By Tim “Shoe” Sullivan

Way back in August, we thought it would be fun to do an article about people with nicknames in Stevens Point and the surrounding areas.

We were hoping to do a list of about 50. Recently we did “Nicknames VI” and are way over 500. And since they keep rolling in, we might as well pass them along. So without further ado, here now is “Nicknames VII”.

The retired railroader Bill Lester made an interesting observation. Bill said, “To tell you the truth, I’ve been known as “Gus” for many years and I still don’t know the reason why.”

Well, he’s not alone. Rufus Konopacki’s brother Victor was always called “Buddy”, and so was Ed “Buddy” Berry and my aunt Bernadine “Buddy” Carley. My high school classmate Gary Kuzynski always went by “Emil”, and Brian Gosh answers to “Omar”.

And then we came to the “Peters”. “Pete” is short for “Peter”, as in Pete Marsh of the Big Moon Saloon, Pete Sipple of the old Unique Bar softball team, and Pete Kabot of Point. But none of this explains “Ma” Pesch’s late dad “Pete” whose real name was Melvin.

Reader Ken Somers informed the City Times that his former bowling team included Rich “Bozo” Stanke and Dennis “Twinkie” Stransky. Now, Twinkie is not to be confused with Lincoln “Linkie” Saito, “Blinkie” Haessley, or the Sefi “Stinky Mike”. Twinkie, Linkie, Blinkie, and Stinky are all different people.

And you shouldn’t get “Bozo” Stanke mixed up with “Pozo” who works with Boda or “Bobo” who bartended at Joe’s. Same thing with Tom “Wino” Bernas who is not Troy “Hino” Hojnacki. And neither Wino nor Hino is Mark “Rhino” Rekowski.

Ken Somers, by the way, was also called “Lefty”. So was Lee “Lefty” Zurawski. Which brings up another question. How come some guys are nicknamed “Lefty” but nobody is nicknamed “Righty”? Always wondered about that.

My former neighbor Tom “Fly” Jensen recalled that Keith Kieleszewski was tabbed “Chopper” and Florian Hurrish was “Dutch” and Mike Spreda was nicknamed “Caz” because his hero was basketball star Cazzie Russell. And all Norberts seem to be “Nubbs”. Nubbs Miller the coach. Nubbs Besiada. Nubbs Wozniak. Somehow “St. Nubbs” College isn’t a good fit.

Anyone named Koback seems to have a nickname. Mike Koback is “Mad Dog”, and I don’t think Buzz Koback’s first name was really “Buzz”. Tim Koback goes by the “Mayor of Winter”. And don’t confuse Mad Dog Koback with “Bird Dog” Mallek. Just like Jim “Wuzzy” Warzinik is not “Fuzzy” Wilkinson.

Sometimes nicknames can be misleading.

For example, “Fast Eddie” Flisachowski definitely wasn’t fast and Mike “Slow” Slowinski isn’t slow at all. Paging through my class yearbook brought to mind Lee “Stuffo” Steffanus, David “Knee-Balls” Niedbalski, the late Gary “Oscar” Moyer, Duane “Breezy” Brezinski, Mark “Amos” Burke, and Bob “Worm” Bablitch.

One nickname that always befuddled me was Chris “Coach” Konkol. I think it’s better to be befuddled than merely fuddled. Coach can be found at the Elbow Room talking to Bruce and Lisa about volleyball. And sometimes it’s hard to keep straight Bobby Nitka, Jon Lowery, and Chad Bielen. Nipper, Flipper, and Chipper.

Speaking of the Elbow Room, William “Woody” Keene and Dave “Dancing Bear” Kedrowski insist there was a guy on the square named “Tony the Bum”. That’s not Tony “Tuna Fish” Majewski who wanted to drop tuna fish on Vietnam instead of bombs.

