An Artistic View

This photo was taken earlier this spring and Photoshopped by Michael Sprincis of Iola. Thanks for sharing, Michael!!

Margaret Ashmun Day and Sundaes on Saturday in Rural

Margaret Ashmun Day and Sundaes on Saturday will be held on Saturday, June 18, in Rural.

Strawberry sundaes will be sold from noon to 4 p.m. at the Rural Historical Society's museum on Main Street.

At 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Connie Haack Hurlbut, a professor at Mid-State Technical College, will talk about Ashmun's legacy.

Ashmun was a Rural resident who in the early 1900s wrote novels, several of which centered around her life in Rural.

The Village of Rural is located about five miles south of Waupaca, off State Highway 22.

(from the Waupaca County Post)

Meda J. Radley

Long time Rural resident, Meda J. Radley, 94, Waupaca, passed away on Thursday March 3, 2011. Meda was born on July 7, 1916, in Kansas, the daughter of William and Hansena (Olson) Anderson. Meda moved to Rural in January of 1936 to work.

Meda married the late Forrest Radley on Oct. 24, 1936. She was a cook in the school lunch program at Golden Hill School in Rural, where she and a friend pioneered the program there. She was a longtime member of Trinity Lutheran Church, Ruth circle, Mission Worker, the Gorgonas Club of Rural, of which she had served as president, Rural Cemetery Association, of which she was secretary for 25 years, and a charter member of the Rural Historical Society.

Meda lived in Rural all her married life except for one year. She enjoyed gardening and maintained a large flowerbed each year to share some of God's beauty with others.

Meda is survived by two sons, Richard (Ellen) Radley, Greenville, Wis.; and Paul (Connie) Radley, Waupaca, Wis.; four grandchildren, Michael (Joni) Radley, Waupaca, Wis.; David (Carolyn) Radley, Appleton, Wis.; Steven Radley, Orlando, Fla.; and Jennifer (Michael) Grant, Waupaca, Wis.; six great-grandchildren, Alana Radley, Aavery Grant, Alyssa Grant, Taylor Radley, Forrest Radley and Connor Radley; three step-great-grandchildren, Ashley Lowe, Jared Creaser and Ashley Creaser; two brothers, Carl Anderson and Glenn Anderson; one sister, Ruth Iversen; very dear friends, Monte and Debra McCormick; many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

Meda was preceded in death by her parents, William and Hansena Anderson; her husband, Forrest Radley; one brother, William Anderson; and one sister, Violet Handschke.

A funeral service will be held on Tuesday at 12 Noon at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Waupaca. Pastor Jennifer DeNetz and Chaplain Wayne Schwanke will officiate. Burial will at the Rural Cemetery in the spring. A visitation will be held on Tuesday from 10 a.m. until the time of the service at 12 Noon. The Holly Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.

Wishes

WISHES
by Margaret Ashmun

I wish we had a little house,
With ivy vines along the wall,
A bright brass knocker on the door,
And leaded fanlight in the hall.

I wish I had a wide old hearth,
Where maple knots would roar and blaze,
And we would sit and drink our tea
An read old books on autumn days.

And we would spread a table here,
With homespun cloth and candlelight,
And we should eat from flowered plates
Hot waffles on a Sunday night.


Rural was the home town of author and poet Margaret Ashmun (c1885-1940).

Blacksmith Wanted

From the Waupaca Spirit, May 8, 1856:

WANTED

A good blacksmith at Rural Village in southwest part of Waupaca County. Also a good shoemaker would find excellent chance in this place. This is decidedly the best opening for a few good Mechanics and Traders in Northern Wisconsin. A first-rate water power and flouring mill will soon be completed and in the centre of a large and excellent farming community with roads centreing from all quarters and a very desirable location for a Town. There is still a few lots for free distribution to actual settlers. For information, address J.H. Jones or L.A. Phelps, Rural, Waupaca Co., Wisconsin.

Edwin Huntoon - from Rural Happenings Feb 2011

The Rural Historical Society Board was so sorry to learn of the death of Eddie Huntoon, one of our long time members and a true son of Rural. Eddie had a long, productive and eventful life. He contributed a great deal to both the Rural Historical Society and the community. Our deepest sympathy to his wife, Ruby, and their family.

