The next Richland County men's shed will take place next Wednesday.
It's put on by the ADRC.
They've had some very dynamic speakers and they'll have another one coming up this time around.
Local storyteller Pastor John Sumwalt will be the guest of honor and the speaker that day.
So John, you'll be back in your old stomping grounds again coming up on Wednesday.
Yes, I was born in Lloyd, February 15th, 1951 on a very cold day.
I know that Lloyd had quite the village at one time, didn't it?
Yes, it was a much bigger place when I was growing up there.
And sadly, a lot has changed.
And I have a lot of fond memories of what life was like in Lloyd back in the day.
Did you go to school in Lloyd?
Probably not at that building, though, did you?
Not at that building, no.
I started school at the old one-room schoolhouse.
In 1957, dad dropped me off in my overalls and the teacher, Mary Lins, met me at the door and it was a wonderful eight years there.
Well, there is another thing we have in common, John.
Mary Lins was my teacher for a while.
Is that right?
She was an amazing teacher.
She was.
Old school, that's for sure.
Yes, she was.
Another thing that came up, because I was a speaker at the Men's Shed earlier this year, but another thing came up, the story about John F. Kennedy landing in Lloyd.
What do you remember about that day?
What I remember very well is that we were in school, and we had heard that that was going to happen.
And the teacher, which might have been Mrs. Lindsey, I can't remember,
Let us all go to the window and look out the window and we watched as that helicopter landed behind the cheese factory.
I wish I could have been there when the presidential candidate John Kennedy got out of the helicopter, but we can only imagine, but we were first-hand witnesses.
That is just amazing.
Every area has a cast of characters, local cast of characters, and I know you're prepared to tell a few stories at the men's shed, but one of those is a man that I remember as a youngster, and that is Frank Brown, who was a cattle trucker in the area.
Could you share a little story about him?
Yes, Frank was legendary in his time and still is to this day.
They used to tell stories about Frank.
up at Oran's gas station where the men would sit around drinking pop.
And one of the stories they told that I love so much is that one day Frank was on the way back from Equity, the Richland Center, the catalog Shin Barn, and he was eating his lunch and he threw the papers out the window and he happened to look in the rear view mirror and noticed that there was a state trooper right behind him.
So he
quickly threw his head out the window, stopped the truck, got out of the truck, went back, gathered up his hat and all the papers he had thrown out and got back in the truck and went on his way.
That was Frank.
Avoided a ticket then, I guess, in other words.
That's right.
Oh boy.
But he hauled cattle to your farm and a lot of farms in the area, didn't he?
Yeah, when dad needed a cow, he would call Frank and Frank.
went to all the farm auctions and Frank would come back with, with a colony, say Leonard.
That was the best noker at the auction today.
And, uh, Frank always did well by us.
There were a lot of independent truck drivers at that time, hauling cattle and hogs or
whatever
went there.
My other favorite story, and I can't quite tell all of it on radio, but I can tell most of it.
Uh, Frank had perch around horses and it was big, beautiful black horses.
And Frank, uh,
used to talk to them in plain language.
She could be quite salty at times.
And Judy Jacobson, who was a pastor colleague of mine, was the daughter of Vergey, who Frank married, both of them late in life.
And Judy told me that one day when her little daughter was staying at Grandma Vergey's house, she was out playing in the yard.
Virgie looked out the window and those big black perch around horses had got out and Virgie went outside and Little girl was standing there.
She's about four or five years old Shaking your fingers at the horses and she said it's okay grandma.
I so beat them for you
Oh Boy yeah, those little ones are like parents sometimes I think yeah, oh that's awesome
Frank and Vergey were quite the couple.
They were Frank hardly ever darkened the door of the church Vergey was there every Sunday taught the adult Sunday school class and Just fond memories of both of them
Good stories too about Gertie Frye.
Would you share a little bit of that story too?
Well Gertie was my Sunday school teacher when I was three or four years old and she was married to
Buford or BK Frey, and they ran the the store in Lloyd, you know, for 15 years in the 30s and 40s.
