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Rice Lake

map provided by Delorme mapping software

 

 

attractions & oddities

resources

 

1

"The Rutabaga Capital"

Rutabaga Fest

 

location:  Cumberland
self-designation / event

"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

Well, somebody had to be the Rutabaga Capital...

 

the festival is usually held in August
     

Official Site
www.cumberland-wisconsin.com

Dennis McCann blog
blogs.jsonline.com

book:
"Oddball Wisconsin"
by Jerome Pohlen
Chicago Review Press, Inc. (2001)
page 10

buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

book:
"Wisconsin Curiosities"
by Michael Feldman and Diana Cook
Globe Pequot Press
(2nd ed., 2004)  pages
20 - 21
(3rd ed., 2009)
  pages 15 - 16
buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

 

2

Hydroflites Water-ski Team

 

location:  Chetek
aquatic 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

     

photo courtesy of official site

  next to public boat landing on Lake Chetek, 1 mile east of Chetek on Lakeview Drive

               

hours:
check official website for schedule

Official Site
hydroflites.com

The Chetek Alert
thechetekalert.mycapture.com

Hydroflites Commercial

double-click to enlarge video

 

3

Bear Paw Company
massive taxidermy displays

 

location:  Rice Lake
business with character

"Back in the 1980's, the Curtis family dreamed of a place where they could display a large family collection of wildlife mounts for the public to enjoy. As friends began to contribute mounts and other artifacts from expeditions around the world The Bear Paw Company became a reality."
- section from Rice Lake Tourism website

     

photo courtesy of official site

  824 Bear Paw Ave. (at crossing of Highways 53 & 48)
Rice Lake, WI  54868
(715) 236-7300

               

hours:
(Mon - Sat)  9am – 7pm
(Sundays) 10am – 5pm

Official Site
www.thebearpawcompany.com

Explore Wisconsin
www.explorewisconsin.com

book:
"Great Little Museums of the Midwest"
by Christine Des Garennes
Trails Books (2002)
page 43

buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

 

4

Pumpkin Cannon & Catapult
at Mommsen's Produce Patch

 

location:  Rice Lake
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.

hours:
Fall Market Hours:  (daily)  10am – 6pm

     

photo courtesy of official site

  (Mommsen's Fall Market is located 1-1/2 mile south of Cedar Mall on County Road SS)
1696 County Hwy. SS
Rice Lake, WI  54868
(715) 234-6363

Official Site
www.producepatch.com

Rake Magazine
www.rakemag.com or (here)

Similar Pumpkin Trebuchet in Lancaster (Grant County)

double-click to enlarge video

 

5

Norske Nook

 

location:  Rice Lake
restaurant with character

     

Sour Cream Raisin Pie

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?)

  2900 Pioneer Ave.
Rice Lake, WI  54868
(715) 234-1733

Official Site
www.norskenook.com

Roadfood
www.roadfood.com/Forums

RecipeFest
(recipe for Sour Cream Raisin Pie)
www.recipefest.com

book:
"Farm Recipes and Food Secrets from the Norske Nook"
by Helen Myhre & Mona Vold
Univ. of Wisconsin Press (2nd ed. 2001)
buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

 

6

The "County Seat" of Barron

 

location:  Barron
historical oddity

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.

  Barron County Courthouse
330 E LaSalle Ave.
Barron, WI  54812
(715) 537-6200

The Chronotype
article "County seat won't go traveling" or (here)

Visitor Online
www.visitoronline.com

book:
"Strange Wisconsin"
by Linda S. Godfrey
Trails Books (2007)
page 1
buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

book:
"Wiscomical"
by John M. Russell
Oak Point Press (2003)
page 51
buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

 

7

For Sale:  750,000 Antique Telephones

 

location:  Turtle Lake
massive collection

photo courtesy of Old Phone Man 

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!".

  to contact the owners, click on the "Old Phone Man" link at right

Wall Street Journal
article "Telephone Collection Carried to an Extreme"

Minneapolis Star Tribune
article "Family wants to disconnect from its phone inheritance"

Old Phone Man
( listing of phones for sale)
www.oldphoneman.com

Binary Revolution
www.binrev.com

 

 

 Lost "Dallas County"
1859 - 1869

 

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.

