Douglas County Past: Pilot survives Superior plane crash; Solon Springs statue unveiled

Jun. 30—July 1, 1947

City gives taverns placards to warn minors of new law

If minors take the chance of frequenting a tavern against city law and are arrested, they won't be able to say that there wasn't any notice in the tavern to warn against their being in there.

Placards, lettered in black on a white background, and 11 x 14 inches in size, have been printed for the city and have been distributed free of charge to all tavernkeepers of the 98 establishments licensed at present for operation in the city for placing in a conspicuous spot.

The "news" for minors reads: "If you are under 21 it is unlawful for you to enter these premises unless accompanied by a guardian, and it is unlawful to misrepresent your age for the purpose of entering the tavern or for asking or obtaining intoxicating liquor or beer.

If caught, the minors, upon conviction, can be fined a minimum of $50 and a maximum of $100 or 30 days in jail or both.

July 1, 1997

Local WITC gets new leader

Jan Brill of Superior has been named the new campus administrator for the Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College in Superior, it was announced this morning.

Brill, who begins July 21, will replace Dick Parish, who left the post several years ago. She is the third campus administrator for the Superior campus.

July 2, 1997

Children's home reunion planned Friday at Fairlawn

On Friday, the Douglas County Historical Society plans its second Fairlawn Children's Home Reunion at Fairlawn Mansion and Museum in Superior. Everyone who lived at Fairlawn as a resident or employee when Fairlawn was a children's home from 1920 to 1962 is invited to attend free of charge.

The events of the day include continuous guided tours of the public and non-public areas, where children's home residents have so many memories.

Van Rossem wins council toss-up

Richard Van Rossem won a count toss Tuesday night to become Superior's 5th District city councilor. In a voice vote after the toss, the council appointed Van Rossem.

The coin-toss proposal, a rare turn of events, came from the two finalists, Van Rossem and Frank Plato, near the end of the Superior City Council meeting. They had agreed between themselves that the loser of the coin toss would withdraw, leaving a cleaner slate for the council vote.

The council had become deadlocked in their votes and had scheduled a special meeting in two weeks to attempt to settle the issue.

In their first vote, the councilors narrowed the field of four applicants — James Lanswick, Mary Drobot, Plato and Van Rossem — to two. Four votes later, they were still unable to decide between Van Rossem and Plato, with a 4-3 result each time either for one or the other.

Fifth District councilor David Frank resigned in June.

July 3, 1947

Eddy Bakery completing alterations

A six-month improvement program, involving the purchase and installation of a great deal of expensive machinery, which will triple the operating capacity, will be completed this week at the Eddy Bakery, Winter Street and Ogden Avenue.

Included among the equipment installed is an Oliver cake-wrapping machine, capable of wrapping one cake every three seconds; a Glen cake-making machine which can mix 700 cakes at one time; an AMF oven, which can bake 3,600 pounds of bread per hour, and is the largest one in Wisconsin; an "18-rack," known as Pfening proofbox, by which 2,500 loaves of bread can be raised at one time, and a 12,000 gallon fuel oil tank installed underground, for the purpose of storing the oil supply for heating the ovens.

Superior pilot escapes death in plane crash

Low flying in an Aeronca champion single-wing plane over Dave Erickson's farm, three-fourths of a mile straight east of Greenwood Cemetery adjacent to county trunk "C" shortly after 7 a.m. Thursday resulted in the crash of the ship, and serious injuries to Charles Willits, 24, YMCA, operator of the Superior Aero, a flight school at the Richard Ira Bong municipal airport.

Willits, who was flying alone, was taken to St. Joseph's hospital and is suffering from a compound fracture of the right leg, severe head lacerations, lacerations of the left hand, and shock. Hospital attendants said his condition is "fair."

Witnessing the accident were Lew and William Koenen, town of Oakland, who were driving on county trunk C en route to the Great Lakes Coal and Dock company in Superior where they are doing work for Roland C. Buck, Inc., engineers.

The Superior Aero now has three Aeroncas left, one "Chief" and two training ships.

July 2, 1997

Mid-season championships Friday at Superior track

Fourth of July racing at the Superior Speedway will be highlighted by the Bud Light sponsored Mid-Season Championships.

Point leaders going into Friday night's racing are Tim McMann in the WISSOTA late models, Darrell Nelson in the WISSOTA modified, Mike Willie in the WISSOTA super stocks and John Hunker in the WISSOTA street stocks.

Statue dedication planned in Solon

A tribute to Wisconsin Native American history will be dedicated this weekend in Solon Springs.

The statue of an Ojibwe scout will be unveiled Saturday during a ceremony 10 a.m. at the Solon Springs Wayside, located on State Highway 53 across from the airport.

The statue is dedicated to the scouts who led explorers into this area in 1680.

European explorers were led north along the Mississippi River to the St. Croix River and then to Solon Springs, said Tony Jelich, who researched the history for and designed the statue. The statue overlooks the site where the river begins.

A committee raised funding for the statue through donations. Working with members of the St. Croix High School welding class, Jelich created the metal statue.

The dedication will start with a speech by Frank Giesen of Solon Springs. An Ojibwe elder will give a brief account of the history behind the statue, while Gus Le Mieux of Superior, a World War I veteran, does the unveiling.

Mary Ann Lord Walt, one of the project's Native American advisors, will conclude the dedication with a statement about the Chippewa people.

July 4, 1947

Scrap metal dealer sells $50 auto part for 20 cents

An illustration of interpretation of values was given in municipal court Thursday when in a petty larceny arraignment the story was unfolded of the sale of a scrap metal dealer of an automobile part for 20 cents, that had an actual value of $50.

Aaron M. Seligman, 69, of 330 Tower Avenue, dealer in scrap metal, was given a suspended sentence of $50 fine or 60-day jail term when he pleaded guilty to a charge of petty larceny. Seligman told the court he picked up the auto part lying beside a garage owned by Curtis Beebe, 1923 Butler Avenue, and thought it had been discarded. He sold the part for 20 cents.

Meanwhile Beebe, who was repairing his car, had left the part beside the garage momentarily while he made a business trip downtown. Coming back he found the article missing, and notified police of its disappearance.

He has the part back now and the car is in running order.

Articles and pictures courtesy of retired librarian Judy Aunet with Superior Public Library.