I sent my dad out with his digital camera on a secret, yet to be disclosed, mission this afternoon and he came back with some extra photographs from my old neighborhood in Appleton, WI where I lived from about 1997 – 1999.
Ring Dance, City Park, Appleton, WI
The first photograph is from City Park, Appleton’s oldest park. I used to live a block from this park and remember spending many leisurely days reading books in the sun or under a big tree, both of which there were a lot of. Also popular at City Park was an annual art show called Art in the Park. The photo my dad took is of a fountain in the park called Ring Dance. The sculpture is by Dallas Anderson and it was dedicated in 1996. It depicts 6 children in a “ring dance,” an ancient game where children link one of their legs together to form a circle and then hop around singing and dancing.
Adler Brau Brewery & Restaurant, Appleton, WI
What I remember about Adler Brau Brewery & Restaurant is that it was in the “Between the Locks” building that a popular comedy club, Skyline Comedy Cafe, was in. The Between the Locks building is named so because it physically is located between the locks. It’s an old historic brewery building. When you attended a show at Skyline, you filled out a postcard survey and if your name was selected then you and 20 of your friends won free admission to the club for a show. It got to a point where so many of my friends and myself won so often that we were like “the comedy club again!?” but I do miss it now. I haven’t been to a comedy club for quite some time. Before the comedy club we often would have dinner at Adler Brau, which was called Dos Banditos at the time. We would also sometimes have lunch there since I not only lived in the downtown neighborhood, but worked there too. Adler Brau has been around for 22 years and has won 6 medals for taste at the Great American Beer Festival.
The Locks, Appleton, WI
One way that electricity is produced is Wisconsin is hydroelectrically. Along the Fox River, which runs through downtown Appleton, there is a canal that is closed off with a series of gates & dams which convert the energy of the running water into electricity. The Fox River was a short walk from each of the apartments that I lived in and I would go there often to walk the shore, which is a mixture of landscaped parks, residential, commercial and industrial zones.
Vulcan Street Plant Reproduction, Appleton, WI
The Vulcan Street Power Plant was built on along the Fox River in 1882 and was the world’s first hydroelectric station. Seen here is a reproduction of the original plant.
That is all for now. This has been a joint presentation, with me doing the research and writing and my dad, Rick, taking the photographs. We hope you have enjoyed this downtown Appleton history lesson!
Jen // Jan 9, 2004 at 12:20 am
The Ring Dance statue is magical. It seems like it would be from an age earlier than 1996.
Ed // Jan 9, 2004 at 1:51 am
That ring dance is cool but man what a great way to turn an ankle!
rachelle // Jan 9, 2004 at 4:35 am
ring dance is even more beautiful when it’s summer and sunny and everything is green and the fountain is on. it makes it seem like the children are playing in the water. there are some photos of that here.
Nan // Jan 9, 2004 at 9:53 am
I can’t wait to see how your “project” all comes together.
hubs // Jan 9, 2004 at 2:34 pm
seems like a nice town. I bet it’s beautiful in the summer.
matt // Jan 9, 2004 at 4:21 pm
Don’t forget the Dallas sculpture in the neighboring city, Neenah! Again it’s children playing. Dallas sure loves kids! … take that how you will.
I worked one summer for the Neenah Parks dept. and was stationed at Riverside park. Dallas would often stop by and inspect his sculpture, telling me I didn’t trim the grass close enough in that one corner. Dallas had many helpful suggestions to offer people and wasn’t at all “difficult” to work with! *ahem*
dad // Jan 9, 2004 at 6:20 pm
Nice, job Rachelle on the articles pertaining to the photos.
Matt, I will have to go over to Riverside Park in one of my adventures.
rachelle // Jan 9, 2004 at 7:25 pm
ok. like 2 people will get this joke, but “neenah?!?! where the hell is neenah?” that’s what i think of whenever anyone says neenah.
interesting about dallas.. matt, i didnt realize.. or else i forgot .. it’s been a really long day.. im still at work.. that you lived in wi
matt // Jan 9, 2004 at 7:54 pm
To paraphrase Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean:
But you have heard of it…
rachelle // Jan 9, 2004 at 8:01 pm
probably. i am pretty out of it. i think i am going blind from staring at code. and im really hungry
rachelle // Jan 9, 2004 at 8:06 pm
being at work at 8:30 isnt too bad but i think i was up at like 4:30 this morning. oh. 4:35. i just looked at the comment above.
joe s // Jan 10, 2004 at 12:03 pm
So, is Neenah a real town? To me it is the mythic place beyond the rainbow where all the sewer grates and manhole covers come from.
rachelleb // Jan 10, 2004 at 12:14 pm
Neenah is real, indeed. .. even if I would like to wipe them out for having a java applet on their homepage that takes forever to load and then just does the cheesy water ripple effect. ahhh!
The manholes and grates are made at Neenah Foundry. My uncle worked there for many years.
Previously on rachelleb.com
» Discussion on Neenah & the foundry
» Photo of a Neenah Foundry grate at the Hudson River Park
joe s // Jan 10, 2004 at 12:58 pm
i once was at a conference in San Francisco with a co-worker from Neenah. Whenever we’d go outside she wanted to show us all the grates etc. made in Neenah, but we never found one. Never, until the morning I checked out of the hotel and saw a manhole cover right outside the front door!
The picture of the book and jogger is one of my faves and is from around when I started reading your site.
Richard // Jan 10, 2004 at 1:04 pm
Where the Hell is Neenah?
matt // Jan 10, 2004 at 4:18 pm
When it comes to manholes, Neenah’s got you covered!
Joe // Jan 10, 2004 at 6:34 pm
Not only does Neenah make some fine manhole covers, they also pump out tissues, diapers, and other personal paper based products.
I worked for the Neenah Park and Rec Dept. the summer that the statue in the park was unveiled, and remember my boss being shocked that people would dump soap in the fountain.
matt // Jan 11, 2004 at 4:17 pm
My supervisor and I thought about turning the fountain into a giant jello mold. He knew how many gallons of water ran through the system so we could figure out how many boxes of Jell-O to buy (hmm, that wouldn’t look suspicious!), and with those cool, late summer nights… who knows! What a cool supervisor!
I assume we thought of jello because the soap bubbles, while annoying, were easily removed and gone before noon the next day. Besides, there’s always room for Jell-O!
rachelle // Jan 12, 2004 at 1:29 pm
btw, matt.. i had brain freeze but now totally remember.. you live in oshkosh, yeh?
rachelle // Jan 12, 2004 at 1:30 pm
speakign of oshkosh, many people on the coasts think that it is a mythic place somewhere beyond the rainbow where oshkosh b gosh clothing is made, much like neenah is just a name on the manholes/grates
tien // Jan 12, 2004 at 3:04 pm
oshkosh b gosh was so great! man, when i have kids…
Martyn // Jan 12, 2004 at 5:00 pm
Nice photo’s & interesting reading
In ref to the Hydro plant, if you ever get to the NE of England there’s an earlier Hydro plant HERE along with some great scenery for the camera!
matt // Jan 12, 2004 at 9:19 pm
Actually, I’m in Milwaukee.
sarah // Jul 31, 2004 at 2:03 pm
I was born in Neenah, and have relatives still in Apppleton and Neenah. Just on here for theheck of it. Lots of memories of the pool in Appleton and so on during visits to grandma’s house in 60’s and 70’s.
Fun to see your site with new things like the statue.