FREE!
JUNE 2012
Out & About
The 2011 summer guide to Northwestern Wisconsin
A Publication of the Inter-County Cooperative Publishing Association
Enjoy the Wisconsin outdoors!
Page 2
Out & About - June 2012
There’s plenty to see and do in Burnett County Follow the leader
Tucked away
A gosling succeeds in keeping up with its mom at a pond they’ve claimed as home near Frederic. - Photo by Becky Amundson
Otter tales
Enjoying a nap in a bed of lupines was this newborn. The fawn, born in the morning of Wednesday, May 30, spent the day in a garden east of Shell Lake on CTH B. The fawn is not abandoned by her mother; it is not unusual for a doe to leave her fawn in one location while she is out browsing. —Photo by Larry Samson
Fishin' buddies
Otters have made Big Wood Lake in Burnett County their home for years, usually swimming in the lake and sometimes positioning themselves for a close-up. Lake home residents Jerry and Jo Louise McNally are used to seeing glimpses of the animal - usually one at a time - but recently a trio of otters popped up on their deck. “Jerry spotted an otter on the deck through the living room window and called me to get the camera,” noted Jo Louise. “The otter disappeared under the deck when it saw movement in the house. With camera ready, we stood by the window, very still, for a long time hoping the otter would come back up on the deck. Our patience was rewarded with not one but three otters, which spent several minutes there before going back into the lake.” - Photo courtesy the McNallys
Trenton, Derek and Nathan enjoyed wetting a few lines at Lions Park on the St. Croix River earlier this spring. – Photo by Greg Marsten
Out & About - June 2012
June
15 – Siren – Music in the Park at Crooked Lake Park, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. (Siren School, if rain). 15 – Danbury – Dinner at the Fort, 5:30 p.m. wine/appetizers; 6:30 p.m. gourmet dinner. 715-866-8890, www.theforts.org. 15-17 - Frederic – Family Days. Parade, treasure hunt, pancake breakfast, antique tractor show, Miss Frederic competition, kiddie parade, softball tournament, petting zoo and more. 16– Grantsburg – 28th-annual Siren Ag Dairy Breakfast at the Melco Farm, south of Grantsburg, 6 a.m. - noon. Located on CTH O in the Town of Trade Lake. 16 - Shell Lake – Wine tasting benefit for Humane Society of Burnett County, noon to 5 p.m. 715-866-4096. 16 - Deer Lake – Neil McKenzie Youth Fishing Contest. 16 – Siren – Arts Alive on 35 events at BAAG Art Center, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 18 - Siren – 17th-annual golf tournament at Siren National Golf Course, 12 p.m. 715-349-5755 or 715-220-2416. 21 – Siren – Music in the Park at Crooked Lake Park, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. (Siren School, if rain). 22-24 – Milltown – 64th-annual Fishermen's Party. Parade, craft fair, music, softball tourney, etc. 715-825-2222. 22-24 – Turtle Lake – Powwow at the St. Croix Casino. 22-24 – Danbury – Yellow River Echoes: A Living History Fur Trade Experience at the Forts Folle Avoine Historical Park. Demonstrations, tours, workshops, competitions and games, wild rice pancake breakfast on Sunday, 8 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 715866-8890. 23 – Balsam Lake – Balsam Lake Invitational Ski Show at Paradise Land, 7 p.m. Bring your lawn chair. 23 – A & H – Sunflowers Daze, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. at Sacred Hearts Catholic Church. Something for everyone. Over 5,000 plants both annuals and perennials. 24 – Webster – Chicken BBQ, across from Curves, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Sponsored by the Webster Lions Club. 24 – Cushing – Sterling Settlers Potluck Picnic at the Cushing Community Center, 715-488-2320. 25-29 – Frederic – Frontier Trails Stable Day Camp. Youth horseback riding day camp for 7 - 16 years old, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. daily. 715-327-8572 28 – Siren – Music in the Park at Crooked Lake Park, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. (Siren School, if rain). 29-July 1 – Balsam Lake Freedom Fest. balsamlakecc.com 30 - Webb Lake – Fundraiser pig roast, sale, auction, air show and fireworks.
July
1 - Webster – Lions Chicken barbecue by Old Webster High School, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. 715-866-7681. 3-4 – Siren – Siren Freedom Festival. Freedom Five Walk/Run, bed race, kiddie parade, parade and fireworks, street dance Sunday night. www.visitsiren.com, 715-349-8399. 4 – Webster Fire Department Brat Feed at the Webster Fire Hall. 11 a.m. 715866-7151 or www.websterchamber. com. 4 – Clam Falls – Fourth of July parade. 4 – Webster – Fun Day and Fourth of July parade on Main Street, Webster Fire Department water-ball fight. www.websterchamber.com, 715-8667774. 5 – Siren – Music in the Park at Crooked Lake Park, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. (Siren School, if rain). 5-8 – Spooner – 59th-annual Heart of the North Rodeo, live music, parade, BBQ, cowboy church service Sunday, youth activities, 800-367-3306. 7 – Danbury – Danbury Days parade on Main Street in the evening, duck race, sidewalk sales and more.
Page 3
Things to see and do
The early-morning sky is set a blazed with the color and beauty of a sunrise. — Photo by Larry Samson
8 – Danbury – Wild rice pancake breakfast at the Fort, 8 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 715-866-8890. 12 – Webster – Forts Folle Avoine golf tournament fundraiser at Fox Run Golf Course, 2:30 p.m. 715-866-8890. 12 – Siren – Music in the Park at Crooked Lake Park, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. (Siren School, if rain). 12-14 – Webster – Central Burnett County Fair - horse pull, truck and tractor pull, demo derby, carnival rides and games, live bands and D.J., dance, exhibits, Bingo, talent show, animals, food and beer garden, call Renelle Sears, 715-866-8261. 12-15 – Centuria – Memory Days, 715646-2300. centuriawi.com 14 – Grantsburg – Music in the Park at Memory Lake, south pavilion, 5 - 7 p.m. (Faith Lutheran Church, if rain.) 16-20 – Frederic – Frontier Trails Stable Day Campe. Youth horseback riding day camp for 7 - 16 years old, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. daily. For more info, 715-3278572 19 – Siren – Music in the Park at Crooked Lake Park, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. (Siren School, if rain). 19-22 – St. Croix Falls – Wannigan Days and Craft Show. Music, food, parade, craft show, etc. 715-483-0022. 20-22 – Grantsburg – 36th-annual World Championship Snowmobile Watercross. Rated one of the 10 races in the U.S. by SnoGoer Magazine. 715-4634269. 20-22 – Luck – Lucky Days, parade and events throughout the weekend. 21 – Siren – Burnett County Airport Flyin and Dairy Breakfast, 7 a.m. - 4 p.m. 23-27 – Frederic – Frontier Trails Stable Day Camp. Youth horseback riding for 7 - 16 years old, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. daily. 715-327-8572 26 – Siren – Music in the Park at Crooked Lake Park, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. (Siren School, if rain). 26-31 – Voyager Village – "Steel Magnolias" by Robert Harling presented by Voyager Village Players at the Community Center, 7 - 9 p.m. www.villageplayerscommunity theatre.com. 26-29 – St. Croix Falls – Polk County Fair, 715-483-0022. 26-29 – Spooner – Washburn County Fair, 715-469-3217. 27-29 – Danbury – Great Folle Avoine Fur Trade Rendezvous - pancake breakfast - demonstrations, competitions and entertainment - Witness firsthand the interaction between two cultures. Hwy. 35 north of Webster to CTH U, west 2.6 miles, 715-866-8890. 28-29 – Frederic – Indianhead Gem and Mineral Show, 715-349-2241.
August
1-5 – Voyager Village – "Steel Magnolias" by Robert Harling, presented by Voyager Village Players at the Community Center, 7 - 9 p.m. www.villageplayerscommunity theatre.com.
2 – Siren – Music in the Park at Crooked Lake Park, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. (Siren School, if rain). 2-5 – Siren – Siren Summerfest and reunion weekend. Crazy Days, sidewalk sales, arts and crafts, queen pageant, car show, etc. 3-5 – St. Croix Falls – Lamar Music Festival, 715-483-0022, 715-553-2116. 4 – Siren – Siren Lions Club BBQ and Rib Fest - 11 a.m. - ? Crooked Lake Park, call 715-349-7399. 4 – Siren – Annual Coin Show - Sponsored by Fishbowl Wooden Nickel Coin Club at senior citizens center - 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. John Biver, 715-4682012. 4 – Danbury – Danbury's 100th-anniversary celebration, www.discoverdanbury.com. 9 – Siren – Music in the Park at Crooked Lake Park, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. (Siren School, if rain). 10-12 – Webster – Gandy Dancer Days. Sponsored by the Webster Chamber of Commerce. www.websterwisconsin.com 10-12 – Lewis – Charles E. Lewis Days, 800-222-7655. 11 – Luck – Luck Fireman's Corn Feed, 715-472-2805. 12 – Danbury – Wild rice pancake breakfast at the Fort, 8 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 715-866-8890. TBA – Webb Lake – Webb Lake Men’s Club Carnival. Dunk tank, midway, concessions, children’s games, teen events, turkey shoot, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m., at Webb Lake Fire Department. 16-19 – Grantsburg – Burnett County Agricultural Society Fair. Exhibits including animals, crafts, flowers and crops. Demo derby Friday, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, 6 p.m.; Tractor pull, 6 p.m. Saturday, Bruce, 715-4882472. 16 – Siren – Music in the Park at Crooked Lake Park, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. (Siren School, if rain). TBA - Danbury – The 11th-annual Oktoberfest - German dance and folk music, crafts, authentic German beer, brats, sauerkraut, - 1 – 9 p.m., in Danbury - Behind Log Cabin Store Sponsored by Danbury Area Lions, Klaus Neider, 715-244-3403. 18 - Cushing – Cushing Fun Day. 18 - Frederic – Frederic Art and Craft Fair, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., by the museum, 715-327-4807.
18 - Frederic – Northland Ambulance Chicken Dinner and historical society pie social. 23 – Siren – Music in the Park at Crooked Lake Park, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. (Siren School, if rain). 23 - Danbury – Garden Tea, Forts Folle Avoine Historical Park, 715-8668890, www.theforts.org. 24-26 - Danbury – 38th-annual Traditional Wild Rice Powwow, at the St. Croix Casino Danbury, Tom at 800238-8946. 25 – Grantsburg – Music in the Park at Memory Lake, south pavilion, 5 - 7 p.m. (Faith Lutheran Church, if rain.) 25 - Lewis – Youth in the Outdoors at Coyland Creek, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., 715653-4273. 30 – Siren – Music in the Park at Crooked Lake Park, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. (Siren School, if rain). 31-Sept. 2 - Siren – Siren Lions Annual Labor Day Garage Sale in Crooked Lake Park, Siren.
September
1 - Balsam Lake – Turtle Crunch Demo Derby. 1 - Danbury – Chicken BBQ and antique appraisal at the Forts Folle Avoine Historical Park. 1-2 - Voyager Village – 34th-annual Arts and Crafts Fair, Voyager Village Community Center, Webster, 715259-3714. 1-2 - Balsam Lake – Corn on the Curb, 715-485-3424. 2 - Danbury – Wild rice pancake breakfast at Forts Folle Avoine Historical Park, 8 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 6 – Siren – Burnett County Democrats Brat and Bean Feed at Crooked Lake Park, 5 p.m. 7-9 - Osceola – Wheels and Wings Community Fair, Osceola. 15 – Luck – Luck Fall Harvest Truck and Tractor Pull, 800-222-7655. 22 - Cushing – River Road Ramble, 800222-7655 or www.polkcountytourism.com TBA - Webster – 31st-annual Webster Lions Musky Madness Tournament, Yellow Lake, 715-866-4788. 28-29 – Siren – Siren Harvestfest, 715349-8399 or 715-349-8282, visitsiren.com. 29 – Grantsburg – Grantoberfest, all day. www.grantsburgchamber.com
Out & About June 2012
Published by the Inter-County Cooperative Publishing Association, Frederic, WI 54837 Manager: Doug Panek Contributing writers/photographers/compositors: Staff members of the Inter-County Leader and the state DNR
Page 4
Out & About - June 2012
Sold! UPH building purchased by Ruby’s Pantry organization
Selling price is $5, way above the asking price of $1
by Mary Stirrat Leader staff writer LUCK — The former United Pioneer Home in Luck, vacated last fall with the opening of a new facility just down the road, was sold recently to Home and Away Ministries, the umbrella ministry of Ruby’s Pantry. United Pioneer Home Administrator Dan Valentine said that the nursing home board has been trying to sell the vacant facility for months, asking $1. The board had finally decided to tear the building down, at a cost exceeding $200,000, when Valentine was contacted about a possible buyer. That buyer is Lyn Sahr, founder and executive director of Home and Away Ministries based in Pine City, Minn. Locally, the ministry is most familiar as Ruby’s Pantry, which distributes food, and Ruby’s Second Hand, a thrift store in Siren. In telling the story, Valentine credits God with bringing the pieces together at exactly the right time. At the end of April, he said, in preparation for tearing down the former building, a garage sale was being organized to sell items left inside. The garage sale was set for Saturday, with staff having the opportunity to make purchases the Wednesday before. The staff sale, said Valentine, netted more than $600 for resident activities.
