Kickapoo Stove Works

Paul Bader was some sort of a creative and mechanical genius, although he would never admit to that distinction.  In discussions with him over the years about his varied projects, he would invariably say to me somewhere during the talk, “You know Brad, it’s not rocket science!”  Well, what he was working on may not have been ‘rocket science” to Paul, but it was to many of the rest of us.

            Paul came to the Kickapoo Valley entirely by chance in 1970.  He and a friend were looking to buy some land in rural Wisconsin and took a trip to Bayfield County to look over a real estate offer overlooking Lake Superior.  It was a gorgeous piece of land, but in the end a little pricey for Paul’s wallet.  On the drive back to Milwaukee, they took a little detour down the Kickapoo Valley and found it interesting.

            Paul stopped at a realty office in Richland Center, left his friend in the car, and soon was riding with the realtor through La Farge to look at a parcel of land on Green Hollow Road.  The old farm buildings were pretty well shot, but the view from the little ridge at the top was great.  And the price for the property was right!  By the time that Paul and the realtor returned to Richland Center, a deal was struck.

            Soon Paul was dabbling with an old sawmill operation on his Green Hollow property, trying to make it provide a living for he and his wife, Marcia.  “But wood and I never got along”, said Paul, so he switched his emphasis to metal and opened Green Hollow Enterprises – a metal fabrication and welding shop.  Paul was always interested in working with metal and had started making his own go-karts when he was only ten years old.

            He enjoyed using his hands working with metal and noted that a person gets a lot of satisfaction from designing something; building it, and then watching it work the way that it was intended to.  (Parts of this story are excerpted from an article written by Paul Beckstrand, writing for the La Farge Epitaph – August 6, 1975 issue.)

            Stove making came about almost by accident for Paul.  In the fall of 1974, he got four unsolicited orders to make wood stoves.  Paul designed a wood stove, which came to bear his name – the “Bader Burn Right” – BBR for short.  It was a good design and burned wood for maximum heat efficiency.  According to Paul, one of those stoves went into a new house that Orville Jenson was moving into.  Orville, then the manager of Nuzum’s in La Farge, loved his new BBR stove and told everyone he saw about this new stove being made out on Green Hollow.  Paul always contended that Orville’s testimonial created a demand to build more stoves.  In an interview a few months before his passing in 2013, Paul told me, “Shoot I built four of those stoves and then it just wouldn’t stop.  We ended building over 12,000 of those stoves and it still wasn’t enough.”   

            The “Bader Burn Right” was not envisioned as a permanent solution to the critical energy shortage of the 1970s.  “Wood heat is only an interim solution”, said Paul.  Although he did point out that, according to recent statistics (from 1975), thirty-three million homes could be heated with the waste from logging and sawmill operations.  Over forty years later, near the end of his days, Paul was still envisioning a way of using that logging and sawmill waste to heat the homes and businesses of the Kickapoo Valley.

            When the Kickapoo Stove Works began in the mid-1970s, Paul and his colleagues envisioned solar and wind power as a more permanent answer to America’s energy problems, and the group wanted to get into those areas of production also.  Paul noted, however, that moving into solar and wind power would take time since they would need to do most of their own research, as little official research was being done in those areas.

            After Paul built those first four wood stoves in 1974, the demand for the very efficient BBR called for an expanded operation so more could be produced.  In 1975, the Kickapoo Stove Works Corporation was formed to meet that need.  Five people worked on producing and selling the stoves in that first year of the Kickapoo Stove Works operation.  Paul and Marcia Bader joined with Tom Betten & his wife Eva and George Wilbur to inaugurate the little stove making company. 

A goal was set to make 400 BBR stoves in that first year.  The stoves continued to be assembled in Paul’s shop in Green Hollow, but a store building (the old Martha’s Restaurant space) was rented on La Farge’s Main Street to help with storage and shipping of the finished stoves and to provide space for a showroom.  George Wilbur headed up the selling of the stove from that Main Street location; Marcia Bader kept books for the fledgling company, while the Betten’s helped Paul with making the stoves.  Priced at $400 per stove, the Kickapoo Stove Works BBR soon was a hot commodity as people sought alternate heating options during the oil shortage of the mid-1970s.  The little stove company could not build them fast enough and expansion was needed.

