Counties of Wisconsin; 2; Barron County

At 45 degrees 25 minutes north latitude and 91 degrees 15 minutes west longitude you would find yourself in one of the counties of Wisconsin. I am. The county is barren. And the city of barren is the location of the county courthouse. It was there that we recorded the conversations you'll hear in this program. During the next half hour. We'll hear from several county residents and two of their University of Wisconsin extension agents. They tell us about the area's history heritage and hopes. And you'll hear how they've used local initiative

and the local extension office as resources to get where they are and prepare for the future. This county in the northwest part of the state can boast of agriculture industry and scenic tourist areas as well as communities such as Cumberland barren Rice Lake Shore tech Elmina Turtle Lake and others. But long before this the area was the residence of Indians who may have been the ancestors of the Sioux. They were mound builders and have left over 200 burial mounds in barren County. On today's program we'll hear conversations with the mayors of two of the cities in the county. County Staff Chairman Harry ruing and resource Agent Ward rep joined in these conversations on Bern County. First the mayor of Rice Lake John Mark and I came to Bern County in 1953 not by orders but because I wanted to move into barren county I've always liked the area even when I was sent over here to

check on people who are official licenses and so on. And I just like the area and we finally settled on a Rice Lake at that time I was a conservation warden and one of the things that I noticed was a great need in the Baronne County was a lack of public access to our lakes and through the County Board and other county officials we got to work on it and with the cooperation of the county Conservation Committee the Extension Service and others. We finally developed access to all of all our lakes in the county and I think this is a big plus long before the state urged this kind of action or set up their present rules where they do not stock where they are and know where there is no public access. This is one of the needs and it impressed me the way the county went ahead and fill that need. We also need another thing in the county and we have one part way to finish and that's four lane highways going west to the Twin Cities and north to Sapir and we are now

being served from the south. But we still need to develop and listen I think this will find a great deal of industrial growth here and provide more employment for our young people who have been moving away. Along with this we need a good sized airport about a week ago I flew down to Milwaukee to a meeting and came back that same evening I had to drive to all Clare and it took me longer to drive to acquire than did to fly from Oakland to Milwaukee and if we had a party large enough for a commuter service from our county it would certainly save a lot of people that are very busy and their time is sabbatical. There are many things that we work together on board and I certainly have appreciated the help of both you and the extension service on these. For instance when I got elected mayor nine years ago as a city writer sake I noticed that we were shy. I'm on a park space recreational area. And so I'm We like shelters in our parks that we did have and

we have completed since a city park shelter which was paid half through our funds for state and half through the city. And this is filigreed need. Many people are picnicking there and I defy anybody to go buy that on a Sunday without seeing either shelter being used on either side. We. Have had need for more employment in the city. It was a little difficult to get the funds to raise the tax dollars that are needed for that through the cooperation of the extension service and we have gone through the EPA and CETA funding and we have hired quite a number of people. And incidentally some of them have impressed us so much and made us realize the fact that we could actually save money by having these employees. We have retained five of them on a permanent basis. I think there is a great deal more need of this in the county of having more help of this

type. We are now organizing a late production district for this lake ass around on the east side of the city that is the Rice Lake itself. However I think we need to go into a great organization for all our lakes in the county I think this is a great need. We have organized a county health Planning Council which was a need that was felt quite badly and they are functioning very well and were you're a member of that are you not. And we have the region health Planning Council and you are also a member of the regional health Planning Council. Then we also have been doing quite a lot of work on public housing and again we have more need of public housing for the low income for the aged and there is some work still progressing on this and I certainly hope that it continues to a fruitful completion. Well I wouldn't try to add an anything to that it's obvious that John is

as well qualified to comment on this subject. Of course Rice Lake is the industrial center of the county. Majority of the employees are the majority of the industry is located in Rice Lake although it is distributed well around the county every city has some industry. But. Since Rice Lake is the center of population and and has more industry than any other single community I believe your own foods is the largest turkey processing meat processing plant in the state is it not. I'm quite sure and maybe the largest No Larry I'm maybe the nation I'm not sure about that but it certainly is a large industry and has markets all over the United States in Rice Lake we have two woodworking plants we make the golf club a laminated golf club heads that are shipped all over the country and all over the world. We have kitchen cabinets and so on made it a master craft.