The former United Pioneer Home in Luck has been sold to Home and Away Ministries, the umbrella ministry for Ruby’s Pantry. Tentative plans are to use the facility for food distribution and as a “boot camp” for people entering the mission field. — Photos by Mary Stirrat The day after the staff sale, before the public garage sale could take place, Valentine was contacted by Amy Aguado, community education coordinator at Luck as well as coordinator for the Ruby’s Pantry distribution in Luck. Aguado connected Valentine with Sahr, and the two met that Thursday morning. The deal was concluded a week or two later, when Sahr paid $5, far above the $1 asking price. Thursday, May 17, United Pioneer Home filed a quit claim deed on the original property. One of the best parts of the whole thing, said Valentine, is that building will remain a Christian, faith-based property. In the late 1940s, area churches joined
together to establish United Pioneer Home, which opened in 1953 to serve the local community. Sahr, through Home and Away Ministries and Ruby’s Pantry, plans to continue the legacy of service. Details are still up in the air, but the overall vision is to use the building as a food distribution center as well as a “boot camp” for individuals and families entering the mission field. “We have for years been looking for a facility like this,” said Sahr. The vision of Home and Away Ministries, he said, is to share the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ while serving others to meet practical needs.
Lyn Sahr, executive director of Home and Away Ministries. The “Home” part is providing food, clothing, furniture, vehicles and other necessities through Ruby’s Pantry, while the “Away” part has involved serving churches and pastors in poor areas of Mexico. About two years ago, due to the growing violence in Mexico, the “Away” part of the ministry moved across the border into the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. At Luck, said Sahr, the next step is to have the property rezoned to accommodate the ministry Home and Away Ministries envisions. Another practical step will be to hire a maintenance person to begin some of the work that needs to be done to prepare the building.
Pamida store conversion to Shopko Hometown
715-349-2323
Debbie Rufsholm, Owner Hours: Tues. - Sat. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Reliable, Superior Customer Service
New Arrivals Daily
Exceptional Flowers For Treasured Moments
facebook.com/gallerygiftandfloral
* * * *
TheGalleryGiftAndFloral.com
* Fresh Flowers By Design Arrangements, Centerpieces, Corsages, Boutonnieres, Altar Flowers & Reception Flowers * Personalized Stamps & Embossers * Wines & Accessories * Bath & Body Care * Purses, Scarves & Umbrellas * Beautiful Illuminated Jewelry Floral Collection Greeting Cards & * Home Décor Balloons * Yard & Garden Handpainted, Handcrafted Suncatchers * Visit Our New Travel & Bookmarks Section Water Fountains - Indoor * Fresh Homemade Fudge or Out And Chocolates
562376 32o
24248 State Road 35/70, Siren, WI
LEFT: The Pamida store in Spooner has begun its conversion to Shopko Hometown. A liquidation sale was the first step in the conversion process. “We are eager to be one step closer to bringing the Shopko Hometown experience to Spooner. The Shopko Hometown format has already been overwhelmingly embraced by customers in seven markets where we have already converted stores,” said Paul Jones, Shopko president, chairman and CEO. Shopko is owned by affiliates of Sun Capital Partners Inc., a leading private investment firm focused on leverage buyouts, equity, debt and other investments in market-leading companies. RIGHT: The store conversion will take approximately five to six weeks from start to finish and will include new interior and exterior signage, updated and supplemented fixtures, improved store design and layout, as well as an expanded merchandise mix.— Photos by Suzanne Johnson
Give the gifts to be remembered!
STOP IN & CHECK OUT OUR HUGE SELECTION 562676 OF KITES. 32a,o
562815 32o
Out & About - June 2012
Page 5 WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
CREX MEADOWS WILDLIFE AREA
Crex Meadows
GRANTSBURG – Among the boundless natural resources to be found in Burnett County is Crex Meadows Wildlife Area, the largest wildlife area in Wisconsin. Located near Grantsburg, Crex Meadows encompasses 30,000 acres of wetland, prairie and forest. It is home to deer, bear, coyote, beaver and other mammals, along with more than 265 species of birds. Thousands of Canada geese, sandhill cranes, loons, eagles, ducks, grouse, and osprey make their home, at least part of the year, at Crex Meadows. In summer, eagles, osprey and loons are busy raising their young amidst the blooming prairie plants. Management of Crex Meadows has focused on restoring the wetlands and prairies that historically were found in the area. Since its purchase by the Department of Natural Resources in 1946, 29 flowages have been built and 7,000 acres restored. With the exception of a 2,400-acre refuge, the area is open to hunting and trapping. Crex Meadows is considered one of the best waterfowl and sharptailed grouse hunting areas in Wisconsin. Along with hunting, visitors can enjoy birdwatching, hiking, tours and wildlife viewing. Excellent access to the wildlife area is provided by more than 40 miles of road, from which most wildlife can be seen. Self-guided auto tour booklets, bird lists, and other pamphlets are available at the Crex Headquarters on CTH D and F. For more information call 715-463-2896. - submitted
New coffee shop open in Webster
by Carl Heidel Leader staff writer WEBSTER - Webster added another jewel to its Main Street crown when Fresh Start Coffee Roasters officially opened for business on Monday, April 30. And if the coffee here seems just a bean or two better than some other coffees you’ve tasted, it may just be due to the fact that this shop roasts its own beans to bring ultimate freshness to each and every cup brewed. Primary owners and managers of the shop are Zachary “Zac” and Lisa Benson, and they will tell you that their aim is to create an atmosphere where “big-town elegance meets small-town charm.” It’s to be a no-compromise business for them as they offer only the finest and freshest ingredients in their products. And that sense of the finest begins when you step into the shop. The Bensons have completely remodeled what used to be an optometrist’s office and a used book store to create something that offers what Zac calls “the wow factor.” From the antique tin ceiling to the inviting furniture to the outdoor patio setting – only for seasonal use in Northwest Wisconsin – it all spells casual elegance, a setting that invites people to come in and relax. At the heart of the operation are two coffee roasters that can transform green, raw coffee beans into brown, roasted beans in 15 to 20 minutes. “If people want,” said Zac, “they can sit and watch their beans roast as they wait or they can call ahead and order, and we’ll have fresh roasted beans waiting for them when they arrive.” Online ordering is also available at www.freshstartcoffee-
The interior of Fresh Start Coffee Roasters is warm and inviting. – Photos by Carl Heidel
roasters.com. Both Bensons feel strongly about being part of the Webster community. They turned to Webster High School’s Tiger Manufacturing for the cabinetry in their shop, and they intend to use their business to support other local businesses. Both hope that their presence will draw people to Webster’s Main Street where they will discover all the other features the locale offers. And what could be better, they say, than having some place to “hang out” when you have time on your hands. Waiting for lab results after a visit to the doctor? Need someplace to sit while
your spouse hangs around in the hardware store? Want someplace where you can sit and read the book you just picked up at the used book store or the library? Well, the coffee shop will be there waiting for you. And it’s not just coffee and coffee products. The shop also serves up your favorite smoothies and teas, and offers a select lunch menu as well. Hours for Fresh Start Coffee Roasters
At the heart of the Fresh Start Coffee Roasters operation are two of these roasters that perform the magic of transforming raw beans into fine coffee.
will be 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 7 a.m. through 2 p.m. on Sundays. The Bensons will be waiting to serve you.
Lisa (left) and Zac Benson (center), managers and part owners of Fresh Start Coffee Roasters, check over an order with Rachael Paulson (right) before it is served.
Roy Ward (right), industrial arts teacher at Webster High School, explains some of the cabinetry created by the school’s Tiger Manufacturing for the coffee shop to Zac Benson (left).
Page 6
Out & About - June 2012
Local Girl Scout has a heart for bats
from Troop 50432 under the direction of Wendy Larson in Webster, has been earning merit badges for eight years. Cone has just become a Cadette, which means a new vest and a whole new level of badges and awards to earn. Cone has already completed what’s called the Cadette Journey, and now she’s going for the Silver Award—the highest award a Cadette can earn. Girl Scout Sunny Cone wants to help the community by The Silver Award protecting bats and their role in the local ecosystem. is a chance to demonstrate leaddownloaded from the DNR’s Web ership, organizational skills and the site. In addition, the plan includes desire to improve the community by checking on the bat houses once a getting involved in an issue the month to count the bats and monitor Scout cares about. their health, then report these findCone, 13, the daughter of Scott ings back to a contact at the DNR. and Tonya Cone, has developed a A key component of the project is plan to build 20 bat houses and to get the community involved. The place them on resi- rules for the Silver Award limit the dential properties Scout and her family to underwritthroughout Bur- ing no more than 25 percent of the nett County. She project costs, and also require that figures if bats have the Scout involve others in any a safe and healthy required labor. She’s got a plan, a place to roost and budget, a time line, and even a raise their young, building and assembly crew all then 1) they won’t lined up. However, the first step is be so susceptible to to get the necessary supplies. It will disease; and 2) be Sunny’s task to solicit donations they won’t be as to cover the estimated $700 needed likely to roost in for building materials. places we don’t The 20 bat houses will require 10 want them to, like sheets of exterior grade plywood, 20 in our walls and tubes of paintable caulk, 1,000 coatup in our attics. ed screws, 5 gallons of primer, 5 galHer plan has been lons of paint and 20 8-foot furring developed in con- strips. Local businesses and indijunction with Wis- viduals are encouraged to find out Bats are less likely to enter homes if they have a house of consin’s DNR; for how they can get involved by sendtheir own. This bat house design can be downloaded from example, the bat ing an e-mail to stcone@sirentel.net. the Wisconsin DNR Web site. - Photos by Jean Koelz house design was
by Jean Koelz Leader staff writer BURNETT COUNTY—Question: What is the only mammal that can fly? Answer: A bat. Question: Does that bit of trivia make bats any more welcome in our homes? Answer: No way. Why do we hate bats so? For centuries, bats have been associated with darkness and disease. They fly around unpredictably and probably will give us rabies as they suck out our blood, right? Sadly, folklore and Hollywood have created a terrible PR problem for bats. The truth is, bats are an important part of our ecosystem. And they do us all a great service by eating up to a thousand insects an hour. According to the Wisconsin DNR, we can also thank bats for pollinating and dispersing seeds for countless plants. We can know all that and still think they’re ugly and scary. What if you found out that a deadly fungus threatens to wipe out our bat population—would that garner any sympathy for the little critters? One local teen is concerned, and she’s planning to do something about it. Girl Scout Sunny Cone,
562774 32o
Enjoy your stay in the Burnett County area!
ACCESSORIZE IN SECONDS. Transform your vehicle in 30 seconds or less – without tools – into a workhorse, ultimate hunter or king of the trails!
CUSTOMIZE YOUR RANGER RZR® AT:
BUILDMYRZR.COM
CUSTOMIZE YOUR RANGER® AT:
BUILDMYRANGER.COM Cabs, roofs, windshields, brushguards, plows, winches, riding gear and more – WE HAVE IT ALL.
CUSTOMIZE YOUR ATV AT:
BUILDMYATV.COM
INSTALLS EASILY – FITS RIGHT – ENHANCES VEHICLE FUNCTIONALITY
FOUR STAR SPORTS WEBB LAKE, WIS.
715-259-3286
SALES • SERVICE • RENTALS
KEEP KEEP IN IN TOUCH TOUCH WITH WITH YOUR YOUR VACATIONLAND VACATIONLAND ALL ALL YEAR YEAR LONG! LONG!
562677 32o
Polaris recommends that all riders take a training course. Do not attempt maneuvers beyond your capability. Always wear a helmet and other safety apparel. Never drink and ride. All off-road vehicles depicted may feature Pure™ parts and accessories and are not standard features of the made models they accompany. For your nearest dealer, call 1-800Polaris or go to www.purepolaris.com. ©2012 Polaris Industries Inc.
www.iccpaonline.com Click on any of our yellow Advertiser logos to download and view ads online. Garage Sales • Auctions • Classified Ads Dining & Entertainment • Real Estate Help Wanted • Retail
2012 Collection
“Sandals for every walk of life” Great classic as well as new fashionable styles. The right look from dock to shore! The finest in moccasins & casual footwear.
LUCKY DAYS STOREWIDE SALE & CELEBRATION - JULY 20 & 21
562430 32o
303 N. Wisconsin Ave. Frederic, Wis.
715-327-4236
107 N. Washington St. St. Croix Falls, Wis.
715-483-9008
24154 State Rd. 35N Siren, Wis.
715-349-2560
11 West 5th Ave. - Lake Mall Shell Lake, Wis.
715-468-2314
562816 32o
INTER-COUNTY COOPERATIVE PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION
113 Main Street • Luck, Wis.
715-472-8199
Your local Red Wing dealer since 1984. Quality shoe & saddle repair. Visit us online at
lucksaddlery.com
Out & About - June 2012
Houman's Resort celebrates 50 years
Page 7
A family celebrates a half century of operating the traditional but extraordinary lake resort
by Sherill Summer Leader staff writer DANBURY - It was the week before the fishing opener at Houman’s, a resort that has been nestled along the Minerva Chain of Lakes, near Danbury, since 1936. There is always so much to do in the springtime when owning a resort - cabins to open and grounds to tend. This spring there was more to do with the preparation for the resort’s 50th anniversary - a half century under the ownership of the Houman family. But on this day, current resort owners Chuck and Connie Houman, Chuck’s cousin Pam, and the matriarch of Houman’s Resort, Mary Houman, were sitting at a kitchen table with piles of old photographs and photo albums filled with snapshots of guest families, many who come to the resort faithfully every year, generation after generation. A reporter was called in because the 50th-anniversary events were scheduled for Memorial Day weekend, and there were anniversary events to talk about ... but mostly it was a morning of remembering. The basic facts are simple. Mary and her late husband, Bill, didn’t build the resort. It had been there since 1936, soon after the dam on Loon Creek was built that formed the magnificent lakes around the resort. The Houmans purchased the 43-acre resort in 1962 from Myron Howland. The Houmans had three boys, two in high school and one in fifth grade, to help them operate the resort that featured
Connie, Chuck and Mary Houman shown (L to R) in the Houman’s Resort bar. While there have been changes to the bar over the last 50 years, it still has a classic north-woods feel, and it still is the resort guests “go to” place for food and fun. - Photo by Sherill Summer 14 two-bedroom cabins. Fifty years later, all but one of the old cabins have been refurnished with modern necessities - such as indoor plumbing, gas stoves and refrigerators to replace the iceboxes. All 13 renovated cabins are still in use. A campground for trailers and RVs has been developed up
Bill and Mary Houman in a photo taken 50 years ago. When former resort owner Myron Howland asked the Houmans if they wanted to purchase the resort, their first answer was that they didn’t have any money. Once the Houmans bought the resort, they found out what it was really like not having money as they started the business with only $17 in the checking account. Even back in 1962 that was not very much money, especially as there were three boys to care for. Friends predicted that the Houmans would never make it. – Photo submitted
Sid, the Houman's Resort mascot, changes with the seasons. Currently, it looks as if he has fishing on his mind. – Photo by Sherill Summer
the hill from the lake. The resort restaurant-bar has also changed over 50 years, but is still the classic north woods, horseshoe bar. The best stories, however, always started whenever someone at the kitchen table asked Mary to tell the reporter about ... The stories drift from historical facts to stories of people and what they did, then back again. There was the story of the Houman family moving from Hudson where the neighborhood was filled with kids to rural Danbury where there were few kids that lived here yeararound. There were so few kids that it wasn’t a bus that picked them up for school, but the Wierschems nine-passenger station wagon. There was the ever-popular “kids night” every Wednesday. The choice of music on the jukebox, and the food on Wednesday always had the kids in mind. The kids loved it even if the their parents had to chaperone (otherwise they were not allowed in the bar). There was also the late-night revelry, very late-night revelry, whenever the late Tom Cashman had his trumpet. There was the idiot stick - a musical instrument that involved door springs and a can - that was a New Year’s Eve tradition. Mary always led the revelry on New Year’s Eve with a blond wig and a silver-sequined dress. It seems that the Houmans couldn’t go anywhere without meeting a resort guest, in Madison or Las Vegas - someone would walk up to her and say, “Mary Houman! What are you doing here?” “Same thing as you,” she would always say.
