Why is Montello, Wisconsin so mean? (Milwaukee, Madison: for sale, real estate, homes)

[dtrelka]

There was an interesting cop in Montello named Theis. Is he still there?

[katt]

I don't know if he's still there but we do have a county cop named Jack Frost (I think he may be retired by now).

[Grass Roots Annie]

Greetings, all;
I live about 20 miles north of Montello and attend bi-monthly meetings there of a new Marquette County tourism promotion group (Marquette NOW). I work both as a marketing assistant at Prairie Nursery, northwest of Montello, and as a piano teacher. Montello is the county seat, so my lawyer has an office in Montello. My veterinarian practices in Montello. Therefore, I do believe I am qualified to have an opinion about the friendliness, or lack thereof, in Montello.

In my experience attempting to sell advertising to Montello business owners, I have detected more than a little hostility within that community. The Montello Chamber of Commerce dissolved about a year ago due to lack of agreement. Marquette NOW is trying to reorganize the business community to promote itself to the many campers, hunters and fishers who come to the area from the Fox Valley, Milwaukee, Madison and northern suburbs of Chicago.

Only about 30 miles north of Wisconsin Dells, merchants in the Marquette County hospitality and tourism industries would love to have some of the cash that place attracts! Nevertheless, it is very hard to get people in the community to forget their small differences in favor of a larger goal. It is hard to get any of the restaurant owners to stay open on Mondays.

On a wider scale, I grew up in Waupun - about 50 miles east of Montello. That community is SO unfriendly that I never felt at home there, despite living there from 2nd grade to high school graduation - which I did early, just to get out of town!

Perhaps it's the German ancestry so prevalent in Wisconsin, perhaps it's just a general desire to be left alone that has carried through the generations from the original settlers. I am not being facetious. There's an ongoing community rivalry between New Glarus and Monticello (not to be confused with Montello...), Wisconsin that began when the original group of Swiss settlers splintered in about 1846. I doubt any present-day rivals know what the original disagreement was about. They just know they don't like those other people.

Before moving to central Wisconsin, I lived for more than 30 years near Brooklyn, about 20 miles south of the state capital of Madison. I worked for awhile as a weekly newspaper editor in New Glarus, a community that also tried to develop a tourist trade. In all of the four communities to which I refer here, Waupun, New Glarus, Monticello and Montello, there are merchants and community leaders who would love to welcome visitors with open arms. On the other side are residents whose motto is, "If it's tourist season, why can't we shoot them?"

In all my years trying to engage people in conversation, and I've traveled all over the US, I've learned what another poster to this thread has noted: What goes around comes around. It never hurts to paste a smile on your face and develop an interest in other people. This approach often succeeds. But not always. Some people just want to be left alone!

Finally, I do believe there is an essential conservativism in these communities. It is religious, political, and capitalist in nature. If you are a professional or a "legitimate" business owner, attend and contribute to a Christian church regularly, belong to the local Republican Party, and live in a traditional family unit you will make all the friends you can ever want! Ditto for state employees who belong to the local Democratic Party. The latter can usually get away with not going to church and having an alternative lifestyle. I don't know; maybe this is because so many of them are correctional officers. Wearing a uniform gives you a special kind of dispensation.

If you do not fit into any of the above categories, and you seek acceptance, I'd suggest you move to the country, or to a larger city, where you and your neighbors don't have to interact as much as in a small town.

Annie

[Robart]

I moved to Montello in August 2006. While I realize that the local politics are more conservative than I'm used to, I have found the people very friendly and willing to chat at any time. I'm a liberal Jew and won't waste my time looking for the local synagogue, but people have been more than respectful (and a bit inquisitive) when they discover my religious background.

I've lived in many places over the years and am a firm believer in the old adage about making a place your own. I realize that I'll always be an outsider to a certain extent, but that doesn't bother me at all, so it's not a big deal. But I have yet to find anyone who is not friendly and welcoming.

