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Badger Mining Corporation Makes Donation to the School Restoration Fund In a ceremony at the old Fairwater school on November 4, the Historical Society accepted a donation of $500 from the Badger Mining Corporation. The donation, earmarked for the society’s schoolhouse restoration project, was presented to the society by Pam Leahy, Kari Kuglin, and Vicky Wuest, daughters of Russell Chier, co-owner of BMC. The women are the third generation of the family associated with the company, founded by their grandfather. Following the ceremony, Tim Wuest, a member of the BMC advisotry team, commented that, "We are honored to present this gift to the Historical Society and to help preserve the history of Fairwater. It is important to do something for future generations before it is too late. What we preserve will help them to understand our history and the history of Fairwater." BMC has operated in the Fairwater area since 1949. In addition to its gift, the company is preparing for the Fairwater museum a display of castings with an agricultural theme made from BMC silica sand by various foundries. FHS President Bob Schuster expressed his appreciation to BMC for its donation and indicated his excitement over the the BMC display. "We have planned to devote space to area industry, and Badger Mining’s exhibit will be an excellent centerpiece." Schuster also expressed his pleasure over the society’s progress during its first year and credited the contributions of area businesses such as BMC, Fairwater’s Stellmacher Lumber Company, and Brandon’s Jim Navis Roofing with playing an essential role in the organization’s success.
Society Organizes Committees At its November meeting, the society’s Board of Directors created five working committees to promote its goals for the coming year. The committees and their chairpersons include Research (Barbara Berndt), Collections and Displays (Lois Schmuhl and Barbara Vande Brink), Volunteers (Cirena Lenz), Publications (Tom Montag), and Restoration Planning (Bob Schuster). The Board expressed its hope that the committees would encourage members and interested area residents to become actively involved in the society’s ambitious agenda. Schuster noted that while the Volunteers committee might appear to be the least attractive of the five, it was his hope that it would serve the society as its chief ambassador for outreach to area schools, organizations, and the general public. Ruby Swartzlow Autobiography Recalls Fairwater Area Childhood, Christmas
The church would be full on Christmas Eve. A program given by the children concluded with the "tree." To me, as well as to most of the youngsters, the tree symbolized presents. Names would be called out and each child would go to the front of the church to get his gift. It always worked out so every child had one gift as well as a sack of candy, nuts and popcorn. Candy wasn’t a common treat for us, so each child clutched the sack all the way home. I never ate any of mine Christmas Eve. Riding home in the bob-sled, covered with blankets, I listened to the squeaking of the snow as the sled moved along silently on shiny runners. I watched the bright, large Star of the East which Papa pointed out as being the one which led the Wise Men to Bethlehem so many years ago. I wondered about the Baby Jesus. It gave me a contented feeling to know we were having a birthday celebration for Him. Fifty-Year-Old Program a Reminder of Fairwater School Christmas Tradition Even if you were merely one of the chopsticks ensemble, it was one of the highlights of the year. Practices were an approved opportunity to escape the classroom; the event itself a chance to step into the spotlight. It was the annual school Christmas program at the Fairwater Civic Center. Susan (Shure) Prochnow and her husband James have made it possible to relive classic monologues like "I’ll Not Play Tricks on Santa" and skits like "Rudolph’s Nose Trouble" and "Santa Claus on Trial" through their donation of three Christmas program fliers from 1950, 1951, and 1952. The evenings were memorable not only for the opportunity to performance, but also for the long, sometimes frightening approach to the stage by way of the narrow side stairs. The Christmas program as a school event predated the 1941 Civic Center. The Fairwater column in the December 22, 1921, Brandon Times reported that, "The whole school went to Daehn's Hall Friday afternoon and practiced the Christmas program." The society is looking for copies of scripts and additional program fliers.
Grand River School Photographs Donated to Society’s Collections The Grand River public school was located south of Fairwater at the northwest corner of County Highway E and Liner Road. It stood on land owned by Gottlieb Stelter and later by John Laper. When the school closed in the late 1930s, students went to Fairwater. In earlier years, some students also had attended upper grades in Fairwater. Susan (Shure) Prochnow has donated the following photo and three others of the school. Loma Klossner, a teacher in the school before it was closed, has provided the identifications. Standing: Mae Knapp, Mrs. Badke, Mrs. Henry Schmuhl, Mary Devancy (teacher), Lou Wilsnack, Mrs. Schure, Hazel Schure, ?, ?, Mrs. John Schmuhl, Nellie Spaulding, Roy Stelter, Mr. Stelter. Sitting: Adeline Badke, Mr. Badke, ? Badke, Johnny Schmuhl, Lucille Schmuhl, Mr. John Schmuhl, Joyce Knapp, Shirley Wilsnack, Mr. Shure, Louis Schure, ?, ?, Lloyd Schmuhl, Bob Wilsnack, ?, ?, Walter Knapp, Arnold Bade, ?, Floyd Spaulding, Gordon Knapp, Raymond Schmuhl.
