The deputy then spokewith Birthman.

Estimated loss of thegarage and contents thatincluded tools — owned byboth Ryan Borner andBirthman — came to $5,000.A red 1996 Pontiac GrandPrix, valued at $5,000, wasdeemed a total loss.

Amanda said shebecame aware of the firewhen a passerby stoppedand knocked on her door toinform her.

Ryan, who had left at9:30 a.m., said everythingappeared fine and that hehad not entered the garagethat day. He said justbefore leaving he addedsome wood to the outdoorboiler that heats thegarage, his residence andBirthman’s home.

Ryan told the deputyabout an electrical box thathe thought looked like anorigin for the fire, notingthat Birthman had electri-cal work done in the garageabout six months prior.

Firefighter LynnJohnson is conducting aninvestigation of the fire.

were 15 at the time, whileanother estimated shewas in either eighth orninth grade. A fifthreported being 16 at thetime of the assault. Theincidents are alleged to

have taken place in thetown of Grant, village ofColfax and city ofMenomonie.

Motion hearings havebeen set for May 1 andJuly 19. Fodness haspleaded not guilty to all ofthe sex-related chargesand remains in DunnCounty Jail on a$100,000 bond.

In 1884, the WisconsinCentral Railroad hadreached the proposed vil-lage of Wheeler, but thedepot was called “LochielStation” after the littlehamlet that had a largerpopulation two “birdfly” miles north of therailway depot.

Wheeler originally wasnamed “Welton” after thewoman who originallyowned the village site andthe only resident at thetime. Two years later, S.A.Sherburne and H.D.Wheeler opened a generalstore in the village.

Soon after the storeopened, Mr. Wheeler wasasked to be the villagepostmaster. He agreed, aslong as the village namewas changed to “Wheeler.”It got so confusing that alocal humorist decided thename “Jumbo” was a bet-ter fit because of the mul-tiple names.

A raging fire, however,leveled the Sherburne &

Wheeler general store, andMr. Wheeler quickly leftthe village that bore hisname. That left the assis-tant postmaster, Rev. G.W.Pepper, to fill in as theofficial postmaster forseveral years before theposition could be filled.Mr. Wheeler was gone,but the name of the villagehas remained, and for atime it seemed that thecommunity would soonexpand beyond its bor-ders.

By 1892, the village hadtwo brickyards on the out-skirts of the town. Onewas operated by the EchartCo; the other was man-aged by William Kindred.Another business was theF.J. Marshall & Co., pro-ducers of railroad ties andwagon spokes. The firmwas ideally located on theWisconsin Railroad Line,always a potential cus-tomer.

In 1911, theMinneapolis, St. Paul &Sault Ste. Marie Railwaytook over the WisconsinCentral Railroad on a 99-year lease. Today, the lineis called the WisconsinCentral Railroad.

John Russell is curatoremeritus of the Dunn

County Historical Society.

This photograph, snappedin 1909, is of the Wheelerdepot building shortly afterthe local Wisconsin Centraltrain had stopped to pick upand unload passengers as wellas delivering freight. It hadbeen a “local” train, one thatdiffered from other trains onthe line that stopped only atthe larger cities on the

statewide line.Note the pile of bags left

on the platform at the rightend of the depot building. Itappears that they might bemail bags, sorted by a crew onboard the train and bound forthe residents of Wheeler andthe three mail routes thatradiated north of the village,extending as far as Ridgeland

on the northern border ofDunn County.

Two boys are standing inthe open doorway of the bag-gage room of the station.Those steam-puffing locomo-tives were always a greatattraction to boys of all ages.Those huffing-puffing enginesalways invoked images ofmagical places to go to get

away, even for a short time, tosome big city, or even achance to go fishing in one ofthe Great Lakes. There werewonderful and numerousoptions open for adventure.

The man in the white coat,standing to the left of center,may be the station manager— or perhaps just someonewho has missed the train!

A10 SUNDAY, February 5, 2012 HISTORY The Dunn County News

205626514 X 12.00

THIS IS MY HOPEH.T. KLATZKY AND

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Namesake long gone, but village remains

JOHN RUSSELLScenes of Yesteryear

‘Local’ train unloads its freight, passengers in Wheeler in 1909

ask them, ‘Did you seethat?’ as they drive alongthe lake.”

Kropp’s leadership wasalso important in garneringcity support for the reno-vation of the Mabel TainterCenter for the Arts as wellas the city’s popular skatepark and dog park.

“Our award winner hashis fingerprints all over ourcommunity,” Ausman said.“From supporting tourismand encouraging economicgrowth to steering devel-opment of the industrialpark and the expansion oflarge employers such as3M, Andersen Windows,ConAgra and several oth-ers, our winner has posi-tively impacted the growthof this community.”

Expressing his appreci-ation, the 2011Distinguished Citizenadmitted, “Usually I’m notat a loss for words, but I amtonight. ... I’ve been to anumber of these banquets,looked at the list of thepeople who have gotten theaward before, like LaVerne,Chuck Stokke ... FatherBlecha, Jim Anderson, BobSwanson, Wally Smetana. Iam humbled.”

Editor’s note: It should be

noted that the deadline fornominations for the annual

award were due to theChamber by Nov. 15 —well

before Kropp announcedhis candidacy for mayor.

According to ExecutiveDirector Lisa Montgomery,

Kropp received multiplenominations.

TRIALFrom A1

CITIZENFrom A1

FIREFrom A1

Other 2011 award winners

Look for photos of thisyear’s award winners infuture editions of TheDunn County News:■ Greater MenomonieArea Young ProfessionalsPresident — GradyRichartz■ Ambassador President— Jon Menz■ OutstandingAmbassador — MarkKalscheur■ Outstanding Volunteer— Bruce Siebold■ Honorary LifetimeMember — Chuck Stokke■ Good Neighbor — ElnaJohnson■ Farm Family — Davidand Carrie Schaefer■ Nonprofit — Bridge toHope■ Small Business of theYear — Menomonie Golf& Country Club■ Business of the Year —Bremer Bank“My hope

was to get Lonnie back in his shop.Repairing the valves in Lonnie’s heart—and seeing him healthier

than he’s been in years—gives me faith that he’ll be building his

grandkids’ playhouses and picnic tables for a long time.”

John Waciuma, MD Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgeon •

SacredHeartEauClaire.org

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