Best,
Rob

[volksbug]

Hello again. Katt please dont take me so seriously. Of course when I said you meet someone in a gas station and have a shopping date with them, I was exaggerating (note the smily face). I am not advocating anyone do that, nor would I do that. All I was trying to say ( and I am sure most of you got this) is that there are some areas of this country that are very friendly. It can be a huge culture shock to go from a "friendly" area to one that isnt so. I have many friends here in Wisconsin now. Several of us are transplants from other parts of the country. The story we all seem to share is our inital period of adapting to an area where people are not as easy to get to know. Sorry if I scared you there! DISCLAIMER ~ PLease dont go into a gas station and walk out with a shopping partner! It is not a good idea, it is actually a bad one. PLease DO take things with a sense of humor and not so seriously or you will drive yourself insane!

[MontelloResident]

Originally Posted by nodemo04

You are looking for people more familiar with Montello ....O.k., Montello is home of the largest tree in the state !..and .....it has a few bars...and a grocery store....and a couple of campgrounds.....oh, and a new Kwik-trip.
In other words, this small town is just like so many other small towns in Wisconsin. Yes, I know this small community and I can tell you that it is -what it is !..If you are looking for small towns in Wis., take your pick ! Why Montello ?...I mean,.......why ?. What drew you to this town initially ? Small town like this has one thing...NOTHING !. No culture, no shopping, no future. It is a gathering place for local farm-hands and wanna-bee's. If small towns appeal to you, find one that is not so rural. Like...Green Lake or Ripon.
Good Luck !

I've lived in Montello my whole life. I find this comment very rude. You obviously have no idea about Montello's history. Maybe you should do some research before saying something like this.

As for Green Lake, I have a lot of family there (Thrasher), and I have nothing negative to say about that town either.

[JohnR314]

I have family that summer in the Oxford area so I’ve made a few visits into Montello, I have shopped at several local "antique shops", and have eaten at a local restaurants. I found the few people that I met to be friendly and helpful. I would agree with other posters – that the small town people tend to be less open to new residents (but I think that this is a reflection on America as a whole). What attempts did the original poster make to integrate into the community?

[Buck Saber]

We moved From a NW suburb of Chicago. We have lived here for about five years;and when I read the orginal post I could not belive it. This is not the town that I call home. While we have not got along with everyone, we have found Montello to be a warm and friendy place. My children go to Montello schools and the staff have been nothing but very helpful!
The whole of Marquette County has a alchoholism problem; it's the way of life here. However, there are some of us who are trying to change the culture; hoping to not only make it a more healthy county but we'd like to encourage industry, businesses, and good paying jobs to keep the kids coming back from college. All in all, I feel Montello is a great place to have your family.
Hateful is one adjective I would never apply to Montello.

[Buck Saber]

I'm the wife of Buck Saber, and I wholeheartedly agree with him about it being a great place to live. The place we lived in the Chicago Suburb was okay at first but gradually it filled up with people who said, "All you Anglos should not be here; this country should all belong to us!" We don't get that here; we are not being told that our kids shouldn't play in the halls, or the kids get yelled at when taking laundry to the laundromat. I feel less stress from neighbors since we've moved here.
Mrs. Buck Saber

Originally Posted by heartbroken2004

We bought a house in Montello and found the people of the town so hateful and so nasty to us that we sold our house there and moved away.

Has anyone else had experience with the meanness of the people of Montello?

[Dolly]

Katt, I don't know about that . . . we lived in Oklahoma 11 years and absolutely loved it. It was so strange to pass from Illinois, to the Missouri border and once in Oklahoma, seeing people actually wave at you in their vehicals. It took me a while to get used to this but once there, realized that Oklahoma people were just friendly. They really would strike up conversations in the gas stations and most people there would give their right arm to stop and help a stranger or a neighbor. Job loss forced us out of Oklahoma to Illinois but someday, I would love to move back. Maybe when we retire . . .