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Kozelka's in fine fashion for 75 years in PdC
People in the Prairie du Chien area know that Kozelka's has been a stalwart in the community for quite some time now. Many may not be aware, however, that Kozelka's, which offers the largest selection of clothing in a four-state area, has been making men look dapper for 75 years. Kozelka's Men's Wear and Kozelka's Western and Work Wear, both located at 120 N. Beaumont Road, also are in their third generation of family members on staff and are working on their fourth. Ralph and Albina Kozelka were the original owners of the store and it was this couple who continued to see the store through the changes and expansion from a lean-to on the side of a building through a construction program that made the store the largest men's store in a wide area. Ralph Kozelka and his brother Henry worked together in a blacksmith shop in the 1920s in the 100 block of South Church Street. They removed part of the blacksmith shop and constructed a hardware building in 1927. Henry sold hardware and Ralph sold clothing from the lean-to attached to the hardware building. While in the lean-to, the building was expanded once and the lighting and other features were changed. The first major expansion came in 1952 when the old brewery lot offered a frontage location on Beaumont Road, formerly Church Street. In 1968, the store moved across the street to its present location upon construction of a 130x60-foot building, which expanded the store space 12 times. In 1989, an expansion nearly doubled the size of the building. In 1995, the Kozelka family, brothers Tom and Richard and sister Marie Wall, bought the Spurgeon's building at 214 E. Blackhawk Ave. and opened Kozelka's Western and Work Wear. In 2000, the Kozelka's Western and Work Wear building was sold to the city of Prairie du Chien, which renovated the building into the new City Hall. Kozelka's Western and Work Wear was then moved to the basement of the Kozelka's Mens Wear building at 120 N. Beaumont Road. In the 1970s, Kozelka's was recognized by the Allied Clothiers group for being a member of the million dollar purchase club. Kozelka's has been purchasing from the group since 1935. "We have been a business family," Ralph was quoted in an Oct. 26, 1977, article in the Courier Press marking Kozelka's 50th anniversary. Ralph's brother Henry operated the hardware for many years. Brother Emanuel was in the Kozelka's Shoe Store for 40 years. Their sister Agnes Kucera and her husband operated a meat market in Chicago until retirement, and brother William was in the shoe business for many years until retirement. Present proprietors Tom, Richard and Marie have worked at Kozelka's early on, starting as sales and stock staff. Richard recalled his father Ralph saying, "You're in the seventh grade. You're old enough, you can come down to the store and help." Tom noted that his daughter Lisa Kozelka Dyer has managed the Western Work Wear store since 1996 and his son Gary is the manager of Kozelka's Mens Wear, having started at the store in 1981. Richard's son Randy worked at Kozelka's for many years and then opened Prairie Motor Sports. Marie's sons Ken and Bill Wall worked at Kozelka's before opening their own businesses. Ken and his wife Judy opened Wall Street in 1981 and Wall Street for Children in 1983 in Prairie du Chien. In 1978, Kozelka's bought a store in Dodgeville, which was run by Marie's son Bill Wall. In 1988, the store was sold to Bill and Marie, who run the business as Kozelka-Wall. In following the family tradition, most all of Richard, Tom and Marie's grandchildren have worked at Kozelka's at one time or another, as the fourth generation begins to take a foothold. Tom's daughter Linda Heal works in both stores and Tom's wife Janet is a bookkeeper and salesperson for Kozelka's. Richard's wife Pat is also a salesperson at Kozelka's. Tom and Richard praised Kozelka's many employees. "We have many excellent employees who work hard to help make us successful." said Richard. Among the employees of Kozelka's are Irma Hagensick, a tailor; Ivan Heisz, a tailor, Dorothy Reed, Jamie Hedeman, Lynn Kozelka, Stacy Corlett, Christina Taberman and Tracy Fernette. According to the 1977 article in The Courier Press, the original owner, Ralph Kozelka, reminisced about the old days of the store. Ralph recalled that during the lean-to years of the 1920s and 1930s, the store burned wood and Kozelka's often traded overalls and other clothing for loads of wood. On occasions some food arrived at the store as barter for merchandise, Ralph said. "Our good rural friends appreciated this opportunity not to have to use their very limited cash supply," said Ralph in the 1977 article. "There were some critical years for the area with the Great Depression." In the early days, people had to purchase overalls several sizes larger to allow for shrinkage. Cotton and wools dominated before man-made fibers and natural and man-made blends began to appear. Ironically, Tom and Richard said that after the polyester and synthetic craze of the 70s and 80s, more natural fabrics have come back into fashion. Other fashions that have come and gone include tight-fitting jeans and loose-fitting jeans, narrow lapels and wide lapels, narrow ties and wide ties. At one time, Kozelka's sold spats, which required button hooks so that the men could put them on. They also sold a line of button shoes for men and boys. Shirts had detachable collars. A glance at some Kozelka's advertisements from the 1920s shows that men's work socks sold for 6 cents a pair. Canvas gloves were listed at 7 cents a pair, boy's longies were $1.29, best golf knickers were $ 1.29 and $1.49, men's dress shirts-95 cents, suit with two golf knickers and vest-$6.95, men's heavy 220 weight triple stitched overalls-95 cents, Rockford socks-10 cents, men's suits with the latest styles and all wool-$21.50. Today, Kozelka's Men's Wear continues to offer a full line of men's dress and sports wear, shoes, boots and other apparel upstairs, while the name of the downstairs department, Kozelka's Western and Work Wear is self explanatory. As for the immediate future, Tom and Richard said that Kozelka's will be having a sale in commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the business. The sale will be held from Oct. 24 through Nov. 3. In considering what the upcoming years hold for Kozelka's, Richard, Tom and Marie said that they may retire, but not completely. "We'll always hang around," Tom said. Tom, Richard and Marie said that they also see Men's Wear manager Gary as owner sometime in the future. "We will always continue our friendly service to the area and to all of our customers," Richard said.

