Bits and Pieces for Aug. 1 Aug. 1, 2009 This will be a shorter Bits & Pieces this week.
The fair commands a lot of time for us and I want to be sure that the men, women and the hundreds of young people who make it such a success get recognition and the attention of the Journal staff and our readers.
—————————
Not to shift the subject too far, I walked over to Clermont Printing Co. the other afternoon and looked at the Boys & Girls Club. There were several kids cruising the area and I thought to myself, wouldn’t they be better off delivering the Antigo Daily Journal?
Those of us who oversee the carriers at the Journal have no degrees in counseling, baby-sitting or just about anything else.
But over all of these years, we have offered lessons in financial responsibility, discipline and the ability to meet and greet people of all ages and all abilities — including those with disabilities. I just happen to think those things are very important.
——————————
A number of years ago I filled in for a carrier in the area of the park and on Ninth Avenue and there was a home that was marked in the route book for special attention.
The occupant was handicapped, and at newspaper time she was sitting at a television table and waiting to do some reading.
Those are very good and rewarding memories.
——————
I did see “Public Enemies” at the Palace this week, and a great time it was.
On Monday evening I went with my mother who lived through those roaring 20s years of moonshine, Capone and Dillinger and managed to stay away from all of them.
She did, however, know a young woman who lived up the street from her family home in Neopit. Her name was Evelyn Frechette.
Evelyn was a bit older and of no real interest to my mother, whose family was massive and occupied most of her waking hours.
But Evelyn, unlike most of the souls in Neopit, made news 75 years ago and remains in the news today with movies, like “Public Enemies” as Dillinger’s true love interest.
Mom and I sure had a great time at the Dillinger flick. She wasn’t fascinated by it — and I have found no one who really was — but it was historically interesting and amazingly accurate.
I think it was on Wednesday or Thursday this week that I mentioned in Peeps at Our Past that a picture was printed in the 1934 Journal of Frechette that had been tucked in Dillinger’s pocket watch.
Repeatedly during “Public Enemies,” Johnny Depp, who played Dillinger, opened his watch with the picture tucked inside.
Somebody really did great homework.
———————
There is nobody who understands the difficulties that businesses are having these days better than I. If you can cut down on costs — bless you.
With that said — and a grin on my face —I’ve noticed construction signs that went up in Antigo about a month ago for the work on Third Avenue and Fulton Street — a big sewer and water construction project. Eventually, the digging will move across Superior Street
The sign that has been hanging around quite a spell in the 900 block of Superior Street suggests there is road work ahead.
But where?
Birnamwood? Clintonville? New London?
Sooner or later it will be a real item, but by then I fear that no one will be paying attention.
In fact, the last time I rolled down Second Avenue there was a warning the road was closed — it wasn’t.
———————
In the next two weeks, a committee — and I’m a member — will be discussing and perhaps making a recommendation on the looks of downtown Antigo for the next 40 or 50 years.
The planners are considering angle parking, which I oppose for at least three reasons. They include:
—When there is no one parking there, downtown looks like a canyon.
—If you park next to someone in a big SUV or van, you can only back out and hope someone on the street stops rather than slams into you.
—Angle parking looks dated. Cars using angle parking should be equipped with Powerglide transmissions. Remember 1953?
A friend who I trust and works in Rhinelander, parks in that angle setup now and then, summed it up.
“Angle parking looks ancient.”
I agree. But I would certainly appreciate public comment — call me. 623-4191.
—————————
Let’s look at construction of a downtown boulevard with trees, flowers and perhaps decorative lighting to add to our ambiance.
——————————
After years of sitting idle in a garage, this will be the summer and fall to get the old Ford out of storage. I’ve owned this thing since Hector was a pup.
It is a wonderful little car and I don’t know why I haven’t driven it for a spell.
The roadster has been in parades here, White Lake, Wausau and more than I can recall. But it needed paint, some mechanical work and as it was tucked away in a garage away from my home, it was out of sight and out of mind.
The craft is now insured, spruced up and ready to roll.
But before it could, I needed a light bulb for the right front lamp.
The guys for the office went to Antigo Auto Parts and came back with three packages of Model A bulbs — I swear they are in the same packages in which they were produced in the early 1930s.
Fascinating. Only in Antigo can something like that happen.
———————
We do significant celebrating here at the Antigo Daily Journal — often for no good reason at all. And at other times, for very good reasons.
Last week there was one of those good reasons. One of our employees had a birthday — I won’t say how many of them he has had — and we had a cake and a huge tray of cold cuts and cheese.
Charles Fogeltanz has been with the Antigo Daily Journal and Berner Brothers Publishing Co. since 1944.
He met his late wife Betty Wessa, here and I suspect that a good share of his friends have come from inside the two newspaper buildings we have occupied in the past seven decades.
I’m certainly proud to be counted as one of them.
|
|
|
