Lakeside was built by William (Hubert) Kann in 1927 on a vacant lot on the north end of Guttenberg for an original cost of $27,000. It was to be a place for his children and the local citizens to congregate, play music and have fun.

Bill and his wife, Josephine, were exceedingly interested in music. Their living room was actually a music room with large oak cases containing just about every musical instrument available at the time. There were violins, clarinet, saxophone, flute, mandolin, guitars, and a large piano that dominated the room. While today’s living room might boast a chair and sofa, theirs had chairs with music racks. If business was slow in his General Merchandise store, after dinner Bill would relax in the living room, pick up his violin, while his wife accompanied him on the bass and the children could select whatever they wanted to play along. Many, many evenings were spent entertaining each other with music. Bill hired a music teacher from Dubuque to come once a week and give classes to the children. Miss Schaetsley arrived on the local train from Dubuque on Friday night, had dinner with the family, taught the children all day on Saturday and returned to Dubuque in the evening. Daughter, May, remembers her first piano recital at three years old. Her feet didn’t touch the pedals but she performed for an array of guests.

As the children entered their teen years, Bill had a family of very talented musicians and was concerned with his children’s activities as any parent today. He combined his concern with his business knowledge and decided a ballroom would be a good venture. He turned to his friend, Louis Bahls, to discuss the mechanics of a good dance floor. Though uneducated as a tradesman, Louis was a genius with the blending of woods, how to make them fit and grow together. Many long evenings were spent in the discussion of a good floor, while the two gentlemen leaned back in their arm chairs, and braced their feet against the pot belly stove in the back of Bill’s store. A dance floor should be something so comfortable that people wouldn’t get tired. It should give spring to their movements.

To enhance the sound effect of their building they imagined a ceiling with hundreds of little lights flickering on a blue background. Lattice work over this would soften those tones. Bill hired Louis Schroeder, a local carpenter, to do the actual building.

Son, Carl, just returned from his trip with the Dollar Steamship Lines as a musician to help the family open the new Lakeside facility. Major bands were hired through an agent in Chicago, but Bill’s children had formed their own band and played during the intermissions. Daughter, May, was a genius at the piano and had won an audition to the Julliard School of Music in Chicago. Carl played an array of reed instruments, including a baritone sax. Leo played bass. Bill’s children were so talented they could play any kind of music from classical through waltzes to the fox-trot. They all played by ‘ear’. They heard the music, could join in or repeat the melody. They did not need the written notes, and were able to play over 2200 different tunes. The band had no drummer, so they invited James (Ed) Schweikert from Osterdock to join the band.

The local paper, Guttenberg Press, carried weekly updates of the building of Lakeside. Headlines announced the purchaser of the first ticket, John C. Kuempel, who also turned out to be the oldest person attending the dance.

There was no lock and dam in Guttenberg at the time, so the ballroom market area included Glen Haven and Cassville, Wisconsin. Bill purchased a river launch to motor to the towns in Wisconsin, pick up guests and deliver them to the Guttenberg side of river behind his warehouse. There they were met with a Studebaker limousine to carry them to Lakeside on the north side. All this travel was free or included in the price of the night’s ticket.

Lakeside was a family affair. It wasn’t long before the evening of music was preceded by afternoon ball games arranged by son, Bill. Guests could picnic in the yard, participate in an afternoon game and enjoy an evening of music and dance. The extravagant floor that the two gentlemen had spent so many nights discussing was a tremendous success. People loved to dance on it and never seemed to get tired.

Lakeside Ballroom 1928

Son, Edmund (Sonny), was in charge of food, beverage and maintenance at the facility. Bill purchased a surplus plane for him from the Navy, Hispana Suresa, to keep a steady supply. Sonny flew the plane and landed in the field just north of Lakeside. The painted the name Lakeside in large letters on the roof of the building to use for aerial dead-recognition navigation, the only method of navigation at the time. Lindberg and other pioneer aviators used Lakeside as a checkpoint flying from Minneapolis to Chicago and St. Louis. The name Lakeside remained on the rooftop as an aerial checkpoint until it was removed years later with a new roof.