Pages From The Past
by Fred H. Keller, as published in the Sussex Sun newspaper
Transcribed by SLAHS volunteer Sarah Pichler, August 2011
Month of March
March 1, 2006
100 years ago-1906
Attending a two-day affair at the grand chapter of the Eastern Star in Milwaukee were Madam Campbell, Buck Jones and Mr. and Mrs. M.C. Daniels of Sussex.
50 years ago-1956
Oliver Bastings, 46, of Lisbon died Feb. 3 while at his quarry, Ideal Lannon Stone, on Town Line Road. Services and burial were held at St. James Catholic Church.
Paul Newmann resigned from the Lannon Village Board because of his work constraints.
Hilbert Manke owned the Sussex Sinclair Oil Co. (today Pauls Service) and hosted a party for 200 of his friends and customers.
25 years ago-1981
Longtime successful Hamilton athletic director Ken Ohrmundt resigned. He was a schoolteacher at Hamilton in 1962.
The Hamilton wrestling team won the WIAA regional championship when all 12 wrestlers qualified to advance to regionals.
10 years ago-1996
Hamilton wrestlers Joel Heckenkamp, Vince Grasiano and Paul Hackbarth won medals at the state meet.
Sara Hoffman averaged 11 points a game for the Hamilton girls varsity basketball team.
Fifty-six acres were designated for the new Sussex Corporate Center Industrial Park, enlarged from the original six acres.
5 years ago-2001
Incumbent Jerry Schmitz kept his seat on the Hamilton School Board after beating back a challenge from Tammy Rocker in the April election. Joe Konyn had also sought the seat, but failed to make it past the March primary as a write-in candidate.
The new electronic scoreboard at the Sussex Land O Lakes baseball field was moved because it was too close to the park border.
March 8, 2006
100 years ago-1906
Lisbon farmers Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Whitehead celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary twice-once on the exact-but snowbound date, and again later with friends for a big gathering. Both were born in England and married in 1886. They sailed in March that year to the United States, settling in Lisbon. They had 11 children, seven living at the time of their 50th celebration.
50 years ago-1956
Gene Kersten opened a new real estate office in Sussex next to his Maple Avenue home.
Sussex Zion Evangelical Church build a 28-foot-by-28-foot addition on the back of its Main Street building that housed a new kitchen, basement heating and a Sunday school classroom.
25 years ago-1981
Lee Olson, Hamilton School District administrator for the previous seven years, left for work in the Oklahoma School District. Olson was one of more than 100 people who applied for the job. The student population grew from 4,247 to 7,700 during his tenure.
A four-way stop sign was installed at Highway J (now Highway 164) and Highway 74(now Silver Spring Road).
A Sussex Teen Center was opened in the old Orchard Drive School after a three-year push to create it.
10 years ago-1996
The 75 year old Mammoth Spring Canning Co. canned its last vegetables Nov. 1,1995. The last case was shipped March 1. The plant and property was put up for bids to new developers.
Millikin Reality on Silver Spring Road (in the former Marnie Tempero home) was torn down and a professional office building was built in its place.
5 years ago-2001
Hamilton students built a house in Centennial Oaks as part of a school education project.
The Pauline Haass Public Library had a leaky roof problem exposed by a January blizzard.
Former Village Trustee Ray Semrow died at age 89.
March 15, 2006
100 years ago-1906
Jeremiah Smith was laid up with rheumatism.
Frank Smith and Fred Stier caught a badger in a trap, the only one that had been seen in Lisbon for about 60 years.
The Hon. Richard Weavers health condition was serious, with slight hope of recovery.
Charles Smith bought a new gasoline engine that cut feed, sawed wood and ground feed.
50 years ago-1956
The 28-foot-by-28-foot addition to Zion Evangelical Church cost $15,000. The Sussex churchs building committee members were Carl Marx, Paul Pichler, Paul Riewe, Harry Dopke, Rudy Kuenzi and Fred Radtke.
