the garland city gazette - ashland historical society … · fran hicks, ed kotleski, art kramer,...

The Garland City Gazette

N e w s l e t t e r o f t h e A s h l a n d H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y

Volume 32, Number 2

June, 2014

Ashland Bottles 1

President’s Message 2

Cemetery Walks 3

Bright Spot 4

Community Collection 5

AMS Display 5

Museum Intern 6

Rock the Dock II 7

Gift Shop 7

Membership Form 8

Inside this issue:

Ashland Bottles and Brewing

by Chara Bouma-Prediger, Northland College history intern

Ashland has a rich history and tradition of various bottling and brewing companies

operating within the city. The latest exhibit at the museum seeks to share the story

of a select few of these organizations. One large display case is divided between

local dairies and soda or bottle producers. Pure Dairy, Bridgeman Dairy, and

Pioneer Dairy were all located in Ashland at various times between 1924 and 1988.

Bottles, milk crates and cartons are on display from these three dairies. The soda

companies shown are the Paramount Beverage Co. and the A & B Candy and

Beverage Co., later known as the Pepsi-Cola producer. Specialty bottles from these

producers and distributors are out on display and show the variety of beverages

sold by these companies. Ashland Bottling Works, which was operated in the city

from 1888 until the mid-1930s, and the J.B. Ferstl Bottling Co. have unique bottles

on display, ranging from brown, green, or blue tinted to ceramic stoneware.

The second case of the display focuses on one of the city’s past brewery’s, Ashland

Brewing Co. and also on the current day South Shore Brewing, located on historic

Main Street. Not only are bottles from both breweries on display, but also other

artifacts and photos are shown that describe the process used to brew Ashland

Brewing’s signature beers, such as White Ribbon and Ashland Lager. Apart from

these smaller artifacts, a tray from the Brewing Co. and a metal sign depicting some

gentlemen at a hunting cabin drinking Ashland Beer are also included in the

display. Other unique items include an antique bottle capper and Ashland Brewing

Co. pins and buttons.

Hello and Happy Summer-

The Board members, staff and volunteers met on May 14th at the BART building

for the annual goal setting meeting. We try and make this a priority every year.

We always get good input from our staff and volunteers. It is important to assess

what we have accomplished in the past year. One of our on-going goals is to

increase both membership and the volunteer base. We have increased our

membership and we would love to have more volunteers!

Our research requests have been increasing for people who want to find out more

about their family members who lived in Ashland. They can get help accessing our

resources which include the Ashland City Directories from 1888 & on; Past Perfect

Biographies; obituaries and ancestry,com. Ashland is the Ashland county seat and

the courthouse has vital records for births, deaths and marriages as well as land

holdings. Just some of the resources at the Wisconsin Historical Society Area

Research Center (ARC) at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor’s Center just west of

town include naturalization papers for our local counties; local newspapers on

microfilm; birth, marriage and death records for Madeline Island’s St. Joseph’s

Mission Church, along with other important resources.

A huge thank you goes to board member and volunteer Rose Bents, who

dedicated many hours updating the policies and procedures of the Ashland

Historical Society Museum to be put into a handbook. She is now working on

updating the handbooks for volunteers and for employees.

Rose has also spent countless hours, along with Dan Kovach, Amy Tromberg and

Elizabeth Preston, overseeing the conversion of the museum computers to an

updated version of Windows. Through the monetary donations from our members

and friends and a computer donation from the Long Run Project, we were able to

get a new tower for the main computer and to change around what computer re-

sources we have to best meet our needs. It was a huge job, but everything is

working quite well now, so we owe big thanks to these folks, too.

The annual Cemetery Walk will take place at Mount Hope Cemetery this year, on

July 4th from 2:00-4:00 pm. This year’s ghosts include Guy Burnham, famed his-

torian, newspaperman and author, portrayed by Jeff Muse and Aksel Holter, inven-

tor of the “Holter Ski”, portrayed by his granddaughter Patra Holter. We are also

celebrating the tenth year of the cemetery walk.