And my favorite story is actually about BK.
When my dad was in World War II, he was in the Army for four years, went through North Africa and then up into Italy.
And finally, when the war was over.
His folks didn't have a phone.
Hardly anybody at that time had a phone.
But BK had a phone at that big store building in Lloyd.
So when he had word that he was coming home, he called there.
And BK answered the phone.
He said, I want you to get word to my folks that I'm coming home.
And BK said, well, your dad's right here.
And so he handed the phone to my grandfather, Archie Sunwald.
And Dad got to tell him himself that he was coming home.
It's it's hard to fathom that in this day and age where everybody has a phone in their pocket John.
I know it is amazing A
lot of stories around the store and Lloyd had a gas station at that time as well
didn't he?
Yes, orange gas station was my favorite place to go and When you went it when you stopped in there there was always Men some of us boys sitting around
having a pop.
We used to drink the Hillbilly pop that was made in Ruslan Center.
And Oren was the kind of guy who was just very friendly and warm.
He didn't tell a lot of jokes, but he created a place where everybody felt welcome.
milk haulers from the cheese factory would stop in there, the junior Ripley, Bill Brown, Big Strap and guys, you know, they could pick up a 40 gallon milk can, one in each hand and put it up on the milk truck.
All those guys would be there and it was just the kind of place where you felt like you were coming home.
Like something out of the Waltons or something,
right?
Like
I God see store But yeah, and that's amazing that was kind of like the the central meeting place and that was probably in those days kind of that's where the social media was right there, right?
Yes Old Mr. French was the blacksmith who from next door and He used to tell the story about when the gypsies came through town
and lifted his gold watch.
Never forget him telling that story.
I know you've been a storyteller for a long time.
What makes a good story in your mind, John?
That's a good question.
I think that it touches deep feelings and the stories I tell about Lloyd and growing up on the farm just north of Lloyd.
I think appeal to people who have grown up in Southwest Wisconsin.
So a good story has to resonate with the hearer.
I've learned in preaching over the years that a sermon was successful not when people congratulated me and said that's a good sermon, but when they told me one of their own stories.
Absolutely, we can relate to that.
I know that it's a rich area there, but every community Lloyd's size has got a cast of characters and people that are similar, don't they?
Yes, it seemed like that.
You'll be back to the area.
Do you get back to the area very much, John?
Every once in a while, my wife, Joanne Perry, grew up in Viola.
And of course, we come back to see her brother Rod Perry in.
Sister-in-law Helen Helen was in eighth grade when I started first grade at the Lloyd grade school and She and a couple of the other eighth graders Used to help me put on my boots So I've always been grateful to Helen for that
So then you were a graduate of Ithaca high school then as well, right?
Yes, I started Ithaca in 1965 and graduated in 69
played football and baseball and wrestled and Just have a lot of fond memories of Ithaca
and you mentioned Mary Lynn's any recollections of teachers that you had in Ithaca
Well, Mr. Garner, of course Was my English teacher and he used to talk about Ambrosia and being a food for the gods, you know things like that.
He was just a fine fellow and of course
Pampoo was our baseball coach.
We're all called in coach.
And the people that know me know that I'm a five foot one in my stocking feet.
And I was the only person on the freshman class that made the traveling squad in baseball.
And that was only because when Mr. Pampoo needed somebody to get on base
He would say, Johnny, you go up there and you squat way down low and get a walk.
So I'd go up there and squat way down low and the pitchers would swear at me and I would get a walk and then he'd put in a pinch hitter.
Oh, good stuff.
I think we can relate to that as well because Mr. Pampu was there for 40 plus years.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm thinking you're going to be hoping to see a lot of people.
Maybe some familiar faces meets new friends, but you know, some old friends to show up at the Men's Shed at Lloyd on Wednesday.
I'm hoping so.
I'm looking forward to it.
We appreciate that, John.
Thanks for your memories today and we'll see you soon.
Very good.
Thank you, Phil.
John, some will join us here on WRCO's morning show.