Working with the Village of La Farge and the newly created Economic Development Commission, the Kickapoo Stove Works began to initiate a plan to expand its production capabilities.  But it was a difficult time to start a new project in La Farge.  The community seemed to be in a constant turmoil over the on again/off again dam project; there was several major disputes with the state Department of Transportation over the opening of the new State Highway 131 and the closing of the old state highway; two new bridges were being built by DOT across the Kickapoo River at Seelyburg and Andrews Flat and disputes arose over both projects, and lastly, the village seemed to be in a weekly battle with the state DNR over zoning and flood plain mapping.  There was little time or energy left to talk to these “Hippies” about their wood stove production needs.

But the BBR stoves were being ordered faster than they could be made and the space on Green Hollow was overwhelmed with the orders.  Seeking help in the manufacturing end, the Kickapoo Stove Works rented space in a building in Viroqua by the fall of 1976 and had hired an additional 10 people to help with the production of the stoves.  At peak capacity in the new Viroqua assembly plant, 60 stoves could be made in a week.  With retail outlets expanded to Viroqua and then Madison, the demand for stoves still overwhelmed production capabilities.

Interestingly, an editorial written by publisher Lonnie Muller in the September 22, 1976 issue of the La Farge Epitaph, lamented over the loss of the KSW plant and jobs to Viroqua.  Lonnie listed all of the problems then currently facing La Farge and admonished the village leaders to step up and draw the stove works company back to La Farge.  The editorial seemed to have an effect because in the next week’s paper, Al Szepi responded with a letter saying that Kickapoo Industrial Development, Ltd., La Farge’s fledgling attempt at economic development, was entering into talks with KSW about locating in La Farge.  

In 1975, Paul & Marcia Bader, Tom & Eva Betten and George Wilbur formed the Kickapoo Stove Works Company (KSW).  The move was made to expand the possibilities for the production of a wood stove (The Bader Burn Right – BBR for short) designed and first built by Paul in the fall/winter of 1974/75.  Paul had originally built four of the stoves in his welding and machine shop located in Green Hollow a few miles west of La Farge.  In that energy-crisis time of the mid-1970s, his efficient wood-burning stove was soon in great demand.  For the first year of operation, the young company set a goal to manufacture 300 stoves.

            To make that many stoves the fledgling wood stove company needed to expand their operations beyond its Green Hollow beginnings.  First, KSW rented office, storage and display space on La Farge’s Main Street in the former Martha’s Restaurant building.  The young company also looked for more space in La Farge to manufacture and assemble the stoves, but none could be found.  By the fall of 1976, space had been rented in a building in Viroqua and five more workers were hired to help in assembling the new stoves.  With the added manufacturing space and increased work force, up to sixty stoves a week could be produced.   Eventually, 495 new stoves were produced in that first year of increased production in 1976-77.  But more production space was still needed to meet the demand for the popular new wood stove.

            In the fall of 1976, KSW began negotiations with the Village of La Farge and a new industrial development effort in the village.  Al Szepi, President of La Farge’s new Kickapoo Industrial Development Corporation (KID), wrote a letter to the La Farge Epitaph newspaper in September that outlined preliminary efforts to construct a new stove works manufacturing building in the village.

            By November of 1976, Paul Bader announced that KSW had plans to build a new manufacturing facility to be located in one of a possible four locations - La Farge, Readstown, Viola, or Viroqua.  Intense negotiations between KSW and the new La Farge industrial development corporation and the village board followed with several meetings held in December.  By mid-January of 1977, the industrial development group led by officers Al Szepi, Phil Stittleburg and Kent Steinmetz announced that plans had been initiated to secure a federal Small Business Administration (SBA) loan to pay for construction of a new building to house the stove works manufacturing operation.  In addition, the development corporation was negotiating on the purchase of land in La Farge where the new manufacturing plant could be built.

            As those plans for a new building in La Farge were being negotiated the wood stove company moved forward with expansion on their own.  In February 1977, KSW purchased the Chase Mercantile Building from Finn Johannesen.  The large Main Street building, where KSW had been renting space previously, greatly increased the space for offices and for storage and display of completed stove units and other wood stove burning products that KSW was then offering for sale. 

