Valley Sentinel - 08-08-2024 by Valley Sentinel

Spring Green, Wisconsin

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Joint Fire and EMS agreement lapsed for 17 hours Aug. 1 as Village changes timeline

In the midst of on-going discussion and restructuring of public emergency services in Arena, both the Village of Arena and the Town of Arena boards held separate special meetings to discuss extending an existing joint ﬁre and EMS services agreement, which was set to expire July 31 at midnight.

The Village of Arena board met July 30 for discussion and action on the proposed extension, ultimately deciding to decline the original proposed extension date and instead proposed an alternative date.

The Town of Arena Board met Aug. 1 to discuss and accept the alternative extension option.

Village of Arena July 30 meeting

The Arena Fire and EMS Department is a joint venture between the Town and Village of Arena. The current ﬁre protection and EMS service agreement that forms the joint department was originally signed in 2007 and was written to automatically renew on August 1 of each year, unless otherwise indicated by either party. In recent years, a full time EMT agreement was added as an addendum to ensure the department could continue to provide EMS by bringing on two full time EMTs to complement the volunteer squad.

The 2007 agreement primarily funds the ﬁre and EMS department through equalized value funding, delineating the ﬁnancial responsibilities of each municipality, basing their contributions on the equalized value of property improvements as determined by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. This agreement was set to lapse on August 1,

as the Village decided to not renew the agreement at its April 22 special meeting. The action initiated by the Village to terminate the current agreement has led to a ﬂurry of meetings on both sides

as they hash out an extension and a new agreement.

The two municipalities are currently undergoing negotiations to create a new agreement(s) to replace the original

Village, Town of Arena hold special meetings to extend Fire and EMS agreement amid ongoing contract discussions

2007 fire protection and EMS service agreement. The Village has drafted two separate agreements to govern the fire and EMS department separately after discussing concerns with accounting discrepancies and fiduciary responsibility in the original agreement.

The Village has sent these proposed agreements for the Town to review. The municipalities decided they will proceed with negotiations through attorneys. Because of this ongoing process, the municipalities were not expected to reach agreement prior to the current contract’s expiration date, prompting the need for an extension.

The Town of Arena originally proposed extending the agreement to May 2025, however the municipalities ultimately agreed on extending through November 8, 2024.

Opposing May 1, 2025 proposal

At the July 30 meeting, Village Trustee Melissa Bandell was opposed to extending the agreement to May 2025 and instead proposed the board should shorten the extension date so that it can have new agreements approved by November before entering the 2025 budgetary process.

Trustee BeccaRaven Uminowicz questioned why some members of the board were against extending the agreement to 2025. Village President Kate Reimann echoed Bandell’s sentiment of needing the Village’s budgets by November.

Village Trustee Matthew Schroeder voiced concerns that the village may lose EMS and ﬁre service coverage if the agreement expires.

Village President Kate Reimann and Trustees Kathy Stoltz and Bandell all stated — without elaboration or citing any sources — that the ﬁre and EMS district has obligations to provide ser-

Arena joint fire/EMS agreement temporarily lapses Katie Green: Saying farewell to a hero, David Giffey

Wandering the Driftless: Prairie Explosion

Photo by Taylor Scott, Managing Editor

The Town of Arena Board of Supervisors is pictured at their emergency special meeting August 1. The board met to take up an extension of their joint ﬁre/EMS agreement with the Village.

Luukas Palm-Leis, Reporter

OPINION/EDITORIAL

The (not so) Plain and Simple Correspondent: HAIL AND FAREWELL TO A HERO

David James Giﬀey

(December 20, 1941 - July 19, 2024)

The word “hero” is often abused and I hesitate ever to use it, but occasionally it describes ﬁttingly an outstanding individual. David Giﬀey of Arena died recently, a Wisconsin farm boy who by the end of his long life embodied heroism beyond a shadow of a doubt. David was so many things. A teacher, a fabulous artist of Greek Orthodox icons, a peace activist, an exceptional journalist, a man whose conscience drove him to engage in what were often unpopular actions — for instance, as one of the founding members of the Wisconsin Chapter of Veterans for Peace. When he returned from Vietnam, for years David famously walked up and down the highway near his home in Arena, waving a Peace sign. Sometimes he was reviled, sometimes got a thumbs up. Ironically, when he was editor of the “Home News” some years ago, it agonized him to have to refuse to print letters to the editor I wrote, because they were political in nature and the paper was owned by a

chain that didn't allow people to express political opinions (unlike the “Valley Sentinel,” which encourages opinions of any and all sorts.)

We had a number of angst-ﬁlled conversations about this state of aﬀairs. A couple times I did grit my teeth and pay to run an ad about some issue important to me, which was the only way one could get opinions published in the newspaper of record for the Valley. My husband is also a proud Veteran for

Peace (his war was Korea, but the repugnant aftermath of being in a war is the same regardless of the conﬂict), and he was greatly honored when David allowed him to use the icon of Mary Magdalene David painted on the wall at the Madison Greek Orthodox Church on the cover of a book about Mary that Alan wrote. We treasure our autographed copy of David's book Long Shadows: Veterans' Paths to Peace, published in 2006, that features interviews with men and women who served the country with courage over a very long timeline, from the Spanish American War (!), WWII, Vietnam, the Yom Kippur War, Cold War (Germany), Desert Storm and Afghanistan, to the Iraq War. It makes for stirring reading.

In all these ventures, his companion, Nancy, bolstered his conscience and enriched his life. Herself an extraordinary artist, theirs was a partnership without equal. If you would like to make a contribution to Veterans for Peace in David's honor, the link is www.madisonvfp.org.

Go in peace, as you lived, David. -30-

Katie, who most previously lived in Plain, has been writing for fun and proﬁt since childhood. Self-described as opinionated, she writes in the interests of a more loving, better-functioning world for all.

Editors' Note: David Giﬀey was honorary editor of the inaugural edition of Valley Sentinel, having provided invaluable advice and guidance as we planned the launch of the publication. Our editorial board is deeply saddened by the loss of such a legend.

America's adoption system is a mess. Fixing it could help ease a host of social woes.

Ahead of our 2024 presidential election, let’s focus on issues that can solve problems and bring us together

There was a crib where the baby would go, in a side room of the house overlooking the Wisconsin farmland beyond. But it wasn’t a happy place.

The woman hoping for a child would often sit in a rocking chair nearby, waiting. Each month that went by she’d change the sheets with tears in her eyes, wondering if she’d ever be a mother. Finally, the call came.

“We have a baby for you,” my mom was told, as she shared with me in my forthcoming book “Land Rich, Cash Poor.” “You can come tomorrow.”

This was how my mom and dad learned they were having me: not from exciting news of a pregnancy, but a sudden call from an adoption agency after years of waiting for a baby that might never come. Nearly a decade into trying —

struggling to become pregnant, facing six miscarriages, shouldering doubts about what was wrong — that call was a burst of light in the darkness that changed everything.

Fixing adoption system could help address other social ills

What if I told you adoption could have the same impact on America? Ahead

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor,

As a teacher, I witness ﬁrsthand the impact of ﬁnancial stability on student success. Students from stable homes thrive, enjoying regular sleep, parental involvement, and nutritious meals. Students from struggling families face noticeable disparities, particularly in their diets. Many families don't qualify for free or re-

On the cover

duced meals despite clear need. Feeding America reports that one in six children in Wisconsin faces food insecurity.

Reflecting on my childhood, I recall the humiliation of presenting a note to the lunch staff, requesting a hot meal we couldn't afford. The kindness of the staff helped, but the experience left scars. Poverty-stricken students are aware of their

Dear Editor,

The Sauk County skilled nursing home is a modern, well maintained, perennially rated ﬁve star facility that was opened in late 2009 at a cost of about $15 million. It would cost about $30 million to recreate it today. The facility will be paid for in three years and only about $250,000 of the remaining loan is interest and much of previous loan payments came from federal funds earmarked for nursing home purposes.

With too much secrecy, many Sauk County board members want to sell it including 40 acres of land (giving it away) for a price close to $5 million.

Members of the Sauk County board grossly exaggerate the property tax operating cost of the Sauk County nursing home. However, the nursing home only used about $100 thousand of property taxes to operate in 2023 in-

of an election sure to test the unity of a beleaguered, frustrated, and divided country, ﬁxing our adoption system is an opportunity for that moment of light in a dark space – addressing not only families wanting children and children needing families, but also economic despair, human traﬃcking, our national drug crisis, and our deepest drivers of crime.

The current system is rife with problems. Many parents ﬁnd adopting a child out of foster care too slow and challenging to be viable. Many children encounter an uneven foster care environment — some loving foster parents doing their best, others who are abusive, with a lack of accountability to root out the bad ones or prevent children bouncing from home to home. An expensive private adoption system—where parents deal with a private intermediary — has sprouted, sometimes helping, sometimes placing birth and adoptive parents in impossible situations, often favoring families with big money.

situation, which impacts their self-esteem and academic performance.

It takes a village to raise a child. Eight states, including California and Massachusetts, provide free school lunches for all families. A modest tax increase on millionaires could fund free meals, reducing the burden on families. Studies show wellfed students perform better academically,

stead of the much larger amount they guessed it would be months in advance.

Recent signiﬁcant permanent increases in Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement rates means that with the same resident population mix, the nursing home could generate at least $1 million more income THAN operating expense in 2024 without property tax dollars.

Don’t let the Sauk County Board recklessly “give away” our nursing home and land.

When Government oﬃcials act secretively like Sauk County Board Chair McCumber, they clearly don’t want the public to know what they are doing. They are also likely doing something they know is wrong even if they don’t violate the letter of the law. In addition, not violating the letter of the law is not proof that their actions are just. Slavery was legal for too long but is always unjust.

An examination of oﬃcial Sauk County

The positive impacts of addressing these problems, and the costs of failing to act, are staggering. Currently there are nearly 400,000 children in foster care, a number that’s fallen some but continues to reﬂect the barriers to adoption. Some are infants, many others are of varying ages and becoming less likely to ﬁnd a home.

And on top of that are the incalculable number of happy families we could create with a better system — the countless loving families with room that might consider adoption if it was a more eﬀective process; the countless ill-equipped and even abusive parents who might have avoided such disastrous ends if adoption felt viable when they learned of their pregnancy.

My birth mother couldn't care for me, I spent ﬁrst months in foster care

My ﬁrst moments of life show the power of this issue. I was born unexpectedly to a single mother who couldn’t care for

continued on page 4

beneﬁting our community long-term. We must ensure every child receives at least two balanced meals a day, funded by reasonable taxation of the ultra-wealthy. No child should face hunger or shame due to circumstances beyond their control.

Felicia Dettmann Richland Center, Wisconsin

meeting agendas and minutes provide scarce evidence that such a monumental action was lawfully discussed by the county board or anyone else. It is unbelievable that the decisions made toward selling the nursing home complied with the Wis open meetings, open records and possibly other laws.

On Aug 2, 2024 McCumber sent a news release to the media in which he repeated his unsupported claims and blames everyone else for this scandal he and a few others created. The only useful information revealed in his news release by McCumber is his authoritarianist political ideology that is contrary to the public good. Board members rushing to sell the nursing home must stop betraying the public trust!

