Issue 12 - Winter 2023-2024
Elcho Grade School Christmas Time 1902
Letter from the President
By Bear Wheeler
As this year comes to a close, we take a step back and see what we accomplished this year as a society. The year 2023 is a stellar success because of the public’s involvement. The interest in the Elcho area has become a source of excitement. We have a bright future ahead. Every single one of our volunteers who helps us at events and/or comes to the meetings has passion and determination. As we work together, we are building a repository for the memories of people who have gone before us. Our ancestors may not walk this earth anymore, but their memory lives on in our hearts and minds. We will do our best to try to capture this in our museum.
This past summer our building has gotten a much-needed facelift. Steve Herrmann of Carpentry Services along with Gary Johnson have worked a labor of love which was needed to bring the building back to its former glory. It is being restored to its original look as the Modern Woodmen of America built it in 1913. Meanwhile Pete Johnson from Elcho Plumbing and Heating will be installing our furnace for us. Much gratitude goes to Pete Johnson (for pursuing it) and Badger Metals of Appleton who donated the furnace. The Seamless Gutter Gal installed appropriate gutters on the building. Labor, material and installation was donated. Thank you to Lisa and Mike Owen for your generosity. In all this hustle, the gas and electric got piped into the building this past summer. Also, there were many odds and ends that got done this year at the museum by many of our volunteers, as of the time of the printing of this newsletter over 960 hours of volunteer time has been logged in. Much gratitude goes to my fellow officers, Debi Mejak, Greg Mejak, and Bryan Spransy due to their tireless and unselfish daily efforts our Society continues to move forward.
This newsletter’s feature article highlights a local business that has a wonderful history and is in operation to this day. We like to do these types of historical articles. It doesn’t matter if it’s still in operation or not, and it doesn’t matter what type of business. Most of the time the original owners are no longer alive. We have done articles on the Elcho Boat Shop and Jacob’s Equipment which are businesses no longer in operation. However, the families had interest in keeping the memory alive. Doing this solidifies the history because the article will be published for future generations. The work your ancestors toiled for will be remembered. Please reach out to us if this is something that you desire. We will get interviews set up. All that needs to be done is to get out the pictures and reminisce. It’s an effort from all of us that makes this endeavor successful.
John and Maren Follstad, all the Elcho based Follstads come from them
Remembering the Brat Barn
With Suzie Rabideau
Here is a concise history of the brat barn that we all love to visit during the summer months. It all started in 1991 when the Elcho Scholarship Committee sponsored the first brat sale. In 1994, the Elcho Scholarship Committee had two sales. They were held at the Variety Store (Dave’s Sub & Pub) with the Pepsi Cola Co. as a co-sponsor.
The major attraction for that particular Saturday in May, 1996 was two-fold: A town wide rummage sale to provide funds for the Scholarship fund combined with Clean-up day at the local “dump”. Crafters and vendors were encouraged to participate. Items were brought to the school grounds by residents of the town on Saturday and sold for basically whatever price the buyer would offer-not a lot of dickering. The hardest part was finding the “in charge” person. The second part was the “Clean-up.” The sale was scheduled for the same day as “town clean-up” for everybody. The sale ended about 2pm that day which was the scheduled time for the big bins to leave the dump. On the way back to Antigo they stopped at the school and removed any leftover rummage. They wanted to avoid the problem of, “What do we do with the leftovers?” They also sold brats that day to supplement the rummage sale.
In 1997, the brat sale moved back and forth between the rear of North Trail Store and the fire station. It was renamed to “Brat Wagon.” It was still a sleepy little enterprise then it was only used 3-4 times a summer. It was in 2002 that it changed to what we know today as twelve non-profit organizations realized the potential to create needed revenues.
In 2004 the venture was moved to the Village Green. A cozy little barn (capacity 2 ½-3 workers) funded by North Trail Store, the Pepsi Co. and Village Hearth and was built by Bob Jensen (Karen’s dad). The drinks were stored on the outside and a floppy blue tarp was added to protect diners from the weather. The newly built brat barn’s usage increased to 19 days a year.
Twenty-two plus groups used the brat barn more than 32 days in the summer of 2006. A permanent structure was then built by the students from Elcho High School with donations from area organizations and individuals. From then on and to the present day the brat barn has been used by area organizations to build up funding and mostly to get public exposure. Thank you to everyone who comes out and enjoys the brat barn while supporting the local organizations.
Ann, Michael Senior, Michael (Frank) Junior, Josephine & Betty Fischer standing by original concrete block meat market building
Fischer’s Meat Products
By Otto Tiegs III
Just a little bit south of Summit Lake stands a little white building that is the home to Fischer's Meat Products. The building along Highway B, the old Highway 45, has been a land mark in our area since the 1940s, but the story of the family that runs the business started long before that.
