Topic: Pulaski and my Add-a-Pearl Necklace Source: Pam Marnocha-Janssen
I was asked to post the text
of the speech I presented at the Opening Ceremony, and so here it is, pretty much in the exact format... the speech represents
but a few of my thoughts, but it also represents the depth of love I have for this community. Pam
Good Evening.
My goodness… what a privilege it is to stand here this evening and share my thoughts on “Pulaski Present.”
Elaine allowed me the space to talk about whatever that means to me. That was pretty risky…
In putting together
those things that came to mind, it soon became obvious that the ‘present’ to which I was drawn could easily be
understood with another meaning… Pulaski Present is a present, a gift.
Many years ago, my parents gave me an add-a-pearl necklace as a gift. Each year they continue to add the gift of an
additional pearl, usually at Christmas. Now, I really don’t think you’re all that interested in a story about
my necklace… I just wanted to have a smooth little segue!
You see, the many people who have touched my life, all of our lives, in the village are like those pearls, strung together
to form one necklace. Tonight I would like to share just a few of my
pearls… I would love to, but I can’t possibly tell a story about all of you in one evening… perhaps my
words will help you remember the luster of your own pearls.
One of the earliest memories from my childhood comes
from a time when my family lived on the ‘main drag’… highway 32, in town. After supper, it wasn’t
unusual for me to sneak across that fairly busy street to climb the white fence at what we all called the monastery. The friars
would be out, walking quietly, and I would scale that fence and they would smile… and I would smile… and then
my dad would come and paddle my behind for crossing the road. So much for smiling! I’ve been told that the Franciscans
regularly gave blood for my grandfather’s life-giving transfusions. I also know enough history to understand that the
village is a better place because men like Fr. Fulgence and Fr. Francis, among others, were active in the community. The gentle
spirit of Francis of Assisi has touched thousands of people in area parishes and the local community through the friars, who
have been present among us as long as we’ve been a village, and are here still. Add-a-Pearl
Pulaski
is home to several medical clinics today. We had access to a different kind of healthcare when I was a kid. I remember exploring
the ruins at the old St. Mary’s School while it was in the process of being razed. I stepped on a rusty nail, which
went right through my rubber flip flops and imbedded itself in my foot. A trip to see Doc Shippy was in order. I still remember
the smell of that inner office, the sound of the needles being boiled … can you imagine, reusable needles… I
also remember Doc Shippy driving me into St. Vincent Hospital for a minor surgical procedure when I was a little girl, when
my dad couldn’t get away from work. And when we were kids, Mrs. Shippy regularly invited us to play with her grandchildren
when they came for a visit… we spent a lot of time in the ‘little park’ which today bears his name, Shippy
Park. I think Doc would have enjoyed the Armed Forces Band playing in that park last year during the Polka Days Craft Sale. Add-a-pearl
And speaking of parks… Who doesn’t
remember playing softball or baseball at the ‘Big Park’ and then hanging your baseball glove on your bicycle handlebars
and racing off to Vanniewenhoven’s root beer stand… Today the kids and their families still go to the ballpark
and the DQ. How about heading over to the Cue Ball as a teenager… the sound of pinball machines, the jukebox, ordering
fries and a coke from Joan Nachtwey… making sure you didn’t do anything that would make Ralph scold you. I don’t
remember ever seeing Ralph yell at anyone, but his silent gaze kept most of us under control. Today we have a newly opened
teen center. Do you remember walking downtown and visiting Bonnin’s, the Dime Store, Wielgus’ or Segall’s,
and then stopping at Prokash’ for a malt… the sound of bowling balls bouncing off the wooden lanes… and
if you stood outside, you could hear the pins rolling around. Even now, on a hot summer night, you can hear the mechanical
pinsetters stirring the pins for their resets. And who could forget Bernie and Rachel Karcz’ Christmas spreads for the
bowling leagues, complete with cannibal sandwiches. The bowling alley continues to provide a place for a little friendly competition
among neighbors. Add-a-pearl
Pulaski has always strongly supported youth involvement in sports… from
the smallest tykes, PYO, middle school, high school sports. John Storzer, Fred Kestly, Doug McDermid, Jim Ritchie…
some of the many men who laid the foundation for today… But I am of the opposite sex… and I am especially proud
to put Janet Banaszynski’s name alongside their names. Janet went around and asked local business people for the small
amount of money she needed to start and maintain a girls’ softball league. Janet took us girls and introduced us to
sports… years before Title IX. Barney and Ethel Banaszynski watched all the neighborhood kids play tag football in
the field next to their house, the Schroeders, the Borowski and Krawczyk kids – by the watertower – and Robert
and Anna Riordan sponsored a tag football game in their side lot for the neighborhood boys, Danny and Phylis Mroczynski’s
