On April 10, 2011, a tornado swept through the Merrill, Argonne, Newald and Armstrong Creek areas. Several days later, a town of Argonne employee found a sign at the Argonne cemetery that read “Russ Davis Wholesale.”
After some research, Rick Peters found out that this sign made its way via the tornado from Merrill to Argonne. As per the conversation on the phone with the company, Russ Davis Wholesale had severe damage to their building.
The sign had been ripped from two 6×6 posts that were secured in the ground and the screws were sucked right through the wood. Strangely, the sign suffered no damage except for the holes that the screws were once located.
Town employees also stated they had found several pieces of industrial roof insulation strewn about as well. A driver for that company came and picked up the sign a few days later. Peters and the Russ Davis company will have a great story to tell about the great flight and finding of a sign from a town 70 miles away for many years to come.
Russ Davis Wholesale manager Mark Maloney reports that the sign is back in Merrill and will grace the business entrance again once new sign posts are in place.