Spring Green, Wisconsin
Thursday, February 3, 2022 | Vol. 3, No. 5 FREE, Single-Copy
Inside this edition
Editor Column: A bi-weekly change
Community Calendar: Live music, yoga, book club, trivia and more
An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Ice fishing tips and tip-ups
Page 1
Page 3
Page 4
Valley Sentinel moves to a bi-weekly model to offer more in-depth content, better serve and build community Nicole Aimone, Editor-in-Chief and Taylor Scott, Managing Editor We’ve shared many times some of the quotes that grace the wall of our newsroom. We've definitely focused on the first, making things work and then making them work better. We’ve definitely focused on the second quote and we've called people and powersthat-be out where necessary. The third quote we haven't covered enough because — frankly — in the moment or in retrospect, we don't think we've been able to adequately taste life enough. We are on the most solid footing that we ever have been, in the entire time that we have published. However, this publication isn’t an easy endeavor and we haven't had the time to adequately taste life in the present while experiencing it here in our community, or in the retrospect while writing about it, we literally have not had the time — and that's frustrating, because it affects how adequately we’re able to share things with the community through stories. When we’re doing well it shouldn’t feel like we’re spinning our wheels and not going in the creative direction we want as deep as we would like to. So we’re announcing a change to a bi-weekly print schedule. The change to publishing every other week is indefinite. We’ll do an internal checkin around our Best of the River Valley reader poll in June and a decisionmaking check-in around our second anniversary of publishing in October. You also might have noticed that our front page looks different. These are the types of things that we will be playing around and experimenting with. It may not not stay this way, it may evolve — ideally it will evolve. The four page edition was a deliberate
Photo by Taylor Scott, Managing Editor A view of our newsroom, with three of our favorite quotes featured. choice as well. These types of announcements shouldn’t be made in memos, emails or strictly on social media. We're in the middle of this transition, this four page edition allows us to put more effort into next week's special section and allows more time for planning for the future. The transition starts next week, but we want to emphasize that nothing is going to happen overnight. Yes, this is our first stepping stone towards something bigger and better. Things might feel like the status quo for now, for the first few months and into spring, but we are building better. From the beginning, we've always known we didn't want to just be your typical weekly paper. We are trying to break away from that mold. We do some things in that aspect really well and we'll continue to do those, but we also want to add in different aspects as well. Print is our main focus and main
product. But we've always promised to innovate. And we feel like this is the next step in doing that. This first step of switching to bi-weekly will eventually allow more content, more community engagement, engaging across different platforms. We've always said we want to reach people where they want to be reached. Right now, we're not doing that well on social media and online. We're reaching great in print right now, but that's not everyone's medium. While we're doing so great in print, other aspects are failing — and that's not cool. So we want to build out the infrastructure to be online every day (in some form) and in print bi-weekly. This will allow us to inform our community and work to build community, Last week we did a soft launch of our Impulse Initiative, an endeavor to take the community’s ideas and find support for them to turn them into reality. Things like that will not get
engagement if we don't build out the infrastructure. In an oversaturated world, we’ve created something we believe is truly special, in a place that is truly special. We have a good mix of really strong content that includes a curated digest of engaging external voices and original internal content. We want to refocus on really strong stories, whether that's investigative, arts and culture-related, community related, and so on. We’d like the time that would, for example, allow for an overhaul of the Community Calendar to be really effective, attention grabbing and creative, pulling us in the direction that we believe provides the best resource for the community. We have a really great, passionate group of contributors. It takes a lot of energy and time and people to do this and, while we have a really great group, it's just not enough. To be able to continue doing this, the workflow has got to change. We think, along with that workflow changing, it will bring a lot of really positive changes for the community, for our content and for our readers. You might have noticed, we've had a lot of special editions lately. And that's on purpose, because we think they add a lot of value as community resources, value to community businesses and just general community-building. We want to be able to do those bigger and better and we can't do that if we only have four days to work on each edition. We want to lean into being a resource for the community, lean into being a platform for building community. This includes outside of the paper proper, hearkening back to our Impulse Initiative, things like Winter After Dark and other community ideas and what
Continued on page 2
Page 2
Commentary/Opinion
Thursday, February 3, 2022