The museum’s Saturday summer hours will start on June 7th, when the museum

will be staffed from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Regular weekly hours stay the same-

10:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday through Friday.

If you are having a class reunion this summer, remember that we have Ashland

and De Padua High School merchandise, including t-shirts. We also have most of

the yearbooks for both schools and some from Ondossagon, too, as well as

Northland College and Ashland County Teachers College, so you can study up

before you go!

Have a wonderful summer and stop by to see us often.

President’s Corner by Tory Stroshane

Mission Statement

The Ashland Historical

Society, a non-profit

volunteer organization

promotes the

appreciation of local

history and pride of

community through a

visual connection to the

past by collecting and

preserving

memorabilia and

artifacts, stories and

traditions and by

functioning as an

educational resource.

Ashland Historical Society

Board of Directors

Tory Stroshane, President

Jan Cameron, Vice President

Rose Bents, Secretary

Kathy Culligan, Treasurer

Jeff Cate

Joan Haukaas

Ed Monroe

Elizabeth Preston

Barbara Suminski

On the occasion of the tenth annual Cemetery

Walk, the Ashland Historical Society and Museum

has put together a book of mini-biographies from

each year of the cemetery walks. We have also

added capsules of information on people, places

and things that represent the early life and work of

Ashland residents.

The credit for the concept of the cemetery walks

goes to former Ashland Museum curator Sharon

Manthei. Through her hard work and dedication to

the project, the cemetery walks have become a

popular activity for the Fourth of July.

Sharon created the first cemetery walk in 2004 and based it on the tradition of

early Ashland citizens taking the trolley to the cemeteries on the Fourth of July to

picnic and fix up the gravesites of the loved ones. The first cemetery walk took

place at Mount Hope Cemetery and a total of twelve ghost stories were told, as well

as the story of Potter’s Field. Using family representatives whenever possible, the

presenters dressed in costumes of the times to best represent the featured men

and women as they told their stories. The cemetery walks take place on alternating

years at Saint Agnes Cemetery and Mount Hope Cemetery. More than seventy

former residents or “ghosts” have been featured in these walks.

Many thanks go to the Mount Hope and Saint Agnes Cemetery Associations for

their invaluable help in locating the gravesites for each cemetery walk. Our thanks

also go to all the volunteers who work to make each cemetery walk a reality.

Here is a glimpse into Ashland’s past that is included in the Cemetery Booklet:

Emeline Eliza Patrick Vaughn. Emeline Vaughn was born in Solon, OH in 1841.

She came to Bayfield to teach school in 1863. There she met Samuel S. Vaughn.

They were married in Ohio in 1864. They moved to Ashland in 1873 and eventually

built a home on Vaughn Avenue and Front Street, overlooking the Bay. They

adopted two sons: Willie and Harry. Willie passed away in 1883, but Harry lived to

marry and have a family. Samuel died in 1886. As a memorial to him, Emeline

built and dedicated The Vaughn Library in 1888. She also started a traveling

library system that operated in the area.

Emeline was the first president of the Monday Club; she organized the Vaughn

Choral Society and laid the cornerstone for the Methodist Church on 3rd St and 6th

Ave W. Emeline donated land for the Presbyterian Church on Vaughn and 3rd St.,

which was built in 1897. The west side stained glass windows were given in

memory of Willie and Samuel.

Emeline married Angus Mc Kinnon in 1888, but they lived apart until his death.

She married her third husband David Marquis in 1898 and moved to Chicago, IL.

After her death in 1901, she was laid to rest in Ashland next to her beloved

Samuel. Portrayed by Edith Mahnke.

