Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2018 01:14:13 -0400 From: Holli Feutz <hollihi@aol.com> Message-Id: <16222ee1e81-1db1-f74e@webjas-vab042.srv.aolmail.net> Subject: Random Lake Historical Society Newsletter & Annual Meeting Invitation
3/14/17 Historical Society Newsletter attached and copied below, please joi
n us for our annual meeting.
RANDOM LAKE AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Newsletter
Notice of 2018 Annual Meeting
Saturday, March 24th, 1:30 p.m.
Historical Museum, 111 Carroll Street in Random Lake
Hello Members & Friends of The Random Lake Area Historical Society ~
Please plan to attend and add our meeting to your calendar! Invite your fri
ends and neighbors, anyone
who has an interest in preserving and sharing the history of this area. RLA
HS members will vote for 2018
officers and agenda items. If you are interested in a board position, pleas
e let us know and we will
contact you. Thanks! Refreshments will be served at this meeting, courtesy
of Kathy’s Trackside Cafe’.
For those who are not lifetime members ($100), please renew your annual mem
bership (for this
calendar year) at $15 for a single person, or $25 for a couple. Membership
in the Historical Society
entitles you to free admission to all society events and to the museum anyt
ime, newsletter updates, and
"inside" information on current happenings at the Historical Society. Membe
rship applications are
available at the museum, or send your check to the address above, with your
phone number and email
address. The RLAHS depends on these funds to maintain our buildings and pay
utility bills. If you are
not a member, won't you consider joining now? We need you...Thanks!
We can reduce costs for mailing newsletters if you provide your email addre
ss, so please consider
receiving email news. If you’re unable to attend, flyers about upco
ming events and the financial report will
be available the following month. People may join or pay renewal membership
dues at Kathy’s Trackside
Cafe’ during business hours, Tuesday through Saturday, 8 a.m.--1 p.
m.
2017 Special Events in Review
It’s been another busy and exciting year for the RLAHS! Our annual
meeting was held on 3-25-17. We
reported on the society’s operations, finances, cafe’, the
Nowack House, our new donated building, and
we held board member and officer elections. We received very generous donat
ions and matching grants
after donors stepped up to provide the funds needed to receive the matched
funds. At the time, we had
49 lifetime members, plus about 44 annual members.
The year’s events started off with the celebration of the Lakeview
Community Library's 60th
Anniversary in April . A panel of people involved in starting the library,
former librarians, and the current
library director all shared stories about obstacles they overcame to have o
ur current beautiful library
overlooking the lake.
In May, Hannah Schladweiler brought a lovely selection of clothing, mostly
wedding dresses, to explain
how fashions and styles come back again with just a few changes throughout
the years.
Marjie Thiel also had many uniforms and memorabilia on display in June when
she shared amusing
stories from her long flying career as a flight attendant.
In July , a large collection of clowns was displayed in our museum during t
he RL Fire Department’s Picnic
Days celebration. Then, on a perfect July night, the very popular and talen
ted band "High Water”,
starring Bernico, Block, Belger and Steffen, performed outside the museum t
o a huge and appreciative
crowd.
The skies were not as friendly in August when we had the annual car show .
The rain did clear up, but
there were fewer cars and spectators than usual. Also in August, our member
s baked for and worked at
a Brat Fry and bake sale fundraiser at Tri-Par. We displayed a wonderful co
llection of Gilbert
Schmidt's artwork with a "meet and greet” with Gil for the village
’s Fall Festival in September.
The bus trip to the Amish area in Green Lake county was very popular during
October. People
especially enjoyed going to the one-room school, where the teacher and the
students spoke to us and
sang for us, and we had a good time visiting the grocery store, the wood-wo
rking shops, and eating a
delicious wedding meal. Also in October, Ed Harvey gave a very interesting
talk about surveying and
equipment used during the surveying of our local area, Wisconsin, and the n
ation.
During his talk about visiting Africa, Tommy Mole shared many pictures of h
is climb on Mt. Kilimanjaro
and his safari in Tanzania. We hope that you were able to attend many of th
ese interesting programs.
Snow globes were featured during the Night of Lights in December. At all of
our events, Marilyn, Joan
and and their crew fixed delicious meals to serve and enjoy. We couldn't ra
ise the money we have raised
or put on these many events without our wonderful volunteers who have given
so selflessly of their time.
