Clark County Press, Neillsville, WI

November 20, 2019,  Page 9 

Contributed by "The Clark Co. Press"

Transcribed by Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon.

Index of "Oldies" Articles 

 

Compiled and Contributed by Dee Zimmerman

Clark County News

 

November 1929

 

Many persons can remember trapping muskrats in their youth and making good profits by selling the skins for perhaps 20 cents apiece. Now Muskrat pelts sell for About ten times that amount, the carcasses are sold as meat for as much as the skins formerly brought, and muskrat farming in marsh areas has become a profitable industry. The annual catch in the United States is now around 14,000,000 muskrats. The chief requirements in muskrat farming are to maintain a food supply for the animals and to guard against depleting their numbers by closing trapping. In some localities muskrats are kept on definite premises by fencing.

 

(Driving through wetland areas, past ponds, you may be able to see one or more dome-shaped muskrat lodges elevated two or three feet above still, shallow ponds in swampy areas. In appearance, the muskrat resembles a miniature-sized beaver. And, yes, muskrats are good eating much as rabbit and squirrel, due to their diets consisting of grasses and aquatic plants found in the ponds. The numbers of muskrats may not be as large as years ago, but they do still exist within Clark County’s ponds and wetlands. DZ)

•••••••••

The Community Club of Neillsville, which does considerable work in helping the poor of the city, has made plans for a bake sale to be held at the Cash Hardware store Saturday afternoon. All kinds of baking will be placed on sale and the money will be used for the purchase of clothing for needy persons. The club in addition to supplying wearing apparel has undertaken the expense of sending a student through the Neillsville High School.                                                                                                

•••••••••

Raising Chinchilla rabbits as a project in high school Agriculture is being tried out by Herman Moen, Neillsville High School senior. Herman has a rabbitry established at the home farm of his father J.C. Moen, north of Grand Avenue Bridge. In addition to taking care of his rabbits and keeping up his high school work, Herman works spare hours in the A&P Store.                                                     

•••••••••

Harold Tucker, whose appointment as Post Master in Loyal had been confirmed Sept. 30, received his commission No. 1. Mr. Tucker has been assistant Post Master for some time and was appointed acting Post Master July 1.                                                                                     

•••••••••

A new $56,000 addition and improvement project at the Winnebago Indian School was formally dedicated Sunday with impressive services and more than 300 visitors from Neillsville and surrounding territory visited the institution during the day.                                                             

•••••••••

A wild goose without a rudder is apt to do anything. The other day, after one had been shot at and his tail was disabled, he found it necessary to make a forced landing and picked out the center of a flock of chickens in the yard of Art Opelt’s home. Art noticed a commotion among the chickens and found the goose among them. That’s one way of getting a Thanksgiving dinner but this is the first time it’s happened at the Opelt farm.

 

(My grandmother always raised some domestic geese on their farm, so as to have roast goose for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners as well as to sell some. Grandma would dress out the geese, before selling them to customers, saving the feathers. after drying the feathers came the chore of stripping the flue of down from each side of the feather quills. On winter evenings, after supper hour, my mother and her siblings had the tedious chore of stripping feathers, a job which they dreaded.

 

Grandma used the down to make bed pillows and feather-tick quilt comforters that were put on the beds in unheated rooms during the winter months. One winter evening when I slept at my grandparents’ home, there was one feather-tick comforter to sleep on and another to cover up with, as I sank down into the bottom comforter and covered with the other one, all I could see was a bit of the ceiling above. However, I soon felt the amazing body-heat warmth contained between the comforters. No wonder geese can sit comfortable in icy-water ponds. DZ)

 

(When I, got married back in 1957, we had the feather-tick comforter to cover with at night on our bed. Dmk)  

•••••••••

People of Neillsville who plan to be serving turkey or other fowl for Thanksgiving have cause this year for being thankful.

