Middleton Area Historical Society June Newsletter

June 2023

Number 188

Pie & Ice Cream Social June 7

We’re back at Lakeview!

Join us Wednesday, June 7 from 5-8 pm for our 51st Pie & Ice Cream Social at Lakeview Park.

Enjoy a piece of pie with free ice cream ala mode, or choose other treats. Refreshments will be included with your purchase.

We’re excited to welcome back the New Horizons Band. They will play from 6:30 - 7:30 pm

The event will be held in the remodeled Lakeview pavilion and will be held rain or shine. Please note the earlier date, not our normal third Wednesday.

We are extremely grateful for our major sponsor of pies from Hubbard Avenue Diner. In addition, we are thankful for donations from Metro Market, Costco, Willy Street Coop, and individual donations. Hope you can make it!

Remembering Helen Black

This year, we are pleased to accept a donation of pies from an anonymous donor to honor the life of Helen Black, a longtime MAHS member. Helen was born on June 18, so some years, the social was her birthday celebration.

Faith, family and serving her community were most important to Helen. Helen and her husband raised four children in Middleton. When the children reached school age, she became a secretary in the Middleton school district. She was a volunteer extraordinare not only with the MAHS, but with St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Middleton Outreach Ministry, and the Ladies Auxiliary of VFW Post 8216. She helped with Middleton Senior Olympics for several years.

Helen was a forerunner in the recycling effort. She cut all her junk mail into squares and made notepads for the school librarians.

She had a great capacity to give to others without needing recognition in return.

Middleton,WI

Helen Black received the Good Neighbor Award in 1993. She also received a Senior Achievement award from the Coalition of Aging.

MAHS presents inaugural scholarship and award

This past fall, the Board voted to offer a scholarship to a high school student interested in pursuing history, and an award to a student interested in photography.

MHS Senior Jack Asmus received the inaugural Middleton Area Historical Society Scholarship. Jack is planning to study vocal performance and historical studies at Gustavius Adolphus College.

President’s Message

It’s been an exciting Spring. We have been welcoming a steady stream of visitors at the Rowley Museum, and the number of people interested in taking the Stroll ‘N Tell walking tour has exceeded our expectations. At least 85 people have been on the tours and more tours are happening. If you would like to take part, but just can’t make the walk, a Sit & Tell session is in the works. We will send out an email when it will take place.

This Spring, we presented an inaugural high school scholarship to a student interested in history, and gave an award to a student who has a passion for photography. We wish both of these students luck as they go beyond high school.

Everything we do as a board, we follow our mission “to preserve and publicize the history of the Middleton Area.” Since preservation is a big part of our mission, we are discussing best practices on how to ensure our collection is well preserved. Last year, we invested in shades for the Rowley museum, so our artifacts are not damaged by the sun. This year, we are discussing how to digitize items with a short shelf life. When we do embark on a project, we will need help. If you are interested in volunteering to help us, please send an email to middletonhistory@gmail.com

We are also considering working with others in the community to secure funds to digitize historical copies of

In addition, the Board found a unique way to remember Board President Jeff Martin. In addition to history, Jeff’s passion was photography, and was a photography judge for many years with the Friends of Pheasant Branch/Middleton High School photography contest. We felt it was an great fit to offer an award to a high school photographer. Madi Vander Sanden was the first recipient. this Spring. Madi will attend UW LaCrosse in the fall.

the Middleton Times-Tribune, so it will be accessible to all. Once we learn more of the scope of the project we will be in touch.

We hope you can make the Pie & Ice Cream Social on June 7. The new pavilion is beautiful, and it will be a relief to know we will have shelter in case of rain. See you this summer!

