Way Back When

 The Thorp Courier  --   August 02, 2006
 

For our regular readers and those who comb our newspaper for errors, identification of this week’s photograph should be simple.  Here’s an old country church that’s about to make a major transformation.  It’s related to an article we ran last week and was accidentally omitted from the photographs associated with that story (We apologize.) 

What was the name of this church, where did it go on its first journey, and where did it eventually end up?  Is it still standing today?

Last Week's Photo:

Our photograph last week has caused quite a bit of discussion out in the community.  Myrtle Babbitt called right away on Wednesday to identify the building as, of course, the old Blue Moon Cheese Factory located on West Birch Street.  She believes the photo was taken in 1943-1944, when she worked there making powdered eggs. 

Larry Gostomski called in Friday morning with another idea.  Larry was 19 years old when he purchased his car, the one that happens to be the first car parked on the right (east) side of the street in the photo.  It was a 1941 Ford.  The vehicles were all employees’ cars, and they used to climb the steps on the east side of the building and punch the time clock.  He was paid 44 cents an hour, and gas was five gallons for a dollar, “But, most of the time, we didn’t have the dollar.”  At the time, the business was called the Blue Moon Cheese Processing Plant, owned by a Mr. Stysel.  They cleaned cheddar and repacked it into five-pound wooden boxes.  The business also made cheese spreads at the time.

Larry sold his car to his father in 1947, who also worked at the cheese factory.  Larry believes the year would therefore be between 1946 and 1948.  Good work, observant readers!  Any other speculations?