Browerville Connection Reunion . . .Where the present meets the past

by Jo Sobota Rosen

If you missed the Browerville Connection Reunion, you missed an event that was truly one of a kind. As someone who has been returning to Browerville since 1966, I can confidently say that this was an unparalleled experience.

When I learned about the event through my brothers and sisters, who saw it on Facebook, we all felt that it would be the perfect opportunity to come together.

As a family of ten siblings, with five of us left, these moments of togetherness are precious. We knew we would have a common bond—our “hometown”.

We took a tour of Christ the King—formerly St. Joseph’s—school and church. I got to see my first grade classroom, Paderewski Hall, the stage where I was in my first play, and then a tour of the church. Oh, my, how it has changed since I last visited.

We walked by the property where the old pickle factory was located—our family knew about the pickle family, Aunt Bett’s and Uncle Jack Gaida’s grocery store with the egg factory in the back, Brenny’s Grocery and lten & Heid’s Hardware Store. We stopped and ate at the liquor store, ordered pizza from Log Cabin Pizza, saw the gas station, the creamery, the milk plant, and lastly went to the Catholic cemetery looking for our relatives.

Finally, we went to visit the old Ted Sobota Farm, now Hagedorn on Cushing Highway—how small it seems today—but oh what beautiful memories. Little did we know that we would cover this and more on Saturday and Sunday, August 17 and 18....

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