Ruth Bachmeier MAHS President

Make Music Middleton

Come make music with us on a global day of music celebrating the summer solstice! We are excited about the return of Make Music Middleton on Wednesday, June 21, back for a second year. The Rowley House porch is on the venues throughout downtown Middleton and the area. Warm up your vocal chords, tune the guitar, dust off the accordion - no matter your jam, head to our website to register: https://www.makemusicday.org/ middleton/

Kristi Warriner presents the scholarship to Jack Asmus. Jan Martin presents the award to Madi Vand Sanden.

Dick Blaschke and the great Middleton Theater Contest

by Claudia Miska

I sat down earlier this month with Dick Blaschke, a long time Middleton resident, to listen to some of his stories about growing up in Middleton.

We talked about the Middleton Theater at 2111 Parmenter Street. The theater was owned by the M.E. Theater Management Company with headquarters in Milwaukee. The theater was a quonset type building that featured 99 cent movies and opened in November, 1946.

Dick told me a story about how Mr. Kromrey was the scoutmaster of his boy scout troop. Mr. Kromrey made a deal with the theater that the scouts were to sell tickets for some event and the prize to the highest seller would be to be the first person in the theater to see the 1939 movie Union Pacific directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The movie was about how someone tried to sabotage the building of the transcontinental railroad.

Dick was enterprising at a young age. He figured out that if he took the tickets with him as he delivered the papers on his paper route, he could sell his tickets quickly. Dick sold the most tickets and got his pick of the seat in the theater. He also remembered he got a kit to assemble a pair of moccasins from scoutmaster Kromrey.

On the day the theater was razed, the marquee announced “The Last Show: Foss Building Rides Again”. Greg Foss, of Foss Builders was the contractor for a senior living housing project that was built in the location. Greg named the building “The Patrician” after his wife.

The last owner of the theater, Madison 20th Century Theaters gave some of the seats to the American Players Theater. The building itself was donated to New Life Baptist Church. It was taken down piece by piece and moved.

The Middleton Theatre was a quonset structure designed by architect Myles Belongia, of the firm Peacock & Belongia.

Dick was the winner of the Middleton Theater Contest. Above, Scoutmaster Ed Kromrey congratulated Dick, and below, his mother pinned an award.

by George Zens

Sonny Simon laid to rest

On Tuesday, March 28, 2023, Pfc William LaVerne ‘Sonny’ Simon was laid to rest at St. Bernard’s cemetery in Middleton, almost eighty years after being killed in World War II. Born and raised in Middleton, he

graduated from Middleton High School before enlisting in the U.S. Army.

In November 1944, he was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 109th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry ‘Keystone’ Division. His unit was engaged in fierce fighting with German forces in the Hürtgen Forest, where he was reported killed in action on November 5. Altogether, the 28th Infantry Division lost more than 6,100 men in that battle in November. According to some military historians, almost every front-line soldier ended up being a casualty through death, injury, physical illness or battle fatigue. The battle of the Hürtgen Forest lasted for almost three months, from mid-September to mid-December 1944, and was the longest single battle ever fought by the U.S. Army. More than a dozen U.S. infantry, airborne and armored divisions and ranger battalions fought as many German divisions, resulting in more than 30,000 casualties on each side.

His remains were eventually interred in the American Ardennes Cemetery in Belgium, together with those of more than 460 other unidentified and 5,200 identified airmen and soldiers. ‘Sonny’ Simon was identified thanks to modern scientific methods, including DNA analyses, in November of last year and repatriated from

Europe.

He was flown from Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, to Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee on March 24, from where his remains were driven to Middleton under police and military escort. When they arrived in Middleton at about 8:00 pm, the convoy was greeted by vehicles from the Middleton Fire District flying the American flag. The convoy then drove east on University Avenue, turned right heading onto Park Street, then right heading back west on Hubbard Avenue, passing in front of his childhood home at 7119 Hubbard Avenue, before arriving at Gunderson funeral home. His funeral service was at 11 am at St. Bernard’s Church, and included a military honor guard. After the funeral service, a procession led from the church past his childhood home and then to St. Bernard Cemetery on Branch Street. A plaque in memory of Sonny was added to the Simon monument at St. Bernard cemetery after his death. He was buried next to his parents. The burial with full military honors included playing of ‘Taps’ by an Army bugler, a three-volley salute, a flag display by the Badger Honor Flight, a flyover by two Apache helicopters, and handing over the flags from the casket to Eileen Tesch and Jim ‘Jumbo’ Simon, William ‘Sonny’ Simon’s surviving siblings.

