Researched by Michael J. Caylor Jr
12-22-76
With this being the last paper before Christmas, the news is short but the Christmas wishes are plenty. In news briefs: Pat Bucket Realty is announcing the latest business transfer in Merrill as Arnold’s Restaurant, formerly the Pink Top, will soon be opening in the mid-city area. Alice Krueger is the manager/operator. Three Merrill Youths will not get credit for being entrepreneurs, but instead they received a Christmas referral to local juvenile court worker Wayne Zimmerman. It seems the trio went around to homes in Merrill and stole eight Christmas wreaths. They then went to a different neighborhood and went door to door trying to sell the wreaths to unsuspecting residents for $1.50 apiece. When the local police caught up with the group they were able to find their customers who gladly gave the wreaths back to the rightful owners. And it appears that the Texas man who is wanted for two counts of murder in his home state will be eating local ham come Christmas. Judge Donald Schnabel granted a stay of the extradition after the suspect’s attorney told the judge he wished to appeal the extradition to the State Supreme Court. The Merrill Firefighters Union is requesting to go to arbitration. Sticking points in their contract include scheduling, holiday pay, and wage procedures.
Do you have to feed the family? If so here is what the supermarkets have going in this week’s paper: At Drew’s – hams are $1.19 a pound while turkeys are .69 and ducks are .79 while three loaves of bread are $1, a six pack of Old Style is $1.29, an eight pack of Pepsi bottles is $1, potato chips are .55 per box, 10 pounds of potatoes are .79, and a three pound box of chocolates is $3. If you don’t want to put on the ritz a packet of hot dogs is .79. At Dave’s Red Owl: ducks are .99, five pound canned hams are $7.49, one pound of butter is $1, 10 pound of sugar is $1.89, a carton of egg nog is .69, and if you want to go on the frugal side Totino’s Pizzas are .69 apiece. At Carl’s Foodlane smoked hams are .79 a pound, Tom turkeys are .49 per pound, and rib roast is $1.39 per pound. You can get three cans of pumpkin for .89 or make your own fruit basket as all large fruits are eight for $1, and yams are .49 a can. At Bob’s Food King, hams range from .79 to .99 per pound, a one pound package of shrimp is $1.99, round steak is $1.09, chicken legs are .49 while breasts are at .53 per pound. You can get three cans of orange juice for $1, three cans of veggies for .85, and cranberry sauce is three cans for $1. Want to keep down costs? Bologna is only .85 per pound.
Christmas greetings from the following merchants: Park City Credit Union and their six employees, Lincoln Realty, Woller & Krueger Realty, Schuze’s Pharmacy, Livingstons Department Store, Reinke Realty, Fair Deal Realty, Gibson’s, Hargrave’s Appliance, Helmstadter Jewelers, Wanless TV & Appliance, SoundNorth, Nelson’s Rexall, Gooze’s Superette, Alvin Jourdan, Home Spun Gifts, Howland’s Ace Hardware, Luebke’s Office Supply, Harold and Marge’s, Schneider Distributing, Taylor Body Shop, Chip’s, Ronis Chevrolet, Lincoln Abstract, Eagle’s Club, Ament & Son’s, Frisch’s Bar, People’s IGA, Schendel’s Dry Goods, Eddie’s Bake Shop, Joe’s Standard, Lincoln Cleaners, The Magic Mirror, Carl’s Liquor, Park City Liquor, Merrill Glass and Paint, The Beauty Nook, Social & Sick, Northern Abstract & Title, Lil’s Toy Kennel, Parmentiers, Lincoln County Bank, Club Modern, S&L Store, Merrill Federal, Gene’s Refrigeration, Northern Auto Supply, Elsie’s Beauty Parlor, Merrill Millwork, Semling-Menke, Fred’s Bait Shop, Campbell’s, The Corner Shop, Irv’s Lincoln Mill, Merrill Fabric Shop, Merrill Equipment, Bill’s Standard Station, Yvonne’s Beauty Salon, Taylor, Schram-Waid & Wistein Funeral Homes, Zettler’s Bakery, Knab Insurance, Willie’s Tire Center, Electrical Wiring and Supply, Prairie Motel, Trantow Building Center. Pat Nugent Photography, Quality Furnace, Martha Schneider’s Bar, Schalow’s Prescription Center, Riverside Club, Green’s Floral Shop, Lincoln Wood, Wire Products, Schulz’s Wrecking, Archie’s West End Service, Mobile Carpet, Bill & Nona’s Sixth Ward Floral, South of the Border, Holy Cross Hospital, Jerry & Diann’s Bar, Robert’s Studio, Gulke’s Plumbing, Robert’s Studio, Bloechl’s Motors, Reinke Buick–Pontiac-GMC, Larry and Donna’s Trophy Bar, A&W Restaurant, Weinbrenner, Grunty’s Bar, Bob and Fran at Lazy J Bar, Taylor Insulation, Knispel & Latizig, Waldburger Furnace Shop, Vic’s Beauty Salon, Queenie’s Pizza, Anne’s Beauty Salon, Shar Way, Belair Machine, M&G Plumbing and Heating, Gene Block Insurance, Miller’s Home Furnishings, Plautz Oil, Larry’s Auto, Merrill Sheet Metal, City Transfer, Seeger’s Dairy, Kermit and Sue at Gleason Bowling Center, The Photo Mill, Thiel’s Book Nook, Lindy’s Clark Super, Bill’s House of Guns, Lee’s Mobil, Double R Realty, Montgomery Ward, Pritzl Printing, Estelle’s House of Fashion, Hull’s Ben Franklin, B&D Motors, Merrill House of Music, Gambles, and Caylor’s Corners.
12-22-86
A group effort by Holy Cross Hospital, Memorial Hospital of Taylor County, and Wausau Hospital will bring CT imaging to Merrill. The three hospitals have formed a joint venture to lease and operate a mobile CT scanner which will travel between the hospitals beginning this February. This will allow patients to have CT scanning done locally instead of having to travel to distant hospitals. Holy Cross Hospital plans on adding on one full time position as a result of this initiative.
Area educator Kathy Colclasure has insured she will have many children under her watch, children of educated mothers that is. Colclasure was the driving force of a new cooperative program between Merrill Senior High School and North Central Technical College which will allow young mothers to continue their education while free child care is provided for their babies. Colclasure notes this is the first such program in the state. The program will be presented at educational gatherings in Milwaukee next month and San Francisco in April.
12-23-96
After a near fatal fire last month, Lisa Standing has a column recognizing what was once one of the most recognized landmarks on the west side, Fleischfresser store in the 400 block of Grand Avenue. Albert Fleischfresser immigrated from Germany in the 1890s and opened the store front which at one time held a general store, hotel, hot baths, and barber shop. A family owned blacksmith shop was on the same block and Bertha Fleischfresser ran a restaurant next door. The hotel at one time held 20 lodging rooms which were considered some of the finest in the city. The barber shop had three seats with little waiting and plenty of gossip to share, the farmers sold off their goods out front and then came into the general store with cash to spend, and by 1893 the Fleischfresser Saloon was one of the 50 saloons which helped the 8,230 population of Jenny wet their whistle. (At one time one of the largest businesses of the west side, I wonder if anyone at your Christmas gathering in Merrill will even know what a Fleischfresser is?)
Merry Christmas good readers from the Caylor’s!