Valley Sentinel - 07-28-2021

Inside this edition

Community Calendar: Theater, live music and more!

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Sauk County looks to reduce board size, concerned for rual representation

Spring Green, Wisconsin

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Art around the Valley: Jen Salt’s ‘Summer Solstice’

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Wednesday, July 28, 2021 Vol. 2, No. 30 FREE, Single-Copy

The School of Architecture founded by Frank Lloyd Wright back in Spring Green for summer immersive design program

Taylor Scott, Managing Editor The School of Architecture, founded by Frank Lloyd Wright as the Taliesin Fellowship in 1932, was back in Spring Green July 11-17 for a “Summer Design Discovery 2021” immersive design program. The visit comes months after the School dropped ‘Taliesin’ from its name following a split from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, settling into a new home at Cosanti in Paradise Valley, Arizona and Arcosanti, in Mayer, Arizona.

“The School is looking forward to getting back to its midwestern roots this summer, if only for a time, while it continues to look for a new permanent Wisconsin-based location,” shared Academic Coordinator Elaine McEwen, ahead of the visit.

During its week in Spring Green, the School utilized the Wyoming Valley School Cultural Arts Center (6306 State Highway 23, Spring Green) as its studio space, before heading to Crown Hall in Chicago. According to the

program’s outline, “the program’s two midwestern base locations exemplify two contrasting urban conditions that students will experience and study.”

“Having The School of Architecture in our historic site was just wonderful. I have been Director here since only last September, and to see students—architecture students specifically—in a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed space was perfect,” shared Wyoming Valley School Cultural Arts Center Director Dave Zaleski. “The students and leaders of the program were focused, committed to their program, and unbelievably respectful of the environment in which they were studying. It was a great match for the two of us!”

According to the School, the intensive summer studio investigated iconic architecture in and around Chicago and Wisconsin, with a focus on Frank Lloyd Wright’s seminal mid-western work. The program, titled City Edge, explored notions of collective space in architec-

ture and urban design through the examination of both historic examples and contemporary projects across rural and urban landscapes in the Midwest.

“It’s an immersion program, giving students the complete Wisconsin experience,” says Jay Rath, president of Bring Back Our Students. “Students have told me again and again that their education is incomplete without walking the same land as Wright, breathing the same air, viewing the same distant ridges.”

Students conducted a series of short design and documentation exercises to analyze significant buildings using themes drawn from Wright’s work, culminating in a short design project related to the upcoming 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial.

During their trip to the area, the School also participated in the official opening and dedication of the Performing Arts Pavilion, located in the downtown Mazomanie Westland Promenade, an outdoor performance structure and bandshell designed by School of

Architecture at Taliesin student Frank Corridori for the 2018 Summer Immersion Class based on his design “Dancing Gables”. The design evokes the skyline of Mazomanie.

The dedication featured speaker Tim Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright’s grandson, who told tales of his teenage years living at Taliesin in the summers and working for his grandfather. Many of those in attendance at the dedication audibly lamented over the loss of Taliesin as a base for the School.

“We too would like for Taliesin to be filled with student activity to be a living, learning site and not just a museum. The School of Architecture founded by Frank Lloyd Wright as the Taliesin fellowship in 1932 looks forward to a day when our students can return to their former campuses at Taliesin and Taliesin West,” shared Nicole Hollenbeck, Chief Financial Officer of The School of Architecture.

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Plain holds tournament, parade and chicken BBQ for local charities Photos by Nicole Aimone, Editor-in-Chief

Plain held a two-day charity event July 24 to July 25, where all proceeds went to local charities.

The event featured a volleyball tournament held at the Plain Park volleyball courts, and a girls softball tournament at the Plain Park, followed that evening by a street dance on Alma Avenue, featuring live music from The Michael Mikrut Band.

On Sunday, the day kicked off with a Year of COVID themed parade that featured local Fire, police and EMS entities as well as local tractors, bars and ATV/ UTV clubs. Following the parade, Plain Fire and EMS hosted a chicken barbecue.

Pictured, local tractors chug along through the Year of COVID themed parade in Plain on July 25, as part of the two-day charity event.

White School House sees new restaurant, operators that look to expand and honor community tradition Nicole Aimone, Editor-in-Chief Local resident Leah Spicer and transplant from North Carolina, Kyle Beach have taken over operation of the White School House and are introducing Homecoming—a farmto-table, seasonal restaurant.

The restaurant looks to focus on high quality, locally and regionally sourced ingredients—including some from the couple’s own farm near Clyde. Currently, the restaurant is open on Friday’s and Saturday’s 5-9 p.m. with a small starter menu, with a goal to expand to become a full service, upscale dining location.

Spicer and Beach plan to pay homage to the well-loved community event, Pizza Night at the White School, by keeping pizza on the menu and building on the community oriented event. Homecoming is looking forward to hosting various other community events as their presence in Spring Green grows.

Homecoming is located 242 N Lexington St in Spring Green.

Below is a Q&A with Spicer, hospitality director, marketing, and brand leader and Beach, general manager.

VS: Is there anything you’d like to add about your origin story to the one on your website about how Homecoming came about? (Feel free to send along any additional pictures as well!) Please feel free to add anything about yourselves or how Homecoming came about. Why Homecoming for the name? Why Spring Green?

HC: We had been looking for a restaurant space for a long time. We had made offers on a few different spaces but nothing felt quite right. When the White School was presented to us, it felt too good to be true.

We were thrilled by the opportunity to rent from and work closely with Eric and Mary.

Spring Green feels like a special place, a place that already has a strong community of residents, but also several major draws for visitors and tourists. Plus it’s beautiful, full of wonderful and interesting people, and offers an amazing bounty of local meat and vegetable producers in the immediate surrounding areas. We chose Homecoming as the name because we wanted the name to have a School theme. Additionally, one of our chefs, Rae Kuhse, moved back home to Spring Green during the pandemic, and

I myself moved home, to Clyde, this past year. So this restaurant is a Homecoming of sorts, as least for the two of us.

VS: What are your plans for the restaurant?

The community has been graced with Pizza Night at the White School for half a decade now, where do you go from there?

HC: We have been so fortunate to have pizza night in this community for the last 5 years, we want to pay homage to that legacy by keeping pizza on the menu, and also branch out to become a full service casual fine dining restaurant, perhaps even serving breakfast and lunch someday. The emphasis will always be on using local and seasonal produce and meat. And when that’s not possible, sourcing high-quality ingredients.

As we grown we plan to offer an even more diverse and interesting selection of wine and beer, and in the very near future, a small and fun cocktail program. We shall have to add some equipment to the kitchen to fulfill all of our dreams, but we plan to grow slowly, and at a pace that feels manageable, financially and otherwise. We are also committed to being open in the winter too, because above all we are here for the residents of this community

VS: Currently your hours are Friday and Saturday from 5 PM - 9 PM, do you anticipate those hours changing or expanding in the near future?

HC: We are hoping to expand our hours soon. We have been tossing around which nights would be best. We have been thinking perhaps Friday, Saturday, and then adding Sunday and Monday nights as well.

It’s a matter of finding a little more staff, and gauging interest in the community. I can also imagine a day, we would be open for lunch (think a go-and-go deli), and perhaps even for breakfast too, early 7:30 or so, serving a small but satisfying classic breakfast diner menu.

VS: Describe your menu to us? We check every mouth-watering update on social media, does your menu evolve and rotate?

What are your staples?

HC: We build the menu around what we can get from local farms, including our own farm. We start there and build off of that.

