MENU100 Years Ago
Life in Viroqua from the Vernon County Censor:
JULY 25, 1923
The torrid weather of the past few weeks and the exodus of so many of our people to the creeks around the city...has taught this city that there is a real need in Viroqua for a good swimming pool... Plans and specifications and estimates are being gone over today. The pool will be 45x100 feet, three feet deep at one end with bottom sloping to ten feet at the other. It will be constructed of white tile or white cement. It will be located in the park west of the skating rink. The tank alone will cost about $1700, and any extra money raised will be used for bath houses, showers, and other conveniences.
This is no special, but every day prices: 10 pounds of sugar $1.00; 100 pound sack $9.95. The Farmers Store Surenson & Thompson, Props.
Monday morning Co. A, 107 Engineers, 32nd Division, W.N.G. leaves for Camp Douglas for its annual encampment at the Wisconsin Military Reservation. The company will leave Viroqua with 66 enlisted men and 3 officers. Viroqua has about as large a National Guard company as there is in the state.
Sunday was lucky for the leaders in the Kickapoo Valley league, the three teams at the top all winning, so the league standing is not altered from last Sunday as to position. Viola went to LaFarge and was defeated 7-1... Rolling Ground played at Westby, and suffered a bad defeat, score 10 to 1... Bud went to Soldiers Grove and was victorious 9 to 8.
Why waste time and money repairing your old tires, when you can trade them in as part payment for new Firestones at C.J. Keubler’s and Son.
JULY 18, 1923
Work on Viroqua’s new fire station is progressing nicely and a very neat building it is. The roof will be on in a few days.
Vernon’s corn crop this year is wonderful and with any kind of favorable weather from now until frost will be a record breaker. This can also be said of tobacco... The fine showing of tobacco in general is remarkable in view of how dry the weather has been. If corn and tobacco come through as they now promise, it will in a measure even up the poor hay and small grain crop.
Teachers holding county certificates not issued in Vernon County are not legally qualified to teach in this county. Such teachers are required to secure the proper certification as soon as possible or they will not be allowed to teach in this county... All teachers must have an unexpired teacher’s certificate issued by the state examining board, state superintendent or the county superintendent of this county to be qualified to teach in Vernon county.
Wanted, a country boy, who can speak Norwegian, to learn to be a retail salesman in store. Must not be under18 years of age and be industrious and of good character. A real job for the right party. For information inquire at the Censor office.
Ben Brown and M.J. Felix and families were among the many Viroqua people who spent Sunday at the big swimming hole near Avalanche. More than a hundred people assembled there to sport in the cool waters.
The new Tourist Kitchen at Eckhart Park is completed and it is a model in beauty and convenience. The dimensions are 12x16 feet. The cost was $350.
JULY 11, 1923
NOTES ON PAVEMENT JOB
Fowell, Rogers and Baker have a crew of twelve men working on the grading end of the big paving job between Viroqua and Westby. They have about two miles of grading on the job, about 10,000 yards of dirt to move, and on July 4th had completed about a mile of sub-grading.
The water line has been laid from Westby to the south end of the job and forms were laid during the weekend for the laying of the first concrete.
The site of Viroqua’s new high school building is commencing to be a busy place. All of the buildings have been moved off and taken to their new locations in various parts of the city. A building has been erected on the northwest corner to serve for storage and contractor’s workroom, and teams and men are busy excavating for the basement.
Our good friend, Phillip Jacobus of Jefferson town, startled the Censor editor on Tuesday by bringing in four samples of his gooseberry crop that are the most enormous specimens of that fruit we have ever seen. They are as big as plums, of the Danish variety, the largest measuring 1 1/8 inches in length.
Lightning is like the wind and hail, no respecter of person or buildings. Two Lutheran churches were struck by lightning in recent storms. One the Bethel Lutheran church at North Springville, has been damaged now the fourth time by lightning, all losses in the same company. The Hauge Lutheran church just west of Rising Sun was the other church to receive serious damage by one of Joves bolts.
JULY 4, 1923
The Redpatch Chautauqua opens its entertainment in Viroqua on Saturday afternoon...every cent of profit will go to help defry [sic] the cost of the uniforms for Viroqua’s prize band...six days of entertainment and bringing the cost to season ticket holders down to a very low cost of 17¢ for each entertainment... Please remember that the way to benefit the band is to buy season tickets.
Bud continues to keep up her winning stride, easily defeating Viola last Sunday at Viola by a 6 to 1 score giving them a two game lead in the Kickapoo Valley league.
PLEASE RETURN GLASSES
At the time of the automobile accident at the Court House corner last Tuesday, a little boy picked up a pair of glasses belonging to one of the parties in the Hanson car. Kindly return same to the Censor office, and greatly oblige the owner.
The regular annual meeting of the school district was held...Monday evening. One hundred fifty-three voters were present... Mr. Lindemann presented a report concerning progress so far made on the school building. Contracts have all been let... Mr.Lindemann stated that the amount voted was insufficient to erect the building according to specification, and that the board had cut down where possible but even at that could not hold it within $150,000. Without hesitation, the meeting went on record to restore the specifications to the original state, and voted $20,000 additional to complete the structure.
Ten years ago there were eleven newspapers in Vernon county – today there are five. Rising costs have brought this about.