Ashland

Historical

Museum

Hours

Monday—Friday

10 am to 4 pm

Saturday

10 am to 2 pm

Celebrating Ten Years of Cemetery Walks

The Ghosts of Ashland’s

Past

A Compilation of the


Museum’s

Cemetery Walks from 2004-

2014

When World War II ended in August 1945 millions of soldiers, sailors, airmen and

Marines were discharged and came home. During this exodus from the service,

Ashland and the surrounding area were no exception to this phenomenon. I

previously wrote how Northland College benefitted in January 1946 with ex-GI’s

becoming students under the GI Bill. The Summer Ashland softball league was

formed and also profited with the influx.

In 1946, the league became more organized as Ashland High Coach Roy Melvin

nominated the following men to head the league: Ben Metternich, Frank Chvala,

Jim Nemec, and Claire Goldsmith. It was decided to play all games at the high

school athletic field which was immediately west of the gridiron. The school board,

with Superintendent George Bassford running interference, approved the use of

the field and even installed lights to accommodate the teams for night games.

Games were played Tuesday through Thursday nights. All businesses in the city

were solicited to field a team. Local sponsors of teams were the College Inn,

Eddies Bar, My Cousin Hugo’s Tavern, Marathon Paper Mill, Buck’s Tavern,

Avenue Beauty Shop, Stark’s Sport Shop and Lake Superior District Power

Company. Old faithful Bill Dean was usually present to call balls and strikes.

There was some very fine softball talent, too: Shorty Ronning, Butch Kontny,

Joe Taresewicz, Bill Blake, Tom Dufek, Bill McAuliffe, Doc Humbach, and

John Kelly, to name a few. The league had good pitchers, too, besides the afore-

mentioned Dufek and Humbach, there was Marv Hunt and Tom Casey. Older

players turned out also like Johnny Chingo, Erv Kreinbring, Ed Revolinski,

Don Bremmer and Ray Kuzzy.

Fans came out each night to watch their favorites and not-so-favorites. Guys like

Connie Schjonberg, Tom Zinnecker, Sam Armstrong, John Drolson, Chet Olson,

Fran Hicks, Ed Kotleski, Art Kramer, Iner Kirklewski, Red Marx, Stan Tonish,

Bob Howard and Ed Kirklweski. There was always a lot of good-natured razzing on

both sides. The games were spirited. Seldom was there an argument over an

umpire’s call. The Ashland Daily Press gave good coverage to all games and

everyone had a good time. More names that I remember from that year were Bob

Sieren, Don Jensen, Jack Morris, Harley Bassford and many more.

The season ended in August when the days and night cooled and chill was in the

air. In September the league held a banquet for the players at the Golden Bee, a

restaurant on Front Street run by Bee Goldsmith, wife of Claire. She catered

mostly to the morning coffee and breakfast and lunch crowd. All the league

leaders were there plus many coaches, players and fans. Frank Chvala was

master of ceremonies. Roy Melvin and Ben Metternich spoke. John Kelly, who

pitched Eddie’s Bar to the championship, was selected as most valuable player.

The league continued for years but in 1946 it had an extremely successful run.

The Bright Spot by Jim Goeltz

Thank You

Heart Graphics

for printing

this issue of

the

Garland City

Gazette

Community Collection Nook


The latest artifacts on display within the Community Collection Nook are a wide

and varied selection of the Museum’s tea and coffeepots. Spanning decades,

aesthetic motifs, and styles, the display cases feature tableware essential to

having a good cup of coffee or tea. There are several antique coffee grinders on

display, as well as an old coffee barrel that was used at the Bright Spot store in

downtown Ashland during the first half of the 20th century.

Along with rustic, old-fashioned

coffee kettles, the nook is host-

ing multiple lavish silver pitch-

ers and teapots, and even a

silver sugar cube server. One

of the complete tableware sets

featured is an Art Deco set that

was hand-painted. Apart from

kettles and pots, there are sev-

eral different kinds of cup and

saucer sets on display. Two

notable sets are the Bavarian and Prussian china sets, each with gold leaf and

flowers of some fashion. If you’re curious to see some of these treasures your-

self, stop by the museum and take a peek at the Community Collection Nook!

