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| “The Rutabaga Capital” |
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Rutabaga Fest
PRIVATE PROPERTY
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location: Cumberland
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| self-designation / event |
Well, somebody had to be the Rutabaga Capital...
"Every fall people from all over the country visit Cumberland, WI for the famous Rutabaga Fest. There are a variety of events including hot pepper eating contest, basketball shoot out, children's olympics, run/walk/walk race, a carnival for the children, live entertainment every night for the adults, and to wrap it all up a Grande Parade held on Sunday."
– section from the official website
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 The festival is usually held in August. Check Rutabaga Festival official site for updated dates.
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web links
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books & video
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book:
"Oddball Wisconsin"
by Jerome Pohlen
Chicago Review Press, Inc. (2001)
page(s) 10
buy it at
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com![icon]()
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book:
"Wisconsin Curiosities"
by Michael Feldman and Diana Cook
Globe Pequot Press
(2nd ed., 2004) page(s) 20 - 21
(3rd ed., 2009) page(s) 15 - 16
buy it at
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com
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very-loosely-related:
“Rutabaga 101”
video by danispies
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| Hydroflites Water-ski Team |
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location: Chetek
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| public show |
"The Chetek Hydroflites are a water ski show team with 75-100 members. Membership is made up of skiers, boat drivers, safety personnel and a strong adult parent support structure. The Hydroflites are in their 17th year of skiing. The club reorganized in March 1990 after a 10-year absence, and purchased their current ski site in July 1992."
– section from the official site
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next to public boat landing on Lake Chetek, 1 mile east of Chetek on Lakeview Drive
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hours:
check official website for schedule |
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web links
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books & video
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“Chetek Hydroflites”
video by Tracey Beck
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“Revenge of the Nerds - Chetek Hydroflites”
video by butterflywings07
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Bear Paw Company
massive taxidermy displays
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location: Rice Lake
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| business with character |
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"The Bear Paw Company is also a great place to view some of Wisconsin's abundant fish and wildlife species, as well as other animals from around the world: Black Bears, Grizzly Bears, Whitetail Deer, Elk, Moose--even a full-size Bengal tiger! With over a hundred mounts in the store, there's something to see around every corner! You'll see sheep and goats on the mountain, ducks in the pond and a stringer of record-breaking fish on the wall. Pause on the bridge and admire the waterfall--we'll even let you toss in a coin and make a wish!"
– section from the official site
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824 Bear Paw Ave. (at crossing of Highways 53 & 48)
Rice Lake, WI 54868
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hours:
(Mon - Sat) 9am – 7pm
(Sundays) 10am – 5pm |
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Official Site
www.bearpawcompany.com
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Facebook (official)
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St, Croix Area
www.wisconsinstcroixarea.com
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book:
"Great Little Museums of the Midwest"
by Christine Des Garennes
Trails Books (2002)
page(s) 43
buy it at
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Pumpkin Cannon & Catapult
at Mommsen's Produce Patch
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location: Rice Lake
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| veggie slinger |
Aside from their corn mazes, petting zoos and hayrides, this popular autumnal harvest center boasts a trebuchet (medieval catapult) which can hurl a 50 pound pumpkin about 300 feet. Even more impressive is the compressed-air cannon that has sent pumpkins airborne for almost 5000 feet.
The neighbors must be jittery come Fall. |
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(Mommsen's Fall Market is located 1-1/2 mile south of Cedar Mall on County Road SS)
Mommsen's Produce Patch
1696 County Hwy. SS
Rice Lake, WI 54868
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hours:
Fall Market Hours: (daily) 10am – 6pm |
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| photo courtesy of offical site |
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web links
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books & video
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“Pumpkin Catapult”
video by FarmshowMagazine
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“Pumpkin launching”
video by PioneerPress
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location: Rice Lake
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| restaurant with character |
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| Sour Cream Raisin Pie |
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| The Norske Nook (with 3 locations in Osseo, Hayward and Rice Lake) is known for their award winning, made-from-scratch pies (28 varieties, including a lemon meringue so tall "you could hide a hat in it" or so they say) and their waitresses dressed in Scandinavian attire. The Rice Lake restaurant has added a humorous twist to their men's restroom urinals (as opposed to the urinals in the women's restroom?)
