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PdC woman's wild ride comes full circle
Roaring into a packed arena at a full gallop, standing tall astride two steeds while in command of six fiery horses kicking up a cloud of thunder, working the reins with one hand, while styling to the crowd with the other. Makes the Lone Ranger's job sound easy? Well, that's just what Elaine Kramer of Prairie du Chien did for nearly 20 years. So let's return now to those thrilling days of yesteryear when a young Elaine toured throughout the United States and Canada, wowing capacity crowds with one of the classiest and flashiest rodeo acts ever. Getting her start in 1954, Elaine and her Roman bareback riding act logged thousands of miles performing at countless state fairs, county fairs, horse shows, parades, rodeos and exhibitions all over the United States and in every province of Canada, dazzling audiences wherever she went. Roman riding is standing on the backs of two horses with four other horses out in front, hitched in tandem. The six horse team (lead, swing and wheel) circles the arena and clears jumps as high as four feet. Elaine would enter the ring and after a couple of turns to wave and smile at the crowd, she would guide the team over a single jump. Next, the well-trained horses would clear the double jump, spaced in such a manner as to have the lead and wheel tandems airborne at the same time. The performance would end when Elaine and her team would gallop out of the gate, while she again styled to the crowd with one hand and controlled the horses with the other. "The idea is to not look down," said Elaine, in explaining that her legs would pump and move with the horses' galloping and jumping action so she could maintain her balance. The thrill of Roman bareback riding all began for Elaine in 1954 when at age 18 she saw "To Ride a White Horse" in the Metro Theater in Prairie du Chien. "That movie really sparked my interest," Elaine said, noting that she stuck around as the final credits rolled to find out where the movie was filmed. Her parents took her to The White Horse Ranch in Naper, Nebraska so that Elaine could learn Roman riding. While Elaine was learning her craft at the ranch, a woman who rode for the ranch's six-horse act was injured and Elaine was asked to fill in. A few weeks later, Elaine was performing at the American Royal Horse Show in Kansas City, Mo. She joined the Rodeo Cowboys Association in 1955. In 1956, Elaine headed for Palm Springs, Calif. to perform with a white horse troupe known as the Valkyries. She toured the U.S. and Canada with them for about a year and then began working for another troupe in Indiana in 1957. Next, Elaine went to Detroit, where she taught Roman riding to a group of children and began gathering her own horses. By 1960, she had a full team of American Saddlebreds, plus one alternate and was ready to tour on her own. Elaine's lead tandem were Frosty and Flash. Flicka and Friskie were the swing team and the wheel team was Fleet and Fury. Flair was her spare for many years. Elaine has numerous newspaper clippings and photographs of her days on the road, when she performed about 100 dates a year. Elaine's act generated a great demand and she was asked to tour throughout Europe as well, but she said she decided not to go international out of health concerns for her horses. One of the many highlights of her career came in 1963 when she performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Besides the thrill of galloping on six horses before large audiences, through her travels, Elaine got to know many television and movie stars, as well as singers, musicians and other celebrities. She has performed at the same venues as the famed "Ben Hur" horses and among the many other notables she appeared with are Roy Rogers, Ken Curtis (Festus) and Milburn Stone (Doc) of Gunsmoke, Lorne Green of Bonanza, Donna Douglas (Elle Mae Clampett of the Beverly Hillbillies), Homer and Jethro, Dick Sparrow and the 40-horse hitch, The Royall Canadian Mounties, Ed Sullivan, Clayton Moore (The Lone Ranger), Jay Silverheals (Tonto), Minnie Pearl, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Glenn Campbell, King Cotton and the Fury Horses, Tex Ritter, Eddie Arnold, Tayna Tucker, Robert Mitchum, Lorreta Lynn, Fabian and Lynn Anderson, to name a few. Elaine said that her most memorable show was her last in 1974 in Omaha, Neb. "Knowing it was my last show and everything and the crowd was just great as I rode around the ring for the last time," she said. Twenty years after her career began, Elaine said she sat again in the Metro Theater in Prairie du Chien to watch herself in the documentary "The Great American Cowboy," which starred Larry Mahan, many times an all-around world champion rodeo performer. "My dream of making horseback riding a career had come full circle," Elaine said. Upon retiring from the rodeo circuit, Elaine came back to Prairie du Chien and built Kramer's Kountry Kourt, a trailer court located where she used to have her riding arena, where she practiced and trained her horses many a day. In 1980, Elaine made a movie about her Roman riding and may make another. She said she began riding horses on the family farm at about the age of 9.