Newly featured at the Ashland Middle School is a display focused on the history of

the Ashland School District’s many sports teams. The case houses artifacts from

Ashland’s past involvement with athletics, including game schedules and tickets,

a stadium cushion, jerseys, and an Ashland Letter Sweater.

Specific sports are represented with photos showing past teams, including many

that won state tournaments or championships. A few of the more special early

finds include a photo of the first Ashland Girls Basketball team, in 1899, a photo

of the Boys Hockey team soon after the team was organized in 1927, and the

1896 Boys Baseball team which was known as “Ashland’s Greatest Baseball

Team.”

Other highlights include team photos of both the 1984 Boys and Girls Baseball

and Softball Teams, featured alongside their 1984 trophy, and the Varsity and

Junior-Varsity Volleyball team photos from 1975 showing the girls posing on mo-

torcycles and in truck beds. The display overall includes memorable moments

from Ashland’s past athletic teams and experiences.

Ashland Middle School Sports Display


Hello, my name is Chara Bouma-Prediger and I’ve been the Intern at the Ashland

Historical Museum since January 2014. I’m currently a senior at Northland College

here in Ashland, and I’ll be graduating in May with degrees in Humanity and Nature

Studies, and History.

Originally I hail from Holland, Michigan, which itself has a great deal of Dutch and

Hispanic history and culture throughout the region. As a student at Northland I was

drawn to study history because I was, and continue to be, fascinated by the

narratives and discourses that are present within cultures and how they are

represented and told through the artifacts and stories of history.

Here at the museum, I’ve been fortunate enough to participate in a wide variety of

tasks. It’s been incredibly interesting and informative for me to assist in curating,

organizing, setting up, and arranging various displays these past few months. I’ve

helped with the Ashland Softball Champs, All Dressed Up, Coffee & Tea, and

Ashland Bottles and Brewing exhibits, and also had to the opportunity to create my

own display on the history of Ashland sports teams at the local Ashland Middle

School.

Outside of those exhibits, it’s been really enjoyable to see how the museum runs its

research efforts, non-profit business status, and the interactions between patrons,

volunteers, board members and all the individuals that make up the museum. I

want to say thank you to everyone who is doing important work here at the Ashland

Historical Society Museum, and express how much I appreciated being able to join

your team for a few months.

Rose Bents

Newsletter Word

Processor/Editor

Ashland Historical Society Museum Intern

Deadline for articles

in the next

Garland City Gazette

August 15, 2014

Rock the Dock II

Mark your calendars for August 9th’s Rock the Dock II. Back because the highly

successful first Rock the Dock, Don Jaskowiak and his team will be presenting this

extravaganza on August 9th. You can check it out on facebook.com Rock the Dock

or stay in touch on the museum’s website. Additional donation

mailed in 3/31/2014:

I wish to make this

contribution in memory

o f / i n h o n o r o f :

A r t hu r Hac k ba r t h ,

Edla Hackbarth, and

Herman Hackbarth. We’ve got what you need...

We still have many Oredock related souvenir items for sale! Just like the dock, these won’t last forever….so come on in,

or check on-line for the best selection soon!

...in the Gift Shop

We have Kitchen supplies, too! Aprons...Dish towels...coasters...placemats...cups...

toothpick holders...maple syrup...and more!

Many new items arriving daily!

Come see us for your shopping needs!

Presorted Standard

U.S. Postage

PAID

Ashland, WI

Permit No. 5


509 West Main Street

Ashland WI 54806-1513

THE GARLAND CITY GAZETTE

Phone: 715-682-4911

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://ashlandwihistory.com

We’re on the web!

http://

ashlandwihistory.com


Membership Form

Name___________________________________________________________

Street Address____________________________________________________

City ______________________________State__________ ZIP_____________

Phone_________________________ Email_____________________________

Enclosed is $____________

Designate your gift: $_______membership ($10.00)

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