Valley Sentinel - 10-28-2021 by Valley Sentinel

Inside this edition

Gard Theater showing ‘E.T. the Extra Terrestrial’ Page 8

HALLOWEEN EVENTS AND HAUNTED HOUSES in our Community Calendar Page 6

Spring Green, Wisconsin

Dark Side of the House, a review of the House on the Rock’s haunted theme Page 8

Thursday, October 28, 2021 | Vol. 2, No. 43 FREE, Single-Copy

Wisconsin DHS Chief Medical Oﬃcer: ‘We are already in a situation where the virus is endemic’ Questions and answers on the state of COVID-19 and vaccines in Wisconsin

Following the announcement from the federal government that, in addition to booster shots for the Pﬁzer COVID-19 vaccine, booster shots will be available for recipients of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, Dr. Ryan Westergaard, chief medical oﬃcer in the Department of Health Services (DHS) Bureau of Communicable Diseases and Stephanie Schauer, Ph.D., immunization program manager in the

Extended deadline in Lone Rock: The State of Wisconsin is oﬀering you a great deal on a bridge

DHS Division of Public Health, joined a media call on the current status of COVID-19 eﬀorts in Wisconsin. The questions and answers from that call, on Friday Oct. 22, have been edited here for clarity and brevity by Wisconsin Examiner. ...

Who should be getting COVID-19 booster shots?

Ryan Westergaard: The recommendations for a booster are for people who have completed the primary series of the vaccines and then a speciﬁed amount

of time has gone by: six months for the [Pﬁzer or Moderna] mRNA vaccines; two months under the new forthcoming guidance related to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. We recommend people for the booster if they’re in that highest age group of 65 and older or if they’re at frequent increased risk in occupational settings. Household contact by itself [with someone who is recommended to get a booster] wouldn’t put [a person] into the category of needing a booster. People who might want to consider boosters

are people who work in health care or educational settings who are potentially at high increased repetitive risk of [exposure to] COVID-19.

Who is now considered ‘fully vaccinated’?

Stephanie Schauer: We’re emphasizing that the primary series [two doses of Pﬁzer or Moderna or one dose of Johnson & Johnson] is key and important — that’s considered fully vaccinated. Some individuals who are at increased

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American Players Theatre formally breaks ground on artist housing in Spring Green

Jay Rath, Wisconsin Examiner You no longer have to go to Brooklyn to buy a bridge. An hour west of Madison are three you can have for the low, low price of free. The historic steel truss bridges connect two islands and the north and south shores of the Wisconsin River at Lone Rock, on Wisconsin Highway 130. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is oﬀering them free, and will even kick in funds to assist in their removal. A new $34.5 million bridge will be constructed approximately 900 feet to the west of the existing sructures. Its construction could begin as early as next fall, with completion by the end of 2024. The current bridges were built between 1932 and 1943. They are 80, 550 and 640 feet in length. They’ve been beloved landmarks for boaters, an evocative backdrop for senior photos, and a Mayberry-esque welcome to the Richland County village of about 900 residents. “They imbue the river and landscape with so much character and nostalgia,” says area resident Jim Doherty. But they’re functionally and structurally obsolete according to the DOT, not only because of their age but because of changing standards, such as width and load-bearing capacity. “Maybe folks these days are too worn out politically to get exercised about an old truss bridge. Or maybe these picturesque landmarks are cherished by so many locals, preservationists and tourists that a big backlash will erupt,” says Doherty, formerly an editor and writer at Smithsonian Magazine. Planning for a new crossing began in 2013. “The range of alternatives was pretty wide,” recalls Francis Schelfhout, an urban and regional planner with the DOT. “One of the considerations was removing the crossing altogether.” Instead, the department adopted an extensive preservation and maintenance approach, he says. But it became clear that “the cost of rehabilitation was approaching the cost of replacement, just to get another 20

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Photo by Hannah Jo Anderson On Monday American Players Theatre (APT) formally broke ground on their ﬁrst artist housing project. The project encompasses two buildings on Sunrise Drive in the village of Spring Green. The two multi-family, eight unit apartment buildings were approved on Sept. 22 at the Spring Green Village Board meeting. Work has already started on the site, with a timeline having the buildings completed by Fall 2022. “It struck me just how major this project is for us at APT. It’s really hard to imagine the impact, when you see the scale, and what it will do for the community,” said APT Managing Director Carrie Van Hallgren. “We hope that what we’re doing encourages more housing development in this remarkable community, that it keeps people here, that it encourages growth, that it continues to make Spring Green and this region among the best places to work.” Pictured, left to right: APT Board President Robert R. Birkhauser, Artistic Director Brenda DeVita, Operations Manager Cari Stebbins, Board Director Laurel Brown, Trustee Emeritus Stephen D. Brown, Van Hallgren.

State announces current round of internet expansion grants; big carriers get little to nothing Frontier, Charter and TDS had asked for tens of millions in funding Peter Cameron, The Badger Project Local telecommunications companies, utilities and cooperatives were the big winners in the most recent, $100 million grant round of public funding for the expansion in Wisconsin of high-speed internet, also known as broadband National and statewide companies like Frontier, Charter, TDS and AT&T mostly saw their requests denied. The state announced the grant recipients earlier this month. Some of the biggest winners were in the Driftless Area, where the rolling hills and forests can make wireless internet spotty. 24-7 Telcom, a telecommunications company, and Pierce

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opinion/Editorial

Thursday, October 28, 2021

EDITORIAL: APT made the right choice on housing, this area is worth investing in

In the words of the fantastic and immensely creative Brenda DaVita, who needs no introduction, at American Players Theatre’s artist housing groundbreaking ceremony on Monday:

“Goddammit, we needed to build some housing!” No truer words have perhaps been said in the Spring Green area. We ﬁnd ourselves in the perrennial position of having a lack of aﬀordable housing in

the Valley, both in ownership and rent. This isn’t the first time we’ve spoken on affordable housing, nor will it be the last. We are unable to go a week in the community without residents bringing up the issue — and for fair reason. It used to be that the concern of smalltown rural America was in retaining young families and staving off their exit to the cities or suburbia in search of employment, if ever recruiting them at all. The pandemic has shown us that many professional jobs can be done

remotely and the Valley is in no shortage of skilled trade jobs as well. The jobs are here, or able to be remotely performed here, the issue is in lack of aﬀordable housing stock for both young families and seniors looking to age in place in an area that oﬀers so much in terms of both arts & culture and outdoors & recreation, and more. “We’ve been waiting for new housing stock for so long. It is the biggest problem we have in our town,” said Spring Green Village President Robin

Reid at the ceremony. “I hope that it jumpstarts more apartments out here in this area.” In investing in this area by taking action to create aﬀordable housing for its artists, APT is saying that this area is indeed worth investing in — and we couldn’t agree more. The entire Valley is worth investing in and we hope APT’s decision spurs growth by other developers that see the value in people young and old wanting to call the greater Spring Green area home.

