Keeper of the culture

Travis Gross is learning a lot about Luxembourg and the Ozaukee County folks who are descendants of that country in his new job. 

He took over as executive director of the Luxembourg American Cultural Society in Belgium just before this summer’s Luxembourg Fest. 

Gross immersed himself in the festival preparations and instantly noticed a unique feature of the people working around him. “It’s that pride that Luxembourgers have in this area,” he said.

Gross knew about the LACS from his years in the museum universe, having served as the executive director of the Sheboygan County Museum for a number of years until 2023. 

When a recruiter called him about the LACS position he grabbed the opportunity to return to the world of history.

Gross had the impression that the LACS ran a local history museum. He quickly 

learned it is much larger in scope with a direct connection to Luxembourg.

The society has 2,500 member households and four members of the LACS board of directors live in Luxembourg. 

“This little building is deceiving,” Gross said.

 Gross manages a staff of four full-time employees and three part-timers, all of whom wear several hats. Daily tasks switch from financing to programming to facility issues, which this summer included dealing with water pouring through the basement windows during the August flooding.

He loves his job’s variety and relishes conversations with everyone who loves history and working in the Dooley-Wagner Research Center in the museum.

“I enjoy simply being in history. I have this access now,” he said.

A native of Sheboygan, Gross earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse before pursuing a second passion. He worked as a chef in multiple restaurant kitchens while his wife, also a UW-La Crosse grad, attended graduate school.

He later bought an old building that housed a bar and restaurant in Sheboygan and at the age of 29 began operating a restaurant he named Traveler’s.

Starting a family stopped his entrepreneurship. After two years working 12 to 16 hours a day seven days per week, he knew his schedule wasn’t conducive to having a newborn.

Gross sold the business to his brother-in-law Larry Schaefer, who opened a bar and restaurant named Legend Larry’s. In a few years, the business grew to a chain of sports bars known for their spicy chicken wings and a famous barbecue sauce now sold worldwide.

Gross, who had gone back to school and earned a teaching diploma from Lakeland University, joined the Sheboygan County Museum as a volunteer, eventually was elected to the board of directors and then was hired as the executive director.

At LACS, Gross said he will go through one year of operations as they are now to get the lay of the land before suggesting any changes.

“I walked into a pretty nice organization here and want to keep that going,” he said. “If we all do our job, this place will be here long after we’re gone.”

Gross succeeds Patricia Lutz, who retired after six years as executive director. She was quick to cite one of her proudest achievements.

“I got us through Covid. That was a big one. Covid was like five months after I started and we were shutting down. That was a big accomplishment,” Lutz said.

She launched virtual programs and said she hired good staff members.

Lutz also had a background in museums but had only heard of Luxembourg when she started. She too found it unique that some board members live in the country.

“When you know how to run a cultural organization, you learn about that culture. Then you rely on board members. We have a great connection with Luxembourg, which is really rare. We look like a little museum in Belgium, but we’re not.”

Lutz went to Luxembourg six times in six years and came to love it.

“Learning (the culture) firsthand from people who live there was the best experience,” she said. “They’re modern but they preserve history.”

Lutz, who lives in West Bend, will now get to enjoy Luxembourg Fest as an attendee rather than running around working it. She said she left the LACS in a good place.

“Membership continues to grow,” she said. “Financially, the LACS is in very good shape. I’m leaving with more money in the endowment.”

Gross plans to visit Luxembourg next year, but he has yet to pass the test of true appreciation of its culture. He hasn’t tried the Luxembourger blood sausage mustreipen.

He is not daunted. “I’m used to bratwurst,” he said, “but I’ll try anything once.”