By Mike Ford

Aside from views from the Niagara Escarpment (The Ledge), the crown jewel of Fond du Lac remains Lakeside Park on the southern edge of Lake Winnebago. It features a lighthouse that marked the entry to a harbor where boat owners keep their speedboats and sailing vessels. In the 1950s, the boats were largely wooden with sleek Chris-Craft inboard engines manufactured by Kiekhaefer’s. The small zoo housed a menagerie of Wisconsin native animals. The pier that juts out into the lake offers fishermen and women to catch walleyes, northern pike, and sheepshead. There were picnic tables and charcoal grills throughout the park. On Sundays, Joseph Schmitz led the Military Band in a variety of music from the octagonal bandstand which is now named in his honor – the concerts continue today. There was also playground equipment for youngsters. For a small fee one could take the kids for a ride on the mini-train around the park. I think there was also a merry-go-round.

A west of the park the Fond du Lac River emptied into Lake Winnebago. Where the road ended was called Stinky Point. I remember fishing there and catching the largest walleye I ever took at 21″. There were no fish-eating warnings back then so that walleye tasted just fine. The reason it was called Stinky Point was that the City’s sewage treatment plant and incinerator stood just across the mouth of the river. When the wind was from the west unpleasant odors drifted into Lakeside Park which made some picnics less appetizing. 

Rueping’s had started in Fond du Lac in 1854. Early tanning operations used natural sources of tannin. Afterwards, toxic chemicals enhanced the leather tanning process. Anywhere in the vicinity of the Rueping plant there was an unpleasant odor. In 1985 Rueping had to declare bankruptcy and close after the EPA cracked down on the company. Rueping plant on Doty Street became an EPA Superfund site requiring extensive removal of toxic materials, demolition of the plant, and creation of a cap over the contaminated soil beneath the site.

Fertilizer runoff from farms still contribute nitrogen and phosphorous to Lake Winnebago. Since Lake Winnebago is a shallow lake with a muddy, nutrient-rich bottom. this runoff creates a very rich brew for blue-green algae to grow in the warm summer water. Not even invasive zebra mussels can eat eat enough algae to keep the lake clean.

When she was in high school in the late ‘60s, my youngest sister Betsy Ford dated John Rueping, the owner’s son. He had all the toys including a neat little sports car.

Figure 3 Alfonsín’s tomb in Recoleta Cemetery includes an engraving of the Preamble to the Constitution. Photo courtesy of the author. [Photo to be uploaded later]