DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — This holiday, in the middle of Highway 57 in Jacksonport, you'll see a man in a special float with the entire community cheering him on.
- Kirk Volkmann is the recipient of the bucket donation collection for Thursday's holiday parade.
- Jeri Taylor explains how Kirk is the right choice for the bucket collection.
- The parade route in Jacksonport for Thursday morning's parade.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
A celebration and a cause in Jacksonport.
"We live in an amazing, amazing community and I can't be prouder of where I live or be happier to say that I live here."
Stacey Volkmann is Kirk Volkmann wife. This year, Kirk is the recipient of the Thanksgiving Day Parade's Bucket Donation Collection.
You might know the couple, as they own Valmy Happy Hour in the nearby unincorporated community of Valmy. Earlier this year their lives took a major turn.
"We were then told, that it's stage four kidney cancer. It is not curable but it is treatable so that's where we've been. Since then we've done a couple different treatments so far," Volkmann said.
At Valmy's, Stacey spoke on behalf of Kirk who joined us but was too frail for an interview during his cancer treatments.
Parade co-founder Jeri Taylor says they knew Kirk was the right choice as the bucket collection recipient.
"Kirk's name came up. It was really just a great decision because he's done so much to give back to the community. We wanted to give back because he's given back so much," Taylor said.
Volkmann says that the family has taken the diagnosis day by day and the community has been nothing but supportive.
"We live in you know it's a small community so it's you know we've seen the community come together in different occasions so it's just nice that they're also doing that for us," Volkmann said.
Despite his battle, Kirk won't be missing the parade. He'll be riding up front in the Valmy Happy Hour float.
Stacey Volkmann says the donations from the parade's bucket collections will go toward Kirk's medical expenses.