Later in the month, KID President Al Szepi announced that the Kickapoo Stove Works would be moving their manufacturing works to La Farge by the summer of 1977!  Szepi added that KSW would be moving into a new $140,000 building located in La Farge that the industrial development group would be constructing.  KID had taken an option to buy land in the northern part of La Farge for the building and an SBA loan was being arranged to help pay for the project.  At the same time Szepi announced that the industrial corporation was raising $14,000 as a 10% match for the SBA loan by selling $10 shares of stock in KID and offering $1,000 debentures on the building project.  KSW would lease the manufacturing building from the development corporation and the lease payments could be applied towards eventual purchase of the building.

The industrial development group purchased four acres of property from Bill and Irma Gilman in May 1977.  The parcel of property along Mill Street was just north of the La Farge Co-op’s fertilizer storage facility and across the street from Calhoun Park, La Farge’s baseball field.  Besides raising the matching money ($14,000) for the project, the industrial development group also secured a loan of $77,000 from the La Farge State Bank in May to begin construction of the building.  In addition, an SBA loan of $49,000 was used for the project.

As the financing for the new manufacturing building was taking place, construction on the project had already begun.  Fill for the building site was trucked in during late April and actual construction began shortly after.  A cement foundation and floor was laid before a fabricated metal building was constructed on the site.  The building was completed by the end of June and featured space for construction of several different models of the BBR then being produced.  In addition, the building had loading piers on both ends for bringing in parts needed for manufacturing and sending out the finished stoves on semi-trailer trucks.

An open house was held at the new stove works manufacturing facility on July 4, 1977.  Over 200 people attended the open house that featured lemonade on the warm summer day, tours of the new plant and music by a band singing folk music.

By the end of the year, nearly 20 people were working at the manufacturing plant producing the standard BBR wood stove, the original BBR parlor furnace, the BBR home furnace, and a cabin model BBR.  The stove was still being sold as fast as it could be made from both the La Farge KSW store on Main Street and another store on Madison’s Fish Hatchery Road along the capital city’s beltline.

In addition, KSW developed a catalog that was mailed to potential customers.  The catalog featured photos and descriptions of all the different models of BBR wood stoves and other items essential in burning wood for heat.  The front cover of the KSW catalog featured a color photo of a Kickapoo River scene.  On the inside of that cover of the initial KSW catalog, George Wilbur wrote an introduction for the catalog titled “Heating With Wood”.  In the introduction, Wilbur wrote, “ Wood stoves and furnaces are the tools that give us access to the warmth-giving energy of the sun that is locked inside of every tree.  Because wood is economical, readily available and renewable, it is fast regaining its old popularity as a heating fuel.  If you now heat with gas, electricity or fuel oil, a switch to wood heat may give you enough savings in fuel cost to pay for your stove or furnace in one heating season.”   

Paul Bader’s stove was a big hit and eventually, the BBR would be sold at over 30 different locations around the state of Wisconsin and the upper Midwest.  The workforce at the KSW facilities in La Farge eventually would grow to nearly forty people with an annual payroll of three-quarters of a million dollars.  Nearly twelve thousand BBR wood stoves were produced from that new factory building on the north side of La Farge.

CATCHIN' UP WITH THIS & THAT

Every once in awhile, I need to stop and catch up.  I have to pause and write about some things, this and that, I learned along the way on this little path of historical research. 

In the last Local History Notebook that I write for the La Farge Episcope, I was ruminating on the beginnings of the Zzip Stop gas station/convenience store in La Farge.  I forgot to mention that when the Zzip Stop opened in 1987, the La Farge Co-op was also still selling gasoline.  After talking to Kevin Janecek, the present manager of the Co-op, he related that the Co-op stopped selling gas around 1990.  When that happened, the Zzip Stop was the last and only place left in town to buy fuel for your automobile.

            After that column on the Zzip Stop came out, I was chatting with Megan Stone, the friendly gal at the cash register of the Zzip Stop.  She informed me that there was no hyphen in the Zzip of Zzip Stop.  I was aghast, as I had changed the spelling of the gas station several times as I wrote that column.  I originally had it spelled Z-Zip with two capital Z’s, but edited it down to one capital Z and one small case z.  But through the editing process, I had not noticed that there wasn’t a hyphen in the name of the business. So, for now, Zzip Stop with two Z’s (one big – one little) and no hyphen should be correct.  If you think differently, keep it zzipped!