Tom Kriegl Baraboo, Wisconsin

“Double rainbow” (2024) Photo, by Luukas Palm-Leis, Reporter

Shot from Jeﬀerson Street in looking east on July 28, a double rainbow is seen over downtown Spring Green.

Katie Green

Katie Green, Columnist

David Giffey

Brian Reisinger

Brian Reisinger, Contributed

OPINION/EDITORIAL

Project 2025: The Conservative Promise — Part 9: The General Unwelfare

Beverly Pestel, Columnist

I don’t know about you, but I have been breathing a little easier the last few weeks. I would have stuck with Joe the whole way, but “Kamala is brat”. (I had to have a couple young women in Spring Green explain that to me – thank you, gals.) There is a sense of joy in the air that has been missing for a long time. I’m not suggesting we let down, just the opposite, it is time to kick into high gear. However, this childless cat lady is enjoying a few hilarious cat memes and getting a second wind at the moment.

All of this just in time, because I just got to Section 3 of Project 2025 titled “The General Welfare” and I am knee deep into the Project 2025 world of hate, bigotry, and almost anything else nasty you can think of.

It has not escaped me that the portions of Project 2025 that contain the most inflammatory language and ridiculous claims are unique in that they do not include authors names as other sections do. No one will put their names to the stuff in these sections, just as Trump refutes any knowledge of what is there while at the same time admitting that it is far right-wing radical stuff. Not so subtle contradictions that MAGA folks seem to miss or at best choose to ignore.

In a way, I apologize for taking you down this nasty rabbit hole with me, but the memes that are popping up on social media and reports in the press are mostly purged of the worst of the language in Project 2025. I think it is the language itself that needs to be exposed in order to get a sense of just how serious and how disturbed these people are.

The ﬁrst target in Section 3 is the Department of Health and Human Services, what they call the “belly of the massive behemoth that is the modern administrative state.” They then proceed to label Medicare and Medicaid as the source of “our deﬁcit problem” but that is only the beginning of their rant. They continue…

HHS is also home to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the duo most responsible—along with President

editor@valleysentinelnews.com valleysentinelnews.com

EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor-in-Chief

Nicole Aimone

Managing Editor Taylor Scott

Legal Editor

Gary Ernest Grass, esq.

Editorial Policy

Joe Biden—for the irrational, destructive, un-American mask and vaccine mandates

that were imposed upon an ostensibly free people during the COVID-19 pandemic. All along, it was clear from randomized controlled trials— the gold standard of medical research—that masks provide little to no beneﬁt in preventing the spread of viruses and might even be counterproductive. (pg.283)

Their gold standard of medical research is indeed from a respected review published by Cochrane Public Health and Health Systems, but they incorrectly claim that this study showed that masks don’t work. Lisa Bero, Cochrane Public Health and Health Systems Senior Editor and an author on an Editorial published to accompany this review said, “The results of this review should be interpreted cautiously, and the uncertain ﬁndings should not be taken as evidence that these measures [masks] are not eﬀective.” Nevertheless, the Project 2025 crew label our public health professionals irrational, destructive, and un-American.

Project 2025 claims that the CDC cherry-picked studies to support the use of masks. Project 2025, however, ignored the masking recommendations of Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins, the government agencies they choose to villainize, and a whole host of global health professionals, and instead chose to misconstrue the results of the Cochrane study. OK, so much for the

Democracy, Society & Edu.

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 integri- ty and impartiality of our reporting.

accusation of “the irrational, destructive, un-American mask and vaccine mandates that were imposed upon an ostensibly free people.”

Sorry, but you need to see some more of this language: “Nor is the CDC the only villain in this play…mRNA vaccine that the CDC now wants to force on children, who are at little to no risk from COVID-19 but at great risk from public health oﬃcials…the incestuous relationship between the NIH, CDC, and vaccine makers…NIH pushing junk gender science…FDA should…reverse its approval of chemical abortion drugs because the politicized approval process was illegal from the start.” (pg. 284)

Robert Severino, the attorney who was Trump’s Director of HHS’s Office of Civil Rights, one of the authors of Project 2025, and the source of many of the above quotes, also maintains: “The next secretary should also reverse the Biden Administration’s focus on ‘LGBTQ+ equity, subsidizing single-motherhood, disincentivizing work, and penalizing marriage,’ replacing such policies with those encouraging marriage, work, motherhood, fatherhood, and nuclear families.” (pg. 284) Reversing these things sounds much more like promoting the general unwelfare than the general welfare. Sure, let’s get rid of gender equity, quit helping single mothers feed their kids, and while we’re at it let’s make sure that disability or age is not an excuse for not taking a job you are unequipped to handle. Above all, let’s make sure that fatherhood is protected, and abusive fathers are not prosecuted, because they consider nuclear families as those defined by a married mom, a dad and kids. (Definitely no cats.) Any deviation from this very exclusive definition is the source of all our civic ills – just ask JD Vance.

Let’s also be clear, the nuclear family they promote is not the American family. American families include those that are multiracial, non-gender specific, are often childless either by choice or circumstance, and often extend well beyond the bounds of genetics or legal documents. Some kids will even be lucky enough to have more than one

Editorial Contributor & Literary

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.

mom or more than one dad – and maybe even more importantly – multiple sets of grandparents who love them and care for them. Some may even be blessed with a childless cat lady for an aunt.

I’m beginning to wonder if my work here is almost done. I started writing this series of columns before Project 2025 broke through as an important news item. There are almost limitless sources of information regarding this document now and many of the writers have a much stronger policy understanding of the intricacies of what it contains.

One more thing, however, before I end this column and decide whether there will be a Part 10. Under the goal of “empowering patient choices and provider autonomy” Project 2025 states: “Health care reform should be patient-centered and market-based and should empower individuals to control their health care–related dollars and decisions.” In what world does “provider autonomy” empower individuals to control their health care-related dollars and decisions? Even with the Affordable Care Act there are millions of Americans who have no health-care related dollars to spend and therefore have only one decision open to them – no medical care at all. So much for the Constitutional promise to “promote the general Welfare” in a Project 2025 world. And now I need to go back to where I started this column – breathing easier. Kamala Harris is a joyful warrior who offers an alternative to the stark carnage of Project 2025. I’m going to hang on to that and pull up as many videos of her hearty laughter as I can find – that is even more soothing than kitten videos.

If you want to fact check me as I go through this, here is a link so you can read it for yourself:

tinyurl.com/ReadProject2025

Beverly is a retired professor. She lives in a remodeled farmhouse and tends 40 acres of woodland in Richland County. When not in the woods she spends her time reading, writing and enjoying the beauty of the Driftless Area. Beverly may be contacted at bpestel@msn.com.

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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.

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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.

Beverly Pestel

America's adoption system is a mess. Fixing it could help ease a host of social woes.

continued from page 2

me, and spent my ﬁrst three months in foster care. Instead of remaining there, I was laid in the arms of a loving father and mother. Their struggle to have children left them knowing that much more how precious of a gift it was to bring a child home to our family farm in southern Wisconsin. I was raised to understand that my birth mother committed an act of love.

There was stigma I’d like to think we’ve moved on from now – people who discouraged my parents. But they read to me every night, mixing adoption with farm animals and ABCs, and by kindergarten, I was explaining adoption to the other kids.

I think about the other children who didn’t make it into a good home, and what each of their lives were destined to become instead. The 20,000 children who age out of the system annually enter adulthood more likely to strug-

gle making a living, fall into substance abuse, and turn to crime to survive. Becoming prey to human traﬃcking is terrifyingly easy.

It takes good parents to overcome life’s challenges. As I recount in “Land Rich, Cash Poor” — an untold history of the disappearing American farmer, and my adoptive family’s four-generation ﬁght for survival on our farm – I grew up lacking talent for cattle and crops, and questioning my place on the farm. That took a toll as I began to feel I was failing to help carry on a way of life that was vanishing. But I had parents who never gave up on me as I found my way.

That’s something too many kids awaiting a home don’t have, and it’s time we changed that.

Brian Reisinger's “Land Rich, Cash Poor: My Family's Hope and the Untold History of the Disappearing American Farmer” is available in bookstores as of August 20, including Arcadia Books in Spring Green.

It's also available online at Amazon, Audible, Barnes & Noble, and IndieBound via Bookshop.org, with more information available at brianreisinger.com.

Reisinger will hold a book event at 6 p.m. Aug. 22 at Arcadia Books, 102 E. Jeﬀerson Street, in Spring Green. It will be a conversation with Reisinger, a 2003 River Valley High School graduate, and local writer Dan Smith.

Brian Reisinger is a writer who grew up on a family farm in

Sauk County. He contributes in-depth columns and videos for the Ideas Lab at the Journal Sentinel. Reisinger has written about the hidden stories of rural America in a wide range of publications, and his forthcoming book “Land Rich, Cash Poor” will reveal the untold history of the disappearing American farmer.

Reisinger works in public aﬀairs consulting for Wisconsin-based Platform Communications.

He splits his time between a small town in northern California near his wife’s family, and his family’s farm here in Wisconsin. Reisinger studied journalism and political science at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and has won awards from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, Seven Hills Review literary magazine, Wisconsin Newspaper Association, and more.

This piece ﬁrst appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Village, Town of Arena hold special meetings to extend Fire and EMS agreement amid ongoing contract discussions

continued from page 1

vices already paying out of pocket for ambulance and Fire services. Schroeder questioned if residents would pay higher rates than if there was no agreement in place and received no answer from other board members.

Alleged overpayment for services

Bandell also claimed she believed the Village was overpaying for ﬁre and EMS services. She accused the ﬁre and EMS department of charging the village extra money and misallocating the funds.

“My opinion is that the whole reason we are not doing the agreement is because

Legal Editor's Analysis: would the Arena Fire and EMS department still be obligated to send an ambulance or ﬁre truck to the Village even if there was no agreement in place?

I can't give a deﬁnitive answer right now, but my impression is no. There is no general duty to provide aid. Most of the laws I've seen appear to contemplate aid not being required. Without agreements in place to cover potential liabilities, legal and economic, I would not expect any agency to come in and start exercising specialized responsibilities in a foreign jurisdiction. For example, I would not be expected to render legal aid to someone in need of it in Iowa. I do not know if state EMT law completely displaces local law. I do not know whether because of their medical rescue function they could be subject to something like the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act that creates a duty on the part of hospitals not to neglect the sick and injured on their doorstep. But I would be very surprised if this duty to serve outlying communities existed. It would be atrociously bad policy and would encourage communities to reduce emergency services, distribute burdens unfairly, generate litigation and add administrative costs due to instability and inconsistency.

As stated in my last analysis: the law generally contemplates that mutual aid is not required, nor even allowed in many instances, without statutory authorization. Most of the laws merely authorize provision of mutual aid or explain how payment for services or indemniﬁcation for injuries is administered. There are several places where mutual aid is in fact made a requirement, but in every case I've seen, the requirement is to enter into a mutual aid agreement, not to simply provide aid.

WI Admin Code § DHS 110.03 would likely exempt a neighboring provider from any non-statutory requirement to assist a neighboring area that would not enter into a mutual aid agreement with it despite willingness of the provider to enter a reasonable agreement. So there is not going to be any duty to aid unless it stems from the statutes.

