Woodcarver Slim Maroushek creating Chief John Waukon figure from famous Cucumber Magnolia tree that stood for 125 years in Waukon
In the early stages ... Stanley “Slim” Maroushek holds a small wood figurine next to a rough sketch and a photo image of Chief John Waukon, the namesake of the town of Waukon, at the Turkey River Cultural Center and Woodcarving Museum he founded in Ridgeway. Maroushek is currently working on a woodcarving that will feature the chief of the Winnebago tribe, and the carving will be completed out of a piece of the former nationally-recognized Cucumber Magnolia tree that once stood near the Waukon Good Samaritan Society along East Main Street in Waukon for more than a century before it had to be taken down in 2003. Photo by Lissa Blake.
by Lissa Blake
It’s an idea that has been on his mind for 22 years.
And recently, Stanley “Slim” Maroushek has started carving that idea into a reality, as he whittles away at a piece of the nationally famous Cucumber Magnolia tree, removed from the property next to Waukon’s Good Samaritan Society in 2003, after standing there for more than a century.
Maroushek recently started creating a likeness of Chief John Waukon, for whom Waukon is named, out of the largest piece of undamaged wood that was salvaged from the tree.
Maroushek, 82, is the curator of the Turkey River Cultural Center and Woodcarving Museum housed in the former elementary school in Ridgeway. His collection at the museum contains well over 6,000 wood carvings from all over the world, many he carved himself, others he purchased and many that were donated.
He said it was an amazing stroke of luck that the once-famous Cucumber Magnolia tree was rescued from incineration.
“I am grateful to environmentalist Bob Drahn for his work with the tree and to Mike Quillin, who told me where I could find it after it had been taken down,” he said.
TREE HISTORY
The non-native Cucumber Magnolia tree is believed to have been transported to Waukon from the eastern United States in the late 1800s by Dudley W. Adams.
Adams was involved in the completion and operation of the first railroad to come to Waukon and served as president of the Waukon-Marquette Railroad Guarantee company which performed those tasks. He owned and lived on the property where the tree was located, which was along the modern day East Main Street in Waukon.
The first train pulled into Waukon October 27, 1877. It is thought the tree was brought by rail in the railroad’s early years to adorn the Adams yard. If this is the case, it likely stood for around 125 years before it was removed.
Over the years, family names such as the Eddys and Hansmeiers became associated with the celebrated tree and the property on which it stood. A story in The Waukon Standard from March 25, 1992, tells of an annual festival at the Hansmeier home:
“One of the stories painted by memory is the annual festival at the Hansmeier home. Musicians Nora Hansmeier, Ida Smith, Cleophus Nicholson and Gilman Kolsrud played those old-time pieces with accordions and fiddles on the back lawn while others gathered under the old Magnolia to enjoy the ice cream social … The Adamses, the Eddys and the Hansmeiers were active in the community and proved to be good caretakers of what has become a living monument in the city. Waukon takes justifiable pride in being the home of the national champion (the tree) and its residents wish good health and longevity to the old Magnolia.”
To read the full article, pick up the Wednesday, August 6, 2025 print edition of The Standard or subscribe to our e-edition or print edition by clicking here.
