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1950 - 1959 BOOM IN BUSINESS & BABIES
North Central Airlines.
* Aug. 18: A&P opens its second supermar-
ket in Janesville at 1221 Milton.
* Early September: St. Joseph's Prepar-
atory College, a $4 million Roman Catholic semi-
nary for the Redemptorist Order, opens on the
southwest shore of Lake Koshkonong with 175
boys and young men studying for the priesthood.
* Mid-September: EI-Ra Bowl has its grand
opening at Center and Kellogg avenues with 16
automatic lanes.
* September: Seeking the Democratic pres-
idential nomination, Sen. Hubert Humphrey of
Minnesota speaks in Janesville and Beloit.
* Fall: Helen Jean Arthur, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Walter R. Arthur, Janesville, moves
from understudy to star of the national company
of "The Gazebo." She already appeared in sev-
eral New York plays.
* Oct. 31-Nov. 1: Halloween mischief
turns destructive and violent in Janesville as
teenagers hurl pumpkins and bricks through
numerous house and business windows and
damage an "untold number of cars." Five hun-
dred teens, called an "unruly mob" by police,
march through downtown on Halloween night,
a Saturday, throwing objects, setting small
fires, opening 25 fire hydrants, breaking glass
and prompting one officer to lob a tear-gas
grenade into the crowd, which breaks up part of it
temporarily.
Teens throw eggs, pumpkins and squash at
the cops, and one youth throws a light bulb into
a squad car, where it shatters into the eye of
Patrolman Bob Toler. Assistant principals of
Janesville High and Junior High, Hugh Horswill
and Ray Brussart, respectively, are called to try
to calm the kids, but they are roundly ridiculed
by the teens and are pelted with various objects.
Police arrest 26, mostly juveniles between ages
14 and 18.
Every police car, two fire department cars
and several water department vehicles are called
to deal with the melee. Vandalism continues on
Sunday but to a lesser extent.
U Nov. 11: The Janesville Fire Department
suffers its second fatality. Fireman William
Fnnane, 26, a father of four who has been with the
department for only 18 months, is killed when he
is struck by bricks and cement blocks falling from
a parapet collapsing atop the burning Schlueter
plant, 112 Fourth (Centerway).
Two other firefighters, John Shea and Paul
Finley, suffer broken bones and lacerations when
WCLO's Grant Ritter heads to the country to tape a morning radio show sometime in the
1950s.
they, too, are struck by the falling debris. The
masonry rubble buries Finnane and Finley, and
comrades and police officers must dig them out.
Finnane dies at Mercy Hospital from a skull
fracture; at his side are his wife, Judith (Arr-
wood), and Fire Chief and Mrs. Alex Andreski.
The fire guts the second floor of the factory;
damage is estimated at $250,000.
0 Nov. 24: Interstate 90 opens to traffic as
the superhighway is complete between Janesville
and Beloit, but work is temporarily halted north of
Janesville as the route is determined and property
acquired.
* Dec. 1: Rock County Humane Society
establishes its shelter for animals at 222 S. Arch,
Janesville.
* Dec. 7: Production of 1960 model Chev-
rolets resumes in Janesville after a seven-week
shutdown caused by a parts shortage created by a
nationwide steel strike.
* Sometime in 1959: Carol Sorenson of
Janesville passes up defense of the state jun-
ior women's golf title, which she won twice, to
try to win the Wisconsin Women's Champion-
ship. Her championship opponent is Paula
Clauder, the Milwaukee mother of four who has
won the title an unprecedented six times. But
Sorenson sets a precedent of her own: At age
16, she is the youngest golfer to win the state
crown.
* Fred Westphal of Janesville, captain of the
UW swimming team, wins the 50-yard freestyle at
the NCAA meet; his time of 21.9 seconds breaks
the NCAA record and ties the U.S. mark.
* Boys Baseball of Janesville buys 10 acres
off Milton Avenue just north of the city limits
(site of most current ballparks) and expands to
10 Little League teams and a Pony League of
six teams for older boys. Boys who do not
make the Little and Pony league teams play
in the city recreation department's softball and
baseball program under the direction of Norm
Graper.
0 Janesville sets another record for new home
construction: 354, making 2,907 new houses since
the end of World War II.
* Construction begins on Cargill Methodist
Church, 2000 Wesley.
0 TWenty-six people die in county traffic acci-
dents.
* Gray Beverage (Gray Brewing Co.), a 104-
year-old Janesville company, starts building a new
facility near Pleasant (West Court) Street and
Crosby Avenue (1999 location).
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