Newsletter of the Stahl-Conrad Homestead
www.HistoricHalesCorners.org______
9724 W. Forest Home Ave., Hales Corners, WI 53130 December 2008
Christmas tree sale is in progress
Freshly cut Christmas trees are now available at the Stahl-Conrad Homestead, 9724 W. Forest Home Ave. The trees are six to nine feet in height. Species available this year are balsam, Fraser, and pine trees. Prices range from $20 to $55, depending on size and type. Hours are from 3:30 to 8:00 p.m. on weekdays and 12:00 noon to 8:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Plan to come early for the best selection.
This year the Homestead also offers beautiful swags at $5 each, created by members of the Hawthorn Garden Club. As in the past, note cards featuring Homestead historical scenes that you can use as Christmas cards or post-holiday thank you letters are available.
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Mark your calendar for a special event in May
May is Historic Preservation Month, and the Homestead is planning to celebrate. Watch for one or more speakers and a display of artifacts.
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Homestead gardens replicate presettlement vegetation
Signs have been installed to designate the three native plant gardens on the Homestead property. In our newsletters, we will describe these examples of presettlement vegetation.
In this newsletter, we focus on the oak savanna. According to The Vegetation of Wisconsin, oak savannas (also called oak openings) covered about 5.5 million acres of the state in the early 1800s. Characterized by large, scattered, open-grown oaks with an understory of grasses and wildflowers, savannas are the rarest plant community in Wisconsin today. Bur oaks (Quercus macroparpa) are the dominant trees in upland areas, although black oak (Q. velutina) and white oak (Q. alba) are also sometimes present. On low ground, the swamp white oak (Q. bicolor) becomes the dominant tree. An arbitrary limit based on canopy coverage differentiates between a savanna and a forest. If less than one-half of the ground area is shaded by the trees at noon in midsummer, the stand is a savanna.
The true dominants of the oak opening are the grasses rather than the trees. The flora is a mixture of prairie and woodland species, with the prairie types predominating.
The Homestead’s savanna is a work in progress, and we have been fortunate to have many native plants donated for the project. There is still much to be done. We hope to be able to burn the area this coming spring, as burning is a useful tool in restoring savannas.
Thanks to our dedicated retired board members
Thanks to Chris Lese for renovation of the farmhouse during his presidency. He organized everything and did much of the dirty work himself.
Chris’s efforts resulted in removal of dark-green carpet that was glued to the walls—a slow, messy process. One window that was covered up is now open, and two that were removed entirely have been replaced, giving the rooms more natural light. Damaged plaster was repaired, and the walls and ceilings were painted.
Thanks, Chris. If it weren’t for you, we’d still have black ceilings and carpeted walls.
Another talented person who has retired from the board, Ruth Johnston, was always available when we needed a skillful writer, editor or graphic artist. Fortunately, she has agreed to continue as a proofreader and to help plan exhibits in our renovated space.
A third “retiree,” Jim Bruening, will continue to donate his snow plowing services and will help at the tree sale. Jim displayed many talents during the renovation—from lifting the toilet while new flooring was installed in the bathroom to painting and replacing lights in hard-to-reach places.
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Annual meeting elects board members
The following Homestead members were elected to three-year terms as directors: Gloria Jones, Delene Hanson, Michael Jedrzejewski, Sybil Grandeck, and Bette Arey.
Gifts of goods and services
Joe Poborsky—design of refurbished roadside sign
Marjorie Pagel—publicity assistance
Dara Chappie—creation of posters for Christmas tree sale
Ron Noeske—sign installation and weed trimming
Kyle, Kurt, and Ian Noeske—sign installation
Robert Stockinger and Tom Ueberroth—lawn care
Betty Braun—continuing work on our gardens
Rachel Millin (recently deceased)—plants for our gardens
Tom Ueberroth, Mike Jedrzejewski, Ron Noeske, Delene Hanson, Dave Zepecki, Jim Bruening, Nick Burgdoff, and Kyle, Kurt, Stuart, and Ian Noeske—tree sale assistance
Clay Moore, Sybil Grandeck, and Gloria Jones—tree decorating assistance at Christmas House
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Homestead revises its bylaws
Five years of experience prompted the Homestead board to make several revisions to the organization’s bylaws. Most are minor clarifications of language, but two add significant provisions.
The revised bylaws state that membership shall terminate automatically for nonpayment of dues, if not paid by March 31. For those who dawdle, this means to pay attention to your membership renewal form, which is enclosed with this newsletter. If you renew after March 31, your membership will be reinstated.
The board added a provision that empowers it to remove any board member who fails to attend at least 50 percent of regular meetings. The board may also remove a director with cause.
It’s membership renewal time
We encourage you to use the enclosed envelope to renew your membership in the Homestead as generously as you can. We also invite you to consider a gift of appreciated securities. If you sell those securities, you will incur a short- or long-term capital gain obligation. If you donate them, you will have no tax liability on the gain, and you will also obtain a charitable donation to offset other taxes that you will be liable for next year.
You will be able to specify the purpose for which the gift is to be used. We offer many options, such as reroofing the house, constructing an ADA-compliant bathroom, rebuilding the barn door, mortgage reduction, or creating an endowment.
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The mission of the Stahl-Conrad Homestead is to create a museum focused on transitions in the land in Hales Corners and its environs from presettlement into the future and to preserve the Stahl-Conrad Homestead as a remnant of a bygone
lifestyle.
The Homestead’s vision: The land is restored and the buildings are renovated to accommodate changing exhibits and public events.
The Homestead is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization. Your donations and in-kind gifts are tax deductible as allowed by law.
Officers and directors are: president, Bette Arey; secretary, Gloria Jones; treasurer, Michael Jedrzejewski; directors: Sybil Grandeck, Clay Moore, Ron Noeske, and Dave Zepecki.
Events at Old World Wisconsin
December programs offered at Old World Wisconsin may interest Home-stead members. For details, call 262-594-2922.
The Spirit of Christmas Past, Saturday and Sunday, December 6, 7 and 13, 14, noon to 4:00 p.m. Discover the origins of holiday traditions. Join in story-telling, caroling, historic games, and holiday treats.
Irish Holiday Dinner, Saturday and Sunday, December 6, 7 and 13, 14, 2:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Learn how Irish immigrants celebrated Christmas. Reservations are required.
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In Memoriam
The Homestead expresses condolences to the families of Charlene Wright, Ed Warchol, Jay Galaska, Timothy Kilps, and Phyllis Mazalewski.
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Hales Corners Historical Society plans spring programs
On February 4 at 7:00 p.m., author Doug Schmidt will present They Came to Bowl: How Milwaukee Became America’s Tenpin Capital. He will trace the origins of the popularity of bowling in Milwaukee and explain how the national headquarters became rooted in Milwaukee in 1907. This helped make the city the undisputed bowling capital of the world.
The society’s annual meeting is scheduled for April 8 at 7:00 p.m. The program, Lindbergh’s Badger Days, will feature author Anne Vandenburgh, who will document the UW Madison days of Charles Lindbergh. Lindbergh was the first aviator to cross the Atlantic Ocean as a solo pilot in his plane, the Spirit of St. Louis. A potluck supper at 6:00 p.m. will precede the program.
And don’t forget the plant sale. Order forms will be available in April at the annual meeting.