Douglas County Past for Jan. 28, 2022

Lake Nebagamon will soon have rustic village hall

Lake Nebagamon this summer will open wide the doors of one of the most beautiful and unique buildings of its kind in Upper Wisconsin — the new village hall which, when finished, will be a rambling structure of huge oiled cedar logs, with a seating capacity of 500.

Built with a $16,000 WPA appropriation, the hall will be located on the same site as the present pavilion, but will be moved up to the business corner so the front faces the main street and the back doors open facing the beach.

Set up farmer union locals in Lakeside, Superior towns

Three new Farmers Union locals will be established in the towns of Superior and Lakeside this week, it was announced Tuesday by Anton Levin, president of the county locals.

Establishment of these locals is the result of a membership drive which took place last fall, and during which period 70 new families were added to the organization in the two towns.

Fishing course at vocational

Conservation and its relation to the sportsman angler is the subject of a course to be offered by the Superior Vocational School this winter, according to Rudolph Hanson, director. Harold Hollis, 2222 East Fifth St., contributor of practical fishing articles to outdoor magazines, will be instructor.

The course will include a study of the habits of Wisconsin game fishes and ways of taking them with artificial lures. Both casting rod and fly rod technique will be taught.

Fast action is plentiful on ring card

Continuing his domination of every opponent Head of the Lakes matchmakers can find for him, Neil Schaub boxed his way to a clean-cut decision over Billy Cooke before approximately 1,000 fans at the Superior State Teachers College ring Tuesday night.

There was plenty of spirited action on the eight-bout program, with Steve Berka, 147-pound Superiorite, scoring the only knockout on the card when he put lanky Buck Lemieux, of Cloquet, away in the second round. Lemieux was floored.

Switch engine strikes auto

Frank Sajec Jr., supervisor from Oliver, and Tony Matetich, deputy village marshal of Oliver, were slightly injured early Thursday morning when their car was hit by a switching Omaha freight train at the Tower Avenue crossing between Eighth and Ninth streets.

The two were driving north over the crossing. A frosted windshield and side windows prevented them from noticing the approaching box car in time, they told police.

Blaze at Solon routs fighters early Thursday

Volunteer firemen were summoned from their beds at 1:15 a.m. Thursday to answer a call at the home of Guy Little, where loss was estimated Thursday as only minor.

Spontaneous combustion was decided by officials to have been the cause of the blaze. Fire Chief Ralph Strater, a retired Superior fireman, took charge. It was the first run for the newly purchased LaVerne engine of the village department.

The family spent the remainder of the night in a nearby cottage. The Little home is located on the lakefront where the former Green Parrot tea house stood.

Pie-makers bashful so contest off

Miss Jean Peterson, Douglas County’s home demonstration agent, Thursday announced that plans for a cherry pie baking contest, scheduled for Saturday at the Vocational school, has been canceled.

Superior and Douglas County housewives, although generally considered better than average in the culinary arts, are somewhat bashful about displaying their talents in public, it seems, and a lack of entries caused the cancellation.

“We had plenty of volunteers for judges, but nobody wanted to make the pies,” Miss Peterson said.

Spees not dead; identification was incorrect

Douglas County authorities were advised by officials at Lake Geneva late Wednesday that Ben Spees was alive, and that an earlier report of his suicide was incorrect.

Word that a man identified as Spees was found dead had been received earlier Wednesday by the sheriff’s department, Undersheriff Elton Ekroth said, and word was sent to Spees’ wife at Lake Nebagamon.

Wednesday evening the call was received that the man was not Spees, and that it had been a case of mistaken identity. The earlier identification was made by two barbers who had worked with Spees.

Old phonograph records sought for high school

It’s your old phonograph records that they want at Central High School now, 10,400 of them.

The school is one of several throughout the country to be offered a combination phonograph and radio by the RCA-Victor company if they turned over 10,400 records — Victor records of course

Two months ago Central students staged a drive for the return of library and school books that had inadvertently been removed from public shelves. They turned 500 of them back to their proper custodians.

But now the kids at Central want something for their school and themselves. So trot out Alexander’s Ragtime Band, Cohen on the Telephone, Arkansas Traveler, Over There and the rest of them. It means a new phonograph-radio for Central.

Amnicon to yield 1,000 tons in ice harvest for winter

Ice harvesting at Lake Amnicon has begun with some 1,000 tons expected to be drawn for consumers of the area and along Highway 35 before the machines are again stored for another season.

William Mackyol and Charles Glaze, assisted by Ed Burnett, are the harvesters. Since their job began the middle of January, they have hauled the ice chunks to houses of lake area patrons, taverns and stores.

The ice-cutting machine operated by a model “T” Ford engine slices the frozen surface to the depth of 15 and a half inches. The men block out an area about 14 cuts wide and then cross saw. Ends and edges are done by hand. Tongs are used to lift the cakes from the lake, a process usually done by hand, but one that can be accomplished with a truck if too difficult. Depending on the amount harvested, sometimes as many as five trucks haul the crystal clear chunks to their sod laden houses.

Articles and pictures courtesy of retired librarian Judy Aunet with Superior Public Library.