STONE LAKE AREA
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
P.O. Box 68
Stone Lake, WI 54876
2012-2013 OFFICERS:
PRESIDENT: Rose Rhea (715) 865-3922
VICE PRES.: Betty Lester (715) 766-3407
TREASURER: Joan Rainville (715) 558-8013
SECRETARY: Betty Helwig (715) 865-5500
DIRECTOR: Connie Schield (715) 865-4940
DIRECTOR: Vi Myer (715) 865-5600
DIRECTOR: Carol McDonnell (715)-558-4911
Stone Lake Area Historical Society E-mail address:
tncmcd@aol.com
Stone Lake Area Historical Society Website:
www.stonelakeareahistoricalsociety.com
Stone Lake Area Historical Society Digitization
Project Website: http://content.mpl.org/stonelake
NEWSLETTER
VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1
APRIL, 2013
from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM, and a Silent
Auction with many wonderful donated items,
and a Cake Walk with ten or more delicious
homemade cakes will add to the festivities of
the evening. Price is $10 for adults and $5
for children. It is hoped that everyone in the
community will come out and enjoy this great
community get-together, while giving their
support to the many activities of the historical
society.
CABOOSE NEEDS HELP!
The historical society’s signature 100 year old
red wooden Soo Line caboose is in need of
some new siding this year. Wisconsin’s harsh
winters have taken a toll on this special train
car, which is an important part of Stone
Lake’s railroad history. Would any of you
with knowledge of carpentry have some time
to work with Tom McDonnell this summer to
help repair the two most serious areas of
weather damage on the caboose? If so, please
contact any one of the officers shown at the
beginning of this newsletter and give them
your name and phone number so you can be
contacted in June, 2013.
THE TREASURE OF
NAMAKAGON
THE STONE LAKE DEPOT/MUSEUM, 1913 SOO
LINE CABOOSE, AND 1926 TOWN HALL
HAM & SCALLOPED POTATO
DINNER
The Ham & Scalloped Potato dinner is a
yearly fund-raiser for the historical society. It
will be held on Saturday, May 4, 2013, at the
Stone Lake Fire Hall. Dinner will be served
Local historian and author, James Brakken,
will share photos and his research related to
his book, “The Treasure of Namakagon,” at a
special event sponsored by the historical
society on June 12, 2013. It is the story of an
orphan who finds himself in a northwoods
lumber camp in1883 where he is mentored by
Chief Namakagon. The adventure is based on
four years of research of the great timber
PAGE 2
harvest that made Hayward the timber capital
of Wisconsin, and put our state on the world
economic map. Relive history Wednesday
evening, June 12, 2013, at 7:00 PM at the
Stone Lake Town Hall, across the street from
the museum complex. Bring your friends and
neighbors and enjoy another of the historical
society’s great community events!
NEW HOURS FOR MUSEUM IN
2013
The museum complex buildings will be open
to the public from noon to 4:00 PM on Friday,
Saturday, and Sunday in 2013. It will open
on Friday of Memorial Weekend, and the last
day of operation will be Saturday of
Cranberry Festival Weekend. Did you know
that over 200 people visited the museum on
Cranberry Festival Saturday in 2012? Our
total visitors for the 2012 season came to over
800 people, and those are only folks who
remembered to sign our guest book! The
historical society will also open the buildings
by appointment for special occasions, such as
family reunions, school events, etc. Just call
any of the officers to arrange this.
DOCENTS ARE MUCH
APPRECIATED
Two of our current Docents, Jack and Brian
Sheffield, are shown visiting with Tom
McDonnell as they get ready to greet visitors
at the museum. The museum is open on
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from noon to
4:00 PM and is always in need of volunteer
Docents. If you are willing to join the other
58 Docents who now work in teams of two to
greet visitors, please fill out the form on page
5 and send it to us.
ELECTION TIME AGAIN
At the March meeting of the Stone Lake Area
Historical Society, a slate of officers was
presented to the membership. A ballot will be
sent to all current members which they should
return by May 5, 2013.
The slate of officers is as follows:
President:
Rob Lester
Vice President: Vi Myer
Secretary:
Betty Helwig
Treasurer:
Joan Rainville
Directors:
Carol McDonnell
Connie Schield
Sandy Oates
PAGE 3
We thank our slate of officers for being
willing to serve and carry on the mission of
the Stone Lake Area Historical Society.
Don’t forget the Second Annual Cemetery
Walk to be held on Sunday, September 15,
2013, from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Stone
Lake’s Evergreen Cemetery.
Five new
pioneer families will be featured, the art of
doing headstone rubbings will be taught, our
special historical cemetery booklet will be
updated, refreshments will be served, and a
good time will be had by all at this event!
EMAIL ADDRESSES SAVE $$
A sincere thank you to all internet users who
have given us their email addresses to send
the newsletter to them. So far, 72 folks save
the historical society $65 per year in postage
by receiving the newsletter via email. If you
would like to join those folks, please use the
clip and return form at the end of this
newsletter to get your email address to us.
