CLUB NOTES: Suring Area Historical Society

The Suring Area Historical Society held its Nov. 15 meeting at the Suring Village Hall meeting room. The meeting was called to order by president Adelaide Boettcher. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by the 12 members and guests present. The secretary and treasurer reports were approved as read. Balance in the account is $84,764.47.

Our bake sale at the SAHS Craft Sale went well, profit being $373.39. Rick Zill is working on the train room at the museum, which is coming along quite well.

The new binders of the past calendars are put together and are being sold for $25 each. The SAHS Spring Breakfast is set for April 23 at St. John Lutheran Church in Hayes with the St. John Ladies serving along with assistance of the Northern Riders youth. Letters will go out in early March or the end of February.

Duane Wardecke and Rick Zill are in charge of putting the Christmas display up at the Riverside Park in Suring. Dec. 7 at 10 a.m. is the date and time set to put up the Christmas display at the museum.

The village informed us that they will be asking for a $20 fee for the use of the meeting room for our SAHS meetings, a discounted price if we setup a yearly schedule and pay for the year. We will not have a December meeting due to the busy holidays. Our April, June, August, September and October board meetings will be held at the museum.

A reminder that the 2023 membership dues are due now, $10 per person or $25 for family. We are looking for speakers for February and April with a suggestion to get a speaker to give us information on making honey or maple syrup.

Bob and Pat Broetzman are working at putting a railroad mural on the east side of the museum. We thank them for their efforts. It would be a great addition to our museum.

We ask our members to give some thought on picking dates when you can help out at the museum and fundraisers throughout the year.

Election of officers was held with Adelaide Boettcher being named president, Shannon Stoner as interim computer tech, Jay Merline as vice president, Ruben Rakow as treasurer, Helen Heimerl as secretary and Duane Wardecke as historian. Elected to the board are Candie Lehto, Cris Miller and Ethel Firgens. Diane Schuettpelz is our website person; website is suringmuseumandhistory.com.

Our speaker for the evening was Larry McGray from Larry McGray Antique Auto in Lena. Larry was very interested in doing Models at the young age of 8. At age 12, he learned to drive tractor, and then he got the keys to a Model A Coupe and learned to drive in the 10-acre field. He built a cabin on White Lake in 1969 and then came to Suring for buying all his toys.

Union Hardware had the supplies he needed. Gehling Standard Gas Station and Suring Coop were just a few places that he supported in Suring during his early memories. Larry rebuilt his grandfather’s 1922 Ford Model T. He was always looking for a job at a young age, and finally a neighbor in Sheboygan offered him a job. He enjoyed working in the blacksmith shop. He learned by experience because his boss would not tell him how he did things.

Larry has fixed Suring’s old fire truck, which has been in the Suring Parade. Some of Larry’s pride cars were a 1941 Pontiac, 1929 Nash, 1940 Mercury and 1951 Plymouth. It took Larry two years to restore a totally rusty 1960 Pontiac.

Larry says, “If you can’t afford it, Don’t ask for price.”

The next meeting is Jan. 17, 2023.

— Helen Heimerl

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