We have a plastic truck bodies that are insulated and refrigerated and cooed that are shipped throughout the United States and two years ago we shipped to India which was kind of a landmark. We have the right products which are made as a door and window metal accessories. We have the onion ring factory which produces onion rings that are shipped all over the northwest. Then we also have two large creameries that produce milk products powdered milk as well as butter. We have got I think a home shows which makes the metal frames for the storm windows for Andersen Windows and several others and of course they're planning on expanding into more luminous materials and products. We have a couple small ones with one rather unique. It's a feather factory. They gather up the turkey feathers from Jerome's and other places

and they strip them split them used for the making of arrows for fly tying for ADD decorations and so on. As John Mark and talked of industry and other matters he included his concern for health care and the needs of the elderly. The chairman of the Berne County nutrition program is Charlene offered up their own county's nutrition program is a program that. Makes available low cost meals nutritional meals for senior citizens especially those who have got health problems that make it difficult for them to cook or have mobility problems can't get to town to get groceries or people that live alone and just know you lose your appetite or don't enjoy cooking for just one. Like they were used to cooking. And so with the program the main part of the program is that they can come and buy a lunch. But also in the program we want to not only inform them

but have them teach and help each other about nutritional changes as you grow older and up to date material on nutrition. Things are always changing in this field and so on. Our home economist works very closely with me and bringing new information to people we have a newsletter that we send around monthly and she and our culture agent will put articles and see on gardening or when rhubarb is in season on uses of rhubarb. The people get a chance to you know also exchange their ideas and these articles kind of act as a catalyst to get conversation going. Our home economist and I also try to establish a I hesitate to call it an education program because it's mainly an exchange and everyone wants me to other. She visits the various meal centers. We have six of them located around the county so that no one has too far to go

to a lunch program like the state itself. Barron is a prime producer of agricultural products dairy farmer Arnold Ellison talked with Perry brewing Arnold are there and county is a county with about 80 percent of our farm income come from the dairy cattle so that dairying is one of our important parts of the county and we have about it. Most of our cattle about 40 percent or more on test in the dairy program at the testing program has a program to support maybe and tell us a little bit about the dairy industry and the program. Hearing is a very important thing in our county we have the DHEA program and we have our field men who come out to the individual farms to take samples and know this would be on the standard VHA program we also have many people who are on owner sampler programs in the field and then have a central lab.

At the county courthouse which is located in Bern. They come back into this central lab do their testing and do their book work here we also go through the computerized service out of medicine. The farmers are receive their information on individual animals their individual herds from this office and this service running a dairy business without a testing program. It would be like running a clock without hands. I think it is one of the most important steps in the dairy industry that we have here the DHEA program. It's another phase of our cultural program that's important in this area especially as the turkey industry. Maybe you can tell us a little bit about the turkey and rest of what goes on here. By that we hatch them and take care of all the way or just part of the program.

The turkey industry in barren coney is a very large industry. I believe we have one of the largest turkey industries east of the Mississippi possibly even throughout the United States I am not positive of this. However the within the turkey industry in barren colony the we have the from the lane hen to the head to the production. Dressing in the shipping the total production industry here is a total package complete. The president of the 4-H junior leaders Association is Linda Veronica within the county includes youth from ages of nine to 18 years of age. And these members are from the country and city and they form clubs within their community and within their area and clubs. The individual members choose Pacific projects of