SECOND ANNUAL CEMETERY
WALK
TOWN OFFICERS WALL OF
HONOR
We still need help completing our Wall of
Honor which holds Stone Lake and Sand
Lake town board member photos. We know
many of your ancestors served in some
capacity, and hope you will loan us their
photograph so they can be added to this
important display. The Sand Lake Town
Officers are shown in the photo above.
PAGE 4
SIX PLAQUES ON THE WALL OF
HONOR
We give our sincere thanks to the local
advertisers who have placed ads in this
newsletter to cover the cost of printing and
mailing. Thank you so much!
UPCOMING HISTORICAL
SOCIETY EVENTS
The six plaques in the photo shown above
bear the names of many donors and the
people they wished to honor when they
donated to our three major projects…the Soo
Line Depot, the Soo Line caboose, and the
Stone Lake Town Hall move and restoration
projects. Did you know that each time a
donation is made “In Honor Of” or “In
Memory Of” someone, a new plaque is added
to this wall? Please come and spend some
time really examining this wall we are so
proud of! We sincerely thank all of you who
have donated to our past projects!
GENEROUS GIFTS
Your generous gifts over the past four years
have combined to total more than $90,000.
You have made it possible for the Stone Lake
Area Historical Society to operate debt free as
we move into the future. Again, we sincerely
thank you!
Ham & Scalloped Potato Dinner: Saturday,
May 4, 2013, 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM, at the
Stone Lake Fire Hall. This annual spring
dinner is the historical society’s major fundraiser of the year.
TREASURE OF THE NAMAKAGON:
Wednesday, June 12, 2013, 7:00 PM at the
Stone Lake Town Hall. Jim Braaken, author
of the “Treasure of the Namakagon” will
speak on Cable/Hayward early history with
emphasis on the hidden mine of Chief
Namakagon.
Pie & Ice Cream Social: Sunday, July 7,
2013, 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM, at the Stone Lake
Lion’s Park on Highway 70.
Stone Lake Area Historical Society Open
House: Saturday, August 17, 2013, 12:00
PM to 4:00 PM at the Stone Lake Area
Historical Society Depot/Museum.
Second Annual Cemetery Walk: Sunday,
September 15, 2013, 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM, at
Evergreen Cemetery, Stone Lake.
PAGE 5
Cranberry Festival Wine Booth: Saturday,
October 5, 2013, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM next to
the Lion’s Club building on Main Street in
Stone Lake. Cranberry wine by the glass will
be served by volunteers from the historical
society.
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THESE
EVENTS.
THEY PAY THE YEARLY
OPERATING
EXPENSES
OF
THE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The Stone Lake Area Historical Society is a 501 © (3)
charitable organization; gifts are tax deductible.
clip & return
clip & return
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
I would like to become a member of the Stone
Lake Area Historical Society.
NAME:___________________________________
ADDRESS:________________________________
________________________________
PHONE:__________________________________
[___] LIFETIME
$100.00
[___] FAMILY
10.00/year
[___] INDIVIDUAL
5.00/year
_____ I would be willing to bake a pie for the Pie
& Ice Cream Social in July
_____ I would be willing to be a docent during the
2013 season
clip & return
clip & return
CABOOSE RESTORATION FUND
We wish to make a tax deductible donation
designated to help in the repair and
restoration of the 1913 SOO Line caboose.
Please use the following wording on our
donation so the person(s) we designate may
be honored on the Wall of Honor in
Preservation Hall in the depot/museum.
Our donation in the amount of $________ is
being made:
In Memory of ______________________
In Honor of ________________________
Name(s):___________________________
Address:___________________________
City:___________State:______Zip:_____
Phone:____________________
EMAIL:___________________
Mail to: Stone Lake Area Historical Society,
PO Box 68, Stone Lake, WI 54876
Mail to: Stone Lake Area Historical Society
PO Box 39, Stone Lake, WI 54876
To receive future newsletters by email, here is my
email address______________________________
Stone Lake Area Historical Society
PO Box 68
Stone Lake, WI 54876
LITTLE FREE LIBRARY IS
ENJOYED BY STONE LAKE
COMMUNITY THIS WINTER!
This is what has been happening all winter;
books leave as others replace them for the
next person to enjoy.
The Little Free Library movement began in
Hudson, Wisconsin in 2009 when Todd Bol
decided this would be a great way to honor
his school-teaching mother. Bol and his
friend, Rick Brooks, established the Little
Free Library as a non-profit organization in
order to map the movement with the goal of
surpassing the 2,500 large libraries funded by
philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie. In just four
years the movement has gone global. It is
registered in 36 countries around the world.
Mid October, 2012, the small building,
pictured above appeared in front of the
historical museum’s entrance. Within days,
folks began filling it with books to share.
Soon folks began coming to visit it and saw
the motto “Take A Book, Return A Book.”
Our Little Free Library has been assigned the
number 4915, which will soon appear on the
library. THANKS to everyone who has been
sharing books. Keep them coming! Our
library was built and installed by Tom
McDonnell, pictured in this article.