Andy Houman with his catch when he was about 8. Andy is current owner Chuck and Connie’s son. Some advantages of growing up on a resort are that there are always kids to play with, and the resort guests love it if you go fishing with them, since you know where the fish are. – Photo submitted
Naturally, all of these stories, and countless more, were told at Houman's Resort anniversariy, held on Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, May 26 and 27.
Located in the heart of the ATV trail system in Burnett County, Houman’s Resort offers a unique camping experience for ATVers as well as boaters, anglers and hikers. See Houmans.com for more information. - Special photo
Cabin No. 12 as it looked when the Houmans first purchased the resort 50 years ago, before the two-bedroom cabins had indoor plumbing, refrigerators, gas stoves and the like. Life has changed since then for everyone. One of the winter chores that has gone by the wayside since then is cutting and storing ice for use in the cabins, and the endless cutting of wood. – Photo submitted
Page 8
Out & About - June 2012
Public art project beautifi fie es Webster
by H. Rice Special to the Leader WEBSTER – Webster’s Main Street is looking better and better these days. First, the new library, then a new coffee shop, and now there’s beautiful artwork for everyone to enjoy. Recently, visitors to downtown were treated to the sight of local artists, members of the Burnett Area Arts Group, working on an enormous mural on the west wall of Gandy Dancer Books facing the Fresh Start Coffee Roasters patio. The idea for public art came from Zac Benson. He and his wife, Lisa, coffee shop owners, wanted to spruce up the patio they developed from the space between their shop and Bonnie Dahlstrom’s bookstore. “We wanted something relaxing so people could sit outside with their coffee, maybe go into the bookstore and get a book – just enjoy Wisconsin,” said Benson, adding that this project was a perfect opportunity for somebody in the community. “We presented the idea to the BAAG, and they were excited about it.” According to BAAG artist Arlene Elliot, “We started thinking about [the mural]
BAAG member Arlene Elliott puts her special touch to flowers on the 560-square-foot mural decorating the west wall of the Gandy Dancer bookstore facing the patio of Webster’s new coffee shop, Fresh Start Coffee Roasters. - Photos by H. Rice
last December. We had many meetings deciding what we wanted to do. The design was a collaborative effort by several of us thinking ‘outdoors’ and what represents Wisconsin.” The result: a soft, colorful mural stretching 40 feet long and 14 feet high depicting sky, water, cattails, birches, pines and flowers – the natural beauty surrounding Webster. Still to be added are the indigenous “critters.” “We wanted to keep it in the ‘Monet’ style of impressionism,” explained Elliot. The 19th century French artist Claude Monet invented the style of painting that uses small brush strokes of color, giving a soft impression of the world rather than a realistic, detailed version. Supporting the project, Ace Hardware’s Stefan Benson donated more than $600 worth of paint and supplies, primed the surface and provided scaffolding so artists could reach every corner of the 560square-foot surface.
Another feature being added is a faux door showing an entryway to the Gandy Dancer bookstore – like an invitation to come in and browse. The real door, of course, is around the corner facing the street. Needless to say, Dahlstrom is delighted, adding her praise for the project. In addition to Elliott, six BAAG artists worked on the mural: Thom Scott, Carla Phillips, Fran Grantham, Karen Fey, Kathy Recke and Bonnie Kohl. “It’s really fun to come together working as a BAAG team,” commented Fey as she painted. “It builds awareness of the arts, links the community with BAAG, and shows people what we can do.” Zac Benson says Webster’s on a roll. “We take pride in what we’ve got, with the new library, Wayne’s redone his store – we have a nice boom going on here in Webster, and we want to keep it all flowing in the right direction.”
Table for two
Three Burnett Area Arts Group artists work on the 40’ x 14’ mural on Webster’s Main Street; in front, Karen Fey; next, Carla Phillips; back, Fran Grantham.
Triple JJ Lawn Care Service
The mystery of why bird feeders at the Lokker home in rural Webster were always empty was solved when these two were caught in the act in the front yard. - Photo by Patsy Lokker
Big or Small ... We Do It All!
“Peggy’s Upstairs” EST. 1985
Lawn Care - Pressure Washing - Bobcat Service - Deck & Lift Installation, Removal & Repair - Pontoon Hauling & More After 12 years of service, I would like to thank all of my loyal customers and invite any new customers to give me a call. Owner: Duane Hare 24844 Big Sand Lake Dr., Webster, WI 54893
Cell: 715-566-0759
•
562706 32a 32o
Phone: 715-349-8964
Largest Selection of Souvenir T-shirts & Sweatshirts Family Clothing • Packer Memorabilia Where Quality & Value Never Go Out of Style! 715-349-5000 • 7715 Main St. • Siren, WI 54872
www.peggysfashionrack.com
Like us on
562817 32o
Mother-of-the-Bride Dresses
Our 56th Year! Since 1956...Find Out Why
Relax, Dine, Chat In Comfort ction Of Large Sele esistant R Weather urniture F n si e R Poly t Crack, o N l il W rp, Rot Split, Wa ter Or Splin
Granite, Faux Granite, Faux Slate & Glass-top Tables. Swivel Rocking & Stacking Chairs. Dining, Pub & Bar Heights. Unsurpassed comfort & quality.
USA
CHOOSE YOUR STYLE FABRIC & FRAME COLOR!
made
in the
101 MAIN STREET LUCK, WI • 715-472-2487
www.jensenfurnitureluck.com
Custom Draperies • Floor Covering • Complete Home Furnishings
Hours: Mon. - Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.; Sat. 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
LARGE SELECTION FREE DELIVERY IN STOCK 562379 32o
100-Mile Radius
Out & About - June 2012
Page 9
Crex education and visitor center
GRANTSBURG – The Crex Meadows Wildlife Education and Visitor Center is open from April through October, seven days a week, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and on weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The center opened to the public on April 13, 2002, and was funded by monies raised by the Friends of Crex. The center is located at the junction of CTH D and CTH F. At the front of the building you will find a prairie garden with many of the prairie grasses and wildflowers found in the wildlife area. Many of the plants are labeled to help you with identification. This area was created and is maintained by Friends of Crex volunteers. Also notice the brick walk with bricks purchased by donors to honor friends and family. Proceeds from the sale of these bricks were originally used to help build the visitor center, and new funds are now put toward the endowment fund which was set up in 2003 as a source of perpetual funding for interpretive programs at the center. The grounds at the wildlife education and visitor center include a paved handicapped accessible walkway through prairie plantings. Check out the birdhouses at the beginning of the walkway for nesting bluebirds and flickers. Behind the center is a boardwalk and nature trail. The boardwalk was built in 2004 and goes over a pond that was constructed by the local chapter of Ducks Unlimited and is used for educational purposes. Inside the center you will find exhibits, bird and mammal displays, as well as artwork by local artists. Pamphlets, maps and other brochures are available both inside and out to help you plan and enjoy your visit better. Souvenirs are available at the gift shop, The Bog Shoe. The Friends of Crex sell these items to help fund the wildlife interpretive program. Other facilities include offices for Friends of Crex and DNR staff, a 52-seat auditorium equipped with audio visual booth, a small stage and a podium, a full kitchen and a large classroom/meeting hall. These facilities are used by the Friends of Crex and the DNR and are also available for groups and organizations to use for meetings and events. Please contact the Crex staff at 715-463-2739 for more information on how to reserve space for your next event. Crex Meadows staff and volunteers are available to guide tours of the wildlife area. If you have a wildlife club, birding club, school group or other group interested in coming to Crex Meadows for a guided tour, please contact them at 715-4632739 for more information. Crex Meadows is the largest wildlife area in Wisconsin. It contains 30,000 acres of prairie, wetlands and forests. Since its purchase in 1945, work has been under way to restore the native plant and wildlife communities that were disrupted during settlement by wetland drainage and control of naturally occurring wildfires. Because of intense management conducted at Crex, native plants and wildlife are again flourishing. This wildlife showplace is home to 270 kinds of birds and numerous other wildlife plus an abundance of colorful prairie flowers that bloom throughout the spring and summer. To learn more about Crex Meadows, explore their Web site at www.crexmeadows.org. – from Crex Meadows Web site
The 98-mile recreation trail follows the railroad grade from St. Croix Falls north to Superior. This grade was commercially used for approximately 100 years starting in the late 1880s. Upon abandonment, part of the corridor was purchased by Burnett County and the state of Wisconsin for use as a recreational trail. The trail was named for the railroad workers, who used tools made by Gandy Tool Co. and came to be known as Gandy Dancers. Recreational use on the trail is divided by geographic location: south half and north half. The south trail segment extends 47 miles from St. Croix Falls to Danbury, paralleling Hwy. 35 most of the distance. This segment was surfaced with crushed limestone in 1995 and offers a smooth, hard-surfaced trail with use limited to biking and hiking from April through November. A bike pass is required. The north segment runs 51 miles from Danbury through eastern Minnesota to Superior. The segment offers a wilder, more remote trail experience. Hiking, mountain biking and ATV use is permitted. No pass is needed to use the north section of the trail, but ATVs must display valid registration. A Wisconsin State Trail Pass is required of all bicyclists 16 years of age or older riding the trail between St. Croix Falls and Danbury. A Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Conservation Patron license will be honored as a bike pass. Trail passes must be visibly displayed when using the trail. A pass is not needed for hiking. Handicapped/disabled persons in wheelchairs do not need a pass. Trail passes are available at the Polk and Burnett County Tourism centers and from business vendors located in communities along the trail. Pass fees are $4 for a daily pass and $20 for an annual pass, subject to change. Trail passes are issued to individuals, not bikes. As such trail passes cannot be passed from person to person or shared with others. Public parks and rest areas are located in or near the villages on the trail. Trail passes are available at the following locations: Polk County: Luck: Luck Country Inn and Natural Alternative Co-op Frederic: Frederic Depot, the village office St. Croix Falls: Polk County Information Center Milltown: Monty's Sportsman's Haven Centuria: Glass Bar Burnett County Danbury: Hill Home Center, Log Cabin Store. Siren: The Lodge at Crooked Lake, Yourchuck’s True Value, Best Western, Timberland Gifts & Goods, Inc., Peggy’s Fashion Rack, county clerk’s office or Burnett County Parks office Webster: Webster Ace Hardware - from the Gandy Dancer Trail Web site
THE HOTTEST THING
IN HEATING & COOLING 2012
Most Efficient www.energystar.gov
Products you can count on. Service you can trust.
Bryant® products are built to stand the test of time. And Maxwell is always standing ready to help. We’re dedicated to doing Whatever It Takes® to keep you and your family comfortable and worry-free. Because reliability is what Bryant and Maxwell Heating and Air Conditioning are all about. EPA Certified Technicians Serving the area since 1981.
FINANCING AVAILABLE TO QUALIFIED BUYERS
MAXWELL HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING, INC. Service - Sales - Installation Hwy. 48 & Main Street, Luck
715-472-8200 or 1-800-843-7658
BRYFAD02
www.maxwellheating.com
562450 32o
Gandy Dancer Trail
One of a kind
Page 10
The storied legacy of Dr. Pederson, down-home country vet by Marty Seeger Leader staff writer FREDERIC – You won’t find another veterinarian quite like Dr. Larry Pederson. The soft-spoken, modest man is the definition of what it means to be a down-home country doc. For over a half-century, he took a no-nonsense approach to veterinary medicine with seriousness and professionalism, while doing his best to keep prices reasonable for those in the Frederic area and beyond. “I would say I’m not a famous veterinarian or anything, although I’ve done stuff that has helped a lot of people,” Pederson said from his home in Frederic recently. He will turn 80 years old in a month and celebrated a retirement that he and his wife, Linda, felt was a bit too early. Had it not been for health issues, Pederson might still be treating small animals out of his Frederic Veterinary Clinic, which got its beginnings in a house just outside of Frederic in 1959 near the Pilgrim Lutheran Church. “Larry’s career has been all work,” Linda said. “One sad thing about retiring is that it was forced on him, because of health. That’s what was so sad, because he wasn’t really ready to.”
