Bits and Pieces for Sept. 19 Sept. 19, 2009 Among the interesting properties foreclosed on in Wisconsin recently is Al Capones hideout near Couderay in northwestern Wisconsin.
The Chippewa Valley Bank in Winter, which took the action against the property and its owner, is out spreading the word about the Capone links to the place and is running ads in the Chicago Tribune to spark some interest. The bankers want bidders in that market who might come to the northwoods with a pocket of cash.
And buyers at the Oct. 8 auction on the steps of the Sawyer County Courthouse should come with plenty of big bills. The minimum offer has been set at $2.6 million.
For that you get the Capone lodge, which has been a bar and restaurant, and more.
There are 407 acres of mostly forested land, and in the middle is a 37-acre private lake. There were rumors that illegal booze was brought to that lake during Prohibition by plane from Canada.
There also is a guard tower and an eight-car garage.
This just seems an unlikely place for Capone to hide out. He was a high-level guy in Chicago and in Miami and 80 years ago, he was never shy around newsmen and their cameras or the public.
So why a hideout that you almost had to be a magician to get to from Chicago when many roads were dirt and planes were scary? I have no idea.
Strangely enough, Joe Salitis, a Chicago gangster and beer baron, retired from the mob, and lived near Winter in the late 1920s and 1930s. Thats only a handful of miles from Capones retreat and certainly these characters knew each other.
Salitis was best known for game violations while a resident of northeastern Wisconsin. He was always in trouble with the wardens.
Ive been doing more traveling this fall, it seems.
Last weekend Door County was the target and a gracious place it is. We parked in front of the marina in Sister Bay to take a little hike, and just missed friends from Antigo, who were there boating.
At a resort northwest of Sturgeon Bay, we missed another Antigo friend who paid a visit to the marina at that facility, also boating.
While our friends were skipping over the surf, we were rolling up and down the asphalt in the Buick. But we did come across some strange and interesting sights. This one is along Highway 42 and is a real hoot especially if you come from a rural community that bales plenty of hay.
The tractor and wagon are all hay, except for the plate from the front of a real tractor. Just imagine the hours and creativity that the project involved.
After traveling through Door County the word tourism stuck in my head.
The Wisconsin Department of Tourism keeps track of the amount of money people spend in counties as they travel and relax.
For example, Langlade County, known for trails, fishing, hunting, biking, water sports and snowmobiling, drew about $44 million in 2008. The county had a 1.49 percent gain in recreational spending over the previous year, or about $657,217. There are 1,008 jobs linked to the industry in the county.
The only area counties with losses in tourism spending were neighboring Lincoln and Waupaca, and I certainly dont understand that.
While there was $44 million in spending in Langlade County, just to the north in Vilas there was about $259 million, $211 million in Oneida and $258 million in Marathon.
Compare that to Door County, where the total spending in 2008 was $484 million. For some strange reason, the number of jobs linked to tourism from 2007 to 2008 fell in Door County by about 35 percent.
The Antigo/Langlade County Chamber of Commerce Lakes and Leaves cycle outing and party is today and Im hoping for a nice field of riders for the morning on two wheels. It is broken into lengths that suit the experienced and the more casual riders like me.
In Door County, we saw hundreds and hundreds of cyclists participating in a county-wide ride and this wasnt for putzers like me these guys and gals were really moving along quickly on what appeared to be a very nice trail system.
There was a scattering of recumbent cycles, which look like the rider is sitting back rather than sitting up.
Another cycling note for those who may look at this piece before heading out on the Lakes and Leaves on Friday a woman broke the speed record riding a recumbent on a Nevada track at 72.5 miles per hour.
At the same event, a man broke the record he had set last year at the same course at 82.4, also on a recumbent.
How about that?
Friends who were traveling late this summer brought newspapers into the office for me this week from across the northeast, all the way from New York City to Duluth.
I look them over to get a few ideas that might work in Antigo, and one feature in Duluth was an invitation to submit home photographs for the sports page.
I dont know just how that would work here, but it did spark a discussion of something different we could try. Among our staff, an idea surfaced to invite pictures of our readers posing with legitimate celebrities for publication in the Journal. The pictures have the potential for all sorts of fun and the stories that go with them could be a riot.
It would give me new drive to find that picture that was taken of Vince Lombardi and a teenage Fred Berner at the coachs birthday party at Jerry Teschs many moons ago.
Speaking of pictures, I landed one this week of some of the Bass Lake crowd who had a painting party at the home of Claude and Gwen Bickler. They tackled the project in one day.
Friends told me that the Bicklers have the reputation for fixing just about anything that goes wrong at the homes of friends around the lake, including carpentry jobs. But I was told they hate to paint.
So it was payback time and well over a dozen gathered for the outing and not only got the job done but they had what I understand was a pretty fine time.
It is a busy weekend in the Langlade County area, and the weather is expected to be ideal.
I suggest we do not waste an opportunity like this heading into the last stanza of September. And, by the way, fall officially arrives on Tuesday.
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