My Wisconsin Genealogy
mywisconsingenealogy.com

Ghost Counties
barusa.tripod.com/ghostcounties

 

9

The Friendly Buckhorn Bar

 

location:  Rice Lake
tavern with character

old postcard of the Buckhorn Tavern

"Otto Rindlisbacher (1895-1975), 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"

  was at: 24 N. Main Street
Rice Lake, WI  54868

Wisconsin Historical Society
1. postcard
2. postcard

Journal Sentinel Online
article "Drinking in state tavern lore from Way Back" or (here)

book:
"Badger Bars & Tavern Tales"
by Bill Moen, Doug Davis
The Guest Cottage Inc. (2003)
page 129
buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

book:
"Wisconsin Folklore"
edited by James P. Leary
Univ. of Wisconsin Press (1988)
page 9
buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

 

10

Big Ape Statue
on top of McHenry Mercantile

 

location:  Rice Lake
roadside oddity

   

Don't try claiming that the 19" combination TV/VCR that you're trying to pawn is worth more than it is unless you want the ape to climb down and explain the diminished value of outmoded analog equipment in a digital age.

  627 S Main St.
Rice Lake, WI 54868
(715) 736-2274

 

 

 

natural feature  /  altered landscape

resources

 

1

Indian Mounds Park

 

location:  Rice Lake
indian mounds

"This park preserves 12 Indian Burial Mounds, all that remain of some 67 mounds constructed in the Rice Lake area. Archeological excavation revealed burial bundles, some ornaments and implements. The mounds are believed to have been constructed by a branch of the Dakota Sioux."
- section from the official site

  located between Lakeshore Drive and Rice Lake from Bundy Street north to the Lakeview Medical Center.

Wisconsin Stories
www.wisconsinstories.org

City of Rice Lake
www.ci.rice-lake.wi.us

Explore Wisconsin
www.explorewisconsin.com

 

 

 

sighting  /  phenomenon  /  morbid curiosity

resources

 

1

Creature of Cumberland

 
bigfoot
location:  Cumberland

"It was maybe a half hour later, my oldest brother went to the refrigerator. The rest of us kids were playing in the hallway when he came running down the hallway with his hands to his face, and crying hysterically."
- section from 1976 BFRO incident report

  west of Cumberland
on Highway G & on Highway 48

Unexplained Research
www.unexplainedresearch.com

Burlington News
www.burlingtonnews.net

BFRO (Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization)
www.bfro.net

documentary shown on:
OLN (Outdoor Life Network)
"Mysterious Encounters"
episode: "Creature of Cumberland"
www.olntv.com

 

2

"Bigfoot Tracks Found in Western Wisconsin"  (1997)

 
bigfoot
location:  Rice Lake

"He describes the tracks as about 16 to 17 1/2 inches long and 8 inches wide at the widest."
- section from BFRO incident report

  east of Rice Lake in the Blue Hills region

The W-Files
www.w-files.com

Weird Wisconsin
www.weird-wi.com

BFRO (Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization)
www.bfro.net

 

3

Alleged Close Encounter with Aliens  (1919)

 
aliens
location:  Barron

"Their heads were bald, and the figures were dressed in leather "knee pants" held up by suspenders over their shoulders. Shirtless and white-skinned, they were "mumbling" but apparently not to each other."
- section from The W-Files report
The W-files
www.w-files.com

 

4

Three UFO Reports  (1981)

 
ufo
locations:  Turtle Lake / Almena / Cameron /  Rice Lake

"The calls came in an eight-minute time span, and the callers gave their locations from three different points across the county, all reporting an object with red, green and in one case blue flashing lights."
- section from UFO Wisconsin report

UFO Wisconsin
www.ufowisconsin.com

 

5

Five Streaks of Light  (2002)

 
ufo
location:  Cumberland

"flashes covered approximately 10 degrees of sky (one fist width = 10 degrees)the flashes approximately 10 degrees. The first four bursts of light were in a straight line. When I saw the second one I thought that something was "bouncing" in and out of the atmosphere. I dismissed this idea when I realized that their intensity was constant."
- section from UFO Wisconsin report

UFO Wisconsin
www.ufowisconsin.com

 

6

Betty's Cafe

 
ghost
location:  Cameron

A restaurant haunted by a former employee.  Full story at Unexplained Research (link at right).


Impressions by Intuitive Wendy

official psychic of wisconsinosity

A cook came out and stood in front of the car in the parking lot.  She wore a grease-stained white apron and a hair net over gray-brown hair (curly or looked curly from the net).  She said something about a walleye special and fried chicken.  Then there was a big guy with short hair, wearing a blue checkered short sleeved shirt.  He sits in the same spot by the counter.  There was something on his right hand like a gold ring.