Entirely new practice
Larry grew up on a small farm near Cumberland and said he’d always had a love for animals, but his desire to help others had him wanting to become a medical doctor, so he could help people. But one day, all of that changed. His friend, Ray Schofield, who was prevet at the time, asked Pederson a simple question. “He said, ‘I’m going to go over and apply for veterinary school, do you want to come with me?’” and Pederson’s reply was, "Sure, I’ll do it.” It cost $15 for the application fee, and three months later, Pederson received a letter explaining that he and Schofield were only runners-up to the 50 students who had been picked to go. Then, as fate would have it, two of the 50 students didn’t show up after getting their acceptance letters, which opened the door for Pederson and Schofield. “I had just taken a calculus test in River Falls,” he recalled. “I flunked it. A whole bunch of people flunked it. And there was a knock on the door in the classroom at the college (River Falls). And that was unusual. They wanted me on the phone. A lady on the phone said ‘you could come to school if you wanted to … vet college.’ I said ‘I’ll give you a call at 8 in the morning. I gotta talk to my folks.’” Pederson’s dad instructed him that being a vet would be difficult work, and he’d need to work a lot of nights too. But he also felt that if he didn’t like it, he could always quit. Pederson never did, and ironically, he was the one who became the veterinarian, and Schofield ended up going premed to become a doctor, helping people.
If it looks good, eat it
Pederson was a junior at River Falls when he got the call to veterinary college at the Universary of Minnesota. While there, he earned his bachelor’s and doctorate, while taking several of his classes with the medical students since the veterinary college was so new. It wasn’t easy either, especially without the help of student aid. “Doctors made good money, but not the students,” Pederson said, adding that one of the students was so poor he had to eat out of the garbage. Pederson and another roommate, who lived at the clinic, resorted to dog food. “We milked cows down at the university at 4 in the morning and stole the milk, and we had cereal and a hot plate. We put salt and pepper on the dog food,” but not the dried variety, Pederson insisted. “We took the best kind,” and added that it tast-
Out & About - June 2012
the floor of the clinic. Pederson was left with the decision to either save the dog, or help the owner who was passed out on the floor. Somehow, he managed to save the dog, and the owner was able to get back on his feet with the help of his wife who arrived moments later. Pederson said he got a really nice cutting board for that and has received many other items over the years for his services when people didn’t have the means to pay. Jars of sauerkraut, jam or a roast or ham during holidays were common, and Pederson wouldn’t have had it any other way. “I was hard up myself, and I realize how people are, so I didn’t always have to charge them,” he said.
Moving forward with faith
Dr. Larry Pederson along with his wife, Linda, shared a moment at their home recently near Frederic to share stories on Larry’s 55 years as a veterinarian in the community. – Photo by Marty Seeger
ed similar to corned-beef hash. “It wasn’t that bad,” he said. Although he was short on money, Pederson’s professor got them jobs at the clinic shortly after the Korean War. They taught part-time and ran a nightly intern program, and during the summer months, he lived in Bloomer and worked for the state of Wisconsin testing cattle, taking blood samples and TB tests. Pederson graduated from the U of M in 1957, not long after the veterinary college first began in 1951. After becoming a veterinarian, he spent two years in Montana working for the federal government with military obligations, before opening his veterinary clinic out of his house near Frederic in 1959. “It was mostly large animals in the early years … everybody had some cattle,” he said, and there were very few other vets in the area, other than Dr. Wilson in Milltown, Dr. Branstadt in Grantsburg and himself, who was basically on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He covered a huge swath of northwestern Wisconsin and went as far north as Superior at times, while averaging 80,000 to 90,000 vehicle miles each year. He was a repeat customer at Larsen Auto in Frederic, where he’d buy a new car for about $800 each year, until about the mid-1960s when prices started going up.
A life of firsts
Pederson remembers many of his earlier house calls, including his first procedure on a horse near Trade Lake. The mare had a stillborn colt in its womb, and the only way to save it was by doing emergency surgery to remove the colt. “So here I was a year out of school, and I’d never done it before. I’d never done a Caesarean on a horse. They taught me, but I’d never done it. I think it was the first one ever done in this area,” he said. “I was glutton for punishment, but it was do or die.” It was a difficult job, and it took a long time sewing everything back up after making such a large incision, but the horse lived through it, and Pederson charged the owner $35 for the job. “They do Caesareans on horses now, but they take them to a big clinic where they have big gas machines and half a dozen people to help. But here I had to struggle myself,” said Pederson. There were hundreds of other challenges for him over the years, with new viruses, diseases and the latest vaccines to treat it all. But sometimes, he simply had
to improvise. One year, several dogs were dying in the Siren area, but he couldn’t figure out what was going on other than the dogs were bleeding in the bowels. At first, he thought someone had been poisoning them, but it was later discovered to be the parvovirus. “I started vaccinating them with a cat vaccine, and it helped,” Pederson said, until a new vaccine was eventually created to treat and save the dogs. There were other new viruses and diseases, too. Lyme disease wasn’t common when he first got his start, and pink eye wasn’t around either. There was sleeping sickness in horses about 25 years ago, black leg and many other diseases and oddities too. About 15 years ago, Pederson delivered a two-headed calf near Milltown that even blinked with all four eyes. The calf survived for a little while, but eventually died. “There were a lot of freaks. I couldn’t get the calf out. I thought it was twins. I finally figured out it had two heads on it,” he said. A calf with two heads was a first for him, but thousands of other new or interesting situations presented challenges over the years. Still, he, and the animals, adapted to the change, and so did his customers. “When I started, farmers didn’t even have a syringe. I taught them all that stuff,” Pederson said. There were many times when he simply couldn’t make a house call, so he taught farmers what to do in emergency situations, such as when a cow was stricken with milk fever. By using a goose quill and small hand pump, he would instruct farmers to pump air into the udder to help cure milk fever. It was one of the many remedies or procedures Pederson taught the local farming community in the event of an emergency situation.
Sauerkraut and cutting boards
What many area residents will likely remember most about Pederson’s veterinary practices was his ability to keep prices reasonable, and in many cases, there was bartering involved. “You’re dealing more with people than you are with animals,” he said, and recalled one incident where a dog had been hit by a school bus. The owner rushed the dog to the clinic, but in order for the dog to breathe, Pederson had to put pressure on its lung with his hand. As he began working to save the dog, the owner ended up passing out on
There was just one year in Pederson’s 55-year career that he hired another person to help out with his veterinary practice. “I hired another guy, but that didn’t work out,” he said. But he was hardly alone. Pederson first moved to Frederic in 1959 when he began his veterinary practice, but about six years later, a drunk driver killed his wife and 2-year-old daughter in an automobile accident. Pederson pushed forward despite the tragedy, and there were other significant setbacks throughout his personal life, but he never stopped caring for others. So it seems fitting that almost 28 years ago, he’d meet up with his current wife, Linda, who has gone through personal tragedies of her own in life. But together, Linda and Larry managed to raise nine children. Both had adopted children from a previous marriage, and they each had two of their own children, totaling nine all together. Along with 26 grandchildren, and they also have five great-grandchildren. “It’s been tough at times, but Larry and I are stronger because of it. Absolutely,” said Linda, and Larry concurred. “We’re happy now. And we get along. And I’m the same person I used to be.” Last year in October, Larry suffered a setback when he was hospitalized for a life-threatening gastrointestinal condition, in which he suffered massive bleeding that couldn’t be stopped for nearly three days. Doctors said he and Linda would probably need to start looking at hospice care, but Larry didn’t like that answer. On a Sunday morning, he began to pray, as he’d done so many other times throughout his life. “He prayed very, very hard,” Linda said. “And he knew the minute (the bleeding) stopped … less than 24 hours later, he was healed.” Afterward, Linda said the doctor came to her and said, “I believe in miracles, and this was one.” The Pedersons have maintained a Christian faith throughout their entire lives, and it seems to have only gotten stronger through time. “We believe very deeply, and we believe marriage is forever,” Linda said. “We’re friends with each other as well as being in love. And I respect him … I did for years before I married him.” Although retirement for Larry has been a bit of a challenge, both remain upbeat about life, and are happy with the way things have worked out, especially through the veterinary clinic, where Larry, and eventually Linda, rooted their lives together. For many years, Linda helped Larry at the clinic, after she retired from the Frederic Hospital, and the partnership was flawless. “She’s the best help,” said Larry. Back in January, the Pedersons sold the Frederic Veterinary Clinic to Dr. Greg Palmquist and his wife, Kathy. The Palmquists, who also own the Grantsburg Animal Hospital and Wild River Veterinary Clinic, will be holding part-time office hours at the Frederic Clinic. “They work hard and are good veterinarians,” Larry said, adding later, “I feel very successful in what I’ve done."
Out & About - June 2012
Fort Folle Avoine opens for 2012 season
by Carl Heidel Leader staff writer DANBURY– No amount of rain could put a damper on the official opening of Forts Folle Avoine, Saturday and Sunday, May 26-27. Cloud-filled gray skies were offset by the colors of the Burnett County Historical Society’s annual plant sale, and docents welcomed visitors into the dry places in the Palmer Historical Library, the Karlsborg Schoolhouse and the Fort museum and gift shop.
The Fort now resumes its regular schedule of events under the sponsorship of the BCHS. The annual gourmet dinner Wednesday, June 15, will be followed by a special photography instruction session June 17, and then the annual celebration of Yellow River Echoes with a pancake breakfast June 22-24. For more information on the Fort and its events check out the Web site at www.theforts.org.
Page 11
Danbury
The tent sheltering the plants for the plant sale was a blaze of color with flowers and plants of all varieties Saturday and Sunday, May 26-27.
With all these plants, sometimes it’s difficult to make a choice. – Photos by Carl Heidel
With arms already filled with plants, a visitor to the official opening of Forts Folle Avoine for 2012 stops to consider making one more purchase.
Y YOUR O U R ONE-STOP ONE-STOP S SHOPPING H O P P I N G CENTER! CENTER! PROUDLY PROVIDING THESE FINE PRODUCTS & SERVICES Redi-Mix Concrete - Sand - Gravel - Rock - Topsoil Pulverized Black Dirt - Ponds and Driveways Installed Land Clearing - Septic Systems Installed Concrete Pump Truck & More. ALSO SEE US FOR… Concrete & Decorative Block - Pavers - Stepping Stones Bagged Mulch - Patio Accessories - Planters Landscape Items & much more!! COMMITTED TO QUALITY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. FREE ESTIMATES. DEPENDABLE.
HOPKINS SAND & GRAVEL, INC. Webster, Wis., 715-866-4157 • Minong, Wis., 715-466-4843 Beroun, Minn., 320-629-2522
562377 32o
We are located on Hwy. 35 just north of Webster. 715-866-4157
Page 12
Out & About - June 2012
Canoe Heritage Museum starts season with show
Colorful sky
A birch-bark canoe (right) was one of the many boats on display at the Heritage Day gathering in Spooner. – Photos by Gregg Westigard
BURNETT DAIRY CO-OP CHEESE STORE
Grantsburg, WI • 715-463-2100 www.trailer-city.com
Come Check Out Our New Expansion
562517 32o
SEE US FOR…
• PJ Classic Goosenecks • Dump Trailers • PJ Car Haulers • PJ Utility Trailers • PJ Deckovers • PJ Skid Steer Trailers • Attachments & More
All PJ Trailers Powder Coated
Family of fi fiv ve
562658 32o
Summer Hours: Mon. - Wed. 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.; Thurs. 8 a.m. - 7 p.m.; Fri. 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.; Sat. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Sun. 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.
562666 32o
Campground
562762 32a,o
by Gregg Westigard Leader staff writer SPOONER - The beauty of wood was A double rainbow made for a dramatic sky scene near Amery earlier this month. - Photo by on display in Spooner Saturday, May 26. The Wisconsin Canoe Heritage Museum John Reed opened its season with a canoe and wooden boat show. Front Street was full of finely crafted boats old and new. Enthusiasts brought in their personal boats of all sorts, a birch-bark canoe, a boat made at the old boat works in Shell Lake, wooden canoes constructed from wood strips, restored sailing boats. Inside the museum, the new 30 wooded sites with exhibits were on display while in the electricity & water. adjoining shop, a half dozen canoes were in various stages of construction or Only $25/night restoration. Weekly, monthly & seasonal rates! The Wisconsin Canoe Heritage Muse• Award Winning Cheeses 628 335th Ave. um is both a musuem dedicated to the Frederic (Clam Falls), WI • Ice Cream/Yogurt beauty of canoes and a workshop where 715-653-2306 the craft of building boats is carried on. rmoody@centurytel.net • Unique Gifts The core of the museum is a collection of some 30 classic canoes. The museum, on • Local Wisconsin Products Front Street in Spooner near the old 5 miles east of Grantsburg on Hwy. 70 depot, is open Wednesdays through Sundays, through Labor Day and on SaturThis canoe was built in 1947 at the boat 715-689-2748 14075 State Rd. 70 days through October. works in Shell Lake. www.burnettdairy.com
Chris Byerly, of the Town of Clam Falls, snapped this photo of a bear and four cubs who spent part of Mother’s Day afternoon, Sunday, May 13, in her yard. “It kept us hostage inside the house for a couple of hours,” she noted. – Photo submitted
Out & About - June 2012
Page 13
Coffee shop starts perking in Grantsburg
by Priscilla Bauer Leader staff writer GRANTSBURG - It was a dream come true for Rhonda Miller when her coffee cafe, The Wake-Up Call, opened at its Hwy. 70 location in Grantsburg on Friday, March 30. “I’ve been wanting to have a coffee place for 15 years,” Miller explained to customers Nan and Elof Olson as they sipped their lattes. Miller said she didn’t know what to expect opening day. “All I knew was several people had been waiting for another coffee shop to open. I didn’t advertise, relying on word of mouth for opening day. I felt nervous with high expectations. I just hoped everyone would like what we had to offer. Overall, the day went very well. We were very busy!” Miller’s decision to finally make her dream happen came when another popu-
Ramona Moody was one of several friends lending a hand at the opening of Rhonda Miller’s new coffee cafe, The Wake-Up Call, Friday, March 30. – Special photo lar coffee spot, the Espresso Cabin, closed last year. “It seemed like a possibility and I started looking into things,” said Miller. “I was able to purchase the Cabin’s equipment and things just started pro-
gressing forward from there,” explained Miller of her new venture coming to fruition. As to how she came up with the coffeehouse’s catchy name, Miller admitted she hadn’t been carrying it around in her head for those 15 years. In fact, just the opposite was true. “You would think for as long as I’ve wanted to do this, I would’ve had a name all picked out, but that was not the case. I was actually frustrated about it and late one night I just said, “OK God, I need a name!” It was like an hour later The Wake-Up Call, clear as a bell, popped into my head and I felt like that was it!” The new coffeehouse features specialty coffees, lattes, smoothies, mochas, Italian sodas and more, plus breakfast and lunch panini sandwiches all served on homemade bread. The Wake-Up Call is located next to O’Reilly Auto Parts west of Grantsburg on Hwy. 70 and is open Monday-Friday at 6 a.m. for coffee, with food served 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Weekend hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Miller, Rhonda owner of Grantsburg’s newest coffee cafe, The Wake-Up Call, held up her first dollar made at the cafe’s opening on Friday, March 30. Getting ready for the opening of her coffee cafe, The Wake-Up Call, was truly a family affair for Rhonda Miller with her daughters, nieces, sister-in-law, mother and mother-in-law all helping get ready for opening day. Pictured (L to R): Karen Miller, Abbey Miller, Karla Retzer, Macy Miller, Jordyn Miller, Rhonda Miller and Amy Chadwick.