We try to have some small plates. A few salads, a few vegetable centered dishes, we

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opinion/regional

WednesdaY, juLY 28, 2021

Sen. Howard Marklein’s statement on veto override attempt of Workforce Recovery Bill Howard Marklein, WI State Senator MADISON, WI - Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) made the following statement today regarding the Assembly’s attempt to override Governor Evers’ veto of Assembly Bill (AB) 336: “I am glad the Assembly attempted to override Governor Evers’ veto of the workforce recovery bill that would have ended the unnecessary extension

of enhanced pandemic unemployment checks that are creating obstacles for employers. It is disappointing the Assembly was not able to reverse the Governor’s bad decision.”

“There is a workforce crisis in our communities that Governor Evers and many Legislators are ignoring.

Wisconsin business owners continue to tell us that the government’s expanded

unemployment checks are preventing them from finding workers. This is not leadership. When I toured the 17th District for small business week, employers told me this problem is forcing them to reduce hours and cancel contracts.”

“I was proud to author the Workforce Recovery bill and am disappointed to see this veto will remain. Our

business owners are only asking for the opportunity to hire workers without the interference of inflated government benefits.”

Sen. Marklein co-authored Assembly Bill (AB) 336 and SB 345. This bill would have ended the expansion and extension of federal unemployment compensation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

WI State Rep. Dave Considine press release — Special and Extraordinary Session Today Dave Considine, WI State Representative Madison – On Friday afternoon leadership in the Wisconsin State Assembly indicated that the Assembly would be in extraordinary session today for a veto override. Hearing this, Governor Evers called for a special session on education funding.

Representative Dave Considine (D-Baraboo) released the following the floor sessions: “I am glad Governor Evers called for a special session today, because coming in for this veto override is a waste of

time and taxpayer money. The veto override we took up today was on the supplemental federal unemployment benefits. My colleagues in the majority think that our labor shortage is due to unemployment benefits. That’s not true.

“Our workforce was tight before the pandemic and it still is as we come out of the pandemic. However, we’re actually in a better position today than we were pre-pandemic and pre-supplemental unemployment benefits. In fact our current unemployment rate is 3.9% which is lower than the pre-pandemic

rate of 4.0% in December of 2019. The fact that so many of our great businesses and employers are looking for work is not evidence that workers are just sitting at home.

“Since our workforce has been tight for years, is actually improving, and no data proves that ending these supplemental benefits helps lower the unemployment rate, the Assembly upheld Governor Evers’ veto today. That is why I was glad Governor Evers also called the Assembly into special session for education funding. Coming in for the special session

allowed us an opportunity to get to real work instead of finding scapegoats.

“Unfortunately my colleagues in the majority have yet to gavel in for the special session. I wish they would meet the moment and do what’s best for our kids. They have taken no action instead of utilizing the $550 million that is leftover from the budget bill for education. While I don’t believe they will take action during this special session, I hope that they see the benefits of investing in our classrooms and children with these additional dollars.”

Gov. Tony Evers’ statement on special session to ‘do what’s best for kids’ Tony Evers, WI State Governor MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today released a statement after Republicans in the Legislature rejected investing more than $500 million in education, including more than $400 million into K-12 and more than $100 million into higher education. The governor yesterday called

the Legislature into special session when members of the Wisconsin State Assembly were planning to be at the Wisconsin State Capitol for an extraordinary session to take up a veto override.

“It’s breathtaking, frankly, that Republicans had the chance to do the right thing, and do what’s best for our kids and they chose to play politics

instead,” said Gov. Evers. “Republicans had time to go to Madison for another political stunt but couldn’t be bothered to even consider investing more money into our kids and our schools—that’s just wrong. Our kids deserve better, and I will continue to fight to do what’s best for them because I know that’s what’s best for our state.”

Republicans in both the Assembly and the Senate gaveled out of the special session without consideration or debate.

The Assembly did not gavel out of the special session until two hours after the Assembly had already adjourned the extraordinary session, at which time the Wisconsin State Senate gaveled out of the special session concurrently.

Raising Wisconsin’s minimum wage would significantly cut poverty. So why is it still $7.25?

Molly Davis, Wisconsin Watch For 26-year-old Olivia McKnight, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would transform her life.

As a full-time Popeyes employee in Milwaukee, McKnight makes $10 an hour. This isn’t nearly enough to support herself and her three children. She also works a second job. The long work hours have forced her to miss outon time spent with her children, including holidays and key life moments.

For 29-year-old James Rudd, who earns more than $15 an hour now, he is finally able to afford the things he needs. And he now fights for all workers in Wisconsin to reach at least $15 an hour.

In contrast with McKnight, Rudd’s maintenance job at AT&T’s Milwaukee office cleaning floors and changing light bulbs has made his life easier. He can afford health insurance, bus fare and to keep current on his bills — all of which were out of reach when he earned $7.25 or $8 an hour.

The long-standing barriers to a higher standard of living for McKnight and her family got worse with COVID-19. Before the pandemic, McKnight made decent money working at a car wash, but when it shut down, she was forced to go back to her lower-paying fast-food job.

“I try to provide for my family day to day, month to month, paying rent, paying electric, lights, and trying to find babysitters,” McKnight said. “It’s definitely hard, it takes the majority of my time away, and it’s like I’m almost working for pennies.”

Roughly 1 million hourly workers nationwide earn the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour or less. Like others fed up with low earnings, McKnight recently joined the Fight for $15, a global political movement working to increase the minimum wage for all underpaid workers.

In Wisconsin, where the racial wealth and income gaps are some of the greatest in the nation, many feel raising the minimum is long overdue. According to a 2019 Marquette Law School Poll, 55% of Wisconsinites support raising the minimum wage, while 39% oppose it. And Black women like McKnight are among those who would benefit the most from it.

Black and Hispanic women are more than twice as likely as white men to make less than

$15 per hour, according to calculations by The Washington Post using federal jobs data.

About 46% of Hispanic women and 39% of Black women earn less than $15 an hour, while only 18% of white and Asian men earn less than $15 per hour. In Wisconsin, an estimated 43.7% of residents earn less than $15 an hour.

Because of grassroots movements like the Fight for $15 and growing political support, eight states and the District of Columbia have already passed legislation to raise the wage to $15 an hour, most recently Florida, according to the UC Berkeley Labor Center. But not Wisconsin. It is among 21 states whose minimum wage matches the federal level of $7.25 an hour. In 10 other states, the minimum is higher but still under $10, the UC Berkeley Labor Center reports.

Legislators, activists and community members have organized, lobbied and proposed changes to the federal and state-level wages for years, well before Democrats tried unsuccessfully to include a federal $15 minimum wage in the pandemic relief package passed in February 2021. ` In January, Democrats reintroduced the Raise the Wage Act, which would gradually increase the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025 and end pay below-the minimum wage for tipped workers. Under the bill, the minimum wage would increase immediately to $9.50 an hour, then to $11 per hour next year, $12.50 in 2023, $14 in 2024 and then $15 in 2025. A similar bill was introduced in 2019 but never cleared the GOP-controlled Senate.

The main reason minimum wage bills have stalled: Opponents argue that raising it would force many businesses to close or cut their workforces, resulting in fewer jobs.

A recent Congressional Budget Office report estimated that implementing a nationwide minimum of $15 an hour would lift nearly 1 million people out of poverty — but employment would be reduced by 1.4 million workers.

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, a powerful business lobby, argues raising the minimum wage would reduce opportunities for entry-level workers by making it more expensive for companies to hire them.

