Marshfield to Marshfield

Gerretsen pictured alongside the Hubble Telescope replica on the Square. Photos by Thom Gerretsen

Thom Gerretsen and Public Administrator Danielle Boggs outside the Webster County Courthouse.

You're older than us! Our Marshfield was incorporated in 1872 – much of the city was destroyed in a large fire a few years later – and our community celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2022. The Hub City Times is almost finished publishing Marshfield's 150 – a list of people from various walks of life who've made differences in their families, neighborhoods, community, and beyond. With limited space, the paper has rolled out one inductee per week – or groups of inductees such as the six founders of the Clinic. Our most distinctive native Marshfieldian is the late Melvin R. Laird. As a former congressman he secured millions of dollars in aid to Marshfield Clinic and its extensive research. But nationally, he left his mark as the nation's defense secretary for President Richard Nixon in the 1970s during the Vietnam War.

Gerretsen takes a selfie with the Marshfield, Mo population sign.

"I'm glad I didn't have to worry about traffic to photograph this on the square." - Thom Gerretsen

Posted Wednesday, August 28, 2024 3:16 pm

By Thom Gerretsen

Editor's Note: The following is a letter, followed by a blog post from a man who recently explored Marshfield, MO on a 9-day road trip. He visited with Public Administrator Danielle Boggs while checking out the Webster County Courthouse, and found her to be a helpful guide. Take a look at our town through the eyes of a visitor and remember, be kind to our guests! They, too, see the magic of our little town.

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To Danielle:

I'm still unpacking and gathering memories for an amazing 9-day road trip to baseball's All-Star Week in Texas from the Marshfield in Wisconsin where I've lived for more than 46 years. But I would be amiss not to express my gratitude to you for helping me learn a little about your Marshfield. I know it's long, but I hope you can enjoy reading this when some spare moments come up.

I wasn't sure when I'd arrive so I didn't plan my visit in advance. I left St. Louis at midday on Friday, July 12, took my near-daily health walk at Bluff View Trail in the Ozarks – a real treat – and then spent the rest of the afternoon reaching Marshfield. I didn't do much prep, but I did know the connection to Edwin Hubble, the space telescope that carries his name, and its legacy of being on the classic Route 66.

As a retired reporter, I can't stop writing! I write and post photos on Facebook about my walks, my passion for spectator sports, my travels, and of course my family that includes a wife of almost 45 years, two sons, six grandchildren and five great grandchildren – all of whom live within 100 miles of Jean and me in Wisconsin. Jean & I often take trips that cover both our passions – my sports and her love of quilting. She was not along this time, however.

I covered community news in central Wisconsin on radio for 21 years and the daily Marshfield News-Herald for 2 ½ years. In my final 16 years, I edited Wisconsin news & sports wire copy for a smaller-scale statewide radio wire service compared to the AP. During my career, I held a number of leadership positions within the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association and arranged coverage for a statewide radio sound-bite network that originated from our station in Marshfield.

Anyway, I was too tired to tell you all this when I met you, Danielle. I was just happy enough for the time we did have. and I wanted you to know how much I appreciated your greeting me after I tried opening the courthouse door after hours.

Through my years here, Marshfield, WI has had around 19,000 residents – never enough to have the 20,000 that makes larger chain restaurants look at locating here. We didn't get a 4-lane highway until 2003, and the nearest Interstate (39) is about 30 miles away. But what we lack in familiar nationally-known dining choices, we make up in so many other ways thanks to Marshfield Clinic – one of the nation's largest multi-specialty clinics.

It has around 700 doctors here and hundreds more in over three-dozen satellite locations in central & northern Wisconsin. While it faces the same challenges as U.S. health care in general, the 108-year-old Clinic continues to provide great care – even as it goes through a merger process with a health system in South Dakota. I get my needs met, anyway, and as a Type 2 diabetic I'm a regular customer.

When I moved here in 1978, my future radio station manager sold me on Marshfield – billing it as a place where the sophistication of health care professionals has raised the bar for so many other institutions in town, including my journalism business. Since retiring, I've written occasional "remembrance" pieces for our weekly newspaper/shopper, the Hub City Times.

You have great assets in Marshfield, and I was especially happy to get there after trying to see Marshfield, Massachusetts in 2019. Heavy freeway traffic on a Saturday forced me to turn around, so I could return to Boston for a ball game.

I've had so many blessings of which I now have more time to count – and this visit was certainly one of them! Thank you again.

- Thom

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WHEN I SAW MARSHFIELD, Missouri on my driving route for the MLB All-Star Game, I knew I had to check it out. I didn't get there until after the courthouse, chamber & other places closed late Friday for the weekend. But when I tugged on a Webster County Courthouse door, County Public Administrator Danielle Boggs answered. She was so gracious and happy that someone like me would come-a-knockin'. She knew Wisconsin's Marshfield was bigger but didn't know we have hundreds of doctors living there.

Danielle said I was a bit late for this Marshfield's biggest event; a July 4 parade that's taken place longer than any such Independence Day parade west of the Mississippi River. Missouri's governor was the Grand Marshal, and Danielle shared a drone photo highlight.

Also, this city's claim to fame as an historic road for Route 66 is on full display with great murals and markings on the Courthouse Square. The scientist for which the Hubble space telescope is named has a scaled replica of it at the courthouse. And just like our Marshfield, this one has numerous military tributes, musical honors, and a Little Free Library at a stylish tea room. The Mail is the community's weekly newspaper. I found a newspaper box by the restaurant on the square, so I brought one home and found it well-written.