boys and Jimmy Krawczyk among others, every fall… and made sure to invite the girls to referee (I got to be the head
referee because I was the oldest… and certainly the bossiest)… all this followed by hot chocolate and hotdogs in their home. They were such gracious hosts. Add-a-pearl
Pulaski News, Kathy
Gerds and her staff, Jacqui Banaszynski… our own Pulitzer Prize winning writer (and one of those tag football kids)… Church picnics and weddings and dances at the Swamps…
Polka Days… Dick Rodgers and Alvin Styczynski, and all those Maroszek Brothers and the New Generation right
down to the latest little ones, including Tammy and Bruce’s boys… Rodeos, antique car shows, tractor pulls, village-wide rummage sales, parades Add-a-pearl
Andrzejek’s
and penny candy, where you went with your dime and took forever to choose your flying saucers, or candy necklaces, or snaps,
or… Christine waiting for us to finish dilly-dallying around so she could go back behind the curtain and into her house. Wendzikowski Brothers Meat Market and homemade Polish Sausage… as Rachael Ray would say… YUMMO! Wojcik Plumbing… Alice answering the phone and always ready to chat,
memories of Howard asking you for a screwdriver, or a rag, or an extra hand, or for one of those fresh-baked cookies he spotted
on your kitchen countertop. Mark Wojcik, who spent countless hours at the ballpark and always smiled and gave you a little
wave when you said… Hi Mark. And talk about the biggest fans at the ball park… here’s to you, Marian and
Ray and Kathy Rybicki! If you played ball for Pulaski, you could count on them to be there cheering you on. Add-a-pearl
The sounds of summer nights… lawn mowers droning, the soft grind of tractors plowing fields on the edge
of town, the feint words of the announcers at Memorial Field carried
on the night air… young parents with strollers, kids on bikes, people walking dogs… the band practicing
their marching on the backstreets, kids circling them on their bicycles, parents and grandparents sitting on lawn chairs
and enjoying this small piece of Americana. Norman Rockwell is alive
and well in Pulaski… our kids even traveled to the streets of New York and LA, marching in parades with national exposure.
They came home from college last fall and took the stage with other high school band members, playing favorites in a tribute
to one of their own, Josh Styczynski, gone from us too soon. You make us proud. Add-a-pearl
I remember exactly
where I was sitting in my 3rd grade classroom at ABVM when the announcement came over the loudspeakers that President John
F. Kennedy had been shot. I remember where I was standing at work, when my sister Mickey arrived at the office, crying and
confused, telling me to turn on the tv because she had heard about airplanes crashing in New York and Washington on her drive
into work. I remember praying and mourning with the people of this community and finding strength and comfort in that. I remember
being in a hotel room in Denver, Colorado where I was attending a meeting in 1988, turning on the television, stunned to see
Pulaski Wisconsin tragically in the news. And all I wanted to do was come home. This is home. Add-a-pearl
And
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the tremendous role of those who have worked in law enforcement, or volunteered
on our rescue squads and our fire department…. Clarence Kryger
tapping on the car window to see which kids were smooching on the street in front of Mike and Gretchen Marnocha’s house…
oops…
I remember how life was in our family when my dad had the ambulance… and who will forget Angie
Borowski and the many others who contributed for most of their adult lives to emergency care for their neighbors and friends…
always ready to answer the call for help.
The fire department, with the siren wailing in the village before the
days of pagers: it’s up-and-down pitch interrupting work, dinner,
family time, sleep…
Bright Red Trucks carrying water and equipment and the precious cargo of our volunteer
firefighters…
Carrying our high school students proudly through the streets, sirens blaring, on their way
to State tournament competitions, people coming out their front doors to cheer them on…
Carrying their beloved
fire chief, Frank Wichlacz… through a village whose streets were lined with townsfolk… waiting in lawn chairs…
people with tears in their eyes… who stood up and removed their
caps, put their hands over their hearts, saluted, politely applauded, as his body was carried on the antique fire truck he
restored. Add-a-pearl… add a great-big pearl…
As I put my thoughts on paper I noticed that every
pearl involved people. Streets and sidewalks are nice, government buildings and school buildings are functional and state
of the art, our churches and businesses are welcoming and well-equipped… but…
What makes Pulaski
Present are those who have walked before us and those who walk with us now… and will walk Pulaski into the future,
who form us into who we are by adding their pearl to the string of our lives. People are the pearls of our community.
To paraphrase the Christian scriptures, if I may… the village
of Pulaski is like a merchant searching for pearls. When he (or she) finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all in
order to buy it.
This is home… it is an add-a-pearl necklace
wrapped around our hearts strung with so many wonderful pearls!
Happy Centennial, Pulaski!