Quality Healthcare for every age and every stage From scrapes and breaks to preventive care, we offer a full spectrum of services to help you and your family live well.
Hospital, Nursing Home, Family Practice & Specialists 257 W. St. George Ave. • Grantsburg, WI 54840 715-463-5353 or 800-293-5353
www.burnettmedicalcenter.com
562923 32o
Evening Clinic Hours until 8 p.m. Monday - Thursday
Page 14
Out & About - June 2012
DNR making history with land acquisition
Some land covers parts of Washburn, Burnett Counties
MADISON – The Department of Natural Resources announced Thursday, May 17, that it is poised to make the largest recreational and forestland acquisition in state history, an easement on 67,346.8 forest acres in Douglas, Bayfield, Burnett and Washburn counties from the Lyme St. Croix Forest Company. The purchase, to be known as the Brule-St. Croix Legacy Forest, is located at the headwaters of the St. Croix and Bois-Brule rivers in the state’s northwest sands area and contains 80 small lakes and ponds, 14 miles of streams and a globally significant pine barrens habitat. About 20,000 acres of the purchase are located within the Brule River State Forest boundaries. “This purchase forever opens access to hunting, fishing, trapping, hiking, skiing, bird-watching, ATV and snowmobile trails, portions of the North Country Trail, and extensive habitat for deer, bear, wolves, woodcock, migratory songbirds and grouse,” said DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp. “At the same time, the land remains in private ownership, on the tax rolls and will be managed sustainably for forestry purposes. It’s a win-win for everybody that will help maintain the celebrated forested character of the north.” The state Natural Resources Board will review the proposed purchase at its Wednesday, May 23, meeting. If approved, the department will forward the proposal to lawmakers and to the governor for final approval. “Through new standards and prioritizing of our department Knowles-Nelson Stewardship acquisitions, we were able to make sure that we had adequate bonding authority to make a purchase of this magnitude,” said Stepp. “We thoroughly assess properties to assure we are getting a good return on investment for the public’s money. When we buy land we choose only the best of the best, like the Brule-St. Croix Forest Legacy easement.” According to DNR real estate director
Shaded areas on this map show where more than 67,000 acres of land will eventually become the largest recreational and forestland acquisition in state history through the DNR. The purchase will eventually be known as the Brule-St. Croix Legacy Forest. – from the DNR Dick Steffes, the transaction is based on stewardship. Taken together, the project two phases. Phase I, to be reviewed at would protect 67,346.8 acres as sustainthe May 2012 Natural Resources Board able, working forestland permanently meeting, is for a working forest ease- open to the public for outdoor recrement on 44,679.09 acres at a price of ation. $252 per acre, or $11,260,000 from the Working forest (forest legacy) easestate’s Stewardship Fund. Phase II, also ments ensure permanent public access an easement, covers 22,667.71 acres at a for recreational enjoyment while the cost of $6,007,000. Phase II is proposed property itself remains in private ownas a 2014 transaction. DNR will apply ership, keeping property on the tax for federal forest legacy funds and use rolls, allowing sustainable timber harvest practices and minimizing state costs with the low easement versus full ownership cost. “We applaud the state for recognizing that Wisconsin’s natural resources are precious and should be managed in sustainable ways for the benefit of the
regional economy and the environment,” said Tom Morrow, managing director, the Lyme Timber Co. “Lyme has a long history of owning and managing large forestland properties under conservation easements that provide a steady flow of wood to local mills, regular employment for forest managers and logging contractors, while allowing public recreational access.” Morrow credited The Conservation Fund for assisting with the transaction. The Lyme property provides wood products to 12 pulp, saw timber and telephone pole processing mills and other supporting industries in the region. The Wisconsin forest products industry employs 60,000 workers and provides $18 billion in economic value in wood and paper products. Wisconsin leads the nation in employment and the value of shipments in the forest products industry. “Maintaining large blocks of working forests is critical to the health of our industry,” said Butch Johnson, owner of Johnson Timber in Hayward and Flambeau River Papers in Park Falls. “We’ve seen the breakup of many of our former industrial forests in Wisconsin, and these conservation easements are invaluable public-private partnerships to meet the needs of the public and protect jobs.” The Lyme St. Croix Forest easement restricts development, requires sustainable forest practices, limits property subdivision and ensures public access as well as protecting the environmental values of the property. With the completion of the Lyme St. Croix easement, more than 200,000 acres of working forestlands have been protected through conservation easements. This preservation effort helps secure materials for the forest products industry for future generations. In 2010, tourism expenditures in this four-county area totaled $346,578,723 and supported 8,791 jobs. Statewide, tourism has more than $12 billion in economic impact each year and supports many jobs. The Forest Legacy Program, which is a strong partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, supports efforts to protect private forestland from being converted to nonforest use. The program encourages and supports acquisition of conservation easements, which are legal binding agreements that transfer a negotiated set of property rights from one party to another without removing the property from private ownership. — from WDNR
FAMILY OWNED FACTORY DIRECT
Serving Western Wisconsin & Minnesota Since 1984.
Our Price & Quality Are Second To None!
We carry a complete line of docks, lifts, canopies, swim rafts & accessories.
3,100 2,250 1,050
1,850 3,275
$
24’ Canopy (Harbor Time fabric)....... 32’ “L” Dock Titan $ Maintenance-free Decking.............
1-800-646-4089
www.customportabledocks.com Manufactured by Kester’s Welding 562380 32o
9 miles West of Danbury On Hwy. 77/48. Follow signs.
562750 32o
562380 32o
$
3,000# Verticle Boat Lift...................... $ 2,800# Cantilever Boat Lift................. $ 8’x10’ Swim Rafts w/folding ladder. . . .
Out & About - June 2012
562514 32o
Page 15
Page 16
Underground farming
Out & About - June 2012
Frederic girl operates business in her basement
by Mary Stirrat Leader staff writer FREDERIC — What does an industrious 12-year-old girl do to make some money? Maybe baby-sit or mow lawns? Not Greta Johnson of rural Frederic. For two years now, Greta has been farming worms in her basement, wholesaling them to local bait stores to supplement the income she gets from doing her chores. “It’s another way to get pocket money,” she said. Although it varies widely, the “pocket money” gets fairly substantial sometimes. One week she made $90, and followed her formula of putting half of it into the bank to save for college. One quarter of it is for spending. The final quarter is also for spending, unless she has needed to hire her mom to help with some of the chores. The idea for Greta’s Worm Farm came when Greta was 10 years old, after she told her mom, Sue Johnson, that she’d like to do something to make a little more money. The two, along with Greta’s dad, Dale, looked through some books and hit upon worm farming. The worm that Greta settled on is the European night crawler, a smaller species of night crawler that is relatively new to the market. “It’s the ideal size crawler,” said Tony Peterson of Great Northern Outdoors in Frederic, where Greta’s Worm Farm crawlers are sold. “They have a lot of action.” They stay lively on the hook, said Peterson, adding that it’s one of the best worms for pan fish. “They’re selling pretty good this year,” he said. The worms are gaining in popularity, agreed Kent Petersen of The Bottle Shop in Luck. They keep well, whether in the
Some containers of European night crawlers for sale at The Bottle Shop in Luck. The worms are also available at Monty’s in Milltown and Great Northern Outdoors in Frederic.
Greta Johnson, 12-year-old businesswoman and owner of Greta’s Worm Farm, shows the plastic bins where her night crawlers mate, lay eggs, hatch and grow. When they get to be 3 inches long she counts them out and puts them in topsoil in blue containers (foreground) to sell. – Photos by Mary Stirrat refrigerator or not, so they can withstand a day in the hot sun. Besides being used as bait, Greta sold a batch of 2,000 worms to a Milltown man who is starting an organic farm. She reinvested the revenue in new stock. Timing is important, Greta indicated, since the worms must be at least 3 inches long before they can be sold. She uses her middle finger as the measuring stick to determine which are of salable size. It takes about four months to get from the egg stage to 3 inches, said Sue. Greta’s Worm Farm is a great example of creating a business out of everyday materials. Greta used old aluminum washtubs for her first worms, filling them with topsoil from a discount store. As the farm grew, she added some clear plastic bins. The worms are composting worms — they eat compost, and create compost. “They love coffee grounds,” said Greta. “They can’t eat chocolate or onions, sort of like a dog, or oranges. They eat eggshells, newspapers, not so much grass, some chicken feed.”
Greta Johnson sprinkles some chicken feed on a washtub holding her European night crawlers.
This species of worm cannot crawl out of the bins, like the Canadian night
crawlers Greta once added to the bins. Members of the Canadian variety attempted to escape in the night, tumbling to the cement floor where they were found, dead and dried, in the morning. There are specific things that Greta needs to be watching in order to keep her worms healthy and active. One of these is making sure that the soil doesn’t get too acidic, which occurs where there is too much of the worms’ own compost and not enough nutrients. When that happens, said Sue, Greta takes out the worms and skims off the top layers of soil where the worm eggs are. She mixes this with new topsoil and, once again, the worms thrive. She also has to make sure that the worms have food — not too much, and not too little — and that the food, itself, has not begun to compost. And each Sunday, to keep the soil aerated, Greta turns the dirt in each bin by hand. European night crawlers, besides being very active bait, have a tough skin that holds together well on a hook. It also makes them harder for bait-stealers to take. The worms are able to stay alive and remain active underwater, an added bonus for attracting panfish. Greta’s Worm Farm worms can be found at Great Northern Outdoors in Frederic, The Bottle Shop in Luck, and Monty’s Sportsman’s Haven in Milltown. You can purchase them in containers of 18 worms or 30 worms. You can also contact Greta directly at 715-327-4770. When you get worms from Greta’s Worm Farm, you not only stand a good chance of catching a good-sized sunny, you are also helping a local entrepreneur get to college. “If you want something, you have to work,” said Greta’s mom. “And how else is a 12-year-old going to get money around here?”
Greta Johnson made her first investment in earthworms two years ago, using these washtubs to hold her stock. She has since expanded her business, and has already sold 5,100 worms so far this year.
At right are full-grown night crawlers ready for sale. At left are young worms and, on Greta Johnson’s palm close to her middle finger, a worm egg.
Out & About - June 2012
A sundae drive
Cold Turkey
Ever since the first Model T Ford rolled off the assembly line, Americans have had an infatuaJohn W. Ingalls tion with their cars. Most of us recall names such as Buick or Packard or maybe even Pierce Arrow but what about Duisenberg, LaSalle, Hudson, Nash or DeSoto? As the classic cars of the 1930s and 1940s faded away, the muscle cars of the ‘50s and ‘60s made their appearance. The Ford Mustang or the classic ’55 Chevy now carry hefty price tags and are pampered and polished by their owners. No longer was the automobile simply used for transportation or commuting. It became a focal point in society as entertainment and dining became connected with the family car. The first drive-in theater opened in 1933 and the first Sonic drive-in, which promoted the automobile dining experience, opened in 1953 in Oklahoma City, serving hamburgers, hot dogs and root beer. Sonic now has over 3,500 drive-in restaurants across the country. Recognizing this success, many independent drive-in eateries were started and continue to thrive in small towns across America. It was one of these classic American eating establishments which became our destination one Sunday.
