Counties of Wisconsin; 65; Green Lake County

Located in the southern central part of the state with a population of about 18000 is green like county featured in this program on the counties of Wisconsin. During this half hour. Residents of Green Lake County and University of Wisconsin Extension staff. Will be heard in conversations recorded at the courthouse in green lake in October 1976. The county has a land use and Recreation plan which has a section on the historical development of the county.

We'll read a portion of that first and then turn to the recorded conversation. This. Green Lake County was formed from territory which was previously a part of Marquette County. And was organized in 1858. The first settlement was made in this region sometime between 1830 and 1835 Green Lake County is named for its principal body of water green lake which is the deepest lake in Wisconsin. Farming manufacturing and tourism are important in Green Lake County in 1069 seventy four point seven percent of the county was in farms. Milk is the most important source of farm income. The County ranks in the highest quarter among Wisconsin counties in Hog marketing and in sweet corn and peas for processing. Approximately 12 percent of the land area is in Woodland the woodlands are mostly small tracts scattered through the north and west portions of the county. The area that is now green like county was visited by the early French explorers fur traders

and missionaries because of its location on one of the main routes of travel in this region. The Fox River Lake Winnebago Wisconsin River waterway Radisson and grocer is where the first explorers in the area coming in 16 55 shortly thereafter came Nicholas Prado who with another fur trader name to send Badri visited the large must go to Miami Indian village presumably located between Burlen and Green Lake. Among the famous Frenchmen who followed were Hennepin Duluth Tante Marquette and Juliet. It was not until the 19th century however that permanent white settlement began. After the French had come and gone the region was probably understood by white men until eight hundred twenty eight when the United States government built Fort Winnebago. This Fort located at Portage between the fox and Wisconsin Rivers was named for the tribe of Indians inhabiting that section. A military road was laid out which ran to Green Bay through

Fonda LAC and what is now Brenden in 1858 Green Lake County was officially created by an act of the Wisconsin legislature. The name of the county was taken from the principal lake in the area to which the French had given the name. Luck there. It was soon after the military road was laid out that the first permanent white settlement was made in Green Lake County. Luther Gleason who came from Vermont located on the Fox River near the present village of Marquette in 1831 he cultivated the land traded with the Indians and kept a store. For the most part the early settlers raised what they needed for themselves. Then came the weed growing era which reached its peak in Wisconsin in about 1870. In that year that we did acreage of the county amounted to over 50000 acres. After this peak wheat production declined rapidly. General farming and crop raising became the dominant features of the agriculture of the county. No specialized type of agriculture such as

is evident in many other Wisconsin counties had developed in Green Lake County. It is a typical well-developed diversified farming area which raises a fine quality of livestock large acreage is of canning crops and a variety of feed supplies. At one time Green Lake County was noted for cranberry production. Matter of fact the first commercial cranberry production in Wisconsin was started there in the early 1860s. This area was developed by building up native marshes found that the early settlers these settlers provided irrigation systems and build water reservoirs but otherwise did little more to care for the native vines which were there. In some years their efforts were rewarded by high yields and attractive incomes. Some planning was done but the greater part of the early crops were harvested from the wild marshes. Today very little cranberry acreage remains in the area. At one time Berlin was famous for its granite works which obtained granite

from the rocks great hills of stones covering many acres in the Northeast suburb of the city. In 1984 the Berlin and mun tell a granite company which has already opened a quarry at Monticello purchased the greater part of the rocks with the purpose of utilizing the stone already and profitable market was found for all the stone that could be extracted both for building purposes and for paving the streets. This was at a time when granite pavement began to be adapted extensively by Western cities. The Fox River was a factor of considerable importance in the exploration of the region which includes a Green Lake County in later years it carried trade and passenger travel by steam or water transportation soon gave rise to railroads three railroad systems aided in the development of the territory which now comprises Green Lake Marquette and Well Sherif counties. These were the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul. The Wisconsin Central and The Chicago and Northwestern railroads. It was on August 8th 1857

that the first train of the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul came into Brooklyn. Later the Wisconsin Central merged with the system. There are four extensions staff members in the county and first will hear from Dennis Dorn felt and his guests on the university extension agricultural agent and Green Lake County and I'm talking today with Clarence and Joanne Bush. Mark is a man. Clarence and joy are somewhat unique and they're at their age and Clarence is only 41 we won't disclose John's age here. They're already thinking about a farm transfer situation it's a popular item but not too many people are seriously considering it as we feel they ought to be. Why are you seriously considering the beginning of a transfer operation that at your age. As I mentioned before not too many people really begin to seriously think about this until they're pushing 60. Well one of the reasons we do have a son in law and he's working with us and there comes a time when he asked they have some