Economic disparities huge

Low wages have long been a problem for

workers of color in Wisconsin. Black median household income in Milwaukee has fallen by almost 30% since 1979. In fact, the Black median household income of $29,655 is the lowest among the top 50 U.S. metropolitan areas, and it is only 42% of white median household income, which in 2018 was $70,561. That’s according to a 2020 study by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Economic Development, which controlled for cost of living while comparing metropolitan areas.

“I think that’s a profound finding,” said Marc Levine, co-founder of the center who led the study. “It tells us a lot about not only our history, but about what’s happening today in Milwaukee and how little progress it has made.”

Levine’s recent research focuses on Black communities and how they fare in the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas on issues including housing segregation, incarceration, poverty and income. On nearly every measure, Milwaukee comes out at or near the bottom.

Wisconsin’s largest city, he said, “represents the archetype of modern-day metropolitan racial apartheid and inequality.” Differences in educational achievement do not account for the disparities in income.

According to Levine’s report, a white high school dropout is over twice as likely to be employed in Milwaukee than a Black high school dropout. In fact, white high school dropouts have a higher employment rate than Black workers who have graduated from high school.

When breaking down the impact of an increased minimum wage by congressional district in Wisconsin, 38% of all workers in Wisconsin’s 4th Congressional District — which includes the Milwaukee metropolitan area — would see higher wages with a higher federal minimum wage, while 27% of workers in Wisconsin’s 2nd Congressional District — which includes Madison — would also see a boost in pay.

“So when we talk about raising the minimum wage and the Fight for 15, you can see how important that is for Black Milwaukee given the very low wages that are earned by Black males,” Levine told Wisconsin Watch. “My estimate is that almost 40 to 45% of Black workers in Milwaukee would benefit from raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour.”

‘Political volleyball’

For Wisconsin state Sen. Melissa Agard, the issue of raising the minimum wage is a moral one. Far too many people in the state who are working 40 hours a week — and who are disproportionately people of color — are still unable to take care of themselves and their families with dignity, she said.

On June 17, Agard announced she would reintroduce legislation to raise the minimum wage to $15 in Wisconsin. She said it is “embarrassing” and “shameful” that the minimum hourly wage in the state has been frozen at $7.25 since 2009.

In his essays for the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, Self referenced a 2018 report by Duke University, arguing there is little Black people can do on their own to close the wealth gap. Greater educational attainment, home ownership and banking have proven insignificant in lifting Black families out of poverty and closing the generational wealth gap over the years, the report found.

“The whole point of the narrative has been historically, Black people should do things to lift themselves up, so that they could be at the same wealth level as white people, but what that report shows is that it’s impossible, it can’t be done,” Self said.

But for McKnight and Rudd— and many like them — raising the minimum wage is the first step.

“Let’s keep fighting, let’s keep going, let’s keep going until we see a change,” McKnight said.

Said Rudd: “Fifteen dollars is just a start. We want to take vacations. We want to be able to live the American dream.”

Wisconsin Watch reporters Zhen Wang and Isaac Wasserman contributed to this story, which was produced as part of an investigative reporting class at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication under the direction of Dee J. Hall, Wisconsin Watch’s managing editor. The nonprofit Wisconsin Watch (www.

WisconsinWatch.org) collaborates with WPR, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by Wisconsin Watch do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.

opinion

WednesdaY, juLY 28, 2021

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This week’s Plain & Simple Correspondent — Library Week Katie Green, The Plain and Simple Correspondent

In fact, for me every week is library week. Reading is more than a passion; it’s an addiction that harms nothing other than sabotages my list of other things I “should” be doing, such as vacuuming the house, doing laundry, making meals, harvesting more produce, going to sleep at night. My husband recently said that if I predecease him, he is going to bury a load of books in the grave with me. Is that so that I can keep on reading in Heaven/ Hell/ Purgatory/ None of the Above or Below? I didn’t ask him to elaborate, but it’s a delightful thought. A day without reading is like making a cake without flour – it falls flat. Sometimes I purchase books, often at book sales at libraries, or at an independent bookstore, but more often than not these days I order a book to read through interlibrary loan. Then, if I find that I have an overwhelming impulse to underline a lot, I buy my own copy.

This addiction runs in the family. My first memory of a library occurred in Southern California. I was about five or six and was left to stew in the car while my father dashed into the library in the town where we lived at the time, saying he would be “only a minute or two.” A long time later, needing to use the bathroom and fearful of climbing the steps to the library alone, I abandoned the car and walked many blocks home, across multiple boulevard stops, crept into our house by the back door because Mama was holding a tea party for a gaggle of lady friends, and hid under my bed. Understandably, my disappearance caused a furor when Papa finally emerged from the library to find me absent, and the cops got involved in looking for the child who was lost, stolen, or strayed.

Subsequent visits to buildings that hold books have been less fraught, but over the years I have been a constant patron of libraries from one end of this country to the other and in foreign countries, as well.

I know folks who rack up golf courses, art galleries, music venues, train museums, amusement parks, observatories, botanical gardens, and restaurants as tourist

destinations, to name but a few. I’ve indulged in a fair bit of that myself. It’s harmless enough, except for the fossil fuel guzzled and pollution created to reach these sites of our heart’s desire or mere curiosity, a consideration one must take more seriously now. Those ventures tend to empty out your pocketbook, besides.

The nice thing about reading is that you can travel far from your armchair without spending a cent.

Our children were indoctrinated early.

When they were small I held them on my lap and we went over (and over)(and over) their favorites daily. It was part of the going-to-bed routine or whenever they were cranky and needed to be diverted and comforted. As they grew older and were ready for meatier material, their father often took over. He enjoys reading aloud in an assortment of “voices” that are supposed to represent different cultural accents. There were two problems with that: if the subject matter in the book included a death, be it of an animal or a person, he would choke up and cry. His auditors would roll their eyes and wait until he could continue. The other problem is that he would fairly frequently read himself to sleep. In that case, the boys would wander off and play. In our photo albums are shots of them at all ages curled up with a book, sometimes all four of them at the same time in the same room. Many of the books were on loan from whichever library we all raided almost weekly, wherever we lived. Now that my kids are grown and gone, I am thrilled when I see other people’s little children staggering out of a library with a stack of books in their arms.

It makes a bookworm’s heart glad.

When my husband and I went looking for a home in Wisconsin in 2004, one that would be close to our two sons in Madison but not breathing down their necks, I debated between various options among communities in ring an hour’s commute from Madison. The deciding factor for me became clear when I looked at town websites and saw that our Driftless area spent more per capita on its libraries than many others. Libraries are not just an

occasional destination but a necessity for multitudes of us.

Our local libraries suffered – and their patrons along with them – during the pandemic. I quizzed Nick Studnicka, director of our Kraemer library, and Lisa Renier Thomas of the Spring Green library, and their stories were the same.

It was a bleak time for them and us and it is like crawling across the desert on our knees and reaching the waterhole as the libraries have reopened. However, patterns have changed. Many patrons are still asking for curbside pickup, rather than bringing their bodies into the buildings, and usage is not back to the levels preCOVID. The library directors have gotten creative in employing their grounds, the town streets, and other employee-led programs within the building to lure people back, especially children. Obviously on the road to learning, recreation, and diversion there are other substitutes for holding a book in one’s hands, but children of all ages seem to be drawn to the tactile pleasure of paper, the beauty of covers, eye-catching illustrations, and becoming aware of the esoteric world of type faces as they read.

