By Ruth A. Ringelstetter
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes. Just click on the desired photo and look for the blue “BUY” button.
As the school year was ending in the spring of 1968, our family was getting ready for some very big changes. We were leaving a small family farm and a small Catholic school in East Bristol, Wisconsin to move to the Lake Mills, Wisconsin area.
Saint Joseph’s Catholic School, which we were leaving, was a four-room school for grades 1-8, with two grades per room. We were taught by nuns who lived in the house next to the school. (The school pictured below is larger than our school was, but our school was demolished many years ago.)
At the end of summer, Joann would be starting 8th grade, and I would be starting 6th. Lake Mills had an elementary school for grades 1-5, a middle school for grades 6-8, and a high school for grades 9-12.
The middle school was three aging buildings connected by underground tunnels. The oldest building was already in the process of being removed from service. The other two buildings were the main class building and the gymnasium. (Again, the school below is a representation of the Lake Mills school buildings since the old buildings were demolished before we thought to take any pictures of them.) As I was writing this blog story, Joann told me that she was scared to death to go to a bigger public school.
Our new farm was a couple of miles east of Lake Mills in the town of Aztalan. It had a large farmhouse at the top of the farm driveway and a small, newer ranch house just down the road. Dad chose the newer, but smaller ranch house for us.
The farm itself was much larger, and even with pressing every child of age (and a pretty young age) into service, there was more work than we could do. Because of this, the old farmhouse usually had a hired man and his family living there.
Just around the corner from the new farm was the Aztalan museum. It had the museum collections in the restored Baptist church. The church had been built in 1852, and was restored and converted into the museum of the Lake Mills-Aztalan Historical Society in 1942.
One day, shortly after our move, I was working in the house with Mom. Everyone else who was old enough was helping Dad with farm work. A car pulled into the driveway with several ladies in it. They explained that they were from the historical society and that they were looking for kids to be on their float for the upcoming Town & Country Days Parade.
Town and Country Days is an annual summer event in Lake Mills, held in and around the town triangle park.
I don’t know what Mom was thinking but she said that I would do it! I’m sure she thought it would be good for me, and I would meet some other local kids or something, but I was terrified.
On the morning of the parade, I was dropped off at the house of one of the historical society ladies to get dressed. I think there were six of us who had been roped into being on the “float,” which turned out to be a flat rack hay wagon with some folding chairs and hay bales for seating. The girls were dressed in old dresses (think Little House on the Prairie) and I suppose the boys were dressed in period clothes as well. We were supposed to pair up and dance! And if too many of us sat down at the same time, ladies from the historical society were stationed along the route to remind us to at least stand up and move around. How embarrassing!
I don’t even think we had been to the museum by that point, but when we went for the first time, the entrance fee, as we recall, was 25 cents, and when they chatted with us a little and found out we lived on the nearest farm, they told us that we didn’t have to pay on subsequent visits.
And once, between hired men living in the old farmhouse, we climbed up into the attic crawlspace and came down with a few old boxes. Inside were some old button shoes, partly chewed by mice, and some old dresses that looked like they were from the Civil War era. We didn’t have any use for them, so we took them to the museum and donated them. We don’t know if they were ever displayed in the museum or inside any of the log cabins. They might have accepted them with a smile and then carried them to the trash after we left.
We don’t remember the schoolhouse being open on any trip to the museum when we were still on the farm, but in 1998 we stopped at the museum and the caretaker opened the door so we could see inside.
At some schools we’ve visited, we’ve been able to step inside the classroom and walk among the desks, which allows Joann to photograph from many angles. In 1998, there was a gate between the vestibule and the classroom, so I took a quick look and then got out of the way so Joann could have room to move around in that little doorway.
I had thought that the museum was just maintaining their existing buildings, but they continue to grow, both in buildings and in land.
In 1987, the family of Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Connor Hansen donated his antique tool collection and the building that housed them.
After a fund drive, the building and its contents were moved to the museum grounds in 1988.
Another more recent addition is the Mamre Moravian log church. The church was built in 1861. In 1874, it was moved one mile east of its original location where it was enlarged to serve as a schoolroom and to house the pastor’s family.
In 1996 the addition was removed and the original building was disassembled and moved to the museum grounds by a group of dedicated local Moravians. The historical society provided the site and the below ground foundation. The Moravians did all the rest.
You can see the buildings from the parking lot (as we did last winter) or visit during their summer season to step inside the buildings when they are open. Every year, the historical society hosts Aztalan Day in July. For hours of operation, visit their website. The museum is at the corner of County B and County Q in Aztalan, east of Lake Mills.
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
I loved this glimpse of your childhood. I hadn't heard about the Aztalan Museum before. Now I want to go there.
ReplyDeleteLoved your story about the parade and the "float"!!
Hi Diana, good to hear from you! This summer, you should take your family to Aztalan. Along with visiting Pioneer Aztalan, you should also visit Aztalan State Park where you can see Indian mounds and stockades.
DeleteThanks for this story, Ruth and the photos, Joann! I don't remember you riding on the "float", Ruth, so it was fun to read about it. But I do remember the traumatic experience of changing schools during High School. For me, it was traumatic to go from that small four-room school in East Bristol to a class of over 300 Freshmen at Sun Prairie High School along with only 11 of my classmates from East Bristol (none of whom I had any classes with). Then I had to change schools again between Sophomore and Junior year when we moved to Lake Mills/Aztalan. I guess those experiences like changing schools and riding that float helped us build character! Thanks again for the walk down memory lane!
ReplyDeletePhyllis, it's good to hear your perspective on changing schools. Ruth and I actually discussed last night how traumatic it must have been for you and David to go from St. Joseph's 4-room school to Sun Prairie High School. And then to have to change high schools in the middle. Although, David never did seem to be fazed by anything (and still isn't)! Just look at how far we've come since our rather sheltered, rural life in East Bristol!
DeleteInteresting as always. Will have to check out Aztalan Museum sometime. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Stephanie. I think you would enjoy it!
Deleteit looks like a house just pop out from a movie scene,
ReplyDelete