Joe Young called me last week about the Lyons School.  Harry Peterson has been trying to take photographs of all the old country schools that once were in Vernon County and had contacted me about that school’s whereabouts.  I wasn’t sure, but Harry and I had both heard that the school had been moved to La Farge and converted into a residence.  The problem with that story was that I couldn’t find anyone among my reliable history sources (not to be confused with my unreliable history sources) that knew anything about that move of the schoolhouse to La Farge.  Turns out it never happened.  The schoolhouse burned down back when it was still being used as a school.  According to Joe, some of the students had to go to Fairview School after the fire.  I also heard from others that some Lyons School students went to Tunnelville School after the fire.  Some of the remains of the old school are still visible along the old roadway that once ran from Tunnelville out to Buchanan Ridge.

Later, another Lyons School was built and in 1951 that schoolhouse was moved to Viola.  (So we had part of the story right; the school was moved to a town, but it was Viola and not La Farge.)  John Burnard lived in the school that became a residence for years.  Now it is owned by Max Perkins, who gave me a phone call about the old school house, its location (on the corner of McKinley & York Streets in Viola) and some of its history.  Harry now has a photo or two of the former schoolhouse as well.

Harry was also looking for the Buckeye Ridge School.  Art Thelen filled me in on the final journey of that old country school.  Years back, after the school closed due to consolidation, the building was moved down off the ridge to a property along Plum Run Road.  But the school was not well maintained and, alas, soon fell into disrepair and collapsed in on itself.  Eventually the property was cleaned up and the old Buckeye Ridge School became a large pile of ashes.

I have this file saved on my computer screen called “LHS Strikeout Kings”.  It is the possible genesis of a column on notable La Farge Wildcat baseball pitchers with lots of K’s.  While conducting some research recently on what was happening in La Farge back in 1976, I found where Van Bergum had been named an All-Conference pitcher in his senior year at LHS.  Van had led the Wildcats to a conference championship that spring and had pitched two no-hitters along the way.  In one of those No-No’s, Van had struck out 16 batters.  That rekindled my wondering who held the school record for strikeouts in a game. 

In May of 2013, Josh Lisney had struck out 20 batters in ten innings in a 1-0 LHS win over Seneca.  At the time, everyone wondered if that was a school strikeout record.  As it turned out, it wasn’t.  Upon examining the contents of the Years past in La Farge column in the October 27^th issue of the La Farge Episcope, we found that Mac Marshall Jr. struck out 22 batters in a 9-inning 1-0 win over Wauzeka.  That strikeout total of Mac’s was a Kickapoo Valley League record (which I’m assuming stood the test of time).  It’s interesting to note that both Mac’s and Josh’s strikeout totals were reached in extra-inning 1-0 games won by La Farge.  Ironically, in that 2013 game in which Josh fanned twenty Seneca batters, the game actually went eleven innings.  But by WIAA pitching rule, Josh had to leave the mound after the tenth inning, thus never having the chance to challenge Mac’s school record.  Are there any other stories out there about LHS hurlers and their strikeout exploits? 

            Another notable accomplishment in high school athletics was achieved a couple of weeks back by a former LHS student.  Mark Johnson, LHS Class of 1980, coached the Eau Claire Memorial High School girls’ cross-country team to a second straight WIAA D-1 state title!  Johnson, who is the co-head coach along with Angie Rush, watched the Old Abe runners win the D-1 title over the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids on October 31.  It was plenty of treats and no tricks for the girls in the purple and white of Eau Claire Memorial that day.  Way to go MJ!

            Several people have talked to me about the question that has arisen recently regarding the Viola Horse & Colt Show.  When did the Horse & Colt Show switch from being always held on a Friday to being held on a Saturday?  My rather vague recollections put the change at about 1960.  I seem to remember of the change being made at the insistence of the principal at the Viola school because he didn’t want the students in Viola to be missing another day of school.  It seems to me that the students at La Farge also got out of school when the Horse & Colt Show was held on Friday, so there was some consternation by the upriver students about the change as well.  I must admit that my memories of this are rather murky.  Can anyone clear away the clouds?

            A friend recently talked to me about a column written last month by Matt Johnson, the editor of the Vernon County Broadcaster newspaper.  Matt’s column addressed a division that he saw in the city of Viroqua between the old-timers (people born and raised in the area) and the newcomers.  He identified the newcomers as the people who have recently moved to the city and as those that espouse charter schools, home schooling, alternate and back-to-nature lifestyles and have other sorts of  “New Age” credentials.  Matt saw the newcomers as almost isolating themselves from the community at large through their choices of lifestyle.  I found that observation by Matt interesting because usually one would view the separation to be caused by the non-acceptance of the new people by the more traditional establishment folk.

