Clark County Press, Neillsville, WI, June 24, 2009 Page 16

Last week a deal was closed whereby Denis Tourigny sold his hardware business to E. S. Laabs and P.O. Powers of Kilbourn, the new firm of Laabs and Powers being now in possession. The sale marks the close of one of the oldest, if not the oldest, business career in the city, for Mr. Tourigny has been a figure in this city for many years. He has grown old in the business and expects now to take a rest from the cares of business.

As time goes on, people get wiser at their trade and find many new advantages to the business, doing a good job as the old timers do. About 42 years ago when Tom Hommel was one of the leading blacksmiths of Neillsville, he made a buggy and finished it up for A. Reber, who owned a farm and saw mill on Cawley Creek, one mile north of the old Weston Corners. At that time and for years after, it was considered the best buggy in Clark County. Everybody wanted it and after Reber retired nearly everybody was trying to dicker for it and it has had more owners perhaps than any other one thing in Clark County. That buggy is yet, we believe, in use near Black River Falls.

Tom Hommel during most of his life has been marshal of the city of Neillsville and has also received several military awards from the government. Although being well along in years, if you walked up the street with him you will do well to keep up with his pace.

Help Wanted: Two girls needed to work in the kitchen, wages $20 per month along with room and board. Mail to: Hotel Blodgett, Marshfield, Wisconsin.

It is stated that the dry leaders are preparing to promulgate a world league to fight booze. Such an action is nothing more or less than useless waste of power, for after the world is dried up there will still be the moon and at the present time it does not seem possible that propaganda can be circulated there.

L. B. Ring came up from Milwaukee last week to assist Mrs. Ring in packing up their household goods and shipping them to Chicago where Mrs. Ring will keep house for her daughter, Miss Avis, who has a fine position there with the International Harvester Co. Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Ketel will occupy the Ring home here.

William Huntley, Sr., postmaster of Neillsville, was born in Washington County, Wis. on March 22, 1849. He died here at his home on June 12, 1919. The funeral was held Sunday afternoon.

He leaves surviving his wife, Mary (Newcombe), his daughters, Mrs. Elva Richardson, Fargo, N. D., Mrs. Edith Shaller, of Chippewa Falls, Wis., Miss Ellen Huntley and four sons, Charles of Minneapolis, Grover, William Jr., and John of Neillsville.

Mr. Huntley was born on a farm in Wisconsin, his parents being in modest circumstances. He had only a common school education. His father died when the children were young so he had to work to support his mother and the family. He came to Clark County in 1868, locating in the forests of Weston Township. The mother and her four sons: William; Richard, deceased; John, deceased, and Thomas, and daughter, Anna came to Neillsville on March 26, 1869. They came with two ox teams and two cows. William bought timberland and began to open up a farm, working in the logging camps in the winter. He met with steady success and became the owner of a fine farm in the Town of Weston. He was agent for the Fox River Company and he assisted many families in locating and purchasing farms. He loaned the settlers money and in many other ways helped them in their efforts to build homes in the wilderness. In later years he was interested in lumbering operations on the Pacific Coast. Twenty-six years ago he moved to Neillsville in order to afford his children better facilities for education.

Mr. Huntley’s capacity and integrity have been many times recognized by election or appointment to public office. He was assessor here for 14 years and chairman of his town several terms. He was mayor of Neillsville for 11 years.

President Cleveland during his second term, appointed Mr. Huntley postmaster of Neillsville, again being appointed to the office by President Wilson, a position he served until his death.

Clinton W. Bardell, York to Sadie Garbush of York; Henry Dudliewiz, Thorp, to Bonistawa Junicki, Pittsburgh; Herman Stoltzman, Spencer, to Elise Rohloff, Loyal; Robert Dwyer, Neillsville to Ruth Weast, Weston; Percy B. Vincent, Beaver, to Julia Slocomb, Beaver; Wm. Stickert, Fremont, to Lillian Breseman, Chili.

The former Episcopal Church building in Neillsville, recently remodeled into office space by W. B. Tufts, has been purchased from Mr. Tufts by the Lynn Mutual Insurance Companies. The purchase was made Wednesday, June 1, which date, incidentally, marked the 71^st anniversary of the Lynn Insurance Companies. The building is located adjacent to the Armory, at the corner of Fourth and Court Streets.

The annual cleanup and improvement week, held by the men of Mapleworks Lutheran Church congregation on their church property recently, shows that many necessary improvements were made. Among other things, a dug well on the lot adjacent to the parish house was filled in. This well was one of the first to be dug when Mapleworks was a thriving little four-corner settlement and it furnished water for a large boarding house on that site. Mapleworks Corners are now known as Trimmey’s Corner.

Loyal High School held its graduation exercises Wednesday evening, May 25. Those from the York Center community who graduated were: Inez Free, Barbara Holnbach, Edward Schecklman and Wayne Kronberger.

Mr. and Mrs. Roger Thomsen moved into the Harry Van Gorden house, formerly the Congregational parsonage on Hewett Street, Saturday. They will occupy the house for the summer months. Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Lauscher will return to it at the opening of school next fall.

Lauschers left Neillsville last Thursday for the summer months. They will spend the summer at Egg Harbor, where they operate a summer resort.

Saturday, June 11: Wedding Dance for Mr. and Mrs. Harold Rogstad with Pat Lautenbach and His Varsity Band at the Silver Dome Ballroom.

Tuesday, June 21, Free ‘Teen-agers’ Dance: Music by Howie Sturtz and his Swing King’s Orchestra.

The people of Czestochowa, near Thorp, are starting on the project of building a new church. The name Czestochowa has an interesting background. It is borrowed from the district of Poland from whence the people came that have settled in this community. It means, “Often disappearing.” That region in Poland is very hilly and people going to church often observed their church as it disappeared and reappeared as they arose and passed the crest of the hills.

