WAUPACA COUNTY POST

December 15, 1927

S.S. Chandler, One of the Oldest Curlers in Wisconsin, and the Chandler Trophy,

Donated By The Farmers State Bank of Waupaca

During the curling season of 1926 several members of Waupaca curling club went to Wausau to compete in a curling tournament. Among these was S.S. Chandler, then in his 84^th year, who is doubtless one of the oldest curlers in Wisconsin.

In conversation with Mr. Chandler many interesting facts were elicited by Harry W. Rawson, cashier of Farmers State Bank of this city, and Mr. Rawson decided to purchase a trophy, name it The Chandler Trophy, and leave it to the Waupaca curling club and the Wausau curling club to put on contests to ascertain which club might be entitled to hold the trophy year by year until one of the clubs should win three times in succession and they then be entitled to hold the trophy indefinitely.

Interesting Data

Mr. Chandler started curling in the winter of 1885-86. Two years later he was one of the four members of Waupaca rink who played in the bonspiel at St. Paul where the Waupaca rink failed to win first place by a small margin.

Mr. Chandler was a member of the Waupaca rink who played at Milwaukee and won the Pfister trophy for the year of 1895. The Pfister trophy later was won by a team from Winnipeg for three consecutive times which made them owners of the Pfister trophy for all time.

The subject of this sketch was skip of the rink that won second place at Duluth in 1897. It is an interesting fact that the Waupaca rink with S.S. Chandler one of its members won first prize or close to first prize at different points in Wisconsin and Minnesota more than twelve times. He has records of games played at St. Paul five times, at Portage three times and at Milwaukee five times.

Mr. Chandler, who will be eighty-five next August, can still curl with the younger set. Yesterday when interviewed for some facts and records of his curling career he was dressed for the task of making stove wood of a large tree that he had been engaged to remove from the city park. He was loathe to spend too much time reminiscing while the weather was suitable for working at the tree that he had felled the preceding day at the city park.

One morning last autumn this champion woodsman began his task to fell a large Carolina poplar that grew near a residence in this city. Several branches had to be roped and removed before the work of chopping the trunk that measured eight feet and two inches in circumference. By eleven o’clock the tree had been brought down clear of buildings as planned and the stump let as true and level as a table such as were once seen at the logging camps when giant pines of northern Wisconsin were felled by axes plied by choppers who had mastered the art of felling big trees by use of the axe, the first and most useful tool and weapon of the pioneer of all times.

Mr. Chandler, who had been pioneer farmer and lumberman, joined the first Waupaca curling club for both the sport and the opportunity to mingle with other kindred spirits.

He attributes his excellent health largely to three things: a cheerful disposition, temperate habits and plenty of exercise in the open air.