Q: Please tell us a little bit about your family.

Virginia: My grandparents Hans & Lucille Nelson were first residents of Greendale in 1938. At the time, Lucille was pregnant with my mom, Virginia, so they were assigned a 2/1 on Dale Lane. When it was deemed unconstitutional for the US Government to own housing, my grandfather bought the house and the adjoining house. My grandparents then built one of the first houses on Clover Lane.

After my parents had their first three kids, Bingo, Roy and Lucy, city life no longer suited my mom and she brought the family back to the Dale Lane house, where my Dad, Al still lives to this day. My parents ended up having 10 children, but two passed away as babies. I was born and raised on Dale Lane, as the youngest. Over the years, my parents built an addition, converted the utility room into a bedroom, and at one point busted a hole in the wall so we could live in the two houses, as a 5/2 rather than a 2/1. It was important for my mom to keep the family in Greendale. I guess that is part of the reason I have come back to live in Greendale now part time with my husband, Brett and my two kids, Emma and Miles. After living all over the world, it’s just nice to be back home, and even though my mom has since passed, I feel closer to her here, like I’m continuing her work.

Brett: When we started dating, I came to meet Virginia’s parents in Greendale, and then we were going to go meet my parents in Illinois. Door-to-door it was exactly 3.0 hours. It was interesting that we had to go all the way to Africa to meet each other. I grew up as the oldest of two boys, my mom, Deb was a teacher and my dad, Lee worked for over thirty years at Caterpillar in a town similar to and about the size of Greendale.

Q: Please tell us about your current career. What do you love most about what you do?
Virginia: Although we are co-owners of Broad Street Coffee Co & Cafe, the Field Workshop, and working on restoring the Root River Barn on Loomis, my real job is and always has been in philanthropy and education. After college, my husband and I both joined the United States Peace Corps, and served for 2.5 years in Niger, West Africa, which is where we met. We both started schools in our village and then I taught 5/6 grade at the US Embassy school, teaching diplomat children from all over the world.

Upon return to the US, I wanted to continue supporting the schools in Africa while also keeping my promise to the youth in the United States. Thereby my sisters and I started Educate Tomorrow (2003, Miami, FL) that provides coaching and support primarily for young people who were never adopted, in foster care or experiencing homeless. We make certain these young people graduate high school, college, or gain a skill and beyond. I used to physically walk young people through the process, but now we have a huge team, my husband, Brett is the CEO, and I build new programs and raise money. Our annual operating budget this year will be about $3.2M. Annually, we serve about 800 youth directly, with a network reach of 7,000 students every semester. It is still unbelievable to me since we started the organization with a few kids, my sister Melanie was mentoring, and I barely paid myself for the first two years when I was only 27.

Q: Please tell us about any volunteering that you have done or currently do.
Virginia: There is a saying, once a Peace Corps volunteer, always a Peace Corps volunteer, you see the need, you meet the need. Period. Our life, my husband’s and mine, has always been dedicated to service. It’s a lifestyle. Some services we get compensated for and many we don’t. I am incredibly grateful to have been able to create an organization that pays me to do what I love, serve others. It’s hard to know when I am volunteering or when I am not. Former students and employees have become like family members over the years. I drive a 4-door pick up truck because I feel like I am always picking up and dropping off donations or furniture for one of my students, for an event, a farmers market or something. And while I may co-own a few for profit businesses, to date they have been more of a public service than anything. The coffee shop and the Field Workshop have literally just been labors of love that I think the community could benefit from, and even there what little we do generate, we donate, volunteer for events, and reinvest into the project. A Saturday for me could be moving furniture for a friend, who was a former student and now is an employee who just needs a little help, in between taking my kids to an event that Field Workshop has a table at, or their game, or running errands for my Dad or John-John. It’s a lifestyle. One day, I might have better boundaries, but for the foreseeable future, this is life in service with kids, and I love it.

Q: Please tell us about any interesting or unique hobbies that you have?

Virginia: I like the creative process, anything involved in art, crafts, or design, which is part of the reason for Field Workshop, I like doing art but in a small house it’s hard to store all those things and get them out every time you want to use them. Another sort of fun thing I do is travel with my four sisters, every few years we pick a marathon and do it together. We ran the Rome, Italy marathon in 2023, where my niece is going to school, we have also done New York, Washington D.C., and Disney together.

Brett: Fixing up old barns.

Q: What are a couple of your favorite restaurants in Greendale? What do you love there?
Virginia: We crave Ricardo’s cheese curds, which I think are the best in the state, and their Greendale Original and BLT Pizzas are our go to, but the big surprise for me moving back to Greendale is the Steakout. My sisters and Brett are foodies; we travel places just to go to a restaurant they read or heard about. We even went to Noma in Copenhagen, ranked #1 in the world, with a 6 month waiting list. And during the pandemic my brother Dan/Tato also moved back to Greendale after a decade in Miami and Seattle, he said, you have to try the Steakout. Even though I was born and raised here, I literally had never been. I was like, “the place by the dump” he was like “yes, it’s the best, you have to try it”. The relish tray, the wedge salad, French onion soup and the steaks, honestly rival any of the best steak houses/supper clubs we have been.