Community Column — The Plain and Simple Correspondent: DeLiver DeMail or DePart, DarnIt Katie Green, The Plain and Simple Correspondent Twenty-five hundred years ago the Greek historian, Herodotus, wrote, “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these courageous couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds,” and at some point this became the de facto motto of the United States Post Office. (It’s not an official motto, though.) I grew up quoting these stirring words but would the younger generations know what we of a certain age were talking about if we spouted them? And does the phrase “swift completion” still have relevance? In 1775, Benjamin Franklin became the first Postmaster General of the United States, appointed by the Continental Congress, and the postal service was duly authorized by the Constitution as an essential public service — one of the few agencies so-authorized. Before that, Franklin had been in charge of the postal service for the colonies under Great Britain and learned how to keep the mail flowing — or, anyway, he did his best. Those were the prehistoric days before telephone, telegraph, let alone email, so if you wanted to transact business or pass on your gossip and news to family, friends, and colleagues you had to write something down, pay for a stamp, and entrust it to the mails. “Swift” delivery was a matter of interpretation — weather conditions, internal strife such as wars, brigands, and so forth determined the outcome, but it beat having to travel days at a time on horseback, by coach, or walk to speak to other people in person. You can learn the history of the P.O. on line or by visiting the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in Washington D.C. — which I’m sure is a turn-on for stamp collectors and others of an inquiring mind. My love affair with mail is typical of those my age. When I was young it was still the age of letter writing as an art, as well as a necessity. Long distance telephone calls cost an arm and a leg and were reserved for special occasions. In my family a perfect blizzard of letters were exchanged between us and distant relatives and friends every week. In grammar school everyone in my class was assigned a pen pal and for the next few years I corresponded with a boy in Zaragoza, Spain. That was almost the extent of my eagerly-anticipated personal mail as a youngster, but the other mail that came from grandparents, etc. was read aloud to the whole family. I could

tell who each letter was from simply by a glance at the envelope, seeing the unique handwriting of each person. My father traveled a lot so a communication from him was of supreme importance and added piquancy to the wait at the post office. Mail was not delivered to our door, and we lived four miles from the nearest village. The post office was a meeting place in my small village, where many gathered each afternoon after the mail stages had arrived with mail from East and West. Folks stood in the long, dim hall, chatting and watching while the post mistress sorted the mail into the glass-fronted boxes with the numerals inscribed on the outside in gold leaf. To a certain extent I see the same pleasant community function playing out in Plain and Spring Green, as friends bump into each other in line to transact business with postal clerks and stay to catch up on each other’s doings. As a kid, we could hand off our outgoing mail at the bottom of the driveway by the stump of a huge tree by waiting for the East-bound stage to come by. This chore was considered a special privilege granted to whichever child was asked to fulfill it. Nowadays I can rush out to greet my postal delivery gal and thank her for weighing the letter or packet I sent the day before that might not have had enough postage on it, and briefly ask after her health. I know that she and other carriers are part of the network of caring that all communities, especially rural ones, count on. They keep an eye out for anything unusual that might indicate illness or accident as they go their rounds, reporting to authorities when mail sits in a box for days. I appreciate the exceptional friendliness and helpfulness of my last three carriers, all women, in rural Spring Green, Madison, and now Plain. And the capable personnel working the counters at individual post offices aren’t the problem. The work is complex and there are hazards — exposure to germs and frustrated customers, for example. Traffic accidents along the road. A few years back, anthrax was mailed to some politicians by unprincipled individuals and postal workers were made ill. At least one died. Mail bombs are another hazard which have killed and maimed employees. The motivation for raising the subject of the Postal Service is my current discontent with policies made at the national level that have caused my business and

Photo contributed by Katie Green personal life to suffer — first class mail and book rate takes far too long to get to its destination or doesn’t arrive at all (and even if you insure parcels, just try to get your money back – not even postal clerks have been successful in helping me do that). The cost of stamps and other mail rates are rising dizzyingly fast, the local post office hours have been curtailed. ...don’t get me started on these, among other indignities. Congress has starved the postal system for funds for many years. Both political parties seem to have forgotten how dependent upon mail delivery ordinary people are for prescriptions, news, and doing business. It’s high time we remind our elected representatives of their duty to ensure this vital public service. There are increasing calls for the resignation of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. He announced a calculated slowdown of mail delivery, which was guaranteed to cause inconvenience and delays for the public. Moving into the realm of the ridiculous, as soon as he assumed office in early 2020, he banned overtime for carriers during high volume times (think Christmas!), and gutted the infrastructure by firing 23 top managers who oversaw day-to-day operations and hundreds of other employees. He removed many mailboxes from city streets, dismantled high-speed mail sorting machines. All this was happening just before the 2020 election. He delayed millions of mail-in ballots from reaching voters and he refused to follow a judge’s ruling to send in missing mail-in ballots on election night. To make matters clear, he has long been an advocate of privatizing the post office so that fat cats like himself can make money off of citizens.

A major contributor to Republican Party candidates, specifically Mr. Trump (who in a t.v. interview admitted to intentionally blocking funds for the P.O. to hinder mail-in ballots), DeJoy owns or has major shares in over a dozen companies that are awarded juicy contracts by the Post Office. Why should any governmental official of either party be allowed to line his pocket while increasing the cost and decreasing the efficiency of using the postal service, not to mention being able to manipulate and sabotage the election system this way? There are rules about conflicts of interest, but he did not comply with them. Out! Out! We deserve a competent and honest public servant in his place to get the postal system back on track to protect its employees and customers. The Post Office still has a monopoly on first class mail world-wide, but it has lost much of its parcel business to private carriers such as UPS, FedEx, and Amazon, all of which cost more to use than regular mail. And of course, email has made it only too easy to send an immediate communication. But is it really an improvement when your email account is bombarded by hundreds of emails per day, almost none of which you asked for or wanted to receive? They increase exponentially, like rabbits. Well, I want to receive a nice personal card or letter from someone who loves me in today’s mail and I have forbidden my carrier to bring me a stack of begging letters. Alas, she can’t always accomplish that goal, but she is unfailingly cheerful and efficient. Now, back to writing to my longtime faithful correspondent, Carol, on a beautiful card with monarch butterflies on it... and hope it gets to her.