Page 17 I can’t say that I have a love affair with my car. Not anywhere near new and certainly not a classic, it is functional and paid for so there is little incentive to change. After attending MD church services on Sunday we turned the car toward the local drive-in and settled into a stall. The carhops were quick to attend to our nutritional wants and needs. After surveying the menu posted on the sign, we ordered and waited. Most cars today have power windows, even older cars, so before we gave our menu selections we had to turn on the car key. It was perhaps a slightly longer wait than usual but not to any significant degree. The food was served hot and tasty. A classic cheeseburger and fries and a frosty mug of root beer was my selection and a great way to begin the seasonal drive-in dining experience. I slurped the icy root beer, savoring the syrupy sweetness. We talked, we laughed and we visited with other diners enjoying the same experience. It was relaxing and a great way to spend some lazy time on a Sunday afternoon. After licking the last bit of salt from the french fries off of our fingers, one the passengers in the car decid-
ed to order a vanilla shake. Another order and another short wait, but we had no plans and no need to hurry off. Finally, it was time to leave. Most diners signal their plans for departure by starting the car. I turned the key but there was no surge of the engine, only a sickly anemic clicking sound from the starter. The dome lights flickered and faded. In disbelief, I turned the key again and again only to hear the same clicking. It seemed to be sending out a Morse code signal to anyone within hearing distance that there was an idiot behind the wheel. The clicking faded into an electronic groan and then silence. The battery was dead. One of the other diners at the drive-in graciously agreed to drive to our home and get a pair of jumper cables. He had no choice in the matter, he was our son-in-law. Since we weren’t going anywhere, we ordered again. This time it was a chocolate banana shake and a crème de menthe sundae. We talked and laughed at our predicament. Frankly, it was very relaxing to be stranded at a place where we could continue eating as long as we wanted. Eventually we were rescued. A simple connection of the cables and we were headed down the road, none the worse for being stranded. We actually learned a simple lesson. If you want to recharge your batteries, go for a sundae drive.
Grand opening for Tammi's Wildlife Rescue and Wellness Center this Friday
FREDERIC Tammi’s Wildlife Rescue and Wellness Center had the grand opening of their veterinary clinic Friday, June 1. Known in Frederic as “the pink house,” the clinic is located just south of Frederic at 1502 300th Ave., right across from Larsen Auto Center. The new nonprofit animal clinic is the collaboration of Tamara Larson and Suzanne Johnson, DVM. Larson, who is a retired Polk County deputy sheriff, has been rehabilitating wild animals in the area since 2006. Johnson has been a veterinarian for 20 years. Johnson has a special interest in education and affordable pet health care. As of January 2012, Larson and Johnson decided to combine their interests and start a not-for-profit veterinary ser-
vice. “The pink house” will serve two purposes: first, the business will be available for care six days a week to provide routine health care for the area’s pets; second, any sick, injured and orphaned wildlife will be examined and treated at the new facility. Rehabilitation facilities are also set up at the Larson farmstead. At this point, domestic animals with advanced illness or injury will be referred to one of the veterinary hospitals in the area. Sterilization and minor surgeries at reduced pricing will be performed at the clinic. Anyone interested can call the clinic at 715-327-4774 to schedule an appointment or check out the Web site at tammiswildliferescue.com for contact information and business hours. - submitted
Tammi’s Wildlife Rescue and Wellness Center had the grand opening of their veterinary clinic Friday, June 1. - Photo submitted
Cultural and natural history at Crex Meadows
GRANTSBURG – Crex Meadows occupies a portion of what early writers referred to as the Northwest Wisconsin Pine Barrens. The "Barrens" is a long, narrow sand plain which extends from northern Polk County to southern Bayfield County and covers 1,500 square miles. The southern portion of the Barrens, where Crex is located, contains extensive sedge marshes which are remnants of Glacial Lake Grantsburg. At the time of settlement, the upland vegetation in the area now occupied by Crex consisted of a few large red and jack pine (approximately eight per acre) scattered throughout an open expanse dominated by brush and a variety of prairie grasses and forbs. The vegetation was maintained in this condition by wildfires which periodically swept through the area. Fox, Dakota, and Chippewa Indians used the area extensively for hunting and gathering. Numerous Indian battles are said to have occurred in the region during the 1600s and the Chippewa Tribe ruled the area when the first European
settlers arrived in the 1700s. White settlement in the mid-1800s brought many changes. Settlers tried farming the sandy upland soils but generally had poor success. Most of the farming attempts on the uplands were soon abandoned. With settlement came the first attempts at fire control. It was primitive at first but as settlement progressed and fire-fighting techniques and equipment improved, the number and extent of wildfires declined. In the absence of fire, much of the area grew into an oak/jack pine forest. Prairie wildlife gradually declined as the brush prairie habitat was lost. Large-scale drainage of wetlands for farming, initiated in 1890, upset the entire ecological pattern of the marshes. Drainage caused a decline in the number of nesting and migrant waterfowl and other wetland species, but provided excellent habitat for prairie chickens and sharp-tailed grouse. Longtime residents' recollections of flocks containing thousands of prairie grouse are substantiated by newspaper accounts from that period.
In the late 1800s the Marshland Farming Company acquired 11,000 acres of marsh on which they successfully produced cranberries. They employed several hundred people to harvest the cranberry crop and prepare it for shipment. The company abandoned the cranberry operation after a few years and began drainage operations to develop the marsh for hay and vegetable production. The Marshland Farming Company sold out to Mr. Erbes, a developer from Iowa, in 1899. He continued the drainage operations with the intent of developing farmland which could be sold as smaller farms. Most of the land was sold as intended. Marsh hay was harvested from much of the area but production of other crops was unsuccessful. In 1912, the Crex Carpet Company purchased 23,000 acres of what is now Crex Meadows. The carpet company was an Eastern corporation engaged in the production of grass rugs. Three carpet camps (camp numbers five, six, and eight) were located in the area. Each camp employed 50-100 men who har-
Tell them you saw it in the
vested "wiregrass" (Carex spp.) from the marshes and shipped it to the factory in St. Paul where it was made into grass carpets. The wire grass industry continued successfully until market conditions and ecological changes in the marsh caused bankruptcy of the Crex Carpet Company in 1933. The history of Crex Carpet Company was highlighted in the Winter 2006 issue of the Ramsey County (Minnesota) Historical Society magazine. For more information about how to order a copy of the magazine and about this important piece of history, please visit their Web site, http://www.rchs.com/crex/crex.htm. During the Depression and drought years of the 1930s, further drainage and agricultural attempts failed. By 1940, nearly two-thirds of the land in the area was tax delinquent. In 1946, the state purchased 12,000 acres of this tax-delinquent land to start the Crex Meadows Wildlife Area.
Out & About
Page 18
In the service of Titanic survivors
Out & About - June 2012
Florence Johnson Hanson recalls her time as maid to a couple who lived through luxury liner’s sinking
by Priscilla Bauer Leader staff writer GRANTSBURG – At 94 years of age, macular degeneration and glaucoma may have blurred Florence Johnson Hanson’s eyesight, but her memory is as clear as the day she stepped through the door of a Blaisdell Avenue mansion in Minneapolis in November of 1937. On that day, Hanson stepped into the world of the wealthy and the famous. “I never dreamed of seeing anything like that in my life,” said Hanson of her first impression of her new place of employment. “I came into this big mansion with its marble floor (which she later learned was the same marble used at the Vatican), saw the winding staircase and was scared out of my wits.” Hanson was 20 years old when she went to interview with Nellie Snyder for a maid position. Hanson’s aunt, who arranged the interview, told her niece the wealthy couple, who she would eventually serve dinners to, held a unique distinction: Nellie and John Pillsbury Snyder were survivors of the Titanic. Twenty-five years earlier, in 1912, the Snyders boarded the Titanic for a voyage home after a two-month European honeymoon. When the ship hit the iceberg on the night of April 15, they would be one of 13 newlywed couples put on lifeboats, surviving the disaster. Though Hanson said the Snyders didn’t speak of their experience with family or staff, she recalls one day when a reporter came to interview Nellie. “I stood outside the door and listened,” remembered Hanson. “Mrs. Snyder told the reporter she was scared to death to get on that ship. Nellie said she had an eerie feeling about sailing on a ship making its maiden voyage, but John told her it was unsinkable.”
John Pillsbury Snyder and wife, Nellie, are shown after stepping off the Carpathia, the ship that rescued them from their lifeboat in the North Atlantic. They are wearing the clothes they wore that fateful night of April 15, 1912. Nellie, often referred to as Nelle, used her hat to help bail out the lifeboat they were in. She is listed in her husband’s 1959 obituary as “the former Nelle Stevenson of St. Croix Falls, Wis.” Below, the front page of the New York Herald, with stories from survivors. - Photo above, Philip Weiss Auctions
Florence Johnson Hanson held one of the clippings she saved of a story about Titanic survivors John Pillsbury Snyder and his wife, Nellie. Hanson worked as a maid for the couple at their Minneapolis mansion in the 1930s. - Photos by Priscilla Bauer unless otherwise noted
High society
During her brief time as the Snyder’s second-floor maid, Hanson’s eyes were opened to high-society life in the Twin Cities. Hanson recalled one of the lavish parties at the mansion. “It was Nellie and John’s daughter Susan’s debutante party. There were so many flowers, everywhere. It was breathtaking.” That evening, Hanson and other staff served 500 guests dancing the night away to the music of a full orchestra in the mansion’s ballroom. “It was so interesting to see all the people in their fancy gowns and furs. Man, for money,” remarked Hanson of her employer’s rich friends. For the most part, Hanson and the other staff spent their days in mundane maid’s work, cleaning, serving full-course dinners, and washing dishes, for which Hanson was paid $8 a week. But Hanson did recall one afternoon when the Snyders were out, and she and another maid, Elsa, decided to have a little fun. “We both slid down the staircase banisters, but it didn’t go well for me.” “I hit my foot on the lamp at the bottom and broke the bulbs. I was scared I was going to lose my job, so I called the chauffeur and he brought new lights. We got it fixed before Nellie and John got home. Those lamps are still there today.” Hanson said another time she and Elsa were in Nellie’s room when her co-worker tried on one of her employer’s gowns. “Elsa was the same size as Nellie and said she just wanted to see what it felt like to wear such a beautiful gown. We didn’t see Nellie come into the room.” “I can still hear Elsa in her very Swedish accent, sheepishly apologizing to Mrs. Snyder,” Hanson laughed. “Elsa just told
Florence Johnson Hanson started working as a maid in John and Nellie Snyder’s mansion on Blaisdell Avenue in Minneapolis in November of 1937. Hanson is pictured on the right with the chauffeur’s daughter. – Photo submitted
Nellie she just couldn’t resist putting on the dress, and Nellie didn’t get mad at her.” Hanson said the Snyder’s daughter, Susan, also had beautiful clothes. “Susan was the same age as me,” said Hanson. “I always wished she would have given me some of them.” Hanson said she had no complaints about working for the Snyders. “They were both nice to work for,” commented Hanson. “John was funny, too. We used to sing while we were dusting, and one day he came up and teased us about why we weren’t singing. So he must have been listening to us.”
Another boat ride
Hanson’s employment with the Snyders was to be short-lived. Though Hanson said Nellie Snyder had sworn she would never get on another boat, in January of 1938 the couple announced they would be leaving for a three-month vacation to
Europe. “I guess John talked her into going on another ship after all,” said Hanson. The trip meant less help would be needed for the mansion, and Hanson was told by the Snyders her services would no longer be necessary. “Nellie said I could check back after they returned. But by then I had married and moved to Grantsburg.” Over the years, Hanson has kept up with her former employers through newspaper articles written about the couple’s social life and those related to their Titanic experience. Sitting at her kitchen table, Hanson reached for the envelope holding the now yellowed clippings. Though she is no longer able to read them, she can recite from the accounts. In one, from a 2000 edition of the Minneapolis Tribune, Nellie Snyder told of how, in a twist of fate, she and her husband only took the Titanic after they were
unable to take the ship they originally had reservations for. The article confirms what Hanson remembers overhearing Snyder tell the reporter back in 1937. The article quotes Snyder’s daughter as saying her mother and father didn’t want to talk about the Titanic for a long time, as Hanson also remembered. Other articles give the Snyders account of the night the ship sank, telling of how the couple, sharing the uppermost deck of the ship with other newlywed couples, were awakened by a crash. The article goes on to say the Snyders and the other newlyweds were some of the first passengers getting to the lifeboats. Though some of the passengers refused to get in the boats, still believing the ship was unsinkable, the young couples, after hearing someone say, “Put brides and grooms in first, ” climbed in. And in a clipping Hanson saved of a 1912 interview for the Minneapolis Journal, John Snyder gave his own chilling account of the night the iceberg hit. Snyder said as they stood by the lifeboats he heard someone say families should stay together. Snyder remembered people looking untrustingly at the small lifeboats swinging over the dark water below. The Snyders, with 24 other passengers and three crewmen to row, spent five hours in the lifeboat before being rescued by the Carpathia, a trans-Atlantic passenger steamship that was nearest to the Titanic. Snyder said when the boat began to fill with water, he and his wife remembered boating on Lake Minnetonka and the plug for the boat’s bottom, which they found and replaced. Hanson said one of the articles she kept
See Titanic survivors, next page
Out & About - June 2012
Page 19
Local lumberjack helps hobbyists retrieve weather balloon
by Marty Seeger Leader staff writer LEWIS – It was as normal as any other day for Geno Cummings on the morning of Tuesday, May 22, when he received a call from the village of Frederic, asking if he had time to help a couple of men who had a weather balloon stuck in a tree near Lewis. Cummings is a professional lumberjack who performs all across the country in logrolling, chain-saw carving and axe throwing, and of course, pole climbing. The weather balloon was over 50 feet in a tree, and Cummings was the perfect man for the job. “At first I thought, ‘yeah whatever,’” said Cummings, but he soon learned the two men were for real, and grabbed his hooks and headed for a piece of property near Lewis. The two men were Kerry Rosenhagen and Ryan Johnson from a group out of
the Twin Cities called BHALDI, also known as balloon-based high-altitude digital imaging. The group works with high school students and other groups to send cameras to space and back, using plastic foam coolers attached to a helium-filled weather balloon. This is the seventh launch by the group, who was working along with Cub Scout Pack 270 out of Rosemount, Minn., for this particular launch. “This is about as far as we’ve had them go. And usually they fly like east and south more than they go northeast,” said Rosenhagen. When a balloon is launched, Rosenhagen and Johnson explained, the balloon is about six feet in diameter, and eventually climbs to 95,000 feet, taking still photos and video along its path to space, taking some breathtaking photos and capturing atmospheric data, baro-
Geno Cummings (center) holds a weather balloon he helped retrieve from 50 feet up in a tree on Tuesday, May 22. Kerry Rosenhagen, (left) and Ryan Johnson launched the weather balloon from Lakeville, Minn., and it ended up landing in Lewis. Rosenhagen and Johnson are part of a group called balloon-based high altitude digital imaging. – Photo by Marty Seeger
Just one of hundreds of still photos that was captured by a weather balloon, that eventually landed near Lewis. – Photo submitted
by Sherill Summer Leader staff writer WEBSTER - Family Dollar would like to build a store in Webster, just south of the new library on Hwy. 35. The first step for the franchise was to obtain some variances from the Webster Village Board: one variance for the number of parking spaces, one for the rear setback and one for the curb cut along Cedar Street. Family Dollar also needs permission from the DOT for a service entrance along Hwy. 35. A public hearing was held on the matter on Wednesday, May 9, and the
In the seven launches the group has done, none have been lost, and they’ll continue to plan more in the future. The group started as a school project, but it turned out to be so much fun, they decided to do more. The BHALDI team is also interested in doing other science and engineering projects in the future in hopes to expand. They have a Web site up along with past missions and images at www.bhaldi.org, as well as a Facebook page. “We just do it for schools and kids, and it’s just fun,” said Rosenhagen.
