Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Photo by Curt Knoke Elaine Diffor, a retired school teacher, lends her organizational skills and cool demeanor to the sometimes complex work of the Walls of Wittenberg organization.
Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of five articles profiling winners of the Celebration of Giving awards presented annually by Shawano Area Community Foundation Inc. for outstanding volunteerism. The winners will be honored at a gala April 12.
When she first attended meetings for the Walls of Wittenberg arts organization, Elaine Diffor saw such an experienced and coordinated network of volunteers that she was unsure how she could contribute.
As a longtime school teacher, her opportunity came when the group set its sights on erecting one of its murals on school property — a significant communitywide effort for which Diffor rolled up her sleeves and got busy.
Among many other leadership roles that Diffor has accepted in the Wittenberg area, she now is a Walls of Wittenberg board member currently serving as vice president of the group and head of the Events Committee.
Retired from the school district, she has embraced the arts and civic improvement group almost as another career.
“It’s part of my life now,” she said. “Almost every day, I’m doing something.”
For her volunteerism in Walls of Wittenberg and elsewhere over the years, Diffor is the 2016 recipient of the Wittenberg Community Service Award in the Celebration of Giving awards presented by the Shawano Area Community Foundation. The Wittenberg award is sponsored by Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Meats.
Diffor was nominated by Miriam Nelson, a fellow Walls of Wittenberg board member, who praises Diffor’s civic spirit and passion for art. In an organization that has grown more complex and dynamic, Diffor has exhibited strong organizational skills and a calm demeanor, Nelson said.
“She’s been a very constant and steady support for us,” Nelson said.
Diffor’s award brings with it a touch of tragic irony.
Just last year, she accepted the same honor on behalf of a Walls of Wittenberg colleague, Susan Hanson, who was too ill to attend the gala event. After Hanson died a few weeks later, Diffor stepped up her involvement in Walls of Wittenberg to keep the organization moving forward.
“She helped us make that transition,” Nelson said.
Diffor is splitting her $1,000 prize for the community foundation award between the Walls of Wittenberg and the Wittenberg Food Pantry.
As residents of Wittenberg since the 1960s, Diffor and her husband, Jack, raised three children during a time when Diffor worked as a stay-at-home mother. Volunteering as a teacher’s aide, she helped start Wittenberg’s first parent-teacher organization and became its first president.
She later earned a teaching degree and spent nearly 20 years in classrooms in Wittenberg and Birnamwood.
As her teaching career was winding down in 2007, she was drawn to Walls of Wittenberg out of curiosity because it seemed like a group of interesting people doing important civic work in the community.
Perhaps best known for the collection of outdoor murals that have made Wittenberg a tourist attraction, the nonprofit group also organizes other events and strives to promote Wittenberg, especially the community’s downtown.
Diffor is especially proud of an annual summertime art show featuring works of local students.
The combination of young talent and seasoned exhibitors, Diffor said, keeps Walls of Wittenberg vibrant with a critical mass of culture that enriches the community, not just with tourism but also with a sense of purpose that she hopes residents appreciate.
“I just feel like it’s worthwhile for our community,” she said. “I’m hoping that it’s something they take pride in.”