Hi! Glad you could visit..or wanted to visit anyway. I'm Chelly Boutott. I've been a reporter at Channel 5 News since 1996, and anchor Channel 5 News at Ten on Saturday evenings.
I am a graduate of UW-Whitewater. I actually began college as a business major. Then in my Junior year decided I wasn't cut out for the business world and started exploring other options. Ironically, my very first internship in TV was here at Channel 5. Thats when I discovered a career in journalism could be very exciting. So I changed my major. My first job out of college was part-time at WSAW-TV in Wausau, WI. I then moved down the road to WJFW in Rhinelander, WI when a full time gig opened up. Then it was back to WSAW where I was the morning and noon anchor. But I always wanted to come back home to Green Bay. So when the opportunity presented itself....I jumped at the chance to work for Channel 5. I've been here ever since. All of my immediate family lives in the area...and most of my relatives. I am very close to my family...which is a big reason why I want to stay in the area.
The reason I love being a reporter is because it's a job that can make a difference and it's different every day. TV news helps inform people of what is going on in the world and right in our own backyards. One of my greatest experiences while working at Channel 5 was going to Belize and living in the rain forest for ten days with some local high school students. It really opened my eyes to what it is like to live in a third world country.
I am married to a guy who also works in the news business... He is a news photographer. Mike and I have two 'children,' both of whom I picked up while on a news story. Angus was one of the weirdest looking dogs I had ever seen. I spotted her at the Fox Valley Humane Association while on a story. I just had to have her. Bug was also an occupant of the same shelter. She was one of about 200 chihuahuas taken from a puppy mill in Polk county. When I saw her she weighed less than two pounds...most of her hair was gone and she had scabs all over her body. She was just about the most pathetic looking rat at the shelter. Of course, after about a week of reporting on the incident I signed up to take her home. My husband has since laid down the law....I can no longer bring home any animals from stories I'm on. We'll see...
On the weekends I usually spend time with my husband, family and friends. Mike and I are now trying to get into shape (like a lot of people in Wisconsin) so we try to participate in as many charity walks as possible. We love to travel and try to go somewhere exciting every year. I deer hunt with my father (my dad has three girls). I love just getting out into the woods and enjoying nature. My husband and I even joined a bowling league this year. As you can tell, I am a Wisconsin girl through and through.
Email Chelly
