Old memories of Chet in new Iola park

To say that life is different in the Numismatic News office in Stevens Point, Wis., is an understatement.

We have been here since April 17, so nearly a year has passed.

I can find my desk. I am used to the commute. I know where things are filed.

Readers are, for the most part, addressing their corrrespondence to me at 5225 Joerns Drive, Suite 2, Stevens Point, WI 54481.

I offer my thanks to one and all for making everything work as well as it has.

The year 2019 will be the first full year in the new location.

As you might guess, my thoughts turn from time to time to our old location in Iola, Wis. I still live there.

My roots are deep in the Iola community. That is as it should be, as I have lived there for more than 40 years.

Because it was Chet Krause and Clifford Mishler whom I went to work for in 1978, I thought you might like the following update:

The Village of Iola is in the process of building a small park to honor Chet.

He founded Numismatic News on his folks’ kitchen table in 1952 when he was working full time as a building contractor and carpenter.

After losing $1,800 in the first few months of operation, this paper went on a growth spurt that made a huge publishing business possible in Iola.

This state of affairs lasted for over 65 years.

The park will be located across the street from the first Krause building, which Chet built in 1957.

That was a critical year. That was when Chet had to decide to give up his contracting business to focus full time on Numismatic News.

I sure am glad that, when presented with that choice, he opted for this paper.

My life would have been vastly different had he not chosen Numismatic News.

The lives of many other residents of Iola would be very different today also.

We mourned Chet when he died in 2016.

We still are a little bit sad. But we are happy in our common memories and united in our determination to honor the man who gave so much to a little town in central Wisconsin.

Iola is not a big place. It was 900 on the sign when I first pulled into town. Now, it is 1,301.

Without Krause, I doubt we will get bigger.

But our little park will honor a man who had big ambitions for numismatics and for his hometown.

Many people came to know him, and I am sure they will be interested to learn when the park will be dedicated.

No date has been set.

I will watch for it and let the Numismatic News family know when the time comes.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper won the Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog for the third time in 2017. He is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."

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