STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU) — Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza has been on a history kick lately.
The Mayor recently came into some artifacts from the city’s 100th and 125th-anniversary celebrations, including archived video footage that he now holds the rights to.
“I got in touch with an area resident who had some historic Point merchandise,” said Wiza. “I went over there to take a look at it. He had [campaign buttons for a former Mayor], the centennial button from when Stevens Point celebrated its 100th anniversary, and a ton of things from the 125th celebration,” said Wiza.
Wiza said that collection included mugs, a hat, some pins, and some bottles of the special 125th-anniversary beer brewed by the Point Brewing Company. The treasure trove also included a specially marked cup that read “. 125,” or Point 125, which he was especially proud to find. While he’s keeping some of the items for his collection, he is also donating some of the duplicates to the Portage County Historical Society.
“They are going to check their inventory, so if any of my doubles are things they don’t have, we are going to send them over to the Historical Society so they can preserve those,” said Wiza.
The historical finds don’t stop there. Wiza says he also now owns the rights to some 8 MM archived footage from the city’s 100th-anniversary parade and celebration. Wiza took the film and digitized it. In exchange, the owners turned over the rights to the footage to Wiza. He’s now posted it to the city’s social media channels for all to see, including at stevenspoint.com and on YouTube.
Wiza says the footage included the downtown parade and events that followed in Bukolt Park. It also featured images from inside some of the businesses that were around at that time.
The Mayor adds that historic things like these may not be important to everyone, but he feels they should be. “Where we came from, how we got here, is very telling. Learning about things that have happened in our past will help us. Not only today but in the future.
“What I find most interesting is the differences and similarities that we had with people 60 years ago. You can tell from the parade footage they still had community pride. It was a big community event and everybody gathered around to celebrate together. That’s really what Stevens Point is about today,” added Wiza.
Wiza says he came across all the items through connections he’s made, both in-person and online.
Other topics Wiza discussed with WSAU’s Mike Leischner include:
Start of video- Polar plunge weekend in Stevens Point
4:20- Wiza’s history lession
9:45- Plans to tear down an old Church and dance studio in Point, and what will become of some of the artifacts from it
13:50- Sled library
15:40- Mayor Wiza’s spot on the League of Wisconsin Municipalities
