Pages from the Past
Posted: Living Sussex Sun, January 5, 2011
By Fred Keller, Sussex Village Historian
Posted: Jan. 4, 2011 1:28 p.m.
100 years ago – Jan. 5, 1911
The 1911 Model T Ford is available at the Menomonee Falls J.B. Wittlin Motor Company for $780 for a touring car and $680 for a roadster.
The cost of a year’s subscription to the local weekly newspaper is $1.50 or 75 cents for six months.
The president of the United States is William Taft.
The I.B. Rowell Company in Menomonee Falls is producing and selling a Little Teddy eight-spade cultivator with a central hiller.
50 years ago – Jan. 5, 1961
The Village of Sussex allocated $8,416 to fund the Sussex Fire Department of which $300 will be used to buy an additional truck. The department currently has three trucks and a rescue vehicle with 32 men on the volunteer department.
Taxes for the final payment of the new 76-acre Sussex Village Park are $8,000 plus $3,000 was also set aside for improvements.
Robert F. Pohl, a Sussex helicopter pilot, died in a crash near 72nd and Florest in Milwaukee. He lived on Sunset Drive with his wife and four small children.
25 years ago – Jan. 5, 1986
Hamilton’s Jon McKnight, the 6-foot, 8-inch Hamilton basketball center scored 51 points and grabbed 25 rebounds as the Hamilton boys basketball team won the two-day holiday tournament at Kettle Moraine. McKnight was the most valuable player of the tournament.
Kurt Kneiske, former president of Mammoth Spring Canning Company, died at age 78.
The year 1986 will see Sussex and Lisbon celebrate its sesquicentennial or 150th anniversary of the very first settler, Thomas Redford.
10 years ago – Jan. 5, 2001
Fifty people attended a joint Sussex-Lisbon border agreement meeting that is unanimously voted on by both communities. They agreed to look for more ways to cooperate in the future. The agreement calls for the formation of a joint committee to further the future sharing.
The president of Sussex is Pat Bartlett and the Town of Lisbon Chairman is Jerry Schmitz.
Ruth Wileden, 98 years, died. She is considered the “green thumb” and the most advanced organic gardener in Sussex.
Five years ago – Jan. 5, 2006
Jerry Newman, from the Lannon Volunteer Program, is challenging three incumbents for a slot on the Lannon Village Board. Meanwhile Jennifer Rude Klatt is vacating her seat on the Hamilton School Board.
Steve Hicklin is the Sun area 2005 “Athlete of the Year.”
Pages from the Past January 12, 2011
Posted: Jan. 11, 2011
100 years ago – Jan. 12, 1911
New parlor upright pianos can be purchased in Menomonee Falls at the F. G. Smith Piano Company for between $150 and $250.
Farmers are told in Lisbon that the proper ratio of roosters to hens is somewhere between 1 and 10 or 15.
There is talk of a spur line being built from the Colgate Soo Line Railroad to serve Menomonee Falls.
Willow Springs School was closed for several weeks because of diphtheria among the children.
50 years ago – Jan. 12, 1961
Roy Evert is the Sussex Fire Chief and is also a member of the Sussex Village Board. The Assistant Chief is Ray Schroeder.
Mrs. Richard Schmidt is taking over the Sussex-Lisbon newspaper column from veteran Maude Kraetsch who was known as “Mrs. Scratch.”
Elected to the vestry for St. Alban’s Episcopal Church were Roy Stier, Marvin Kramer and LaVern Clarey.
25 years ago – Jan. 12, 1986
The Hamilton wrestling team was state champs at the 20th annual Fond du Lac Goodrich wrestling tournament. Winners were John Mueller, Dan Duley, Joey Nettesheim, Mike Frankfurth and Dan Haushalter.
Hamilton School District officials and 24 suburban school districts have only a short time to approve a proposal to end the integration suit filed by the Milwaukee Public Schools.
10 years ago – Jan. 12, 2001
A 21-year-old Lisbon man has been arrested for computer hacking. He faces a 16-count federal indictment. He had hacked into eBay and other sites.
There was a party for the retirement of Sussex Village President Pat Bartlett as she has resigned and will be moving. Michael Knapp has been chosen as the new Sussex Village President.
