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On a summer drive home from Sparta along Wisconsin Highway 21, we spotted signs pointing to the Queen of the Holy Rosary Mediatrix of Peace Shrine in Necedah. Unaware of this infamous Wisconsin pilgrimage spot, we pulled over to check it out. A signed asked women wearing shorts to don one of the supplied wrap around skirts made of heavy cotton duck in order to "observe modesty in dress" while visiting.

A series of elaborate glass-encased Christ's passion shrines (see above post card example, note wounds) encircled the former Van Hoof farm land. We learned the Roman Catholic female goddess/icon oft-referred to as the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) appeared to a "farmer's wife" named Mrs. Fred Van Hoof (1909-1984) nine times starting in 1949 often in her farmhouse bedroom. A replica of the farm house stands amongst the shrines. Life (magazine) covered one of Mrs. Van Hoof's apparitions on page 21 of its August 28, 1956 issue after 80,000 descended upon the small Wisconsin town cramming the grounds with cars and pleas for healing and deliverance from nuclear annihilation. In the printed matter we picked up For My God and My Country, Inc., the organization operating the shrine, conflated the BVM, flying saucers, anti-abortion campaigning and American patriotism hence broke away from the Roman Catholic Church. The group has been building an ambitious cathedral, House of Prayer, following the instructions Mrs. Van Hoof  received from the BVM during an apparition. With only the concrete foundation completed, it looked like a flying saucer landing pad. A web site documents slow yet continual work. There was an info center/gift shop where we bought rosaries, scapulas, books, and other ephemera. The last time we passed through, a turbulent thunder storm was rolling in allowing us just enough time to revisit the Sacred Spot Place of Apparition. Lighting streaked through the sky and we made one negative recording a glowing apparition.

Father Matthias Wernerus sculpted the Dickeyville Grotto of bits of colored glass, minerals, shells, pottery and other shards embedded in mortar. After driving along Highway 151 heading southwest out of Madison the place looks like a colorful mirage of pop culture intersections with patriotism and religiosity. An adjacent gift shop sells holy water, holy cards, and rosaries. Our first visit to the grotto with college friends in the 1980s  pointied toward the surreal possibilities of making fantastical realities in hidden away places. Some art historians believe Father Wernerus gained inspiration from the much vaster Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend Iowa and that Wernerus' creation in turn inspired similar mystic grotto projects in Wisconsin.

Found: Front View of Grotto at Dickeyville, Wis., © 1929 Rev. Math. Wernerus Genuine Curteich-Chicago "C.T. American Art" "The Grotto of Christ, the Kind and of Mary his Mother, was conceived, esigned, and bult by a priest from thousands of pebbles, stones, shells, and corals from all parts of the world. Its beauty and originality must be seen to be appreciated.

Found: Holy Ghost Cemetery, Dickeyville, Wis. Genuine Curteich-Chicago "C.T. American Art" circa 1929

Found: Park Scene, Dickeyville, Wis. Genuine Curteich-Chicago "C.T. American Art" circa 1929

Rich Bouril with Toni Gosz's, Kellnersville, WI, 1972 Photo courtesy of Rich Bouril

 Wisconsin Polka King Romy Gosz (1910-1966) made rich complex Bohemian style polka music that formed the sound track of our lives. His records, TV appearances, and live performances created the atmosphere of all social events from weddings to firefighters picnics. We collect his Polkaland LPs, 45s and 78s for the drunken joie de vivre they encapsulate. His family has worked to keep his memory alive even hosting a Facebook page. Grandson Rich Bouril offers Roman's Espresso Roast coffee at his Culture Cafe on Calumet Avenue in Manitowoc, Wisconsin and remembers skate boarding in the dance hall of Romy's former home/tavern at Polifka's Corners. Daughter Ramona "Tootsie" Bouril has a boutique, Ramona's Courtyard Shoppe, next door to Rich's cafe. Despite the long trek from Manitowoc, her high school dates were willing to make the "mighty long" trek to Polifka's Corners near Kellnersville to pick her up.