The painters are giving the large bridge on County Trunk OO over Black River the last coat of paint. It should soon open for the public to use. One of the painters fell 25 feet while at work last Thursday. He was rushed to the Marshfield hospital.

Honeymooning in Canada are Mr. and Mrs. Merlin Bender, who were married June 4 at Unity by the Rev. J. A. Olsen. The bride is the former Caryl Jean Darton, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Darton of Loyal. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Bender of Loyal.

Mobile x-ray unit of the state board of health will move into central and southern Clark County Friday to take free chest x-rays of all adults in the county 18 years of age or over.

The unit has been operating in the northern part of the county for the last few days. The service is being given free throughout Clark County and all other counties throughout the state in an effort to locate all cases of tuberculosis in Wisconsin.

No more than three minutes time will be required for the x-raying of each person Miss Bernita Wasserburger, county nurse, told a meeting of group representatives in the city hall here last Wednesday night. Arrangements are being made for children to be cared for at the mobile unit while their mothers are being x-rayed.

The Rev. and Mrs. George Longenecker are about to bring to a close their long residence in Neillsville. They will remain at the Sunset Point through the present summer. Then they will divest themselves of their property in Neillsville, real and personal, and will go to Wauwatosa, where they will make their home with their daughter, Mrs. Gladys Edwards.

Sylvester, golf professional who is now resident pro at the Neillsville Country Club, told Rotarians recently how it came about.

He was the regular caddy of Mrs. Victor DuPont during his youth and she had a lot of faith in the golf savvy of her caddy. At times it got so that Tony addressed the ball, which Mrs. DuPont was playing, so that in that position the ball, presumably would travel in the proper direction when hit.

As young Tony stepped away, Mrs. DuPont stepped into his footprints and proceeded to whack the ball.

It was Mrs. DuPont who started Mr. Sylvester on the road to becoming a golf professional, he told the Rotarians. She recommended him to go to the Wilmington, DC, club professional, who took him on first as a shop boy, shining clubs and sanding handles of golf sticks. He started at $3 per week.

Mr. Sylvester has been in the golfing business for 39 years, 23 of them as a professional. As coach of the Georgetown (Washington, D. C.) Golf team from 1936 – 1942, his teams won one intercollegiate championship and finished second four other times.

The set of golf clubs, which the almost legendary Bobby Jones scored golfdom’s “Grand Slam” with, were made by Mr. Sylvester. He also turned out the clubs with which Tommy Armour won the United States Open Crown in 1927.

Mr. Sylvester paid high tribute to the Neillsville Country Club layout in his talk before the Rotarians. Of the greens, he asserted that there is none better in the country; and the layout as a whole is one of the finest courses he has seen in this many years of golf.

Now honeymooning in Minnesota and Canada are Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Stanley who were married Saturday, June 11, in a double ring ceremony at the Zion Reformed Church in Neillsville. The Rev. N. J. Dechant officiated. The church was decorated with lighted candles. Only the immediate families were present.

The bride the former Catherine Swann, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Swann of Milwaukee, was attired in a gown fashioned from white nylon, which came from Japan. She wore a floor length veil and carried a bridal bouquet of talisman roses.

The bridal couple was attended by Mr. and Mrs. Donald Lipscy of St. Louis, Mo., brother-in-law and sister of the bride. Mrs. Lipscy wore a floor length dress of powder blue and carried a colonial bouquet.

A dinner for the guests was served at the Merchant’s Hotel following the ceremony.

Mrs. Stanley is a graduate of the Neillsville High School with the class of 1948, and attended the Marquette University School of Nursing in Milwaukee for one year. The groom, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Leon Stanley, Neillsville, is a graduate of the Neillsville High School and attended the University of Wisconsin Ag short-course program.

Dance to the “Whoopee John Band” at the Lincoln Park Pavilion, Bakerville, Wis. on Tuesday evening, July 5^th.

A Free Dance will be given by Mr. and Mrs. Helmuth Schultz for their Wedding Anniversary Friday, June 24 at the Levis Town Hall. The Nemitz Brothers Band will provide the music.

Hear and see the Clark County 4-H Band Music Festival at the Armory, in Neillsville, Wednesday, July 6, 8:30 p.m. Admission: Adults, 40¢; Children, 25¢, tax included.

A tax levy of $75,000 is proposed for the school district of the city of Loyal. This is the same amount as was raised last year. A summary of the prospective outlay for the coming year gives the total as $74,800. Last year’s total was $70,812.78; the year 1947 – 48 was $63,382.18.

Marriage Licenses issued: William Nourse of Withee and Inez Mertens of Withee; William Schlinsog of Granton and Jeanette Guk of Granton; Norman C. Andreason of Withee and Charlotte L. Buchanan of Withee; James Cronin of Greenwood and Nevline Brown of Sterling, Ill.; and Fritz Pribbernow of Colby and Mary Kerr of Bourbonnais, Ill.

Philco Refrigerators are now on sale at Neillsville Maytag Co. Six-foot models as low as $189.75.

Russell’s Hardware now featuring a special price on the Whirlpool Wringer Washer: with giant size 9-lb. capacity aluminum tub, no-clog pump, roller and bar-type release on all-white wringer, only $88.

The above photo, taken in the late 1940s, shows a group of Neillsville ladies (Left to right) Laniece Schiesel, Betty Marshall, Alice Wasserburger, Metty (Russell) Roberts, Grace Urban, and Lovetta Anderson taking golf lessons from Lillian Selk, at the Neillsville Country Club course. The trees in the background were along the parking lot and Highway 10. (Photo courtesy of Dan Patey)

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