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Stoughton
Family Owned, Family Operated, Celebrating 97 Years Of Service
Thursday, December 26, 2019 • Vol. 135, No. 28 • Stoughton, WI • ConnectStoughton.com • $1.25
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Once lost, now found
Stories of the Year 2019
Detective work, ‘divine intervention’ bring home family memento SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
Photo by Mackenzie Krumme
A storm that knocked down a portion of the 100-year-old building known as the blacksmith shop on Oct. 20, 2018 led to months of litigation and an eventual settlement between the city’s Redevelopment Authority and Earth Construction. The blacksmith shop was demolished on Thursday, Sept. 19.
Blacksmith Saga Ends Demolition of building some considered historic clears path for redevelopment over the historic value of buildings in that area – south of South Street between Fourth and Eighth streets – left the how and when up in the air. That changed this fall, when the city’s Redevelopment Authority decided it had no choice but to tear down one of the last remaining buildings on the city-owned property, known as the blacksmith
Turn to 2019/Page 12
Stories of 2019 1. Blacksmith shop comes down after extended saga 2. City Hall moves across the street into new building 3. Fire chief, library director retire 4. Wrestling team repeats as state champs 5. Kittleson house demolished after two-year controversy 6. Dunkirk voters pass rural preservation plan 7. (tie) Yahara River Grocery Co-op closes 7. (tie) Riverfront, whitewater park plans continue 7. (tie) Tru by Hilton hotel starts contstruction 10. County establishes Lake Kegonsa task force
There were no marker signs, no helmet requirements. I t wa s D e c e m b e r 1 9 6 9 , a n d Nitzsche and the other two founding members of the fledgling Viking Snowdrifters Club maintained its MACKENZIE KRUMME trails with bed springs pulled behind Unified Newspaper Group sleds. The club has since grown to 80 Roger Nitzsche remembers when families, many of whom are third Stoughton’s snowmobile trails were generation members. marked with painted tin coffee cans “It is unbelievable the amount sitting on the tops of sticks. of growth, enthusiasm and interest
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“It was emotional and I’m not a cryer, and I just had tears running down my face the whole time.” Kasting and a trainee pilot were killed in a crash in Corpus Christi Bay on Dec. 28, 1978, when their jet apparently experienced engine failure and they were not able to safely eject. For Simons, her pilot father exists mainly in the hazy memory of preschool youth, with just a few items and photographs to hold on to. “Sometimes it gets confused on what were the actual memories and what
Turn to Found/Page 15
Inside
Still blazing a trail after 50 years Viking Snowdrifters celebrate a half century of promoting, maintaining
Photos contributed
Brandi Kasting Simons holds a photo of her late father, John, and wears his former Naval aviator’s jacket, which was given to her this month by Stoughton reisdent Doug Bar, whose late wife was dating Kasten at the time of his death.
the club generated the next several years,” Nitzsche wrote in a recent letter to the club. As the club celebrates 50 years, technology and safety have improved while the club has maintained a sense of camaraderie, several members who spoke to the Hub on Dec. 14 said. Nitzsche still talks weekly with another one of the co-founders, Larry Severson. Both are now in their 80s.
Wrestling highlights year in SHS sports Page 8
Turn to Snowdrifters/Page 16
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W
hile many people hoped to see some construction on the city’s riverfront in 2019, our top story was related, but opposite – it was the demolition of the century-old blacksmith shop there. It’s generally been agreed over the past few years the city should revamp the former industrial area across from Mandt Park into a residential district, but disagreements
Christmas 1978 passed like a typical holiday in the Navy town of Kingsville, Texas for LCdr. John Kasting. When not serving as an instructor pilot at the Naval air station, the 34 year old Vietnam veteran spent time with his girlfriend, Ruth Ellen Barrow, a nurse who worked at the base. And when he could, he spent time with his 4 year old daughter, Brandi, who lived with his ex-wife. All those connections were cut forever three days later when Kasting was killed in a plane crash. Or so it seemed for more than four decades. A few weeks ago, Brandi Kasting Simons of Temple, Texas received an unusual message on her Facebook page. She was about to discard it when something caught her attention. “The first thing (I saw) was ‘this is not spam,’ so my first thought was, ‘this is spam,’” Simons said with a laugh. “Then they mentioned my dad’s name … we chatted for the rest of the day.