 

The price of turkey and chickens is he lowest it has been in ten years according to Geo. May and the Prochaska Bros., Neillsville butchers, who stated many residents are taking advantage of the situation and buying the fowl at the low price. Not only is the price low but, the quality of the birds’ meat is said to be the finest in a number of years, largely due to being fed corn from the excellent crop the past summer.

 

This year’s turkeys are being retailed at 35’ a pound, about 13’ a pound less than last year while chickens are selling at about, 25’ a pound, a drop of about 5’ from last year.

•••••••••

Friday, November 22, Mrs. Orlo Robinson closed the strawberry season by picking the last of her crop. The berries were full-grown, had the blush of ripeness, but ad the two nights previous had been near zero weather, it was time to get them harvested.                                                           

•••••••••

Merchants Hotel Thanksgiving Menu

Roast Turkey & Cranberry Consommι

Mashed Potatoes, Baked Squash, Ripe & Green Olives,

Waldorf Salad, Dinner Rolls,

Mince Pie & Pumpkin Pie,

Steamed Pudding w/sauce.

Make reservations Early.

 

(Consommι is a heavy, rich broth that was served as gravy on the turkey and mashed potatoes. DZ)

 

November 1954

 

The ladies Bowling League of Greenwood held their annual masked and dress-up Halloween party at the local bowling alley. Prizes were awarded as follows: first, Blue Mirror team; second, Farmers and Merchants Bank; and third, the Greenwood Bakery team.                                      

•••••••••

The Sunny Side Card Club helped Mr. and Mrs. Ervin Schmidt of Loyal celebrate their wedding anniversary.

•••••••••

Richard A. Harrington, son of Mr. and Mrs. E.L. Harrington of Neillsville, recently spent a seven-day rest period at Camp Hakata on Japan’s southernmost island of Kyushu. There he had the enjoyment of sightseeing and the entertainment facilities. He is a corporal and serves in Korea as a plumber in Company C of an engineer battalion. As a civilian he worked for the Aluminum Company of America at Wenatchee, Washington.

•••••••••

Many persons regarded the television issue on the ballot in the general election as important, potentially, as many of the office choices. The question submitted to the people was on the construction at state expense of a  series of state-operated non-commercial educational television stations. Rival committees had fought out the issue thoroughly. No public question in recent times had been debated as exhaustively. And last week the people spoke out with resounding voice, against the plan. By a margin of more than two to one, voters advised the legislature that they don’t want such a network.

 

Beset, as it will be with increasing pressures for money from diminishing treasury balance, the legislature is almost certain to follow that advice when it convenes in January.

•••••••••

The Youth Fellowship of the E.U.B. Church of Chili enjoyed a corn husking bee at the Wenzel Lee farm Wednesday evening.                                                                       

•••••••••

Neillsville’s last passenger train slipped into oblivion last weekend, unheralded and unsung Aside from those impelled by duty to be in attendance, there was just one Neillsville citizen who honored the occasion by his presence. He was Art Haugen, who looked upon the passing of the train as a personal and regrettable loss. For 30 years, Haugen had handled mail carried by this train. For 30 years, the blowing of the whistle in the early morning meant to him the makings of the forenoon’s work. To him it was an old friend, filling out the pattern of his life, and he was losing it.

 

Inside the coach was one single passenger, a woman bound for Marshfield, who preferred anonymity and seclusion.                                                                                 

•••••••••

First Basketball Game In the New Neillsville High School Gym!

Thursday, Nov. 18

Neillsville High School Vs. Granton High School

Preliminary Starts 7:15

Plenty of Seats!

Automatic Ventilation!

•••••••••

Southern Clark County Conservation Club

Will hold its Annual ‘Coon & Ham Supper – November 16 – Serving starts at 5:30.

At Earl Markham’s Dance Hall – Chili Corners

•••••••••

Mr. and Mrs. Carl Schuelke of Cobb, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Schlinsog, Granton and Mr. and Mrs. William Foote, Lynn, were Saturday guests at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ferdinand Gotter of Loyal.