Commentary: We are losing the values good journalism taught O. Ricardo Pimentel, Wisconsin Examiner Everyone should be a journalist. The problem is, few people understand what journalism really is, yet everyone with a social media account is a selfstyled journalist these days. Hence the rampant embrace of myriad crackpot beliefs. We are all familiar with these fact-free notions that have stained our collective consciousness like red wine on white shag carpet. For instance: • 911 was an inside job. • Lee Harvey Oswald was just the fall guy for the real shooter behind the grassy knoll. • The moon landing didn’t happen. Beliefs such as these are essentially

harmless. They can even be debated at your family holiday gathering or local bar and elicit nothing more than polite nods and charitable but dismissive smiles. No matter how far-fetched, some conspiracy theories do not directly harm others. There are, however, more pernicious beliefs that do real harm. To name just a few: • Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election, which Donald Trump won. • COVID-19 vaccines are unsafe. These are not harmless. The Big Lie about the stolen election has allowed a lot of people who know better to promote or allow actions

that threaten to permanently disable democracy and its institutions. It has allowed our leaders to treat the violent Jan.6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and the attempt to thwart the results of a legitimate election as just another harmless protest by civic-minded do-gooders. The eﬀort to kill democracy is a serious threat. Meanwhile the eﬀort to sow doubt about vaccines has already killed or sickened thousands of people. Expert CDC guidance shows that the unvaccinated are 11 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than the vaccinated. Anti-vaxxers have been with us for a while, but these new ones are toying with others’ lives during a pandemic. We have not reached herd immunity

and new more dangerous variants of the virus will continue to develop as long as people refuse to get a vaccine. Yes, the anti-vaxxers are a minority. U.S. vaccination rates are nearing 200 million — about 57% of the population. Employers have been requiring vaccinations or proof of negative COVID tests even before President Biden’s mandate takes eﬀect for employers with 100 or more employees. But the damage done by vaccine resisters undermines this progress. How did we reach this life-or-death moment for so many Americans, and for our democracy?

continued on page 3

Thursday, October 28, 2021 Page 3 Commentary/Regional Misinformation is not harmless — this is a life-or-death moment for our democracy continued from page 2

Let’s return to this notion that everyone should be a journalist. By this, I don’t mean simply knowing how to gather facts but how to be a consumer of news — of facts. It is a lost art. Journalists have a job that sounds simple but is complex — to ferret out true facts and present them as useful information that allows the reader or viewer to become informed and to make good decisions. These decisions run the gamut from whether a movie is worth spending money on at the theater to what a candidate stands for or what a government policy actually does. And the stories that present these facts are themselves vetted, which means other sets of eyeballs look again at those facts. The facts are fact-checked. This, despite the constant attacks on mainstream media, is what real mainstream journalists do. And what social media “journalists” often do not. Real journalists gather facts in pursuit of a story. The facts with credible sources get in the story. And if there are counter-facts, these, too, are scruti-

nized. One welcome change, rising out of a long-running debate about journalistic objectivity, is that news has grudgingly moved beyond the he-said, she-said variety in which every point of view is presented as having equal value to its opposite. Journalists now take the added steps of telling you how different presentations of the facts stack up against each other. Real journalists rely on fact-based truth, which is to say truths with facts that are credibly and reliably sourced. In social media, facts don’t have to be credibly and reliably sourced. If they sound true – if they fit because they confirm people’s existing beliefs – that’s good enough. People who view themselves as fulfilling the role of journalists spread misinformation to an audience that is eager to have its pre-existing biases confirmed. But the real crux of the matter is that so many people have forgotten how to be news consumers — how to vet facts. We can blame social media for how misinformation has saturated the

landscape, but the real culprit are those unable or unwilling to vet their information. Look, no one is saying — real journalists least of all — that government and scientific pronouncements are to be immediately and absolutely trusted. Journalists make a living from being skeptical. We view our public watchdog role as paramount. It’s a cliché among journalists: If your mother says she loves you, check it out. My beef is with people who don’t check it out. Said another way, they don’t scrutinize the credibility of the sources of their “facts.” They believe what they want to believe. Armed with social media accounts, they fancy themselves journalists, but don’t even know how to be knowledgeable news consumers. Don’t believe me? Check it out – rather, check out your sources and compare them to scientific consensus. If a belief is an outlier, check out where the outlier view is coming from and whether there is evidence to support it. There’s an old joke that speaks to how difficult it is to convince those who are

contrary for contrarianism’s sake: Two conspiracy theorists go to heaven. First thing, St. Peter says, “Let’s get something straight. 911 wasn’t an inside job, Oswald assassinated JFK alone and the U.S. really landed on the moon.” At which point, one conspiracy theorist whispers to the other, “What did I tell you? It goes right to the top.” For heaven’s sake, be good news consumers. O. Ricardo Pimentel has been a journalist for about 40 years. He was most recently the editorial page editor for the San Antonio Express-News in Texas; the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel before that. He has also worked in various editing and reporting positions in newspapers in California, Arizona, Texas and Washington D.C., where he covered Congress, federal agencies and the Supreme Court for McClatchy Newspapers. He is the author of two novels and lives in Wisconsin.

Publicly-run Reedsburg Utility Commission huge beneﬁciary of broadband grants continued from page 1 Pepin Cooperative Services, an electric distribution cooperative, are both moving aggressively to partner with smaller municipalities to bury ﬁber-optic cable for high-speed internet in northwestern Wisconsin. 24-7 Telcom applied for more than $13 million and got about $10.5 million. Pierce Pepin received approval for all $6.7 million of its requests. The Reedsburg Utility Commission, perhaps the only publicly-run internet provider in the state, applied for about $12 million and got more than $9 million to continue expanding its existing network.

Burying ﬁber-optic cable in the ground is one of the fastest and most consistent ways to deliver internet, because weather, topography and trees don’t interfere, experts say, but it’s also expensive to build the infrastructure. The return on that investment is lower in sparsely-populated rural areas with fewer customers, which has led big, publicly-traded companies to focus on more populous, and thus more proﬁtable, urban areas. The list of winners shows that Wisconsin “is serious about making sure rural areas have very high-quality internet service,” said Christopher Mitchell, director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative, a Minnesota-based

think tank that aids communities’ telecommunications efforts. “These public dollars are going to local service providers that are committed to their communities rather than the biggest national monopolies that offer an efficiency mirage,” Mitchell said. “Big monopolies like AT&T and Frontier have received billions in public dollars over the years while delivering very little to rural residents and businesses. Now we will see what local companies, cooperatives, and local governments can do to provide better services with some help from the taxpayers.” Frontier and TDS applied for about $35 million and $29 million, respectively, but got nothing in this round of

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So we’re launching a Subscription Drive to 300 campaign to get Valley Sentinel to that goal of 300 subscribers! and not passing on the cost to our most important asset — our readers. However, the more subscribers we have (especially those we can deliver to in the local area) the more opportunities unlock for us to be able to bring you bigger and better news each week and stay plugged into the local community without worrying about whether or not we can print. Want to help distribute Valley Sentinel? More subscriptions mean more routes, and our distribution intern is back at college so we’re looking for help distributing the paper! Want to enjoy scenic fall drives or a walk around town and assist in connecting our businesses, subscribers and community? Whether for fun or for volunteer experience, just one village, route, or all of them, we’d be happy to have you! Interested? Email: editor@valleysentinelnews.com

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

grant funding. Charter Communications, also known as Spectrum, applied for more than $39 million in grants. It got about $3.9 million for projects in the counties of Kenosha, Racine and Walworth and in the town of Janesville. AT&T asked for $3.5 million, but was blanked. From 2015 to 2020, Frontier and TDS received about $180 million and $80 million, respectively, from the federal programs for broadband expansion in Wisconsin. AT&T received more than $45 million in federal funds for projects in the state in that same time frame.

