The Town of Foster was made an official Township by an Act of Governor Blame on July 11, 1923. An election for town officials was held on August 6, 1923 at the Cottonwood School with 26 voters present. Duly elected were the following:

H. G. Abbott - Chairman
M. W. Meredith & I. Soijar - Supervisors
Rose Meredith - Clerk
C. A. Hizer - Assessor
Rose Meredith & J. Morth - Justice of Peace
G. M. Butler - Constable
 

During these early years the Town Board meetings were held at the area schools. The Act of Governor Blaine combined part of Mentor with Foster as it is known today.

Some of the subjects the Town Board at that time were subjected to, were the many small one room school houses in the area. The up-keep was one big problem with no electricity in the area, wood needed to be hauled for heat and oil for lamps, teachers and health problems. So a Board of Health had to be elected. So April 23, 1927 an official Board of Health was elected consisting of the following:

F. M. Flick - Chairman
R. G. Flick
Bert Flick
Roy Durst - Health Officer
Perilla Abbott - Clerk

There were bouts of flu, whooping cough, measles, mumps, some rashes and other problems, of which were contagious. This information has been taken from the past Clerk’s minutes and the Health Board minutes.

In May of 1926, the Town, purchased an Adams Patrol Grader at $149.29 and $1,500.00 was levied for road work. In April 1927, culvert pipes were installed and plank replacement on Hay Creek Bridge and Bear Creek Bridge. The culverts were ordered from Felker Bros. in Marshfield. Four culverts were 14 and 16 gage, 10-20 ft long at a price of $71.25. In 1933, the Bank of Fairchild closed its doors. The state settled with the Townships at 40% of their banked moneys. Also in 1933 and 1934, this area was in a drought disaster. The Board at this time joined the Workman’s Comp Relief and Drought Relief Program to help people through these disasters.

On August 3, 1935, an ordinance to regulate the sale of intoxicating liquors in the Town of Foster.

In the winter of 1935, if the snow plow did not come through, then the men of the area went out and shoveled the roads.

The Town of Foster, Clark County is the largest Township of Clark County, consisting of 72 sq. miles of which approximately 42,500 acres are County Forest Lands. Foster was named after the Foster family. There are approximately 82 voters and 180 non-voters or weekend cabin/home owners.

List of Deceased Past Officials for the Town of Foster

Gerry Ruzic did the best she could on this list and may have missed someone which is completely unintentional. Town of Foster is proud of our people who have helped make this township what it is today. They have had the foresight and perseverance to get needed jobs done. “God Keep Them”

 
I know there are many more who are not listed but have played an important role in the Township of Foster and will be remembered in our hearts.

List of Officials from 1936 to 1993

Hit and Miss Information Taken from Town Clerk’s Reports of the Past...

1937 - 1939 Many roads were extended, culvert work and graveling of the roads started.
 

1946  Consent and permission was given to Clark Electric Cooperative and Northern States Power to lay and operate electric lines in the Township of Foster.

1955  Flood with extensive damage to culverts many wash outs arid wash out of the bridge area

1962  Frank Aumann was grader operator along with Rudy Marincic, they paid $1.25 per hour.

1963  Election Board was Lottie Morrison, Ilene Durst,, and Juanita Bradshaw. They were paid $8.00 for the election day work.

1970 - 1971 A Board Committee was formed to study and make decisions on how to replace old steel/wooden bridge and redo road. Committee consisted of August Stremikis, Raymond Durst, John Bradshaw, Felix Aumann, and Fred Daft. These guys had some big decisions to make and the revenues were not available in those years. So their decision had to be what the Town could afford with the help of Clark County.

Issuing of Beverage and /intoxicating Liquor Licenses

1993 Town Board of Town of Foster

Richard Washburn - Chairman
Richard and his wife, Cara, have lived in Rock Dam for five years. They had farmed in Humbird and he is retired from UWEC. Richard also has his Real Estate License and is an Auctioneer.

Robert Mohr - Supervisor
Bob and his wife, Gloria, have had a cabin in Rock Dam (or 28 years. They lived in Aurora, IL where Bob retired from Caterpillar, Inc. after 30 years. They both are very active in the community.

Bruce Maresch - Supervisor
Bruce and Ruth have been coming to their cabin in Rock Dam since 1955. They lived in Beloit and moved here full time in 1991. Bruce is retired from the Beloit Corporation. He has been on the board since 1993 when he filled in for Emil. Both
Ruth and Bruce are always willing to lend a hand and help out in the community.

 (Click To Enlarge)

Leonard Lahn - Assessor 1977 - 1998
Leonard lives in the Fairchild area where he and his wife, Donna, have farmed all their lives. Leonard is a certified assessor and has attended many seminars on assessing changes as they came along. He has seen great changes in property values, assessments, and mill rates.

Raymond Durst - Treasurer 1954 - 1974 & 1977 - 1998
Raymond has made Town of Foster’s Treasurer a part of his life, in fact a big part, as you can see by the service he has given to this Township. Raymond and his first wife Ilene (deceased) made farming their life styles and when he married Dorothea, they continued this farm style and still reside on the farm today.

Ilene Durst - Treasurer (deceased - pictured below)
Ilene was treasurer from 1952-1958. When she passed away her husband, Raymond, took over the treasurer’s job and has been in that office since. Ilene was active in community affairs.

Dorothea Durst has become interested in election work and has been a ballot inspector for Town of Foster elections. She has attended ETN classes on election duties.

Gerry Ruzic - Clerk 1993 - 1999

Gerry has been active in activities of Rock Dam. She was an Election Poll Inspector for 18 years and attended Election Technology classes. She has worked to gather information as part of the 75th Jubilee Historical and Memories Book Committee.

Source: Foster's "75th Diamond Jubilee" Booklet