Maureen Curtis won the fifth grade section of the Sussex VFW Good Citizenship Poster Contest.
25 years ago-1981
Hamilton wrestlers Brian Bruckmoser, Cary Edmonds and Jerry Sydorowicz were at the state meet.
Lisbon began studying a merger with Sussex.
Mary Konkol was the leading scorer on the Hamilton girls basketball team.
10 years ago-1996
Seth Kroenke was named to the all-Parkland Conference first team in basketball.
Sussex residents voted for the last in the senior room at the former Main Orchard School.
Teachers Terry and Myron Fluegge left St. Johns Grade School in Lannon after 23 years.
5 years ago-2001
The U.S. Census figures put the Sussex population at 8,828, an increase in 3,000 since 1990.
The Sussex Fire Department named Jodi Wiesneski its firefighter of the year.
The Sussex Lions Club donated $4,000 to the village for development of Armory Park.
March 22, 2006
100 years ago-1906
The admission fee was 25 cents to the mens basketball contest between Carroll College and Lawrence College.
Bulk oatmeal at the Sussex General Store cost 3-1/2 cents. Fels Naptha bar soap cost 25 cents for six and oranges cost 20 cents a dozen.
50 years ago-1956
A hit and run driver killed John Brzczinsfli of Lannon on Highway W near Highway Y. He lived in the Lannon Apartments and was employed by the Halverson Quarry in Lannon.
Mathilda Maas, 69, of Town Line Road, Lisbon, died and was buried at Sunnyside Cemetary.
25 years ago-1981
The Town of Lisbon sought suggestions for its town logo.
The Village of Sussex building inspector charged $10/inspection.
A 1 mile walking trail was installed in Sussex Village Park.
10 years ago-1996
Harry V. Quadracci and Quad/Graphics donated $150,000 to the Pauline Haass Public Library building fund. The librarys meeting room is now named the Quad Room.
David Grandlund, 44, a quadriplegic, died March 16. He served several terms on the Sussex Village Board.
5 years ago-2001
Sussex took the first steps toward creating its own recreation department by 2002.
The Sussex Lions Club donated $1,300 to the Sussex senior citizen shuttle bus.
March 29, 2006
100 years ago-1906
Marie Lilly (nee Hickmoth), an early Lisbon settler, died at her home in Milwaukee. She was a descendant of the Hickmoth family that arrived in Lisbon the same year as the Lilly family, 1843.
The Duplainville Dramatic Club presented the play The Iron Head at Marsdens Hall in downtown Sussex.
The Sussex chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star hosted the Menomonee Falls Aurora chapter.
50 years ago-1956
Lannons Nike missile site had 106 servicemen assigned to it.
Voters were not required to register to vote.
Sussex Grade School had a room for the handicapped children, called The Opportunity Room.
Erv Miller of Lannon served as director of the Land O Lakes Baseball League Eastern Division.
Joe Adams sold the machinery and livestock from his dairy farm on Silver Spring and Town Line roads, which was going out of business.
25 years ago-1981
The Hamilton Athletic Booster Club acquired a bank balance of $5,000 in only a few short months. Ray Ernewein was the president and Norm Day the treasurer.
Three time state qualifier Tammy Keskinen led the Hamilton girls track team.
10 years ago-1996
Butcher and deli owner Gerhardt Gerry Braeger died at age 81. He was a graduate of Lisbon Plank School and a member of the Sussex Lions Club for 45 years, earning the International Lions Clubs Birch-Sturum Award.
Mike Hyland was re-elected to the Hamilton School Board, returning to the board after a 2-1/2 year absence.
5 years ago-2001
Between the two of them, Sussex and Lisbon hosted 10 band concerts during the summer months.
Village Trustee Henry Carlson ran against Mike Knapp for the Sussex Village presidency.
Greg Goetz ran his first race for the Sussex Village Board.
Mary Ann Butler, wife of the late Clarence Butler of Lisbon-Sussex, died at age 96.