And another Dave Kedrowski is “Smiley” and his brother Mark is “Harpo”. The Dave Koch Sports softball cards brought our attention to Pat “Puppy” Taylor, Ken “Simba” Yenter, Nikki “Bondo” Mason (Sobczak), Dave “Scrap” Schroepfer, and Rick “Keebler” Hughes.

Speaking of softball, the old Unique Bar was anchored by Steve “Carbo” Carr and Mike “Spike” Shulfer. Dave “Puffo” Roman was on the Unique’s other team (the one with the softball cards), and Jeff “Conehead” or “Coney” Weir had Puffo’s laugh down to a “T”. And former NHL star Craig “Lud” Ludwig used to call his Point softball teammate Fritz Becker “Fish”. And then there’s Chris “Dish” Chiapuzio and Alicia “Lish” Dodge who’s a big Celtics fan). The Fish, the Dish, and the Lish.

Reader Bobby Sullivan came up with a nice list of nicknames. It included Jeff “Fut” Fritsch, his late dad “Big Lar” Fritsch, Jeff “Shopko” Shopinski, Leo “Ski” Shopinski, Sharon “Toes” Sullivan, Jeff “Grabo” Grabowski, Bill “Buffalo Bill” Mattlin, Brandon “Brando” Cisewski, Lois “WeeZee” Cable, John “Big Bad John” Wojcik, Matt “Chuck” Clucas, Judie “JJ” Janquart, Irene “Gramma Reen the Jelly Bean” Shopinski, Tony “Scarboni” Kaminski, Zach “Pliskanator” Pliska, Alex “Stew” Stewart, Dalton “Slim” Wriedt, Wendell “Windy” Porter, and Matt “Schoony” Schoonover.

“Soo Line” Polebitski worked on the railroad. “Peanuts” Roth was a fine softball pitcher, and Bernie “Bookie” Peterson was good at all sports. Roger Duggan’s girlfriend was “Pumpkin”, and “Barbie Doll” Miller works at Kim’s Barrel Inn. Jim “Minnow” Carpenter was from the west side, and Tom “T-bone” Molski could really hit a softball. Lynn “Red” Blair played hoops for Willie’s, and “Bubbles” ran a tavern.

Mickey “Tree Man” Simmons had Dave “Mac” McDonald as his boss at the Rec, and Brian “Mac” McCarthy hit monster home runs at St. Pete’s. A funeral home was run by “Spook” Crosby, and Adam “Bomber” Rutta played softball against Scott “Slab” Kovatch. Mark “Piranha” Barella was good in basketball, and Jerry “Rollo” Rohlinger played sports at the Rec.

The founder of the Portage County Women’s Softball League, Erin Laffe, goes by “Commish”. By the way, Laffe rhymes with “safe” and not “taffy”. And even the most casual observer knows that most people named Higgins have nicknames. Jesse “The Legend” Higgins, Todd “Wad” Higgins, Kurt “Cooter” Higgins, you get the idea.

If Vladislav Zwucryzya ever came to Point, he probably be nicknamed “Eye chart”.

And as God made little green apples, I was just wrapping this up when an old friend, Hans Vetter, dropped by. Hans is a great guy and was a big name in local sports in the 40’s and 50s. He wanted to share some colorful nicknames of players from that era.

Many of them played on his “Vet’s Jets”, a fast-pitch softball powerhouse in the early 50s. Hans included “Babe” Sroda, “Sandy” Hurrish, Jim “Witco” Witkowski, Ralph “Peanuts” Brillowski, “Big Bob” Worzella, Leo “Cub” Mancheski, George “Slabo” Roman, Bud “Horace” Adtkins, Leroy “Kraut” Gwidt, Gilbert “Gib” Zynda, “JoJo” Parzey, “Dutch” Hurrish, Roland “Rollie” Martin, Oscar “Ozzie” Engebretson, “Chettie” Brillowski, “Shorty” Schierl, and Robert “Hatch” Berard. Hans Vetter put the team together.

Oh, I’m sorry. I meant “Hermbo” Vetter. Thanks, Hans.