Column — Katie Green’s The Plain and Simple Correspondent: The Rolltop Desk Katie Green, The Plain and Simple Correspondent Half a century ago we purchased a Victorian rolltop desk using part of a small legacy from my husband's father's estate. In most respects this was a questionable expenditure. To be sure, this early in our marriage we had already acquired a mountain of books separately and together and wished to organize them tidily. Our union was a little like Alfred Knopf wedding Martha Stewart. But we should have been observing a beer budget not indulging in champagne, since there were more crucial things we could, and assuredly should, have been investing in at that basically impoverished stage in our life. Books, after all, can be stacked in corners, tucked under the bed, in closets, used as door stops, battering rams, fly swatters, to prop up chairs with missing legs... BUT this was no ordinary desk. The workmanship and materials were not only superb, but what really distinguished it in my eyes was that this piece had been constructed in New England and then shipped to California around The Horn of South America to reach wealthy customers in San Francisco during the gold rush. Amazingly, it survived the great earthquake and fire of 1906 that destroyed much of the city, safe in a Nob Hill mansion. As an aspiring historian of the gold rush even then, the desk was irresistible because of its dramatic story. And although forty years of writing about other topics would pass before I got around to putting pen to paper (a quaint phrase, but I trust you recall what these objects are), books and articles about the CA gold frenzy did follow eventually from my research. What is more, the desk has been a continual source of deep pleasure to behold, cradling special collections of classic works we treasure beyond measure – poetry, natural history, my Bronte and Austin, his Wendell Berry, our theology and philosophy. No works of the “flashing fish” sensationalist variety that H.L. Mencken enjoyed sneering about. Lower drawers contain greeting cards and fascinating clutter from past lives. Not a week goes by without one or both
otherwise for another 300 years. As for Magellan, his religious fervor got the better of him and while he was attempting to convert the pagan tribesmen of certain Philippine islands and his sailors were running amok among the womenfolk, he was killed. The sad, starved, ragged remnants of the expedition made it back to Seville two years after it left, and the last captain (who had led an unsuccessful mutiny mid-voyage) of the last ship was given the hero medal and a ton of money by the Pope. Magellan did not get his just due for a very long time, when it did him no good personally, nor his family. What makes the tale even more interesting to me is what the author, William Manchester, writes concerning the skepticism about the voyages of discovery that lingered for centuries. He wrote: “Nevertheless, the most barefaced lies die hard when influence and prejudice have a vested interest in them.” That sounds very contemporary. In every generation, I think, changes in thought and direction are most often resisted by those who have most advantage to lose. Right now, skepticism about the findings and recommendations from scientists on Covid, of whether or not elections are fair and free, how to devise wise foreign policy decisions, how to pass legislation for the good of all, and on and on. It drives me more than a little crazy. That's when I reach for an old favorite out of the rolltop desk and disappear across a portal into another world. Photo contributed by Katie Green The Victorian rolltop desk in question. of us plucking a book off the shelves or rummaging in the drawers. Meanwhile, many other furnishings have been jettisoned over the years, but the desk has travelled with us like a loyal pet, coast to coast and in between. Its finish has suffered as we moved from one climate to another and at the hands of careless movers. Shaking around in a moving van for 3,000 miles, no matter how well sprung the van, is the equivalent of being in a typhoon, or so I read. Hence, our noble desk is not as comely as
when we bought it. Nor are we in as good shape as back then, need I add? In any case, I was put in mind of this prized possession while reading about Ferdinand Magellan's voyage around the Horn through the dangerous, complex passage of what is now called the Magellan Straits in 1520. Among other things, Magellan proved that the world was round. The ships' logs kept while his fleet circumnavigated the globe also proved that Copernicus was right about the earth spinning on its axis, although the Church pretended
Katie Green
engaging our readers where they want to be engaged, building out infrastructure Continued from page 1 we want to do there. These are just the beginning of the community-type things that we want to be doing. We believe in a variety and depth of journalism. We are trying our best to be different. We are so lucky to be able to get local hard news, arts & culture, events and more weekly, bi-weekly and monthly here. We don’t view moving to a different schedule as a loss of journalism. We want to be something different. If something is big, we'll lean
into that a little bit because ultimately, we are still reporters. If tomorrow, an area village president is found to be embezzling or a board is breaking open meetings law, we're going to cover that, and if we're bi-weekly, we can dig a little deeper. Valley Sentinel implies a certain watchdog, and we have been struggling with that due to manpower and time. Nothing is going to change overnight, but having more time will allow for us to cover things more in depth or cover a wider variety of things and you should be looking for more concrete changes
in spring. We can’t imagine anyone is going to argue with more content. We always promised to grow, to be something better and to innovate. We’ve always said this paper may not look the same a year from now, two years from now, and that's really where we’re at. We're upholding that promise to innovate and change and try what works for our community. We're not afraid to admit if this doesn't work. If this doesn't work, we'll try something new. While we further expand our offerings virtually and build out infrastructure,
in print our advertisers now get two weeks in the community for the price of one, allowing more opportunity for specific calls to action or top of mind awareness. We look forward to working with area businesses to find what works best for them and how we can help engage with the community. Rounding it out, we have often printed the words “first make it work then make it work better,” and we think this is how we can make it work better — Better content. Better engagement. Better community, and a better community-building platform.
