Anyone know anything about the Doty Tavern in Neenah in the 40s? Where it was located? I copied and pasted this article from the Neenah Historical Society newsletter: Adventures on the Blitzkrieg - 1940 in Wisconsin In October through December of 1940, three young Neenah men made an arduous trip from Neenah to New Orleans on a 32 foot cabin cruiser they had purchased at a resort along the Wolf River. During the summer of 1940, the three recent high school grads- Edward Christoph Jr., Harold Ginke Jr., and C.W. (Pete) Peterson enjoyed having one of the most popular boats on Lake Winnebago. Free beer, lunch, and swimming parties were keeping them occupied while the potential entry of the US into the war in Europe was probably not too far from their thoughts. When fall came, however, it became clear that the boat needed to find a new home, and so the complicated journey through the Fox, Wisconsin, and Mississippi Rivers began. At certain points in the trip, the boys had to shovel their way along, and even used block and tackle attached to the trees along the shoreline to make progress through the shallow stretches of the rivers. The locktenders along the route were not always helpful. Weather was an issue, and a diary entry from November 10, 1940 reads, “We got the first blizzard of the year with a wind of about 40 mph. The boat is covered with snow and the deck is covered with ice. .... If the boys at Doty Tavern (in Neenah) could see us now they would laugh.” In spite of the hardships of the journey, after over two month’s time the three eventually made it to their destination of New Orleans on December 22nd and sold the Blitzkrieg to a museum worker who wanted to use it to hunt for pirate treasure in the bayous. One wonders what motivated these young men to take such a difficult journey. Adventure and excitement might have been enough, and it certainly makes for a story worth re-telling. Thank you to Bill Daniel for suggesting this story to the NHS and providing the information.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 23:32:36 +0000
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