News

Stained glass and quilt add 'flavor' to Potosi Brewery banquet

By Jennifer Davis

Dickeyville Wis. — Last week the Potosi Brewery Foundation held their second annual Potosi Brewery Restoration Banquet.

It was the same fundraising event as last year, but this time around there were two pieces that were being auctioned off that added a special "flavor" to the evening.

The first piece was the Potosi brown label quilt and the second was the Potosi brown label stained glass.

	Good Old Potosi Quilt

The quilt was made by Jo Schaefer, a native of Potosi and DeWayne Bierman summed it up the best when he said, "This quilt is symbolic of the brewery project. There are a lot of little pieces that come together to create something beautiful. The brewery project is the same. There are people from Cassville, Potosi, and Platteville and they come together to support the project.”

Schaefer wrote a piece that went with the quilt it read, "If our Potosi Brewery quilt could talk it would tell the following story."

"I'm proud to display the 'Good Old Potosi Beer' label that is recognized far and wide. It brings to mind times gone by and the history of the brewery in our community which is really a story for people. It's the story of their hopes and dreams that was filled with visions of great promise and disappointment. It's about business and agriculture. The brewery was as much a part of our community as the flourmills, creameries and even schools and churches. It was a responsible business that employed many and always a part of local celebrations. The brewery added folklore, romance and mystique to living here.”

Schaefer then went on to share with the people at the event some reflections that Edward Ragatz wrote in 1972 shortly after the brewery closed.

"The buildings are silent and vacant now, but the memories will linger on for many years of the smell of the hops as they were added to the brew in the shiny copper kettle, the cheerful jingling of the bottles and the rattle of the cans as they traveled along the production line in the bottling house, or the sound of the whistle telling the workman and the resident that it was noon and time for dinner...The trout are no longer in the pond next to the brewery, but the big spring is still gushing from the rocks at the foot of the bluff .... The blacksmith shop where Grandpa Haas hammered away on the anvil making shoes for the six teams of horses that proudly pulled the delivery wagons stands empty and silent, but the memories will never be forgotten."

Schaefer said that her hope was that the quilt would bring back memories of days' gone by.

The quilt was Schaefer's idea, but she had help when it came to sewing the pieces together. Those involved include Rosemary Markus, Virginia Koeller, Dorothy Laugeson, Hilma Donaldson, Irene Seng, Joanne Neuendorf, Grace Buch, Calista Schaefer, Ruth Bierman, Mary Jane Menne, Pearl Menne, Joan Patzner, and Sharon Bierman.

Sharon Bierman, a member of the brewery foundation, remarked that the quilt was sold at least four times before it was decided that it would stay in possession of the foundation and be displayed at the museum.

The quilt brought in over $7,500. It was sold to David and Phyllis Koeller twice and the last time it was sold it went to DeWayne Bierman. He then decided to sell chances on the quilt. The idea was to take half of the money from the chances and give it to the winner and the other half would go to the foundation.' The chances raised $1,600 and half went to the winner Mike Orr of Dodgeville who gave the winnings back to the foundation.

Sharon Bierman said, "It was a phenomenal ending to a very special night."

She added, "We want everyone to know how much we appreciated their bidding on all of the items. If we did not have people bidding the items would not go for much. There were a lot of generous people who came to make the event a successful one."

The other piece that added special "flavor" to the evening was the Potosi Brewery brown label stained glass created by Bill Uppena of Potosi.

Stained Glass Label

Uppena said that there were about 1,200 pieces that made up the stained glass of the brown label. He has been creating stained glass pieces for the last 20 years and said that this piece was a little different from the rest.

"When you work with stained glass you have to cut out the pieces. I did not want to cut out the center so I sent a pattern to some friends in Ohio and they water jet cut the piece and epoxied on the letters. Each letter in the middle of the piece is stain glass and the crown and letters on the side of the piece are painted on.”

The piece took Uppena about 40 hours to complete and he remarked that this will be the only one ever made. "I do not want to delete the value of the piece." he said.

The stained glass, which was framed by Jerry Schmidt, sold for $1,500 and went to DeWayne Bierman.

At this time, there is not an official count as to how many were in attendance or to the amount raised.

Karla Kaiser, treasurer of the foundation, commented that it was too soon to tell because they still had bills to pay.

Another highlight of the event was the raffle, which Frank Fiorenza said raised approximately $7,400. Again this year the top prize was an ATV donated by Tandem Tire, Midwest Motor Sports, Bob Friesen, and DeWayne Bierman. The winner of the ATV was Frank Hussenan of Dubuque.

Fiorenza said of the event, “This was a spectacular event in terms of items that were available and the support that we have gotten both from Potosi and the surrounding areas."

The money raised will go towards restoration of the brewery. Fiorenza remarked that on or around Feb. 24, demolition will begin for the two buildings in the back of the brewery that are beyond salvaging.

© 2003 The Platteville Journal