Thank you!
Another Matching Grant Offer for 2018!
We have had the good fortune to be able to raise many private donations tha
t have allowed us to reach
the promised grant amount in 2017. With that track record, another anonymou
s, generous individual has
offered a grant of $25,000 for 2018! Once again, the key is that we all hav
e to try to match that gift to
receive it. If we can raise the target amount of $25,000. ourselves, every
dollar donated, small amounts
and larger, will be “doubled” for the RL Area Historical So
ciety up to $25,000!
If you, your family, or business has ever thought about making a donation t
o support the Historical
Society, NOW is the time because your donation will become double its value
! If you have a historic
name from this area, or a certain occupation you’d like to recogniz
e, go down in history--put your name
where your display might be, or donate in honor of someone else as a gift.
Choose Your Donation Preference
Make a straightforward donation ,or sponsor a display area or display case
within the museum, or
become a benefactor. We also are looking for monthly sponsors to support ou
r mission and we are
setting our goals for this year. Every donation over $200 will receive an e
ngraved plate on the museum’s
donor wall. If you donate, a beautiful engraved brass plate with your name
and/or logo will be prominently
displayed in the area of your sponsorship at the museum.
Display-level sponsorship's are as follows: grocery store counter, bedroom
and music parlor, outdoor
area, Orth ice house area,doctor’s corner, Wilk funeral home, local
business display case, Gilson shoe
repair area, Jung/Hamm brewery case, school, post office, antique toy count
er, sports team area, church
religious display, military corner. Nowack House display, farm tools in upp
er loft area, and automotive
display. We also have a benefactor-level sponsorship for the auditorium are
a . Please contact Holli at
414-852-7030 if you are interested in adding your name to our list of gener
ous sponsors for the Historical
Society. We are a 501(c)(3) charitable organization so your donation is tax
deductible.
Cafe’ History, and Looking Ahead
When the RLAHS was purchasing the Beger building in Dec. 2012, Rev. Marilyn
Borchardt had the
wonderful idea of creating a coffee shop to help meet expenses for the muse
um. The idea was to offer
coffee and tea along with muffins and scones, but soon grew to also serve b
reakfasts and lunches.
Originally the cafe' was open six days a week, Monday through Saturday, and
staffed by Marilyn as the
cook, with volunteer helpers. On her free day she would purchase the cafe's
groceries (with her husband
Ken's help), plan menu items, make homemade jam, create special food for ev
ents, and take care of the
financial books for the cafe' and historical society. It sounds exhausting,
doesn't it? Well, the cafe' has
been a huge success and has grown in customers and reputation. Many volunte
ers have been added
including dedicated cooks who make delicious specials for breakfast and lun
ch. The cafe' profits have
helped pay the RLAHS's ongoing expenses and over a quarter of our bank loan
and interest.
After over four years of managing the cafe, Marilyn is stepping down, but h
as given the tasks to four
capable individuals. Judy Schluechterman will be handling the financial boo
ks for the cafe', Joan Knorr
and Laurie Urbanski are in charge of the cafe' operations, and Sharon Goehr
ing, with husband Bill, will
purchase the groceries. We thank this team for agreeing to manage the cafe'
along with all of the
volunteers who serve so faithfully.
The Historical Society cannot thank Marilyn enough for her vision for the c
afe', her hard work, and the
endless hours that she has given to make this dream come true. Bravo, Maril
yn, for a job well done!
Our Almost-Adjoining South Building
In the last year there has been some progress on the new building. The ceil
ing and rafters have been
painted black, insulation has been installed on the exterior walls, studs f
or the interior walls have been put
up along with the framing for the bathroom, plumbing pipes and a small wate
r heater have been installed,
new HVAC units are in, and a large window for the train exhibit has been hu
ng. We are currently waiting
for the state's approval of the plans drawn up by Project Manager Owen Lavi
n from Patera Architecture
Firm. The plans include pocket doors that will go through the wall to conne
ct the two buildings through the
cafe'.
Special thanks go to volunteers Blaine Werner and Pete Dutter who have done
a truly amazing job, and
to all of the volunteers that have given so generously of their time and ta
lents. The building wouldn't be
nearly this far along without their help. We are looking forward to proceed
ing with the building when the
state okays the architect’s plans. We will keep you posted and let
everyone know when we could use
your help.
