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Search continues for missing Prairie du Chien boy

On Sunday, Aug. 12, the Crawford County Sheriff's Department received a call at about 10:55 a.m. from Steve and Jennifer Wachuta of rural Prairie du Chien , stating that their 18-year-old son Joshua Wachuta was missing. According to his parents, Josh had left the residence at 8:30 that morning to go to work at the Fort Crawford Museum in Prairie du Chien. Later that morning, they received a call from Josh's employer stating that they were concerned because he didn't show up for work. An investigation was launched and Sheriff's Department members and friends of the family conducted a search of the area surrounding the home and the surrounding roadways. On Monday, Aug. 13, Med Link Air from La Crosse was called and a search from the air was also conducted. Josh has not yet been found. Josh is described as approximately 5'10" and 150 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a red Fort Crawford T-shirt, khaki pants and white New Balance tennis shoes. Josh was driving a maroon 1998 Ford Contour four-door sedan at the time of his disappearance. Josh is home on summer break from UW ­ La Crosse, where he is enrolled as a sophomore. Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Joshua Wachuta is urged to call the Crawford County Sheriff's Department at 608-326-8414 or the Crawford County Crime Stoppers at 1-866-779-PAYS (7297) or visit the website at http://.crawfordcrimestoppers.com.

Halpin Tire Service to celebrate 50 years
Halpin Tire Service, 328 E. Blackhawk Ave., will be celebrating its 50th anniversary on Saturday, Aug. 25. The celebration will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and all are welcome to attend. Halpin Tire Service was started in 1957 in Elkader by Bill Halpin and his wife Mary, who was the bookkeeper. A tornado in November of 1958 wrecked the Halpin Tire Service building in downtown Elkader, so on Dec. 27 and 28, 1958, the business started anew at its present location in Prairie du Chien. "It (the tornado) wrecked the building and knocked us out of business," said Bill. A grand opening was held at the new Prairie du Chien location on Feb. 6, 1959. Bill said that back then, the business involved the retreading of car and truck tires and tire repair. Herb Ellis joined the business as the first employee in 1959 and Bill and Herb worked out of a relatively small building located where the corner of the front lot is now. Previously, the building had been the Benish Grocery Store. "He did everything," Bill said about Herb. "If it needed fixing, he could fix it." In 1966, the Halpin's purchased adjoining property and in 1968 began the construction of a building that featured two bays for cars and light trucks. Two years later, two more bays were added. In 1982, property behind the building was purchased and in 1984 a 40 x 90-foot addition sprang up that featured four new bays built to handle big trucks and semis. A grand opening for this new addition was held in November of 1984. Along with the building expansion, the services offered at Halpin's expanded as well. Bill said that in 1970, passenger and light truck alignment was offered and in 1984 Halpin Tire Service began big truck alignment. Bill's son Tom, who has owned the business for eight years, recalled that Halpin's stopped retreading tires in 1979 after bias ply tires were replaced by radials. Along the way, a brake lathe and pipe bender were purchased and the business expanded into exhaust and brake work. In 1983, Halpin's began servicing large off-the-road (OTR) tires for earth moving equipment and in 1989, began OTR tire section repair. The largest tire that Halpin Tire Service handles is 8-foot tall, 4-foot wide and weighs 2,800 pounds. "We can handle just about anything that's round, black, rolls and needs to be dealt with," said Tom, who noted that Halpin's will travel up to 150 miles to service large OTR tires. In May of 1991, Halpin Tire Service kept on rolling despite a fire that destroyed the shop and office. "We never lost a day of business because of the fire," said Bill, who explained that the business was relocated for six months to its warehouse in Industrial Park on North State Street. "We had to totally rebuild the shop and office," he said. The fire was started by a piece of vulcanizing equipment that had failed. Fortunately, none of the computer software was destroyed, so Halpin Tire could still keep track of all its records. Nowadays, along with tire service and repair for cars, light trucks, semis, farm equipment, construction and OTR tires, Halpin Tire offers a full line of auto repairs including exhaust, engine, diagnostic and repair, brakes, suspension parts and repair and alignments on car, light truck, heavy truck and trailers, oil changes, belts and hoses, air conditioning diagnostics, transmission filter changes and fluid flushes, cooling system repair and coolant flushes and many more. Also offered is a mobile tire service, whereby Halpin Tire can do work at the site of a breakdown or on a farm or commercial site. "They call with their problems and we go take care of it," said Tom. The business now has between 15 and 19 full-time employees and three part-time employees, said Tom, who purchased the business on July 1, 1999 when his dad retired. "It was awful hard to leave the first few years," said Bill. During his many years in the tire repair business, Bill has seen his share of odd items that have flattened tires, including deer antlers, spark plugs, wrenches, and in one instance, a large rock that became part of an OTR tire. Over the last 50 years, tire sizes, construction and life span have changed dramatically. Tom said that in the early days, 10,000-20,000 miles was the life of a tire, now tires are reaching 60,000-80,000 miles when properly maintained.