            My friend, who moved to La Farge in the 1970s along with many other “Hippies”, “Back-to-the-Landers” and other societal dropouts of that time, said that he never felt that separation in the community of La Farge.  He said that he thought the “new” people of that time were well accepted in La Farge.  I tend to agree with him for the most part.  Generally, Kickapoogians are not a group that wants to put on airs (for some very obvious reasons), so acceptance of others may come rather easily.  It is interesting to note though that at the same time as there was this influx of new blood into the community, La Farge was being torn apart over the controversy of the dam project.  Perhaps the La Farge locals did not have time to discriminate against the newcomers since they were so busy staking out their sides over the dam story.  I will write more about these dynamics of division within the community at a later time.

            I also want to send a “Shout Out” to the folks at North Crawford High School for their recent production of “Fiddler on the Roof”.  The students, faculty and entire community came together to make the 48^th season of musical theater at North Crawford a rousing success.  Historically, I found the production interesting in that this was the third time that “Fiddler” had been done at North Crawford.  The musical had previously been done in the school years of 2000-01 and 1973-74 and there were cast members from those two previous productions in attendance the night we saw this years production of “Fiddler”.  I found that connection with the past quite amazing.

Z-ZIP STOPPING!

A chaotic occurrence happened in La Farge for several days last week.  The Z-zip Stop was kind of closed!  It was more like a Z-zip Stopped!  There was nowhere in the village to buy gasoline or diesel fuel!  Citizens of La Farge were without the conveniences of a convenience store!  EEK!

            The mayhem began around 10 pm on the evening of Sunday, October 25^th.  As the Z-zip Stop closed its doors for the evening, machines of evil destruction moved in.  In the darkness of night (although lighted by the village streetlights and the lights of the business itself) the pulverization of the parking lot occurred.  By morning the gas pumps were gone, never to be seen again (actually, they stood over by the alley next to the motel).  The cement of the parking lot was completely pounded to pieces save for a new portion between the pumps and the sidewalk next to Main Street that had been poured only a week prior.  As people sleepily drove towards La Farge’s only gas station/convenience store that Monday morning, expecting to pick up a cup of Joe or their morning newspaper, they were shocked to see the parking lot marked off with the yellow tape of a crime scene.  Going to the Z-zip Stop was a no-go; business as usual was stopped!

            Actually, regular customers to the Z-zip Stop should not have been that amazed at the goings-on there that morning.  For the previous week, there had been a sign in the front door warning customers, “NO GAS OR FUEL!!” followed by a lengthy explanation on the renovations planned for the business for a few days (and the days were individually listed when there would be no gas) of the following week.  But who has time to read such proclamations?  Certainly not most of us loyal customers needing our daily visit with Jenni, Megan, or Diane, who all work at the Z-zip Stop. 

I had read the sign on the door, a couple of times actually as there had been some editing done to the original warning, but still I was totally unready for the days of deprivation.  I had even mentioned to Jenni on one occasion prior to the “Eve of Destruction”, as she punched through my lottery cards, that it looked like there wouldn’t be any gas available for a few days.  She shot me back a wary glance and muttered something about how it might be longer and that wouldn’t be the only thing not for sale.  I should have known!

As I stood on Main Street on that fateful Monday morning with other people wondering how we could get to the front door of the Z-zip Stop, I contemplated on when was the last time that the village had been “gasless”?  How long had it been since there was no place to buy gasoline in La Farge for your vehicle of choice?

We could go back to that terrible day in September of 2001 when the terrorist attacks on America took place.  The fear that followed caused a gas run in La Farge that evening as the line of vehicles wanting to gas up or top off reached beyond a block long.  The gas tanks at the Z-zip Stop ran dry that night due to the panic.

Earlier, when the last set of gas pumps were installed at the Z-zip Stop (I believe those were the second set of pumps there at the station), they had the credit card feature added so gas could be purchased even when the station was closed.  Before that, there were those after-closing evening hours when you could not buy gas in town.  When you have one gas station in town – that can be a problem. 