Topic: John J. Hoff Instumental in the Settlement of the Pulaski Area Source: Father Constantine
Klukowski and minutes from library notes, May 1949
The Village of Pulaski was named after General Casmir
Pulaski, the great freedom fighter if Europe and an American Revolution War hero. In Poland, he fought the Russians
from 1770-1772.
The history of Pulaski focuses around the efforts of one man, John J. Hoff, a land agent from Milwaukee.
Mr. Hoff was born in Norway around 1846 and came to Milwaukee as a teenager. Around 1880, Mr. Hoff was engaged by the
Agrarian Company of Milwaukee to settle the territory of 250-300 square miles between Green Bay and Oconto, lying in a northwesterly
direction along the Green Bay waters. The usual price for land was $15 per acre, of which one dollar went to the agent
to pay his commission. In 1880, Hoff attempted to bring Norwegian immigrants into the townships around what became known
as Hofa Park. Failing at that, he approached the Polish immigrants in Milwaukee. He suceeded in bringing the Valentine
Peplinski, Valentine Zygmanski, Michael and Frank Lepak families.
With Hoff's encouragement, immigrants first
arrived in 1881. John Boncel set up a store and hotel. Valentine Peplinski moved his hardware store here.
By 1885, there were 35 families in the area.
Hoff donated 120 acres of land to the Franciscan Fathers under the
leadership of Brother Augustine Zeitz. By 1886 the first Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church and monastery
were completed. The present church building was completed in 1929.
John J. Hoff also brought settlers to
the Krakow and Sobieski areas. Sobieski was situated on the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul railroad and had a settlement
earlier than 1885. In all of these settlements, Hoff was helpful to the the settlers by donating land and lumber for churches
and schools, providing staple food supplies, and bringing in farm machinery and other materials.
The Village of
Pulaski was incorporated as a village in the State of Wisconsin on April 9, 1910, due chiefly to the effort of John A. Peplinski,
Louis Prokopovitz, August O'Kray and the Rev. Francis Manel, O.F.M. The Village then numbered nearly 500 families.
Since 1910, Pulaski has grown considerably in both population and businesses. Much credit must be given to the
efforts of those first determined settlers who founded the community of Pulaski.
Topic: Krakow Dates Back to the
Late 1800's Source: Tracy Mihalski
The town of Krakow, located six miles north of Pulaski,
dates back to the late 1800's.
Originally Krakow, as well as most northern Wisconsin, consisted of dense pine
and hardwood forests. This area was of prime importance for its timber and attracted various logging companies to establish
sawmills in the vicinity.
The Pensaukee Logging Company cut pine in the Krakow area and floated the logs down the
Pensaukee River, sout of Oconto. However, much of the hardwood remained until a land agent, John J. Hoff, purchased
some forest land in Krakow. Hoff's goal was to establish a predominitely Polish colony. Advertising for land
sales in this region showed rich opportunities. Hoff printed special circulars, books and maps which told of various
transportation facilities and options, churches, schools, stores and markets in the region. Hoff sold 40 to 80 acres
at a time for $10 to $15 per acre.
Hoff eventually encourages the start of business and trade outlets in Krakow.
Hoff offered two or three lots at no cost to the Theophil Krygier family to build the first store in Krakow about 1895.
Soon after that, Charlie Rice opened a general store. The first blacksmith in Krakow was John Hernet from Hoff Park.
The first local sawmill was built by Henry Pieczynksi Baker and August and John Forman. Supplies for the stores
in town were hauled by oxen and horse wagon loads from Green Bay, which took two days. Mail was carried to and from
Pulaski on foot three times per week. The first post office was located on the Stanley Krygier Store.
Krakow
settlers lived off of wild game and had no access to markets. Two-year old steers were walked to a Seymour market, the
closest place for such a sale.
Hoff generously fulfilled his promise to provide for schools and churches.
He donated land, timber and money to establish churches in Hofa Park, Sobieski and Krakow. Hoff helped people who lost
their homes from forest fires and waited tolerantly for land owners to pay their land fees, often canceling the interest.
The earliest known family to settle in the Krakow area was Frank Issac (Elzikis) family. They cleared the first
acreage in the vicinity directly east of Krakow in 1887. Other early arrivals included the William Grych family, Charles
and Joseph Rice and the Brokiewicz families. Gradually, the area became tamed by more Lithuanian people and of Polish
descent.
Families immigrated from Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and the cities of Milwaukee
and Chicago to Krakow. While most traveled ty train to Sobieski, some arrived by covered wagon.
There were
no roads to Krakow at this time, only paths and trails. Money was scarce and difficult to earn. The sawmill wage
was 15 cents per day. The breadwinners of the family left for the cities, lumber camps and mines in Illinois and Pennsylvania
to earn money.
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