The piece I think we're fundamentally missing is the National Fire Protection Association’s Fire Code, NFPA 1, 2012 edition, which Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (SPS) administrative code says is accessible for free and provides a link, but the link just goes to the NFPA website and if there is an accessible free copy there, it is very hard to ﬁnd. I recall requiring this text for what was essentially an arson case many years ago and I had to locate it at the public library.

What the SPS administrative code essentially of pages of details (if I recall, the NFPA 1 repeatedly incorporates by reference every other NFPA publication, so the whole scope of what the state has adopted is enormous, and it includes lots of stuff like the curve describing the exact required flammability resistance of pipe coverings in plumbing chases, standards to be met by specified building materials, just hundreds of pages of everything you can imagine) and whatever is there is adopted into Wisconsin law as our binding rules, then the rest of WI Admin Code § SPS 314 is just small exceptions to, modifications from, and selections of particular described standards in, that master document.

Because of this, any intelligent comment would have to refer to whatever the NFPA 1 Fire Code presents. There could possibly be some standard or providing aid in there, though I still doubt it.

It appears to me that communities are required to have fire departments. These fire departments are allowed to be insufficient to secure fire prevention standards by themselves so long as they contract for another service to provide the necessary compliance. I have not noticed an enforcement mechanism directed specifically at fire departments or municipalities other than the withholding or recovery of dues paid as a subsidy to the departments. However, there are general enforcement powers in WI Admin Code § SPS 101 that allow for daily fines for noncompliance with orders. I think in theory, a municipality that was noncompliant could face an enforcement action and its officers be massively fined.

I am really curious about this but there is a ton of material to absorb and it would be good to look at some general treatment of the matter in a legal encyclopedia or treatise.

Some places of note to start your own research:

• WI Admin Code § SPS 314.01(14)(a)2.a.

• WI Stat. § 66.03125

• WI Admin Code § DHS 110.34(10)

I'm an attorney, I'm not your attorney. This is not intended as legal advice.

—Gary Ernest Grass, esq., Legal Editor

of the payments, and this would make us continue to pay more than we should for another year, so I don’t agree with this,” Bandell said, not providing evidence or explanation to substantiate her claims that the Village was paying a disproportionate amount.

“They have found a way, Becca[sic], to charge us extra money, and now they have $400,000 stashed into an account because of all the money we’ve paid. They have found a way to funnel almost $400,000, just shy of $400,000 towards whatever equipment they want because we’re paying so much more for wages.” Bandell said, seemingly referring to the line item in the June 2024 Arena Fire/EMS ﬁnancials obtained by request that states: “Ambulance $320833.22 [-] Fire Truck or Ambulance replacement”.

Uminowicz then again questioned the accuracy of Bandell’s claim.

“I don’t know if that’s so accurate,” Uminowicz said.

“It’s absolutely accurate,” Bandell said, without elaborating.

“What about the ﬁre truck they’re needing to get?” Uminowicz said.

Bandell at the previous July 9 meeting had also claimed that the fire and EMS department had been using EMT wages to pay for the fire department, which was ostensibly the impetus for Bandell’s proposal to break the current agreement into separate agreements and budgets, stating, “They are subsidizing fire operations with EMS,” without elaborating on how this was happening despite questioning from other trustees.

Bandell continued to assert the Village is paying an upcharge on wages, saying: “So we’re supposed to pay an upcharge on wages so they can have a ﬁre truck? Our contribution is supposed to be 30% for equipment, not 50.”

Uminowicz responded that she believed the current agreement was 40%.

“It’s almost 50[%], 46% instead of 30[%], and it’s wrong,” Bandell said, without clarifying how she calculated the diﬀerent percentage.

The 2024 full time EMTs funding and hiring agreement stated that the Village is to contribute $37,774 (38.7%) towards two full time EMT wages, and the Town of Arena was to contribute $59,617 (61.3%) for wages. As of June, the Fire and EMS board budget lists that the Village of Arena has paid $19,872.20 (40%) towards EMS wages and the Town of Arena has paid $29,808.30 (60%).

The current full time EMT funding agreement, which was signed into eﬀect November 2, 2023 for this year and is active until December 31, 2024, is authorized under the existing 2007 ﬁre and EMS agreement. Bandell then claimed that the Village did

not agree to any wage upcharges and questioned the truthfulness of the ﬁre and EMS department in an exchange with Uminowicz:

“It was not agreed upon that we would pay an upcharge for wages, those wages should have come out of the revenue, and we were lied to about revenue. They present the [projected ambulance] budget with revenue of only $25,000, yet there’s 100 grand in revenue the one year and a whole bunch of years prior to that,” Bandell said.

“We have a representative on that board, how are they lying to us?” Uminowicz said. Bandell currently sits as the Village representative on the Fire and EMS Board.

“When you present the budget it is supposed to represent what you’re doing, it should be accurate. I don’t know why it only has $25,000, that would be a question for the person who prepared the budget,” Bandell said.

“And that’s what I’m saying, where is all of this information?

We’re jumping to all of these conclusions,” Uminowicz said.

“I’m not jumping to conclusions, I have the numbers,” Bandell said.

“I don’t see the numbers, and I don’t understand what you are so sure about. And that’s problematic here with this board, is that you’re all very, I don’t know, comfortable with what you think you know. You may know, but you have not shown me as a new trustee anything that makes me be able to be conﬁdent that what we’re doing is actually in the best interest of our village residents. That’s what I am not clear on. That’s all I’m saying. And just you telling me that this was what’s right isn’t quite what I’ve been voted in to do. I’m supposed to ask the questions,” Uminowicz said.

Arena Fire Board Secretary/Treasurer Karen Wilkinson said this about Bandell’s claims:

“Since the formation of the Arena Fire Board in the early 1980's, money has been set aside yearly (if possible) to oﬀset the costs of large expenditure items, ie: ﬁre trucks, ambulance. This fund is meant to help reduce the costs for both the township and village when making these purchases. It was never meant to subsidize EMT wages.

Village, Town of Arena hold special meetings to extend Fire and EMS agreement amid ongoing contract discussions

continued from page 4

The last time the fund was used was in 2018 to purchase the current ambulance. The ﬁre department needs to purchase a tanker/ pumper truck in the near future.”

According to Wilkinson, the current split of this equipment portion of the budget is 74% Township and 26% Village. This is based on equalized value of improvements annually.

Beginning in 2021 with the addition of full time EMTs, an additional section was added to cover those expenses and became a separate amount that the village and town split. According to Wilkinson, regarding the current percentage split for EMS wages: “This year's split is 60% of the cost to the Town and 40% to the village. This is based on a 5 year average of calls to each municipality. For the 2024 year the municipalities are paying the costs for 2 full time EMTS with the costs for the 3rd coming from ambulance revenue.”

The “nearly $400,000” that Bandell references is the ﬁre and EMS savings/checking account of $341,000, according to Wilkinson.

“To reiterate, this account was never appropriated for EMT salaries. Why that statement is being said I am unsure,” Wilkinson said.

Additionally, Arena Fire Chief Todd Pinkham had this to say regarding the Fire and EMS department’s yearly budgeting process:

“Every Sept. the ﬁre dept. submits our operational budget. This covers training, equipment, subscription to programs we use and monies towards truck replacement. Any large purchase from budgeted monies has to get approval from the board,” said Pinkham. “It’s not uncommon we come in under budget at the end of the year so there is no need to take money from other places to pay for things. Our recent large purchases; upgraded boat motor, UTV, rescue tools, have all been purchased by the ﬁre dept. using our fundraising money.”

Valley Sentinel reached out to Tyler Tisdale, service director of Arena EMS, about Bandell’s claims and didn’t hear back at the time of publishing. However, in November 2023 Tisdale shared his thoughts on EMS and working with the Village:

“[The Village] had a referendum to fund public safety, and it was to fund a third EMT,” Tisdale said in November 2023. “It would have been last year’s November election the village did. It passed by one [vote], it was like 289-288. And then it came out. Supposedly, something was written wrong

in it. And then the State Department of Revenue said it couldn’t be used. And then it could be used. And then all of a sudden, we didn’t have funding for the third EMT.”

“So now, what helps pay for the third EMT? It comes out of our truck replacement fund. Yes, sir,” Tisdale said. “The Village kind of skimps on paying, they don’t think they should have to pay for fulltime staﬃng.”

“It’s frustrating,” Tisdale said.

“The fire department does have a fire truck from 1996 that should have been replaced in 2020 but there’s no money for it, nobody can find it, they just sit there—but they can have all these road projects and at a village board meeting it was said: ‘Oh, we’ll find the money for that.’ So they can redo all this infrastructure but the village doesn’t care if an ambulance gets out the door or not, they don’t want to pay their part of it.”

When asked to clarify at the July 30 meeting how much of the $341,000 in the ﬁre and EMS department’s bank account was paid by the Village, Bandell replied that she did not know, instead comparing it year over year.

“That’s what I don’t understand, don’t they have to have money?” Uminowicz said, before Schroeder continued pressing Bandell on her claims.

“I’m not trying to start an argument, but we’re trying to ﬁgure out how much we’re paying in on this, if this is just revenue,” Schroeder said. “The last agreement we signed said we would cover 40% of EMS and 24% of ﬁre.”

“Well that’s the wage line, so you have 40% versus the 26[%], so it would be an additional 14% on the one wage line that we’re paying,” Bandell said. “But this has gone on for multiple years, it's not a one year thing, I don’t know how many years we’ve paid wages now, was it three, six?”

Alleged manipulation and misinformation

Stoltz complained about the current full time EMS agreement’s 60/40 split, asserting that the values should have been calculated by equalized value.

“It got voted on, like I told you before, with incorrect information, so manipulation,” Stoltz said, without explaining how the information she was given was incorrect or how she was manipulated.

Uminowicz then questioned Stoltz’s claim of misinformation and manipulation, which Stoltz defended by stating that: “The proof is in the fact that it’s supposed to be done with equalized value, they came back with not doing it by equalized value and then told a bunch of ﬁbs about why.”

Uminowicz continued to question the validity of Stoltz’s claim by asking for evidence that she was misinformed about the current budget split, after which Uminowicz asked Stoltz: “Why was that voted on, why did you go ahead and say okay, we’ll do the 60/40?”

“Because I was told lies and misinformation and manipulated,” Stoltz said, again without indicating how she was misinformed or manipulated.

“You weren’t the only one who voted on it,” Uminowicz said.

“Yeah, and I’m just telling you from my point of view, Becca[sic], because I can only state it from my point of view,” Stoltz said.

to the fire and EMS budget. However, the current full time EMTs funding and hiring agreement, which acts as an amendment to the aforementioned agreement, has no statement regarding how the contributions should be calculated or what percentage the Village and Town are obligated to pay for EMS Wages. Wilkinson clarified that it is based on a five year average of calls to each municipality.

Uminowicz re-introduced the question of why the board was unwilling to budget to allow for the May 1, 2025 extension date.

“We’re not going to use the prior percentages, and we’re not going to continue to pay almost 50% of wages,” Bandell said, without substantiating her claim.