Family Dollar may come to Webster board did eventually give approval to the three variances contingent on the board’s approval of the building design. Family Dollar had surveyor Mark Krause of Wagner Surveying Associates represent them at the public hearing, and they provided a packet of information containing some of the history of the company, the number of jobs the store is expected to provide – three full time, eight part time – information on the variance requests and a layout drawing of the building size and the proposed location of the building – on west side of the lot, away from the highway and across the
Titanic survivors/from page 18
had a photo of the couple after their return, still wearing the clothes they had on when picked up by the Carpathia. Hanson noted Nellie Snyder was said to have used her hat to bail water out of the leaking lifeboat.
Legacy
Hanson’s granddaughters, Amy and Kristi, who were interested in their grandmother’s life and naturally in her connection to a couple surviving the Titanic disaster, have, with their daughters, been compiling a history of Hanson’s employment with the Snyder family. Granddaughter Amy started by contacting the Pillsbury mansion’s present owner, Russell Underdahl, and then, Charlotte Forsythe, the Snyders granddaughter. Great-granddaughters Megan, Holly and Emma have also shown great interest in their grandmother’s life, with Holly putting together a video for a school project, which included a slide show of the mansion pictures interspersed with audio of the conversation between Underdahl and Hanson. Great-granddaughter Megan is currently working on a 4-H presentation with a video of her grandma's history, touching on the Titanic.
Visit to the mansion
metric pressure and temperature inside and outside of the plastic foam cooler. They also have an accelerometer to see how fast it’s moving and shaking around. As the balloon rises farther into the atmosphere and the air pressure decreases, it expands to a size of about 36 to 40 feet in diameter and pops. It then falls back to Earth with the aid of a parachute. A GPS tracking device is also on board, so they can track its every move, and eventually its whereabouts. In this case, 50 feet up in a tree near Lewis. “When we get two points from the same spots, we know it’s landed,” Johnson said.
“After contact was made with Mr. Underdahl, my mother was able to visit the mansion this past November and had a wonderful visit with him,” said Hanson’s daughter, Jane Bell. “She was able to tell him, his son and daughter-in-law many things about the history of the mansion and the Snyder family, of which they were unaware. “
street from the community center. What the packet did not include was any information on the building design. The only member of the public to speak at the public hearing was Wayne King, owner of Wayne’s Foods Plus in Webster, Danbury and Luck. Before he commented on Family Dollar, he made it clear that he did not oppose Family Dollar expanding in Webster. He then raised concerns about the type of building Family Dollar would place next to the new library, pointing out that approving the variances, or not approving the variances, was the only leverage the board had in influencing the
design of the building. Webster village Trustee Tim Maloney echoed that comment, sharing that other village residents had expressed concern to him about the possibility that a “tin building” would be placed next to the library. Design concerns, then, shaped the motion passed by the village board. As of Tuesday, May 15, nearly a week after the public hearing, Family Dollar had not provided building designs for the board’s approval. There is, however, ongoing discussion between the village board and Family Dollar.
Bell said four generations were present at her mother’s meeting with the Underdahl family, herself, her daughters and their children. “Amy then initiated a visit with Charlotte Forsythe, the Snyders granddaughter,” said Bell. “So we all went again in December and had a really nice visit with Charlotte, Bell recalled. “My mother enjoyed relating some of her experiences and things she knew about the family and the house.” This April marks the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking. A 3-D version of the popular 1997 movie is being released this week. Articles have again begun appearing in the Twin Cities press reprinting survivor accounts from old newspaper articles. Hanson will mark the anniversary in her own way, by remembering and recalling her time in service to the Titanic survivors she knew so many years ago.
On the day Florence Johnson Hanson went for an interview with the Snyder family, she stepped into the world of the wealthy and the famous. “I never dreamed of seeing anything like that in my life,” said Hanson of her first impression of her new place of employment. “I came into this big mansion with its marble floor, looked up at the winding staircase and was scared out of my wits.” - Special photo
Page 20
Out & About - June 2012
Local ATV club members headed to International Falls
by Priscilla Bauer Leader staff writer SIREN - Members of the local ATV community were ready to set out on an exciting expedition on Sunday, June 10, headed for International Falls, Minn. The group was planning to head out from Siren and then hit the trail in Danbury for their three-day ride led by Larry Koch and Ken Nelson. After moving back to Siren after a 39year career in the recreation business, Koch wanted ways to promote the sport of ATVing. When Koch met Nelson, who shared a passion for the sport, as Koch put it, “The adventure started.” “Our first ATV adventure was from Minnesota to Michigan and across the state of Wisconsin,” recalled Koch. “We were joined by three other riders, Rick Thompson, Harold Beedy and John Kielkucki. We made the trip in 1-1/2 days.” Turf and Tundra President Rick Thompson and state of Wisconsin ATV Club treasurer Greg Olson will join Koch, Nelson, and Bill and Lyle Nelson for the ride from Siren to Canada.
When Larry Koch and Ken Nelson learned they shared a passion for the sport of ATVing, as Koch put it, “The adventure started.” The pair’s first ATV adventure was a trip from Minnesota to Michigan and across the state of Wisconsin. On Sunday, June 10, they led a group on this year’s adventure, a three-day ride from Siren to International Falls, Minn. – Photo submitted
“The ride is a way to promote tourism and to help create more new employment opportunities in the towns we pass through,” explained Koch. “We will also be promoting the use of ATV trails and ATV safety.” Members will also be promoting Burnett County on their northern trek. Burnett Dairy has given the group a supply of cheese to distribute to chambers of commerce in communities they travel through, a tasty enticement to come for a visit in this area. Koch said the group plans to continue working with local chambers of commerce to create better trails and more routes, which will attract more business for local communities. Koch invited all riders interested in taking an adventurous ride to contact the group. “Our team will help lay out a route.” Koch said the club would also assist riders looking for help in opening routes from towns to towns in the county. For more information on ATV trip planning and trail routes contact Koch at 612-750-6766 or Olson at 612-280-1220. – with submitted information
New ATV/UTV rules call for rear license plate as of July 1
Downloadable pamphlet details changes passed by state Legislature
MADISON – A mandatory rear license plate for all ATVs and UTVs is among the new rules slated to take effect on July 1 as part of a regulation package passed earlier this year by the Wisconsin Legislature. Since first notice of these rule changes was issued in April by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, there has been some public confusion and questions. Warden Gary Eddy, also the ATV
administrator for the DNR Bureau of Law Enforcement, says he has often been asked why the new state law requires the plate and what it is supposed to accomplish. “The legislation had strong support from the ATV/UTV community and land managers; it is the DNR responsibility to implement the change,” Eddy said. “The rules are modeled after similar rules in place in Minnesota.” Like on a car, the plates will help with identification when it comes to theft prevention, complaints and questions about trail use or operation, Eddy said.
Major changes beginning July 1 include: • ATVs and UTVs are required to dis-
play a registration ID number on a rear plate. Obtaining the plate is the owner’s responsibility. Plates are not provided by the department. Plates must be a minimum of 4 inches high and a 7-1/2 inches wide. The plate has to be white and the letters and numbers black and a minimum of 1-1/2 inches high. • UTVs will follow nearly all the ATV laws, except where specifically referenced. • UTVs will have a specific UTV registration decal and nonresident trail pass. • A new five-day ATV and UTV nonresident trail pass will be available.
Congratulations to the Bridge
• Registrations and annual trail passes will expire March 31. • A late fee will be assessed for customers renewing their registration after the expiration date. • UTV passengers may not ride in the vehicle’s bed. • A downloadable pamphlet detailing these changes is available on the DNR Web site. For more information search ATV on the DNR Web site at www.dnr.wi.gov. – from the DNR
Hwy. 35
715-327-8250
Check out our NEW Web site at www.fredericgolfcourse.com
EARLY-BIRD SPECIAL!
20 Before 10 a.m. Monday-Friday
$ 18 Holes for $
TWILIGHT RATES
10 After 6 p.m.
$ 18 Holes for $
WEDNESDAY SPECIAL!
35
All-Day Unlimited Golf With 1/2 Cart $ & Small Range Bucket............................Only $ Shown (L to R): Kendel Mitchell, Mark Packard, Tristan Kingbird, Hannah Horwath, Miss Rank, Ashly Sanford, Stefanie Wambolt, Nathan Puttbrese and Andrew Morse. Missing from the picture are several current and previous Bridge staff members. – Photo by Charlie Mahlen by Tristan Kingbird, WHS Freshman Special to the Leader
WEBSTER – On Monday, May 14, Webster's school newspaper, the Bridge, was honored with the recognition of first place for General Excellence Award from the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. The award was given to the Bridge for solid news coverage and nice newspaper design elements. Miss Rank, the Bridge advisor, is very proud of her students for this accomplishment, which required much hard work, time and effort to get to. The Bridge students were also very happy at the news of their 2012 achievement. The Bridge extends gratitude to the other students of WHS, the staff, the administration and
the entire Webster community for their support toward the local school and community newspaper. Support allowed this level of recognition to be reached by the hardworking students of the Bridge. Each year, The Bridge enters the WNA Better Newspaper Contest to recognize student achievements in high school newspapering. There are several different categories that the Bridge can enter, from editorial writing, pictures or designing ads to general excellence. Each year, The Bridge enters the general excellence category. In 2010, the Bridge received honorable mention from the WNA. The Bridge received third place in 2011. This year the Bridge received first place for general excellence. Congratulations to the Bridge and their staff.
TACO/PASTA BUFFET Friday Nights - 6 - 8:30 p.m.
7.50
$ All you can eat! $
June 22..........Taco Night June 29.........Pasta Night July 6..............Taco Night July 13............Taco Night July 20...........Pasta Night
July 27............Taco Night August 3........Taco Night August 17. . . . .Pasta Night August 31. . . . . .Taco Night Sept. 7...........Taco Night
MEAT RAFFLE Every Saturday, 5:30 p.m.
Sponsored by Burnett Youth Hockey
CHECK OUR WEB SITE FOR GOLF PACKAGES, SPECIALS AND EVENTS! www.fredericgolfcourse.com 562781 32o
Out & About - June 2012
Page 21
Need more info?
Burnett County Department of Tourism & Information 24271 State Road 35/70, Siren, WI 54872 Phone: 800-788-3164 • 715-349-5999 Web site: www.burnettcounty.com
Siren Chamber of Commerce 24082 St. Rd. 35 N • Siren WI 54872 Phone 715-349-5525 Web site: visitsiren.com
Webster Area Chamber of Commerce P.O. Box 48 • Webster WI 54893 Phone: 715-866-7774 Web site: websterwisconsin.com
Grantsburg Chamber of Commerce P.O. Box 451 • Grantsburg, WI 54840 Phone: 715-463-2405 Web site: www.grantsburgchamber.com
Polk County Information Center 710 Hwy. 35 South • St. Croix Falls, WI 54024 Phone: 800-222-POLK • 715-483-1410 Web site: www.co.polkcountytourism.com
YELLOW RIVER SALOON & EATERY
Tell them you saw i t i n the
FRONTIER TRAILS STABLE
Wi-Fi Available
Frederic, Wisconsin • Phone: 715-327-8572 E-mail: frontiertrailsstable@yahoo.com
Guided Trail Rides • Pony Rides • Horse Boarding
1 mile north of Webster • 715-866-7473
Please Call For Reservation
Open 7 Days A Week • Serving Lunch & Dinner
We have been in business for over 25 years. We have 300 acres of wooded hills to enjoy on our guided trail rides.
Open at 11 a.m. Mon. - Fri. & 10 a.m. Sat. & Sun.
Out & About
Mon............................................................25¢ WINGS 4 - 10 p.m. Tues......$2 12” PIZZA W/BEVERAGE PURCHASE 4 - 10 p.m. Wed..................................................BUCK BURGERS 4 - 10 p.m. Thurs..............................................MEXICAN MENU 4 - 10 p.m. Fri....................................................WALLEYE FISH FRY $10.95 Sat...............................................................PRIME RIB 5 - 10 p.m.
8515 Cty. Rd. FF • Webster, WI • 715-866-7400 HAPPY HOUR: Mon.-Thurs. 3-6 p.m.; Fri. 3-5 p.m.
MON. NIGHT, 7 P.M. TEXAS HOLD’EM PLUS 25¢ WINGS, 4-10 p.m. BURNETT COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY MEAT RAFFLE EVERY FRIDAY, 5 P.M. GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE!