Books on tape can be a pleasurable substitute, let me add. During a period when I was traveling twenty-four miles daily to be with an elderly parent, I listened to every book on tape in the local library, sometimes more than once. I myself once commissioned APT actor Colleen Madden to tape a book I wrote, and the expertise she brought to rendering half a dozen foreign accents and regional dialects to my story is breathtaking. Deeper levels of understanding were added to a story about how variegated the population of California was during the Gold Rush as the world rushed in.

Libraries are much more than print, obviously. Access to DVDs, interactive sculptures such as was just added in Spring Green, plus other amenities like helping folks struggling with literacy, computers to use for those who don’t own one, hosting senior meals, movies, and card clubs, offering meeting rooms which

Contact us

PO Box 144 Spring Green, Wisconsin 53588 USA (608) 588-6694 editor@valleysentinelnews.com valleysentinelnews.com Editorial Editor-in-Chief Nicole Aimone Managing Editor Taylor Scott Legal Editor Gary Ernest Grass, esq.

Photo contributed by Katie Green individuals and groups can rent to gather and study in, tax forms -- libraries provide an extremely important hub from which to dole out services in any community.

Some are more posh than others, but even the humblest is a treasure. I am focusing on libraries now for the reason that the official library week in April was overlooked during the pandemic lockdown and as the buildings open up again, the time to express appreciation for this bountiful service is months overdue.

As a postscript, one unexpected reward of seeking out libraries happened to me years ago when I traveled to Washington D.C. to do research at the Library of Congress. That library of libraries housed some critical material for a book I was writing, information that was not available anywhere else. This will date me, but it was long before such archives began to digitize their holdings so that one could access them online. I emerged from the marble-floored building with its mind-blowing collections late in the day to find that the weather had changed from sunshine to a pouring rain. Covering my precious paper copies as well as I could, I dashed to the closest bus stop and discovered a sturdy umbrella abandoned there, ready to shelter me from the storm.

As my father liked to say when something serendipitous happened, “Thank you, Jesus!” Well, there did seem to be divine intervention involved and I remember my good fortune to this day every time I unfurl that brown and green umbrella.

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Community

WednesdaY, juLY 28, 2021

COmmunitycalendar Events for July 29 - August 11 Thursday, July 29 Wyoming Valley School Tour 11:00 AM . Wyoming Valley School Cultural Arts Center, 6306 State Road 23 Spring Green . Free . www.wyomingvalleyschool.org. Tour times are 11am, 1pm, and 2pm. Our tours are free to the public and casual. The rehabilitated historic project is finally complete. Come visit the only public elementary designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Wine & Yoga 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM . Wild Hills Winery, 30940 Oakridge Dr. Muscoda . $10 cash only . www.wildhillswinery.com. Wine & Yoga every Thursday in the Vineyard with certified Yoga Instructor Lara Carpenter.

Local Night: Carla Pustina 5:30 PM - 8:00PM . The Shed/Post House Garden, 123 N Lexington Street, 119 E Jefferson Street Spring Green . Come out and spend your Thursday evenings with some local music and local food. The food cooked on the grill on the patio is from our many local vendors in Spring Green and surrounding towns, and the musicians are from the River Valley area.

Friday, July 30 Wyoming Valley School Tour 11:00 AM . Wyoming Valley School Cultural Arts Center, 6306 State Road 23 Spring Green . Free . www.wyomingvalleyschool.org. Tour times are 11am, 1pm, and 2pm. Our tours are free to the public and casual. The rehabilitated historic project is finally complete. Come visit the only public elementary designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Wine Down Fridays: Ann Christoffer 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM . Wild Hills Winery, 30940 Oakridge Dr. Muscoda . Free . www.wildhillswinery.com. Wine down and chill at Wild Hills Winery! Live music every Friday! Enjoy the sounds of local musicians and singer-songwriters outdoors on the patio. Food and drink specials.

Premier Cooperatives: River Rumble Tractor Pull 6:30 PM . Lion’s Park, Mazomanie . www.mazochamber.org. Food and beverage stands on site. Please no carry-ins.

Re-Opening Concert: Old Time in the Barn: Jess McIntosh w/ Aaron Smith 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM . White Oak Savanna Events Farm & Sanctuary, 4352 State Road 23, Dodgeville . Free . www.whiteoaksavanna.com. Join us for our re-opening! Opening act: Jonas Friddle with Anna Jacobson and Andrew Wilkins.

APT: Facemask Fridays Showtimes vary . www.americanplayers.org. For those of you who want or need to be masked at APT, we have set aside select performances on July 9, 23 & 30 where masks are mandatory on the grounds and in the Hill Teatre. Visit our website for tickets and additional information.

Saturday, July 31 Give Back to Wild Places! 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM . Driftless Area Land Conservancy, Sardeson’s Forest Preserve . www.driftlessconservancy.org. Girdling and or cutting and treating aggressive clonal species – sumac and gray dogwood – in the heat of the summer is hot work, but effective.

Spring Green Farmers Market 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM . S230 E. Monroe St Spring Green . www.facebook.com/SGFMarket. Local farm fresh produce, coffee, fresh baked goods, honey, soaps & lotions, bedding plants, cut flowers, maple syrup and more.

Heart of the Sky Fair Trade Pop-Up Fundraiser 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM . S230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green . Stop by the Heart of the Sky Fair Trade booth at the Spring Green Farmers Market. Shop an amazing selection of fair trade goods from Guatemala and market baskets from Ghana. All proceeds will be donated to the Spring Green Area Arts Coalition.

Mom’s FUN IN THE SUN DAY 9:00 AM . Liza’s Lagoon, S13220 Shifflet Rd, Spring Green . Moms only, we will meet up at Liza’s Lagoon and enjoy the Sunshineand water and lots of laughter!

Driftless Landscape Tour 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM . Taliesin Preservation Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center 5607 County Road C Spring Green . $6 – $25 . www.taliesinpreservation.org. Join Taliesin for a conversation about the interconnectedness of land and culture while enjoying an approximately 1-mile walk across the Taliesin estate. This completely outdoor tour will speak to the natural history of the estate, using Frank Lloyd Wright as the connecting theme between topics.

Wyoming Valley School Tour 11:00 AM . Wyoming Valley School Cultural Arts Center, 6306 State Road 23 Spring Green . Free . www.wyomingvalleyschool.org. Tour times are 11am, 1pm, and 2pm. Our tours are free to the public and casual. The rehabilitated historic project is finally complete. Come visit the only public elementary designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

3 Souls 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM . Wisconsin Riverside Resort, S13220 Shifflet Road Spring Green . www.wiriverside.com/entertainment. Summer music continues on the River Stage!

Rob's Alibi 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM . Spring Green General Store, 137 S Albany St., Spring Green . Free . www.springgreen.com . Come join us for Rob’s Alibi! Rock classics with an acoustic infusion. Vocal harmonies focusing on your favorites from the 70's to now.

Arcadia Book Signing: "American Vaudeville" by Geoffrey Hilsabeck 3:30 PM 4:30 PM . Arcadia Books, 102 E. Jefferson St., Spring Green . www.readinutopia.com. Join us at Arcadia for a book signing with Geoffrey Hilsabeck, author of American Vaudeville.

Sunday, August 1 Scott Stieber & Don Myers 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM . Wisconsin Riverside Resort, S13220 Shifflet Road Spring Green . www.wiriverside.com/entertainment. Summer music continues on the River Stage!