incentive. Outside of just working for a salary to maintain or stay in the business and create more interest in the business for himself and. We have another fellow working for us and he would like to get started in farming too. And we feel that starting to transfer some of the property over these two boys that. It would maintain their interest and start to start themselves in a way to farm well in this transfer operation I'm certain that there are some advantages to the youngsters involved here too. Do you care to mention any of those that you might feel would be an advantage to these young fellows getting into this farming operation. Well I feel that. Someplace along the way they have to develop some capital to take over the business. And as far as working as a salary there is really no way for a person to get capital to start him and we can start

turning private business over to him that they can spend the money right off. That way they can build up the capital and start it. How do you feel about this Joy. After all you did mention that this is a partnership between the two of you right now. Are you ready to begin relinquishing your rights in a farming operation of this value this early in your life. I think so because I think it would be very good because should something happen to Clarence I'd be sitting there and there's no way that I could provide these boys or the wage that in any way would compensate for the management if they would have to put out. And if they're already going to have a part ownership in this business I'm not going to have to worry too much about this at least I don't feel I would anyway. These are real hardworking and found us we are very lucky to have them and we don't want to lose them. And. While I Clarence if we want to keep them we want to help. We like to have our children close by their

grandchildren close by and we want them to eventually turn over to them. The conversation continued with a discussion of the pros and cons of a partnership versus a corporate arrangement especially as it involves property transfer with a farm such as this of a half million dollar value. The comments on acquiring capital and getting into farming take on special significance in green lake as in many other counties there is a serious question when agricultural versus recreational use may be in conflict. A land use program and the use of zoning seem to be the natural answer. That is the subject of our next conversation. I'm Bernie because there are ski resorts development agent for Green Lake County. And as my guest today I have with me read Mavis he is president of the farmers Merchants National Bank in Princeton. And besides this he is chairman of the board of the Green Lake Association and immediate past president of the association. Read as I believe most

people in Greenway County are well aware of. The county is noted for its rich heritage of water resources. I don't we are we on the historic opera Fox. But like puck away has well been known of years past as one of the best waterfall lakes in the county and state and lake that was well enjoyed by everyone and probably the lake that is most popular. The lake for which the college he was named Big Green Lake known for the deepest lake in Green Lake County and also for its lake trout its fisheries and of course its recreational impact upon the county and read I imagine as chairman of the board of the green like Association as its past president. You have had to your association has had to face many issues facing big green lake not only its preservation its pressures from land use development agriculture. Maybe you could relate some of the your views in regard to the preservation of big green lake. And what do your so she hopes to do for the lake in the future.

Well the association has been active in attempting to initiate programs that would be in the long range beneficial of course to the lake itself. I think we have finally come to the position as a group of property owners mostly that the lake is. Only one part of the county and as such the entire county is really involved in the goals that we're looking toward. High on that list would be really long range comprehensive planning for the entire county that will give the local residents not just property owners but but the lake. But of the entire county. A real handle on what happens to the future of the development of the county. And we have been quite concerned with things like land use planning and zoning and principly in an effort to. Help to

educate the residents of the county the municipalities the whole spectrum of county leadership. That planning is as an essential part of the development of the region. We've had some goals that were incorporated into a land use plan which we worked with principle a dealing with preservation of the environment. That's a very high sounding term and one is perhaps overused but we do feel that through proper land use and zoning that goes along with it some degree of preservation of the kind of environment that we have is possible. And so that's I think perhaps the principal function of our association and one of my principal interests I was real pleased read when the association began work on their plan 2000. And it was a land use plan in the immediate vicinity around the lake. And of

course one of the tools for implementing a land use plan is zoning. And as you probably know Green Lake County was probably one of the first counties in the state to adopt the comprehensive state shoreline and floodplain ordinance and preceding that I believe by five years in 1963 the county adopted a land use ordinance for the county. Did it in some way surprise you. A year ago when where we were able to get together a group of people of such diverse interests to actually sit down and rewrite the 1963 ordinance and make it applicable to the Land Use problems that we are facing today. It was gratifying to see it was it was a surprise in a sense that historically our association has not always been able to communicate effectively with with local. Municipalities and I think there's been education on both sides the fact that we have a common problem that the fact that

property owners are trying to preserve a lake or an area sometimes seem totally selfish but I think that finally we're getting some communication between the groups to realize that what's good for one is good for all of us that we're not trying to just preserve our own a lot of our own home value but rather preserve the entire area and this is a common interest and it was really gratifying to see the kind of cross involvement that occurred through that. One of the traditional extension activities is the for each program. Well my name's Larry Bell and I'm the greenlight County for each youth agent and I'm talking with Clara worth the newly installed president of the county leaders Association a foreach leader homemaker and very active in the foreach program and has an active family and I think maybe we will might start and a little bit and talking about how she became involved in the foreach program.