Copy of Uriah Johnson Journal Given to Society Uriah Johnson, born in Denmark in 1863, was the son of Seljie Christine Christenson and Jens Jorgenson (John Johnson). He married Anna Butler in 1887 and farmed in the town of Alto until moving into Fairwater, where his wife was the Fairwater postmaster until 1934. A copy of Mr. Johnson’s 1932-1934 journal has been transcribed and donated by granddaughter, Loma Klossner, who notes the amount of travel and casualness of visits.The following selections are from the journal. Dec 21 [1933] Ruby at the P.O. & May there some PM Ruby & Carl went to SpartaDec 23 Ruby & Carl arrived from Sparta Dec 24 Henry & family Walter & family Carl & family Wer here for dinner Dec 26 Quite cold 26 below zero Rby & Carl went to Appleton Dec 27-33 Carl drove to Chicago to attend a Geoligy Meeting Dec 28-33 I am not so well I cough. a little cold Dec 29-33 I am about the same Dec 30-33 Ruby & Joan started for Chicago 6# P.M. to meet Carl for Mo. I am not so well Dec 34 [sic] Sunday We did not attend church Dan Theune called Jan 1-34 Brother Peter came from Minnisota and had dinner Sunday Peter had dinner with John & Supper with Edwar Yong Jan 2-34 Peter had dinner with us and Lawrence had him for Supper Jan 3-34 Jennie is at the P.O. I am better Lester called Mooved Teliphone in P.O. Jan 4- Alice at PO H.R. & W K. & C.O. Mrs Sherwood & family for dinner at Rev Ellis Jan 5- Jennie at the PO she had bad luck an scalded her foot but not serious it has ben real icy today Jan 6-34 May at the PO Henry called to tell the Negro Spiritual would be at the church Rev. Alborn’s Rhythms of Life Reverend George Alborn was pastor of the Fairwater Free Baptist Church from 1901 through 1904, in which capacity he supervised the construction of the Baptists' new church in 1903-04. Rev. Alborn, a graduate of Hillside College, a Free Baptist institution and the first college in Michigan to organize under the general college law in 1853, was a prolific and scholarly writer. Rhythms of Life, a collection of Alborn's poetry published in 1941 donated to the society by Loma Klossner, is the only one of his publications known to have survived. It was published while Alborn lived at Green Lake.
FHS Now SHSW Affiliate In a letter dated November 17, Thomas McKay, Coordinator of the Office of Local History, extended his welcome to the Fairwater Historical Society as the newest affiliate of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. SHSW’s Board of Curators approved Fairwater’s application at their quarterly meeting in October. With the Board’s approval, Fairwater joins historical societies from Ripon, Brandon, Markesan, Waupun, and Green Lake in the East-Central Region of the Wisconsin Council for Local History. The Council, formed in 1961, provides a forum for historical organizations in the state to discuss mutual problems and promote a wider interest in local history. School Transfer Takes Next Step On November 7, the Fairwater Historical Society and the Fairwater Lions Club gave their final approval to an agreement to create the Fairwater School Condominium Association, the legal entity that will govern the former Fairwater Public School building and its grounds. Steven Sorenson, the society’s legal counsel, filed the proposal to create the Association on November 8, the final legal step before the old 1910 school structure is tranferred to the historical society by the Lions. The agreement followed State of Wisconsin approval of the condominium arrangement. Approval was necessitated by a 1998 law extending oversight for property issues within 110 feet of a state highway to the Department of Transportation. Former Student Visits School Michael Klawitter, a Fairwater student from 1954 to 1962 and whose family lived in Fairwater from 1950 to 1962, spent the day before Thanksgiving visiting the village. Klawitter now lives in California. School Stories Booklet Ready The society’s anthology of reminiscences about the Fairwater school collected during the October open house has been edited and is ready for printing. Fourteen former students and teachers contributed stories to the collection, spanning nearly four decades. The earliest, from 1932, was written by Mary (Young) Ninneman; the latest by Sharon (Staadt) Bluhm, a teacher in the school from 1966 to 1969. Other early stories were contributed by Joyce (Knapp) Peterman, Florence (Frei) Schaefer, and Ralph Damerau. The booklet will be available in December. November Gifts to Collections The society received additional contributions to its historical collections during November as a follow up to the open house. Susan (Shure) Prochnow has contributed photographs of the former Grand River School and numerous items of memorabilia from her years in the Fairwater school in the early 1950s. Among the latter are three Christmas Program fliers and several hand-written invitations to school events. The Shruck family has donated the property abstract for the Frank Mielke lot north of the Frank Schmuhl--formerly the Dr. O. M. Layton--lot on the east side of Main Street. The Gordon Berg estate has donated an early picture post card of the Fairwater depot looking west along the railroad tracks. The card is postmarked September 11, 1908, and shows the new north Fairwater houses along Elm Street constructed in 1904. Barbara and Roy Berndt have donated newspaper clippings from the 1940’s and 1950’s. Among them are obituaries for Walter Beilke and August Bade and golden wedding photographs of the Herman Korths and William Schmuhls. |
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| NEWSLETTER Fairwater Historical Society PO Box 151 Fairwater, Wisconsin 53931
Meetings The Fairwater Historical Society meets the first Saturday of each month at the Fairwater Lion’s Club on south Main Street. An exchange of photographs and information begins at 2:00, followed at 2:30 by the meeting. The public is invited. The annual meeting is held the first Saturday of March. Acquisitions The Fairwater society accepts donations of items with historic ties to the immediate Fairwater area. Contact Lois Schmuhl, accessions officer, at Radio Road, Brandon, WI 53919. Membership Membership in the Fairwater Historical Society is $10 annually for individuals and families, $100 lifetime for individuals. Contact Arlene Leppin, PO Box 151, Fairwater, WI 53931 Web Site The society maintains a Web site on the Wisconsin Local History Network. Featuring projects, activities, calendars, and copies of the FHS newsletter, the society’s site can be browsed at: www.wlhn.org/fairwater_histsoc Newsletter Current issues are available at the Fairwater post office. Past issues and mailings are available through Bob Schuster, 6020 Kristi Circle, Monona, WI 53716 (608-221-1421).
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