“We’re not paying 50%,” Schroeder said, “We agreed to 40[%].”

“It's 40[%] on this one, what was the prior year?” Bandell said.

“We previously agreed to 40% for EMS,” Schroeder said.

Town Supervisor Andrea Joo responded to an email question regarding the percentages paid by the Village and Town stating:

“The 60/40 is the percentage the town (60) and the village (40) were to contribute for the non-volunteer, paid EMTs. I have not seen any EMS funds going to ﬁre department operations or any documentation about an ‘upcharge’.”

New extension

Reimann, Uminowicz and Stoltz discussed how the board had moved towards the paid EMT agreement due to requests from EMS and then how the board was moving to using two separate agreements to negotiate.

Schroeder brought up the point that the board had not responded to the question posed by the Town of Arena that was regarding the Village’s plan going forward, and had just sent the two proposed agreements.

“To be completely fair, you sent a notice of amendment when you sent a notice of termination, then you send an amendment, which was received and dated after the date in which it was required to be sent,” said Schroeder.

“We've already had this discussion,” interjected Reimann.

“It doesn't matter if we've had the discussion, it matters that they then sent a letter asking for clariﬁcation,” said Schroeder. “And our response was to send them two separate agreements without answering their question.”

Reimann had noted that with the last extension, the Village had requested dates that the Town was available to have a joint meeting of the municipalities.

Bandell made a motion that the Village would not agree to extend to May 1, 2025 and wants a signed agreement by November 8, 2024, for budget purposes.

Reimann and Trustees Brittany Carney, Bandell, and Stoltz were in favor of the motion, and Uminowicz and Schroeder opposed. Trustee Kristen Shea was absent.

Valley Sentinel reached out to Bandell requesting clariﬁcation on her statements regarding upcharges from the Fire and EMS department and did not receive a response prior to publishing.

Town of Arena August 1 special meeting

The Town of Arena Board held an emergency special meeting August 1, as the ﬁre and EMS agreement had lapsed at 12:00 a.m. that morning. The Town received a letter laying out the Village of Arena’s position the prior day.

vices.” The letter did not elaborate on what the upcharges were, how much the upcharges were or how they were calculated.

Upon request for elaboration to the Village of Arena, Clerk/Treasurer DaNean Neager responded there are “no records” available regarding the calculation of the upcharge.

During the Town meeting, Town Chair David Lucey addressed concerns regarding the lapse in the agreement.

“We do not want any services to be stopped to the Village or Township,” Lucey said. “Nothing is going to change at this point [after the Town signs the extension], that even means that if someone from the village needs assistance, EMS or Fire, that we will provide it for them.”

“We are operating oﬀ of the 2007 agreement until we negotiate something new, we have until November 8 to do it,” Town Supervisor Andrea Joo continued.

During public comment, the Town Board addressed a question regarding Village Trustee Melissa Bandell’s concern regarding EMT revenues funding the ﬁre department and the rationale behind separating the two agreements.

“The meeting that I went to Tuesday night was the ﬁrst that I had heard them really talk about that. And I don’t know where they get their thought of that from,” Joo responded.

“Melissa [Bandell] has been sitting on [the ﬁre] board for six months, seven months. All the numbers are on that report that she gets every month from us. And I think she should know by now that how the rest of the board reacts. I mean we always give her any kind of assistance or any kind of information that she wants. She has never stated that to the ﬁre board. Period,” Lucey added, who is also chair of the Arena Fire and EMS Board.

“I believe this is the third time that Melissa Bandell has sat on the Fire Board over the years. Even the [Village President Kate] Reimann, sat on it and they never brought that up,” Supervisor Bill Gauger said. This sentiment was echoed by Fire Chief Todd Pinkham in email correspondence: “Village President Reiman[n] and trustee Bandell have [or] are serving on the ﬁre board and have never raised any of these concerns in a meeting that I can recall.”

When the Town board was asked if they would ﬁnd issue in two separate EMS and Fire agreements, Lucey simply stated “I do.” Gauger continued by saying “It’s a small community, we don’t want to split things up, we really don’t.”

The motion to sign the extension to November 8 carried with all in favor. Lucey signed the document at 5:20 p.m. — more than 17 hours after the Village and Town’s ﬁre and EMS agreement lapsed.

At 5:33 p.m. — 13 minutes after the document was signed and the joint fire and EMS agreement was reinstated — with volunteer EMTs and firefighters still milling around the Town Hall, Arena EMS was paged to a call.

Minutes later, with Town officials and EMTs gone, Village Trustee Kathy Stoltz was observed in a vehicle driving past the Town Hall, taking photographs of the remaining press members, firefighters and a village resident who were there in the parking lot discussing municipal dysfunction. Looking ahead

Document via the Village of Arena

The

“We can’t just say we were lied to, we need to see how we were lied to. That’s what I’m saying and you’re just expecting me to believe that,” Uminowicz said.

“Well it was supposed to be done by equalized value, and it was not,” Stoltz said, without oﬀering any details to how the values were incorrectly calculated.

The original ﬁre protection and EMS service agreement from 2007 utilizes equalized value to determine what the Village and Town individually should contribute

On July 22, the Town Board had initially offered an extension to the Village Board which would have extended the current joint fire and EMS agreement to May 1, 2025, which the village declined on July 30, and offered a new extension with the same terms, but limited to November 8, 2024.

The letter, which was dated July 31 and signed by Village President Kate Reimann, stated that: “The village is not willing to continue to pay the upcharge for EMS ser-

The next regularly scheduled Village of Arena Board meeting is set for September 3 at 7 p.m. at the Arena Village Hall. Town of Arena Board meetings are typically held the first Monday of the month at the Arena Town Hall. Given that the first Monday of September is Labor Day, it is unclear if the holiday will affect the Town’s schedule. The Town Clerk can be reached at townofarena@gmail.com for more information.

Nicole Aimone and Taylor Scott contributed to this story.

Arena Fire Board budget as

June 2024, these documents were provided by request by the Village of Arena when asked which documents Trustee Bandell was referring to in her claims.

Thursday,August 8

COmmunitycalendar

The Community Calendar is curated and designed by Julianna Williams. Events are subject to change, always check ahead for up-to-date information on any events you are interested in.

Events for August 8 - August 22

Stitch and Bitch 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM • Spring Green General Store, 137 S. Albany St. Spring Green • springgreengeneralstore.com • FREE • -The Spring Green General Store’s Stitch and Bitch handwork group meets Thursday afternoons weekly. All are welcome.

Tech Help 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM • Lone Rock Community Library, 234 N Broadway St, Lone Rock lonerocklibrary.wordpress.com • rvbroadband.org/techhelp • Come on in with any devices or technology you need help with! No appointment necessary. ZooZort! 2:00 PM • Spring Green Community Library, Community Room, 230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green • springgreenlibrary.org • Meet some of the world's most fascinating and unusual animals up close!

Summer Library Finale Frenzy 3:15 PM • Spring Green Community Library, Community Room and Side Yard, 230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green • springgreenlibrary.org • Following our ZooZort program, join us for treats and games as we wrap up a great summer of library adventures!

Hillside Lecture: “Frank Lloyd Wright X Organic Architecture Andrew Pielage 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM • Taliesin Hillside Theater, 6604 Hwy 23 trunk, Spring Green • taliesinpreservation.org • Doors open at 5:15 • Join photographer Andrew Pielage, who has spent over 13 years documenting Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural legacy for a captivating visual presentation. Pielage will share insights into his inspiring project, aimed at photographing every surviving Wright design. Discover his motivations for undertaking this ambitious endeavor, his approach to capturing each new design, and the stories behind some of his favorite images. Don't miss this behind-the-scenes look into Pielage's journey and the enduring inﬂuence of Frank Lloyd Wright's work.

LIVE MUSIC: Solstice Jazz Band at Local Night 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM • Post House Garden, 127 E Jeﬀerson St, Spring Green • For more information look up The Shed on Facebook Come to the patio for some great music, delicious food, and ice cold drinks! Stay tuned for updates on music lineup as they continue to book local talent! Music will be 5:30-7:30, with food being served from 4-8. Drinks will be ﬂowing!

Knit Night at Nina’s 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM • Nina’s Department Store, 143 E. Jeﬀerson St Spring Green • ninasdepartmentstore.com • FREE • Every Thursday from 6 to 8 pm. All knitters and crocheters are welcome. Store closed after 5:30 pm.

Midsummer Music: Tom Waselchuk 6:00 PM • American Players Theatre, 5950 Golf Course Rd, Spring Green • americanplayers.org • Most weekdays June through August, live acoustic music plays on the grounds!

LIVE MUSIC — Sh*tty Barn Session 320: Sleeping Jesus // Sleepy Gaucho 7:00 PM • 506 E Madison St, Spring Green • shittybarnsessions.com Doors open at 6 Sleeping Jesus is an Indie Rock band started by Nick Elstad in Winona, MN. The band ditched the hazy dream pop stylings of their debut album and dipped their toes into the waters of Rock and Roll and Americana for the very first time. Sleepy Gaucho follows in the great American artistic tradition that is the rambler’s drawl. His Panamerican influenced folk music offers up a cocktail of wry existentialism and mellow introspection that floats somewhat aimlessly in a realm of its own. Born in Wisconsin while also growing up some time in Argentina, the young multi-instrumentalist’s music can at times be melancholic, at others ethereal, but always agreeable.

Drink with Dems-Meet the Candidates 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM • Slowpoke Lounge, 137 W Jeﬀerson St., Spring Green • slowpokelounge.com • People have been sharing their enthusiasm about the upcoming election season now that Pres. Biden has made his gracious withdrawal from the campaign. Let's bring that enthusiasm to bear on our local eﬀorts in Sauk County and Wisconsin. Enjoy the Solstice Jazz Bad and the food at the Slowpoke to meet the three Dem 40h District Assembly candidates, Karen DeSantos, Kyle Kunicki and Brad Cook running in the August 13th Primary and the Dem state Senate District 14 candidate Sarah Keyeski and socialize.

Friday, August 9

5th Annual White Oak Festival 4:00 PM - 12:00 AM • White Oak Savanna, 4352 State Road 23, Dodgeville • whiteoaksavanna.com • $35 - $55 The White Oak Festival is growing ... Thanks to the support of our festival community, they are able to take some exciting steps forward this year. They are adding a new stage, expanding musical genres, a fun run and getting ready for a parade! Ther vision is to grow into a diverse and self-sustaining festival that reﬂects the very land on which we gather. For you ﬁrst timers, welcome to the party. See online for full schedule.

St. John’s Fun Fest 4:00 PM - 12:00 AM • Veterans Park (Norht Park), Park Avenue, Spring Green • stjohns-springgreen.org • Youth Kickball game, Karaoke, and Live DJ!

LIVE MUSIC: South for the Winter 7:30 PM - 10:00 PM • Slowpoke Lounge, 137 W Jeﬀerson St., Spring Green • slowpokelounge.com • Tickets $10 in advance / $15 at the door • With a blend of dreamy acoustic duets, foot-stomping folk and bluesy murder ballads, New Zealand-formed and Nashville-based trio South for Winter’s sound is as eclectic as their origins.

