WAUPUN — Waupun’s first outdoor statue The Recording Angel is turning 100 years old this October, and the community has jumped on the opportunity to celebrate one of Waupun’s greatest cultural fixtures.
The Recording Angel was placed in Forest Mound Cemetery on October 11th, 1923, by Clarence Addison Shaler as a memorial to his wife who tragically passed away in 1921. The statue was sculpted by Loredo Taft, a Chicagoan artist who Shaler became great friends with due to their shared interest in the arts.
One of the community’s most recognizable sculptures, The Recording Angel served as the first of many statues donated to the community by Clarence Shaler.
To honor its place in Waupun history, Mayor of Waupun Rohn Bishop announced the creation of an Ad Hoc committee last year at the October 11th City Council meeting. Mayor Bishop asked former mayor Kyle Clark and Waupun Fine Arts Committee president Sue Haefmeyer to head the committee, and organize the event for the sake of Waupun.
The committee most recently held a meeting last week on the 16th, which Mayor Bishop attended to help work out planning and logistics. The meeting was between Mayor Bishop, Sue Hafemeyer, Kyle Clark, the VFW, Nick Rusch, Jeff Danne, and Steve Buchholz, who manages Forest Mound Cemetery.
“I’ve also personally invited all the living former mayors to the event,” Mayor Bishop added.
On Wednesday the Waupun Historical Society posted the official event page for the Rededication Ceremony, which will be held at 10AM Saturday, October 7th.
“Join the Waupun Historical Society, Waupun Fine Arts, and a host of other community members in celebrating the 100th anniversary of Lorado Taft’s “Recording Angel” at Forest Mound Cemetery,” the event page says. “Hear a prize-winning essay, poem, and the talents of the CWC and Waupun High School choirs. This will be a great event celebrating art and history in Waupun!”
The ceremony will take place at the heart of Forest Mound Cemetery, where The Recording Angel is located.
In the evening following the rededication ceremony, the Waupun Community Players will be hosting a historical play titled “A Poison Pen Letter to an Angel” at Waupun City Hall. The play is a pseudo-historical play based on true events when ransomers threatened to kidnap a Shaler-Hanisch heiress and bomb the Recording Angel statue in 1928. The play will be free admission and runs twice at 6PM and 8PM on October 7th.
“The plot of play is intertwined with bootlegging, blackmail, destruction and a diabolical scheme aimed at one of Waupun’s notorious families, the Shaler-Hanisch clan,” the Community Players said in a post last month. “Marion Shaler Hanisch is the recipient of the poison pen letter that threatens her husband’s life and the destruction of her beloved mother’s memorial statue, the Recording Angel. This story of evildoing is told by a Reporter from the Waupun Leader News and all clues, tips and facts of the crime are shared with the audience. It is a true tale and truly a who “dunnit” mystery? Come and be a part of the investigation and weigh in on who YOU think committed this crime in our fair city of Waupun in January 1928.”
The Waupun Historical Society will also be holding the 8th Annual Cemetery Walk on October 21st from 4PM to 6PM. Originally the Cemetery Walks were held on Halloween after trick-or-treating but has been changed to the week before Halloween to allow for more families to attend.