Contributors Arts & Culture/Editorial Columns Graphic Design/Pagination Bill Gordon Grace Vosen Anna Stocks-Hess Arts & Culture/Editorial Sports Editorial Intern Alison Graves Mike McDermott Adeline Holte Arts Community/Opinion Sports/Photography Intern Jen Salt Katie Green Kalen Scott Our team will be growing and changing as we settle into publishing regularly, please stay in touch. Thank you to all of our contributors for believing in our community.

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Community

Thursday, October 28, 2021

Lone Rock has a bridge to sell you, literally. Actually three bridges, as deadline is extended

continued from page 1

years of life [from the bridges], versus 75 to 100 years with a new structure.” Bridges by their very nature seem to evoke deep feelings, framing a journey from near to far, hanging unchanged over ever-changing waters. They’ve inspired creation of preservation advocacy groups such as HistoricBridges.org and the Historic Bridge Foundation, both of which oﬀer resources and counsel. Wisconsin has 28 bridges on the National Register of Historic Places. La Crosse County alone has six. The Lone Rock bridges have been found eligible for nomination to the register. Among their fans is the Wisconsin Department of Transportation itself. “Our goal is to preserve them,” says Schelfhout. “It’s just that the DOT isn’t in the business of historic structures. We’re in the business of transportation.” Hence the give-away. Schelfhout is not new to this sort of thing. He estimates that during his 20 years at the department he’s already tried to

give away ﬁve bridges. So who takes them? Municipalities? People with large creeks? Wealthy eccentrics? “All of the above,” says Schelfhout. Bridges are moved to parks, pedestrian and bike trails and even to ﬂat ground. In the case of new uses and new owners for any of the Lone Rock trio, “public access will weigh in the highest priority,” he says. Proximity will also be important, to maintain context. Around 30 inquiries from potential new owners have been received so far. The DOT’s most recent informational meeting in Lone Rock was held last Wednesday evening. Around 50 attended. On display were designs for interpretive panels that will be placed near the new crossing, celebrating the three historic bridges. The deadline for those interested to request ownership materials has been extended from Oct. 31 to Nov. 30. To request an information package, please email Sue Barker at Susan.Barker@ mbakerintl.com or call (608) 821-8712.

Photo by Jay Rath, Wisconsin Examiner The southernmost of three Lone Rock bridges that are being given away by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Mix and match vaccines? DHS answers frequently asked questions as situation evolves continued from page 1 risk either due to age, occupation or medical condition may need an additional dose, but that is not part of what we consider fully vaccinated.

Have Wisconsin nursing homes started giving booster shots?

Schauer: Yes. There are individuals in long-term care facilities who are immunocompromised and are receiving third doses. Many long-term care facilities, when we initially rolled [the vaccine] out, were receiving the Moderna vaccine. The new information is now the authorization to start [booster shots for those folks who have received Moderna.

The CDC guidance is now saying that people can mix and match vaccines — for example, if you got the Pﬁzer vaccine, you could get a Moderna booster. Are there any recommendations for staying with the same brand if you are getting a booster?

Westergaard: Both the FDA authorization and the ACIP [Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices] clinical recommendations allowed for mixing and matching the vaccine. They’re not recommending that people use a different combination of vaccines, and we don’t have any evidence that one mixture or one regimen is better than any other. We do have evidence that all the vaccine products are safe and eﬀective, and there has been some clinical data that they have been used in combination successfully and safely. The rationale behind allowance mixing doses was to provide more ﬂexibility. But the main data presented was for booster doses in the same category. So as a clinician, I would consider that to be the default. And the primary recommendation is to use the same product for all three doses — or two doses if it’s the Johnson & Johnson — but there’s evidence that it’s safe to do otherwise. We don’t have any evidence comparing one regimen head to head, so we don’t make a recommendation to do one way or the other.

Will the doses of vaccine be ready once the 5-to-11 age group is ready for the vaccine?

Schauer: Wisconsin has been allocated an allotment of pediatric vaccine in anticipation of their approval. Vaccinators need to have a number of steps in place before they can actually start vaccinating; vaccine is just one of them. They need to ensure that they have all of the proper clinical guidance and recommendations from ACIP in writing, because it’s important as we move into the new groups that everybody is doing this safely and consistently. They need to make sure they have the appropriate fact sheets and that they’ve trained staﬀ.

There’s an art and a science to vaccinating pediatric patients. We’re doing all that we can to prepare vaccinators in advance to ensure that they have properly trained staﬀ.

With the addition of boosters, will we see vaccine mandate requirements change from requiring individuals to be “fully vaccinated” to requiring them to be “up to date on their COVID-19 vaccination”?

Westergaard: [It] remains our goal for everybody to get a primary vaccine series. We can look at boosters as a way to optimize or maximize the benefit, or to make sure that benefit lasts longer. But I think we’re still considering the primary series to be the key difference between someone who is at risk of severe COVID-19 and someone whose risk has been dramatically reduced through vaccination. There are still many millions of people in the country that haven’t received their initial series. Our public health priority is to promote the primary vaccine series as the way to prevent hospitalizations and deaths.

How does booster availability aﬀect how the state is managing supplies of vaccinations, including wasted doses and the lack of demand in particular areas?

Schauer: It’s important to note that vaccinators have been able to order the amount of vaccine that they need. In anticipation, they’re going ahead and ensuring that they have appropriate vaccine and making sure that the public is aware through vaccines.gov. Vaccination has plateaued a bit, but we anticipate with more people now being eligible for these booster doses, that we will see that amount go up. Where clinics are administering doses, it can either be boosters, or it can be the primary series. The important thing is that vaccine continues to be administered, and that we’re not losing any opportunity to provide vaccine versus letting unopened vials sit in the refrigerator and not providing any protection to anyone.

Some parents of small children have been impatient to see ﬁnal approval for vaccines for 5- to 11-year-olds. What message would you want to give to people who seem to feel that the FDA and CDC are not recognizing the urgency to expand that accessibility?

Westergaard: As a parent of a 9-year-old and an 11-year-old, I consider myself among the group that is maybe impatient or eagerly awaiting that decision — but not among those who feel like the regulatory authorities are not acting with the appropriate urgency. One of the things that has required the process to take longer for the younger age groups is making sure that we’re giving the right dose. It’s not enough to

say, ‘We’ve got a safe and effective vaccine for adults, let’s just extrapolate and give that to our children,’ for a couple of reasons. One is that they’re smaller; many medicine doses are weight-based; [younger children] may not need as high of a dose, and the risk of side effects might be higher with a higher dose than a lower dose. So it wasn’t something that’s in anyone’s interest to make a guess about. We needed the data to show what dose is optimal for younger people with smaller bodies. For people who think that the process is not happening fast enough, I’m sympathetic to that. But the process is so critically important, and it’s, in my opinion, so appropriately rigorous, because when we start making recommendations for millions of children, we want to be able to stand behind very solid science that we’re recommending something for which the benefits clearly outweigh the risks. We need to have very good studies that are carefully conducted, and that’s what we have. That’s what the FDA is going to be reviewing [this] week. And then, if the FDA authorizes it for that younger age group, then the clinical experts from ACIP will scrutinize the data again and make clinical recommendations. The process can’t be kicked off fast enough for those of us who are eager to get our children immunized, but it’s happening as fast as it can, and that’s something that we should all be very, very proud about and have a lot of trust in this process.

