Work begins soon to make DCHS accessible

Greg Guenard packed ‘em in again! His repeat performance in June to talk about his family’s downtown business, Guenard’s Candy Store, was part of our History Sunday series, which focused on Superior’s downtown and complemented our current exhibit. Called “Open ‘til 9: Thursday Nights on Tower,” the title refers to the days when stores in Superior’s downtown stayed open late for shoppers.

One of the reasons so many people come to hear stories about Eddie Guenard is that people love to remember Superior’s favorite people, places and events. As we continue to add to our downtown exhibit, we’d like to focus on those iconic people of the downtown, people like Mr. Guenard and Henry Cohen of City Market, Zona Rosa and the Library Restaurant. If you have any full-length pictures of business men and women who shaped the downtown we would love to have a copy of those pictures to add to our exhibit. The reason we need them full length is so we can enlarge their figures to stand among the exhibit. Other influential people would be T.J. and A.A. Roth and Neil Smith of Roth’s Department Store, the Edelsteins of Edelstein Gifts, and John, Roy and Charlie Branser of the men’s department store. Does anyone have a photo of Harvey Buchanan, long-time manager of the Palace Theater?

Our construction schedule to become handicap accessible is still in progress but it should begin soon. Although most of the funding for this project is from the City’s Community Development Block Grant, it doesn’t pay for the entire project and there are always extra costs.

The committee members assigned to this project are working on ways to bring costs down with the help of general contractor, Gary LaPorte, who is breaking the project down to include material and labor that can be provided through donations and volunteer work. We’ll have that list in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, you can help our fundraising by buying raffle tickets to win one of three beautiful prizes. Third prize is a basket of merchandise donated by DCHS; second prize is a Pam Dull print of the Lift Bridge, donated by Mick MacKenzie and framed by Kelly and Gary Reed and Barb Mattson; and first prize, a handmade quilt and rag rug donated by 4-Corners Crafters. Stop in at DCHS to see the prizes and to buy your chances.

You can help DCHS continue its mission and ensure that we are here to provide more programs. For $100 you can “adopt a day” in your name or as tribute to or memorial for a loved one.

During construction, we’ll still be open to the public if you have a research request or want to stop in our museum shop. Try Frontier Village: The Birth of Superior, 1853-1883, or, if you are doing some Superior genealogy research, pick up a copy of Pioneers of Superior, WI.

Want to get your kids in a sports program this year? The book, Nearfall, by Joe Reasbeck may inspire them to try wrestling. You can also find enlarged photo prints and DCHS t-shirts.

The Douglas County Historical Society is located at 1101 John Ave. Contact us at dchs@douglashistory.org or (715) 392-8449.

Kathy Laakso is the director of the Douglas County Historical Society.

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