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2900 Pioneer Ave.
Rice Lake, WI 54868
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| The 'County Seat' of Barron |
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location: Barron
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| historical oddity |
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| image courtesy of the book Wiscomical |
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| In the early days of Wisconsin, the official papers of Barron County were stored in a chair that had been carved out of a hollow log. In 1874, the county clerk hiked 13 miles from Rice Lake to Barron with the chair strapped to his back in order to keep the county seat located there. The wooden "seat" is still located in the Barron County Courthouse to this day. |
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winter location:
Barron County Courthouse
330 E LaSalle Ave.
Barron, WI 54812
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summer location:
Pioneer Village Museum
1870 13 1/2 Ave.
Cameron, WI 54822
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| For Sale: 750,000 Antique Telephones |
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location: Turtle Lake
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| massive collection |
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| When Robert Prosser died in 2003, he left behind his collection of antiquated telephones which once numbered over one million. Now they are being sold off by the heirs who are overburdened by this massive inventory, which was once featured in "Ripley's Believe It or Not!". |
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to contact the owners, click on the "Old Phone Man" link at right
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Old Phone Man
(listing of phones for sale)
www.oldphoneman.com
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Binary Revolution
www.binrev.com
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Wall Street Journal
article "Telephone Collection Carried to an Extreme" or archived (here)
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Minneapolis Star Tribune
article "Family wants to disconnect from its phone inheritance" or archived (here)
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Lost 'Dallas County'
1859 – 1869
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location: all over Barron county |
| lost county / ghost county |
| Barron County was formed in 1869 from a section of Polk County and all of Dallas County, which was established a mere 10 years prior. |
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| The Friendly Buckhorn Bar |
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location: Rice Lake
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| tavern with character |
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"Otto Rindlisbacher (), the original proprietor of the Buckhorn Tavern in Rice Lake and an accomplished taxidermist, festooned his walls with actual stuffed animals, as well as taxidermic hoaxes like the shovel-tailed snowsnake and the fur herring. The former, fitted with red glass eyes and painted a lurid green, was obviously carved from wood, but the herring, an actual fish with a pelt jacket, was more convincing. A mock scientific paper vouched for its authenticity."
– section from the book "Wisconsin Folklore"
Mr. Rindlisbacher tells of the numerous curios, relics and mounted wildlife specimens that adorn the interior of the Buckhorn, among them the 103-point buck shot near here a few years ago, the miniature mechanical replica of the famed "One Shot Gang", and those rare "freaks" of nature, the Shovel-Tailed Snake, the Wisconsin Dingbat and the Fur-herring, as well as innumerable other oddments.
– section from the book "Badger Bars & Tavern Tales"
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was at: 24 N. Main Street
Rice Lake, WI 54868
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Wisconsin Historical Society
1. postcard
2. postcard
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Journal Sentinel Online
article "Drinking in state tavern lore from Way Back" or archived (here)
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book:
"Wisconsin Folklore"
by James P.Leary
Univ. of Wisconsin Press (1988)
page(s) 9
buy it at
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com![icon]()
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book:
"Badger Bars & Tavern Tales"
by Bill Moen, Doug Davis
The Guest Cottage Inc. (2003)
page(s) 129
buy it at
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com![icon]()
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Big Ape Statue
on roof of Mchenry Mercantile
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location: Rice Lake
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| roadside oddity |
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| Don't try claiming that the 19" combination TV/VCR that you're trying to pawn off is worth more than it is unless you want the ape to have to climb down and explain to you about the diminished value of outmoded analog equipment in a digital age. |
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627 S Main St.
Rice Lake, WI 54868
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Big Fish Statue
on front of Rod N Gun Shop
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location: Chetek
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| roadside oddity |
(Not to be confused with any other local business named "Rod & Gun Shop" or "Rod and Gun Shop".)
To make matters more confusing, this store is also known as "Rod n Gun Sport Shop". |
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513 2nd Street
Chetek, WI 54728
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Bookmark the Wisconsinosity home page! wisconsinosity.com
located between Lakeshore Drive and Rice Lake from Bundy Street north to the Lakeview Medical Center.
west of Cumberland on County Road G & on Highway 48
1870 13 1/2 Ave.