Back in the heyday of La Farge’s Main Street business district, there used to be nearly a dozen places where you could buy gas.  Someone usually knew someone who could open up one of those La Farge business places and sell some late night or early morning gas to you.  (I can remember such phone calls to my Dad when he owned C&S Motors back in the 1950s and ‘60s.)

            Later when the number of businesses selling gas in La Farge decreased, those places being closed at night or on weekends really became a problem.  When the oil crisis of the early 1970s hit America with a gasoline shortage, small town gas stations like La Farge’s could not get enough gasoline to last for seven days, so closing on weekends was almost mandatory.  Later when the number of gas stations in La Farge diminished to two or three, sometimes none were open for business on Sundays.  (When we operated the root beer stand in La Farge back in the early 1980s, we would often be the only business open in La Farge on a Sunday evening.  Many a time, we had to send folks new to town out to Viroqua for gas on those summer Sunday evenings.)

The Z-zip Stop opened on La Farge’s Main Street in 1987.  It was the first convenience store/gas station type of business in the village. Soon after it opened, the other gas station in town – Steve Olson’s Citgo Station – closed and the gas pumps fell silent there.

            The new Z-zip Stop was located on the southeast corner of the village’s Main and Silver Street intersection.  Previously, there had been a car lot on that corner that once had been used for the garage located across the street.  Next to the corner lot, was an old two-story building that last housed storage for parts and an office for Jack Caucutts’ plumbing business.  Next to that was another two-story building that had housed the offices of the Epitaph newspaper.  Both of those old buildings were torn down to make room for the new gas station.  After the Z-zip Stop opened, that corner soon became the busiest place in town.

            Gary Leis was the guiding force behind the new business in La Farge and provided the money for the construction.  He was the owner of Leis Oil in Viroqua and ran a similar gas station/convenience store on the north side of that city as the one he was building in La Farge.  When interviewed for an article that appeared in the January 22, 1987 issue of the Epitaph-News, Leis said the La Farge station/store would be similar to a Kwik-Trip or Quik Stop operation.  The business would be housed in a 64’ x 34’ building and would include a full line of convenience items, ranging from coffee and soda pop to basic groceries. 

            Leis went on to say that an in-store delicatessen would also be part of the business with fresh sandwich specials everyday and pizza for sale by the slice or pie.  He also said that the deli operation selections would depend on “what business in La Farge requires”.

            Leis added, “We’ll be installing two dual pumps for regular and unleaded gas.  We plan to feel it out for the size of La Farge.  If business calls for more pumps, we’ll put them in.  We won’t blacktop the lot until it settles, so putting in extra pumps shouldn’t be a problem.”  A diesel fuel pump was also added when the business was first built.

            Leis planned to have the store open daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., but added that could change.  “We’re going to adapt our store to the needs of La Farge.  I don’t know what the economic impact will be, but I have high hopes or I wouldn’t be doing it.”

            Needless to say, the economic impact of the new business was HUGE (going Donald Trump here) for the little village.  In many ways, the Z-zip Stop, so new to La Farge, was old-fashioned in its hours and service.  Being open every day for seventeen hours a day harkened back to a time when many La Farge places of business kept those same kinds of schedules to meet the needs of their customers.  Businesses stayed open late for the farmers coming to town after the evening chores or for the laborer working late at the sawmill.  More than once in the village’s history, there were disputes between the churches and the business places about being open on Sundays.  But the businesses stayed open for the most part to accommodate the customers who couldn’t shop on any other day but Sunday because they worked twelve hours a day or more on the other six days of the week.

            So, it took until Tuesday afternoon for me to figure out that the Z-Zip Stop was actually open!  You just had to use the back door to get in.  The new gas pumps had arrived late Monday afternoon and they had been moved to another spot nearer Main Street by Tuesday.  They were still in the same place on Wednesday, but the site was nowhere near ready for installation of the pumps.

            Z-zip Stop owner Shane Nottestad (he had purchased the business from Leis in 1993) was nowhere to be seen as the construction progressed slowly onward.  But by Thursday the pumps were lifted into place atop their concrete pedestals and by late that evening, there was a way for the villagers to buy gas and diesel fuel once again!  That night cement was being poured between the pump island and the store.  More of that cement work followed on Friday.  That morning, the way was open to access all the new pumps from the Main Street side.   The village was saved from its gas deprivation!