History: Local: Community Organizations
Sussex Lions Club & Lioness Club
Start
of the
Sussex Lions Club
In 1939, there was a need for a fraternal and civic‑minded club in the Sussex area with a bent toward including the business community. Earlier, this had been first fulfilled by the Ashlar Lodge, then the Sussex‑Templeton Advancement Association and the Sussex Fire Department, but these had found their special niche. While the Ashlar Lodge and the Sussex Fire Department still existed, the Advancement Association had fallen by the wayside. Into this vacuum came some enterprising individuals, probably most notably the dynamic young principal of the 10-grade Sussex State Graded School, Winston Brown.
In 1939, the area was ripe for a community-oriented organization and Dave Kerr, a Hartland banker and Hartland Lions Club member, persuaded Winston Brown (who had Hartland roots) that since the area didn't have any community service group, a Lions Club could fill the void. After some discussion, Kerr and Brown met with John P. Kraemer at the Mammoth Spring Canning Co. office, and the Lions Club was born.
Kraemer and Brown, two gifted men, contacted community business and professional leaders. In a short time, 20 charter members were signed up.
The charter meeting was held April 18, 1939 with an inaugural dinner at the two-year-old Sussex Community Hall. Dr. E.C. Van Valin, a local general practitioner, was elected the first president.
Of the first 20 charter members, 10 later became presidents. The charter members who later became president were Van Valin, George Podolske, Rev. E.T DeSelms, Milton Mantz, Claude Kaderabek, Kraemer, Harry Rodgers, Albin Halquist, Henry Yuds and Roy Stier. The other charter members were Brown, Charles A. Busse, B.M. Fobes, William Hardiman, Otis Kramer, Rev. W.D. Millen, Alfred Otto, Rev. Charles Parmiter, and Lloyd Weaver.
| After the initial meeting at the Sussex Community Hall, other locations in the community were used for periods of time such as, the Brook Hotel, Bernie Krueger's Tap, the Paul Relot Tavern, (Old Templeton Inn), the VFW, Our Villa, and presently Marchese's Danceland. |
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1939-1979 Anniv pin|
Yesteryear in Sussex: Late 1960's the Sussex Lions Club honored its' past presidents, awarding plaques. Seated, left to right: Anthony Schumann, John P. Kraemer, Milton Mantz, Hilbert Keller, Roy Stier, and Ray Semrow. Back row; Al Schroeder, Jim Van Valin, representing his father "Doc" who was the first president of the club, Jerome Herzog, Eugene Ackatz, Jerome Mudlitz, Ronald Halquist, Chuck Woodchick, Robert Stier, Wilmer Marx, and Paul Fleishmann. Source: Sussex Sun, Tuesday, July 11, 1978. |
Source: "The First 150 Years Lisbon-Sussex Waukesha County, Wisconsin" by Lisbon-Sussex Sesquicentennial Committee, 1836-1986, Fred Keller - chairman.
Content edited - Mike Reilly
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Sussex Lions celebrate 67 years, hold 40th Lions Daze this weekend |
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Founded in 1939, the Sussex Lions Club is celebrating
its 67th birthday this year.
The club started Lions Daze officially in 1967, but it actually began a few years earlier when it was attached to the then fledgling Sussex Olde Engine Show. The club began to stage its own festival in July 1967—so the 2006 Lions Daze this weekend is the club's 40th. The co-founders of the Sussex Lions Club were two dynamic men, Sussex Main Street High School principal Winston Brown and the man who is considered the father of the Village of Sussex in 1924 and the Sussex Fire Department in 1922, John P. Kraemer. Brown began as a teacher at the first to tenth grade Sussex school in 1936, later moved up to the principal's spot and left in 1941.
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