I guess the first I got interested our oldest daughter who is 26 now is the one to take home furnishings and for it she was probably are third or fourth here and there wasn't a leader to teach it and so have I had to take her because she wasn't 16 able to drive herself I just stepped in and started it. So you've been involved in it for a while too. To get to the extent you have some children that are involved in the program now I know that your daughter Holly is involved in several different things that are related to for a child. Could you talk a little bit about some of the things she's trying to promote in 4-H in green like. Well first of all of course she's trying to promote her own club and we have a quite a large class of mainly about 30 or 35 members from the southern part of the going to county and. Though she doesn't have an officers job she she doesn't care for one she want to really keep the youngsters moving. She doesn't want to get an opportunity for her to take part

in a Conservation Board Youth Board this fall and she grabbed at the chance when she goes to school she intends to major in forestry. She has always liked the outdoors and kids in general she and I guess that if they were to come from my parents to me and to her that she thought I was like kids and if she can teach them something about trees and flowers. The transformation Newport is kind of a different activity it's somewhat related to do for age but it's a separate organization as well for for teens that are interested in in the environment and in conservation. And one of the programs that they jointly sponsored one of your other daughters was involved in this here and that was a speaking contest. Can you tell us a little bit about your daughter's preparations for that. Well she had she's only 11 years old and she had given demonstrations always required in 4H and she thought well this would be

simple. This is going to give a demonstration. She was 38. Their teachers helped in that school. When they get up here to green make it kindness she saw all the people that we're involved because she got kind of scared. But it was I thought it was a great experience for one of the things that Holly's been involved in and being a part of the Youth Board has been an outdoor classroom for fifth grade students and yes maybe with you know talk a little bit about now some of the things that she is counting back home with and you know how this might be affecting her future or why she's interested in participating in that activity. Well when they went up to them the day that that Green Lake does the little part that she her primary job was to explain the tree the formation of the leaves of the different things that they had and quite a few of the little people that she worked with that day she had already hand

up and would have camp life in. She found first it was going to be really a job but she found our concluding discussion is led by the office chairman or chairperson in this case series producer Ralph Johnson also asked a few questions. I'm Marianne Deane I'm the extension home economist in green light County and visiting with me today is the president of the greenlight County Extension homemakers Betty you know Betty is very active in extension homemakers. She not only serves as our president but she is also the new district chairman elect. And Betty I think the one question that I'd like to ask you today is with all the activities that you and your family are involved in personal involvement with other work innovations Why is it that you have remained a member of the homemaker group and a very active member. What is it about homemakers that makes you what I would call a real homemaker. That's kind of a difficult question to answer and when one day it's one thing one day it's

another. I think I haven't been to a state meeting recently and thinking of the thing that they had up there living with change. That's probably one of the things that things that have kept me and homemakers. Yeah how in the world can you identify living with change with you know extension homemaker affiliation. Well definitely we are living with change it's a changing world it's a changing life for each of us. Things that I enjoyed things that I benefited by most 20 years ago in my office were small. That's different than the things that I benefit from No. I can remember a lesson Oh way back when ironing making ironing easier or something to that order. That really isn't very important today but it was to me then it was just before permanent press came out. I have four boys use the multiply something like 20 shirts at a time you know and so many wash pans and my mother worked hard to make you homey. And I have varicose veins and from that lesson I found I stood on an iron and that

you can see about it you know it's just weird things that you do benefit by all through the years. Now things have changed in you mentioned this. How has the program that we're having now still meeting your needs and helping you deal with change and in life. Think of the two projects we have this fall for September we had coping with this and I know when we first talked about it on the council meeting we didn't know just what direction we were going to take with this. You wear the you gave the lesson Marianne and I had our club meeting it was quite easy and usual. Maybe it happened the same in our club meetings how those came out. We divided into three groups the leaders had a fight in the three groups and each one talk about the feelings they had of coping with death the problems they thought they would face or had faced Centra and then reported back to the group. Well the number one group came back with talking about

