May 1908

Mr. and Mrs. Fred Reitz left Tuesday morning for Waupaca where Mr. Reitz will do tailor work at the soldiers’ home.  In their departure, Neillsville loses two very excellent citizens and early settlers.  Mr. Reitz has been a resident of this city for 30 years and has been prominent in business and political circles.  At one time, he was postmaster of Neillsville.  Reitz was a member of the local G.A.R. Post, has always been public-spirited and progressive.  Both he and his wife have many friends here who will always retain a warm spot in their hearts for them.

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There will be a dance at W. H. Thoma’s barn on May 8^th.  The music will be good for dancing and there is plenty of stable room for the horses.  Ice cream and cake will be served in the house.

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Bill Huntley washed the windows of his marble shop on Monday.  He says that the last time the windows were washed was just before he and Abraham Lincoln crossed the Delaware River.

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An unusual number of Neillsville residents took advantage of the beautiful day on Sunday.  The Black River was lined with picnickers from the mouth of the O’Neill Creek to the mouth of the Cunningham Creek.  There also were many who drove to Hatfield for the day, among who were: Herbert Brown, Leland Page, Ed Schoengarth, O. W. Schoengarth, Max Lange, Misses Ethel Stockwell, Alice Neverman, Mida Visgar, Blanche Crocker, Melvina Walters, Messrs. and Mesdames S. F. Hewett, A. B. Marsh, S. M. Marsh, Gus Anderson and family.

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The dedication of Howard & Seif’s new building, held last Saturday, was a great success.  Nearly 300 people were entertained and dined by the firm.  Representatives of various implement, engine and buggy companies were present, demonstrating the worth of their respective wares.  A picture was also taken of the crowd for reproduction in a trade journal.  It was a busy day for all, especially for the customers and the popular firm of Howard & Seif.

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John Walk says he expects to have a motorcycle next week, to be used in delivering mail on his rural route.  He said those who live along his route can expect to have their mail delivered earlier. It would be well for all of you to watch your horses until they get used to seeing the motorcycle on the roads.

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H. J. Hart is preparing to put his new gasoline launch on Lake Holway, located just below Dells Dam, some time this week.  Hart will put it into passenger service and will carry passengers around on the lake at a nominal fee. The boat will seat about 25 people very comfortably.  The launch is a beauty and is the product of Harts’ own handiwork.  It is equipped with a gasoline engine that has a screw propeller, covered with an awning and in all, is a model of the boat-builder’s art.  It is attractively painted in white, trimmed with brass and will undoubtedly prove to be one of the attractive features of Lake Holway this summer.

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Ladies!  You will certainly want a set of puffs for your hair, to be had at Mrs. M. Marcus’ home.  A choice of ready-made pompadours and switches are kept on hand, or you may make an order for one.  Mrs. Marcus lives in the brick house by the depot.

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Rudolph Silney, a captain in the Russian Army, arrived here yesterday to look after the estate of his father.  His father, Vincent Silney was killed in a mower accident, in the Town of Levis, last summer.

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For sale or rent: livery barn in Marshfield, one of the two best-located barns in the city.  For information address: Geo. Gillen 209 W 3^rd St Marshfield, Wis.

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The ladies of the Congregational Church will give a six o’clock supper in the church dining room on May 14.  The menu is as follows: sliced meat, horseradish, creamed potatoes, baked beans, potato muffins, bread, butter, ice cream, cakes and coffee.

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Judge O’Neill sold 120 acres of land, in the Town of Sherwood, to Rev. W. K. Loofburrow of Lena, Ill.  The purchaser will stock the land with cows and go into dairy farming.  He expects to eventually reside upon it himself.  He also owns another 120 acres adjoining his recent purchase.

May 1948

A call for 100 volunteers to help ready the baseball diamond and grandstand at the Clark County fairground, Sunday morning, was issued this week by Jack Tibbett, president of the Neillsville Athletic Association.

Tibbett asks that the volunteers bring rakes and/or brooms.  Appear at the fairground at 8 a.m., or as shortly thereafter as Morpheus will permit.