New book by local author features history of rural Crawford Schools
Ethel Lorenz of rural Crawford County, along with Illene Mullikin of Wauzeka and the late Marie Doll Wagner, have "created something that will help keep memories of rural schools alive." The 490-page book "Rural Schools of Crawford County" contains information on the more than 110 rural schools which existed at one time or another in our county. For Lorenz, the years of research were a labor of love. "It's my hobby, I love just love history," she said. "As far I am concerned, history was the only subject worth anything," said Lorenz. "While working on this project I had the chance to meet so many beautiful people I wouldn't have meet otherwise in my Ôold age.'" Wagner started the book in 1992, working with Mullikin. After Wagner passed away in 1995, Mullikin lost her heart for the project. Lorenz took over in 1996. Lorenz added to the work Wagner and Mullikin had started and compiled more than 250 pictures along with the history of the schools which may have otherwise been lost. The pictures go way back Ñ for example there is a photo from the 1891 at the Hazen School. There were 64 students at that one-room school house. All but three students in the photo are identified. Lorenz said many of the records compiled were from the rural school board's treasurer books. She says with disgust that the books were supposed to be passed on to the consolidated school districts, but in some cases the history was just "thrown away." The Lower Wisconsin Research and Geneo-logical Research Center, located in Century Hall in Wauzeka, is selling the books. The Center is open every Saturday (except holidays) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For book orders which can be picked up or delivered locally, call Ethel Lorenz at (608)326-8105 for more information. For information on mail orders, call Pat Wachuta at (608)326-2509. The book is dedicated to the memory of Marie Doll Wagner.

PdC School Board approves budget, tax rate to decrease
The Prairie du Chien School Board unanimously approved a budget of $10.5 million for the 2002-2003 school year at its annual budget hearing Monday night. Prairie du Chien School District residents will help support the budget with a tax levy of $3.7 million, an increase of 4.47 percent over the tax levy of 2001-2002. The property tax rate for school purposes will be $10.43 per $1,000 of equalized valuation. The tax rate is a decrease from the $10.62 of 2001-2002. The 2002-2003 tax rate means that persons owning a home valued at $100,000 would pay $1,043 in property tax for school purposes, a decrease of $18.85 from a year ago. At the regular school board meeting following the budget hearing Monday night, the board voted 6-1 to approve the second reading of the board policy concerning parents' rights and district programs and activities to comply with the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001." Board member Brian Edwards voted against the measure, having voiced his objection to the wording of the policy concerning school surveys of students. In other business, Superintendent Jim O'Meara informed the board that a Perfect Perkins Performance Award had been given to the district by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. O'Meara said that Bob Matejka, who was the district's Perkins Director, deserves all the credit for the award, which is bestowed when all of the time lines and reports about the vocational educational programs are adhered to perfectly. In further business, the board accepted a three-year contract for all non-certified staff at the district. The non-certified staff will receive a 25-cent per hour raise in each of the three years of the contract.