PdC School Board adopts new Eastman lease agreement
The Prairie du Chien School Board voted unanimously at its regular meeting Monday night to adopt a lease agreement between the village of Eastman and the Prairie du Chien School District. Under the new agreement, the school district will retain ownership of the ECHOES school building, while the village will own the property, including the baseball field and the concession stand. The school district will lease a portion of the property during the school year for playground purposes. In 1975, the village had donated the property and building to the school district. The village had leased the property from the district since 1975 for sporting events and various other activities such as the Fourth of July celebration. In other business, the school board voted unanimously to approve the district's 3-year technology plan. A technology plan must be approved every three years in order for the district to receive a federal program through which the district's telecommunication bills may be reduced by 60 percent. In further business, the board: *Approved early graduation for eight students. *Approved the hiring of Amanda Hird and Kayla Mezera as Middle School gymnastics co-coaches for the 2002-2003 school year.

City Council approves hiring of city planner/zoning administrator, discusses sewer rate increases
The Prairie du Chien Common Council addressed a wide variety of items at their Nov. 12 meeting. City Administrator Gary Koch announced that Garth Frable of Des Moines was hired as the new city planner/zoning administrator. He will begin mid-December at a starting salary of $37,000. Frable was present at the meeting to introduce himself to the council and department heads. "I am looking forward to the challenge," he said. The city will be hiring a consultant, likely an engineer or auditor, to look at how to best go about raising the sewer rates. The loss of 3M Plant #1 had a drastic affect on the income of the Waste Water Treatment Plant, and the city's bond agreement says the plant's net income must meet 110 percent of the highest debt service payment. The rate increase will likely be in place for the May billing. There has not been a sewer rate increase since 1996. A 15-year franchise agreement with MediaCom was approved by the council. Included in the agreement is a deal in which MediaCom will pay for the needed equipment and installation at city hall so meetings can be televised, and their franchise fee will be suspended for a period of time. The meetings will be aired by January. The council learned that the grant application from the Department of Transportation for Phase III of the Lawler Park improvements was denied. This would have improved the north area of the park. The old city hall was approved for placement on the National and Sate Register of Historic Places. Developer Mark Ihm is now working on a grant for clean up of the buildings from the Department of Commerce, and the work will take place on a development agreement with the city. A bid for auditing from Johnson Block was approved 8-4 after some discussion. Collins & Associates had a lower bid, but Johnson Block has more experience with government units which are a similar size to Prairie du Chien. The council learned of a notice of foreclosure against Paula and Edward Beesecker for Kiddie Kastle Child Care Center. The city has a personal property taxes claim against them. A drainage problem on property owned by Jeff and Jackie Kittle at 522 S. Madison Street became a heated discussion between the parties involved. They purchased the property in the development project owned by Bob Valley and were questioning the city code which says storm sewers must be in place. They questioned who was responsible for improving the drainage problem and offered a solution of cutting in a ditch themselves. Valley could not come to agreement with them so the matter was tabled until the next meeting. The council discussed outdoor wood burning ordinances. Other area communities have taken action against them and the heating systems already installed are causing complaints by neighbors. There are currently no outdoor wood burning stoves in the city, and the council is seeking input from the public on the issue. It will be discussed at a future meeting. Harbor fees were discussed in closed session, but no action was taken.