On the cover Crow in the Snow, 12" x 12" Oil painting (2022) by Jen Salt "Crows are loaded with ancient symbolism, but the meaning of that symbolism is up for grabs. Some see a crow as a symbol of bad luck and death. Often, however, crows are seen to symbolize a new phase in one's life. They are seen to bring intelligence and flexibility to life choices. In Greek mythology, crows are considered a symbol of prophecy and good luck." — Anne Schmauss, author, For the Birds From the artist: I took a picture of this crow on a bitterly cold afternoon in December. I love my crows and make sure they have table scraps for the winter months. I will see an occasional turkey vulture swoop down and swipe the food...first come first serve-everybody's hungry! — Jen Salt 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 over half a decade. “The Wisconsin River was the draw to move here and I’ve never looked back, coming from a big city. This is home.”
Community
Thursday, February 3, 2022 Page 3
COmmunitycalendar Events for February 4 - February 10 Saturday, February 5 February Yoga Classes with Rural Remedy 9:00 AM- 10:30 AM . S11105 Fairview Rd Spring Green (lower barn) . ruralremedy.com . Group yoga classes for all levels. Winter themes include low back care, general joint mobility and cultivating an intentional, whole breath. Sounds good, right? 3-class session for $50 or 6-classes for $95 Class will be shortened 2/26 due to the special Yoga Nidra workshop. Pricing is alwavs flexible. Trade or creative barter is always welcome. Email embenz@gmail.com for more information. Pop-Up Spring Green Farmers Market 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM . S230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green . The Spring Green Farmers Market is continuing in the Spring Green Community Public Library Lot through the winter every Saturday morning. Pre-orders are recommended. Visit our Facebook or Instagram page or email SGFarmersMarket@gmail.com for a list of participating vendors and their contact information. Valentine Tea Party and Card Making Event 1:00 PM -3:00 PM . Spring Green Community Center, 117 S Washington St . All materials will be provided to make up to 3 cards per person. This is a fun time for all creative types from 9-99. Pre-registration is required by emailing springgreencommuitycenter@gmail.com or calling 608-588-7800 to leave a message. Cost is $10/person or 2 people for $18. Come make someone special a unique Valentine! Wisconsin River Runners ATV Free Pizza Party & Annual Membership Drive 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM . Roarin 20’s , 1110 Main St, Plain . Sponsored by The Wisconsin River Runners— Spring Green. Membership $30 with $5.00 savings ...at the party & until the end of Feb 2022. FLOW 2022 Annual Meeting 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM . Virtual event . (FLOW) Friends of the Lower Wisconsin Riverway . www.wisconsinriverfriends.org . Welcome and Introductions, Business Meeting, Board of Directors for 2022, 2022 Riverway Champion Award, Question and Answer Session. LIVE MUSIC: The Lately with Little Earthquakes 7:30 PM- 10:30 PM . Slowpoke Lounge, 137 W Jefferson St., Spring Green . slowpokelounge.com . Proof of vaccination against COVID-19 required for all Slowpoke events . Danceable grooves, unshakable hooks, quiet interludes, and raucous explorations — a blender mix of early Fiona Apple, Beck, Depeche Mode, Block Party, and Lykke Li — all held together by Annie Kubena’s singular vocal style. We hope you enjoy!