their interests and they work within the club with other members and their projects and the county level too. I'm president of the junior leaders Association which is the older youth members from ages of 14 to 18 years old and were a county organization within our own clubs and we do different activities basically to get to know each other better and to work to better ourselves and the program as a whole. At the beginning of foreach did start in the country and usually calf clubs and cooking clubs and just where the neighbors got together and did it you know helped each other just for enjoyment. But it's spreading throughout the city as fast as it is in the country because there are so many projects within foreach that apply to the city kids as well as the country kids maybe even more. And there are projects that

connect the two bring them together as well as is let them stand by themselves. The president of the Adult Leaders Association has drawn Rubel Idont Leaders Association is formed of adult leaders and parents of foreach members were set up in five different districts and it consists of a chairman from each district and we need and set up committees for the different project areas that the younger affords members take and we also have fundraising campaigns that we were raise the funds to send our students on exchange trips to different states and in this exchange trip they bring things that they have learned in their county to these other counties and they also in exchange bring back different ideas from other counties.

These both Lynne and John have been very modest about the size and the scope of the 4-H and youth program in Barron County. I wish that seaward Olsen who was the extension foreach and youth agent were able to be here he's presently at the Barron County Fairgrounds getting things cleaned up from the fair that concluded yesterday but I think the record will will show that the program here in both size and variety is one of the largest in the state of Wisconsin and I think you could probably from the record of the membership and the leadership. One of the very one of the strongest in the United States and we have representatives here that go more than their share of the time to the national club Congress and in Washington. It's one of the biggest in the state as far as membership well over sixteen hundred members and over 60 clubs. So it's just

an outstanding program and I can say this easily because I'm not connected that much with that. But I think everybody that is familiar with 4H does understand this is just an outstanding foreach program. Although homemakers groups in the various counties have many things in common there is diversity of size program and history. Next some insight into a heritage of change from homemakers Mrs. George fights. And this is Harold Kringle Bering County homemakers early records are really quite vague but it seems to have been born in 1931 with wealthy Hale and extension home economist from Madison. Several couples reported that she helped them organize and was here to give the many of the first lessons and show us how it gets Daryn. The early project leaders have to be given much credit because they took the lessons for the whole year. Some members from the clambered designees project leaders and they took the lessons every month for the whole year and they would make copies of lessons and take them back to their

individual clubs. So they really were. Now the passcode homemakers reported that their projects for their first year were ironing made easier housekeeping. Keeping the house clean and dressed for washing ones by using the glue method. Home nursing. And then during the war years the recipient. Using a syrup and honey to save the meager supply of sugar during the Depression years lessons were given and making over clothing rugs making soap making beaking and food preservation. Today we have many different programs we tend to want to. I feed the mind a little bit too we have more study projects than we did before. I study projects. Come from Madison and we have our

fall and spring councils we serve coffee and we have a gathering and that is how we find out our. Projects for the year is by the answer from the members that are attending the spring council meetings. From there the Executive Board takes over and chooses the topics for the lessons for the coming year. And at present time we have three hundred seventy six members approximately which is 27 clubs approximately in the county. Which is growing. But we still invite everybody to participate and join our clubs. They're quite small and it's very helpful to filmmakers. We began this program with a conversation with the mayor of Rice Lake. Now we conclude with remarks by Albert Skinner who was a general foreman with a 3M company and also the mayor of another of the city's unburned County. He talked with Harry brewing and Ward rep as mayor of the city of Cumberland you've been working with extension in various fields.

