Counties of Wisconsin; 69; Waupaca County

The county discussed on this program of the counties of Wisconsin takes its name from the Menominee Indian tribe. The name Will Packer comes from the River of the same name so called because of its white sand bottom. The first white man to enter this county was John Nicolay who visited Indian tribes near the mouth of the Wolf River in 16 34. Now a wide ranging conversation led by the University of Wisconsin Extension Office

chairman in WA PAC. Joe Walker. And Joe Walker County Agricultural agent here and one county employed by well-packed County and the University of Wisconsin Extension. And with us today we've got two of Francis Brunn Ebuyer assemblyman from the 40th district and we've also got to Fred Ross and Fred is senior vice president at the farmers State Bank here in one package. Browning You know you've been around for quite a while here in one county. What's your conception of the things that have happened here in the field of agriculture industry and so forth over say the last 15 or 20 years here I come. Well George certainly the last 15 or 20 years in both their culture and industry some tremendous changes have been been taking place in what Pak County but more especially in the last eight years since I've been in office. I've seen farmers consolidating. I've seen herds increasing in size.

I've seen the productivity of farmers in well-packed County and up and up and you wonder if there's ever going to be an end to it and I watched the company come alive from an industrial standpoint the situation over here was Packers extremely good. For example you've got several industries labor by the company and more American I believe you've got a data chip firm over here and so forth. Why we has got to press toward products plastic perm Hillshire meatpacking plant a new one it is going great guns. The signs are pointing toward an awakening up and quit the girl. I don't wait in my own home community of Mariam industries or are doing very very well. Malalai just cause has an open house this week for a new industry so I think things are looking very good in well-packed County. Yeah I think there's no question about it over a period of years we've seen quite a change in this we've seen a reduction in

farm numbers this is true but in terms of the number of acres the number of columns this is remained quite constant. We've been one of the fellows who represents the county Bankers Association here with us is Fred Brosnan of course Fred would be willing to say that they certainly cooperate a great deal in making these things go by providing some financials and working with FHA and BCA and friends what's your reaction what's happened over the last oh say 15 years or so. I thank you Mr. Walker. I would just like to add to what some women buyers already mentioned that there have certainly been many many changes in the county especially in the field of finance. I've been in the bank 20 years and we are now a 20 million dollar bank. When I started in the bank we were about 9 billion and we do have of course a large percentage of agricultural loans in our own portfolio. Mainly real estate firm real estate loans and we also make equipment loans through the local dealers.

We have a farm plan set up which we think is a quite unique system whereas the farmer enters a contract with the local dealers to purchase items used of course on the farm and the heater turns the paper bills over to ICE and it's a direct collection procedure. We work very closely with the farm Home Administration production credit association and we do our part in the running in the county. And I just like to add to that I overlooked mentioning Iowa. I was in the process of putting up a heroic fight to save the hospital. They just built a new clinic over there and of course just to some of the dedicated the new coin capital of the world there are the Numismatic News and this indeed is the growing capital of the world. It's a great

asset to that community there are 70 or 80 people in it. It's a real plus for the community. One of the everything that we have right here in town years the the unit makes House and transports them a ready made menu sections all over the state of Wisconsin. And they're not all in the process of sticking a big unit very similar to their city in the state of Iowa. This is Mandy and Union reports from over a hundred people and a bunch of a good quality product here in terms of homes that can be put up in a matter of just a couple of days. I'm Steve Hampshire County resource agent and I'm joining the conversation to talk a bit about tourism and the top part of it was Packer County because of the top biography of the county. It's the reason we do have important tourism industry which is probably the third or fourth largest industry in the county right now we have a glacial area here with terminal rain in the western portion of the county which has many little Aleesha lakes and many miles of stream. We have about 130 miles of charred stream

and 76 miles that is number one. The ribbon trout stream and also about 150 named lakes in the county. So you can see why tourism would be important in a lot of people do use their county for some recreational activities and more and more beginning to use it in the wintertime also developed quite a system the system will be able to tell from the county and there is more more interesting cross-country scheme in trying to develop a paper poor season approach to recreation. Recreational land sales income is going to be quite a large factor and maybe you'd have some comment on that. I just I'd like to add Steve that we have been doing our part in the financing of many many acres of this what we call a marginal land. It is really no used to farming and strictly a recreational parcel of land and the approaches are usually in the area of three to five hundred acres and we feel that we've been doing our part and landing on this area.