Monday, August 2 Vacation Bible School at Lone Rock Congregational Church 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM . Lone Rock Congregational Church, 202 S. Chestnut St., Lone Rock . www.lonerockcongchurch.org. Join us for Vacation Bible School Aug 2nd - 6th. Ages 4K - 6th grade. For more information call: (608) 647-0622.

Grab and Go: Tails and Tales 10:00 AM . Spring Green Community Library, 230 E Monroe St Spring Green . www.springgreenlibrary.org. Grab and Go Kits are activity bags with all the supplies you'll need for families to enjoy at home! Available while supplies last. Pick up on the parking lot side of building during our open/curbside pick up hours.

Rural Musicians Forum: Red Door Duo 7:30 PM . Mazomaine Outdoor Pavillion, Mazo. Guitar duo extravaganza in a myiad of styles.

Tuesday, August 3 Tails & Tales Outdoor Storytime 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM . Plain Kraemer Library and Community Center, 910 Main St, Plain . www.kraemerlibrary.org. Storytime lasts between 30 minutes and aimed for ages 0-6 with themed songs and stories.

Pizza on 14 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM . The Shoppe, 7352 Hwy 14, Arena . Pizza from our wood-fired oven and live music every Tuesday.

National Night Out 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM . Wisconsin Heights High School, Mazo . Join us for National Night Out. Sponsored by Mazo & BE Police Depts with Mazo & BE Fire Depts & District One EMS. Lake Marion Tuesday Concerts 6:00 PM . Lake Marion Park, HWY. KP, Mazo .

Concerts held every Tuesday, Aug 3-24. Sponsored by Mazomanie Music Conservancy.

Wednesday, August 4 Virtual Story Time 10:00 AM . Spring Green Community Library, 230 E Monroe St Spring Green . www.springgreenlibrary.org. Join Ms. Christi for this live Facebook event!

While we need to keep our social distance, we can still get together online for stories, songs, rhymes, and fun. All are welcome!

Nature Pattern Workshop 4:30 PM - 8:30 PM . Arts Lab, 143 S. Washington Street, Spring Green . $25 . www.artslabspringgreen.org. This workshop builds on the Patterns/Geometry material but takes on the challenge of using a plant or flower as a reference to develop geometric patterns inspired by nature's beauty. This is a Taliesin tradition that started with Louis Sullivan (Wright's mentor), was continued by Wright with his art glass windows and integral ornament, and furthered by his secretary and fine artist Eugene Masselink who turned the art form into a teachable class on which Aris bases his workshop.

Music in the Park! 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM . White Mound County Park, S7995 Whitemound Dr., Hillpoint . $5 per vehicle, unless you have the Sauk County annual sticker .

Contact 608-355-4800. Join us at White Mound County Park on August 4 for live music from the Hard Tellin' Band! Bring a picnic, blanket or lawn chair with your family and friends.

APT: Spring Green Night 8:00 PM . American Players Theatre, 5950 Golf Course Road, Spring Green . $25 . www.americanplayers.org. Join us for our Spring Green night for Rough Crossing. River Valley School district residents only. Use promo code SG21 at checkout.

Thursday, August 5 Wyoming Valley School Tour 11:00 AM . Wyoming Valley School Cultural Arts Center, 6306 State Road 23 Spring Green . Free . www.wyomingvalleyschool.org. Tour times are 11am, 1pm, and 2pm. Our tours are free to the public and casual. The rehabilitated historic project is finally complete. Come visit the only public elementary designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Local Night: Tobie & Kendall 5:30 PM - 8:00PM . The Shed/Post House Garden, 123 N Lexington Street, 119 E Jefferson Street Spring Green . Come out and spend your Thursday evenings with some local music and local food. The food cooked on the grill on the patio is from our many local vendors in Spring Green and surrounding towns, and the musicians are from the River Valley area.

Wine & Yoga 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM . Wild Hills Winery, 30940 Oakridge Dr. Muscoda . $10 cash only . www.wildhillswinery.com. Wine & Yoga every Thursday in the Vineyard with certified Yoga Instructor Lara Carpenter.

David Huckfelt (Of The Pines) W/ Michael Rossetto 6:00 PM . Sh*tty Barn, 506 E Madison St, Spring Green . www.shittybarnsessions.com.The Pines frontman returns in support of his new solo album "Room Enough, Time Enough". Joining him is Jeremy Ylvisaker and Michael Rossetto. Advance tickets sold out. That said, tickets often come up that people can't use. Check website or socials for the latest details about ticket availability.

Evenings Afield - Regenerative Fruit Growing in the Driftless Region 6:00 PM 8:00 PM . Future Fruit Farm, 5363 Knobs Rd, Ridgeway . Free . www.driftlessconservancy.org/lowery-creek-watershed. See organic orcharding in action where heirloom apples, pears, grapes, and other fruits are grown. Leaders: Selena and Ellen Warsaw-Lane. Donations encouraged.

Driftless Songwriters Round 7:30 PM - 10:30 PM . SlowPoke Lounge 137 W Jefferson St., Spring Green . www.slowpokelounge.com. Tina King, Kris Sheehan, and Tim Eddy gather at the Slowpoke Lounge for an evening of songs born from hearts tuned to the Driftless Region.

Friday, August 6 Beginner Photography with Andrew Pielage 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM . Taliesin Preservation: Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center 5607 County Rd C, Spring Green . $295 . www.taliesinpreservation.org. Come join professional photographer Andrew Pielage for his Introduction to Photography Workshop. Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece Taliesin and the surrounding estate will be the backdrop for the weekend photographic journey.

Wine Down Fridays: Scott Wilcox 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM . Wild Hills Winery, 30940 Oakridge Dr. Muscoda . Free . www.wildhillswinery.com. Wine down and chill at Wild Hills Winery! Live music every Friday! Enjoy the sounds of local musicians and singer-songwriters outdoors on the patio. Food and drink specials.

Pam Houston live at Arcadia Books! 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM . Arcadia Books, 102 E. Jefferson St., Spring Green . www.readinutopia.com. We are thrilled to welcome Pam Houston back to Arcadia Books. Throughout the pandemic, Pam continued to write and lead writing workshops.In addition to discussing Air Mail, Pam will share her thoughts on events that occured after the publication and will reveal her five favorite books read in 2020.

Artist Talk: Pita Daniels/ARTS for ALL Wisconsin 6:30 PM . Spring Green Community Library, 230 E Monroe St Spring Green . www.springgreenlibrary.org. Peter ‘Pita’ Daniels is one of the featured artists exhibiting at this month's ARTS for ALL Wisconsin "Creative Power" exhibit. Come learn more about him and his process at this lively talk!

APT: Spring Green Night 8:00 PM . American Players Theatre, 5950 Golf Course Road, Spring Green . $25 . www.americanplayers.org. Join us for our Spring Green night for Rough Crossing. River Valley School district residents only. Use promo code SG21 at checkout.

WednesdaY, juLY 28, 2021

Community Sunshine Daydrink 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM . SlowPoke Lounge 137 W Jefferson St., Spring Green . www.slowpokelounge.com. Don’t tell me this town ain’t got no heart. You just gotta poke around. Come on down for a night of music and dancing. Join us as we welcome Sunshine Daydrink, a wonderful band from Madison, Wisconsin with a focus on acoustic Grateful Dead Music. No cover (but tips for the band are welcome).

Saturday, August 7 Spring Green Farmers Market 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM . S230 E. Monroe St Spring Green . www.facebook.com/SGFMarket. Local farm fresh produce, coffee, fresh baked goods, honey, soaps & lotions, bedding plants, cut flowers, maple syrup and more.