UPCOMING MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES WITH VALLEY SENTINEL
Romance is in the air and we're doing a special section to highlight local and regional offerings to specifically call to action or raise top of mind awareness for area businesses and resources this Valentine's Day. From date ideas, to flowers and chocolate, don't forget to stock up on wine for that regional Valentine's getaway and so many more romantic ideas, we're hoping to inspire the community this Valentine's. In the next month we'll be establishing an editorial calendar for special sections and edition themes to give business partners more time to work with us in engaging the community. We're open to ideas for special sections and themes that we should highlight.
PROMOTIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR BUSINESSES:
Sponsorship of the Section Featured Business/Promotional Articles Advertising Spots Event Listings
DATE OUT: February 10
SPACE DEADLINE: February 7
Monday, February 7 Trivia Night 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM . Slowpoke Lounge, 137 W Jefferson St., Spring Green . Proof of vaccination against COVID-19 required for all Slowpoke events . Join us for a night of Trivia! Kyle Adams will host as we put teams together for a contest of trivia. Come for the prizes, stay for the fun! First Question at 7:00 - and it should last about 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
Tuesday, February 8 Winter Family Storytime 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM . Kraemer Library, 910 Main St, Plain . kraemerlibrary.org . Come join us for of fun-filled interactive stories, songs and rhymes! Meet new friends, sing songs, and have fun! Enjoy a story session that encourages a love of reading and fosters the development of early literacy skills. Ages 0-5. Masks encouraged.
Wednesday, February 9 February Yoga Classes with Rural Remedy 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM . S11105 Fairview Rd Spring Green (lower barn) . ruralremedy.com . Group yoga classes for all levels.
Thursday, February 10 Stitch and Bitch 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM . Spring Green General Store, 137 S. Albany St. Spring Green . springgreengeneralstore.com . The Spring Green General Store’s Stitch and Bitch handwork group meets Thursday afternoons weekly. All are welcome. BOOK CLUB: Jeanine Cummins and Guillermo Arriaga discuss "American Dirt" 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM . Virtual Event . readinutopia.com/events . Please note that this event starts at 6:00 p.m. Central Standard Time; the registration link uses EST. Join us for a virtual book club event with best-selling author Jeanine Cummins for the paperback release of her novel, American Dirt. This event is for book club members and readers in our community and across the country, who can tune in to hear a discussion between Jeanine Cummins and screenwriter and producer Guillermo Arriaga. A little about the book: Forced to flee, Lydia and Luca find themselves joining the countless people trying to reach the United States from Acapulco. Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to? Knit Night at Nina’s 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM . Nina’s Department Store, 143 E. Jefferson St. Spring Green . ninasdepartmentstore.com . Every Thursday from 6 to 8 pm. All knitters and crocheters are welcome. Store closed after 5:30 pm.
HOW TO SUBMIT EVENTS Online community calendar coming soon! The community calendar covers Arena, Lone Rock, Plain, Spring Green, + 15 miles. Events of great artistic or community value in Sauk, lowa or Richland Counties may be considered. Full event submission details online. To submit your event, scan the QR code or visit valleysentinelnews.com/community-calendar
Contact us
Deadlines: The display and classified advertising deadline is Monday at noon for that week. If you would like our design team to design the ad then please allow extra time for the creative process and proofing. Ad team: ads@valleysentinelnews.com
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.
Contributors Arts & Culture/Editorial Columns Graphic Design/Pagination Bill Gordon Grace Vosen Anna Stocks-Hess Arts & Culture/Editorial Sports Editorial Intern Alison Graves Mike McDermott Adeline Holte Arts Community/Opinion Graphic Design Intern Jen Salt Katie Green Julianna Williams Our team will be growing and changing as we settle into publishing regularly, please stay in touch. Thank you to all of our contributors for believing in our community.
