HISTORY OF GILLETT 1856 - 1976
Written by Marie Darrow
Compositor - Ben
Penkivich,
for the Gillett Public Library
Scanned and
contributed by Jennifer
Bumann
Family
Site
Researching Oconto County
surnames
JOHN, DEADRICH, CAIN and ROSA
GILLETT ADVANCEMENT ASSOCIATION
After the ball park was leveled and completed, Mr. Zipple arrived to see a fame. He was stopped at the gate and charged an entrance fee. The next day he showed up with a team of horses and plowed up the ball field. It took a great deal of psychology and skill to mollify Mr. Zippel and get the park back for the people.
The Old Timers Day, Harvest Festival, and Homecoming Celebration, sponsored each year by the Advancement Association was the forerunner of the fair. Money made at these celebrations built the dance hall and other early buildings in the park. The center of attraction for many years was the old steam merry-go-round, with its calliope, filling the air with a cacaphony of sound. At two rides for a nickle, the merry-go-round paid for Itself the first summer.
The driving force behind all of the Advancement promotions for many years was Herman Flentje. He kept the floor in the dance hall smooth as glass. He was gruff but basically kind, and provided clean decent recreation for the people of the area for many years.
A 1920
advertisement
for the Advancement
Association asks
a question "is it
alive?" and
replies "Just write the secretary and be
convinced."
It boasts that
the organization
is composed of over
10 members
full of "pep"
and "convolution."
Officers listed include
J.M. Melchoir,
President; Roger C.
Brooks, secretary;
and Bert Cole,
treasurer.
It lists
the following board
of directors: J.M.
Ankerson, W.S.
Burse, George
Grotelueschen, Gus
Bocher, W.W. Smith,
E. Thibedeau,
Bert Cole,
Gust Bergmen and
Jim Melcoir.