Kiekhaefer Park

Kiekhaefer Park. . , Named in his honor, Kiekhaefer Park represents the successful efforts of Fond du Lac industrialist and engineering genius Elmer Carl Kiekhaefer to preserve the environmental integrity of the Taycheedah community. In 1970, Kiekhaefer led a charge of opposition against negotiations taking place between Fond du Lac and the Town of Taycheedah to convert an abandoned gravel pit into a land fill. An owner himself of nearly 800 acres in the community, Kiekhaefer recognized the harm a land fill would bring to the Taycheedah ecosystem. He also envisioned Taycheedah becoming a year-round recreation area and further recognized the town as a prime location for residential development. Initially unsuccessful in his fight against the proposal, Kiekhaefer offered to purchase the 150-acre gravel pit and donate it to Taycheedah under the stipulation that it never be used as a land fill. The town accepted his offer. Kiekhaefer donated the park to the township along with partial funds for the construction of a town hall and later financed the development of the park and snowmobile track at the site. Fittingly during the dedication of the park on May 16, 1970, Kiekhaefer helped usher in the site's new era by manning the wheel of a tractor to provide wagon rides throughout the new park.