At one time Eddie wrote an article about "The Crystal and Rural". As you may know, water was one of Eddie's greatest interests. In the article he wrote, "Rural has many springs in the area for an easy supply of safe drinking water, (which) was very important in a frontier village. Bathing and laundry in summer was very easy. But the key item was plenty of good, clean, fresh water for the thirsty teams of horses pulling the stage coaches and wagons as they entered Rural. ...Rural...a friendly, safe village, built on a dry, sandy, well-drained area, with some of the best fresh water in the country. The meaning of "Rural" most likely is "avery special place with fresh, clean ground water every day."

A copy of the full article is available at the Rural Historical Society headquarters.

Guess Who's Coming To Rural! KC WILLIS!!

I'm just so excited!! In a little over a month from now, renowned mixed media and fiber artist, KC Willis, is holding an altered book workshop right here in Rural. Right in my own backyard! YAY!!

The Storyteller-Handmade Fiber Collage Book Class - - September 18-19, 2010

I was lucky enough to be able to attend one of her fabric collage workshops in Colorado and I can't wait to see what she's bringing here to Wisconsin! You can check out all the details on her website HERE.



Sign up now before the class fills up! If you don't live close enough to drive here for each day, the workshop is being held at the beautiful Crystal River Inn, a lovely B&B in our quaint little Yankee Village on the banks of the Crystal River. Just a few miles south of Waupaca off Hwy 22. You can book a room or stay in the Little House on the Prairie with a group of others. Even if you live within driving distance you may want to book a room and stay here regardless. I promise it will be a weekend that will change your life!

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!

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.

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)

Calling All Collage Artists!

K C Willis has a great collage camp registration going on at: http://collagecamp.ning.com/

Check out her blog here - http://kcwillis.blogspot.com/

I just love her artwork!


I'll be back with more photos from Rural later today!

Have a GREAT day!

Memorial Weekend at Wellers

Opening weekend started out GREAT! The best thing about it was seeing familiar faces from last season and catching up with them again. It was also good to meet new people and get to know them.

For once I remembered to bring the camera along to the store with me and I got some pictures of some of the first people in the door after we opened officially for the season. I also managed to get a shot of the first group to come in off the river this yesr.



Grace Buck headed straight for the linens (that's one of my favorites, too!)

Not far behind Grace was Diane Rait. She was also drawn to the linens and both ladies went home with some nice vintage flour sacks and an apron made from flour sack material. Aprons seem to be making a big comeback.

Peggy Manson came back in for an embroidered comforter she spotted one evening when the wiring was being worked on. She also found several other nice items while she was at it.

The first to stop in after completing half the river trip was a group from Green Lake. Jason Koepke, Lesley Kenney, Andy Koepke, Mariel Manslowski, Laurie Koepke, Kendall Koepke and Katie Bardenwerper said the water was great.

At this point the camera was forgotten in all the hustle and bustle of the day. Stay tuned for more photos in the coming days (IF I remember to drag the camera along with me, that is!)

Many thanks to these folks and all the others who made opening day a big success! I also appreciate all of the pre-season customers who stopped in to shop while we were getting ready to open last week. I appreciate each and every one of you!

And So The Season Begins...

The Weller Store is officially open for the season today! All the hard work paid off and I must say it's looking pretty good. The Junque Shoppe at Wellers is now open and "The Mayor" is already clearing out yet another room for collectible toys. Pre-season visitors to the store loved the Junque Shoppe and had fun sifting through all the ephemera and do-dads. One woman really had a lust for rust and she left with a whole trunkload of goodies. It may be a challenge to keep the room well stocked if things continue to fly out of there.

Look for the opening of the Collectible Toys room soon. In the meantime we have a huge new assortment of glassware, including some nice depression glass pieces. I especially love the light blue Bubble and Fire King items. We even have a few "Porta-Walls" from an old Packard and some more vintage tools for the guys. We brought in even more vintage jewelry and some lovely old hats for the ladies.

Below Zero But Still Beautiful!