•••••••••

A farewell party in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Volz was held at the Washburn Town Hall Saturday evening, November 13, with around 100 in attendance. Dancing, card games and visiting were the entertainment. Mrs. Neal Meddaugh, Kenneth Wallace and Henry Wallace furnished the music. Mr. and Mrs. Volz were presented with a sum of money as a going away gift, after which lunch was served.

 

The Volz’s sold their 160-acre farm to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Bright and family from Indianapolis, Ind. Mr. and Mrs. Volz lived in that community for 41 years. They have rented a house in Pittsville, where they will reside until they find a smaller farm.                                                        

•••••••••

Twelve deer were the kill and registered in Clark County for Tuesday, November 23, in the heart of deer hunting season of 1954.

 

This kill is probably the smallest of any in the hunting history of Clark County.

 

Hunters attribute their troubles largely to weather. Those seen by Mark Russell, local game warden, tell him that they see plenty of signs of deer, but the deer themselves are not visible. Lack of snow hindered in the first days. The relative warmth was also unfavorable.

 

The first deer of the season to be registered in Neillsville, was shot by Chester Turville, Rt. 3, Neillsville. He got a beautiful eight-pointer and was registering it about 9 o’clock Saturday morning. He was hunting west of Neillsville.

 

For Fred Lunn of Galesville, the tables were turned; he became the hunted. Mr. Lunn has a trick knee. He stepped into a hole about three miles west of the Stables Club and gave the knee a wrench. He was one of a party  and knew his friends would be looking for him. So, he settled down to care for his leg and waited for the rescuers. His friends reported him as missing, and the search for him lasted from 6:30 until 11 Saturday evening, with six officers helping his friends in the search. His condition was not bad, when he was found.

 

(Hunters carrying cell phones with them while in the woods is now a great means of communication with fellow hunters, making it easier to know the location of each other while hunting. DZ)     

•••••••••

Mrs. Leon Kapfer and Mrs. Robert Lynch were installed as members Tuesday evening at the regular business meeting of the Women of the Moose. The hospital committee, consisting of Alma Zickert as chairman, assisted by Marion Linster, Estelle Wojtowicz and Helen Evans, had on display attractive handmade aprons, which were on sale for their fundraising project. Plans were discussed for a “cake walk” to take place on December 7.

 

(Aprons were in vogue with all housewives during that era. Their dresses were kept clean by wearing an apron over them while working in the kitchen. Aprons required little fabric, being able to purchase remnants of fabric available on the bargain table of a department store’s materials section. The home-sewn aprons could be very attractive in design, a pastime project for the women who enjoyed sewing and being creative. DZ)   

•••••••••

 

At an Auxiliary meeting of the Wallis-Hinker Post, Greenwood plans were completed for several of its members to go to the Tomah VA Center Thursday, November 18 to put on a Bingo party for veterans. Mrs. Carl Stabnow, Mrs. Fred Behrens and Mrs. Leona Syth were appointed to purchase prizes for the party. The decision was made to get rehabilitation stamps.                                                         

•••••••••

Dances Merry Ol’ Gardens - Heated Ballroom

South of Withee, On Highway 73

Big Wedding Dance Honoring Judy Awe & Orlando Ackerman - Saturday, Nov. 27

Don Adams & His Rhythm Kings – Sunday, Nov. 28

Starting 8 p.m. Sharp!

Special Attraction ‘Band with A-Peel’ Joe Banana & Bunch

Notice! Dancing every Sat. & Sun.. Starts at 8.

Open All Winter – Dance in Heated Hall.

 

(Prior to that time, most dance halls weren’t heated. While attending a dance in the winter months, women kept their costs on when they started dancing, to be worn until the hall warmed up enough from the dancers’ generating body heat. DZ)

 

Merry Ol’ Gardens dance hall was on the west side of STH 73 near Longwood. The Jackson family owned and operated a farm on the east side of the highway. The family also owned some acreage on the west side of the road where the dance hall was. The family operated the dance hall until it was destroyed by fire in the late 1950s. Photo contributed by Holly Saunders

 

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