Wyoming Valley School Tour 11:00 AM . Wyoming Valley School Cultural Arts Center, 6306 State Road 23 Spring Green . Free . www.wyomingvalleyschool.org. Tour times are 11am, 1pm, and 2pm. Our tours are free to the public and casual. The rehabilitated historic project is finally complete. Come visit the only public elementary designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Myles Talbott Dyad 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM . Wisconsin Riverside Resort, S13220 Shifflet Road Spring Green . www.wiriverside.com/entertainment. Summer music continues on the River Stage!

AKA Ali Kauss Adornment Grand (re) Opening 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM . Ali Kauss Adornment, 101 East Jefferson St., Spring Green . www.alikaussadornment.com. Join in an evening of fun and celebration of our new location and new collection release!

Collection Release: Healing Tonics.

Dale Eric Glaudell 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM . Spring Green General Store, 137 S. Albany St., Spring Green . www.springgreengeneralstore.com. A solid musical performer in Wisconsin and the Midwest with over 40 years of show business under his guitar strap, Dale plays a mixture of hit songs, originals, old-time favorites, country and rock classics, with a little humor mixed in.

Sunday, August 8 Christina Clancy, "Shoulder Season" reading and signing at The Slowpoke 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM . SlowPoke Lounge 137 W Jefferson St., Spring Green . www.slowpokelounge.com. We couldn't think of a better place to have a book event with Christi Clancy than The Slowpoke Lounge & Cabaret. While we can't promise that drinks will be served via the Bunny Dip method, we can promise that this will be a fun and wonderful event.

Jukebillies 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM . Wisconsin Riverside Resort, S13220 Shifflet Road Spring Green . www.wiriverside.com/entertainment. Summer music continues on the River Stage!

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Spring Green Community Group for Racial Justice 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM . Daley St and Park Rd Spring Green . Contact sgcommunitygroup@gmail.com. The Community Group for Racial Justice is a discussion and action group that meets the second Monday of each month.

Rural Musicians Forum: Mosaic Chamber Players 7:30 PM . Mazomaine Outdoor Pavillion, Mazo. Experience the intimacy and diversity of chamber music.

Tuesday, August 10 Potluck Lunch 11:30 AM - 2:00 PM . Spring Green Community Center, 117 S Washington St, Spring Green . www.facebook.com/SGCommunityCenter/. Back by popular demand, the Spring Green Community Center is hosting a community-wide potluck lunch on the second Tuesday of each month. Come meet up with friends, old and new!

Suggested donation $3-5/person.

Tails & Tales Outdoor Storytime 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM . Plain Kraemer Library and Community Center, 910 Main St, Plain . www.kraemerlibrary.org. Storytime lasts between 30 minutes and aimed for ages 0-6 with themed songs and stories.

Pizza on 14 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM . The Shoppe, 7352 Hwy 14, Arena . Pizza from our wood-fired oven and live music every Tuesday.

Lake Marion Tuesday Concerts 6:00 PM . Lake Marion Park, HWY. KP, Mazo .

Concerts held every Tuesday, Aug 3-24. Sponsored by Mazomanie Music Conservancy.

Take & Make Craft Kits Kraemer Library and Community Center, 910 Main St. Plain . www.kraemerlibrary.org. Kids 0-12 can drop in for fun filled Take and Make Kit they can do from home. Each kit includes supplies and instructions. Limited to 1 per child.

While supplies last.

Wednesday, August 11 Virtual Story Time 10:00 AM . Spring Green Community Library, 230 E Monroe St Spring Green . www.springgreenlibrary.org. Join Ms. Christi for this live Facebook event!

While we need to keep our social distance, we can still get together online for stories, songs, rhymes, and fun. All are welcome!

Monday, August 9 Take and Make: Bleeding Tissue Paper Postcards 10:00 AM . Spring Green Community Library, 230 E Monroe St Spring Green . www.springgreenlibrary.org. Drop by the library to grab a Take and Make: Bleeding Tissue Paper Postcard craft kit! These kits are created with adults in mind (all are welcome to them!) and contain materials needed to complete the project featured below. Kits are available first come, first served, while supplies last.

Community Calendar curated by Whitney Back, from events submitted by the community

Sauk County looks to reduce board size, supervisors voice concern on rural representation Nicole Aimone, Editor-in-Chief The Sauk County Board discussed reducing the size of the county board at it’s July 20 meeting, citing its recent switch to a county administrator form of government as the reasoning.

Currently, the county board has 31 members who receive per diem rate for each county board meeting attended.

The proposed change would decrease the board to 25 supervisors, and would redistrict the county to reflect 2020 census population numbers.

Currently, Sauk County holds the 6th largest county board in the state, and is the 25th largest statewide.

The resolution comes from the Executive and Legislative committee, with committee member Supervisor Wally Czuprynko, of Lake Delton, saying the county’s somewhat recent switch from having an administrative coordinator to having a county administrator manage the county.

Statutorily, the two positions serve similar roles, with different levels of power.

With the switch to a county

administrator, the county board has less operational authority, that authority, such as hiring, firing and budgeting, is given to the administrator. Under this management, the county government serves primarily for establishing policy.

With a switch from 31 to 25 supervisors would increase district size from approximately 2,035 to 2,520 constituents per district, which adds 488 people per supervisory district— approximately a 20% increase.

The state average for representation per district is approximately 3,500.

According to the proposed resolution, reducing the county board size would save approximately $107.39 per supervisor for each county board meeting. Total estimated costs savings would be $8,376 annually, based on 13 standing county board meetings per year.

“I don’t think the effectiveness of our constituencies would be diminished in the least, it’s more a matter of the county board operating more efficiently,” said Czuprynko. “This

would also hopefully increase the accountability of board members having to do a better job, simply because there’s less of us.

Supervisor Brian Peper, of Loganville, questioned how losing six supervisors might effect the proportion of supervisors in rural areas versus city areas of the county, however the data from the 2020 census is not yet available.

“I would have a really hard time voting ‘yes’ on something like this without knowing the number of rural supervisors,” said Peper.

Supervisor Rob Nelson, of Baraboo, spoke against the resolution, advocating for keeping the constituent to supervisor number lower.

“I think that having a lower number of constituents per district is something we should strive towards,” said Nelson.

“I think even if you start reducing committee sizes, that’s going to increase the number of committees supervisors have to serve on and that will reduce the number of people who want to serve on the board, they’re

going to be spending more time in committee meetings and that makes the job less attractive.”

Supervisor Carl Gruber, of Baraboo, countered saying that lowering the size of each committee would allow consolidation of committees, meaning instead of each supervisor attending two to three separate committee meetings, they would be able to attend just one. Gruber said he sees those as positives.

Many supervisors agreed that the six seats the board would lose would likely be from rural areas of the county, leaving less representation for the far reaching areas of the county, or create a circumstance where the supervisor for a district is representing an area they are not a resident of.

Ultimately, the board voted to table the resolution until after 2020 census data is released, and supervisors can have additional information on how the county would be redistricted.

The board will hold a special meeting following census data being released on Aug. 16.

North Park tennis courts remodel starts MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST

Kraemer Brothers, one of Wisconsin’s leading construction companies, is seeking a Marketing & Communications Specialist. An innovative and dynamic company, Kraemer Brothers offers tremendous opportunities for qualified and motivated professionals.

Requirements: Degree in Marketing, Journalism or Media required or 5 years of related experience. Proficiency with Mac & PC based design software, strong organizational skills, writing, and communication skills are recommended. Related experience in the construction industry is preferred but not required. Responsible for creating, coordinating, planning and implementing various materials including digital project proposals, website enhancements, project photos and videos, promotional material and social media communications.

