[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 49 (Wednesday, April 6, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E653]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CONGRATULATING THE RESIDENTS OF PLUM LAKE, WI ON THEIR CENTENNIAL 
                              ANNIVERSARY

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                          HON. REID J. RIBBLE

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 6, 2011

  Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the residents of the 
Town of Plum Lake in Vilas County, Wisconsin, as they celebrate the 
100th anniversary of their town's founding. Plum Lake comprises the 
communities of Sayner and Star Lake, which have long been vacation 
destinations for Wisconsin residents because of their friendly people, 
magnificent lakes and forests, and abundant fish and game. Folks 
looking to escape the daily grind can retire to this beautiful area 
year-round to hunt, fish, ski, and hike along lovely nature trails. 
Visitors are often surprised to discover that the Town's slogan, 
``Birthplace of the snowmobile,'' reflects its invention there by Carl 
Eliason in 1924.
  The Town of Plum Lake was officially formed by an ordinance passed by 
the Vilas County Board on January 5, 1911. The ordinance went into 
effect on April 1, 1911, creating the new town from territory detached 
from the Town of Arbor Vitae. The first town meeting was held in Sayner 
on April 14, 1911.
  In the 19th century, Plum Lake was the center of a vibrant lumber 
industry, which eventually gave way to tourism. Two years before the 
founding of the Town, in the summer of 1909, Herb Warner and others 
began construction on the Plum Lake Golf Club, which opened in 1912 and 
is today one of Wisconsin's oldest golf courses. Plum Lake also boasts 
one of Wisconsin's oldest summer camps, Camp Highlands, which began 
when Harry O. Gilette, a University of Chicago Laboratory School 
Headmaster, brought ten boys to a remote point on Plum Lake for a 
summer in the wilderness in 1904.
  Today, Plum Lake maintains both its majestic landscape and its place 
as a prime vacation destination. I am very proud to represent this 
community and I congratulate the Town of Plum Lake on this historic 
milestone. I join with all Wisconsinites in expressing pride in the 
treasures of our state.

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