Beautiful Comfortable Museum Chairs Still Available
There are still a few chairs remaining for sponsorship. The chairs will be
used during museum events,
and we hope to 50 chairs for everyone’s comfort during programs. Th
is would be a wonderful gift or
memorial for someone! Sponsorship is $75.00 and we will engrave a plate wit
h your choice of wording on
one line. Please mark your check for a chair and provide your phone number
and the engraving you
would like. Forms are available at the museum for your convenience--stop in
!
Nowack House Ready For Spring
The Nowack house has been under repair since fall 2017. Dan Mondloch from M
idway Systems Inc.
raised the porch roof to improve the pitch and added flashing to it. The fo
undation beam in the front that
was deteriorating was removed, replaced with blocks and mortar, and vents w
ere added for circulation
before a new fascia beam was attached. The porch floor, which had been remo
ved because it was also
in disrepair, was rebuilt on a newly-created foundation of bricks and morta
r. This is a simplified version of
what was done, but we may get more information from Dan at our annual meeti
ng. Special thanks goes to
Dan Mondloch and his helper, Chris from Midway Systems, and to Jim Thiel, w
ho, in addition to painting
window trim during the summer, took photos, coordinated estimates, consulte
d with the contractor,
oversaw time schedules and repairs and was the liaison to the board of dire
ctors. Another big thank you
goes to Jim and Dennis Schulz from Schulz Sawmill for the fascia beams that
they donated to keep the
building looking authentic. The Nowack House looks great now and will be re
ady to welcome visitors this
spring!
Help Preserve Our Archival Collection of “The Sounder” News
paper
A permanent record of every Sounder newspaper since 1916 (when it was The R
andom Lake Times) is
housed here at the Historical Society. This wonderful record of our local h
istory has been leather bound
and was donated to the RLAHS, and we are THRILLED to have it. The current i
ssues are also being
bound to add to this historic collection. The cost to bind these is approxi
mately $180.00 per year. Can
you sponsor a year to cover the cost, or would you make a donation to cover
a few years? It would
genuinely be appreciated! Please contact Holli at 414-852-7030 or send your
check to our address on
page 1, indicating "Sounder Sponsorship". THANK YOU!
Goodbye, Faithful Friend Jean Sepstead
This year we lost a very dedicated charter member of the RLAHS who had give
n so much of her time and
talents to the Historical Society. In recent years, Jean, who was 94, faith
fully welcomed museum visitors
every Saturday with her “greeting friend” at the front desk
, Margaret Schneider. Jean also worked at
special events here, collecting admission from guests and recruiting new me
mbers. (Margaret continues
to welcome visitors with Graham Rhodes. Thank you, Graham.) Jean was quite
a good artist and has
given some of her paintings to the museum, and donated cards that she creat
ed for the museum to sell.
Jean was also instrumental in planning the Historical Society's Fashion Sho
w for the Village of Random
Lake's Centennial celebration in 2007. We are grateful to have known her an
d will miss her sweet smile
and cheerful laugh. You inspire us all, Jean, to make this a kinder and gen
tler community.
Thank you for volunteering! We need you! Please volunteer!
With deep "THANKS" for your support, in all the ways that you "HELP" us! We
have so many wonderful
volunteers, donors, sponsors and advisers. We would not be where we are tod
ay without everyone's
help, we recognize YOU and TRULY appreciate all that you do… Keepin
g Kathy’s 111 Trackside Cafe
open 5 days a week takes lots of volunteers, plus planning events. Al and D
iane Neumann come
weekly to clean and mop the cafe and restrooms. Can you shop, cook, wash di
shes, take orders, or
clean? Or decorate, plan events, arrange a bus trip, set up chairs, bake fo
r events, do gardening at the
Nowack House, organize and work at the TriPar brat fry? Volunteer for schoo
l groups? Help with
construction? No matter what your age or skill level, we have a job for you
! Please lend a hand!
Contact Marjie Thiel at 920-994-9206, or Holli Feutz at 414-852-7030, or st
op in at the cafe.
See you at our meeting Saturday March 24, 2018 at 1:30 p.m!