Courtesy of the Middleton Review

Photo by Ruth Bachmeier

Historical Society photo

by Claudia Miska

The remains of Pfc William ‘Sonny’ Simon are now at rest in the St. Bernard’s Catholic Cemetery in Middleton. Sonny was killed on November 5, 1944. He died defending our freedom in Germany. His remains were declared unrecoverable in 1950. His mother worked tirelessly to find information on Sonny’s whereabouts. Thanks to the efforts of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Sonny’s remains were found and DNA samples from his brother, James ‘Jumbo’ Simon and his sister, Eileen Tesch were used to make a positive ID.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 8216 was named to honor Sonny in 1946. Before his mother passed away, she had her son James promise that he would see that Sonny’s remains were brought to Middleton and buried here. That happened on March 28, 2023. James passed away at the age of 94 on April 4, 2023. His job was done. His mother’s wish was fulfilled. Rest in Peace Sonny and James.

Photo by George Zens

Photo by Jan Martin

Photo by Steve Olson

The procession drove past Sonny’s childhood home.

The procession passed the Rowley House Museum.

Service members presenting the burial flag to the family.

History of the Good Neighbor Fest

by Kristi Warriner

At the end of August, Middleton will celebrate its Good Neighbors for the 60th time. The festival itself is the reason Middleton adopted the motto “The Good Neighbor City”. As it happened, it was actual next-door neighbors who started the whole thing.

What follows is an excerpt from Keith Hinsman’s personal recollection of the start of the Middleton Good Neighbor Festival, originally published in the Middleton Times Tribune on August 20th, 1981.

“The Fest was founded in 1964. It started with a phone call to me [Keith Hinsman]. Amos Colby, Middleton pharmacist and my next-door neighbor, was on the line. ‘Come on down for a beer,’ he enticed. Since it was a frigid February evening, I thought hot, buttered rum would be more appropriate. But I went, and got cold beer.

Colby was president of the Middleton Chamber of Commerce that year and wanted to polish its personality. (There had been some grumblings in town).

His idea: create a summer festival, one big event that people could rally round, have a good time and think positively about Middleton. The Chamber would hire my public relations firm to help produce the show. The fee: a magnanimous $300, [about $3000 in 2023 dollars] and the cautious Colby spread the payments over seven months!

The basic elements for a successful festival were already there. Each summer almost every volunteer group in the city put on something to raise funds. The Optimists had a chicken fry, the VFW and American Legion combined for a dinky little carnival and beer tent, the Jaycees had something else. None made much money because each did his own thing on his own weekend in his own indepen-

dent way. They lacked organization, drive, planning, and most vital of all, unity.

Our thought was quite simple: convince all groups to continue to run their own operation, but all on the same weekend. ‘And we’ll all make more money for community causes than ever before,’ claimed Colby. He proved right.

We talked long about a catchy name for the festival. Quite casually, Amos mentioned that ‘all we want to do is show we’re good neighbors.’

I jumped right in. ‘That’s it,’ I stated, ‘the Good Neighbor Festival. More than that, we’ll beam it to Madison, Sun Prairie, Black Earth and all the communities around us. We’ll tell them that as a gesture of good will, Middleton is inviting them for a fun weekend.’

Days later Colby called a dinner meeting at the New Pines restaurant for president, chairmen and commanders of the various organizations in the city. We went over the concept in detail. Generally, they were sold, though there were some rough spots. A star was born…

Led by Mayor A.M. McDermid, DVM, the City of Middleton cooper-

ated handsomely. They appropriated $300, and all divisions, from police to park to fire department and other city staffers gave us generous aid. The Fest achieved semi-official status.

