pie, which I plan to enter in the Polk County Fair sometime when life slows down a little. 

15. My parents moved to Green Bay when I started college. I was a news intern for WFRV TV, and worked for The City Directory as a door-to-door canvasser. My first jobs, besides babysitting, were working in an ice cream store, and in one of the first frozen yogurt stores.