Q: How long have you lived or worked in Greendale?
Virginia: Born on Dale Lane in 1976, my parents were snowbirds when I was in high school, so I did a semester in Arizona and one in Florida, but graduated from Greendale in 1994, and went to UW-Platteville. I came back here and there for summers and breaks to work for Creative Construction, my parents’ and brothers’ company, but then I joined the Peace Corps in 2000, and then started the non-profit in Florida in 2003.

Since then I only came back once or twice a year to visit my parents, until the pandemic. Something deep inside me wanted to be back. I guess that’s why I keep creating reasons to be here. The pandemic showed us remote working is possible, and I know several Greendale diaspora who have come back to Greendale. I think it’s great for the community, for all these folks to come back, with experiences from all over the world. We talk about it all the time. Greendale has a magnetic pull, like Sea Turtles attune to. It pulls you back.

So now we are effectively snowbirds, trying to run the nonprofit that is headquartered in Florida, while also doing what we can in and for Greendale. We homeschool the kids, so we have some flexibility, but each year we seem to stay longer and longer in Greendale.

Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met here in Greendale?

Brett: Larry Lesperance, as he is the most down-to-earth, giving, jack of all trades.

Virginia: For me, I would say Delores Irsink or Dee. When we bought the coffee shop, I met this sentinel of a woman who had been coming to the coffee shop nearly every morning for 20 years, she lives in Waterford and comes to Greendale every day. She has become somewhat of a mentor to me, I like having time to talk and get caught up on what’s happening in Greendale as she knows more than anyone.

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?
Virginia: A family ethnic tour, we have really gotten into our ancestry and it turns out my family lived in the same village in Denmark for hundreds of years. We are linked to castles in Scotland. My sister-in-law is from China, and my husband’s family has roots in Sicily. These places have become a priority on our bucket list.

Q: What is one of your favorite movies? TV shows?

Virginia: The Princess Bride, as I am a hopeless romantic. My daughter and I are having a lot of fun watching Gilmore Girls, hence the temporary make-over of the coffee shop into Luke’s Diner for the winter. The town Stars Hallow in Gilmore Girls is strikingly similar to Greendale, and my daughter who is 12 and spent most of her life in Miami, is also taken by how movie-like Greendale is.

Brett: Bull Durham and Ted Lasso

Q: What advice would you give to people?
Virginia: The best advice I can give is not my own:

“Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.” ~ Margaret Mead

”You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete.” ~ Buckminster Fuller

“Love one another” ~ Jesus Christ

Q: What is something on your bucket list?
Virginia: Taking a year to travel the world with our kids before they don’t want to hang out with us anymore.

Q: What is your go to band when you can’t decide what to listen to?

Virginia: Indigo Girls

Brett: Chris Stapleton

Q: What current or former local business makes you the most nostalgic about Greendale?
Virginia: Ferch’s. I went to school since kindergarten with Ryan Ferchoff and when they took over the Cone Shop I was proud of them. They were an institution my whole life. I’m looking froward to seeing what the Cyborowskis do with The Eleanor Room. It’s the best location in town. Kids can play at the park while you can enjoy some adult time. I love sitting there and enjoying a meal.

But now that we own the coffee shop, I would say that it’s the place I miss the most, because all the people that come every day are like family now. Many folks have been coming religiously for more than two decades. I feel like I get to be a steward of that history. It’s a valuable place and I’m glad we are doing what we can to preserve it.

Q: If you could choose anyone that is alive today and not a relative; with whom would you love to have lunch? Why? And where locally would you meet for this lunch?

Virginia: Brett and I would invite Jimmy Fallon, Chris Rock, Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso), and Charlie Berens and Maya Rudolph to dinner, we would sit at the corner booth in the bar at Joey Girard’s. It’s Brett’s and my secret hideout. I would just sit there for hours, let Scott serve us food and drinks, and just laugh. My stomach hurts just thinking about it.

Brett: I’d take Craig Counsell to a Milkmen Game and find out his plans for the Cubs.

Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about Greendale?

Virginia: The summer festivals.

Brett: Broad Street, the small town atmosphere.

Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
Virginia: In 5 to 10 years, we will likely be trying to figure out where the kids are living and going to college, and then try to split some time with those places. We are working on a very, very long lease for the Root River Barn and Farmhouse project. I hope by 5 to 10 years from now, that we have turned that into something special for the community and can enjoy it ourselves.

Q: (Even for friends or family), what is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
Virginia: Brett and I have a shared goal of traveling to a new country for every year we are alive. We are both on track.

Q: What is the most beautiful place you have ever been?

Virginia: Havasu Falls, on the Havasupai Indian Reservation in Arizona.

Brett: The Annapurna in Nepal.

Q: Favorite month? favorite holiday? and best single day on the calendar?

Virginia: March (birthday month), Halloween, December 25.

Brett: July, Thanksgiving, 4th of July

Q: What would you rate a 10 out of 10?

Virginia: My husband, Brett

Brett: Broad Street Coffee

Q: Who inspires you to be better?

Virginia: My husband, my kids and my teams. I really love the people I work with and want to be better for them.

Brett: My kids.

Q: What is one or two of your favorite smells?

Virginia: For me, lol, my daughter Emma. She bathes in Bath & Body Works. I love hugging her and smelling her; her room is like a botanical garden!

Brett: A camp fire.

Q: Finally, what 3 words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?

Virginia: Kids, family and pets. We travel a lot but, wherever and whenever we are together, that’s the current home.

Brett: Love, comfort, recharging.