Why is the Johnson & Johnson booster proposed to be offered for anyone 18 and older after two months, whereas the Moderna and Pfizer are first recommending them for people who are at risk for increased exposure and after six months?

Westergaard: The recommendation reflects what the evidence says is appropriate. They’re different because these vaccines are different kinds, they were developed with a different strategy and tested a different time, with [for Johnson & Johnson] a single dose as opposed to a two-dose series initially. The recommendations are based on the science that’s been generated as we’ve observed these first six to nine months after the vaccine has been in use.

When shots become available for 5- to 11-year-olds, will that take place at a pediatrician’s oﬃce, at clinics or at schools?

Schauer: We’re really looking towards the broad, robust network of vaccinators that we already have in place. Pediatricians and primary care are a couple of the really important ones. Also we’re talking about local health departments, pharmacies, and schools may be planning clinics on site at school, either during the school day or after school hours when parents can bring their

children. It’s going to require a broad network of vaccinators to go ahead and continue vaccinating not only the pediatric patients, but also all of the other individuals who are either presenting for primary series, or now who may be eligible for boosters. We’ve got over 2,000 registered COVID-19 vaccine providers and are continuing to encourage them and provide information, making sure that they are ready to vaccinate those younger folks when it becomes available.

Has the DHS staﬀ begun discussing or planning in anticipation of COVID-19 becoming an endemic and perhaps seasonal disease, perhaps requiring regular boosters annually?

Westergaard: The advance planning acknowledges that this virus is going to be with us for some time. It’s already been shown that single doses of vaccines don’t confer lifelong protection. And we don’t have anywhere near 100% uptake of vaccines. So the probability that this SARS-CoV-2 virus is going to continue to circulate around the world is nearly assured. Time will tell whether vaccine boosters will be a more regular thing. There are some vaccine series [for other illnesses] for which three doses is a complete series, and you don’t need another one. As everyone knows, there are other vaccines like influenza for which we get an annual booster. Where this fits along that spectrum, it really remains to be seen. We’ll know a year from now when we see the long term studies of people who got a booster dose six months out. The level of vaccine efficacy might wane 12 months down the line, and I anticipate there will be ongoing studies from the same vaccine manufacturers about what is the role for additional vaccines. I think we can safely predict that we are already in a situation where the virus is endemic. We’re living with it. We’re still in pandemic response mode, because we have so many people who have not been vaccinated at all, which means there’s still high stakes: We still have a lot of lives that we can save by promoting vaccination, by using the mitigation strategies to reduce transmission in the community to as low as we can. Once everyone has the opportunity to get vaccinated, we’ll have some new normal, where we live with this virus, we probably don’t wear masks indoors all the time. And then there’s some schedule by which people may or may not need additional doses. Other respiratory viruses circulate with seasonal variation; we have to prepare for bad flu seasons. We have to [confirm that] vaccines are still working, or [if it’s necessary] to modify them. I think all of those things are in our future when we talk about the future of living with SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19.

Community

Thursday, October 28, 2021 Page 5

COVID-19 Dashboard Wisconsin Summary

784,087 Positive Cases +13,280 from 10/19

Cases as of 10/26/2021

3,519,001 Negative Test Results +39,409 from 10/19

8,420 Deaths +153 from 10/19

Critically High Very High High Medium Low

covid case activity level This graph shows information on case burden and trajectory. Burden (case rate) is the total number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 Wisconsin residents in the last two weeks. Trajectory is the percent case change from the previous to the current week. These are different from Community Transmission Level, which is the total confirmed cases per 100,000 persons reported in the past 7 days. Case activity is a combination of burden and trajectory over the prior two weeks.

Iowa County

6,487,102

Administered

2,516,710

Pfizer doses administered

271,448

Moderna doses administered

Johnson & Johnson doses administered

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

+98 from 10/19 +120 from 10/19 +0 from 10/19

2,636 Positive Cases 13,778 Negative Tests 16 Deaths

Updated: 10/26/2021

3,698,939

county level weekly statistics Richland County 2,109 Positive Cases 9,524 Negative Tests 21 Deaths

Vaccine Summary Statistics

Richland

+36 from 10/19 +150 from 10/19 +1 from 10/19

Sauk County

+168 from 10/19 +408 from 10/19 +5 from 10/19

8,021 Positive Cases 41,929 Negative Tests 63 Deaths Updated: 10/26/2021

Sauk

Target Range

55.1%

59.1%

Percent with at least one vaccine dose

52.9%

56.5%

Percent fully vaccinated

Iowa

Target Range

63.9% Percent with at least one vaccine dose

62.0% Percent fully vaccinated

Cases per zip code

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

Cases as of 10/26/2021

Updated: 10/26/2021 Lower %

Richland County Ages 12-15

Iowa County

Ages 12-15

Higher %

42.2%

Percent of Wisconsin residents who have received at least one dose

55.5%

Sauk County

Ages 12-15

Updated: 10/26/2021

46.5% Dane County Ages 12-15

Graphic by Anna Stocks-Hess

Ages

81.0%

12-15 16-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

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

48.0% 52.8% 52.9% 57.4% 64.8% 65.8% 74.3% 86.2%

Page 6

Community

Thursday, October 28, 2021

COmmunitycalendar Events for October 28 - November 6 Friday, October 29 Fireside Campground Haunted House 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM . 33533 Jay Lane, Lone Rock . For kids aged 10-99 come and join us in our haunted house. Ride down to the depths of horror in our fright elevator and try to make it out alive! Our Haunted House is full of what your worst mightmares are made of. If you are one of the lucky ones to make it out of the maze and the autopsy room, you will have to trudge through the swamp where you never know what could be lurking below the depths. You may even find yourself in a bloody haunted camper where you will find something lurking around every corner! For our registered campers the haunted house will be 13.00 per person for a one time admission. For non campers the admission to the haunted house will be 15.00 per person. Our haunted house will NOT be appropriate for kids younger than 10. Free parking provided and tickets can be purchased at the white tent. Call 608-583-5111 for additional information. Highland Haunted Hayride Dusk - 10:00 PM . 5718 Hines Rd, Highland . $5 . We are so excited to be back this year and look forward to providing thrills, laughs, spooks, and all kinds of surprises!! Enjoy a 20 minute hayride through a pasture where you never know what will freak you out! End the ride in the ultimate scare zone, The Shed where anything can Happen!!! We run 3 wagons and keep things moving, may be wait time. We have snacks for sale, movie on barn wall, and bonfire. Hope to see you there!