Photos by Taylor Scott, Manging Editor As reported in last week’s edition, the next phase of the tennis court project at North Park in Spring Green is starting with the fencing and courts being demolished this past week and the area soon to be reseeded with grass. The area will remain as greenspace pending a grant process after the Spring Green Village Board took action July 14 to move forward with a change of use and grant application that would turn the space into two pickleball courts and a tennis court next year.

Please forward your confidential resume to: Kraemer Brothers, LLC • 925 Park Ave. Plain, WI 53577 608-546-2411 • jobs@kraemerbrothers.com

Page 6

Community

WednesdaY, juLY 28, 2021

Student reflects on his time in Spring Green as design program wraps up

continued from page 1

The School also toured Taliesin during their time in Spring Green and sat down with architect Floyd Hamblen to discuss the history of the Taliesin Fellowship.

Hamblen brings experience as a member of the Taliesin Fellowship and as faculty member of the former School of Architecture at Taliesin.

“Our visit to Spring Green has been extremely meaningful, especially in seeing the continued support of the local community that has clearly enabled the school to endure. We are thankful and inspired by this,” shared Stephanie Lin, Dean of The School of Architecture of the visit. “Wright’s Wyoming Valley School was the perfect space to host our students’ temporary studio and collective activities during our stay. We look forward to a continued presence in the Valley.”

As a successful program wraps up, the School is already looking forward to next year.

“As one of the most popular and successful student immersion programs the school has hosted, we look forward to hosting a similar program for many years to come including next year, the school’s 90th anniversary,” shared Hollenbeck.

After visiting sites in Wisconsin such as Taliesin, Wyoming Valley School, Johnson Wax Building, Jacobs

Usonian Home, Seth Peterson Cottage, Wingspread, and the Milwaukee Art Museum - Calatrava, students travelled from Spring Green to Chicago, IL on July 1.

The students are touring Wright sites there and in Oak Park and will be departing the Midwest on August 8.

Student Will Fagan reflected on his time in Spring Green prior to and during this summer’s program: “I first came to the Wyoming Valley in the summer of 2015. I was an undergraduate student who’d flown in from Ohio to intern with the preservation department at Taliesin. I came back the next summer, and the summer after that, finally arriving as a graduate student in 2019.”

“Taliesin had drawn me to the Valley, but Spring Green soon had as much an impact on me as the school. I loved shopping at Nina’s, getting coffee and a book at Arcadia, eating pizza at the White Schoolhouse, and making a fool of myself singing karaoke at the Shed. When I left Spring Green in the fall of 2019, I never expected it would be two years before I returned.”

“As I drove out from Madison, I felt apprehensive. ...I was worried returning to Spring Green would fill me with melancholy. To my great relief, it was like coming home again. To find so much support from the people

of the Valley was so uplifting. Spring Green had not forgotten us.”

“Frank Lloyd Wright came to the Valley to return to his roots. I came to find my roots, and my connection to Spring Green turned out to be just as deep as Taliesin.”

The School offers a professional, project-based Master of Architecture degree, with a focus on organic architecture and is accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board and the Higher Learning Commission. More information about the School can be found at: www.theschoolofarchitecture.edu

Photo contributed by The School of Architecture Floyd Hamblen presents the history of the Taliesin Fellowship to TSOA M.Arch and Immersion students at the Wyoming Valley School.

Local farm-to-table restaurant looks to host community events, provide upscale dining option continued from page 1 are going to start having a sandwich every week, usually two special pizzas and always the four standards, Margarita, pepperoni, sausage, and cheese, and then a dessert, featuring some kind of local fruit and berries.

VS: Tell us a bit more about what local means to you? How much of your food is sourced locally?

HC: We try to source as much as we can locally, I think of local as all of Wisconsin, and the near parts of the surrounding states. I would say that 90% percent of our produce is local with the exception of a few things, onions, and basil we often end up ordering when there is not enough available locally. We use 100% Meadowlark Flour for the pizza dough. There will be times when we will want to do cocktails with pineapple, bring in a case of GA peaches, get some

fresh fish from the coast, serve European wine, and use chocolate and coffee, so those things will not be local. If it’s not local though, we are looking for high quality.

When we say local we don’t just mean the food, but also the insurance agent, the bank, the sign printing shop, the t-shirt printing shop, the graphic design, the hardware store, the coffee roaster etc. We want to keep all of our business local and put money back into this community. All the meat and eggs are local and almost off of the cheese is local, and that feels really good to us. We have amazing local beer, sodas, cider, and wine that we offer too.

VS: What’s on the horizon for Homecoming? From pop-ups to private events and more, what’s your vision for the future?

HC: We have two things coming up, two wine dinners. The first, a collaboration with

Eric and Mary of Convivio, American Wine Project, and ourselves. It we will a coursed dinner paired with wine on Thursday the 26th of August, tickets on sale soon, check the website for details. The second is a collaboration with Eric and Mary, Greg Powell of Kermit Lynch Wine, and ourselves on Sunday the 26th of September. More details on both of these events can be found on the website in the next couple days. We’ll try and squeeze another event or two in before the weather turns cold. We’ll keep you posted on that.

VS: Feel free to add anything else at all you’d like to share.

HC: We feel so grateful to have a place in this community and we feel overjoyed and overwhelmed by the support of this community. We are sure to make mistakes and have rough nights as we grow and we so appreciate all of your feedback and understanding as we iron out the kinks.

Photo contributed by Leah Spicer, Homecoming Leah Spicer, hospitality director, Marketing and Brand Leader for Homecoming, the farm-totable restaurant taking over the White School House, shows off her pizza making skills.

Live music back in full swing at Slowpoke Lounge and Cabaret, throughout the area Photo by Taylor Scott, Managing Editor

Pictured, Sugar Mama and the Rent Check, a band of local musicians, performs at Slowpoke Lounge and Cabaret in Spring Green July 23. Upcoming events at Slowpoke include Driftless Songwriters on Aug. 5, Sunshine Daydrink on Aug. 6 and Jambidextrous on Aug. 4.

Music sessions at the Sh*tty Barn resumed on July 28 with Raine Stern and Buffalo Nichols taking the stage in Spring Green.

For more information on live music in the River Valley Area, see visit the Community Calendar on Page 4.

Local. Natural.

Delicious.

We strive to serve specialty coffee and baked goods created with ingredients that are locally sourced, all natural and sustainable.

Our schedule is posted each week on social media.

Get in touch with us today! www.butternutroadcoffee.com butternutroadcoffeetruck@gmail.com 608-459-5016 Butternut Road Coffee Truck butternutroad_coffeetruck Butternut_Road

Coffee & News A collaboration by Valley Sentinel & Butternut Road Coffee.

Stop by the coffee truck starting mid-week to pick up a copy of Valley Sentinel with your coffee, while supplies last.

Construction Superintendent

Kraemer Brothers, one of Wisconsin’s leading construction companies, is adding an experienced construction professional to its staff. Kraemer Brothers consistently provides top level compensation and a challenging and safe work environment.

Requirements: 5+ years of field management and a related degree or equivalent experience for this position. Experience supervising and coordinating the construction of complex commercial or institutional projects.

Duties include: ■ Overall responsibility for the management of construction activities.

■ Ensuring compliance with design, schedule and budget requirements.

■ Coordinating company performed trade work.

Successful candidate must be able to demonstrate prior success in working effectively as a team member with project owners, architects and subcontractors.