Perhaps have you relate some of the things that face that you work with. Yes we can go back and we can talk about the first time that Mr. rep approached us and. This extension grew up into the city a condo and just a study of the attitude of people and knowing the different things that were going around the city and the remarks of either for or against. We can talk about the help that we've got in training employment to different programs. We can talk about our trade area service we can talk about our downtown remodeling which is a group from the extension course right there and we also have what we call our library Lake project that's being done by the Jaycees and some of these other programs are being done by the Chamber of Commerce through the use of you people plus the fact that the city is under right no more

backing them on these projects. Right now in our downtown reminding group that Syria they should have another two weeks and then they're going to come back and hold some meetings and then survey this thing out and give us our reports. Believe it or not we have used these reports quite regular. The first one comes on community land U.S. product projects the book we got bored and more so than here because I work with a board you know that is being used as a matter of fact there was meetings held and there was a lot of pros and cons but as a whole I think the people in the city really think it was a worthwhile project. Another thing that I thought was one of the greatest studies it was a report on local government was this community attitude by the Extension Course which I felt that it really got into the complete nucleus of the whole city of Congo and telling us what really the attitude of the downtown people were the attitude of our regular residents and also what our political people what

sort of ideas were. By taking these and put them all together I think many and many a dollars were saved. I think also that. Just the way this thing is being handled in the way this extension program goes I don't comes in there in any way has a political set up I think it comes in there just to say what do you people want and where can we get all these answers and they go out and get them. I think it's one of the better programs and I know it hasn't been a real costly program but I do think it gives the community a real real good understanding of their people which is a self as a local individual I don't think you'd ever find the truth. I think this thing does bring out the truth from people as you're talking there I mean we think that this is a time that people have looked at themselves and their community which perhaps many times isn't being done by communities. And I think this is a very helpful

think. Certainly this trade area survey which is Bob is in charge of as current president of the Cumberland Chamber of Commerce is one that that extension is involved in and help. Prepare the survey. Preparation was done in cooperation with extension the. The government Chamber of Commerce distributed the survey and now extension will help tabulate to survey the downtown renewal project in which some architects from the University of Wisconsin School of Architecture in Milwaukee are cooperating with funds provided by the by the city of Cumberland and extension to do some drafting of the downtown buildings to see what the community would think about some of the plans that they have. This community attitude survey was was done by extension specialists from Madison under some funding. Under the

Rural Development Act in which community leaders and city officials and citizens were interviewed as to what they thought the problems of their community were. So probably no other community in the county has been involved more deeply with extension and we need to mention to all this and I think you did about the public service employment programs under which I can sum total now about eight city employees have been employed under this program the emergency Employment Act and the Comprehensive Employment Training Act which runs into many thousand dollars over the last four years. Well I'm sure you're well acquainted with the agriculture in this area. It's a very important part of Baron County but we also have a recreation and business that also plays a very important part and you might just elaborate on the cooperation and the importance of agriculture as well as industry to this area.

Well first of all I think Barron County is very very fortunate in the amount of industry that we do have within the Puerto largest cities. I think it's been a proven fact that Baron County possibly for its size and population has more industry than anybody else per capita. But we also consider that our tourist business and our farm business is another great industry. And our farm area and the surrounding area especially is dairy. It's one of the greatest industries we've got. We do have factories which is beans and peas and corn. That's great. Our industry also in the tourist business we have a lot of wonderful resorts in the area. Cumberland doesn't have anything to speak of but when you start hitting the surrounding areas such as greater bigger lakes way it's quite an industry.

Some folks wonder about the how the name of Baron got its name it the fact that one of the early judges of this area went by that name and that was given later on the one time Baron County was a much larger area and then as. The area became settled. They defined the county to a smaller area. It's unique. I think Baron County is that it's a thirty six miles square 36 miles from east to west and from north to south. And most of the townships are all square having 36 complete sections and roads and a majority of those section line so it's not very easy to get lost in Marin County. In our brief visit to Barron We were impressed not only by such things as huge turkey production diverse industry farming and scenic tourist attractions but by the willingness of leaders be they for each youth or elected community heads to

use available tools to identify their needs opportunities and desires and to move with vigor to meet a diversity of challenges. Heard on today's program were representative of the for each program the mayors of two burned counties cities use a dairy farmer.

And two of the county's homemakers. This program is one in a series on the counties of Wisconsin. The program was prepared at the service of the University of Wisconsin Extension.