The project lined up for the morning is to rake stone from the field and to sweep out the grandstand.  After the stones have been cleaned from the playing fields, the surface will be rolled by the use of a tractor.

The project is in the furtherance of the development of the fairground site for athletic events.  Last fall, the ground was leveled.  This year it has been dragged and seeded.

Work on installation of the floodlights has progressed to a point, Tibbett said, where another day’s work by the installation contractors will put the lights into operation.

The light poles were set-up earlier this year by the Clark County Highway Department and the Northern States Power Company.  The installation contractors rigged up most of the reflectors and wiring, last week.

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Marriage vows were exchanged in a double ring ceremony at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, of Sherwood, Saturday, May 1.  It was the marriage of Lois Schwanebeck, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Schwanebeck of the Sherwood area, who became the bride of Albert Hasz, son of Herman Hasz, of Granton.  Pastor LeRoy Koepke performed the ceremony.

The bride wore a long sleeved marquisette with a long ruffled train and carried a shower bouquet of white roses and fern.  The long veil was caught in a crown of seed pearls.  She wore a double string of pearls, a gift of the groom.  She was attended by her sister Nona, as maid of honor and Darlene Miller of Rockford, Ill., cousin of the bride as bridesmaid.

The groom was attended by his brother Otto, as best man and Wayne Schwanebeck, brother of the bride was groomsman.

A reception was held at the home of the bride’s parents for the immediate relatives and friends.

The bride is a graduate of the class of 1945 of the Neillsville High School and the groom of the Granton High School.

After a short wedding trip to the southern part of the state, the couple will be at home on the groom’s farm near Granton.

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A new garage building will be constructed, by the Town of York, for a maximum cost of $7,000.  The building will be located on the same site as the former building, which was destroyed by fire. The town has a building fund of $3,000 and in a special meeting, held recently, the town board was authorized to borrow not more than $4,000.  It is with the under-standing that the loan would be paid off by provision of the town tax budget at the rate of $1,000 per year.

The new building will be constructed of concrete blocks. The size will be 46 feet by 46 feet.

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Mr. and Mrs. August Strebing, 323 South Court Street, celebrated their golden wedding with a family reunion and dinner, Sunday, May 9.  Five children, 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren gathered around them to mark the occasion of their 50 years of married life. Their three sons, Howard Strebing and family, Raymond Strebing and family, both of Neillsville and Kenneth Strebing, of Chicago, were present.  Also present were their two daughters, Mrs. Carl Spaete and her family of Neillsville and Mrs. Evelyn Strebing of St. Paul.  Other guests came to congratulate the couple, also.  A wedding cake centerpiece dominated the table decorations and Mrs. Strebing wore a corsage.

Mr. Strebing was born in Lyons, Ill. and Mrs. Strebing, (nee Esther Hewett), in Arlington Heights, Ill.  They were married May 10, 1898, at Riverside, Ill. and moved to Neillsville in 1919, where they have located ever since.

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A fishing contest will be sponsored this year by the Hatfield Sportsmen’s Club. 

The club directors, meeting last week, decided to pay $5 for the largest catch of the season, in local waters, for each of the following: walleyed pike, small moth (mouth) bass, catfish, crappie, German brown trout, northern pike, large mouth bass, muskellunge, rainbow trout and brook trout.

Only club members are eligible for prizes.  Entries must be weighed in and registered at Vieau’s, Prusa’s or Cardinal’s. Awards will be made in December.

The directors also selected several plots of the planting of deer food and arrangements were made in having the project done.

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Mrs. Francis Kokaly, of Willard, will assume her new duties as Clark County Nurse on Monday; she will succeed Miss Bernita Wasserburger, who has served as county nurse.

Mrs. Kokaly is the former Miss Francis Ruzic who is a graduate of St. Joseph’s School of Nursing.  She served in the Army Nurses Corps during World War II, seeing service in the Southwest Pacific.

