NEWSLETTER: APRIL 2006

Previous issues of the newsletter are posted on our website at http://my.core.com/~riponhistsoc. 

 Wanted: Clothing from 1940s, ‘50s, or ‘60s

 Our Society would welcome donations of clothing worn in Ripon from the period of 1940-1969. Men’s, women’s or children’s everyday clothing for work or play are needed in the clothing collection. This includes underwear, footwear, suits, pants, dresses, headwear, and athletic clothing. Items may be worn, mended, with minimal stains if they are intact for display. As our storage space is limited we need to be selective when accepting donations. If you have clothing you would consider donating, please contact Mary Brandt or Michele Benson at 748-5354.

 Typing Assistance Needed

 The Society has an urgent need for volunteer typists. Typing of catalogue cards and other records is ongoing. Occasional help for an hour or two during the morning is acceptable. Both a manual typewriter and a computer for word processing are available for use. We have a congenial group of volunteers who share time and gain knowledge of local history each morning and enjoy furthering your historic interests. Help us to improve our Society, which is a community service open to all ages for research, education, preservation of local records and artifacts. If you are interested in helping, please contact Mary Brandt or Michele Benson at 748-5354.

 Archival Activities

 Craig Tebon, Director of Ripon Main Street, Inc., and the Ripon Historical Society are working together to develop a collection of pictures of Ripon businesses, past and present. Many of these pictures are now available on the Society computer. Jean Woolley has volunteered to put this collection on CDs.

 Another activity in the archives this winter has been to reorganize the business and industry boxes, which are two of our most requested research subjects. Bonnie Brooks and Nedra Martz have updated the folders to make them more user-friendly and to preserve the contents. Pictures and information from this collection will be part of the display at the June Open House.

 Historical Society June Open House to Focus on Business in Ripon

 Although the historic buildings that make up the business architecture on Watson Street have changed little over the past century, the businesses in them have changed a lot. At its annual Summer Open House, our Society will feature a special exhibit of advertisements, photographs and memorabilia relating to former business occupants of a number of the commercial buildings on downtown Watson St. And, as usual, both the Lawson and the Pickard Houses will be open and our historic gardens will be in bloom. There will be music and refreshments as well. The Summer Open House will be held on Sunday, June 18^th (Father’s Day), from 1:00 to 3:00 at the Pickard House, 524 Watson St.

 March Program Featured Our Library Collection

 We are almost finished with the re-cataloguing of our library thanks to the labors of Nedra Martz, Diane Christenson, and George Miller. One of the results of this effort has been a renewed appreciation of our collection, the subject of our most recent program, which was presented by George Miller. We have a very small library made up almost entirely of books given to us by our members, but as Bill Woolley remarked, it tells the social history of our community. What books were people reading? What books were they saving? What books did they think the Historical Society should keep? We also discovered some gaps in our collection that we should be trying to fill in order to give added depth to this history. We’ll have more to say about these gaps in future newsletters. Unfortunately we cannot be a lending library. Our books, in most cases, are too fragile and we don’t have a big enough staff of volunteers to run such an enterprise. However, you are welcome to use our meeting room as a reading room. We are usually open for business weekday mornings from 9:00 to 11:00 AM, but it is a good idea to call in advance to be sure someone will be here. The number is 748-5354.

 Petroglyphs to be Subject of April 20 Program

 At 7:00 PM on April 20 the Society will present, Song of the Drum: The Petroglyphs of Maine. Petroglyphs are the "rock art" of ancient peoples and are found in many parts of America. This documentary on video will be moderated by Frank Farvour, one of the Ripon Historical Society's resident archeologists. In Maine, the Native Americans began carving images into stone ledges beginning about 3,000 years ago. The film shows many examples of the petroglyphs and their settings, as well as the actual wildlife that is often depicted in the images. It presents explanations and ideas about what the images mean and how they changed as the ideas of the people who made them changed.

We deeply regret to announce the passing of Linda Lueck

 Linda’s son, James, has assumed her membership in the Society. The family has recently donated several items from an earlier Ripon, which we are grateful to have in the collection.

 Welcome to Our Newest Members

 In addition to James F. Lueck, we are also happy to welcome new members David and Mary Jane Schanke, John Olson, Joel Streblow, and Tim Wise. 

RIPON HISTORICAL SOCIETY OFFICERS
President	Todd Berens
Vice President	Michele Benson
Secretary	Shirley Williams
Treasurer	Bill Woolley
RIPON HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD
Curator of Collections: Artifacts	Mary Brandt
Curator of Collections: Library and Archives	George Miller
Associate Archivist	Nedra Martz
Buildings Maintenance Supervisor	Ralph Quinney
Grounds Maintenance Supervisor	Mary Brandt
Membership Secretary	Barbara Scott
Staff Archeologist	Frank Farvour
Publicity Coordinator	Bev Christ
Program Chair	Position Vacant
Records Manager	Joyce Rudolph
Coordinator of K-12 Educational Programming	Jean Woolley
Website and Newsletter Editor	Jean Woolley

 Bits of Ripon History

 Whenever possible, we like to use a portion of the newsletter to feature personal accounts or material from our archives that tell something about Ripon’s past. We welcome contributions from our readers! Please send your stories to:

Jean Woolley
611 Hillside Terrace
Ripon, WI 54971
or email them to:
woolley611@yahoo.com. 

Summer of 1931 by Frank Farvour

 In the nearly two years following the 1929 stock market crash and related economic turmoil, the accepted way of life was dictated by the Great Depression. Everyone existed on far fewer dollars than they had enjoyed before. However prices fell too and the Ripon community suffered far less than the nearby larger cities. My folks had acquired a small lot on Green Lake in 1926 and erected a modest cottage on it the next year. My mother and I stayed at the lake while my father and grandfather went to town each morning to attend to their workaday requirements. At age twelve these were truly halcyon days for me, I did my few chores cheerfully and spent the rest of my days swimming, fishing, boating or hiking the lakeshore. But from Sunday evening to Monday afternoon things were different.

 After supper on Sunday the dirty laundry was packed into duffel bags and we all went to our 932 Woodside Avenue home. Dad and “Gramps” horsed the behemoth Thor washing machine from the back porch to the kitchen, set up the wash benches and filled the tubs with rinse water. The wash boiler was put on the stove and filled ready for heating. The laundry was sorted and the first load put into the washer, then everybody went to bed.

Mom was up by four o’clock in the morning, heating the water and bucketing it into the washer. Load after load was washed, rinsed, rinsed again, and carried to the back yard clothes lines. By breakfast time the whole wash was out to dry and the food on the table. It was made plain that I was to be up, dressed and at the dining room door when Mom called “Breakfast is ready.” My chore for the day was to mow the lawn. In order to have as much of the day to myself as possible I had the old push mower out and ready to go just as soon as the dew dried from the grass. I usually had it done by ten o’clock when I received my twenty-five cent reward for my labors. For most of the summer the routine was the same from that point. I would first hurry down town to Kuebler’s Grocery where the candy bars that brought a nickel everywhere else could be had for four cents. They were generous too, Milky Way, Baby Ruth or O.Henry weighed in at about three ounces!

 Once my purchase was made I headed straight for what is now Selfridge Park and to the shore of the mill pond. But - the pond wasn’t there! The entire pond bottom was bone dry and the cracks in the sunbaked mud were a full inch and a half wide. I quickly crossed the pond and reached the power company sub station where the new water well was being drilled. The “Thud-Thud” of the enormous drill bit shook the ground. It was almost hypnotic but I knew I had to be home by lunch time. I always was.