Please forward your confidential resume to:

Kraemer Brothers, LLC • 925 Park Ave., Plain, WI 53577 Phone: 608-546-2411 • Fax: 608-546-2509 Email: jobs@kraemerbrothers.com www.kraemerbrothers.com

EEO/AA EMPLOYER

Community

WednesdaY, juLY 28, 2021

COVID-19 Dashboard

Page 7

Wisconsin Summary

618,298 Positive Cases

Cases as of 7/27/2021

+2,911 from 7/20

3,017,901 Negative Test Results +13,149 from 7/20

7,340 Deaths -43 from 7/20

Vaccine Summary Statistics Updated: 7/27/2021

5,792,993 Administered

3,192,855

2,360,826

Pfizer doses administered

239,312

Moderna doses administered

Johnson & Johnson doses administered

Vaccine Data

These two core measures are all measures of herd immunity in Richland, Sauk and Iowa County. We do not yet know what level of vaccination leads to herd immunity for COVID-19, or how current or future variants might affect herd immunity. We know based on other diseases that herd immunity is likely at least 60%, and if more transmissible variants become more common, that threshold may become higher, so our current target range is 60-90%.

-Madison Public Health and Dane County

Richland County

1,347 Positive Cases +7 from 7/20 8,261 Negative Tests +1 from 7/20 16 Death +0 from 7/20

Richland

Sauk

Target Range

50.1%

Iowa County

2,075 Positive Cases +6 from 7/20 12,084 Negative Tests +58 from 7/20 13 Deaths +0 from 7/20 Sauk County 6,044 Positive Cases +25 from 7/20 36,928 Negative Tests +148 from 7/20 52 Deaths +1 from 7/20

53.2%

Percent with at least one vaccine dose

Percent with at least one vaccine dose

50.5%

47.6%

Percent fully vaccinated

Target Range

Percent fully vaccinated

Iowa

Target Range

59.2%

Percent with at least one vaccine dose

57.2%

Percent fully vaccinated

Percent of Wisconsin residents ages 12-15 who have received at least one dose by county

Cases per zip code Cases as of 7/27/2021

Updated: 7/27/2021

Lower %

Higher %

Richland County Ages 12-15 30.2%

Iowa County Ages 12-15

Percent of Wisconsin residents who have received at least one dose

41.6%

Sauk County

Ages

12-15

Ages 12-15 32.4%

16-17

18-24

Dane County Ages 12-15

Graphic by Whitney Back

67.1%

25-34

35-44

Updated: 7/27/2021 32.7%

42%

44.2%

48.6%

45-54 55-64 65+

Data From: https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/index.htm

56.5%

58.8%

69%

83.7%

“The good stuff.”

Page 8

WednesdaY, juLY 28, 2021

arts & culture/outdoors & recreation

Wisconsin Beachgoers: Be Aware Of Blue-Green Algae Risks Gina LaLiberte, DNR Water Resources Management Specialist MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is reminding beachgoers and their pets to watch for blue-green algae and know the risks. Blue-green algae can cause illness if swallowed or inhaled in water droplets, or irritation if rubbed on the skin under clothing.

Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, are photosynthetic bacteria often called “pond scum.” Blue-green algae are most often green but can also be blue, tan, reddishpurple or brown.

Blue-green algae generally grow in lakes, ponds and slow-moving streams when the water is warm and enriched with nutrients like phosphorus or nitrogen.

When environmental conditions are just right, blue-green algae can increase in number. Most species are buoyant and will float to the surface, where they form scum layers or floating mats known as a “blue-green algae bloom.” In Wisconsin, blue-green algae blooms generally occur between mid-June and late September, although in rare instances, blooms have been observed in winter, even under the ice.

STAY SAFE ON AND OFFSHORE

Since most lakes in Wisconsin are not tested for bluegreen algae, it is

important to know what it looks like and always assess conditions before swimming.

Stay safe by following best practices, including: •Do not swim in water that looks like “pea soup,” green or blue paint, or that has a scum layer or puffy blobs floating on the surface.

•Do not boat, water ski, etc., over such water (people can be exposed through inhalation).

•Do not let children play with scum layers, even from shore.

•Do not let pets or livestock swim in, or drink, waters experiencing bluegreen algae blooms.

•Always take a shower after encountering any surface water (whether or not a blue-green algae bloom appears to be present; surface waters may contain other species of potentially harmful bacteria and viruses).

•Try to avoid swallowing lake water, no matter how clean it looks, since it may have bacteria, viruses, or parasites in it that could make you sick.

KEEP PETS SAFE

Blue-green algae can have harmful effects on humans and pets. However, because dogs love to spend time in the water, they are not deterred by surface scum and often swallow a lot of water while swimming. If they consume large quantities of blue-green

algae or drink lake water.

•If a pet eats grass, avoid using lake water for lawn irrigation if blooms are present.

•If there’s any doubt about what is in the water, keeping pets out is the safest course of action.

Symptoms of water intoxication (from swallowing too much water) and heatstroke in dogs include vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, and loss of coordination. Give dogs plenty of breaks from swimming and retrieving in lakes, avoid having dogs bite at splashed water as a game and use flat objects for retrieval instead of balls.

Always provide shade and fresh, clean water to drink.

The public is encouraged to report significant blue-green algae blooms to the DNR at DNRHABS@wisconsin. gov. Please include the location of the bloom, the name of the water body, nearest town, county, the size and duration of the bloom and overall and close-up photographs for verification.

The DNR is unable to test all reported blooms.

For more information on blue-green algae, including symptoms of exposure and environmental concerns, visit the DNR Blue-Green Algae webpage. More information is also available via the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

algae when they drink the water, and if those blue-green algae happen to be producing toxin(s), the animals can become very ill, and even die.

Symptoms of blue-green algal toxin poisoning may range from lethargy and loss of appetite to seizures, vomiting and convulsions. Dogs are particularly susceptible to blue-green algal poisoning because scums can attach to their coats and be swallowed during self-cleaning. To keep dogs safe, choose the clearest water possible for dogs to swim in and keep dogs out of areas with accumulations of bluegreen algae or any dense particulate matter.

Follow these tips to keep pets safe: •Do not let pets swim in, or drink, waters experiencing blue-green algae blooms or noticeably green water.

•Keep dogs out of shallow, stagnant waters where blue-green algae may be growing on the bottom and dislodged by disturbance. If people shouldn’t swim there, dogs shouldn’t either.

•Always offer fresh, clean water for pets to drink instead of lake water.

•Always wash dogs off with clean water immediately after they swim, so they don’t lick any algae from their fur.

•Supervise pets when they are outside so they don’t eat algal scum accumulated on the shore, floating mats of

Art from around the Valley: Jen Salt’s “Summer Solstice” “Summer Solstice” was one of my first watercolor paintings and still a favorite of mine. I was walking through Olbrich Gardens in Madison one summer day and saw this arrangement of Adirondack chairs tucked under a cool shade tree. I knew I needed to paint it.

Gardens are such a gift to all of us...... A place where our senses can take over and help us relax and renew.

Watercolor on Arche paper, 18” 20”.

—Jen Salt, Contributor Jen Salt is an artist who lives in a place she calls “Crow’s Lair Cottage”-just outside of Spring Green where she’s lived for five and a half years. “The Wisconsin River was the draw to move here and I’ve never looked back, coming from a big city.

This is home.” ...

Valley Sentinel Welcomes local artist across all mediums to share their work with the community.

Send your submissions to: editor@valleysentinelnews.com Painting by Jen Salt

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