Firemen’s Centennial Parade — Mishicot, Wisconsin

From the October 1990 Mishicot Area Growth and Improvement Committee Newsletter:

Fireman’s Department Celebrates Centennial

The Mishicot Fire Department was first incorporated in 1890, and celebrated its hundredth anniversary this summer with a picnic, plus a giant parade on July 29, 1990.

The parade included over 150 units, with more than a dozen fire departments from other towns taking part, along with a wide variety of floats, bands, horses, trucks, cars, heavy equipment, and the like.

MAGIC was represented in the parade by two units: Lyle Anderson’s big semitrailer with MAGIC logo, and a special Mishicot Museum float entered by the Thematic/Historical Committee. Both of these units also appeared later in the Mishicot Lions’ Junior Fair parade on August 19.

The museum’s float featured a miniature pioneer log cabin, and also wheat bundles along with a scythe, cradle, flail, and other antique harvesting tools from the Roy Schmidt collection. Designing and construction of the float was done by Carol and Jack Ronning (who built the cabin), Lila Dvorak, Grace Schleis, Ruth Zarling, and Marcella Straka.

The wagon for the float, and a 1936 McCormick-Deering 10-20 tractor to pull it, were supplied by Gale Kronforst. Travis and Dustin Kronforst appeared in costume as

a young farmer and a young In- dian of the early days, along with Lila Dvorak and Marcella Straka as the farmer and his wife.

A full-color videotape of the centennial parade was shown several times on the Mishicot community cable television channel.

This channel also regularly carries notices of meetings of MAGIC, the village and school boards, and other organizations.

Photo caption:

The MAGIC Thematic/Historical Committee presented this Mishicot Museum float in the Mishicot Fireman’s Centennial Parade July 29. Pictured are Marcella Straka, Lila Dvorak, and Travis and Dustin Kronforst depicting life in the early days.