Editorial Policy
On certain topics in areas of great community interest, the editors of the Valley Sentinel may take positions they believe best represent and serve the interests of the community. Any opinions or positions taken by the editorial board are separate and distinct in labeling and substance from the community journalism that appears in the rest of the publication and does not affect the integrity and impartiality of our reporting. .
Est. 2020 igne conflatum “Forged in Fire”
Letter to the Editor Policy
Letters submitted for consideration are subject to fact-checking and editing for space and clarity. Submissions must have a compelling local community interest. Letters to the editor must fit within a 500-word limit, and include name, city and phone number. Phone numbers are for office use only and will not be published. Letters of a political nature, without chance of rebuttal, will not be published the week before an election.
Valley Sentinel is a free, weekly single-copy news publication, available on newsstands in the area. Covering Arena, Lone Rock, Plain, Spring Green and the surrounding areas in Sauk, Iowa and Richland counties.
Column Policy
Community Discussion Policy
Subscribe Want the paper delivered to your home or business? Subscribe online at valleysentinelnews.com/subscribe or subscribe annually with your name, phone number, address and $30 sent to: Valley Sentinel, PO Box 144, Spring Green, WI 53588
Valley Sentinel is published in Spring Green, Wisconsin every Thursday by Lower Wisconsin River Valley Sentinel, LLC. ISSN 2694-541X (print) — ISSN 2694-5401 (online)
Editors may feature opinion columns written by public figures, members of the public or other publication staff. Columns reflect the opinions of the individual contributors and do not represent positions of the publication. Guest columns of an anticipated length more than 500 words should seek prior editor authorization. .
From time to time the editorial board may select letters to the editor of a particular compelling community interest where a public figure or accountable public action is the recipient of criticism and allow, in the same issue, the subject of the criticism chance for rebuttal, with expounded independent input. The format shall be point, counterpoint and expert analysis. This community discussion shall serve as a moderated dialogue that presents multiple views of important community topics.
“That's all?”
Page 4
Outdoors & Recreation
Thursday, February 3, 2022
An Outdoorsman’s Journal Mark Walters, Columnist
Climate Change on the Petenwell Flowage
of life. It was cold and it was windy and once before dark and twice after dark Michelle had flags go up on her tip-ups. Especially after dark she got beat up bad Hello friends, but in each case after a very long fight, Ever since 1989 I have been doing a weekly outdoor adventure and writing she landed a catfish in the six-pound range. about it. Generally I camp, and my I watched this gal almost literally freeze travels take part all over Wisconsin, her fingers off and I coached her through sometimes the Upper Peninsula of each fight. In our minds, until the fish Michigan and often much further. was seen, we were hoping it’s a walleye. My home is located 1.5 miles from The last cat was caught about 8:00 pm, the Petenwell Flowage which is her tip-up was spooled and the fight Wisconsin’s second largest lake. lasted a very long time. After the catfish I have not ice fished or winter camped was caught, she was declared the “Catfish on the Petenwell in over ten years Queen” and I had the biggest mess of and this week I did during a very cold frozen 50-pound Power Pro line that I spell, and I really enjoyed myself on have ever tried to re-spool laying on the a body of water that has been putting ice and very frozen. out some excellent walleye fishing this I spent 15 minutes outside working on winter. it and felt like my fingers could fall off. Monday, January 24th I brought it in the shack, stubbornly High: 14°, Low: -10° worked on it for a half hour and got it. My life has been having some really I also caught two keeper walleye and positive twists lately, so I was not going shortly after that watched a very nervous to let a forecast of minus 22 without woman from Arkansas drive her car off the windchill bother me. This trip the lake to shore in the dark. would be cool from the get go. The first Tuesday, January 25th reason, I only had to drive seven miles High: 8°, Low: -16° to where I drove on the ice. As the crow I love this weather. I hope we make 30 flies my house was maybe five miles inches of good ice this winter and that away. people can snowmobile and ski as much Michelle Chiaro would accompany me as they desire. Come spring, let our lakes at first and later in the trip. Today she and wetlands get replenished and our had another reality check into my way crops grow healthy. Last night, I could see by their tracks that a pair of coyotes came within 10-feet of my shack. Coyotes work the ice in the winter and go to each frozen-over hole looking for minnows that fishermen discarded. If you want the ‘yotes to get the minnow and not the crows kick a little snow on them. The following is a method that helps me catch fish with a tip-up. For walleye, I use a #14 treble hook and on one hook I put a medium shiner on another going the opposite direction, I put a rosey Photo by Mark Walters, Columnist which I believe is an orange fathead. This This setup can work very well for walleye and twosome swims erratically and I believe if rigged heavier for northern pike as well.