Speaking of a few things that stand out in what happy County unique to the rest of the state Democratic county recently it was the first well what city it was back in particular the first city in the state of Wisconsin to come under the new in the lakes we knew a lot. And we have formed the first lake district in the state here and I went back and near shadowing Carrie Lee and since then the pigeon made including the ones also joined the program and right now there are about 67 such lake districts in the state of Wisconsin but we have. The fame of being the first in the state and we are also completing the first implementation project and this program to divert the storm sewers away from the lakes to protect our resources in this area. Expression Larry good clean mix and people really come here more ways we do enjoy. And we also have a few other significant attributes one of them being that some people call the dear example of Wisconsin that has mixed blessing sometimes but we do have the largest

total doohickey on the state per year for about the last eight years including gun harvest Bowen road kills the last one is all too high sometimes. I killed a buck the other night. It's getting higher with my parents. But we do have a lot of people coming in for the county for deer hunting during the season and central Scouts and all over the state has a lot of people want back accounting being the top county in a good mix of agricultural land ports to land. As to that you know you don't have a curfew. So I think it's about four years ago we killed eleven hundred and seventy deer with automobiles which will indicate that you know driver's licenses are pretty good methods for hunting deer and once you walk back out of it it's rather costly. Last year we killfile you. Fred would you consider the economic impact a recreational activity such as I've been fishing boat in some would be only my back account.

Steve I'm sure that this all adds to the economy I do think though that you see deer hunting is only a nine day season as such we do have a longer post season but I do think that the fishing still brings in the majority of the dollars to the area we don't have the fishing that the Corsair have realized Long Lake Michigan but we do still have the best dog fishing in the state of Wisconsin in the area and there is another question runs in the spring on the river which had here bringing the dollars in the area by the way it is now or wait that camp. Understandable that's got to be quite an important aspect for that community. Fishing is big on the water in the springtime and you can only find a place to park a car and watch a boat very literally catching fish. Don't you think really Steve that this is kind of the frosting on the cake in terms of the bolstering of the economy that the individual is here to almost two year works in a factory on a farm or in a business in Walker County or surrounding counties are

really the ones that carry the wall for most of the improvements in the economy of the county really no one for that matter. Others go about about that show our manufacturing is needed a stream of Acco and has been for a number of years and it's those types of jobs that bring people here keep them here and keep their economy going. I think the tourism industry is important from the standpoint as it provides recreation for a lot of people and makes it just them a chance to play still a problem for this kind of fasting on occasion for going to bars or chain of lakes and Hartmann's Christie park to very important recreational facilities for a company in the same chain of lasik on the calamities of America. Twenty three connected spring fed lakes are crystal clear which is kind of amazing for some people coming out of southern Wisconsin or some states further south and harvest Creek State Park is one of the best used paper so buildings didn't think another thing Steve you could literally change the chain link says the fact that they have come a long ways

toward improving legal action maintain quality water such as we've known for years and years. We get a great concern in this area for water resources and it's showing up in a lot of areas. Recently the chain of lakes completed Phase one of a sanitary sewer project ring in the chain of lakes with senators who were to protect those lakes from further degradation was a voluntary program that people have pain away from that program which I think shows a lot of local initiative and concern for resources. Would you be interested to know and I'd just like to go back to that in leaks from your program. The impetus for that whole thing actually had a starter rate in this county there was a demonstration. You know Ron reclamation project up there and we're very proud of that up there it was a program that started actually with volunteer help on a local basis. We had 57 volunteers in our biggest evening there and Albany won't open up in a project that involved the universe Wisconsin Extension the

northern Wisconsin Development Corporation appropriately and the other very least planning commission So here we're really quite a test case I'm going from here when we finish this sort of broadcast I'm going from here to where we get where I'm going to show them this report on the in the weeks renewal program which I reviewed this week for the department and I'm going to try to talk them. Into doing some with their car to put things I enjoy the most about the company the amount of local initiative the grassroots support by local kiddies willing to roll up their sleeves and get to work on projects and get things done many times without outside help providing food for them. I think that's the kind of county that a lot of people would like to be a part of. We've got it here. OK we might take a few minutes just to talk to you and says Frieda Wade who is secretary of the county homemakers Association. Mrs. Doherty sheller who is on the board of directors of the foreach Leaders Association naturally a foreach