I went out to take some pictures a few days ago and the wind chill was so bad that I kept having to get out of it in between shots. I was bundled up with hat, scarf, mittens, boots and a heavy coat but the chill easily penetrated everything. Just above my boots my legs felt as though they were burning from the cold and, indeed, they were very rosy when I was finished photographing.

Still, it was a gorgeous day and I couldn't keep from capturing some winter scenes for these pages.




The Crystal River looks so much different now than in the summer with bare trees and banks of snow and ice framing it. There is a lot of open water near the portage where the river runs down a small drop and is diverted for the mill race. If not for that, I'm sure there would be a thick coating of ice from one bank to the other.





The first three pictures were taken from on top of the bridge by the portage on old state highway
22 - now the corner of Main Street and Cleghorn Road across from The Weller Store.













The last picture is a tease. I couldn't resist taking several shots of the Radley House that day. It is so much easier to get photos of this wonderful house when the trees are bare. It is encircled by black walnut trees that partially obscure the building from view during the other seasons.


I will publish more photos of this house and some of the architectural details in a future blog.



Stay warm and stay tuned...

Winter Wonderland

No matter how much we complain about the long and cold Wisconsin winters we have to admit that it's beautiful here any time of the year.

Looking out my front door

Looking out my back door

Still, it's hard not to wish for warmer temperatures, sunny days, boating on the Chain, picnics in the park...

"Downtown" Rural - summer of 2008

On a snowy day like today I just can't help thinking about how wonderful it is here in the summer.

I keep telling myself that the days are already getting longer.

Can't you just imagine sitting on the front porch with a tall glass of lemonade?

Visit our website! www.wellerstore.com

The Weller Store

The Rural Store - currently The Weller Store - is the oldest retail building in the village of Rural.

The Rural Store was originally a carpentry shop, built in 1898 over the Crystal River mill race by Mr. Herbert Radley across the road (old Hwy 22) from it's current location. It is said that the building straddled the river so that the current could provide power for the lights and equipment used in the shop. The original color of the structure was red with white trim.

Above is the first known photograph of the carpentry shop and its builder , taken in the spring of 1901. You can see the building raised on stilts over the water.


In 1906, Radley moved the carpentry shop from the river to dry land across the road from its original location. The building was altered slightly and repainted. It then became the general store.

Radley and his infant son, Howard, (in the buggy) are shown at left circa 1906.

Charles Weller stands in front of The Weller Store in this undated photo.

Robert Weller, Sr., Charles' son, is pictured at the storefront after a truck ran off the highway and crashed into the cement in front of the store.














After State Highway 22 was rerouted the gasoline business dropped off drastically. Eventually the pumps were removed. The change in traffic affected the business in a negative way but allowed the village to retain its unique character and beauty.









In the mid-1960s the building was moved slightly to the east and an adjoining cement block structure was built by Robert Weller, Jr. The Wellers continued to operate the grocery store in the new building while renting out the original building to other retail businesses. The Weller Store is well known throughout the area for 25 cent ice cream cones and locally bottled Ting soda.

The original building as it appears today.

Re-opened in the spring of 2008 by Robert Weller, Jr and Eileen Schwanke, The Weller Store now features antiques, collectibles, original art, ephemera, baskets, tools, - all things vintage from every era. Visit our website (still under construction) for a peek at some of the merchandise!

www.wellerstore.com

The Village of Rural

Yes, there really is a place named "Rural" in Wisconsin!

Located near Waupaca and the beautiful Chain-O'-Lakes, it is one of the few "Yankee Villages" in the Midwest. It's not too far off the beaten path of State Highway 22 but once you get here you will think you traveled far into the past. Many of the buildings in the village were built during the 1800s in the style of their Yankee owners from New England and are listed in the National Registry of Historic Places.




The beautiful Crystal River winds its way lazily through the center of the village and among the quaint homes. Canoes and tubes that began their trip at the Chain-O'-Lakes negotiate a small portage across the street from the Weller Store. Wellers rents some of those real old fashioned rubber inner tubes for only a few dollars a day if one wants to take a shorter trip downstream.




There are also some good spots for fishing along the river bank or on the bridges. There's even a small waterfall where Great Blue Herons like to fish!

Come and visit us if you're ever in Central Wisconsin!