Photo by Mark Walters, Columnist Siberia in Wisconsin! The Chevy Motel started up like the champ that it is.
the orange of the rosey and the flash of the shiner can be pretty effective. Here are a couple of tips that I encourage fisher-men and women to do. When you catch a fish that you are going to release, please do not let it’s eye’s freeze, think about that fish’s miserable existence because it has been blinded. Here is another really important piece of information. You catch a slobasauras, maybe a northern pike, walleye, or a bass. Your intention is to release it after a photo. Much research has been done that shows a fish that has been held vertically instead of horizontally for a picture is going to die. Their internal organs cannot take being held that way when out of the water. Just before this trip my daughter Selina, who is a junior at UW-Stevens Point double majoring in water sciences and fisheries, informed me that she has taken a very cool internship near Eureka, Montana this summer. This info triggered this thought from me, I need to go visit Selina and I need to apply for a big game elk/deer license for this fall and do some scouting when I go visit her. Soon I will find out if I was successful in being awarded a bear tag for this fall, I think I will and that
Photo by Mark Walters, Columnist The Catfish Queen Michelle Chiaro in all her glory!
means a summer of baiting. I used to hunt elk until I became a single parent. I want to go by myself and can’t get it off my mind. Love the ice, love the outdoors! —Sunset
Want to read more?
Check out previous weeks’ columns at www.outdoorsmansjournal.com
Call now for a no-cost, judgement free consultation about your legal situation.
(608) 588-0585
Commercial Construction Project Manager/Estimator
Business/Professional
Directory ork y W red t i l a u •Qu lly Ins ates •Fu e Estim e •Fr
J J and
Total Lawn Care
M-F Sat 8am-5p 8am -noo m n E4792 Kennedy Rd.
and
Snow Removal
James Harwood •608-588-2453•
•Natural double shredded oak bark mulch - $30/yard •Colored decorative mulch Red-Brown-Gold-Orange - $30/yard •Free delivery to the River Valley area (min. 2 yards) •Other landscape supplies available! Gravel-Boulders-Screened Topsoil-Sand, etc.
We offer complete landscape and lawn care service •Full Landscaping from start to finish •Lawn Mowing We’ re y •Plantings stop our on sho e •Grading & Seedings p! •Bark Spreading •Limestone & Boulder Retaining Walls
Kraemer Brothers is hiring a Project Manager/Estimator to collaborate with Senior Management to sell our work, coordinate, lead, and monitor all contractural aspects of their assigned projects. Duties: • Initiate, administer, and secure subcontractor bids • Write subcontractor/supplier contracts and purchase orders • Create detailed construction takeoff • Prepare schematic and component budgets • Coordinate and manage all administrative requirements, permits, pre-planning, and post job review meetings to ensure accordance with design, schedule, and budget • Professionally represent the company to architects, owners, subcontractors, and other external contacts to maintain the company’s superior reputation • Interact effectively with the company’s Business Development Staff, Field Operations Personnel, and Productivity and Planning Managers to achieve successful construction project objectives Education/Experience: • 5 years of Commercial Construction Project Manager/ Salary will be based on experience Estimator experience OR Bachelor’s degree in Construction EEO/AA employer Management or Civil Engineering Please send your resume to: Requirements: Kraemer Brothers, LLC • Knowledge of construction administration 925 Park Ave | PO Box 219 • Maintain organization while managing multiple projects Plain, WI 53577 • Ability to read and interpret architectural drawings Email: jobs@kraemerbrothers.com • Written and verbal communication skills Phone: 608-546-2411
For more info visit www.kraemerbrothers.com