40 Years Ago

PRESCOTT JOURNAL

October 2, 1980

Near mob scene erupts at Ellsworth Village Hall By Mary Beeler There was a mini-mob scene in Ellsworth last Wednesday morning in the meeting room of the village hall. All the ingredients came together for an ugly scene: angry, frustrated shouting citizens, and angry, frustrated officials representing the state of Wisconsin.

People who have lost the traditionalAmerican sense of first come, first served ethic sparked the incident.

You might have guessed what precipitated the scene: The weekly arrival of three driver’s license examiners.

The first person in line, a young Prescott high school student who has many farm chores to do before his school day begins, came with his mother and they were waiting at 7:45 a.m., fully an hour before the examiners are scheduled to come at 8:45. “This is the fourth time I’ve been out there. They were always too full to take us before. It’s really getting disgusting,” the mother said.

Another young lady from PHS and her mother drover up from Diamond Bluff, with the mother taking, hopefully, a few hours off work.

Two more women, both taking time off busy seasonal work at the local seed company, came with their daughters.Another local woman, a new grandmother who had just spent exhausting hours at the hospital, got in line with her daughter.

This reporter was also in line.

All told, the waiting room in the village hall was full by 8:30. People who came first sat in the chairs nearest the examiner ’s desk, with the waiting line going around the room, and at the table, and the latecomers standing near the door and spilling out into the hall.

This was a scene that greeted the three driver’s license examiners as they opened the outside door for the day’s testing.

As the men came down the hallway, the people in the hall surged in behind them and took places in front of the desk. The people standing also hurried to “get into line.” The new grandmother was rudely elbowed out of the way by a young man. The persons who came first and who were seated and waiting to take places in line never did get in “line.” There were too many bodies packed in front of the examiner ’s table. The examiners hardly had time to take off their coats before people started badgering them.

“Ok, get in at least one line,” one of the men shouted.

That’s when the real trouble started… Driving permit tests may be held in Prescott “Why can’t we have permit tests in Prescott?” was a question asked of Loyal Mueller, Rice Lake, supervisor of driver’s licensing examinations in northern Wisconsin.

“You can. We’d rather have it that way,” he said.

That sure has been a secret in Prescott.

This spring, a woman from Spring Valley mentioned that all the kids in that school took their permit tests at school. They didn’t have to drive to Ellsworth for the short test and further clog up the driver’s license examining station.

The information that some schools did have personnel come to administer the tests was relayed to local school personnel.

But last Wednesday, Mueller said any school that had 15 or more students ready to take the permit test could request of the area supervisor, Thomas Hegna, in Menomonie, that someone from the motor vehicle department come to the school and administer the test.

“It might take two weeks or so before the officer can come, but he will come and give the test. It’s a simple matter of the driving instructor making the request,” Mueller said…