FISHBOWL UNITED SPORTSMAN’S CLUB MEAT RAFFLE EVERY FRIDAY, 5 P.M.
715-349-5120
24787 Clam Lake Dr. Siren, WI
EVERY THURSDAY NIGHT, 9 P.M.
DJ KARAOKE WITH BECKY
Located 2 mi. E. of the Burnett Co. Airport on Hwy. 70
MUSIC EVERY WEEKEND Live Music By: DIRECT HIT Join Us Wed., Nov. 24
FOOD GRILL OPEN DAILY
562752 32o
LADIES NIGHT: $1 DRINKS FOR LADIES
SIREN LIONS MEAT RAFFLE 5 P.M. EVERY FRIDAY
Beer & Bar Rail All Day.........$2.00 Margaritas...............................$1.00 (when you buy a Taco Dinner) Wednesday: Happy Hour All Day Till 9 p.m. Thursday: Tacos................................................$1.00 Tappers....................................$1.50 Friday: Happy Hour 9 p.m.-Midnight Bomb Shots.................................$3.50 Lions Meat Raffle 5 p.m. Saturday: All-You-Can-Eat Broasted Chicken.....................$6.00 Sunday: All-You-Can-Eat Wings.........$5.00 Monday: Tuesday:
DAY CAMPS IN 2012 562627
9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. • Ages 8 to 16
32a,d,e 32o
Suzy Q’s
SER BREA VING K ALL FAST EVERY DAY DAY!
Snowshoe Tavern
562737 32a,d,o
562743 32a,o
SWEENY’S BAR
Cushing, WI • 715-648-5223
HAPPY HOUR: MON. - FRI. 10 A.M. - NOON & 5 P.M. - 6 P.M.
FOOD & DRINK SPECIALS ON FATHER’S DAY FOR DAD FRIDAY NIGHT FISH HUNGRY? SERVING BISCUITS & OR SHRIMP DINNER GRAVY, ALL DAY, $ EVERY DAY!
7.95
KRIS’ PHEASANT INN & SPORTS BAR Hwy. 35 & Main Street, J
D
FRI. & SAT. N IG HTS
MONDAY & THURSDAY NIGHT Chicken Wings, $ 50 Choose from 9 varieties.................. 5 p.m. till gone.
6
FRIDAY NIGHT
12
Walleye & Perch $ Fish Fry...............
Now Broiled or Deep Fried!
Siren, Wis.
715-349-5755
BBQ RIBS ARE BACK EVERY SATURDAY
8 1200 $ 00
1/2 Order.....................
$
Full Order............
Add 1/4 Broasted Chicken for $ 00 only.......................... Extra
3
562519 32o
562736 32a,o
~ LUNCH SERVED DAILY ~
715-866-4354
27924 Yellow Lake Rd.
Webster, Wis.
Serving Breakfast Saturdays & Sundays, 8 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
~ EVENING SPECIALS ~
Mon. All-You-Can-Eat Soft- or Hard-Shell Tacos...... 7.50 Tues. 12 Lg. Butterfly Shrimp w/fries & coleslaw, $ Incl. reg. beer or rail drink (served Noon till gone)........ 7.50 $ BBQ Pork Ribs. choice of potato & soup or salad. . . . 8.95 $ Wed. All-You-Can-Eat Chicken.................................... 8.95 Thurs. Serving Starts At Noon All-You-Can-Eat Chicken Wings & Fries, $ Incl. reg. beer or rail drink............................................ 7.95 $ Fri. All -You-Can-Eat North Atlantic Cod............ 10.95 $ Sat. 14-Oz. Prime Rib, choice of potato, soup or salad. 16.95 Sat. & Sun. Serving Our Chicken Picnic Special Starts at 1 p.m. $
562515 32o
HAPPY HOUR: SUNDAY THRU FRIDAY, 4 - 6 P.M.
$1 OFF BEER & DRINKS • 75¢ TAPPERS
Yellow Lakes & Rivers Assoc. Meat Raffle Every Saturday, 3-5 p.m.
562742 32a,o
562516 32o
GREAT DEAL! 8 p.m. - Midnight $1 PINT BEERS EVERY DAY, 2-6 P.M.
562775 32o
562699 32a,o
Danbury Area Chamber of Commerce P.O. Box 196 • Danbury WI 54830 Phone: 715-656-3292 Web site: www.discoverdanbury.com/
Page 22
Out & About - June 2012
7 DOapyen weeks! a 24226 1st Avenue North, Siren, WI
715-349-8888 www.timberstheatres.com
LLLLLLLLLLLL Like Us On Facebook
Only $ 5 Before 6 p.m.
See Our Ad In Adverti The ser Leader & Weekly
Pick Up ly ek Our We lyer Movie F al At Loc s se Busines
Matinees Shown D a Starting ily In June 562520 32o
562374 32o
562375 32o
Out & About - June 2012
Page 23
Enjoy the Wisconsin outdoors! ST. CROIX FALLS, WIS. POLK COUNTY FAIR SOCIETY INC.
715-483-3391 562623 2o 3
“Come And Enjoy Your County Fair With Family & Friends”
BAR
July 26 - 29, 2012
Danbury, Wis.
Check our Web site for the schedule of events
Located 2 miles north of Danbury, Wis. on Hwy. 35
www.PolkCountyFair.com
Serving Full Menu 6 Days A Week Serving Mon., Wed., Thurs. & Sun. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.; Fri. & Sat., 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
OPEN 7 A WEEDAYS K
HOT SANDWICHES $ Hot Ham or Hot Beef.................................. 3.99 With onions. 1/2-lb. Meat served with Cheddar, Blue Cheese, Swiss or American Cheese
FREE Chili Dog Every Tuesday With Purchase Of Golden Light 16-oz., 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Join us for
BUY ONE VEGGIE PIZZA, GET ONE FREE TUESDAY NIGHT, 5 - 9 p.m.
DJ/ KARAOKE
WEDNESDAY NIGHT - 5 - 9 p.m.
MEXICAN M E X I C A N NIGHT! NIGHT! 1/2-Lb. Burgers........................
$
3.99
Every Saturday Night.
With two toppings. Served all day & night.
SERVING FULL MENU 6 DAYS A WEEK
715-349-2954 Dining Room Hours: Mon. - Thurs. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. Friday 9 a.m. - 11 p.m. Saturday 8 a.m. - 11 p.m. Sunday 8 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Serving Breakfast Friday, Saturday & Sunday
Add Fries: $1.00 • Add Onion Rings: $2.00
THURSDAY
24136 State Hwy. 35, Siren, Wis.
562886 32o
DAILY LUNCH & DINNER SPECIALS! FRIDAY NIGHT FISH FRY FRIDAY & SATURDAY PRIME RIB
LAKE COUNTRY RIDERS SNOWMOBILE CLUB
MEAT RAFFLE EVERY FRIDAY 5:30 P.M.
FRIDAY NIGHT POWER HOUR 11 P.M. TO MIDNIGHT 2-FOR-1 BEER & BAR RAIL
• 18-Hole Championship Course (Golf Digest’s “Best Places To Play”) • 9-Hole Par-3 Course On Beautiful Birch Island Lake • Legends Bar & Grill • Indoor Swimming Pool And Fitness Room • Private Beaches • Hiking Trails • And Much More 14 miles east of Webster, Wis., off Cty. Rd. A and Kilkare Road
715-259-3910
www.voyagervillage.com
Scan Me! Or Text: vvlgc To: 94253 To Become Part Of The Voyager Text Club And For A Chance To Win A Golf Outing For You And 15 Of Your Closest Friends This Fall!
572512 32o
Discover your playful nature in ours...
VILLAGE
562702 32o
EVERY TUESDAY - 5 - 9 p.m.
Page 24
Out & About - June 2012
CELEBRATING OUR 56TH YEAR
©2012 Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. (BRP). All rights reserved. ®, ™ and the BRP logo are trademarks of BRP or its affiliates. In the U.S.A., products are distributed by BRP U.S. Inc. Offers valid in U.S.A. only, from May 19, 2012, to July 31, 2012, at participating dealers on purchases of eligible units. See an authorized BRP dealer for details. The conditions may vary from state to state and these offers are subject to termination or change at any time without notice. † 1-Year Limited Warranty: Eligible units are new and unused 2010 to 2013 Can Am Outlander and Renegade ATVs as well as 2011 to 2013 Can-Am side-by-side vehicles. The buyer of eligible units will receive the 6month BRP Limited Warranty plus a 6-month B.E.S.T. extended service contract subject to a $50 deductible on each repair. Exception for Florida residents who will receive the 6-month BRP Limited Waranty plus an additional 6-month BRP Limited Warranty. See a participating BRP dealer for details and to receive a copy of the BRP Limited Warranty and B.E.S.T. contract. ‡ FINANCING OPTIONS: Financing as Low as 3.9% APR for 36 months: Eligible units are new and unused 2010 to 2013 Can-Am ATVs as well as 2011 to 2013 Can-Am side-by-side vehicles. On a purchase where the Amount Financed is $8,000, your Down Payment is $0 with 36 monthly payments of Tiers A - B Customers: $235.85 each. ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE 3.9%. Tier C Customers: $243.04 each. ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE 5.9%. These financing programs are offered by Sheffield Financial, a Division of BB&T Financial, FSB. Minimum Amount Financed $1,500; Maximum Amount Financed $40,000. Subject to a credit approval. Approval, and any rates and terms provided, are based on credit worthiness. Other financing offers available. Financing promotions void where prohibited. BRP is not responsible for any errors, changes or actions related to financing provided by Sheffield Financial. BRP reserves the right, at any time, to discontinue or change specifications, prices, designs, features, models or equipment without incurring obligation. Some models depicted may include optional equipment. BRP highly recommends that all ATV drivers take a training course. For safety and training information, see your dealer or call the ATV Safety Institute at 800-887-2887. ATVs can be hazardous to operate. For your safety: always wear a helmet, eye protection and other protective clothing. Never carry passengers on any ATV not specifically designed by the manufacturer for such use. All adult model Can Am ATVs are Category G ATVs (General Use Models) intended for recreation and/or utility use by an operator age 16 or older. For side-by-side vehicles (SxS): Read the BRP side-by-side Operator’s Guide and watch the Safety DVD before driving. For your safety: wear a helmet, eye protection and other protective gear. Fasten lateral net and seat belt at all times. Operator must be at least 16 years old. Passenger must be at least 12 years old and able to hold handgrips and plant feet while seated against the backrest. ATVs and SxS are for off-road use only; never ride on paved surfaces or public roads. Always remember that riding and alcohol/drugs don’t mix. Never engage in stunt driving. Avoid excessive speed and be particularly careful on difficult terrain. Ride responsibly. 9100199
Stop In & See O Large Showroomur
HURRY! OFFER ENDS SOON!
©2012 Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. (BRP). All rights reserved. TM, ® and the BRP logo are trademarks of BRP or its affiliates. Products are distributed in the U.S.A. by BRP U.S. Inc. “Offer is valid in U.S.A. on new and unused 2011 & 2012 Sea-Doo® PWC models purchased between June 1, 2012, to July 31, 2012. † WARRANTY: Eligible units will receive 2-year coverage (12 months of BRP Limited Warranty and 12 months of BRP Extended Service Term (B.E.S.T.) subject to a $50 deductible on each repair.) Florida residents receive a 2-year BRP Limited Warranty. Subject to the exclusions., limitations of liabilities and all other terms and conditions of BRP’s standard limited warranty and B.E.S.T. contract, including without limitation the exclusions of damages caused by abuse, abnormal use or neglect. ‡FINANCING: The financing program is offered by Sheffield Financial, a Division of BB&T Financial, FSB. Minimum Amount Financed $1,500; Maximum Amount Financed: $50,000. Subject to credit approval; not all applicants will qualify for credit. Approval, and any rates and terms provided, are based on credit worthiness. Other financing options are available. See you Sea-Doo dealer for details. **REBATE: Up to $500 rebate on 2011 models (rebate amount depends on the model purchased). Offer subject to change without notice. Offer may not be assigned, traded, sold or combined with any other offer unless expressly stated herein. Other condition and some restrictions may apply. Offer void where prohibited by law. See you participating Sea-Doo dealer for details. BRP reserves the right, at any time, to discontinue or change specifications, prices, designs, features, models or equipment without incurring any obligation. Always ride responsibly and safely. Follow all instructional and safety materials. BRP recommends a minimum operator age of 16 years old. Always observe applicable laws and regulations. Respect the rights of shoreline residents, and keep a safe distance from other recreationists. Always wear appropriate protective clothing, including a Coast Guard-approved PFD that is suitable for PWC use. Always remember that riding and alcohol/drugs don’t mix. 2107163
PONTOONS
Stop in and see our selection of South Bay pontoons.
MS 170 CHAIN SAW • Designed for occasional wood-cutting tasks around the home
ON SALE & IN STOCK!
14” bar
• Includes many of the excellent design features of our professional models
179.95
$
BG 55 HANDHELD BLOWER
FS 45 TRIMMER
• Great for quickly cleaning driveways, sidewalks and hard-to-reach places
• Lightweight, reliable and fast starting
• Proven handheld blower at an affordable price
149.95
$
HUGE SAVINGS!
20’ FISH OR CRUISE SPECIAL
Danbury THE MAIN STORE Webb Lake
35 H A Webster
A&H
159.95
$
with
25 H.P. MERCURY OUTBOARD
Stop in and see this boat today! 77
• Easy to use, well-balanced trimmer for homeowner use
11,989
$
Available at participating dealers while supplies last. ©2010 STIHL
THE THE MAIN MAIN STOR STORE E Northwest Wisconsin’s Premier Recreational Dealer
Downtown Webb Lake 715-259-3311 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. 7 Days A Week 25 miles NW of Spooner, Co. Rd. H WWW.MAIN-STORE.COM
562782 32o
SALE SERVICSE, & RENT AL