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Memriesm-pa-pas and elephantsB\ Martha Jordan SolandThe elephants, in Etta Gerdes imagination, parade trunk to tail down Sunnvside Ave. to the water ing trough on Osborn. Etta, swinging on her veranda, recalls the storyof Burlington's)elephant string as told by her older sister and brothers The exotic animals were oneof the attractionsof the old German beer garden situated at thenorthwest cornor of Sunnvside and Gnahnv7'he garden, Etta said, was surrounded by a high wooden fence decorated with advertisements for beer Merrymakers were admitted90through a large wooden gate at theintersection of Sunnvside and what*was then Lemberger St 7'raveling north. Etta said, Lemberger led to the vineyard and orchard of Henry Lemberger. a prominent German-American Murlingtoman.GerdesTHIRSTY PATRONS of the garden picked up mugs of foam-topped beer at a railing shelf built around the trunk of a giant oak 7'he toweringtree is currently situated in the backyard of the Steingreaber residence at 1806 Gnahn St. Visitors to the garden strolled through the wooded area or sat under the walnut and oak trees drinking beer and listening to the music of the Austrian Hand. Musicians, Etta remembers, included George Bruhl Sr. 7’he elder Bruhl was the father of Burlington’s talented twosome George Jr. and Martin.Perhaps the most popular attraction of the beer garden, Etta went on to say, was the helium balloon rides on Sunday evenings Patrons of the garden and residents of the neighborhood enjoyed seeing the colorful balloons sailing through the evening sky. Riders claimed that ballooning was the best way to view Burlington and the surrounding countryside.During the last two decades of the 19th century, when the beer gardenwas in operation. Etta's father and mother lived in the 1700 block on Sunnyside. Every Sunday evening, Etta remembers her older sister reminiscing, Mother cooked up abig supper for as many as 25 or 70 friends and relation 7'he company gathered around picnic tables in the backyard to eat potato salad and fried chicken and to watch the soaring balloons.At wit's endTHE WELL in the beer garden, said Etta standing on her back porch, was right over there. Water was pumped into a trough for the elephants. The well, now safely covered with a cement slab, has a spe cial place in Etta's memories. My father, she explained, helped to dig it. “My sis, Sarah,” she continued, “loved it for more than half a cen tury”After the beer garden closed around 1900, the property was used as a common pasture for the neighbors' milk cows. Later it was the site of Nelson's Revival Tent. Pastor Nelson’s preaching was sponsored by the old German Baptist Church which is currently OakStreet Baptist Church Every evening revivals were held, Etta remembers, “Father and Mother. Sis and my brothers attended.”In 1915 Sis and George Bruhl Jr. became engaged. Sis did not want to live in the house that George owned on West Hill It was too far fromher family. So George bought the site of the former beer garden. When Sis saw the property, she was delighted. But, she insisted that George buy a little more land to the east so that the “beloved well” would be in the backyard.GEORGE, Etta went on to say with a twinkle in her eye, did not wish to get into an argument over the plans for a house with his bride-to-be so he wrote to an architect in Cleveland. Ohio, and told him how much he could afford to spend for a residence. For $50 the architect drew the blueprints for the stately residence at 1804 Gnahn St. where Sis and George lived for many happy years and where Etta currently resides.George always maintained, said Etta, that the $50 was the wisest expenditure of his life.
Newspaper Details
Burlington Hawk Eye
Burlington, Iowa, US
Sun, Aug 08, 1982
Page 14
Full Page
Clipped by
Burlington P.
IA, USA 04 Dec 2022
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