The heart of a helper

“Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

This quote comes from the late Mister Rogers, who once shared that his mother would tell him this as a boy if he became frightened by what he saw on the news. All things considered, these words of wisdom couldn’t come at a better time.

This Memorial Day, the City of Oconto Falls will host a parade in honor of some of our nation’s greatest helpers — the men and women who died in active military service, making the ultimate sacrifice for their country. The Grand Marshal of this year’s parade, Barb Salscheider, will remind you those men and women are what this day is truly about. However, despite her desire to shy away from all this attention, this story is about her and the helper she is and always has been for her community.

Salscheider’s life in Oconto Falls began in 1976 when she and her late husband, John, and their two young children purchased what is today known as Salscheider’s Antique Bar — a cornerstone of the city’s Main Street.

“The big rumor in town was that we would never make it because we were too young,” she recalls. “We started our cash register with the $50 we had left after paying our bills.”

Through hard work and some hard times juggling a bar and a growing family, the couple continued to prove those rumors wrong. Over the years, the Salscheiders not only built a solid foundation for a business, they cultivated a community and lifelong friendships at “The Antique.”

“It’s like ‘Cheers’ here,” says Salscheider. “Everybody knows your name. It may be a bar and a liquor store, but it’s also a source of community.”

As the couple served up drinks and their famous hot-buttered popcorn over the years, they also provided their customers an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on and, in many cases, money or groceries to help those struggling to pay the bills or put food on the table. In some cases, the Salscheiders were the only family their customers had. With tears in her eyes, Salscheider recalls a memory of one their most regular customers.

“He couldn’t travel well,” she says. “He had never been able to make it to Green Bay to visit his mother’s gravestone, and that was very difficult for him. So, John and I traveled to Green Bay, purchased a wreath and laid it at his mom’s gravestone. We took a picture of it and then presented it to him at Christmas. It allowed him to finally be able to see his mom’s gravestone before he died, and we knew how touching it was for him.”

Sadly, John Salscheider has also since passed away, losing a battle to cancer in 2016. He served the Oconto Falls Fire Department for 35 years, and his wife is a devoted member of the Friends of the Oconto Falls Fire Department, which raises funds for new equipment for the department. Despite her husband’s passing nearly five years ago, Salscheider still has his fire radio and scanner plugged in her kitchen. Her ear is tuned to every squawk it makes.

“That way, if I hear there is a big fire, I can quickly get some food and refreshments together to bring to the fire station, so the crew has something to eat when they get back,” she says.

Since John’s passing, and despite this devastating loss to her and her family, Salscheider has continued to successfully run the bar. While her business is tending bar, her biggest passion continues to be tending to her community. Three years ago, she used her own money to launch a grassroots effort to revamp the city’s aging Main Street.

“I sent a letter to all of my fellow business owners on Main Street, and we met at the library and discussed all the improvements we wanted to see,” she says. “We want to bring some life and put some color back into our Main Street.”

In the last three years, and thanks to additional donations from the community, Oconto Falls’ Main Street is well on its way to the revitalization that Salscheider, local business owners and community members want to see. Old buildings are getting new fronts and fresh coats of paint, flower beds and pots are being planted, and the color is coming back, too.

Recently, Salscheider commissioned a local artist to paint a mural of the city’s dam and falls on the side of one Main Street business. A “Welcome to Oconto Falls” mural is planned for another Main Street business soon. Salscheider is also rolling up her own sleeves as part of these efforts. She and others spent a weekend removing stubborn, old stone from the façade of a resale shop on Main Street and giving it a new coat of paint.

“I bought a drill hammer from True Value, and we just went at it,” she said. “It took an entire weekend, and I can still hear the rumble of that thing in my ears. But if we were going to do it, we were going to do it right or not at all.”

As Salscheider continues the efforts to revive Main Street, she also continues to make sure other community projects stay afloat. She’s donated countless hours and money in the last several years to bring life back to the city’s annual Memorial Day Parade by hosting float contests and creating a welcoming atmosphere in her bar and on her front yard for parade watchers. She’s also donated countless dollars to local school, sports and community organizations and efforts, such as Music on the River and the Veterans Monument build.

Salscheider is also known for her random acts of kindness. While she tries to keep them under wraps, she’s not always successful at it. Someone recently shared she was the one who sprung for new patio furniture at the local golf course while shopping a clearance sale at the local hardware store. Last spring, when the pandemic hit, she spent hours making handwritten thank you posters and anonymously posted them outside nearly every business in the city — including the hospital and grocery store. It didn’t take long for the community to figure out who the culprit was, and it even captured the attention of local news.

“You have to give back to your community. If they give to you, you need to give back if you’re fortunate to do so,” she says, while also explaining how grateful she is to her customers who have helped her to support her own family over the years.

Salscheider learned the importance of giving back at an early age, when her mom and dad with 12 children of their own would pack up extra clothing and food and deliver it to families in need near the Bay of Green Bay. Today, she continues to pass along this important lesson to her own children — Bret (Brenda)

Salscheider, Stephanie (Steve) Kurek, John (Rebecca) Salscheider and Joe (Morgan) Salscheider, and her eight grandchildren: Lily (16), Kaitlyn (12), Emma (9), Mattek (9), Ava (13), Maya (8), Axel (4) and Joseph (1½ mos.).

Several years ago, Salscheider’s daughter, Stephanie, interviewed her as part of a school assignment. She asked her mom, “What is the best advice you can pass down to others?”

“Be honest, caring, have fun, be thoughtful, loving and hardworking – and look people in the eyes when you talk to them,” Salscheider had replied.

These are words of wisdom and lessons we can all take from Barb Salscheider who, in the best of times and even the worst of times, is a shining example of what Mister Rogers reminds us to look for: “the helpers.”

If you’re planning to attend the Memorial Day parade in Oconto Falls this year, be sure to look for Salscheider and give her a wave or a shout as she makes her way down Main St. and is honored as this year’s Grand Marshall.

Parade starts at 12:30 p.m., folks, and it’s going to be a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

This article was written and submitted by Barb Salscheider’s niece, Angela Deja, a former Oconto Falls resident now living in Green Bay.