Saturday, October 30 Pop-Up Spring Green Farmers Market 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM . S230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green . www.facebook.com/SGFMarket. Local farm fresh produce, coffee, fresh baked goods, honey, soaps & lotions, bedding plants, cut flowers, maple syrup and more. SPOOKtacular Scavenger Hunt 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM . Spring Green Community Library, S230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green . Let us help you get in the Halloween spirit! Stop in between 10 and 1 on Saturday to participate in our "SPOOKtacular Scavenger Hunt." Spooky items will be hidden throughout the library. Find them all and win a treat (no tricks, we promise)! CANCELLED — SGACC’s Halloween Creature Crawl - Trunk or Treat 3:00 PM 7:00 PM . Wisconsin Riverside Resort, S13220 Shifflet Rd, Spring Green . www.springgreen.com . Join us in our FREE Community Event! Only one family group of trick or treaters allowed at each trunk at one time to ensure social distancing. Let's make this Halloween memorable for our kids! They deserve it! Note from the Spring Green Area Chamber of Commerce: After repeated requests for “trunkers”, we were not able to fill 20 needed slots. So with a heavy heart, we have had to cancel the Halloween Creature Crawl. It truly is an event that I thought would have been well attended by trickers or treaters but we need the trunk participation to be much more than what we had registered. Fireside Campground Haunted House 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM . 33533 Jay Lane, Lone Rock . For kids aged 10-99 come and join us in our haunted house. Ride down to the depths of horror in our fright elevator and try to make it out alive! Our Haunted House is full of what your worst mightmares are made of. If you are one of the lucky ones to make it out of the maze and the autopsy room, you will have to trudge through the swamp where you never know what could be lurking below the depths. You may even find yourself in a bloody haunted camper where you will find something lurking around every corner! For our registered campers the haunted house will be 13.00 per person for a one time admission. For non campers the admission to the haunted house will be 15.00 per person. Our haunted house will NOT be appropriate for kids younger than 10. Free parking provided and tickets can be purchased at the white tent. Call 608-583-5111 for additional information. Highland Haunted Hayride Dusk - 10:00 PM . 5718 Hines Rd, Highland . $5 . We are so excited to be back this year and look forward to providing thrills, laughs, spooks, and all kinds of surprises!! Enjoy a 20 minute hayride through a pasture where you never know what will freak you out! End the ride in the ultimate scare zone, The Shed where anything can Happen!!! We run 3 wagons and keep things moving, may be wait time. We have snacks for sale, movie on barn wall, and bonfire. Hope to see you there! Halloween at Iron Amethyst Inn 4:00 PM - 10:00 PM . 21 S. State St, Mazomanie . Join us at the Iron Amethyst Inn for a Spooktacular Evening! Dress to impress in the costume of your choice. Enter to win a special prize! We will take pictures of those entering and post online for voting of best costume. Kids come get some candy! Adults enjoy our yummy fall drinks warm or cold. The Taco truck will be here. Sit by a fire and enjoy this fall season! Hope to see you there! Halloween at Wild Hills Winery 4:00 PM - 9:00 PM . 30940 Oakridge Dr., Muscoda . Come out to the hills for a spooky night at the winery! 4 pm: Twilight walk in the vineyard, 5 pm: Bonfires, DJ Mastodon DS, Food for sale by TKO BBQ, 6:30 pm: Costume contest, 7:00 pm Haunted stories by local storyteller and paranormal investigator Todd Roll. It's Hallo-WINE time! We'll also have wine specials and samples to try. See you in the hills! Abaddon's End Halloween Spooktacular and Costume Party 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM . Keg and Kettle, 104 S Oak St, Lone Rock . The Abaddon's End 1st Annual Halloween Spooktacular, live music and costume party. Sugar Mama & The Rent Check Halloween Bash 7:30 PM - 10:00 PM . Slowpoke Lounge, 137 W Jefferson St., Spring Green . www.slowpokelounge.com . Join us for this Halloween fueled costume party with Sugar Mama and the Rent Check. And yes, there will be a costume constest! Playing a mix of funk, soul and rock 'n roll, Sugar Mama and the Rent Check are a Spring Green-based band featuring Laura Burbaugh on vocals, Ellie Barta-Moran on vocals, killer tambourine and guitar, Todd Miller on lead guitar, John Christiansen on vocals and keyboard, Tim Gittings on bass and harmonica, and Rob Steffen on drums. Proof of vaccination against COVID-19 required for all Slowpoke events.

Saturday, October 30 Toe to Toe with Jimmy Joe — Cancer Benefit 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM . Arena VFW Post, 514 Willow Street, Arena . Jimmy Joe Johnson is in the ultimate fight for his life, as he recently recieved a diagnosis of Stage 4 Lung Cancer. To help offset his bills we will be holding a benefit. Silent auction, pie/dessert auction, Packer pool, 50/50 raffle, meat raffle, jam session, food and more.

Sunday, October 31 Free Hot Dogs and Treats 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM . Plain Fire Station, 1045 Cedar Street, Plain Treats at the Fire Station 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM . Arena Fire Station, 111 David Circle, Arena

Monday, November 1 Slowpoke Trivia Night 6:30 PM . Slowpoke Lounge, 137 W Jeﬀerson St., Spring Green . www.slowpokelounge.com . Join us for a night of Trivia! Kyle Adams will host as we put teams together for a contest of trivia. Come for the prizes, stay for the fun! First Question at 7:00 - and it should last about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Proof of vaccination against COVID-19 required for all Slowpoke events.

Tuesday, November 2 APT — Spring Green Night: Taming of the Shrew 7:30 PM . American Players Theatre, 5950 Golf Course Rd, Spring Green . Special Spring Green Night ticket price: $25 for River Valley School District residents of Taming of the Shrew in the Touchstone Theatre. Use promo code SG21 at checkout or mention it at the Box Oﬃce or call by phone: 608-588-2361. www.americanplayers.org Fall Outdoor Storytime 10:15 AM - 10:45 AM . Plain Kraemer Library and Community Center, 910 Main St, Plain . www.kraemerlibrary.org . Storytimes lasts about 30 minutes (no one gets oﬀended if your child doesn’t last this long!) and is aimed for families with children ages 0-6 with themed songs and stories.