Operation Santa
OP Santa 2002 kicks off Operation Santa, a community service of the Prairie du Chien Jaycees, provides food and toys in a Christmas package for needy families in Crawford County. They are now kicking off Operation Santa 2002 and are seeking donations from the community. They accept new and reasonably used toys, books, infant items (especially diapers and formula), canned and nonperishable food items (sorry, no homebaked or homecanned items can be accepted) and money donations. Drop off boxes for Operation Santa are at: F & M Bank, Peoples State Bank, Anchor Bank, First Federal, Food Pride, Dick's Supermarket, WalMart, United Methodist Church, St. Peter, St. John's, St. Gabriel's, Prairie du Chien Memorial Hospital, Gundersen Lutheran Clinic, and the Prairie du Chien Police Department. Money donations are used to purchase toys for children 11 and under, turkeys and hams, butter, and chamber dollars for children 12 and over. Money donations can be sent to: Operation Santa, c/o PdC Jaycees, P.O. Box 341, Prairie du Chien, WI, 53821. In addition to donations, the project needs volunteers to help sort and pack boxes. For information on volunteering, contact Patty Yager at 326-8393 or Sheri Jackson at 326-4580. Families can sign-up for Operation Santa between Nov. 18 and Dec. 6 at the CAP office (The Bargain Boutique) on Blackhawk Avenue. All Crawford County families in need are eligible. Food boxes and toy bags will be distributed on Friday, Dec. 13 and Saturday, Dec. 14. Guest waiter nights at Pizza Hut, the Jaycees largest fundraiser for Operation Santa, will begin on the first Tuesday in December. Pizza Hut sponsors guest waiter nights the first three Tuesdays in December from 5 to 8 p.m. The business matches the tips of the waiters up to $1,000. The guest waiter nights earn more than 20 percent of the $10,000 plus funds needed to operate the program. Operation Santa served approximately 250 families last year.

Bloomington couple to celebrate 70th anniversary
When they could find a little spare time in their busy lives, Fred and Agatha Breuer of Bloomington loved to dance. And, after 70 years of marriage, Fred and Agatha are still dancing, about once a month at Huckleberry's in Prairie du Chien. "During the war years (World War II) we'd go to Hazel Green and have dinner then we would dance all the way home," said Agatha, her eyes twinkling as she recalled dancing at most of the nightspots along the way. Fred and Agatha have lived through quite a bit in their 92 and 91 years, respectively, including World War I, The Roaring Twenties, The Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, the space age and the computer, Internet and global communication age. Fred and Agatha were married on Nov. 15, 1932 and will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary on that date this year. While 70 years of marriage will mark quite a special milestone, Fred says with a sly smile, "The more special accomplishment is all that erupted from our marriage." Indeed, Fred and Agatha had nine children, 61 grandchildren and 86 great grandchildren. Fred and Agatha's children include, from oldest to youngest, Janette DuCharme, Luella Martin, Joanne Martin, Eleanor Klema, Eugene Breuer, Arnold Breuer, Charlotte Moris, Elaine Moris and Sylvester Breuer. Communities were more close knit in the 1930s, and Agatha knew of Fred, but they had never been formally introduced. She said she was quite pleased, however, when he came to her family's farm one day and asked if she would like to go to the show in Cassville. "Your world was in a radius of about 25 miles in those days, however far you could get with a horse." Fred said. "Not all over God's creation in a car." Fred was fortunate to have his family's car on this occasion, however, and made the most of the opportunity. Although, they cannot remember the movie they saw, the first date was a good one and Fred and Agatha embarked on a one and a half-year courtship before getting married. "The Good Lord had a finger in it," Fred said about the first date, the courtship and the long-lasting marriage. Fred and Agatha said that what they remember most about their years together is a lot of hard work, much of it coming in very lean times. Fred said that work is a key to longevity. "I think work is the Good Lord's way of making time seem shorter," Fred said. "Time evaporates when your working." After getting married, Fred and Agatha worked and lived on a farm west of Bloomington for two years. They then moved to Glen Haven, where they farmed for 41 years. Farm work was done mostly with horses during those lean years of The Great Depression because nobody could afford a tractor. Not only didn't anybody have any money, Fred remembers the early 30s as being drought years. "Those days were something else," said Agatha. "But we lived through it." Agatha recalled that they had no running water, no electricity and no phone. Later on there was one phone in the entire village. Fred said that there was also no welfare, but that everyone in the community pitched in to help everyone else. "There was a lot of community support, neighbors helped each other," said Fred. "That way of life has since nearly vanished." While times were tough in Fred and Agatha's early years, he says that young people today may have it tougher in a way. "There was no political rot like you have today," he said. "There was no bureaucratic monster hanging over our heads." Because of the Great Depression and the drought years, Fred said, "I learned the lesson of a lifetime that I wish young folks could learn today, to not go throwing away your money needlessly." Fred and Agatha recalled that they would buy five gallons of gas for $1, and that the gas had to last for two weeks when they got another milk check. "We didn't drive much back then," said Fred, who in 1931 with the help of his father and brother, had purchased a 1930 two-door Chevrolet. Fred and Agatha also reminisced about the entire community helping out at barn raisings. "We worked like a family and we were proud of our workmanship," Fred said. "Word would get out and people would come from all over to help. They were proud to have a new building in their area." During barn raisings on their farm, Agatha cooked for 65 men. "You wouldn't see too many women doing that now," she said. Fred said that their last barn was 34x62 and had oak frames. "That barn cost us $1,500 including the beer and cigars," he said with a smile. Fred and Agatha moved back to Bloomington in 1976 and now reside in a house he helped build at 435 Prospect St. "There's been quite a jump in history since we got married," said Fred. "But it sure doesn't seem like 70 years."

