Focus In: Naomi Hackbarth, Retired Educator & Volunteer
Memories of Life in Rock County (1941-1958) We moved to a farm in Harmony Township in June of 1941. In September, I entered first grade at Blackhawk Country School on Ruger Avenue. The school had no...
View ArticleFocus In: Nancy Nienhuis, Retired nurse, volunteer & owner of The Good Acre...
Memories of life in Rock County My family came out of the potato famine from Scotland and Northern Ireland. Born on this farm, I grew up here. I had to milk the cows. At that time, of course, we had no...
View ArticleFocus In: Mike O’Brien, WCLO Station General Manager
Can you share a Rock County memory? In 2008, General Motors announced that they were closing. We were beginning what we later called the Great Recession, the worst recession since the Great Depression....
View ArticleFocus In: Kevin Murray, Retired Firefighter & 4-Term School Board Member
Tell me about a woman or women who have had a positive influence in your life: Three People come to my mind, and two are in my family. First is my grandmother, Irene Chamberlin. When I was about 7, we...
View ArticleFocus In: Steve Dean, Owner of Mocha Moment
What brought you to Janesville? I came to Janesville because of my future wife. Kathy and I met when we were 18, her sister lived here and we saw each other a lot at her sister’s house. So we stayed on...
View ArticleFocus In: Jaleh Dabiri, Owner of Hilltop International Pub
Tell me about moving here and your first impressions of Janesville. I moved from Iran in 1975 to California, and in California I never felt any “different”… not until I moved here. I moved to Rock...
View ArticleRock County Historical Society’s ‘Light the Way’ Campaign a Success
In November of 1869, the William M. Tallman family enjoyed gas lighting for the first time at the Lincoln-Tallman House in Janesville, changing their world forever. Now, nearly 150 years later, the...
View ArticleFocus In: Thelma Wilcox, Retired Orchestra Teacher/Director
When did you come Rock County and what brought you here? I moved to Beloit in 1973. The idea was to restart the Beloit Janesville Youth Orchestra. They had had a youth orchestra conducted by Pat...
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Focus In: Teresa Nguyen, Rock County Historical Society HistoryTeller
Building the Bridge How amazing to step into this HistoryTeller position after several weeks of enthusiastically collecting stories from local townsfolk, neighbors, politicians, café owners, bar owners...
View ArticleFocus In: Christina & Jim Piccione, owners/operators of Jim’s Pizzeria
How did you both end up in Janesville? Christina: I was born in Sicily. My parents left their small community there, small like Footville. My mom said goodbye to everyone and didn’t know if she would...
View ArticleFocus In: Tim Pogorelski, owner of Boxcars Pub & Grub and Vets Roll Bus Leader
Tell me about growing up in Rock County: I’ve been around here since about 3 years old. We lived in a Janesville address, and if we had lived across the road, we’d have gone to school in Janesville....
View ArticleFocus In: Wes Paul, Vietnam Veteran
Tell me when you came to Janesville: I was raised up on the Wisconsin River, but came to Janesville in 1968. I had lost my parents at an early age. I’m one of 14 siblings, 10 brothers and 3 sisters,...
View ArticleFocus In: Leon Freeburg, U.S. Army Veteran & Retired Social Worker
When did you come to the Rock County area? We moved to Janesville in 1972 from Omaha, Nebraska. I was up in Canada at a Child Welfare Convention. There, I met someone who told me they were looking for...
View ArticleKen Corey, WWII Veteran & Owner/Operator of Dubes Jewelry
Tell me about growing up in Rock County: Well, I can remember when it was about 21,000 people. When I was young, my 2 brothers and I would get our bikes and go down to Fuder Cycle Shop, which is where...
View ArticleFocus In: Santo Carfora, former Social Studies educator & past president of...
How did you end up in Rock County? I was born in Brooklyn, NY, and was there until 1st grade. Then we moved to Queens. Being born in Brooklyn kind of gave me this strong Brooklyn dialect. We moved here...
View ArticleFocus In: Joe Quaerna, Owner/Operator of O’Riley & Conway’s Irish Pub
Tell me about growing up in Janesville: I was born in Janesville, Wisconsin at Mercy Hospital. My family lived here. I remember I spent a lot of time fishing on the Rock River. I also spent a lot of...
View ArticleFocus In: Kathy Boguszewski, RCHS Volunteer/Intern Recruiter & Retired School...
What brought you to the Rock County area? I was previously living in California. I arrived in Milton in 1985 as a single parent with two young children. I had accepted the High School Library Media...
View ArticleFocus In: Paul Tropp, manager of the Edgerton Performing Arts Center and...
Tell me what it was like for you growing up in Rock County: I was born in Janesville. My family was a large family, we had 8 kids, I’m in the middle, and Mom always said I let the kids speak for me. I...
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Focus In: Quint Studer, Founder of the Studer Group, Founder of the Studer...
With a master’s degree in Special Education from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, you eventually moved to Rock County to teach at Parker High School. Tell me about your early work in education...
View ArticleFocus In: Peg Vechinsky, retired nurse and JPAC volunteer and supporter of...
Tell me about growing up in Rock County: I’m “homegrown”. My folks lived on a farm in Milton when I was born, so that’s my birthplace. We lived there until I was about 6, and then moved to Janesville...
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