Pages from the Past
Posted: Sussex Sun, July 1, 2008
By Fred Keller, Sussex Village Historian
100 years ago 1908
Waukesha held a huge Fourth of July parade focusing on the aging veterans of the Civil War.
In Menomonee Falls, a small cannon built in 1861 for the Civil War blew up, sending pieces flying over 500 feet. No one was hurt.
50 years ago 1958
Audrey Jean Stier, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Stier, married Stuart Schlegel of California, where the couple will reside. Roy was the Sussex village president at the time and had been the villages fire chief.
A local farm offered strawberries for 30 cents a quart if buyers picked the berries themselves.
25 years ago 1983
Sussex decided to hire a part-time senior citizen program coordinator.
The Hamilton School Board decided to fill the vacant school district superintendent position from within the system. Ralph Lenz applied for the job.
10 years ago 1998
Jason Burgett was convicted of the Lake Five bank robbery.
Nick Butina of Lannon, who had worked for Halquist Stone Co. for 27 years, died.
Steve Yonk of Lisbon had his front door damaged by a vandals firecracker.
Al Olmstead was named the Village Boards guide to the Sussex Teen Center.
5 years ago 2003
Louis Wnuk of Lisbon, 90, died. He had been the owner-operator of the Hillside quarry for 60 years.
A 30-inch gas line through Lisbon and Sussex was built to go around the last lime kiln left in the area, to avoid damaging the historic structure.
Pages from the Past
Posted: Sussex Sun, July 8, 2008
By Fred Keller, Sussex Village Historian
100 years ago — 1908
Roderick Ainsworth of Lisbon chose not to run again for the Wisconsin state Assembly and recommended George Hoyt of Menomonee Falls as his Republican replacement.
Waukesha resident E.W. Chafin was the Prohibition Party’s presidential candidate. He took more than a million votes nationwide.
50 years ago — 1958
Arnie Lemke hit a sixth-inning home run for the Lannon Land O’ Lakes baseball team. Shupe DeCristofaro managed the league-leading Lannon team.
The 80 people who attended a Lisbon town meeting to consider “zoning” ordinances agreed that they were too restrictive.
25 years ago — 1983
The 1920-47 Sussex high school reunion committee published a 64-page memory book listing all graduates and teachers.
Carole Wilde was elected the new president of the Sussex Lioness Club.
The annual Lions Daze raffle grand prize was a trip for two for four nights at the MGM in Las Vegas plus $1,000 cash.
10 years ago — 1998
The long-awaited opening of the late Pauline Haass’ safe-deposit box was witnessed by Library Board members Dave Gettelman, Hank Carlson and Emil Glodoski.
Kyle Bucher was a star pitcher for the Hamilton baseball team.
Teryl Williamson was appointed Lisbon’s interim police chief.
Chad Burns, owner of Club Safari in Sussex, was evicted by the building’s owner, Phil Kmiec.
5 years ago — 2003
Sussex resident Richard Davey, 56, drowned in Lake Nagawicka during a rainstorm. He had been an assistant Hamilton girls softball coach.
The Lannon Lions Club worked with the village, businesses and the village’s Land O’ Lakes ball team to refurbish Joecks Field.
The Sussex Fourth of July Kiddie Parade was canceled because of strong winds.
Pages from the Past
Posted: Sussex Sun, July 15, 2008
By Fred Keller, Sussex Village Historian
100 years ago — 1908
Colgate Postmaster Frank Stirn also ran the Colgate General Store.
Blacksmith Donald Campbell was also the Sussex postmaster.
50 years ago — 1958
A blood drive at Sussex Grade School collected 144 pints of blood.
Margie Clarey and Robert Metzger married at St John’s Church in Lannon. More than 1,150 attended the reception at Sussex Community Hall.
25 years ago — 1983
Lisbon’s newly hired and first-ever police chief, Dave Gettelman, hired his first part-time police officer, Eugene Bautch, a Lisbon resident and Menomonee Falls officer.
The Village Shoe Shop serving the Sussex area was run by Orval and Marion Cullen.
10 years ago — 1998
One time Lisbon town chairman for 13 years, Don Hoft was treated for brain cancer at Elmbrook Hospital.
The Sussex Lions Club honored Ron Shively and Harry Hinchcliff with International Lions plaques.
Oak Ridge Pheasant Farm in Lisbon raised 163,000 pheasants, according to owner Jim Zindl.
5 years ago — 2003
Hamilton’s Nikki Flegner was named first-team all-state in girls fast-pitch softball.
Hamilton senior Joe Semrad won a national scholarship competition and spent his senior year studying in Germany.
Pages from the Past
Posted: Sussex Sun, July 22, 2008
By Fred Keller, Sussex Village Historian
100 years ago — 1908
The Templeton postmaster was Owen C. Smith, who ran the former James Templeton General Store on Main Street a half-block east of Waukesha Avenue.
William Edwards was elected Lisbon town chairman.
50 years ago — 1958
Sussex voters passed a referendum to combine the clerk and treasurer positions and make the new post appointed instead of elected.
The Sussex School sold its school bus and contracted with a private company to provide student busing service.
25 years ago — 1983
A surprise 80th birthday bash was held for Carl Goetz. Two hundred people attended, including his daughters, Toni, Cookie and Carol, and his son, Charlie. Goetz had immigrated here from Germany in 1923.
New Chevrolet cars cost from $6,286 for a two-door model to $7,950 for a four-door version.
10 years ago — 1998
Color Ink celebrated 15 years in business in Sussex. Jim Meissner was its chief executive officer.
The Circus Train was set to go through Sussex at 11:27 a.m. July 28 on the Wisconsin Central.
The new Woodside golf course was established in Lisbon with Michael Toebes as its owner-developer.
5 years ago — 2003
Sussex and Lisbon asked for major upgrades at Wisconsin Central railroad crossings at Highway K, Main Street and Good Hope Road.
Sussex drafted an ordinance to address “soft-sided backyard swimming pools.”
Pages from the Past
Posted: Sussex Sun, July 30, 2008
By Fred Keller, Sussex Village Historian
100 years ago — 1908
Members of the 2-year-old Eastern Star Chapter 153 re-elected Ella Campbell to her third and final term as their Worthy Matron.
50 years ago — 1958
The Sussex Main Street School Board chose new officers for the coming year: William Gleisner, president; Henry Headly, clerk; Harvey Wegner, treasurer; and directors James Kraemer and Russell Howard.
Allen and Madeline Weeks drove to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to watch construction of the Mackinac suspension bridge.
Karen Kraft, Francis Manke, Marcia Duffy and Orville Cullen won their division in the croquet tournament at the Sussex Playground.
25 years ago — 1983
The Sussex, Lannon and Lake Five F&M banks celebrated the 75th anniversary of the banking system that started in Menomonee Falls.
The Sussex Recreation Department organized 25 youngsters for a bear hunt in Village Park. (Yes, they did find a bear.)
Chris Goepel took first place in the Lions Daze 5K fun run.
10 years ago — 1998
Lisbon resident Ron Evert sent a letter to Waukesha District Attorney Paul Bucher, protesting a possible open-meetings violation by the Town Board.
Retired Lisbonites William and Ruth Truttschel celebrated their 50th anniversary in their new home in Florida.
5 years ago — 2003
An 18-year-old 2002 Hamilton graduate, Allan Wachowiak, was killed by a freight train near Town Line Road and Highway 74 after he fell asleep on the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.
Dave Gettelman resigned from the Lisbon Town Board. He had been a supervisor since 1988, and had also served as Lisbon’s part-time police chief from 1983 to 1997.