News: Greenwood - Bell Dedicated at Camp Victory (2022)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Kusay, Kitchen, Guden, Hoeser, Hanson, Johnson, Fox

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 8/17/2022

Bell Dedicated at Camp Victory (2022)



Ryan Kusay and his family fixed up this old Chili schoolhouse bell to hang proudly at Camp Victory near Greenwood. Shown are Jim Kitchen of Camp Victory and Gannon, Zaylee, Melissa, Jaylynn and Ryan Kusay. Valorie Brecht/Clark Count Press/photos

By Valorie Brecht

An old school bell has found a new home at Camp Victory, a non-profit organization providing outdoor experiences to facilitate healing for veterans and others suffering from post-traumatic stress. The camp is nestled in the woods about five miles west of Greenwood.

Duane and Betty Guden lived on a 126-acre farm on Highway 10, one-and-a-half miles south of Marshfield. The 1891 school bell hung at the Chili school in Clark County. The Gudens found the bell when it was sitting in an old barn at an auction in Chili. They bought it and proudly displayed it in their front yard on the home farm, where it hung for decades.



The Bell used to hang at the Duane and Betty Guden farm near Marshfield. The Guden family decided to donate it to Camp Victory. Some of Duane and Betty’s daughters gathered fro a photo, along with Jim Kitchen of the camp. Shown are (l-r) Jane Hoeser of Marshfield, Deb Hanson of Marshfield, Kitchen, Janalee Johnson of Ogema and Sandy Fox of Germantown.

“We used it when I was watching the cows. My mom would ring the bell when my hour or however much time I had to watch the cows was up,” said Duane and Betty’s daughter, Jane. “We would ring it on special occasions like graduations. Dad would also use it to ring in the new year every year.”

The bell was a fixture at the home for many years but eventually fell out of use. About three years ago, Betty passed away. Then recently, Duane moved into assisted living and the farm was sold.

In the meantime, Jim Kitchen, veteran and Camp Victory board member, had seen the bell many a time when he drove past the Gudens’ farm during his job as a milk truck driver. Kitchen had stopped at Jane’s house, which is next to her parents’ farm, and asked about the bell. When Duane went into assisted living and his estate was being divided up, Duane’s children decided to donate the bell to Camp Victory.

It seemed a fitting choice, so the bell could continue to be used and because the Guden family has connections to the military. All of Duane’s brothers served in the military, in Japan or South Korea during World War II.

It was quite the process to get the approximately 700-pound bell ready and installed at the camp. Ken Heiman of Nasonville Dairy, whom Jim knows, brought an end loader to the farm and transported the bell to Nasonville Dairy. The bell needed some TLC and Jim knew just the person for the job. He asked Jane’s son-in-law Ryan Kusay if he would be willing to refurbish the bell, and he agreed.

Ryan, who lives in Marshfield, is a veteran himself.

“When the Twin Towers were hit, I was in third grade. I figured then that I would eventually sign up and do something [to help my country],” said Ryan.

He served in the Army as an infantryman in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2012. He was severely injured there and is now disabled. He has had five knee surgeries in the last eight years.

The bell project was something tangible he could do to serve fellow veterans.

“I wanted to do it for the family, veterans and the community,” said Ryan.

Ryan traveled to Nasonville and used wire brushes to take the rust off and all the layers of old paint. The bell was originally painted red and silver because it was put up on Christmas. Ryan and his wife Melissa painted it a copper color. Their children Gannon, Declan and Jaylynn helped too. Nasonville Dairy did the frame work.

Finally, the bell was finished and transported to Camp Victory to hang in the front yard. It will be used in ceremonies honoring veterans and to alert people around the campgrounds if there is an emergency. The bell was christened Saturday with the youngest great-grandchild of Duane and Betty ringing it for the first time at the camp. Also, 22 volunteers each rang the bell once as a somber reminder of the 22 veterans who commit suicide each day.

On behalf of all the Camp Victory volunteers, Jim expressed appreciation for the Guden family’s donation of the bell.