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Author found father's work in state park
By DAVE RANK West Bend Daily News Staff
TOWN OF RICHFIELD- Mary Schueller just followed the clues and
unearthed her father's legacy from the 1930s. She ended up helping a state
park gain national recognition and writing a book about it.
The town resident turned historian will be at Fireside Books and Gifts in
West Bend Saturday, March 25, to sign copies of her recently published book,
Rustic Reflections of Copper Falls State Park, a history of the park and the
account of the successful effort of the community of Mellen to add the
77-year-old park to the state and national registers of historic places.
Her father, Michael Kerkes, was part of the Civilian Conservation Corps that
developed the park in the mid-30s. My father was a lead carpenter and field supervisor when they built the lodge, park buildings and visitor facilities. In addition to her father's service in the CCC, Schueller's connection to the Mellen area goes back three generations: "My mother was born and raised in Mellen and she met my father when he was in the Civilian Conservation Corps."
During her research of her father's life in the 30s, Schueller said she was surprised to learn her grandfather¹s brother sold land to the Wisconsin Conservation Commission in 1936, which was added to the acreage of Copper Falls State Park. “It amazed me how each generation of my family had a connection to the park,” she said. “I felt it was my turn to make a contribution and that is how I became involved with the Mellen Area Historical Society’s campaign to nominate the park site for state and national recognition, the first Wisconsin state park site to earn such honors in the categories of Rustic architecture, conservation and recreation. Since it was the first, I was told the nomination would be used as a model for all state parks to follow,” Schueller said.
Schueller¹s research became the core of the application which she and the Mellen Area Historical Society submitted for state and national historical recognition. Her book, which she self-published, contains the National Register petitions in the areas of Rustic architecture, conservation and recreation proving how Copper Falls State Park has added to the heritage and culture of the state of Wisconsin in each of these categories.
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