Saturday, August 10

Yoga at the Library 7:30 AM • Spring Green Community Library, 230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green • springgreenlibrary.org • ruralremedy.com • Before the Farmer’s Market, come to the yard at the side of the Library for a free hour of yoga led by Emily Benz of Rural Remedy! Beginners and all ages welcome. Mats are available as well.

Heck’s Vendor/Flea Market 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM • Heck’s Farm Market, 7266 US Highway 14, Arena • For more information look up Heck’s Farm Market on Facebook • Various types of vendors to shop every Saturday and Sunday - weather permitting. Vendors must contact Heck’s Farm Market for free registration.

St. John’s Fun Fest 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM • Veterans Park (North Park), Park Avenue, Spring Green • stjohns-springgreen.org • Tons of activites and Live music! See full schedule online.

Spring Green Farmers Market 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM • S230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green • Spring Green Farmers Market Is a year-round outdoor market oﬀering seasonal produce, local meats, baked goods and many other wonderful items. Held outside the Spring Green Community Public Library every Saturday morning.

Saturday, August 10 cont.

5th Annual White Oak Festival 9:00 AM - 11:00 PM • White Oak Savanna, 4352 State Road 23, Dodgeville • whiteoaksavanna.com • $35 - $55 • The White Oak Festival is growing ... They are adding a new stage, expanding musical genres, a fun run and getting ready for a parade! Ther vision is to grow into a diverse and self-sustaining festival that reﬂects the very land on which we gather. For you ﬁrst timers, welcome to the party. See online for full schedule.

Backstage Talks 12:00 PM • American Players Theater, 5950 Golf Course Rd, Spring Green americanplayers.org $10 | Free with APT Insiders Card Some of APT's most fascinating work goes on behind the scenes. Learn more about stagecraf, choreography and the machinations of APT. Choreography Chat: Frequent APT collaborator and Children's Theatre of Madison Artistic Director Brian Cowing joins us in John's Place to discuss how dance and movement tell stories on stage.

LIVE MUSIC: Bluegrass Jam 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM • Spring Green General Store, 137 S. Albany St., Spring Green • 608-5880-707, karin@springgreengeneralstore.com, SpringGreenGeneralStore.com • FREE • All ages welcome! Bluegrass Jams will be held on the second Saturday of each month. While the weather permits they'll be held on our back deck. Bring your instrument and play along or come to listen; all are welcome.

LIVE MUSIC: Bushmen on the River Stage 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM • Wisconsin Riverside Resort, S13220 Shiﬄet Road, Spring Green wiriversideresort.com Warm weather, cold cocktails, and great live music! Join outside on the Riverside stage!

SOLD OUT: Savor the Summer Feast 6:00 PM • Hilltop Spring Green, 6447 Hilltop Road, Spring Green • savortherivervalley.org • $125 • Celebrate the season and all the Lower Wisconsin River Valley has to oﬀer at the Savor the Summer Feast, presented by Savor the River Valley & Edible Madison. Join for a multi-course feast at the beautiful Hilltop in Spring Green. From the signature cocktail and appetizers to coﬀee and dessert, every course is brought to you by a farmer, chef or maker in the River Valley.

Sunday, August 11

5th Annual White Oak Festival 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM • White Oak Savanna, 4352 State Road 23, Dodgeville • whiteoaksavanna.com $35 - $55 The White Oak Festival is growing ... They are adding a new stage, expanding musical genres, a fun run and getting ready for a parade! Their vision is to grow into a diverse and self-sustaining festival that reﬂects the very land on which we gather. For you ﬁrst timers, welcome to the party. See online for full schedule.

APT: Sunday Salon 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM • Post House Garden, 119 East Jeﬀerson Street, Spring Green americanplayers.org Free | No tickets required Select Sundays bring the opportunity to chat with APT leadership at Sunday Salons! Visit downtown Spring Green for a free-wheeling chat about whatever might be on your mind.

LIVE MUSIC: Jambidextrous on the River Stage 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM • Wisconsin Riverside Resort, S13220 Shiﬄet Road, Spring Green wiriversideresort.com Warm weather, cold cocktails, and great live music! Join us outside on the Riverside stage!

Tuesday, August 13

Midsummer Music: Mark Browning Milner 6:00 PM • American Players Theatre, 5950 Golf Course Rd, Spring Green • americanplayers.org • Most weekdays June through August, live acoustic music plays on the grounds!

Wednesday, August 14

Popsicles in Spring Green-Parents Group 11:0 0AM - 1:00 PM • Park Dr, Spring Green For more information, look up Taylor Mayer on Facebook Join us for a free, fun afternoon with dye free popsicles donated by Molter's Spring Green! This group is for kiddos of any age, but more importantly, it's to get parents together and to meet new people! This will take place at Veteran's Park- formerly known as North Park (by the pool). SG Library will be coming to the park to read stories to kids from 12:30 to 1!

SOLD OUT: LIVE MUSIC — Sh*tty Barn Session 321: Sarah Shook & The Disarmers // Kelsey Waldon 7:00 PM • 506 E Madison St, Spring Green • shittybarnsessions.com Doors open at 6 Advance tickets sold out. That sald, tickets often come up that people can't use, so check out SH*TTY TICKET SWAP, which helps to connect ticket buyers and sellers • Sarah Shook and the Disarmers’ raw and resilient tracks feature deft storytelling, documenting regular people getting by and keeping on, all presented without ﬁlter or pretension. Inspired by the country and bluegrassmusic songbooks, Kelsey Waldon’s found her place in the world. She became an artist whose own work generates buzz, lands on year-end best-of lists.

Thursday, August 15

Storytime 10:30 AM • Lone Rock Community Library, 234 N Broadway St, Lone Rock • lonerocklibrary.wordpress.com • Join us every Thursday for storytime!

Stitch and Bitch 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM • Spring Green General Store, 137 S. Albany St. Spring Green • springgreengeneralstore.com • FREE • The Spring Green General Store’s Stitch and Bitch handwork group meets Thursday afternoons weekly. All are welcome.

Tech Help 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM • Arena Village Hall, 345 West St, Arena • rvbroadband.org/techhelp • Come on in with any devices or technology you need help with! No appointment necessary.

Itty Bitty Art Committee Gathering 6:00 PM -11:00 PM • Slowpoke Lounge, 137 W Jeﬀerson St., Spring Green • wanderprovisions.com or Wander Provisions on Facebook • A drop in art gathering to help generate itty bitty pieces for the itty bitty art machine. All are welcome: any skill level. We provide the supplies and you bring your creative spirit. Art will be installed in the machine at Wander Provisions with all proceeds going to River Valley Arts for grant funding and other community arts related projects. So, come one and come all. Make 1 or make a dozen. Slowpoke is open with incredible cocktails, mocktails, and bar snacks for purchase.

Events for August 8 - August 22

Thursday, August 15 cont.

Midsummer Music: Daniel Kenneth Libby 6:00 PM • American Players Theatre, 5950 Golf Course Rd, Spring Green • americanplayers.org • Most weekdays June through August, live acoustic music plays on the grounds!

LIVE MUSIC: Psycherelic with the Brass Section at Local Night 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM Post House Garden, 127 E Jeﬀerson St, Spring Green • For more information look up The Shed on Facebook • Come to the patio for some great music, delicious food, and ice cold drinks! Stay tuned for updates on music lineup as they continue to book local talent! Music will be 5:30-7:30, with food being served from 4-8. Drinks will be ﬂowing!

Hillside Lecture: "Patterns in Nature that Inspire Japanese Garden Design" 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM • Taliesin Hillside Theater, 6604 Hwy 23 Trunk, Spring Green • taliesinpreservation.org • FREE • Doors open at 5 • Tim Gruner, Anderson Japanese Garden Curator, will explore how Japanese gardens and their architecture function as pieces of a single living environment, emphasizing the fundamental connection with nature. Tim Gruner has extensive experience in horticulture and Japanese garden design, having worked under the direction of Mr. Hoichi Kurisu at Anderson Japanese Gardens since 1989. Registration required.

Friday, August 16

SOLD OUT: LIVE MUSIC — Sh*tty Barn Session 322: Violet Palms // Red Pants 7:00 PM • 506 E Madison St, Spring Green • shittybarnsessions.com • Doors open at 6 • Advance tickets sold out. That sald, tickets often come up that people can't use, so check out SH*TTY TICKET SWAP, which helps to connect ticket buyers and sellers Violet Palms combines early 2000s nostalgia and modern inﬂuences to create tight, direct rock music that is honest, occasionally goofy, and - because they can’t help themselves - funky. Waves of static guitar sounds, spirited pattering of drums, pensive keyboard drones, and intimately whispered vocal melodies make up the noisy indie rock of Red Pants’ tunes.

An Evening with Sara Rath 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM • Arcadia Books, 102 E Jeﬀerson St, Spring Green • readinutopia.com/events • FREE • Enjoy a reading and book signing with Sara Rath, author of 'Accidental Summer.' Explore a mystery set in Wisconsin's Northwoods, featuring historical characters and events.

Saturday, August 17

Mindfulness: Discussion and Practice 9:00 AM • Spring Green Community Library, 230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green springgreenlibrary.org Our meetings will include discussions and short mindfulness exercises/practices.

Itty Bitty Art Committee Gathering 10:00 AM -12:00 PM • Slowpoke Lounge, 137 W Jeﬀerson St., Spring Green • wanderprovisions.com or Wander Provisions on Facebook • Itty Bitty Art Committee Gathering to make art for the itty bitty art machine. All ages, all skill levels, great for the kiddos. Open, drop-in gathering where we provide the supplies and you provide your creative spirit. All itty bitty art goes in the machine at Wander with all proceeds being donated to River Valley Arts to support their grant funding eﬀorts. So, hit up the SG Farmers Market, stop by the library for some great summertime reads, and swing through the library's community room to join us in making art and supporting our creative community.

LIVE MUSIC: 3 Souls on the River Stage 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM • Wisconsin Riverside Resort, S13220 Shiﬄet Road, Spring Green • wiriversideresort.com • Warm weather, cold cocktails, and great live music! Join us outside on the Riverside stage!

Sunday, August 18

LIVE MUSIC: Acoustic Jam 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM • Spring Green General Store, 137 S. Albany St., Spring Green • springgreengeneralstore.com • All are welcome- come to play, or come to listen. Kitchen open until 2 pm.

LIVE MUSIC: Just Merl & A Girl on the River Stage 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM • Wisconsin Riverside Resort, S13220 Shiﬄet Road, Spring Green wiriversideresort.com Warm weather, cold cocktails, and great live music! Join us outside on the Riverside stage!

EMF Tapping with Leah Griffiths Boyce 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM • North Earth Crystals & Gifts, 124 W. Jefferson St, Spring Green • northearth.com • $55 for the two hour class • Trust the Unfolding practitioner, Leah Griffith Boyce, is excited to share EFT Tapping with you in a beginners workshop. Come and learn and practice the basic techniques to start living a life where eliminating stress and experiencing emotional freedom is just a tap away!