Helping hands Equine massage therapist applies finishing touches
When thinking of sports massage therapy, the picture that comes to mind is of a grumpy old trainer massaging an athlete, such as a professional football player in preparation for the next game. A Prairie du Chien area woman, however, presents quite a different view of a sports massage therapist. Julie Winkers is neither old nor grumpy and massages finely tuned athletes that are far bigger than any football player. As a certified equine sports massage therapist for the past three years, Winkers has massaged the tender and sore muscles of hard-working horses from throughout a four-state region including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. Working closely with veterinarians and equine chiropractors, Winkers receives many referrals for her business "The Finishing Touches," 14911 Winkers Lane, Woodman. "Sixty percent of the body weight of a horse is muscle," said Winkers. "Massaging increases muscle tone, range of motion and blood flow." The tender, yet sometimes forceful touch of Winker's hands also reduces muscle inflammation and alleviates pain. When an owner sees a change in their horse, such as not bending or turning properly, or throwing its head, the horse should probably get a massage from a certified therapist, Winkers said. Winkers starts the massage gently and gradually works more forcefully to get deeper into the underlying muscle tissues. In addition to relieving pain, a proper equine massage helps keep the horse's muscles relaxed and ready for work, said Winkers, who along with her husband Scott and their children Weston, 12, and Leah, 7, keep their six quarterhorses in tip top condition. "All of our horses are fine-tuned machines," she said. "I give them the best of care." The Winkers' are a rodeo family and their horses all earn their keep. Weston and Leah compete in Little Britches rodeos, Scott qualified for a final in team roping this year and Julie qualified for two finals in barrel racing. The Winkers' are sponsored by CR Quarter-horses of Prairie du Chien. "We work and play at the same time," said Julie in describing the Winkers' family lifestyle. In fact, Winkers has many contacts through the rodeos she attends and often performs massage therapy on other people's horses while at the rodeo. In addition to performing at rodeos, some of the Winkers' family horses are used during big game hunting trips up into such places as the Rocky Mountains or the Bighorn Mountains. In working as a massage therapist, Winkers either travels to her clientsÕ farm or they come to her residence. "I like it," she said of her massage work. "Horses react differently to it, depending upon how much pain they're in and how long the condition has existed." Massage therapy is one aspect of horse care and Winkers is a strong advocate of overall health care for horses, including proper veterinary care, chiropractic care, good nutrition, hoof care, conditioning, tooth care and vaccines. Winkers, who has been involved with horses all of her life, completed a course in equine massage in Round Hill, Virginia three years ago to gain her certification. She has been an equine sports massage therapist ever since. In addition to massage therapy and barrel racing, she gives informational seminars on massage therapy to interested groups and organizations. Winkers also works part time at Southwest Veterinary Services in Prairie du Chien.For more information about The Finishing Touches or about massage therapy seminars, Winkers can be contacted by phone or fax at (608) 988-4315.

Biologists testing for carp virus in Pool 10
A significant number of dead carp have been observed in areas of the Mississippi River and Fisheries Biologists are concerned that the cause may be what is commonly called the carp virus. The killing off of carp would seem a good thing to most people, but biologists are concerned that the carp virus, (Spring Viremia of Carp), could spread to other species of fish. Pat Short, Wisconsin DNR fisheries biologist for pools 9-12, said that he and a crew of fish technicians will be shocking and collecting carp from Pool 10 in the upcoming days to determine how prevalent the carp virus is in Pool 10. Sue Marquenski, a DNR fish health specialist based in Madison, said that carp from Pool 10 will be tested to determine if carp have the virus or if antibodies to fight the virus are present in their system. Marquenski said that carp in pools 4-11 will be tested. Until recently, the carp virus was not present in the United States, but was found in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Marquenski said, however, that in April the virus was discovered at a fish farm in North Carolina. Marquenski said that the fish farm raised and sold Koi Fish, which is a fancy goldfish type of carp that people often put in their backyard ponds. These Koi Fish had the virus and the virus spread to the wild carp population through the water. "The virus is water transmitted and viable up to three weeks," said fisheries biologist Pat Short. In April, the carp virus showed up in Cedar Lake, a large lake in Polk County, Wisconsin. Marquenski said that the virus was apparently transmitted to Cedar Lake after a person put infected Koi Fish in their backyard pond. The virus then flowed from the pond through a stream and into the lake. Marquenski said that Cedar Lake experienced a large carp kill in April and May. Cedar Lake is connected to the Mississippi River via the St. Croix River. In June, a significant number of dead carp were observed in Pool 4 of the Mississippi River, Marquenski said. It is unknown whether the carp kill in Pool 4 is a result of the carp virus or some other factor. Marquenski said that the virus is so new to the United States that no adequate sample of carp has been tested. Marquenski said that the carp virus is not a health risk to humans. "The virus can not be transmitted to humans. It is a fish virus," she said. Marquenski said that while there are no labs set up in the United States yet by which to test the fish, samples are being sent to a lab in England, which has been dealing with the problem for a longer period of time. Biologists are also working with the United States Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection to get the records from the fish farm from which the Koi Fish were distributed. It is believed, however, that the Koi Fish have been distributed to all 48 of the lower states, Marquenski said. Marquenski said that the main level of ecosystem concern right now is for minnows. She said that in the lab setting Northern Pike fry have proven to be susceptible to the carp virus. Biologists and fish health specialists are concerned that the virus may also be able to infect many types of minnows. If a large minnow kill were to occur, the food chain for almost all fish species would be disrupted. "As big as they get, carp are minnows," Marquenski said. "We are concerned that the virus could spread to fathead minnows and other types of minnows.