Crane Constructing History Center
Segments of the new Area History Center on Bridgewater Avenue are stored in Marshall Park across the street from the job site and placed with a crane.
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Suds Hub Empire Expands to Frenette Drive
This was a weedy parking lot off of Business Highway 53 this spring, but has been transformed into Splish Splash Car Wash and Suds Hub Laundry.
It opened in December on Frenette Drive near Flame Drive. There is another location next to Kwik Trip on East Grand Avenue.
While one can no longer harvest mullein for herbal remedies here, this may be offset by the convenience of a laundry on the South Side of town.
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Former Flame Has New Name
The hotel at 1009 West Park Avenue on the South Side of Chippewa Falls has had many names and the name on its sign changed again with the start of 2021. According to Assessor Data, the current structure was built in 1978 and was the Flame Hotel and Supper Club, owned by Don Frenette. The previous Flame restaurant burned. Roads adjacent to the compound, Frenette Drive and Flame Drive reflect this history.
Assessor Data states that the banquet center was added in 1995 which coincides with a change in ownership to the Heyde family and a name change to Park Inn International and Arizona’s restaurant. The addition added 5,236 square feet to the existing 40,048 sq ft hotel and 6,969 sq ft restaurant. A recently revealed old sign along Business Highway 53 appears to be from this time period.
Ownership changed from AMAC Chippewa Falls LLC to R & D Hunt LLC in 2005. The name changed again to Avalon and Bridgewater Restaurant & Pub sometime between 2005 and 2009. Ownership changed in 2019 to Badger State Hospitality LLC. Early in 2021, a cloth sign appeared to designate the hotel’s name has changed once again to America’s Best Value Inn, which is part of a larger chain. There was a dramatic decrease between 2019 and 2020 in the assessment and taxes on the property, possibly corresponding to a decline in the hospitality industry in 2020.
The first attempt to place the new sign over the old one was defeated by high winds, but it was later secured. It doesn’t look like a permanent solution and, when lit up, reveals the ghost image of Avalon below. The restaurant still bears the name Bridgewater, despite it not being that close to water, a bridge or even Bridgewater Avenue on the North side of town. The menu explains it is a reference to the town of Bridgwater (spelled with no ‘e’) in Somerset, England.
Updated at 11:46PM
References:
https://cc-tax.co.chippewa.wi.us/GCSWebPortal/Search.aspx
http://assessordata.org/Assessment?id=7524522234070&p=1
http://www.avalonhotelchippewafalls.com/Avalon/ChippewaFalls-EauClaire,WIRestaurantandPub.aspx
AHLA.COM: COVID-19 DEVASTATING HOTEL INDUSTRY
1976 Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin City Directory. Johnson Publishing Company.
1993-1994 PagesPlus Altoona-Chippewa Falls-Eau Claire. Ameritech.
1998-1999 Altoona/Chippewa Falls/Eau Claire. Ameritech.
2005-2006 Yellowbook. McLeod USA
2009-2010 Yellowbook. Charter Cable-Internet-Telephone.
2020-2021 Homepages Chippewa Falls Including Lake Hallie.
Celebrating Apple Orchards on Old Twelfth Night
We are likely all familiar with the Twelve Days of Christmas and many also know that they start on Christmas and end on Twelfth Night. But less known is that the period fell later on the retired Julian Calendar, ending on Jan 17 by modern reckoning. The mid-winter practices of Wassailing that mark the date are unique and appropriate for the cold winters of the Chippewa Valley.
Wassailing is a complex set of rituals that have been practiced continually in Britain since pre-Christian days. ‘Was Hale’ or be healthy is the traditional Anglo-Saxon toast which is answered with ‘Drinc Hale’. The drink may be hard cider, wine or ale with warm spices like nutmeg and ginger. Singing or making noise also plays into scaring evil spirits away from the orchards to ensure a good apple crop. Christmas caroling is a distinct tradition, sometimes occurring on the same date.
Regional wassailing songs describe interactions between the working class and landholders. Providing good drinks and even coin would bring the blessings of the common folk. As sung in Essex Wassail, “God Bless the Master of the House and the Mistress also/And all the little children who around the table go” followed by the minor threat, “This night you’ll never once deny of us strong ale or beer/For we will come a’ wassailing until this time next year.”
References:
Simon Reed, Wassailing. Troy Books, 2013.
Celebrating Old Twelfth Night https://www.lavenderandlovage.com/2020/01/celebrating-old-twelfth-night.html
Folkcast Ep. 56. http://www.folkcast.co.uk/ShowNotes/shownotes056.html
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Little Free Pantries in Chippewa
Little Free Pantries are a logical progression of Little Free Libraries, founded by the late Todd Bol of Hudson, Wisconsin but contain nonperishable food instead of books. I found four located around Chippewa Falls.
The libraries work on a simple give and take, but the pantries are more like ‘paying it forward.’
The Chippewa Falls Library installed one in the last month but it was empty when I checked. I assume dry items are best for the cold temperatures of winter.
Update: The little library in front of Christ Episcopal Church on 624 Bay Street had suffered a broken window, exposing the books inside to the elements. Recently, a wood panel was installed and the box was restocked with books and non-perishable foods
Update 03/05/2021: A local resident made me aware of a pantry on West Spruce Street which is listed alongside a little free library on littlefreelibrary.org.
References:
Little Free Library founder dies at 62; tie silver or white ribbons around the libraries in his memory
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Updated Calendar: Mon, Jan 11 – Sun, Jan 24
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Ice Rink in Riverfront Park
The beginning of 2021 brought with it an opportunity to ice skate in Riverfront Park. It was an unusual sight to see green-jacketed workers, in freezing cold, spray water near the band shell to create the rink.
Also, Irvine Park has a sledding hill near its main entrance. There are opportunities for winter activities in Eau Claire as well.
References:
https://volumeone.org/sites/winterfunhttps://volumeone.org/sites/winterfun
All photographs, unless noted, are copyrighted by the author of this website and licensed as CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0. Commercial inquiries can be addressed to the mail page.
Volunteers Take Down Christmas Village
A call went out in the local press for volunteers to take down Irvine Park’s Christmas Village in the New Year. The lights had mostly been rolled up by the 4th and the displays were being disassembled and moved on Jan 5.
All photographs, unless noted, are copyrighted by the author of this website and licensed as CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0. Commercial inquiries can be addressed to the mail.
Updated Calendar: Mon, Dec 28 – Sun, Jan 10
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