and homemakers are two of the year programs here in WA Baca County as with many counties that have been active for many many years and I guess we'll let we'll start with you first rather than ladies and finish with ladies if you don't mind freedom in terms of the foreach. Dorothy you have. I'm 900 members in the foreach work here in what act county and if an anyone were to ask you what the important feature or attraction would be to for age what would you tell them. Well good important feature for the youth I believe in the fair at the end of the year they all look forward to this county fair and being work hard all year with their projects getting ready for that there and they need to come to the fair and are judged. They are a little bit money this way and they have seen that they have the feeling that somebody else is healing but they have been doing all year you know we have a rural fair here in my fucking county and I guess with any affair you say

there are probably four really important features of a fair one of course is the youngsters who bring their exhibits to the fair. The other I rather suspect would be of funding a role that is really good in our particular fare and then there's the rule of polo ball ball penny pinching nobody down in the midway and I guess the grandstand show has been really the thing that makes a good county fair is the foreach youngsters and the adults that bring their exhibits. Your youngsters your particular foreach possibility to take part in a number of these what would you say you are or are they major exhibiting items in your particular faire or your particular club I should say. Our club is more brutal. How shall I put it if we are not in a foreign area. Rome where he wanted were in the chain links area. Our club and this do not exhibit any animals other than dogs and can't. Run our club it is mostly the cooking

sewing and the gardening and gardening is very important in our club we have a farm market marry area and my own son works there and he has worked with beds for us all throughout this year and for age when he was 10 years and several of the other children in our club exhibit the vegetables. Incidentally here your son is the recipient of the county a baker's a work scholarship for the short course starting next week going to university. Yes he has one of the true boys here that come in to receive back and there's no question about it for it should give the gives these youngsters a good opportunity to learn as they work throughout the summer and the loose accepting responsibility for a gardener or a cab or whatever it might happen to be is a pretty important part of growing up. The courage leaders have a standard fare order that you might tell us just a little bit about the function of this film stand what are you some of the films for.

Yes we have good standing in the US building where the pointer leaders and the junior leaders help to mange to stand. We take our turns in working and the money we earn goes for trips for the youth. Also we have leaders that go on to Washington D.C. voted in Washington form for each form being named treasurer of the county court date. I know a little bit more about where this money goes in the average leader I suppose. There are several of the uses that go to the Youth Exchange and there is this state or it's called Congress that we have a. Citizenship chorus. Yeah and there are a few other things that we use this money for. Also in the county we have summer camp and winter camp for the youth. These are very good for the children. My two of them have participated in both of them and they

enjoy this very much. They enjoy the glory which expects to in their later years in their teens when they seem to get together with more of the children in the county. They seem to make more friends with kids their own age and they're really into it. And it's rather interesting as you look at this over a period of years you know one of the top herds we have as a dairy herd here was a package coming out of the original purebred calf the first purebred calf in that particular herd of having to have been any for age. Jerry can where the the youngsters father there's having to bend down along in the snow on herd now the present way as a herd average of seven hundred ninety nine pounds of butter fat which is an exceptionally good herd one of the better herds in the state but the first calf in that particular herd was a four inch calf that was purchased for down by its father. Now to make the complete the story it's rather interesting but Donal's wife is a foreach girl and her

father was a fellow can only count so you know hoarding ship pushed quite apart in this whole fight with our own exceptionally good do dairy men in this county and for that matter and many other walks of life can trace back to forage some of their early experiences. Nancy something until at the very onset a hit on a market animal sale which I think is great for the youngsters. I myself don't hang out part and I like to go and watch because my. Bosses hand quant heart then he has the local meat plant here in the package. And he bids on these cattle and he he gives him by scale aren't he get some from the bankers are local people they have bought out after the butcher he has the show for the kids. And they can go out and see this animal have to have been butchered to see just how