Michael Frank Fischer's life was shaped by war torn Europe. Michael, born in 1913, in the village of Nakovo, in an area that would later become Yugoslavia, to Frank and Katherine Fischer. Nakovo, located along the Romanian border, was founded by the Nako brothers, Greek traders from Macedonia. Many of the Nakovo's inhabitants at the time of Michael's birth were ethnic Germans, Serbs, and French. The Balkan Wars were being fought at the time of his birth, and ethnic cleansing was part of the aftermath of the war. His father died when he was two years old, forcing him and his mother to live like gypsies, wandering the country looking for food and shelter. At one point, Michael's mother placed him in a home for boys run by priests, just so he would be fed. Michael and his mother managed to survive the wars, including World War One, and both migrated to the United States aboard the S. S. George Washington, arriving in New York on May 25, 1926. Chicago was their final destination, and they would live with Katherine's new husband, Ignaz Hofer.
Josephine's journey also started in war torn Europe. She was born in Austria in 1921 to Herman and Marie Tettenborn in Pinkafeld, a village that had been part of Hungary just before her birth. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was on the losing side of World War One. Inflation was running rampant in Austria, making the family's money worthless. Lines on maps separating countries were being redrawn by the allied powers, and some countries just disappeared as they were annexed into new ones. The Tettenborn family migrated to the United States, leaving Hamburg, Germany, aboard the S. S. Deutschland, arriving in New York on September 28, 1928, and made Brookfield, Illinois their home.
It was in northeast Illinois where Josie and Michael met. Josie worked as a part time stenographer, later as a telephone operator, and she loved the city life. Michael worked as a sausage maker at Best Kosher Sausage Company (the same company that produced hot dogs for Cubs' games at Wrigley Field and White Sox games at Comiskey Park). He disliked the city life.
Michael and Josie married on July 26, 1940 in Cook County, Illinois, but their life in the big city was about to come to an end. Michael saw an advertisement in the Chicago Tribune for a farm near Athelstane, Wisconsin, that was for sale. He contacted the owners of the farm and purchased it from them. Josie was devastated, but made the move to northern Wisconsin, leaving her family and her job behind in Illinois.
Herman Tettenborn, Josephine Tettenborn Fischer, Heavner Tettenborn and Michael Frank Fischer Senior
Farm life in Wisconsin did not turn out quite the way that Michael had hoped. A firewood shortage during the couple's first winter on the farm made it a cold one. Neighbors pitched in to help replenish the firewood supply. The cows and chickens being raised by the family did not generate enough income for the growing family. Michael (better known as Frank to avoid confusion with his father's name) was born in 1943 and Betty was born in 1945. Michael needed to earn some money to feed his family, so he approached a local slaughter house with a proposal using knowledge gained in Chicago, he would make their sausage.
Making sausage turned the family's fortunes around. Once the sausage portion of the slaughter house's business was established, Michael took on the additional job of selling the sausage. At first he sold the sausage to local businesses, but later built routes from Polar to Townsend. He got to know his customers well, and he built a good business for the Athelstane meat market. It was during his travels on these routes that he decided that farming was not for him or his family, and he would establish his own meat business.
Fischer Meat Products Hog Rail
Two locations caught Michael's attention as being the right spot to establish his business, one at Pelican Lake, and one at Summit Lake, and a decision had to be made soon because another child, Ann, was on the way. The decision to locate at Summit Lake was made. He received his Wisconsin State License to begin operations in April, 1946.
Because the business was located on U.S. Highway 45, locals had easy access to a fresh meat supply and farmers had a local market for their hogs and beef cattle. Michael had a good highway for his truck to deliver meat and sausage to stores and restaurants located in surrounding communities.
Josephine Fischer
Money was tight as the business grew. Sales routes had to be established and while he was away, Josephine would run the business at home. The house with an attached garage became a slaughter house with the family living in the second story of the building. Money from each sale was used to purchase more hogs and beef animals from farmers for the next sale. Custom work was taken on to help neighbors and provide additional income. If there was any extra money, it was used to make improvements to the building and to purchase equipment. One of those early building expansions included a small shopping area for local customers, that is still in use today.
Fischer Meat Products Addition - 1984
Michael had installed a used railroad boiler to supply steam and heat for the building sometime after purchasing the property. Coal and wood were used as fuel for the boiler and worked well, but it was huge, and required a lot of labor. Michael was able to purchase an oil fired unit through Josie's uncle, Art Kleinrath, who worked for the Kewanee Boiler Company in Illinois. Once the boiler was delivered by truck to the Fischer facility, Michael knocked out the basement wall, removed the old railroad boiler that was installed just a few years earlier, and placed the new Kewanee boiler in the basement. Everything had gone to plan, except none of the heating contractors in the area knew how to install the modern heating device. When it was all said and done, Uncle Art took a week off from work, traveled to Summit Lake, and put the boiler together for the Fischer family. The meat market was back in business.
More changes were on the way for the Fischer's business. Michael bought the Emil Person home just to the north of the slaughter house. Josephine would now have her own home separate from the business. U.S. Highway 45 was relocated to its present alignment in 1956, leaving them on a secondary county road, Langlade County Highway B. Michael's established wholesale sales routes made the impact of the new highway alignment minimal.
Michael Fischer and his last horse
Michael "Frank" Fischer graduated from Elcho High School in 1961, and like all of Michael and Josephine's children, he had plenty of experience working in the family business. Frank expanded the businesses' sales routes into Shawano, New London, and as far north as Lake Tomahawk. It could be said that meat products from Fischer's had been served to customers at almost every eating establishment in northeast Wisconsin.
