Herb
Indermuehle worked at the Plainfield Creamery during the
depression. The owner, an immigrant from Denmark decided
to return to his homeland as the times were so hard. Herb
purchased the creamery at that time, mainly to insure that
he would still have a job. In1943, Herb received an offer
to sell the creamery that seemed quite good at the time,
not sure what he wanted to do next he packed up and went
to work on the Alaska Highway for approximately 8 months.
Upon his return his brother-in-law Delbert Bartling said
that a small group of men were going up north to start a
cranberry marsh. Want to go along? Herb's reply was "Hell,
yes. I'll do anything." Herb was ready for a change
and was one of the 7 original cranberry growers in Manitowish
Waters who purchased property in the spring of 1946. The
parcel Herb chose went from Alder Lake to Little Trout Lake
and he chose to call his section Alder Lake Cranberry.
There were no roads to speak of that went to the marsh area.
The men drove tractors or homemade swamp buggies to get
to the individual marshes, in 1948 a wooden bridge was erected
over the Trout River on the south side of the marsh area,
this made the area accessible from both directions and much
easier and quicker to reach Highway 51. The men worked in
the summer months clearing and readying the land then returned
to their families for the winter months.
In
1948 Herb and his wife Florence permanently moved to the
area, after selling their home in Plainfield. In 1950 the
first cranberries were delivered to the handler.
Their son Richard H. (Dick) worked summers on the marsh
during the early construction and later expansion. In 1955,
after graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Madison
and having spent a tour in the Army, Dick joined in partnership
with his parents to operate the Alder lake Cranberry Co.
Dick also married Patricia Speas in 1955. Her parents had
a summer resort on Alder Lake and she spent her summers
at the lake, she attended school in Necedah, WI and graduated
from the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a degree
in nursing. In 1968, Herb retired and Dick ran the marsh.
Herb loved to fish and the area lakes gave him many trophy
fish and happy memories. Herb passed away in May of 1997,
born in 1900 Herb experienced many exciting events in his
lifetime from working at a north woods logging camp, working
on the Alaska highway, and being a cranberry pioneer in
the North woods of Wisconsin. Herb was always around the
warehouse during harvest, some of you might have been fortunate
enough to have met him. Florence passed away in July of
1998 at the age of 100.
Dick and Patricia have two children Richard D. and Susan.
Besides managing Alder Lake Cranberry, Dick was active in
the Wisconsin State Cranberry growers Assoc., the Cranberry
Marketing Committee and the Cranberry Institute.
Richard D. worked on the marsh all through school and returned
to work full time after graduating in1980 from the University
of Wisconsin at Madison with a degree in Horticulture. Richard
D. married Susan (Sue) Michalsky from Oconomowoc in 1983;
they have two boys, Richard J, and Theo, both attending
Lakeland High School. Richard J. and Theo are following
in their father's footsteps, working during the summer and
after school in the cranberry bogs. Richard D. has assumed
the responsibility of running the operation, giving Dick
and Patricia more time to enjoy sailing, golfing and traveling.
Of course during harvest time everyone works!
Susan attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison. In
1980, Susan married Thomas Schroeter (from Brookfield who
also attended UW Madison) and lived in Grafton until 1983
when they moved up to the marsh to work in the family cranberry
business. They have two boys, Jesse attending UW at Madison,
and Joel attending Lakeland High School.
