"Dump offers bits of fun, exercise and camaraderie" from the April 26, 1977 Door County Advocate
By JANE SHEA
David Sohns (on truck) and Maurice Larson do a bit of socializing with a four-footed companion at the Ephraim village dump. —Henry Shea
Dump offers bits of fun, exercise and camaraderie
By JANE SHEA
Transcending the garbage itself, the village dump is one of those issues touching deeply the emotional psyche of a small community.
It's not that people aren't in favor of progress and neatness, but they get the feeling if they lose their dump, another segment of the past is slipping away.
Ephraim's village dump, and we are sure others would be defended with equal intensity, represents not only a dumping site but a way of life.
Even on busy days, there's a sense of camaraderie, a time to talk village politics or swap stories while leisurely unloading the trash. Here children search for treasures and proudly display their finds. And picture the face of the happy man who has retrieved the old fishing hat his wife discarded, apparently by mistake.
It's a place to find a spare piece of wire, a length of lumber, maybe a tire for a swing: The dump site is a social leveler. One finds people of all economic persuasions taking advantage of the barter and trade.
Nowhere do trilliums seem to bloom more gloriously than at the Ephraim dump, aided perhaps by decades of mulch to feed their roots. One of the major stops on any springtime tour has always been here where the trilliums poke through the underbrush, or boldly grow beside stray tin cans.
We'll remember it was here in winter that residents not only dumped garbage but also indulged in artistic and decorative endeavor, perhaps as therapy during a long, cold spell. One season someone left a table in one section of the dump. A passerby noted this and added a lamp and a placemat. Someone else thoughtfully placed a bit of carpeting. beneath the table. Added as final touches were a book and a wine bottle. Such artistic ingenuity will have to find other outlets soon or be submerged forever.
Earlier in the dump's history, an owner breaking up his cherry orchard operation, brought not only boxes of dishes, but lucky visitors also found three almost new outboard motors set neatly aside for the taking.
One resident who particularly enjoys the social aspects of the dump area, said she was once introduced to a famous visiting historian there. She recalls the introduction took place somewhere between the housewares and trash departments.
Although there are some still willing to fight for the continuance of this bit of Americana, it is a certainty that village dumps in their present form are marked for extinction. When they do go, as authorities say they must, we will, we are told, be rid of nasty debris and the dangers of pollution. The dreaded sight of smoke rising too high on a windy day will be a thing of the past.
Gone will be the kicks on inconvenient dump hours. Shed a sentimental tear for past squabbles over who has dump keys and who hasn't.
Trilliums will bloom unviewed in the wilderness. There will be no one there to enjoy them except for an occasional descendent of Sid Suess's battalion of cats.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
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