Clubs, organizations and entities that have made a city, a community
There are many area clubs, entities and companies that have helped create the strong culture and pride that Abbotsford residents have for their city today.
Abbotsford VFW
The Abbotsford Veterans of Foreign Wars auxiliary was organized in October of 1934 and had 16 charter members. The club’s primary goal was to assist hospitals which aid servicemen. Records indicate the auxiliary had 34 members in 1973.
Red Arrow Park
The Abbotsford baseball and recreation park named Red Arrow Park was started in 1948. The land for the park was donated by Hans Amacher and the first grandstand was built in 1949. The park was dedicated on June 19, 1949.
The playground area west of the ball park was filled out with equipment in 1951 and a boy scout cabin was completed in 1955.
Over the years, the park has received lights, fencing upgrades, brick accents around the backstop and dugouts, and most recently, a new concession/media tower. The park currently hosts home games for the Abby/Colby baseball coop as well as the Abbotsford Merchants baseball team and various youth league teams. The park also serves as the location for First City Days, Fourth of July fireworks and graduation parties.
The baseball facilities have recently been upgraded to include a new announcer’s booth and concession stand, new brick around the backstop and dugouts and a new scoreboard.
Abby Lions Club
The Abbotsford Lions Club received its first charter on Oct. 3, 1939. The first officers were Frank B. Hebal, president, and Wendell LaBelle, secretary. The club disbanded in October of 1942 but was reinstated in 1968. The club put on events such as a Easter Egg Hunt, breakfast brunch, blood drives and more.
The club has been fund raising to help finance community projects and also currently gives a scholarship to seniors at Abbotsford High School who are chosen to be the Abbotsford Lions Club Student of the Quarter.
Abbotsford Christmas Parade
The Abbotsford Christmas Parade draws hundreds of people to the city every year. The first-ever parade started at the corner of Decker’s Drug Store and Dorn Furniture — what is now Business 29 and North First Street — and made its way north to Hutt Electric and Abby Lumber Company. It then went east one block and ended at city hall.
Over the course of the next 25 years, the parade gradually added floats including: Old Lady and the Shoe (1974), Puff the Magic Dragon (1975), Mother Goose (1977) and the Star Wars X-Wing fighter (1980). The parade also added characters like the Flintstones, Big Bird, Pinocchio, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street and the Pied Piper.
The parade became an official business in 1976 as characters and floats from the parade were being summoned all over the state to appear at malls and other parades.
The funds garnered from appearances were placed into the parade fund and used to repair costumes and floats. The parade included a ventriloquist show in 1990 and a magicians show in 1991. The parade was also broadcast on television by the Taylor County Amateur Radio club in the 1980s and 1990s.
The parade has been ongoing since 1971 and has gone from a few costumes and attractions to over 275 characters and 40 floats.
During the 50th anniversary of the parade in 2021, chairperson of the parade committee, Kris O’Leary, called the parade, “the best Christmas parade in Wisconsin.” The parade runs every year during the first Saturday of December to this day and thousands of volunteer hours are used to make it happen. O’Leary estimated that the parade would cost about $30,000 per year without the generous donation of time made by volunteers.
The AbbyColby Crossings Chamber of Commerce was not always a combined entity being shared by the two cities. The chamber got its start in 1934 when a group of persons known as the executive committee of the Abbotsford Commercial Club held a series of meetings and discussions to promote business conditions in Abbotsford. The committee was composed of Charles Hoffman, A.J. Folstadt, Stanley Thomson, Irvin Marcus, Frank Beil, Hans Amacher and Elmer Schraufnagel.
The chambers decided that a joint entity would provide the most benefit to area businesses and shoppers and in 2010, the two chambers combined to form one.
The first fire chief of the first fire company formed in Abbotsford was W.L. Crocker in 1903. In August 1941, members of the company voted to disband the old fire company ad form the Abbotsford Paid Volunteer Fire Department. Abbotsford
The first ambulance service operated by the department in the city began in 1962. Central Fire & EMS District was created using the equipment and volunteers from the Abbotsford Fire Department in 2017.
After a back-and-forth discussion for years, Colby and Abbotsford finally agreed to create the Colby-Abbotsford Police Department in 1969. An agreement was previously reached in 1961 but the city of Colby pulled out of the agreement in December of 1962. The department has since moved into the old elementary school building which is now deemed the public safety building.
The information about Abbotsford in this section was provided by the centennial book history committee consisting of Elmer Schraufnagel, Bessie Thompson, Clarence Dolan, Hans Amacher and Steve Bezak. The 148page book can be checked out at the Abbotsford Public Library.