Just a little bit south of Summit Lake stands a white building that is the home of Fischer Meat Products. The business is the product of hard work of the Fischer family and the people that they employed. Frank, Rick and Dan have all had their chance to run the family business, navigating through issues that Michael and Josephine would never have imagined. The area was very fortunate when Michael and Josephine decided to make Summit Lake their home. The building also has a new boiler, measuring about four feet by four feet, in the same spot that was once occupied by a railroad steam engine boiler! This family business is still in operation serving the public’s need for fresh meats.
A Heartfelt Thank You for Your Support
By Greg Mejak
Recently, I looked through all of the Elcho Historical Society’s newsletters. I paid particular attention to the Thank You column. It was amazing to me the number of donors we have been blessed with over the years. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of donors. Over the years, we have received donations from individuals, corporations and foundations. Donations included artifacts given for display at the Grange Hall Museum, monetary gifts for the museum restoration and operations and “In Memory” contributions for those that have left this world.
At one of our meetings this year, a member of the Society requested this story be shared with you. He and his wife attended a party for an acquaintance of theirs. This acquaintance requested that no gifts be brought to the party. In lieu of a gift, the couple made a contribution to the Society in honor of the individual. What a great way to honor someone. Thank you for all the generous support over the years.
Elcho Historical Society, Inc.
Fall 2023, Thank You!!
Items Donated
Bryan Spransy - Camp fire wood for Brat Barn raffle
Jim & Lori Rodgers - Wooden American flag
Jean Weaver - Calendar with 1920's picture of Summit Lake
Jean Weaver - No 20 Singer sewing machine
Kate Kelly - NESCO 18-quart roaster oven
Follstad family - various artifacts including totem pole
Otto Tiegs III - pallets
Builders Service & Visser family - school desks
Conrad Guth - Roll top desk
Louis Mejak - Fish coin
Kate Kelly - Antique sewing machine
Carol Schauer - Storage cabinet & wheelchair
Herb Dettman - Metal pipe for gas meter protection
Bryan Spransy - Concrete for metal pipe protection
Ski Club - chips & pop for brat fry
Jane Wagner - Robert S. Lyle Scout Camp coffee mugs
Carol Brown - Lioness double sided sign & storage cabinet
Seamless Gutter Gal, (Lisa & Mike Owen) - gutters & downspouts for Grange Hall
Suzie & Bob Rabidue - Elcho yearbooks 1977-1980
Amron in Antigo - Map filing cabinet
Cream separator - Calvin, Phyllis & Chuck Wetzel
Anonymous - kids prizes for brat barn
Culvers - ice cream for 100 year anniversary celebration
Anonymous - portable backup generator
In Memoriam Donations
Mark J. Diercks in memory of Connie Hubatch
Jim Hubatch & Kathrine Babcock in the name of Carl Borowczyk
Monetary Donations
Kristine & Ann Sager - Pelican Lake, WI
Kurt & Donna Jacobson - Appleton, WI
Anonymous for website - Elcho, WI
Terry & Mary Maves for Anniversary of Mike & Kathy Glasheem
Wisconsin Historical Foundation - Madison, WI
Dr. Kenneth & Gwendolyn Katz - Sarasota, FL
James Brust & Daniel Miller - Pelican Lake, WI
Anonymous - Elcho, WI
Membership Renewals
Mary Zelinski - Antigo, WI
Betty Tappa - Elcho, WI
Sue & Shane Wheeler - Elcho, WI
Kaylynn Wabich-Jindra & Alan Jindra - Melrose Park, IL
Dave & Darlene Schingoethe - Brookings, SD
Sue Mackowski - Elcho, WI
Karen & Curtis Saari - Green Bay, WI
Gary Boettcher - Pelican Lake, WI
Jenny & Lyle Hangartner - Marion, WI
Barb & Bob Sagstetter - Marshfield, WI
Terri & Steve Whealon - Elcho, WI
Diane & Michael Venn - Crestview, FL & Elcho, WI
Jeanne & Arnie Follstad - Red Wing , MN
Dr. Kenneth & Gwendolyn Katz - Sarasota, FL
Noreen & James Haiduk - Geneva, IL
Gary Guenther - Elcho, WI
Steve Spittlemeister - Elcho WI & Bullhead City, AZ
Joe Hemolin - Antigo, WI
Connie Follstad - Fallbrook, CA
Jim Hubatch - Elcho, WI
New Members
Donald Steininger - Deerbrook, WI
Russell Perry - Oshkosh, WI
Russ & Vicki Prochnow - Elcho, WI
Russ Sobolik Family - So. Milwaukee & Dousman, WI
Pearl Kish - Oak Forest, IL
Carl & Susan Buesing, Summit Lake, WI
Jennifer Schilling - Pelican Lake, WI
In addition to the specific individuals listed above we would like to THANK all those that supported and worked on our Brat Barn, Music in the Park & craft fair fundraising events. We couldn't have accomplished what we did this year without all your generous time and effort.
Mary Elliot with Walter Mink at the Elcho Boat Shop