We’re sure you’re aware that Sievers (now the shop and library area) was originally the Jackson Harbor School, for grades one through eight, dating back to 1891. Built at a cost of $450, early records indicate as many as 46 students attended at one time. Sylvia (Andersen) Nelson began teaching at the Jackson Harbor School in 1930 at a salary of $100 a month. From the book, “Island Schools, Then and Now”, she recalled aspects of the schoolhouse during the winter months. “A small shelf held an enamel washbasin, a pail for clean water, soap dispenser, and a pail for wastewater. Since (the entry area) was never heated, the water froze in winter. For drinking, there was a crock-like container […]
No match
Ice formed around Washington Island around the end of January, which is late compared to past winters. That newly formed layer of glass-like ice in the “Door” was no match for the Washington Island Ferry, Madonna. Similarly, the cold weather can’t match the warmth we felt starting February 1st, hearing from so many of you who registered for class (or classes) during Registration Week. Thank you! As enrollment continues, we’re filled with the excitement of seeing you again! While we wait for warmer days and our 2021 season to begin, we enjoy the particular and unmatched beauty that only winter can bring.
One week to go
February 1 is the day each year when we begin taking reservations for our season of classes, so we’re sharing and reminding you of a few registration details. Again, here is the Sievers Class List for 2021. On that date, begin by clicking on the Class Category your desired class is in found in the right sidebar of our Home page. You can also use the search box to find a class. Then click on the photo or class title to read all the information before registering. If for some reason you have questions or problems, please know that you can always call us at 920-847-2264. You can also simply call us to register. We love hearing your voices! If you […]
2021 Sievers Preview
February 1st will be here before we know it! That day, all of our 2021 classes will be open for registration and those class descriptions along with complete information will be available on our website. The site will be in “maintenance mode” soon, but available again for registration on February 1. Note: If you visit our website before February 1st, all dates and classes refer to last year. Featured on the cover of this year’s brochure is a Fair Isle sweater knit by Mary Germain. Thank you, Mary, for your beautiful knitted design! Our 2021 schedule (see link below) is not an exact duplicate of 2020, but since the overwhelming majority of classes were put on hold last year, we […]
New Year’s Day memories from Walter Schutz
We continue with New Year’s remembrances from Walter Schutz…”We spent New Year’s Eve with our good friends the Steinbart family who lived on Reservoir Avenue, about four blocks from our home. I always looked forward to this event as they had three children plus two cousins in my age range. We would play games, such as Parcheesi and Old Maid. Mr. Steinbart was a sales representative and spent a great deal of time in San Francisco where he could pick up novelty items that were not available in Milwaukee. Each year brought a new type of gift. I so well remember a back scratcher with a white porcelain hand attached to a thin bamboo stick about eighteen inches long. The […]
Evergreen greetings
Oh! like a wreath, let Christmas mirth To-day encircle all the earth, And bind the nations with…love… M. Lindsay For every hearth and home we wish good cheer, warmth and peace this holiday season and into the new year. Happiness and good health to all our dear Sievers friends, Ann, Butch, Cindra, Carolyn, Barb, Kathleen, Patricia and Kirsten
Thoughts, memories, anecdotes and information…
…is how Walter Schutz introduced his collection of childhood rememberances. We heard from a number of you that you’d like to read more his stories from Christmas in the early 1900’s (and more). This, then is a continuation of our Sievers Facebook posts since the last Sievers News was sent out. We’ll do one more focused on New Year’s festivities closer to that time. Walter continues, “A magic set was another favored gift. My brother had taken me to see several matinees at the Bijou where Thurston the Magician was playing. They were amazing and almost frightening experiences and never forgotten. It was only natural that I should try some of the most simple that were shown in a leaflet […]
It Was Fun Being Young
For the past week or so our Sievers Facebook friends have seen a series of posts featuring the childhood rememberances of Christmas from Walter Schutz. Walter was born in 1900 and grew up in Milwaukee on Holton Street, about three blocks from the Milwaukee River. He had a remarkable memory, going back to his very early years. Sharing excerpts (and the illustrations of Marguerite Jewell) from his book, It Was Fun Being Young, is one way of weaving a thread of traditions from the early 1900’s through today. Through December we’ll be sharing more of Walter’s Christmas and New Year’s memories on our Facebook page. He writes, “It was only a week or two before the 25th that children and […]