With new technology, one of which is the tire pressure monitoring sensors, it is much more important to have tires taken care of by an expert tire shop, said Tom. He noted that Halpin Tire Service is kept informed of changes in the market and will keep the customer up to date with developing technology as it is happening. Tom began as a full-time employee at Halpin Tire Service in 1979. In 2007, the half-century-old business is starting its third generation. Tom's son Ryan became a full-time employee this year and daughter Molly is working as an intern. Tom said, "Halpin Tire has been fortunate to have six employees that are still with us who have a combined years of service of more than 175 years and they in large part have made Halpin Tire what it is today." As for the future, Tom said that Halpin's will continue to provide quality service to area customers. Sen. Kohl visits Prairie du Chien Senator Herb Kohl paid a brief visit to Prairie du Chien Friday noon as he visited with area residents in Lawler Park. Senator Kohl said he works hard on agricultural and educational issues since they represent the future of Wisconsin. "Money spent on educating young people is always money well spent," he said. Kohl said he was concerned that the U.S. is "mired in Iraq with no end in sight." He said he could see no way there could be a military victory in Iraq. "The only way this will ever be resolved," he said, "is if they reconcile themselves." Other items Kohl considers important for Wisconsin residents are health insurance and senior issues. He is currently working on legislation encouraging employers to retain people who want to work beyond normal retirement age. Asked how to keep Washington and the administration more accountable for tax dollars, Kohl said he felt the president had surrounded himself with people who are not qualified. "The more you see," he commented, "the more appalled you are by the lack of competence. Even Republicans," he added, "are upset by Gonzales' lack of competence as well as integrity."

Stuckey store is part of Wauzeka history
Wilbur Stuckey isn't quite sure how old the Stuckey supermarket in Wauzeka is, but he estimates it goes back over 150 years and is therefore connected to a great deal of the town's history. According to information in the 1990 Wauzeka Centennial Brochure, the building apparently started out as a saloon, "as evidenced by raised portions in the basement for barrels of beer which were lowered with two sets of ropes in rings at the top step." The store was started by a man named W.A. Vaughan, who later turned it over to a son, W. I. (Cap) Vaughan. Gus Loek took over the store in 1924, and then sold it to the man who became Stuckey's father-in-law, Albert Zeeh, in 1927. "In the early days," says the brochure, "mainly dry goods bulk were sold as people raised their own gardens and kept animals. Kerosene was sold for lamps and stoves. Behind the store was a livery stable, hitching posts and ice storage. Young men would rent a horse and buggy to take their girls to parties or dances." Wauzeka's first bank was located just west of the store, and the old bank safe is now located in the store. At one time, Stuckey said, the bank was robbed. The thief got away and was never caught. The building to the east was once a general store operated by Parker Hilderbrand in the 1870's and then a residence and business of Mrs. Beiloh, who operated a hat shop for many years while maintaining her residence and two rental apartments on either side of the building. Years later an antique shop or second hand stores occupied the building. Nellie and Albert Zeeh had three children. Illene went to college at North Central in Naperville, Ill. and became a home economics teacher; Lenor became a pharmacist and Orville worked in land conservation for the Department of Agriculture Stuckey had worked at Zeeh's store while he was still in high school. After graduation, he enlisted and served in WWII. When he returned, he and Illene Zeeh were married and took over the store. Her parents retired and moved to Madison. Stuckey remembers the store when the Zeehs still owned it. Back then, the store was still a general store. Groceries were sold there, but so were clothes and shoes and any number of things. Stuckey recalls that in the early days the salesmen came into town on the train to take orders; then the merchandise would arrive the following week. He doesn't recall any bulk barrels in the store, but, he says, cookies came in caddies, or bulk boxes. Stuckey took over the store in 1953, built an addition to increase the size and removed the gas pumps which had been in front of the store. He and Illene offered free home delivery of purchases. He still carried dry goods for a time, but by 1964 when he remodeled, the store carried only groceries. In 1982, they tore down the building to the east and tripled the size of the store. By this time, they purchased their groceries wholesale from Roundy's in Milwaukee. Wilbur did all the meat cutting himself. He learned by attending seminars and meetings, and, he said, "the meat salesmen also helped me out." During hunting season, he also processed deer for hunters. Wilbur and his brothers Raymond, Laverne, George Jr. and Gerald grew up on their parents' farm in rural Wauzeka. Their parents, George and Clara, both attended the Rider school on Dutch Ridge Road. Wilbur and Illene had two children, Clara Houston, who lives with her husband and daughter in Prairie du Chien, and Allen, who took over the supermarket in 1990 when Wilbur retired. Illene died in 1995, and Wilbur has an apartment in Prairie du Chien, although he still maintains his residence in Wauzeka, where he has been a member of the Wauzeka American Legion Post 458 for about 60 years. Gloria Thompson of Wauzeka assisted with the research for this article.