4PeteSake Day in the Park 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM Spring Green’s North Park, 251 N Winsted St, Spring Green 4petesake.com $55 for the two hour class The 4PeteSake’s Day in the Park is a cherished summer tradition supporting River Valley residents in need. The event features a 5k run/walk, 15 or 30 mile bike ride, a pickleball tournament, live music, a silent auction, and a variety of food and activities for children. Registration for the run/walk and bike ride begins at 8 AM with events starting at 9 AM. Enjoy a pool party, live music, and a raffle drawing with fantastic prizes. Proceeds benefit the 4PeteSake foundation. Walk-in registration will be taken as availability allows, however, slots fill up quickly, so please call 608.588.3313 to reserve your seat.

LIVE MUSIC: Eric Tessmer 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM • Slowpoke Lounge, 137 W Jeﬀerson St., Spring Green • slowpokelounge.com • $10 in advance, $15 at the door • Join us for this special 4PS fundraising performance featuring Eric Tessmer. For Pete’s Sake, a local charity supporting folks in need, will hold their annual Day in the Park fundraiser. That night, we’ll continue the fundraising eﬀort by donating all ticket sales to the cause. An American blues guitarist residing in Austin, Texas. The Austin Chronicle named Eric Tessmer the best guitarist in the city for 2017–2018, based on their annual poll.

Monday, August 19

LIVE MUSIC: Rural Musicians' Forum presents: Oakwood Chamber Players 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM • Cornerstone Church, 210 N Lexington St., Spring Green • ruralmusiciansforum.org • This Madison based ensemble of strings and winds has been performing with musical excellence for 39 years.

Tuesday, August 20

Hoo's Woods Raptor Program 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM • Plain Kraemer Library, 910 Main St., Plain • kraemerlibrary.org • Eagle handler, Dianne Moller from Hoo's Woods in Milton WI will share facts and introduce families to 4 local raptors in her care. Open to kids 7+ with a adult. No pets, petting, or service dogs permitted for safety of birds. Due to space issues, tickets will be handed out at the door and will be needed to enter the event. Sponsored by the Friends of the Kraemer Library.

Midsummer Music: Still Strummin’ 6:00 PM • American Players Theatre, 5950 Golf Course Rd, Spring Green • americanplayers.org • Most weekdays June through August, live acoustic music plays on the grounds!

Yarn Rocks! 5:00 PM • Spring Green Community Library, 230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green • springgreenlibrary.org Come to the Library on the ﬁrst and third Tuesday of the month to meet fellow knitters in the community; come for help; come to learn new skills or brush up on current skills; come to get out of the house for a few hours; come for the health beneﬁts.

Sarah Smarsh: Morrill Lecture Series 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM • The Octagon Barn, 6205 WI-23 Trunk, Spring Green • morrilllectures.org • FREE • Sarah Smarsh, journalist and author, discusses her work, including 'Heartland' and 'She Come By It Natural,' sharing insights on poverty, rural issues, and cultural divides.

Wednesday, August 21

All Ages Storytime 10:30 AM • Spring Green Community Library, Community Room, 230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green • springgreenlibrary.org • Share stories, songs and crafts with library friends. Is your little one ﬁdgety or noisy? No worries! We have quiet toys so busy bodies can listen to stories and wiggle at the same time!

Midsummer Music: KG & The Ranger 6:00 PM • American Players Theatre, 5950 Golf Course Rd, Spring Green • americanplayers.org • Most weekdays June through August, live acoustic music plays on the grounds!

Arcadia Book Club: "The Heart in Winter" 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM • Virtual Event via Zoom • readinutopia.com/events • FREE • Join us virtually to discuss Kevin Barry's 'The Heart in Winter,' a novel blending western and Irish themes. The story follows Tom Rourke, a poet and degenerate, and Polly Gillespie, a devout bride, as they embark on a thrilling and dangerous love aﬀair. Registration required.

Talk Backs: Constellations Following the showing at 8:00 PM • American Players Theater, 5950 Golf Course Rd, Spring Green • americanplayers.org Stick around afer the performance for a candid 20-minute post-show conversation with the actors involved with the play.

Talk Backs: King Lear Following the showing at 8:00 PM • American Players Theater, 5950 Golf Course Rd, Spring Green • americanplayers.org Stick around afer the performance for a candid 20-minute post-show conversation with the actors involved with the play.

Thursday, August 22

Tech Help 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM • Plain Kraemer Library, 910 Main St., Plain • kraemerlibrary.org rvbroadband.org/techhelp • Come on in with any devices or technology you need help with! No appointment necessary.

Lone Rock Farmers Market 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM • WI-130, Lone Rock, WI • For more information look up Lone Rock Farmers Market on Facebook • Lone Rock Farmers Market. Opening Market! Located at the Center Park on Hwy 130, across from the Lone Rock Community Building. Food trucks welcome and home gardeners bring your overstock veggies! Vendor fee is $10. pre-registration not required.

LIVE MUSIC: Randy & Flo-Stars Entertainment at Local Night 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM • Post House Garden, 127 E Jeﬀerson St, Spring Green • For more information look up The Shed on Facebook• Come to the patio for some great music, delicious food, and ice cold drinks! Stay tuned for updates on music lineup as they continue to book local talent! Music will be 5:30-7:30, with food being served from 4-8.

Midsummer Music: Paul and Doug 6:00 PM • American Players Theatre, 5950 Golf Course Rd, Spring Green • americanplayers.org • Most weekdays June through August, live acoustic music plays on the grounds!

Brian Reisinger: 'Land Rich, Cash Poor' in Conversation with Daniel Smith 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM • Arcadia Books, 102 E Jeﬀerson St, Spring Green • readinutopia.com/events • FREE • Join Brian Reisinger and Daniel Smith for a discussion on the state of modern farming. Reisinger’s book explores the economic and cultural crises threatening American farmers. Smith, a poet and agribusiness executive, shares insights from his experience on a multi-generational farm and work in agricultural development.

Evenings Aﬁeld: Boosting Biodiversity on Farms 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM • Twin Crix Farm, 6679 WI-23, Spring Green • driftlessconservancy.org • Learn how we can improve the health of our farm landscapes by increasing biodiversity with edge of ﬁeld conservation practices, agroforestry, and many other ideas.

SOLD OUT: LIVE MUSIC — Sh*tty Barn Session 323: Eddie 9V 7:00 PM • 506 E Madison St, Spring Green • shittybarnsessions.com • Doors open at 6 • Advance tickets sold out. That sald, tickets often come up that people can't use, so check out SH*TTY TICKET SWAP, which helps to connect ticket buyers and sellers For three decades, Mama Digdown's has traveled the world spreading the gospel of New Orleans music. Mama Digdown's respectively embraces the craft and tradition of New Orleans brass band music and the infectious vibe they bring to the stage has earned them the reputation as one of the most exciting brass bands on the scene today.

Spring Green Community Library Art Exhibitions

Aris Georges’ Archiﬁtti Exhibition is in the Community Room Gallery throughout August. Georges lives and works in Spring Green where he was initially transplanted in 1987, as a student at Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. After he completed the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Taliesin, he stayed at the school where he taught for a couple of decades. Since 2015, he founded his studio OMstudio Design and lives year-round in Spring Green. His primary focus is to design custom homes for Seattle’s Lindal Cedar Homes company. His exhibit is available for viewing during regular library hours when the Community Room is not in use. Please ask for the key at the circulation desk.

Events for August 8 - August 22

MEETING: Village of Spring Green Plan Commission & JEZC

4PeteSake announces 2024 Day in the Park

CIVICS & SERVICES CALENDAR

CIVICS & SERVICES

The 4PeteSake’s Day in the Park will be held at Spring Green’s North Park on Sunday, August 18!

You bring quality to the lives of your neighbors.

This calendar is a place listing (for free) the typical meeting dates for area governmental bodies, and

This calendar is a place listing (for free) the typical meeting dates for area governmental bodies, and Please email us with these meetings, or use the form on our Community Calendar page — let's build community together: editor@valleysentinelnews.com

Please email us with these meetings, or use the form on our Community Calendar page — let's build community together: editor@valleysentinelnews.com

August 12:

August 12: Wildlife Forever ATV Club 6:30 PM Arena VFW, 514 Willow St, Arena For more info look up Wildlife Forever ATV Club on Facebook August 13:

Statewide Primary: Partisain Primary Election 7:00 AM - 8:00 PM Various polling locations

Wildlife Forever ATV Club 6:30 PM Arena VFW, 514 Willow St, Arena For more info look up Wildlife Forever ATV Club on Facebook August 13:

Statewide Primary: Partisain Primary Election 7:00 AM - 8:00 PM Various polling locations Stream Monitoring at Lowery Creek Watershed 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM • South Farm, 6172 County Road Z, Spring Green savannainstitute.org Come join us for Stream

Stream Monitoring at Lowery Creek Watershed 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM • South Farm, 6172 County Road Z, Spring Green savannainstitute.org Come join us for Stream Monitoring in the Lowery Creek Watershed, help us measure water quality and have some fun! Joinfor a fun morning of stream monitoring at Savanna Institute’s South Farm. We’ll be monitoring two stream sites. No experience required; training will be provided. Please dress appropriately for outdoor work (weather appropriate, tall grass, muddy conditions). Tall rubber boots or waders are useful but not strictly required. Be prepared to walk a quarter mile through grass and uneven terrain. Please bring your own water and a snack.

What began in 2005 as an impassioned eﬀort to help a 20-year-old cancer survivor has become a summer tradition and a symbol of the River Valley’s commitment to helping neighbors in need. Eighteen years ago, Peter Greenwood, then of Spring Green, was that 20-yearold. Bone cancer had taken his leg and insurance wouldn’t pay for a next-generation prosthetic that would help him stay active. Friends of the Greenwoods held the ﬁrst Day In The Park with a goal to raise $50,000. By day’s end, they had so far exceeded the goal that money was set aside for future people in need. And so 4PeteSake - and the Day in the Park - was born.

The 5k run/ walk and a 15 or 30 mile bike ride starts at 9 a.m. Day-of registration begins at 8 a.m. The entrance fee for each event is $30 or $25 each for families of four or more. Questions about the run/walk can be directed to Ruth Stamness rstamness@gmail.com. For questions about the bike ride, contact Lisa Roelke at lroelke3@gmail.com. Finish by splashing down in the pool at a pool party from 10 a.m. until 12 noon. Showers at the pool will be available to anyone participating in the Run/Walk or Bike Rides.

Monitoring in the Lowery Creek Watershed, help us measure water quality and have some fun! Joinfor a fun morning of stream monitoring at Savanna Institute’s South Farm. We’ll be monitoring two stream sites. No experience required; training will be provided. Please dress appropriately for outdoor work (weather appropriate, tall grass, muddy conditions). Tall rubber boots or waders are useful but not strictly required. Be prepared to walk a quarter mile through grass and uneven terrain. Please bring your own water and a snack.