Sponsors of that first year were: American Legion, Middleton Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis, Middleton Development Corporation, Middleton Volunteer Fire Department, Optimists, Sertoma, Veterans of Foreign Wars.

The first time round went well enough. There was heavy emphasis on free entertainment. Scheduled were a queen’s contest, a horse show, a firemen’s water fight, a Zor Shrine Chanters concert, a “pops” band performance, a community bonfire, rides in an ox cart, the yearling parade---all free. There were even free watermelon slices.”

2023 update: Keith Hinsman remained active with the festival for many years, serving as festival president in 1983, parade marshal in 1981 and again in 1988 along with all other past-presidents, and won the Good Neighbor Award in 1988 with his wife Betty. Hinsman passed away in July of 1989.

Amos Colby was the festival president for the first two years. He was parade marshal along with Hinsman in 1981 and in 1988 (as past president), and received the Good Neighbor award with Hinsman in 1988. Colby passed away in 2003.

The Keith Hinsman Award was created in 1989 to recognize a Festival Trustee who goes above and beyond each year in service of the festival.

The structure of the festival remains the same as Colby and Hinsman created it. Each member organization provides at least two Trustees to the festival board. Member organizations have their own concession. A concession is a contractual agreement between the member organization and the festival to provide a part of the festival and to keep most of the profits earned by that concession. The food booths, and now food trucks, are operated under a member organization’s concession.

Entertainment is still free.

The festival is now supported through generous donations by sponsors, particularly Willy Street Co-op, who has been the presenting sponsor of the festival since 2019.

While the festival no longer receives financial support from the City of Middleton, it does enjoy incredible support from the Middleton Police

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, June 7

3-4:45 Stroll -N Tell

5-8 pm Pie & Ice Cream Social Lakeview Park

Music from 6:30 - 7:30 pm

Wednesday, June 21

Make Music Middleton

Saturday, August 5

Mustard Day Scavenger Hunt

Department, Fire Department and EMS. An invitation-only Mayor’s Breakfast has continued the tradition of welcoming dignitaries from around the area to the festival.

The Middleton Chamber of Commerce ended its partnership with the festival in 2022.

Current festival trustee organizations are Kiwanis and Optimists (original members), Middleton Youth Hockey, BSA Troops 40 and 140, Lions Club, VFW Auxiliary, and the Rotary Club of Madison West Middleton.

The 60th Good Neighbor Festival, with the theme “Diamond Jubilee” will take place as always on the last full weekend in August, which is the 25th through 27th this year. It will be in its original, though much changed location, at Firemen’s Memorial Park on Lee Street next to Middleton High School.

The word is out!

Friday, August 25

Middleton History Stroll ‘n Tell 3 pm

Saturday, October 14

Museum closes for the season

October 27

Spooky Stroll

Middleton History Stroll ‘n Tell 1 pm

December 9

Annual Meeting

The Stroll & Tell is a great way to learn about Middleton. Meet at the Rowley Museum, 7410 Hubbard Ave. The museum is open a half hour before the walk. The walks are about an hour 45 minutes.

Be sure to join us at June 7 3 pm. August 27 3 pm October 27 1 pm (note new time)

Additional Stroll & Tell walks and a Sit ‘N Tell may be added.

President Ruth Bachmeier

Vice President Claudia Miska

Recording Secretary Carolyn Mattern

Treasurer Mel Krc

Board of Directors

Joy Bauman

Stephen Drake

Edith Ersland

Cathy Haberland

Dorothy Hawkins

Mike Lutz

Jan Martin

Leah Narans

Steve Olson

Errin Rider

Kristi Warriner

Emeritus Board Member

Duane Van Haren

Newsletter Editor

Ruth Bachnmeier

middletonhistory.org