  706 Main St.
Cameron, WI  54822
(715) 458-4180

Unexplained Research
www.unexplainedresearch.com

The Haunting Experiments
thehauntingexperiments.synthasite.com

Intuitive Wendy
www.intuitivewendy.com

 

7

Cameron Poltergeist
PRIVATE PROPERTY

 
ghost
location:  Cameron

A home plagued by a violent entity.  Full story at Unexplained Research (link at right).


Impressions by Intuitive Wendy

official psychic of wisconsinosity

Strong energy by the sidewalk.  There was something about the upper porch.  I felt like someone was standing in the middle of the upper porch watching.  Felt more female energy.

1004 Main St.
Cameron, WI  54822

Unexplained Research
www.unexplainedresearch.com

The Haunting Experiments
thehauntingexperiments.synthasite.com

Intuitive Wendy
www.intuitivewendy.com

 

8

Rice Lake UFO Sightings

 
ufo
location:  Rice Lake

"...at first it appeared out of no where and was a very bright white light it started moving amazingly fast & far away and as it did it turned Bright GREEN!, this freaked us all out, and one of us assumed that it was a firework. someone else a asteroid/shooting star, but i beleive (sic) it was a UFO."
- section from UFO Wisconsin 05-28-04 report

UFO Wisconsin
www.ufowisconsin.com

 

9

• Lower Devils Lake
• Upper Devils Lake
 
hellish moniker
location:  Haugen

The Weird Wisconsin website ponders the multitude of Devil-related place names in Wisconsin

Weird Wisconsin
www.weird-wi.com or archived (here)

 

10

Pioneers Rest Cemetery
aka Bantley Graveyard
PRIVATE PROPERTY

 
     haunted cemetery
location:  Canton

Strange incidents allegedly occur here.  Full story at Unexplained Research (link at right).

Read below to learn what Intuitive Wendy sensed as we visited the cemetery.


  Take County Road M from Canton north for 2 miles.  Turn right onto 17¼ Avenue¼ Avenue¼ Avenue¼ Avenue¼ Avenue.  Cross the Pokegame Creek.  Cemetery is on the right.


Impressions by Intuitive Wendy

official psychic of wisconsinosity

Right away when we stopped I saw a woman back by the trees.  She was in a long skirt, high neck blouse, standing looking right at me.  Her hair was up in a bun.  To the left by small gravestones there was a little girl with long ponytails that were red.  There was also a man with clean cut, medium blonde hair.  A little boy about 5 was walking across the cemetery looking for his dad.  He was wearing a suit jacket, dress shorts, knee high black or dark socks with dress shoes.  He had a small black baseball type cap on also.  The man had a message he wanted to get out.  He asked if we would tell people that this place is peaceful and he and the woman are there guarding.

Read more details of this visit in Wendy's blog on her website (Look to the right for her link).

Unexplained Research
www.unexplainedresearch.com

The Haunting Experiments
thehauntingexperiments.synthasite.com

Intuitive Wendy
www.intuitivewendy.com

book:
"The Wisconsin Road Guide to Haunted Locations"
by Chad Lewis and Terry Fisk
Research Publishing Co. (2004)
pages 132 - 135

buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

book:
"Ghostly Tales of Wisconsin"
by Ryan Jacobson
Adventure Publications, Inc. (2009)
pages 83 - 84
buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

 

11

Object over Hayfield  (1967)

 
ufo
location:  Vance Creek, west of Prairie Farm

"He pulled over, killing the lights and we watched, spellbound as the object darted back and forth over the 20-acre plot. It was too maneuverable for an airplane, too quiet for a helicopter and too remote for some secret Air Force Project."
- section from UFO Wisconsin report

UFO Wisconsin
www.ufowisconsin.com

 

12

Dwarf Indians at Hardscrabble Falls

Marching Dwarves near Barron (1919)
 
     indian lore or something more?
location:  Rice Lake / Barron

"In past years Indian fairy folk or "Little Indians" have been seen by Chippewa near this waterfall...In some of these places Indian hunters have heard the noise made by their stone hammers when parties of these little folks were engaged in quarrying the stone for pipe and ornament making."
- section from Turtle Track website

In the summer of 1919, near Barron, a 13-year-old boy named Harry Anderson observed what he later described as a score of small, pale, bald men wearing leather knee pants with suspenders. They paid him no attention, but continued on, mumbling and singing to themselves.

