Interest In Bunny Berigan Brings

Tour Bus to Fox Lake, WI

By Julie Flemming

With 7,000 vehicles traveling through Fox Lake, WI, on any given day, it is not unusual to see a large tour bus traveling Highway 33 going east or west. It was unusual though on Thursday, March 10^th, when a very large tour bus was busy making short corners, backing up to turn around at the end of the road leading to the golf course, and making turns on the narrow city streets that at some places appear to only be a lane. Why was that bus driver having a nervous breakdown as her bus extended over the edges of the road? Maybe it was because she did not realize where that bus was going to be directed to go.

The explanation is simple. Sixty people were interested in seeing the home of the famous trumpet player, Bunny Berigan. They were folks that had signed up for the tour as they attended the Bix Fest in Racine, WI. The Bix Fest, ran by Phil Pospychala, from March 11^th to the 13th offers each year a bus tour of something special in Wisconsin that has ties to the world of Jazz. This year they chose to come to Fox Lake, WI, for a little history and tour of the hometown of Bunny Berigan.

Among the places looked at on the tour was the site where the Odd Fellows Hall had stood years ago. It was in that hall that Bunny sang his first solo in 1917with his mother accompanying him on the piano. It was quite a night and he had prepared well, but as his mother sat down at the piano she realized that the piano had been tuned a key higher than normal. She said “we had practiced at home and had not thought to try the piano at the hall, so it was a real shock to me when I touched it and found it to be tuned several keys too high. I tired to signal Bunny to wait until I changed to a lower key, but before I could catch his eye, there he was singing at a higher level.” After it was over, he said, “Gee, Ma, that was tough. But I got it didn’t I?.” His happy mother added, “It proved to me that he had a good understanding of music.”

The tour bus was also taken to the land between Second and Third Streets in Fox Lake where the Fox Lake School had once stood. There those on the tour were told that by the time Bunny was in the 7^th grade, his Grandfather, John Schlitzberg, had organized the Juvenile Band in Fox Lake. Bunny was already playing the Alto Horn, Cornet, and Violin. Bunny entered High School at this same spot in 1922, (the high school students had the top floor of the school) and in 1923 he, Bunny, had a little band put together and they began to play for school dances. The winter and spring of 1924 saw a lot of school dances as everyone was practicing so that they could dance at the prom. Needless to say, the people on the tour bus were told a lot of history about Bunny Berigan and the City of Fox Lake. They were even given the opportunity to go inside what was once Casey’s Tavern and see the original bar which is still intact and just beautiful. Of course, there are wonderful stories that go along with Casey’s Tavern and the tour guide told them all.