wills and whether they had made will should they guardians for their children and passing on property and what. Where are their insurance policies kick up and that sort of a bit. The second group came with a Will facing funerals. Somebody dies somebody has to take over. You've never done this before. Maybe there's a cemetery lot maybe there isn't. Who's going to pick out the casket. Why should we have one. What did my husband want when my father daughter or whatnot. What kind of a feeling do they have about funerals. Then a third group came back with. How do you personally feel about this. Somebody there who had lost two children and their conversation got around that and they all came back with how to handle this. Personally I go I'm living on such a very from this program do you feel that you are better prepared to deal with death than you did prior to having it.

Probably I think so. I mean there's all kinds of things I'm going to do about it next week OK. And now it's the challenge of doing it right. From this program coming up in a number of counties that spontaneously generated or did it come down from on high shall we say. Well I think in Green Lake County it I know it came from the people themselves. It is a topic though that I think we're discussing more. We used to talk about birth but we never wanted to talk about death. And I think to the university and everything else these needs have been identified and we have had help from the university in order to present this program. This is kind of fascinated me because it's happened in so many counties in all the expertise or whatever you might call it may have come from the university after the need was identified or if you have any thoughts as to why at this particular time so many people should be so concerned and

interested in this. I think people have a trying to think more about the future. And I think that the future is something we're looking at and we're dealing with facts and really facing life more today than probably we did 10 years ago. We talked a little bit about identification of programs on a county level and the other program Betty that you mentioned I think is one that definitely has a unique greenlight county program and that's the one we had during the month of October. And women self-defense. How did this program seem to. Did it seem to meet the needs of the people living your whole make up class. Personally we haven't gone through it yet but I haven't talked to quite a few of the of the home makers. They were really excited about it and here again it's coping with change. It's some things that we didn't think about in the rural areas that we are thinking about today

and years back. We didn't go into the cities as much as we do today and I happen personally now this lesson or I don't know just what the subject matter is going to all include. I know Mariane your husband well had a big part in giving that lesson and I know our 400 homemakers are going to enjoy dick more from now on for some reason or another. He must think and I think he enjoyed doing it and I think this is the nice thing about extension programs is that resources are really unlimited. If we identify a program area throughout the county we can find a resource people available and certainly does and a lot of vitality and spirit to our program. This is our bicentennial year. And I think greenlight County has done some special things with the bicentennial Betty. The little mini tours we've had as well as the history of clothing. The study of greenlight County

at South might you want to just highlight some of the things that we've done in those mini 2A. Your area the Mitchells Glen is the one thing that really fascinated me along with many other homemakers. I think one of the first dialing things was to find how many women in our county weren't familiar with these areas had never visited visit them in Mitchell's Glen is close to where I live. It's a beautiful sight it's privately owned but spring flowers spring that I went through there in the history of the the old Indian villages Indian trading post there in the area was once real interesting. And then again in this other area of the quarry. I never realized there once had been a town of Utley in that is maybe within 10 miles of where I live. I've seen the quarry and heard a bit about that. But I never realized it but the whole town there. And the other third tour I think was through the BACS

assembly. It's a lot of people are familiar about the beautiful so we can always change history about it's always interesting. Yes it's a most interesting history going back to Michel's clan I was not familiar with the area otherwise. Then here 10 years but I think the thing that fascinated me the most and maybe that's just part of my childhood bringing up but that was the old sugar shack where the maple syrup was made. And Betty I guess that goes to YouTube because Betty is one of the few families in Green Lake County who she and her husband and family are very active in the production of maple syrup. Not on a commercial line but for their own family use and Betty what do you make maple syrup that's a lot of work and yet I know every year you and your family are really involved in this. The number one reason is my husband wants to and he gets really involved in it. We have a friend with a very nice maple wood. So access. To the maple trees. And he

would go there for the year and I've gotten very interested wouldn't treat conservation and we just enjoy making maple syrup and then it's a family project I children and and their family enjoy the little ones will carry the bucket and we all get together with the family project family projects don't always fit. But. They're fun. In retrospect we found an interesting thread of ideas on. Planning. Which could have been the subtitle. Planning for property transfer. Planning for land use planning through 4-H for the future of youth and planning on coping with debt. Green Lake one of the most beautiful of the counties of Wisconsin was featured on this edition of the program series. These programs are produced at W h a

radio a service of the University of Wisconsin Extension.