Longtime Fond du Lac Convention and Visitors Bureau director JoAnn Ward has died. Her daughter , Cynthia Ward Cusack, posted on Facebook that Ward died over the weekend at her home in Naples, Florida. Destination Lake Winnebago Region executive director Craig Molitor says Ward was responsible for launching Walleye Weekend in 1978 in conjunction with the Mercury Marine National Walleye Fishing tournament. ” She was a hero of mine. She was an amazing woman,” Molitor told WFDL news. Ward served as the executive director of the Fond du Lac bureau for 23 years beginning in In addition to founding Walleye Weekend, Ward was known for the Lakeside Winter Celebration, Fond du Lac Festivals, Wisconsin Jazz Festival, Taste of Fond du lac and served in many state tourism leadership positions. She was appointed to the Governor’s Sesquicentennial Commission and was inducted into the International Festivals and Events Association Hall of Fame in 1997.