Wauzeka native celebrates 100
"How's it feel to be a hundred, Ed?" "Aw, I'm not a hundred!" "Yes you are!" "No I'm not. I was born in 1902." "Well, Ed, it's 2002, your birthday is past, so that makes you a hundred." With that a big smile spread across Ed Reichmann's face. Ed was born in the Village of Wauzeka on Sept. 24 to Herman and Minnie (Reeter) Reichmann. Seven other children - four boys and three girls were also born to this couple. They have all passed on; we're glad you're still with us, Ed. Herman and Minnie Reichmann ran a creamery station in Wauzeka. Customary to the times, Ed and his siblings helped out. But Ed knew the family business wasn't his lifelong goal. During his high school years, cowboys from Canada came to Wauzeka. They put on an exciting show. So exciting, Ed decided he, too, wanted to be a cowboy. So off to Canada he went to fulfill his dream. His destination took him to the Saskatchewan and Alberta areas where he stayed for four years. He stayed with the Mahoneys - a name not uncommon to native Wauzekans. Mahoneys owned a sizable spread of land. Ed took care of horses, rode them for various tasks of fencing and herding cattle, and he broke them to ride also. "Did you have your own horse?" "Yes. I had an Indian pony." "What was its name?" "Squaw." It was already named when Ed got it. In summer, extra help was hired to help with herding the grain fields of wheat and oats - no corn fields to have to ride herd over. Town was 18 miles away. Though there was an automobile, trips to town were not as frequently taken as people travel today. Processed food was also not as abundant. They ate a lot of beef and garden produce and Ed hunted rabbits, too. After four years, Ed returned to the Village of Wauzeka. Squaw remained in Canada but Ed brought fond memories of her with him. At that time, the box factory was a big industry of Wauzeka. In particular, it produced large round boxes in which cheese was hauled and stored. (If you have one of these boxes, you're lucky!) Ed applied for a job and was hired. "What did you do there, Ed?" "Cleaned boiler. In the winter we went out and cut logs for making boxes." "What was your favorite job?" "Veneering logs...the veneer machine (lathe)." "What didn't you like?" "Nothing. I liked it all." The depression was hard on everyone, including those at the box factory. Sometimes there was no money to pay the workers. WWII came and Ed moved to Baraboo, Wisconsin - home of the Powder Plant. He worked at the Powder Plant until the end of the war. Wauzeka was calling him home. Ed returned and again found employment at the Box Factory until Borden's opened in Boscobel. He worked in-house for five to six years testing milk products. Ed's eyes lit up with fond memories of Borden's. "Sometimes they gave you free ball game tickets and once a year they had a nice supper for all the employees." Ed did leave Borden's, however, and became a janitor at the school in his local community at the Wauzeka-Steuben School District. Ed took care of the downstairs elementary area... sweeping, washing off the chalkboards, emptying trash baskets and burning it, etc. He and his co-worker Ed Warczak also took care of firing the coal furnace in the cold winter. It's a dirty job, but somebody had to do it. A carload - we aren't talking automobile here, either - would last a season. Ed worked at Wauzeka-Steuben School District 10-12 years. When asked his favorite memory he replied, "When I quit." S'cuse me? "Retired." Gotcha! Along the way Ed married Vi Hurda on July 13, 1935 in the beautiful quaint city of Galena, Illinois. Six wonderful children were blessed to them. One son and daughter-in-law lives in the village and keeps a close watch over his folks (with the help of his wonderful family, of course). After retiring, Ed went ginseng hunting and gardened but he said he "likes to stay home." When asked what his plans for the next 100 years are he replied. "Take it the way it comes. I've got a decent home, great wife. What more do I want?" Words to live by for all, Ed. Congratulations and best wishes from all your friends and neighbors in Wauzeka. Happy 100!