Hembel

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Adapted from "Be It Ever So Hembel," which appeared in the Fall, 1999 issue of Water Line

Adversity has often made giant men of mere boys. Many would shudder at the loss of their father at the tender age of 17 and cringe further upon contemplating what that loss might mean if they were the eldest son of a farmer. But instead of shrinking from these challenges, Walter Hembel went to work

Work he knew well, having been raised on the Hembel Homestead in Polk, where he mastered each chore on the farm as fast as his limbs could grow. And pain he surely understood from conversations spoken in German he likely overheard as a child when in the Great War, his parents’ and grandparents’ new country first fought their old.

Walter spent much of his youth in “Katzinbach.” (In German, “Katz” means “cat” and “Bach” is “brook.”) While no doubt, there were cats on every farm, it is likely that a family of early settlers with the common German surname of Katz lived near Cedar Creek. Today the same area is called Mayfield. There, Walter’s father, Jacob, owned a tavern until he was able to trade it for his own farm, 139 acres, at the foot of Holy Hill in Hubertus.

Jacob Hembel divided his energy between his family in Katzinbach and his farm in Hubertus until he died prematurely of heart failure at the age of 56. Walter’s younger brother and sister stayed in Katzinbach while he, at his mother’s request, quit school to work the farm in Hubertus. As Walter dutifully embraced his new responsibilities, his uncle, Peter, was near his young siblings and mother, working yet another Hembel farm in Polk.

With the Carmelite monks praying overhead within the walls of the Shrine of Holy Hill, Walter managed 45 dairy cows while tending fields of corn, hay and oats. In time, he adjusted to his new life and found time to socialize. At a local dance, he met a young woman who would soon become his wife. Martha Fleischmann, was from Monches and like her husband, also of German ancestry.

Marriage to Martha brought two children, June and Walter, Jr., who, in the Hembel tradition, learned everything as quickly as they were able. By this time, Martha was equally capable of teaching the children to drive a tractor, milk a cow, or tackle anything else that needed doing. And, there was still time for fun on the farm. Like the day when, after the Pabst boys had already been trekking up and down a hill on the Hembel’s farm -- a slope that could rival the Carmelite’s crest -- Herman Nunnemacher went to Walter and announced, “We’re going to ski up there. I’ll bring the rope, you get the tractor!”

Together Herman and Walter rigged a tow rope. The Hembel children spent many a day skiing and even Walter found time to join them-- when he wasn’t running the tractor -- to turn the wheel, move the rope or pull the skiers. They named their ski run, “Heiliger Huegel,” German for Holy Hill. Eventually a popular ski club was formed, which continues to operate today. In time, the tow rope failed under increased demand for a trip to the top, and the ski club saw fit to build a chair lift.

Walter’s siblings were grown and living on their own when his mother, Frances Hassmen, having finished her own child-rearing duties, moved to Hubertus to enjoy the rest of her days with Walter, Martha, June and “Junior”. Years later, while Walter and Martha were watching grandchildren grow, they learned of Uncle Peter’s death. Peter had farmed until his final days and when he died, he left Walter’s brother, Harvey, a farm near Cedar Creek. Peter also gave Walter 108 acres along Highway NN near Big Cedar Lake.

Driving the equipment from Hubertus to farm the gifted land in Polk was slow and difficult. Walter decided instead to rent the land to a commercial farmer. After two years of renting the property, there was still more work than Walter cared to have at the time. He was not close enough to look after other areas of the property, about which he occasionally received reports of wood being removed, trucks entering, and snowmobiles crossing without his permission. It was just too far away from his principal farm, and except for five acres reserved for his granddaughter, he wished to sell. Within forty-eight hours after the property was listed, Walter Hembel met Geoff Maclay, this land trust’s founding president.

It just so happened that the very land Walter was trying to sell was of considerable importance to the Cedar Lakes Conservation Foundation. Long before Walter had owned the property, a significant portion of it had been a natural wetland. At some time, truck loads of fill and soil were spread over the wetland to make it suitable for farming and to support heavy machinery necessary for planting and harvesting. The importance of wetlands was not well understood in the earlier days of farming, and the consequences of altering this one would show years later.

After the property was filled, storm water continued to follow the same path it had taken earlier: from south and east of the Hembel property, across the cropland, into the stream that twisted northwesterly and emptied into Big Cedar Lake. The filled areas did not have the same characteristic properties of the earlier wetland. The wetland had the capacity to collect and filter storm water allowing for a natural cleansing before any excess water found its way into the lake. Cropland had no such ability. In fact, water rushed through the rows of plants, not only carrying away top soil and familiar debris, but also various fertilizers and chemicals that posed new threats to water clarity and aquatic habitat.

Walter Hembel was delighted to meet Mr. Maclay and learn of the Conservation Foundation, for he had always wanted the land to remain open space, which he had come to appreciate during his youth in Polk. He also had promised his granddaughter a portion of the land where she and her husband hoped to raise their children. After some discussion, the men found agreement. On April 26, 1995, Walter accepted Mr. Maclay’s offer on behalf of the Conservation Foundation. Five acres were set aside for Walter’s granddaughter, and the Conservation Foundation set its sights on restoring the wetland.

The amount of sediment pouring into Big Cedar Lake from the Hembel property was a shared concern. It had been identified as a source of non-point pollution in a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources publication, “A non-point source control plan for the Cedar Creek Watershed.” Sedimentation of 95.4 tons per year was pouring into the lake from a meandering stream that runs through the property, according to a study by the Washington County Land Conservation Department based on 1987 Inventory Data from the Milwaukee River Program. Correcting this problem was also very high on the list of priorities for the Big Cedar Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District. The runoff at that time represented 40% of the total 238 tons of annual cropland sediment reaching the lake from the watershed as a whole.

After the Conservation Foundation purchased the property, these organizations engaged in a cooperative effort to complete the restoration. The project received a lake protection grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; the Washington County Land Conservation Department engineered the construction of berms, ponds, buffer strips and native plantings; and the Big Cedar Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District entered into a cooperative management agreement with the Conservation Foundation to ensure perpetual protection and maintenance of the property. Deed restrictions at the time of purchase, along with the conditions of the lake protection grant agreement with the Department of Natural Resources, prohibit all motor vehicles on the property except those necessary for use in farming the cropland or used for maintenance. Hiking and skiing while enjoying rolling hills or wild flowers is encouraged.