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www.driftlessjournal.com | news@driftlessjournal.com | 563-382-4221 | Tuesday, May 21, 2024 | Vol. 6 Issue 21
Spring Grove celebrates Syttende Mai
Breathing new life into an old classic
Spring Grove Elementary music instructor Rachel Storlie led the charge, from the bow of a Viking ship, for the Spring Grove Syttende Mai children’s parade the afternoon of May 17. (Driftless Multimedia photos by Zach Jensen)
Classic and high-performance shop now open in Canton John Holthaus is pictured in front of a 1957 Chevy Nomad dragracer that he recently worked on. (Driftless Multimedia photo by Charlie Warner) By Charlie Warner “Naturally aspirated.” Half a century ago, nearly all gas-powered vehicles were naturally aspirated… or had a carburetor. That all began to change in the early 1980s, when fuel injection started becoming more popular. Fuel injected vehicles don’t need a carburetor. Carburetors, in some aspects, went the way of the dinosaurs. And, with the decline of the carburetor, so too went those mechanics who specialized in making a car with a one barrel, two barrel, four barrel, three deuces (three two-barrel carbs on one engine) or dual quads (two four barrels on one engine) run like a dream. “There are not many of us left,” said John Holthaus, owner/technician at John’s Autohaus in Canton, Minn. Holthaus recently opened a shop on Highway 52 just west of Canton that specializes in dealing with classic and high performance cars, trucks and motorcycles. “Most of the mechanics still work-
ing never worked on anything but a fuel-injected motor,” Holthaus said. But most classic and older high-performance cars and trucks still depend on, and utilize, a carburetor. And that’s where Holthaus comes into the picture. Holthaus grew up north of Decorah and graduated from North Winneshiek High in 1976. From the time he was a youngster (aged 8 or 9) he could be found taking apart lawnmowers and garden tillers to figure out just how they operated. By the time Holthaus was a senior in high school, he had a school picked out. He enrolled in Lincoln Tech in Des Moines where he learned the ins and outs of carburetors, fuel systems, brakes, front end suspensions and transmissions. While attending Lincoln Tech, Holthaus worked at several different full-service gas stations to help pay for his schooling. Once out of school, Holthaus moved to Rochester, Minn., and spent the next two decades working at various garages and auto dealerships as a mechanic. He also worked for a
construction company in Byron where he worked on everything from concrete saws to bull dozers. While sharpening his mechanical skills, Holthaus got acquainted with many racing enthusiasts. He’s worked on stock cars, dragsters, funny cars, mud boggers and racing bikes, as well as many Harley-Davidson motorcycles. When asked what were some of the more expensive vehicles he’s worked on, he replied several Lamborghinis, a Bentley Continental with a twin turbo V-12 and a Mercedes-Benz AMG 650 nitrous-powered V-12. “I can do just about anything that’s mechanical or electrical, but I don’t do body work,” Holthaus noted. He added that what he enjoys most about his work is breathing new life into an old classic. John’s Autohaus is located at 400 West Highway 52 in Canton. For more information, contact Holthaus by e-mail at jd58holthaus@gmail.com.
Friends Leah Myhre, left, and Jo Longmire, both seven years old, had fun posing as an old Norwegian couple in this photo standin located at Spring Grove City Park. During the May Pole dance Spring Grove fifth graders danced around the pole with streamers. Among the children’s festivities during Spring Grove’s Friday afternoon Syttende Mai celebration were tug-of-war contests between local boys and girls. At least in this photo, the girls’ team won hands down.
Harpers Ferry Area Heritage Society hosts pop-up museum for Memorial Day By Brianne Grimstad The Harpers Ferry Area Heritage Society (HFAHS) is sponsoring a pop-up museum on Memorial Day, Monday, May 27, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Ethel Robinson Meehan Community Center, located at 234 North 4th Street, Harpers Ferry. Entitled “They’re More Than a Name on a Wall,” the museum will honor fallen Veterans from Harpers Ferry, Waterville and the surrounding area. The museum will also be offered during the annual American Legion Scenic Unit #722 pork chop dinner. The museum will include items from the collection of the late Lois Robinson, who collected various items dealing with the history of Allamakee County, including photographs and documents. Her daughters, Regina Manning and Patty Manning, inherited their mother’s collection will share these
pieces of Allamakee County’s history with all. There will also be a special display honoring Regina and Patty’s brother, PFC Russell Robinson. Robinson was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion (Ranger) 75th Infantry and was killed in action on October 25, 1983, during Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada. This will be his 40th Memorial Day. “A lot of the items in the collection on display this year come from one family in the Harpers Ferry area, but we are hoping to get artifacts from other area families for the future,” Regina said. Regina is a recent member of the HFAHS, and understands the importance of finding, collecting and preserving the history of Harpers Ferry and the surrounding area. “We need to keep our history alive,” she said. In sorting through the items their mother collected and work-
ing with fellow pop- up museum committee members Marita Clark, Sally Yuhouse and Ruth Ann Hawes-Cordova, Regina researched the 20 names on the memorial wall in Harpers Ferry, and also a 21st name that has not been added to the wall yet. She was able to find more information on these men, and she compiled a fact sheet for each of them. Those will also be part of the pop-up museum this year. The Roll Call includes soldiers from World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Grenada. However, Regina also researched the book The Past and Present of Allamakee County, written by Ellery M. Hancock et al, and discovered
the names of 14 Civil War soldiers from the Harpers Ferry area (including Waterville and Wexford). A poster with the names of these fallen Civil War
Part of the collection is this photo of men standing on the steps of an unidentified building. One of the men was Regina and Patty’s great uncle, Pete (P.L.) Martelle and four other men are identified as Tim Collins, Emmett Houlihan, Joe Sullivan and George Martelle. All five of the identified men served in World War I, and Martelle’s enlistment date is June 25, 1918, which is the same date on the photograph. “It would be nice if we could identify the event, people and the place,” Regina said.
Harpers Ferry pop-up museum
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