Maureen’s Musings

Evinrude and Okauchee Lake This week, an icon originating from our community, is shuttering its doors after 100 years of making motors. Sadly, it was announced this week that the Canadian company BRP, Inc. the manufacturer, of Evinrude outboard engines, announced it will no longer manufacture Evinrudes, marking the end of an iconic Wisconsin brand. Ole Evinrude, who migrated from Norway to Cambridge, Wisconsin, fashioned his idea for a motor to power his boat when rowing across Okauchee Lake to get his girlfriend Bess an ice cream. His boat was so slow her ice cream melted, thus creating his need to go faster. Over the many years since he first came up [...]

Stapleton Realty began as a dream for me, long after I was a young girl who grew up on South Street in Oconomowoc. Having graduated from Oconomowoc High School, I went on to receive a BA in Marketing/Merchandising and then a Master’s degree in Vocational Education from UW-Stout.  I then began a teaching career at this University.  At the same time, my brother, Timothy, was in the service. As fate would have it, my Mother became ill which brought my brother and I back together in Oconomowoc to care for her. It was at this time that Tom Snyder, the owner of Snyder’s Clothing store, suggested that I put my marketing [...]