FARMINGTON

“Times weren't very easy for our family back when I was young. My parents got divorced, and my brother, sister, and I moved in with our grandparents...But just because our family didn't have a lot of money, doesn't mean I didn't have any fun. I played football and baseball for Random Lake High School. I also was a part of fast-pitch softball teams, and I was pretty good, too. I played on a team that was sponsored by a tavern, like most teams back then. We won numerous championships with our great coach, my grandpa. He would pick up the team in his truck and take us to West Bend for the game.”

“In 1933, I started teaching at Old Brick, a one-room school in the Town of Farmington for only $67.50 per month because of the Depression...Three years into my teaching career, nature astonished all who lived around the area. During January and February, a blizzard hit so hard that Highway 144 was closed for six weeks. It took 50 WPA workers with shovels in front of the plow just to push the snow. The snow was so high I remember stepping over telephone wires in front of the school and then slipping through a tunnel to the schools doors.”

“I used to walk from Orchard Grove School to Highway 28 where I'd be picked up to go to church to serve at Mass, which I did until I was 19 years old. Father Byers from St. John of God was the person I admired most while growing up, probably because religion seemed more important back then than it appears to now.”

“During the winter, we loved ice skating and sleigh riding. My friends and I would go sledding on the streets, which at the time were all gravel. Sometimes when we began to go very fast on the snow, we would hit a dry gravel spot and go flying. It was only a couple bumps and bruises, and we still had a lot of fun with it. And of course, being children, we had to get into mischief sometimes. We had fun going on top of the barn and playing tag. But when dad came home, we sure got in a lot of trouble.”

“There were different aspects of life in Fillmore, however the most well-known was life on a farm. One of the most notable memories of farm life was washing the eggs we harvested each day. I disliked this job very much, but it had to be done. The eggs were taken to Weinreich's General Store in return for groceries. Back then, eggs went for 18 to 20 cents a dozen...I was so happy when my mother had given me the job of taking the eggs to the store. When I was at the cemetery there was a small incline to get onto the sidewalk, and the wagon tipped over, and broke the case of eggs. You can see where this is going—I was never given that responsibility again.”

“It was a proud day for papa when he put up his storefront sign, Frank O. Birkholz Harness Shop, in the Village of Fillmore. The year was 1897, and the automobile was, as yet, no threat to the trade. Sitting on a high stool at the workbench, he stitched by hand horse collars and the many straps and bands that make up a harness. It was here, greeted by the pleasant smell of leather and oil, that my brother Roy and I stopped after school. Papa looked forward to our visits, always taking time to isten patiently to our chatter about school, friends or an occasional problem.”

“My siblings and I were in 4-H as long as we could be. We started when we were ten years old and continued until we were 21. On the farm, which was named Orchard Blossom Farm, there was a cow named Cheeseville Pride. She was the family's favorite cow. She knew the way from the farm to the fairgrounds in West Bend. Since the whole herd went anyway, they followed her, like in the game Follow the Leader. There were about 20 members in 4-H then. I showed cows, pigs and my pets: a rabbit and a dog. I also baked and sewed.”

“As a child, I had many responsibilities around the house and farm. Being a middle child, I had to look after my siblings, which I had nine of. I had to bring in wood every night to burn in the woodstove, which was the only source of heat in the house. We were also responsible for washing dishes, putting milk into cans to preserve it, and pumping water for use around the house...I remember the time during World War II when there were German prisoners working on the pea viner at our farm. Workers were needed to fill the machine, put peas into containers and haul it off to a cannery. The prisoners seemed very grateful to have the opportunity to get away from the war going on in their home country.”