Pages From The Past
by Fred H. Keller, as published in the Sussex Sun newspaper
Transcribed by SLAHS volunteer Sarah Pichler, December 2011
Month of December
December 6, 2006
100 years ago- 1906
The Waukesha County cow population of 34,717 was assessed at $641,622, or $18.48 apiece.
Edith May Seaborn married Stephen Rankin on Dec. 5, joining two great Lisbon farming families.
50 years ago- 1956
Lisbon resident Nathan Horne, 35, a veteran of World War II in Europe, suffered face burns and eye cuts while cleaning out a rusty old musket rifle with old gunpowder still in it.
Mrs. August Manke, 80, of Lisbon died. She was born Lizzie Stier in Germany.
25 years ago- 1981
The Sussex Fire Department planned to buy a $289,646 ladder truck.
The three people injured in a 1979 fireworks display accident at Village Park sought $52,000 in damages. The way fireworks are shot at the park dramatically changed afterward.
10 years ago- 1996
Brothers Kevin and Casey Lauer led the Hamilton boys basketball team, along with 6 foot 8 inch Brian Moesch.
Jeanne Schmitz of Sussex displayed her Laura Ingalls collection at the new Pauline Haass Public Library.
5 years ago- 2001
A Sussex Fire Department ambulance ride still cost Sussex residents $100, but cost nonresidents $225 from then on.
December 13, 2006
100 years ago- 1906
A Waukesha County assessment turned up 734 pianos worth $7,779 (an average of $65.09 each), plus 84 organs or melodeons.
Edgar Brown of Lisbon became the new owner of a fine horse buggy.
James Booth, Charles Weaver, Mitch Elliott and Robert Booth returned by rail from deer hunting in northern Wisconsin with five deer.
50 years ago- 1956
Tempers flared at the Lannon-Town of Menomonee merger meeting.
Margie and Kenneth Schlei had a daughter, Edith Marie, weighing 7 pounds, 14 ounces.
Waukesha County was hit with 62 cases of tuberculosis, four more than the previous year.
Lannon asked the U.S. government for sewer aid.
25 years ago- 1981
Sussex discussed buying the abandoned Main-Orchard School.
Joe Geszvain retired after 17 years with the Lisbon road crew, the last 12 as its foreman.
In the continuing dispute with the Hamilton School Board over changes in the yearbook, Keith Koenigs challenged incumbent Ruth Trutschel for the School Board presidency.
10 years ago- 1996
The old Marnie Tempero home on Silver Spring Road in Sussex, now Milikin Realty, was set for demolition.
Lisbon Supervisor William Grigg announced he would not seek re-election the following spring.
Kevin Lauer knocked down five 3-point shots as Hamilton beat Brown Deer in boys basketball, 64-52.
5 years ago- 2001
Six fire departments were called in to stop a 75 acre grass fire off Hillside Road in Lisbon.
Stan Grove called it quits after 39 years coaching at Hamilton, 32 as head football coach.
Lisbon approved the Fairways of Woodside Golf Course.
Randy Kunkel left his post as Maple Avenue School principal.
December 20, 2006
100 years ago- 1906
Alex Melville of Lisbon died at age 72. He was born in the Parish of Rait, Scotland, and immigrated to the U.S. and Lisbon at age 11. The Rev. C.W. Tan of Lisbon Presbyterian Church presided over the funeral preceding his burial in Lisbon Central Cemetery.
50 years ago- 1956
Lannon and the Town of Menomonee considered merging. If the merger had gone through, there would have been three wards, a part-time mayor and six alderman.
The tax on a $15,000 home in Sussex was $180.
St. Albans Episcopal Church staged a Christmas Eve pageant.
Mammoth Spring Canning Co. hosted a gala Christmastime party for its employees.
25 years ago- 1981
The 6 foot 8 inch Mark Barber picked off 15 rebounds and blocked several shots as Hamiltons intimidator in the teams 56-38 victory over Germantown.
Twice in one week, the lower weight dominated Hamilton wrestling team saw a 21-0 lead disappear because of a lack of heavyweight wrestlers. The team lost 32-21 to Greendale and 36-21 to powerhouse Cedarburg.
10 years ago- 1996
Lannons new postmaster was Mark Kluge.
Woodland Creek subdivision was the source of a home building blip in Sussex, with 11 new permits from the village.
About 450 people attended the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Sussex Fire Department.
5 years ago- 2001
Sussex resident Jacqueline Mosciske played Marie in the Milwaukee Ballets staging of The Nutcracker Suite ballet.
Sussex was looking at the possibility of getting a Kohls department store.
A fire caused $60,000 in damage to a garage and its contents on Linwood Drive in Lisbon.
December 27, 2006
100 years ago- 1906
English born Richard Weaver, 79, son of James Weaver (father of Sussex) and Elizabeth Fielder, died Dec. 26, 1906 in Sussex and was buried at St. Albans Gods Acre.
Lisbon Central Cemetery saw no burials this year.
50 years ago- 1956
A 3 year old used Chevy was advertised for $995, and a 1 year old model for $1,295.
Burglars robbed the new Sussex IGA of $4,000.
Residents turned down the merger of Lannon and the Town of Menomonee into a city. Lannon favored the proposal, 87-59; the town opposed it, 1,345-855.
25 years ago- 1981
Huffschmidt Engineering on Waukesha Avenue closed down Dec. 18, going into bankruptcy. Built in 1963, the Sussex plant once employed 80 people.
Arnold Schaich Sr., 55, died Dec. 27. He had been a member of the Sussex Fire Department for 20 years and had worked 30 years at Halquist Stone.
10 years ago- 1996
Good Hope Road in Lannon imposed street closures for four to six weeks while installing a new municipal sewer service, whose costs required an 82 percent tax increase.
The jobless rate was less than 2 percent in Waukesha County.
Hamilton had 1,077 students.
5 years ago- 2001
Snowmobile trails were slowly disappearing in Sussex-Lisbon, according to Sussex Sled Bugs President Delores Scharmer.
Lifelong Lisbon-Sussex resident Mary Kerstein, 97, died.
Hamilton basketball player Matt Miller scored 29 points to upset Milwaukee Marquette.