Wednesday, November 3 Family Outdoor Storytime 10:00 AM . Spring Green Community Library, 230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green . www.springgreenlibrary.org . Join us for stories, songs, and fun. Meet on the library's east lawn. Seating pads are provided for children; adults please bring a chair or blanket to sit on. APT — Spring Green Night: Taming of the Shrew 7:30 PM . American Players Theatre, 5950 Golf Course Rd, Spring Green . Special Spring Green Night ticket price: $25 for River Valley School District residents of Taming of the Shrew in the Touchstone Theatre. Use promo code SG21 at checkout or mention it at the Box Oﬃce or call by phone: 608-588-2361. www.americanplayers.org

Saturday, November 6 Pop-Up Spring Green Farmers Market 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM . S230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green . www.facebook.com/SGFMarket. Local farm fresh produce, coffee, fresh baked goods, honey, soaps & lotions, bedding plants, cut flowers, maple syrup and more. DALC: Annual Sandhill Crane Viewing 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM . This popular event is back in-person after last year's cancellation, and will be held entirely outdoors. Join the Driftless Area Land Conservancy to learn from crane experts and get a prime view of the crane migration near Spring Green. Registration is required and you can sign up at www.driftlessconservancy.org. Sandhill crane viewing will be held on a private property. The location is approximately six miles east of Spring Green off of Highway 60. The exact address will be sent via email before Saturday, November 6th. Light refreshments will be provided. Try Hockey For Free 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM . 600 N. Bennett Road, Dodgeville . TThe Ice Wolves Youth Hockey Association is excited to host Try Hockey For Free! This event is designed to provide kids ages 4 to 9 the opportunity to try hockey in a FUN, safe environment with trained coaching staff. No experience necessary! There will be assistance on hand to be sure your child has the best experience and answer any questions. Honey Pies 6:30 PM . Slowpoke Lounge, 137 W Jefferson St., Spring Green . www.slowpokelounge.com . The Honey Pies is an exciting collaboration of Madison-based music veterans. Displaying a formidable range of musical backgrounds and notable depth of experience, The Honey Pies apply crystal vocal harmonies and virtuoso instrumental skills to the best of traditional, contemporary, and original Americana music. Tickets $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Proof of vaccination against COVID-19 required for all Slowpoke events.

Reminder The risk of participating in a certain activity depends on many factors. Because of this, there’s no way to assign risk levels to certain actions. That’s why it’s important to consider your own situation and the risks for you, your family, and your community.

Here are some important guidelines to help ensure everyone’s safety: Get vaccinated. Stay at least 6 feet away from other people when possible. Wash hands frequently. Wear a mask.

Stay home when sick. Get tested if you have symptoms or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. Avoid crowded and poorly ventilated indoor spaces when possible.

Taken from: www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/community.htm

Schools/Regional

Thursday, October 28, 2021 Page 7

Three RVHS choir students invited to WSMA State Honors Concerts After an intense audition, a hybrid summer camp and rehearsal process, 403 of the ﬁnest young musicians in Wisconsin are about to unite for the peak of what could be the most rewarding musical experience of their lives – the Wisconsin School Music Association (WSMA) High School State Honors concerts. These concerts are attended by students, parents, teachers, alumni and general public from around the state and beyond, and mark the highest point of the 2021 WSMA High School State Honors Music Project: High School State Honors Orchestra and Band Concert Thursday, October 28, 4:30 p.m., $18 at door Overture Center, 201 State Street, Madison High School State Honors Treble Choir and Mixed Choir Concert Thursday, October 28, 8 p.m., $18 at door Overture Center, 201 State Street, Madison High School State Honors Jazz Ensemble Concert Friday, October 29, 11:30 a.m., $16 at door Monona Terrace, One John Nolen Drive, Madison Please note: All concert attendees must wear a face mask and show proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test. “The public is encouraged to attend the concerts, which celebrate the accomplishments of these students and the overall positive impact of music education on their lives. The concerts also commemorate dedicated music

Photo by via Rebecca Schinker, RVHS Choir Teacher Pictured from left to right: Gigi Royko Maurer (WSMA State Honors Treble Choir), Nicholas Daniel (WSMA State Honors Mixed Choir), and Josh Maes (WSMA State Honors Jazz Ensemble). teachers throughout Wisconsin, many of whom will be in Madison attending these events in conjunction with the annual Wisconsin State Music Conference,” said Victoria Donahue, WSMA program director. The WSMA State Honors Music Project brings some of Wisconsin’s top young musicians together with nationally known conductors in a highly disciplined, professional setting. These State Honors students were in grades 9, 10 and 11 at the time of spring auditions and selected from more than 1,200 who auditioned. When students come together for the ﬁrst time in June at the summer camp for High School State Honors, they meet their conductor, section coaches

and each other. The summer camp this year consisted of three days of virtual rehearsal and one day of in-person rehearsal at Lincoln High School in Wisconsin Rapids. The day of in-person instruction allowed students to rehearse as an ensemble with their conductor while following COVID-19 CDC guidelines. Through the rehearsals with the conductors, students become uniﬁed in one common musical goal. After camp students remain in contact with their section coaches, conductors and each other as they continue to hone that common goal which culminates in their performance at the concerts. For more information about the WSMA State Honors Music Project and other programs, go to wsmamusic.org.

Founded in 1932, Wisconsin School Music Association (WSMA) is a non-profit service organization with more than 1,000 member public and private schools. Students from member schools are eligible to participate in WSMA programs, such as District and State Music Festivals, Concert Festivals, State Honors Music Project, State Marching Band Championships, Student Composition Project and WSMA Aca U. WSMA is governed by a board of directors made up of superintendents, principals and other officers from all over the state. WSMA believes music is a basic human need and that all children have the right to experience all that music offers them.

Marklein: ‘We are connecting new homes, businesses and organizations every day’ continued from page 3 Experts say those federal programs were poorly targeted and poorly enforced. That led to big internet service providers doing things like putting the huge sums of federal cash into more proﬁtable urban places. Rural areas were generally ignored, experts say. This time, the federal funds were distributed by the state. After Wisconsin got more than $2.5 billion in federal stimulus funding from the American Recovery Plan Act, passed by Democrats in March, Gov. Tony Evers set aside $100 million for what he called a “ﬁrst round” of broadband expansion grants. The Wisconsin Public Service Commission evaluates and distributes the grants. The PSC does the same for

broadband expansion grants with money from the state budget. State Sen. Jeﬀ Smith, a Democrat from the Eau Claire area who has advocated for government to be more active in expanding high-speed internet in rural areas, said giving public funds to smaller providers was a “good approach.” “If we are using taxpayer money for broadband expansion, it must continue going to these areas that are considered ‘not proﬁtable’ by internet service providers,” he said in an email. “Hopefully, with Governor Evers’ leadership, we will continue seeing grants going to the areas that need it the most.” State Sen. Howard Marklein, a Republican from Spring Green who has taken a more pro-business approach to rural broadband expansion, said the state is

making progress in connecting places without coverage. “Telecommunications companies are working hard to partner with local stakeholders to create projects that are reaching more and more people in every cycle,” he said in an email. “Combine Wisconsin’s grant programs with all of the federal investments statewide and we are connecting new homes, businesses and organizations every day.” The PSC awards funding based on several criteria, including whether a project is in an area unserved or underserved by internet providers, scalability, impact, matching funds, applicant capacity and performance, service aﬀordability, economic development and public-private partnership, PSC spokesman Jerel Ballard said.

