REFLECTIONS/Jonathan Gramling
Some Milestones
Every two weeks, after The Capital City Hues has been printed, I prepare about 100 of them, putting labels on them and putting a seal on them and then taking them to the post office for mailing, sticking 2-3 stamps on each of them. It’s a routine that I’ve done every two weeks since 2006.
Well standing there doing a repetitive task allows one’s mind to roam. And so two weeks ago, I was thinking it was Women’s History Month and then I remembered. My late aunt, Ottilia Tuohy, was the first woman to serve as a postmaster in the history of Wisconsin in little old Eagle in Waukesha County. I hadn’t thought about this for decades.
Aunt Til, as we called her, became postmaster in the early 1940s when a significant number of the men in Waukesha County had enlisted to fight in World War II. She remained postmaster until she retired in the early 1970s, I believe, and moved to California to be near relatives.
Aunt Til was a one-person shop and so she did everything from sorting mail to selling stamps. I used to spend parts of my summers staying with Aunt Til and my cousin Tom. Their house abutted the back of the post office and I remember seeing my Aunt Til staffing the post office during its open hours.
It’s a fond memory and my hat is off to you Aunt Til for your role in shattering the Wisconsin postal service glass ceiling.
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Ever since the pandemic hit, I’ve tended to sleep in until 8 a.m. before getting up, making the coffee and getting an Ensure and sitting at my desk to start the day. And so something important or memorable has to happen for me to get up at 6 a.m. — besides finishing the paper for an early press time — and leave the house early.
Well, yesterday was former UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley’s 80th Birthday and Tess Arenas planned on a memorable observance. At around 7:30 a.m., about 11 members of the UW Marching Band and none other than Bucky Badger came marching up the street and into John’s home. And the band lined the living room as they played some memorable UW songs including Varsity.
Retired UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley celebrates his 80th Birthday with Bucky Badger and Tess Arenas.
Bucky led the band being his traditional Bucky self and also went through the room greeting and chumming with the friends and relatives who had gathered.
I think John was both stunned and enthralled as the occasion proceeded. And after the band members and Bucky departed, John blew out the candles on his birthday cake. What an incredible start to the day as people began to depart to go to work. I’m sure the rest of the day was an anti-climax. Tess revealed that the bakery that made the cake had originally written Happy 90th Birthday on the cake and corrected it. John, we can’t wait to see what you are going to do for number 90. Happy Birthday John.
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One connection that The Hues has to then UW-Madison John Wiley was that the late LaMarr Billups was John’s special assistant, interfacing with the community and taking care of anything that needed to be taken care of. LaMarr was also one of the 11 founding partners of The Capital City Hues. We still miss you LaMarr.
And it was on March 22, 2006 that the first copy of The Capital City Hues was published featuring Mother Jackie Wright, in full African attire, on the front cover. It also featured a school board race, a yearly feature of our second issue in March.
It’s hard to believe that we are now entering our 17th calendar year of publication. We have endured one recession that began the decline of print journalism and a pandemic — I hope the severity is over. And except over the Christmas holiday last December, we have published every other week over all of those years. Some doubted that we would last this long and I had my moments of doubt as well. But it was faith and community support that has allowed The Hues to go on as long as it has.
Except for LaMarr and his wife Sheryl, the original partners remain and I have always appreciated their support.
And so Happy Birthday Capital City Hues.