Giveaway in August!

Weller's is having a great giveaway in August! There will be more than one package to choose from and there may be more than one winner. It all depends on how many followers there are at the time of the drawing!

Stay tuned for more details!

What Happened to the Ting!?!

Sadly, Ting is no longer being bottled in New London. We got the word that the current bottler will no longer be making Ting Soda. To commemorate the sad occasion Bob Weller (AKA The Mayor) treated some special customers to the very last bottle of Ting.





The good news is that someone purchased the recipe for Ting and is exploring the possibility of resurrecting it. Since bottles are scarce, it may be in the form of soda fountain style Ting sometime in the future. Stay tuned - we'll let you know if The Weller Store will have Ting in the future. We're keeping our fingers crossed!

Catalpa Shade

There are several of these lovely catalpa trees in Rural. Most of them, like the one here in front of the Weller Store, are volunteers from seeds carried by birds and other critters.


The leaves of the catalpa are huge and they open to full size quickly in the spring so they make wonderful shade trees.


The catalpa also has some delicate blossoms - like miniature orchids - that are replaced later in the year by long seed pods.



This tree sits on the lot line between Weller's and the house next door. I park my car on the neighbor's side of the tree in front of what used to be the blacksmith shop. My car stays relatively cool there on a hot, sunny, summer day, though I do occasionally have to wipe a little bird puckie from the windshield or hood of the car. Seems the birds are pretty happy in the shade of the catalpa as well.

'Bout Time!

Where does the time go? Summer is half over already and I'm getting behind on posting pictures.

Here are some visitors who always have a lot of fun at Wellers! Diane Rait and her granddaughter, Kailey, like to spend time shopping together in the store. They have a ball looking at all the vintage items and they always bring home something wonderful.



Here they are trying on hats and they both look gorgeous!


Kailey finally decided on the 1920s cloche pictured in one of the previous posts. (As you can see, she really looked great in all of the hats.)

cfhx9tnikr

Expanded Exhibit at the Rural Historical Society Museum

The Rural Historical Society Museum continues to be open to the public every Wednesday and Sunday from 1 to 3 PM. Docents are available to speak with visitors and answer questions. The Museum shows and tells of the settlement and development of the Village of Rural.


At this time the Museum features an exhibit on Margaret Ashmun, her life and her work. Miss Ashmun is probably the most published author ever to come from the Waupaca area. She has over 24 novels and textbooks to her credit. She was born in the Village of Rural and she used the area as a setting for a number of her novels. Early in her career she was a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The entire Village of Rural is on the National Register of Historic Places and is often cited as one of the few examples of an early Yankee village in the Midwest. One may view photos and learn the history at the Museum and then walk the village streets and see many of the original houses and the bridges over the Crystal River. Guided tours are occasionally possible on request by calling 715-258-0973. Rural is located south of Waupaca just off highway 22 - about 4 miles from highway 10. The Museum is on Main Street.

(Helen Robinson)

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!