Culture Project
The Wachter Family
Customs and Traditions
Customs
- Every year my family and I go on a bike ride from our house in Franklin to the Culver's in Muskego (about 10 miles)
- Go to the apple orchard every year
- Trick- or -treating around my neighborhood.
Traditions:
- We go to church almost every Sunday.
- Celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter with our family.
Values
In my family we value spending time with each other. My family is always busy with different sports and activities so it's nice to spend some time together. We value our athleticism. My whole family is, or was, an athlete so joining sports and different teams is a big thing for us. We value our religion and God. We try to go to church as often as we can. Everyone in my family is a hard worker. My grandpa on my dad side was part of the army for awhile and then he became a gym teacher. My grandma was a teacher for 2 years. They are both retired now. On my moms side my grandparents owned a restaurant. The restaurant is still open in Waterloo, Iowa, they just don't own it anymore. My grandma now works at The University of Northern Iowa and my grandpa is retired. My aunt (mom's sister) doesn't work but before she had my cousin she worked for the Quaker Oats company. At the time Quaker Oats owned Gatorade, and she did all the advertising for that. My uncle is a president for a financial group. My uncle Jeff writes training manuals.
My Family
Art/ Music/ Literature
Art: My uncle and my cousin are both very artistic. My uncle still takes classes after work to become a better artist. My cousin just does it for fun now. She is currently at college trying to become a brain surgeon. No one in my immediate family is very artistic. We try but we are not very good. Music: No one in my family does music either. My brother and I both did clarinet for school music but once we got to middle school we stopped. Literature: My mom was an elemantry school teacher for 4 years in catholic schools. She is still a teacher but she is an interventionist and a full-time sub at Bay Lane Middle School in Muskego. My grandma was also a teacher for 2 years.
Religion
My family is Christian. My mom is Catholic and my dad is Lutheran. I was baptized Catholic but my family attends a Lutheran church.
Recreation
My family is very athletic so in our free time we do basketball, softball, lacrosse, football, and track (my Dad ran track for the University of Whitewater). We like to go to the Village Club in Greendale, we shop a lot, and we enjoy going on vacations.
How We Came Here
My great-great-great-great grandpa (Adolph Wachter) came to the United States with his parents, 3 brothers and 2 sisters when he was very young. They arrived in New York in 1852. They traveled to Wisconsin and settled in Port Washington. My great-great-great-great grandpa Adolph and his brothers enlisted in the Civil War. Once he enlisted my great-great-great-great-great grandma died of a "broken heart". Adolph enlisted in the 27th regiment of Wisconsin volunteers, Company I and he participated in the Siege of Vicksburg. He was discharged in 1865. He returned to Wisconsin and became a mason. He built a lot of buildings in the Sheboygan Falls area. Then he bought a "Daddy Bush" store and renamed it "The Wachter General Store". It was in the Wachter family for 103 years. It is still around today but it is a laundry mat.