Village of Lone Rock Board Meeting 7:00 PM • villageoﬂonerock.com • Village Hall, 314 E Forest St, Lone Rock • See full agenda online

August 14: Plain Village Library Board Meeting 6:30 PM 510 Main Street, Plain • villageofplain.com

Village of Lone Rock Board Meeting 7:00 PM • villageoﬂonerock.com • Village Hall, 314 E Forest St, Lone Rock See full agenda online

Village of Spring Green Board Meeting 7:00 PM In person and virtual event 154 N. Lexington Street, Spring Green springgreen.wi.gov

August 14: Plain Village Library Board Meeting 6:30 PM 510 Main Street, Plain • villageofplain.com

Village of Spring Green Board Meeting 7:00 PM In person and virtual event 154 N. Lexington Street, Spring Green springgreen.wi.gov

Since 2005, 4PeteSake has raised over $1,000,000 and been able to provide assistance to over 100 River Valley individuals facing economic hardship. Their mission is to assist River Valley residents in times of need in a way that can substantially change their circumstances and impact their quality of life. Your participation in the Day in the Park is what allows for that change and impact.

Again this year is a pickleball tournament. This will be a double elimination tournament with three age divisions. A staggered start will begin at 9 a.m., however anyone participating in the run/ walk or bike, will have a later start time. Fee to participate will be $25/person or $50/team, with all proceeds going to 4PeteSake. Contact Jamie Haas: 608574-2461 or jamie.k.haas@gmail.com with questions. All this, plus live music and more! For more information, please go to www.4PeteSake.com.

CROSSWORD

We were recently told "any newspaper worth its salt has a respectable crossword" — and to be clear, we're pretty salty

Give us feedback at editor@valleysentinelnews.com, as we've never made a crossword before, much less a respectable one, and it's surprisingly diﬃcult. Especially (maybe) with the goal of only including words or themes from the previous edition.

We're hoping to tighten up the grid over time and shift from an "indie" style to a respectable New York Times style with rotational symmetry. Which is why we've expanded our word pool and enlisted the help of passionate community members, who have created this crossword. This puzzle and section will absolutely change. Especially if you can help. We appreciate all the feedback and suggestions so far.

What about chess puzzles next? We're not joking. Solution to the previous puzzle appearing in

Crossword appearing in the August 8, 2024 edition of Valley Sentinel does not exclusively use words printed in the previous edition of Valley Sentinel — July 25, 2024. The clues may or may not use the same deﬁnition as the words were used in the previous edition, if any words appear from the previous edition.

The Heart in Winter Kevin Barry Award-winning writer Kevin Barry’s first novel set in America, a savagely funny and achingly romantic tale of young lovers on the lam in 1890s Montana.

Demon of Unrest

Puzzle by Nick Zaborek

Edited by Jen Zaborek

Watch what they did, not what they said Too many wells are contaminated in Southwest Wisconsin, threatening safe, clean drinking water.

The Trump EPA rolled back clean water standards, and the problems are worse.

Reﬂections from Lost Horizon Farm — Wildlife on the Farm (Part 3)

Each edition, retired dairy farmer Barb Garvoille brings her musings on dairy farm life from her own years of experience on Lost Horizon Farm with her late husband Vince “Mr. Farmer” Garvoille. This mooving memoir focuses on 1980-2000, join Barb as she rises with the herd.

Wildlife on the Farm

Birds

Over the years, we had amassed and maintained an array of suet and seed feeding stations and had planted native trees, shrubs, and perennials in hopes of attracting a variety of avian visitors. We observed many species of birds at Lost Horizon Farm including Catbirds, Brown Thrashers, Song, Chipping, White-throated, Fox and other species of Sparrows, Blue Jays, Wood Thrushes, Ovenbirds, Phoebes, Bluebirds, Robins, Kingbirds, Indigo Buntings, Evening and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Purple Finches, Pine Siskins, Downy, Hairy, Red-bellied,Red-headed, and Pileated Woodpeckers, Goldﬁnches, Cardinals, Chickadees, both Red and White-breasted Nuthatches, and Northern and Orchard Orioles, as well as raptors and warblers of various species.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds would be frequent summertime visitors to our flowering trumpet vine archway and also to our nectar feeders. Orange halves and a bowl with grape jelly were always placed out for hungry early arrivals like Orioles. Wildflowers, prairie plants, and a variety of shrubs planted around the farm’s buildings were magnets for bird species. The ponds and other moving water features Mr. Farmer had designed around the yard brought many birds within our view. One misty location on the pond with the waterfall was especially attractive to hummingbirds for bathing; a dripper was favored by Goldfinches who would gracefully slide down its copper tubing to catch droplets coming from its tip. One summer we planted birdhouse gourds. We placed the prolific harvest on sheltered cattle gates and unused pallets to overwinter and dry out. Mr. Farmer used his hole saw to drill an appropriately-sized entrance in

each dried gourd. A smooth wire threaded through the neck of the gourd and formed into a tied loop became the ﬁxture used to hang the gourd house on the fence line or on the antique horse-drawn equipment in the orchard. These birdhouses often attracted House Wrens who made their multi-stick nests inside of them. Little Brown Bats sometimes roosted in these natural fruits too. Cedar Bluebird houses were mounted around the farm buildings. Near the cattle, bird houses had to be placed in carefully thought out favorable locations. If the cattle could get near enough to a mounted

bird house, it would be commandeered into service as a scratching post. Most bird houses were not built sturdily enough to withstand that kind of abuse!

Barn swallows would construct their mud and grass stem nests on open beams in the heifer building and on recessed corners of the barn. Cliﬀ swallows would build their nests under the eaves of the barn. Rural legend was a placeholder on Lost Horizon Farm. It was said that a barn hosting swallow nests would never burn down. We loved these aerialists and appreciated their voracious appetite for insects, so the legend added to the good karma these birds evoked. Phoebes had favorite nesting sites around the farm. Every spring, a pair would construct a mossy nest on a ledge above the bathroom window. Once, Mr. Farmer found a Phoebe nest ingeniously constructed within the conﬁnes of an empty Rex chopper box that had been parked in the valley. Twilight would bring out Chimney Swifts and Common Nighthawks as well as their

mammalian counterparts, the bats. The summer skies were ﬁlled with insectivorous creatures, and that was indicative of the huge populations of mosquitoes, ﬂies, and other insects present around the farm. In the fall, we would look for those early nights when the Nighthawks would be migrating in great numbers.. One time Mr. Farmer was coming down from the ridge in the twilight, and from his higher elevation, he could actually look down upon the moving Nighthawks. There would be afternoons during the autumn when a person looked out and saw a migrant Bluebird on almost

perch. every fence post. The Bluebirds would call to one another as they traveled the length of the valley.

Barb has called Lost Horizon Farm, just north of Spring Green, her home for the past 44 years. She is fond of all creatures (including snakes). Her joy stems from being able to be outdoors every day observing and treasuring the plant and animal life on her small piece of this planet. She loved milking cows and is proud to have been a dairy farmer.

The Lowery Creek Watershed Initiative’s next Evenings Afield event will focus on Boosting Biodiversity on Farms: Edges, Agroforestry, and More. On Thursday, August 22 from 6:00-8:00 p.m., the public is invited to Twin Crix Farm on Highway 23 south of Spring Green for a field tour to see practices that are good for food production AND increasing the variety of flora and fauna on farms.

Twin Crix owner Patrick Michaels will share his knowledge, current projects, and future plans for weaving natural resource management into his organic farming operation.

“Biodiversity” refers to the variety of ﬂora and fauna you ﬁnd in one area. The more diverse a natural system is, the more resilient it is to disturbance,

like climate change. In the quest to maximize production, modern agriculture has torn out hedges and plowed right up to streams, radically simplifying the landscape. This session will show how we can improve the biodiversity and health of our farm landscapes with edge-of-ﬁeld conservation practices, agroforestry, and many other ideas.

Evenings Afield is a program of the Lowery Creek Watershed Initiative. One evening per month, we set aside time for learning in the field from experts and each other, socializing with like-minded landowners and residents, and seeing results of management methods on different properties. For more information, contact barb@driftlessconservancy. org.

Barb Garvoille, Columnist

Barb Garvoille

Photo contributed by Barb Garvoille

An Eastern Bluebird with a food item in its bill ﬁnds the farm’s ﬁre number sign an excellent

Emilee Martell, Contributed

Evenings Aﬁeld event: boosting native plants and animals on farms

Photo contributed by Driftless Area Land Conservancy Patrick Michaels of Twin Crix Farm describes the benefits and process of growing blueberries to participants in a 2023 Evenings Afield event. On August 22, he will share ideas and practices for increasing the diversity of flora and fauna in farm fields.

Photo contributed by Barb Garvoille These birdhouse gourds are ready to be transported to the shed to dry over the winter.

Photo contributed by Barb Garvoille

A Northern Oriole is a colorful harbinger of spring.

Photo contributed by Barb Garvoille

A Scarlet Tanager, a striking warm weather migrant, is perched in the orchard.

Photo contributed by Barb Garvoille

A Northern Shrike, also known as the Butcherbird, is pictured in the branches of the Trumpet Vine north of the barn. Shrikes impale their prey on branches, thorns or barbed wire.

The Sauk County Gardener

Late Summer Gardening Tasks

Jeannie Manis, Wisconsin Certiﬁed Master Gardener

“A late summer garden has a tranquility found no other time of the year.”

— William F. Longgood

This past July was a pretty busy month for me. Even though I had a number of activities all month long, luckily, my own gardening tasks didn’t fall too far behind. However, with August right around the corner, it’s time to focus on my garden again, particularly my vegetable garden.

There is still a little time to transplant broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliﬂower seeding for a fall crop. You can also squeeze in a planting of Swiss chard. There’s also time to plant a fall crop of peas and probably one more planting of beans if you need them. Finally, plant a late crop of radishes, arugula, lettuce, spinach, and beets. It’s important to keep crops such as beans picked regularly so they continue to produce. This goes for eggplant and peppers as well. Also,

Rascally Rabbits

Manis,

“Be vewy, vewy qwiet. I'm hunting wabbits.”

— Elmer Fudd

I’ve got a rabbit problem this year that is really frustrating me. Earlier this garden season, I inadvertently invited rabbits into my raised garden beds by piling a couple of bags of soil next to the garden bed edge, making it very easy for them to get it. After some trial and error, and replanting broccoli three times, I ﬁnally found a fencing solution that seemed to work.

I should have known that wasn’t the last of the rabbits as I keep spotting them around my garden beds. This past week, I went to pick my beans and there was a very large rabbit inside my fenced bed who had pretty much cleaned out my beans. I chased him out, found the spot that I think he got in and barricaded it. Then I had one run into my

regularly pick zucchini so you don’t develop any baseball bats. Keep an eye on your tomatoes for any type of disease development. It’s been a little drier these past couple weeks (at least at my house) so now I have to ensure my tomatoes have consistent water to ward off blossom end rot. Pick your herbs just before they flower for the best flavor. I have an herb wheel where the oregano and lemon balm have really taken over. I must admit, I do not mind when my oregano in particular gets out of control in this area as it is a great resource for the many pollinators that visit. In the perennial gardens, you can plant pansy, violet, and forget-me-not seeds if you don’t have any or yours do not regularly self-seed. Mine do a great job of self-seeding and I don’t mind them, even the forget-me-nots, so I don’t have to actually plant them. It’s the last week to truly plant perennial seed outdoors and have it grow big enough to survive the winter.

greenhouse and when I cornered him, he jumped straight up at least two and half feet into my greenhouse’s raised beds and ran around me and out the door. I also found two babies nesting in my broccoli patch. Even though they really make me angry, I can’t bring myself to harm them – I just keep chasing them oﬀ. However, if I’m going to have any beans or broccoli, I have to ﬁnd a solution to my rabbit problem. If you’re like me and have a rabbit problem, here are some things you can try to remedy your rabbit problem.