Turtle Track
Myths and Legends of Wisconsin's Waterfalls
www.turtletrack.org

Wisconsinology
wisconsinology.blogspot.com

Skygaze
www.skygaze.com

Fortean Historical Archive
forteanhistoricalarchive.blogspot.com

 

13

UFO Hovers over Family Car (2008)

 
ufo
location:  Cameron

A teardrop-shaped craft was witnessed at close range by several people near the Rice Lake Airport. 

  on Highway 53 near intersection with Highway 8

The Chronotype
article "Reports put UFO near airport" or (here)

The Chetek Alert
article "Area UFO sighting under investigation" or (here)

 

 

"Ghosts of America" Haunted Location Reports
(take with a grain of salt)

 
ghosts
location:  statewide

The reports on this site are presumably fiction, using random Wisconsin place names in the stories listed there.  Even so, you might get a kick out of reading them.

"A woman hauling her head under her arm was distinguished staggering through a Rice Lake neighborhood cemetery. This is one of those ghosts that is noticed very often in close proximity. One of the residents determinedly says that this phantom is the phantom of a vacationer that was murdered while passing through Rice Lake some time ago."
- section from Ghosts of America website

Ghosts of America
www.ghostsofamerica.com

 

 

 

taste of local history

resources

 

1

Pioneer Village Museum
Barron County Historical Museum

 

location:  Cameron
museum

"You will find the Pioneer Village a delight to the eye and a true educational experience as you tour through over forty buildings consisting of five large display buildings, including a one-of-a-kind exhibition hall with forty glass-front display cases filled with items from the distant pass. You will also inspect five historic log buildings that bring to mind the pioneer days. Along your way down Pioneer Street you will come across an early railroad depot, country school, dentist office, doctor's office, jail, blacksmith shop, newspaper office, library, meeting house, general store, post office, historic Ebenezer Lutheran Church, entertainment pavilion."
- section from the Official Site


  1870 13 1/2 Ave.
Cameron, WI  54822
(715) 458-2841

               

hours:
June thru Labor Day Weekend
(Thurs - Sun)  1pm
5pm or by appointment

Official Site
www.barroncountymuseum.com

Rice Lake Online
www.ricelakeonline.com

 

2

Calhoun Memorial Museum

 

location:  Chetek
museum

"Visitors to this museum will find a large collection of antiques and historical items from the Chetek area. "
- section from the Explore Wisconsin website


  321 Moore Street
Chetek, WI  54728
(715) 924-3195

             

hours:
June thru Labor Day  (Wed
- Fri)  1pm – 5pm

Explore Wisconsin
www.explorewisconsin.com

Chetek Chamber of Commerce
www.chetekwi.net

 

3

Bayfield Trail

 

location:  Rice Lake
historic trail

"This old Indian trading route is remembered by a historical marker on the shore of Rice Lake overlooking the old rice beds. Pipestone and wild rice from Rice Lake were traded to other settlements. Northwest of the marker are pits which were likely used to store the wild rice harvest."
- section from the Explore Wisconsin website

  Lakeshore Drive
Rice Lake, WI

Explore Wisconsin
www.explorewisconsin.com

Base Camp Chetek
www.basecampchetek.com

 

4

Stouts Lodge
on the Island of Happy Days

 

location:  south of Birchwood (Washburn County)
resort with character

photo courtesy of official site

"Modeled after camps in the Adirondacks, Stout's Lodge is a rustic yet somehow elegant hideaway on an island in the middle of Red Cedar Lake. F.D. Stout, one of the country's wealthiest men at the time, built this incredible place...Still standing, too, are a schoolhouse, picnic cabin, and a recreation house that could seat 200 for gatherings and was equipped with the state's first bowling alley, which doubled as a pistol range."
- section from Trails Media Group website


  (1 mile north of Mikana on Highway 48 at County Road V)
2799 27th St
.
Birchwood, WI  54817
(715) 354-3646

                          

hours:
May thru October

Official Site
www.stoutslodge.com

Historic Hotels
www.historichotels.org

Trails Media Group
article
"Stout's Lodge"

Journal Sentinel Online
1. article "Islands in our midst" or (here)
2. article
"Essentially, we're in quite a state" or (here)

book:
"Dennis McCann Takes You For A Ride"
by Dennis McCann
The Guest Cottage Incorporated (1999)
pages 20 - 23
buy it at
Amazon.com
buy it at
Barnes & Noble.com

 


updated 06-23-09  •  all images excluding those attributed to others are property of Wisconsinosity.com