The Hamilton wrestling team had two champs at the Sheboygan Redwing Classic, Pat Austinson at 110 and A.J. Morgan at 160. Morgan was named most valuable player of the meet.
Five years ago – Jan. 12, 2006
The Haasch family gave a $1,500 donation to the Sussex Fire Department in honor of the late Francis “Muppy” Haasch who served from 1960 to 1974 most notably as a department secretary and in the rescue part of fire service.
Tracy Gest, a 2003 Hamilton graduate, seeks the Miss America Title.
Pages from the Past January 19, 2011
Posted: Jan. 18, 2011
100 years ago – Jan. 19, 1911
The William Basting family on Town Line Road is quarantined because their two boys have diphtheria.
There is talk of a new general store being built in Lannon.
Now that the sugar beet factory in Menomonee Falls has completed its run for 1910-11, many workers in Lannon and Lisbon have been laid off for the rest of winter.
Rev. Paul Scheidel is the pastor at Marcy-Lisbon Road St. Dominic’s Catholic Church.
50 years ago – Jan. 19, 1961
A large snowfall has not been recorded in1960-61. Temperatures in January were in the high 40s and mid 50s.
Sussex Postmaster Art Bauer has been installed as the Worthy Master of the Sussex Masonic Lodge.
25 years ago – Jan. 19, 1986
Construction is beginning on the long-anticipated shopping center east of Sussex on Highway 74. It will be 20,000-square-feet of retail space put up by G&R Investments.
The Hamilton wrestling team beat Waukesha South 55-3 under the direction of coach Bob Longdin.
Tina Ruppenthal of Hamilton was named all county in cross country. Her key victory was winning the Waukesha County Meet individual championship.
10 years ago – Jan. 19, 2001
Pat Bartlett, the first woman to serve as Sussex village president, has informed the Sussex Village Board that she will be resigning and moving from Sussex.
Thirty-eight inches of snow fell in December in Sussex-Lisbon.
To better utilize its workers, the Town of Lisbon has determined that future Lisbon Park Superintendant Robert Schiellack will report to the Lisbon Highway Department during the off-season (winter).
Five years ago – Jan. 19, 2006
Lannon held the final event of its yearlong 75th anniversary celebration with a party and the burial of a time capsule to be opened in 2030.
An all time Lannon “12” were honored: Al Meade, Charles “Harold” Delany, “Shupe” Godfrey DeChristofaro, Keith Gissal, Harvey Rossman, Glenn Harmon, Erv Miller, Tony Wagner, Ronald “Chubby” Monacelli, Cuono “Peanuts” Quartaro, his wife, Mary Alloy and son, Nick.
Pages from the Past January 26, 2011
Posted: Jan. 25, 2011 12:30 p.m.
100 years ago – Jan. 26, 1911
Business leaders in Menomonee Falls have agreed to close at 5 p.m. each day except for Friday and Saturday.
William Bastings 4-year-old son died of Diptheria, and Albert Lembke is sick and staying at the Davis farm in Lannon.
50 years ago – Jan. 26, 1961
At the 113rd annual meeting of Lisbon Presbyterian Church, Earl Melville of Colgate, and Darwin Meissner of Lake Five were elected as ruling elders. Also elected to the Board of Deacons were: Catherine Kerrow, Mrs. Stanley Rankin, Gordon Rankin, Adolph Rahn, Otis Motz and Harold Meissner.
Dutch Elm disease is devastating American Elms.
25 years ago – Jan. 26, 1986
Art Manke has withdrawn as an incumbent supervisor for Lisbon and is recommending Chuck Schuldt.
The Town of Lisbon has a new salt warehouse at town garage. The cost is $48,000. At the Maple Avenue School, a beam in the library cracked. Snow on the roof is suspected.
10 years ago – Jan. 26, 2001
There is a determined group fighting the expansion of Highway 164 north of Capitol Drive.
After 13 years as Director of the Pauline Haass Public Library, Jot Botts is retiring in February.
The stained glass windows of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Sussex are being refurbished. They are all more than 100 years old. The first ones were placed in 1890 and the rest by 1900.
Five years ago – Jan. 26, 2006
Huffy Sports in the Sussex Corporate Center has shut down its production.
A Lisbon bank robber has been convicted and sentenced to four years in prison for a crime committed on Nov. 4, 2004.
The Sussex Sun has four pages of Help Wanted ads