Copyright © 1996-2003
Kevin E. Musser

 
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Champion #4

The Simar Wasas Rousseau Memorial

Supporting those afflicted with SWRS
Dedicated to those who name themselves after U.P. ghost towns or wish they lived there, or both, or wish they were Finnish, or all three.

Ricedale "Wasas" Stonington, Caretaker

The Road to nowhere and from nowhere. There is not much to say about Simar, just a place on road signs and in someone's memory. 

House on Pori Road in Rousseau. 
First known as Hubbell's Mills after John Hubbell, who built a mill to cut a local stand of pine timber in 1882. Later known as Rubicon it was on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul. The name was finally changed to Rousseau in 1920 after Township Supervisor Edward Rousseau. Below, the only sign of life in Rousseau today, the Rousseau Bar.

My new favorite place, Wasas. 
(Is this place for sale?, if you own this let me know. I can see it now; CRRR&CC Historical Museum and Sauna)
This wasas the branch of the Mass Co-op in Wasas built in 1929 (wasas a good year to open a new business). 
Closed in 1969, eight years after the one in Mass City wasas closed. This is about all there is to Wasas, but right on the CM&St.P tracks and a stone's throw from McKeever, what more could you want!

A person suffering from SWRS developed the material presented here. Although this may sound trite, SWRS (Simar Wasas Rousseau Syndrome), as it is known, afflicts many individuals. The constant urge to visit places where no one lives anymore, the desire to change your name to that of long forgotten hamlets. Recounting the history of people you never met and stopping along side the road to take photos of road signs. In its more dangerous stages SWRS can make people take countless rolls of photos of nothing but woods, knowing to themselves that something was once there. In extreme cases they share these photos with others on the Internet and have been know to even change their middle name to a UP ghost town. Luckly these cases are rare, only a few have actually been recorded.

To date there is only one cure for this disease, move to the U.P. For most with SWRS their lives are filled with days of anguish as they sit in 6 lanes of traffic for 3 hours and listen to DJ's tell you how bad the roads are when .002" of snow fell last night. This memorial has been established to honor and support those who continue to suffer with the disease. If you are afflicted with SWRS, or know someone that is, please send the name (must be made up of UP ghost town names) and we will post it to show our support of their suffering.

Charter Members of the Simar Wasas Rousseau Memorial are:

Simar "Woodspur" Rousseau
Davin Simar Maki

Ricedale "Wasas" Stonington
Kevin Wasas Musser

Freda "Frost" Redridge 
Dick Bates

Quincy "Clifton" Hubbell
Dave Freeze

Raco "Nogi" Groesbeck
Doug Polinder

Seewhy 'Bete Grise' Willwalk
Jack Allen

Hazel "Kitchi" Obenhoff
Dave Root

Honkin "Donkin" Mandan
Mike Poe

Oskar "Nonesuch" Norwich
David Krause

Elo "Horju" Paavola
Tom Maringer

Pilgrim "Quincy" Perskari
Alice Neilson

San Jose Yooper
Mark Shafer

Sidnaw "Pori" Cunard
Joe Whitens

"AKBAR"
Jim Pykonen

Janet "Wasas" Wainola
Janet Rumentzas

Senter "Toivola" McKeever
Kirk Wishowsk

Phoenix "Cliff" Mandan
S&L Goodrich

Join today, a secret handshake and a good name is all it takes to get in. The benefits of joining this Memorial are many.

1) You get you UP name posted on this page and inscribed on the great walls of the Simar Wasas Rousseau Memorial.

2) Did I mention that the benefits are many?

Check out my Lake Mine pages to learn more about Northern Ontonagon County. (Other examples of works done by those suffering with SWRS) If you know of someone suffering from SWRS and would like to have their page posted here please send Ricedale an email in care of kevinmusser@copperrange.org

Hotbox article, The Firesteel Region of the Copper Range and the Lake Mine depot

Support photos and additional history

And Don't forget, Lake Mine, The Band

And the best example of an extreme case of SWRS

Another example of extreme SWRS

Join Today
(Add your fictional UP name to our memorial)

Directions for membership:

1) Put "SWRS" in the Subject block

2) Put your UP name in the message block (real name optional)

3) No secret handshake required, just trying to keep out the slackers.

3) Send it here

Let others share your pain, join today!

Note: If at any time your name is on the list you move to the U.P. you must notify us via email as you are considered cured and have risen to a higher plane of existance, and no one is going to feel sorry for you then. Your name will be removed and replaced by another poor schmuck.

The SWRS in not affiliated with the Sequim-Sappho-Quinault Malady, or SSQM of Washington State, but we feel their pain.