With the spring election in April, an end of an era will occur in the town of Edson. Donald Schesel has served the town for 50 years, being first elected in 1973 as a town supervisor, then elected chairman in 1985, a position he still holds today.  However, with the spring election right around the corner, he has decided it’s time to step back and is not seeking reelection.

The town of Edson is actually 1.5 townships.  A normal town is an area of 6 miles by 6 miles, however Edson is 9 miles by 6 miles, with 54.8 miles of roads. Reasons for this are unsure but may have something to do with how Clark, Chippewa and Eau Claire counties all meet in this area.  Edson currently has 1 Chairman, 2 additional supervisors, 1 clerk, 1 treasurer and 1 constable.

When Donald was elected to the board in 1973, there were no blacktopped roads in the town. Today all roads, shy two and a half miles, are blacktopped. Under his tenure, all the culverts have been replaced, many for a second time. All the bridges have been replaced, with two scheduled for replacement in 2024 and 2025 for the second time. Also, road signs were mapped out and put up.

Donald was a supervisor when the new town shed was built in about 1975, and was instrumental in getting a new town hall built in 2001 on a land purchase deal between Dave Shilts , the Union Cemetery and the Town of Edson. By being able to swap and trade parts and parcels of land, Edson was able to build the new hall just east of the shed and save money by being able to drill one well and put in one septic system, serving both the shed and the hall. Donald remembers the old hall with its wood stove and no insulation. He said Matt Zais, one of the former clerks, would get to the hall about 4 in the afternoon and fire up the wood stove. He’d put his ink well on the stove so the ink would thaw out enough by the 8 pm meeting so that he could take minutes. He also not so fondly remembers the outdoor outhouse.

Over Donald’s time in office, Edson has purchased three different road graders, four patrol trucks and two tractors. The town dump was started, then closed down, and today has a recycling center open to residents.

There is a lot to do as town chairman. He runs meetings, issues building permits, posts notices, sets in the Board of Review, maintains the hall (with the help of his wife Judy), works with the clerk on hall rentals, oversees the recycling center, secures road supplies, works on road repairs and just about anything a resident may call about.  Donald is always available to meet with residents who may have questions about putting in a new driveway or culvert. If a storm blows through, he’s out checking roads and possibly cutting trees off the roadway. He might also be found herding cattle off a road when they get through a broken-down fence.  He meets regularly with Chippewa County and other town boards, in addition to meeting with County auditors. He’s been involved in many Grant meetings, working to secure public funds for repairs and improvements for the town.

In addition to what he does for Edson, and as part of his duties as town chairman, Donald serves on the Boyd Edson Delmar Fire and Ambulance District Board. The board began when the Boyd, Edson and Delmar fire departments decided to join forces and merged into the Boyd, Edson Delmar Fire Department. Later the board purchased the ambulance service from the Eugene Supple family, which formed the Boyd, Edson, Delmar Fire and Ambulance Service. Today, that service is housed in a building on land purchased from Kenneth and Linda Gindt.  During Donald’s time on the board, he served on committees to purchase fire trucks, tankers, rescue vehicles and other fire equipment.  He also worked to help purchase a new ambulance and equipment over the years. With the shortage of EMT’s, Donald would like to see EMT classes offered through the high school and has been working with area representatives to get funding to start the program. He’s hoping that if classes could be offered through the school, young people may become more interested in becoming EMT’s. 

When asked what he would not miss when no longer chairman, his answer came pretty quick – “being on call”. There are no standard hours to doing the chairman job, and the phone can ring anytime day or night.  He will also not miss all the work done on computers.

When asked what he will miss, the response was equally as quick – “the camaraderie of the people on the town board and the residents”.  He has always enjoyed working for the community and always had good board members to work with. He states, “I never would have been able to serve the community as long as I did if it wasn’t for my family filling in for me when I was gone from home”.

His advice for the new chairman: to take seriously the oath of office to serve for the health and safety of the residents of the Town of Edson.

Going forward Donald plans to enjoy each day. His wife Judy thinks he won’t have much free time as he’s always busy with the farm and their family. Donald says he’s available to help the new chairman whenever he can.

Donald would like to thank all the residents of Edson and his family for all their support over these 50 years. I for one know Donald has definitely made his mark in Edson and will be remembered and appreciated for a very long time. Best of luck to you Donald and THANK YOU for your service!