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New fire fighting equipment was installed in the Clark County courthouse Tuesday.  Included in the apparatus were two 100-foot lengths of flax hose and six foam fire extinguishers with capacity of 2 and one-half gallons.

In addition to these, the plan is to order several firebombs, which will explode at a pre-determined temperature, covering the area within their range with chemicals. The bombs are to be placed in strategic locations of the courthouse as a fire prevention measure.

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A Wisconsin Statehood stamp has been issued by the Postal Department.  It will be on sale at the post offices in this area on May 30.  The stamp commemorates the Centennial of the admission of Wisconsin to the Union.

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The fishing season was over before it had really begun for two Town of Hendren men, this week.

Apparently over-anxious to try their skill, the two men tried their luck in Hay Creek, last Sunday.  Everything was going well until Carl Frick, the game warden, poked his nose into that region.

Then the fishing suddenly took a sour turn.

Frick took the men into custody on a charge of fishing in a trout stream during a closed season. They pleaded guilty to the charge when arraigned before Justice V. W. Nehs Monday morning.

Justice Nehs ordered them to pay fine and costs of $29.40 each and, this is what hurts, revoked their fishing license for a year.

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A fishing excursion ended abruptly early last Saturday for three young men when their car took a high dive off the approach to the Dells Dam Bridge, 11 miles south of Neillsville.

The car plunged down a 10-foot drop; took a bad bouncing on the top, front and sides; came to rest on its wheels, the motor still purring and the lights still shining. This was a minor miracle, however, for the three young men walked away from a wrecked car, which appeared as though nothing living could have survived with it.

Suffering cuts bruises and abrasions were: 

Arthur Andrews, 23, of Chili, the driver; LaVerne Schlagenhaft, 20, Marshfield, who suffered a long gash over the right eye which required 20 stitches to close and Bud Ponshock, 19, of Auburndale.

According to Andrew, the “wishbone” portion of the steering mechanism, dropped out as the car was rounding the bridge over the Black River about 4 a.m.  They were traveling 30 or 35 miles per hour at the time.

Out of control, the car headed for the south side of the road and plunged down the steep embankment.

Andrews and Schlagenhaft were thrown from the car as it descended in peculiar gyrations.  Ponshock remained in the car and was the one who retained consciousness throughout.  Schlagenhaft was momentarily stunned.

Andrews said that he was unconscious until the other two had dragged him to the roadway.  They returned to the car and shut off the motor and lights, then walked southward to a spot where they saw lights.  There, they found a fisherman who took them to the Neillsville hospital, where they were given medical attention and were released.

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Carl Olson had a minor automobile accident last weekend, while in Winter, for the opening of the fishing season.  Another car backed out from a curb and rammed into the right front of his automobile, causing some damage.  Howard Corey, of Greenwood, was with Olson at the time as they had gone together on the fishing trip.

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Anyone interested in placing a bid for the concession rights at the ball park may do so by contacting W. H. Allen, secretary of the Neillsville Athletic Association. The concession stand will be open during the Neillsville city league baseball games.

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Robert Johnson, of Greenwood is scheduling charter trips by air in a three-passenger plane.  The fee for one passenger is $7 per hour of actual fling (flying) time.  Two passengers is $9 an hour actual flying time.  Write of (or) call: Robert Johnson, Greenwood, Wis. Phone 2R6

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Dance at the Lakeshore Pavilion in Hixton on Saturday, May 15.  Roger Johnson and his Spot Light Orchestra will play.

Dance Saturday, May 22 at Lake Side Inn, Rock Dam.  Music will be by the Four Lang Sisters.

There will be a wedding dance for Bud Kelsh and Joyce Hardwick on Saturday, May 22 at the Silver Dome Ballroom.

Heinie and his 11-piece radio band will be at the Silver Dome on June 3.

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Through the years, many have enjoyed summertime outings on or along the Black River, such as George Sontag on a sunny day in the early 1900s.  The still, tranquil waters of the river made a perfect day for boating.  (Photo courtesy of the Sontag Family Collection)

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