Jeanine Marek and Shirley Starck pose near a plaque honoring Michel Cadotte at Riverview Park in Cadott. The Cadott Area Historical Society is holding a celebration, the Fall Festival, Aug. 27.
CADOTT – Michel Cadotte’s family had arrived in the area as early as 1787, an era where the United States of America was a fledgling nation and before its Constitution was ratified.
Through the years, his family’s name had morphed from Cadeau to Cadotte. And Michel was going to make a name of his own.
In the mostly unsettled land, he set up a fur trading post in a place that would be known as Cadotte Falls.
Several decades later, in 1865, Robert Marriner built a dam at Cadotte Falls. He established a village near where Michel Cadotte had set up that trading post.
Marriner intended to honor the French-Indian fur traders with the name of his village. But for some reason, the name village was shortened to Cadott.
And on Aug. 27, that village is about to celebrate its history along with the 25th anniversary of the Cadott Area Historical Society with a Fall Festival.
“I think it’s just a good way of getting people back together,” said Shirley Starck, the chairwoman of the society’s 25th anniversary celebration.
The harvest event is the finale of that celebration, said Jeanine Marek, a past president of the society.
Children’s games are plan-ned, along with tours of the four history buildings in the east park area of Riverview Park, off of Highway 27. An extensive Thanksgiving-style dinner will be available for a fee, and Carol Chwala will demonstrate how to bake pies over an open wood fire.
Marek has lived in Cadott since 1962, and became interested in the village’s early history.
“I enjoy the early voyageurs who came, and the fur trading and logging industries,” she said.
“I couldn’t believe what an up-and-coming community it was in the 1800s. . . Very progressive.”
Starck said her interest in history led her to write “Gabriel’s Gamble,” a book about the German family, which is about relatives on her father’s side.
The historical society began when 12 people got together in January 1986. Among them was Ken Kenealy, who continues to serve as secretary. Starck said Kenealy and his wife, Toni, have been tireless in their efforts to help the society.
One of the 25th anniversary events on April 10 was the premiere showing of a 50-minute video made by Donna Bourget called, “Cadott Past and Present.”
Starck said the showing of the DVD filled the ZCBJ Bohemian Hall in rural Cadott.
Both Marek and Starck hope the community will turn out again for the Fall Festival activities.
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