One solution is to add physical garden barriers. For example, a picket fence won’t work but a fence made out of chicken wire with 1-inch mesh or smaller can be eﬀective. However, rabbits can dig so you will most likely need to bury it at least 6 inches below the ground. You can also use motion-activated sprinklers to scare them and send

Wandering the Driftless

Late summer is a great time to look for blooming prairie flowers across the Driftless Area. Much of the area was originally covered by vast open prairies of several types. These communities were comprised of unique grasses, broad leaved flowering plants (forbs) and a few fire-tolerant tree species. Wisconsin prairies required periodic fires to keep dominant woody plants for overtaking the area. It is thought that the prairies that greeted driftless area settlers were periodically burned by indigenous tribes, either on purpose, or accidentally.

The vast prairies disappeared when settlers began to plow up these areas and to control ﬁres, allowing woody plants and trees to invade. The prairie plant species did not disappear, but were relegated to roadsides, fence lines, railroad right of ways and areas not suitable for human activities. These prairie remnants provided seed stock for environmentally-aware individuals and groups to bring back prairies to the Driftless Area.

I am fortunate to act as “manager” of a family property in Richland County. Following the passing of our parents, my siblings and I decided to change some of the management practices. We decided to enroll a couple of ridge-top crop ﬁelds in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). This program takes marginal cropland out of production, returning it to some form of natural habitat, while assisting the landowner in doing so.

We chose to replace the 14 acres (two fields) of corn/soybean fields with a prairie / pollinator planting for the next 15 years. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) agreed to pay half of the seed and planting costs and provide a yearly payment per acre, as well. They also provided advice as to where to purchase the seed mix. They further warned us that it would not look like a prairie until year three. The seed mix contained grasses Little Bluestem, Big Bluestem, Canada Wild Rye, Side Oats Grama, and Indian Grass. Flowering species included Common Milkweed, White Prairie Clover, Bergamont, Black-eyed Susan, Stiff Goldenrod,

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Make sure to scarify or stratify the seed if needed for germination. If you have special colored phlox, don’t let them go to seed after they bloom as the colors won’t stay true. In a couple weeks, it’ll be ideal for dividing and transplanting iris and daylilies. If you have any that need dividing and transplanting, ﬁgure out where you’re going to plant them and get the space prepped now. Keep an eye on how much water we are receiving. Our perennial and vegetable gardens need about an inch of water each week, so water accordingly. Once you’ve had a chance to sit down, ﬁgure out what spring-bloom bulbs you need and order them for fall plantings. If you grow black or purple raspberries, you can propagate more by tip-layering. It’s also time to fertilize strawberries. You can use a simple 10-10-10 fertilizer applied 2-3 pounds per 100 square feet. Finally, thin the strawberries if need be. My strawberry bed was created new last year from plants given to me by a fellow master gardener.

them running away.

Another option is to protect individual plants. That’s what I did to protect my broccoli plants until they were large enough that I thought the rabbits wouldn’t bother them as much. I used wire trash receptacles as cages to cover the plants in addition to the taller fence and bird netting I put around the beds. If you have to protect a tree or shrub, you can create a cage out of chicken wire.

You can deter rabbits by planting plants that rabbits don’t like such as basil, garlic, rhubarb, hot peppers, and mint. My garden beds that have onions, garlic, and basil have not been bothered by the rabbits. I won’t try to deter the rabbits by planting mint in my garden beds though – that just creates another problem.

Remove potential nesting spots. Rabbits like to nest in overgrown and grassy areas

Unfortunately, this spring, the bunnies got into my bed and “thinned” it for me. I still have some plants, but I will have to wait another year or so to get plenty of strawberries. That also gives me time to ﬁgure out how to keep the rabbits out of my strawberry patch. I must say, I can really relate to how Mr. McGregor felt about Peter Rabbit always getting in his garden.

August doesn’t have to be all work - here’s a fun gardening activity for your August calendar. On Saturday, August 24 from 10 am to noon, plan to attend the SCMGA’s annual tomato tasting event. Master gardeners bring in examples of their prized tomatoes and ask attendees to taste and select their favorite tomatoes. Attendees also get to hear about fellow gardeners’ growing successes and challenges. If you love tomatoes, plan to attend this fun event. It’s held at the Baraboo Civic Center, 124 2nd St, Baraboo. You can ﬁnd full details on the SCMGA’s facebook page.

so try and keep your garden area free of those types of spots. Unfortunately, I have a wonderful location about ten feet away from my garden that is a wonderful rabbit hiding place and is physically diﬃcult to remove. If you have a dog or a cat, they can help deter rabbits if they are allowed to roam free. If you can’t let your pets roam free, at least collect their hair and put it around your garden. You will have to replace it every so often, especially if it rains.

Another option that has worked well for us is spraying our plants with rabbit deterrent spray. Some people make their own recipes; I have found a commercial one that works pretty well to deter both rabbits and deer. It just has to be reapplied after it rains, and this year has deﬁnitely been a challenge. If you have problems with rabbits or other rodents, I hope one or more of these options can help protect your garden.

Showy Goldenrod and New England Aster.

The third year of the planting was last year, and as predicted, the ﬁelds began looking like prairies. This year (year four), however, the forbs exploded in number and height. The Black-eyed Susan, Bergamot and Milkweed numbers increased in prevalence greatly over last year. This has also brought a jump in the number of pollinating insects.

We have also begun adding other prairie plant species. I collected seeds from remnant prairies last fall and planted some immediately. I also experimented with growing Compass Plant seedlings and planting them this spring. These seeds were put in wet sand and frozen for two months prior to planting. This is a process called “stratiﬁcation”. These seeds will not germinate without the stratiﬁcation process. Sixty percent of the Compass Plant seeds germinated and were grown on a sunlit porch. They were transplanted to the prairie/pollinator plots in May. It will, unfortunately, be a year or two before we will be able to see whether the seeds or seedling efforts were successful.

Prairies are not “plant and watch grow” endeavors. They require regular eﬀort to maintain. Woody plants like Autumn Olive, Multiﬂora Rose and Aspen must be kept in check annually with mechanical or chemical means. Thistles and burdock must also be controlled. This is often hard, hot work.

Our prairie plots will be burned during the spring of the seventh year. Burning kills or sets back non-prairie species. It also provides nutrients that will stimulate additional growth in prairie species. Controlled burns are an important tool when directed by experienced professionals.

Should you be interested in converting

portions of property you own into a prairie, please contact the USDA oﬃce in your county. They will be happy to assist you by providing resources and expertise in creating a prairie explosion in your corner of the Driftless Area.

John Cler is a retired High School Science Teacher and Principal residing in Richland Center. He is an avid hunter, trapper, ﬁsher and nature nut. He currently chairs the Richland County Deer Advisory Council and the Richland County Delegation of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress.

John Cler, Columnist

Prairie Explosion

Photo contributed by John Cler Bergamot (purple) and Black-eyed Susan (yellow) ﬂowers during the mid-summer explosion of prairie ﬂowers in the Driftless Area.

Jeannie

Wisconsin Certiﬁed Master Gardener

An Outdoorsman’s Journal

Mark Walters, Columnist

Hello friends,

This week’s column was going to be about a serious musky fishing trip on Sawyer County’s, Chippewa flowage. Serious musky fishing turned out to be casual musky fishing, hanging out and dog training as soon as I found an island, built camp and realized that I am worn out. Definition of worn out: my pond, garden and most importantly the beach in Necedah that I am in charge of removing all water vegetation from have me a bit tired, everything, at least almost everything in my life these days is physical, so I decided on this trip, my goal was going to be to stop and smell the roses.

Sunday, July 28th High 86°, Low 62°

The mood for Ruby who is 8, Red, who is 2 and just weaned and said goodbye to her pups, and myself, was excellent as we slowly navigated the west end of the Chippewa Flowage with a goal of getting away from the human race. The pups have not been able to travel with me for a host of good reasons and this time as I did my casual pack for 2 days I kept asking them if they wanted to go on a trip and so they were well aware that they were in for an adventure.

It was Sunday, late in the day and just about all campers were headed home and I was headed northwest towards Crane Creek and was still in the “I am gonna do some serious musky fishing mood.” The campsite on Crane Creek Island was open and as I started unloading the War Eagle, I heard an elk bugle and it really was not that far away, next I had a "vision," the vision spoke to me and said Walters you have been running hard and physical since March 15 th. Second the vision told me, your body is sore, drink a cold beer, listen to the loons and play with the pups. It was at that moment that I decided that though this was still a musky fishing trip, number one, I was going to slow down for 48 hours.

From 6 to 10 I sat by a campfire,

listened to the very plentiful population of loons and watched Red and Ruby who were literally as happy as they could be.

Monday, July 29th

High 84°, Low 59°

I just about got up at 5:00 this morning but the "vision" told me to rest my weary 63 year old body and so I did. I have to tell you about a new trend that I have no clue why I am doing it. Though I use a tent, since spring, no cot or sleeping pad, I just sleep on Mother Earth. I think there is something very cool about that and it is worth a try if you can handle it. So later in the morning I was about to go musky fishing and I decided what I really need to do is some retriever training. On 6/15/22 Michelle Chiaro passed away, Michelle was an incredible woman and my love. Red was 10 weeks old when Michelle passed away and I have not had dog training in me, slowly but surely that is coming back, and Red is pure animal.

Today I worked with Red and Ruby with bumpers which are basically retrieving tools with water retrieves. Red is the most agile/fastest golden retriever I have ever had. From shore she can do an 8-foot leap and land in the boat without hesitation, she can also get in the boat from the water without any thought. Red’s mama is a bit more casual but actually loved the training today.

Musky fishing went with the casual mood, and I know my buddies will laugh about this. I had planned on making 10 million casts, but instead and because of my casual attitude I decided to spend the day exploring while trolling. I learned a lot, did not catch a thing and loved every minute of it.

Tonight I stayed up until midnight and the loons were my music and they were very happy, though I did not want to go to bed, I mean the ground, I had to because I was going to get up early and go cast for musky.

Tuesday, July 30th

High 85°, Low 57°

The pups and I were up early and exploring while casting. The musky must not have been hungry because the best musky fisherman in my boat could not catch a thing. About 10, I started noticing

some fierce looking clouds coming our way. Today was break camp day, I headed to camp got everything packed in the boat and the storm hit. Leaving the island was not an option, I stood in a downpour with a rain jacket on for an hour and the rain, wind, thunder and lightning was pretty cool to endure. My guess is a woman named Michelle was right there with us.

Check out The Big Chip and relax Sunset

Follow along the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

Photo contributed by Mark Walters Red in a very good mood as we searched for an island on the Chippewa Flowage to call home.

Big Chip Getaway

Photo contributed by Mark Walters

The War Eagle is a sweet machine!

Photo contributed by Mark Walters

The pups doing some basic training during our “Big Chip Getaway”.