it has been raised. Yeah I think one of the things this is bought me of the steak and chop shop here a while back who cooperates real Hillshire Or do with midwest livestock producers some of the other folks location of instructors in the county to put on this me animal project and this wee animal sale and one of the things we've noticed over the past few years and this is only been going about three years now is the fact there's been a tremendous difference in terms of the quality of the most of it appear at the fair and ethical SEO and so the walk through were competitive experiences like this and do it through a sale of this nature. We find the youngsters do a lot better job of feeding and managing and caring for their animal under this of course is one of the important things in foreach it is a learning experience and we think they've done a real good job out there. Dorothy I'm sure we're almost all of us agree on that. One of the other projects that 40 years to go in some

forms for wars and things like this is the pocketbook. You're starting on this not do you have any comments on what I've. Heard. I'm also involved in this plat book sale of Lee. We do and quite a bit of money throughout the year is from plat book sales for our youth. Right now we're doing together that information for another planet puppet which is going to come out after the first of January. This Platt book. Is sold to anyone in the county or anyone that wishes a book with all the maps of the county in it. We sell ads to local business people in the Packard County and this way they're helping for ages was the need to have there and in our plant book the books foot and the seven the going sailing in January and the funds from this will also help us for our trips and awards you

know for each album but a book is put out every two years and this would be the year to put up a new one from we're going to turn now to a preacher waved as we said freedom was the is the secretary of the home a gruesome organization and presently our home economist Ruth will be here until January 1st is. Miss Margaret Mrs. Margaret Webber Peggy as we all know we're going to be a good judge of the action so that when the right horse who is back in school but they're pretty maybe you can tell us a bit about the whole make a program do what homemakers do besides eating cookies and having coffee and so forth. Well Joe I have been a member for around 30 years and over this time I have seen a lot of changes I have seen I went Whoa I thought their place was to stay at home and people this is why the star thing. But I seen that box come out and the people who get put

on programs who could share and thousands of other women who could enjoy Wright County meetings. And I get out on express themselves where they never had an opportunity to do this before. So our program now has included a great deal to begin with it was mostly cooking and so I have learned and sharing recipes and and exchanging Christmas gifts the star thing and the last few years that they have taken and write things that will expand the program a presence in the county now we have chairman who will look after different things like cattle and keep us informed as citizens help. And Community Development where they encourage us to plant trees and make for our backs is a good side. Clean up this sort of thing and culture are soon learned to paint and make pretty pictures and do have work and family like

we've learned to get on with other people to live with each other which is the most subpar thing there is for anyone to do. Learn to understand our youth and understand and know where they order people to look to realize what their problems are and help them and help. We've had programs on different things like cancer and learning to help other people in distress. They really need you know an international program we have got him the young people who are achieving students to speak about their different countries show them films and pictures and. All loans to winners from their country. Then current information this man is supposed to keep us informed of what is going on in all the different

areas of work and then say we have a safety program to have at their last meeting they have safety chairman brought along packets of large size safety posters that the home makers could get and he can take it with a wind chill and have them posted in the different business places and when they would be seeing one of the other thing we do is educational and that women enjoy. We do know is our four week car a share pack Dave because we share what your county but it is a coward for women where we have. Probably six different areas programs and we get them people from you know versus the air different companies are represented and you can choose. Two or three programs that you can sit in on these programs will last an hour hour and a half. Some of them have been programs have been on help on CD and

drug abuse. And WANT ME program we have we have a doctor from Stevens Point he did. Everybody's got pressure. He showed pictures and explained why we have heart attacks. Also the source effect of smoking people too. So the next year we have probably and said when we walk again tried to answer things that are interesting to women to help them improve their ways of doing things for them to share with one another. Their ideas I hope each other learn the things that they have learned and enjoyed such as house plants. And I will have a pattern company come in and give a demonstration of their parents in some way they will. I program my child abuse another one of hazards of homemaking and the effect of

advertising and children and then fire safety in the home in the community and also arts we may learn to McNamee if we want to. So over the years I have fairly dry homemakers. We have about 30 counselors county in the US now there are more than 500 members. Because no question Greta that it was Chuck Moore. Oh my God put it well a well-rounded program. And I knew the group here is real active. While Packer was the county featured in this edition of the counties of Wisconsin. A

series produced at WHL a radio a service of University of Wisconsin Extension.