Evers called the $100 million in federal funds he set aside in July a “ﬁrst round” of broadband expansion, but has not yet announced additional rounds. The PSC also has another $129 million in state funds budgeted for broadband expansion for the next two years. It has not yet announced when it will start accepting grant applications for the next round. The Badger Project is a nonpartisan, citizen-supported journalism nonproﬁt in Wisconsin.

Questions about broadband or getting access to internet resources? Call the PSC at: 608-267-3595

Business/Professional

Directory ork y W red t i l a u •Qu lly Ins ates •Fu e Estim e •Fr

J J and

Total Lawn Care

M-F Sat 8am-5p 8am -noo m n E4792 Kennedy Rd.

and

Snow Removal

James Harwood •608-588-2453•

Reserve a spot in our business/professional directory! Add $30 to any ad order or as a stand-alone ad and you’ll be added to the next week’s business/professional directory.

•Natural double shredded oak bark mulch - $30/yard •Colored decorative mulch Red-Brown-Gold-Orange - $30/yard •Free delivery to the River Valley area (min. 2 yards) •Other landscape supplies available! Gravel-Boulders-Screened Topsoil-Sand, etc.

We offer complete landscape and lawn care service •Full Landscaping from start to finish •Lawn Mowing We’ re y •Plantings stop our on sho e •Grading & Seedings p! •Bark Spreading •Limestone & Boulder Retaining Walls

Business card sized, full color ad. Perfect for top-of-mind awareness. Want to run it every week? $750 for 6 months, $1000 for 1 year (26% discount, $19.23 /week).

“The good stuﬀ.”

Page 8

Outdoors/recreation

Thursday, October 28, 2021

Gard Theater showing ‘E.T. the Extra Terrestrial’ Halloween Weekend Children in costumes admitted free Bill Gordon, Arts & Culture Contributor Steven Spielberg’s family movie classic, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial takes place during Halloween, so what better time to present this nearly 40-year old beloved film to a new generation of children. Spring Green’s Gard Theater will show the movie at 7PM this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (Halloween). Children in Halloween costume will be admitted at no charge. E.T. the Extra Terrestrial is the delightful story of a lovable, quirky alien on a covert botanical research mission on earth. He is accidentally left behind and befriended by nine-year old Elliott (Henry Thomas) as the creature strives to return to his home. This 1982 film was the highest grossing movie ever and held that record for over ten years. I’m old enough to have watched this film upon its initial release, and in preparation for this article I watched it again. While E.T. is a hit with the kids, it’s completely suitable for adults as well and that’s part of its appeal. It’s a mixture of science fiction with a dash of fantasy (think flying bicycle) in a family-friendly, heart-warming story. E.T. is one of the few “alien” movies where children are central characters (including six-year old Drew Barrymore as Elliot’s little sister, Gertie). Add Steven Spielberg’s extraordinary direction and John Williams moving soundtrack, and you have movie magic. Some E.T. the Extra Terrestrial trivia

Photo via American Cinematographer Magazine/Universal Pictures from IMDb: 1) Spielberg shot most of the ﬁlm from the eye-level of a child to further connect with Elliott and E.T. 2) At the auditions, Henry Thomas thought about the day his dog died to express sadness (including crying). Spielberg was touched while watching the audition and oﬀered Thomas the role of Elliott on the spot. 3) While in the movie Elliott says E.T. “is a boy,” Spielberg stated in an interview that E.T. was a plant-like creature, and neither male nor female. E.T. is rated PG and does contain

a small amount of crude “juvenile” language and swearing. There is an emotional scene at toward the end that could be a bit intense for very young children. Commonsensemedia.org rates the ﬁlm as appropriate for ages 7+, others have it at higher age levels. E.T. the Extra Terrestrial 1982, Rated PG, 115 minutes, SciFi, Family, Fantasy Rating: 5 stars out of 5

If you go When: Oct. 29, 30, 31 7pm, one showing per night Cost: Free for kids in costume Where: The Gard Theater www.gardtheater.com 111 E. Jeﬀerson St. Spring Green, WI 53588 608-588-9007

Review: The Dark Side of the House The House on the Rock’s haunted theme will have you seeing the carousel in a whole new light Adeline Holte, Editorial Intern Who would have thought that something so intriguing and fun by day, something so interesting and eventful, could be so terrifying at night? At 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 22, my friends and I decided to attend the Dark Side: an event put on by the House on the Rock where they turn the house into a haunted mansion. Essentially, it is a self-guided spooky tour through certain areas of the house, full of jump scares, strobe lights, and eerie music. All in all, it takes around an hour to complete, and keeps you on your toes the entire tour. Once we bought our tickets, myself and my group of friends, about eight people in total, shuffled through a door into an outdoor walkway that would lead into the depth of the haunted house. Unfortunately, I was elected to be one of the people in the front of the group and was susceptible to the majority of the jump scares. (Yes, I jumped. Yes, I screamed. What would you expect?) The haunted house turned off into rooms that would not seem so spooky during a normal tour. We entered and exited small hallways with uneven flooring, watched as the carousel wound its way around the side of the room, surrounded by fake skeletons and fog machines. Somehow, this was the scariest room in my opinion, even though there were no jump scares that I encountered in that specific room, the strange awe of the carousel in the dimly lit room, wafting its music, was probably the most terrifying part, though I can’t quite put my finger on why. More hallways full of jump scares and fog and uneasy flooring, stairs winding up and up and up, secret chambers and rooms with string and felt dangling from the ceiling and brushing your head. Among these things, you will also be terrified by clowns and phantoms and ghouls leaping out at you, strobe lights contorting your vision, and mazes of rooms and doors to go through. My friends and I screamed, laughed, and had a memorable and fun time throughout. Overall, as far as haunted houses

go, it was high up on my list. I deﬁnitely would not consider myself a haunted house connoisseur, but I have always enjoyed getting in a good scare around the Halloween season. So, if you’re looking for a fun, local haunted house that won’t scare you silly, but will scare you well enough, I would recommend The Dark Side of the House on the Rock.

If you go What to expect: If you have ever wondered if the dolls come alive at night or if you ﬁnd the displays troubling during the day, wait until you see them in the dark. Your nightmares will become real. You will stroll down the walkway of the macabre and see the carousel in a whole new light. You will travel through the Devil’s throat and wander through the mysterious maze before escaping to be greeted by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. When: Oct. 29, 30 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm (last admittance 9:00 pm) Cost: Dark Side Only Rates — $19.95 Adults ages 18 and up $11.95 Children ages 17 and below The Dark Side Experience is a separately ticketed event and daytime admission is not included. The complex completely closes at 5:00 pm and reopens at 6:30 pm for the Dark Side Experience. Where: The House on the Rock www.thehouseontherock.com 5754 State Road 23 Spring Green, WI 53588 608-935-3639

Safety Tips: Halloween 2021

Halloween is around the corner! The CDC recommends that all adults and children aged 12 and older get a COVID-19 vaccine, but many trick-or-treaters aren’t eligible to get vaccinated yet. To help you enjoy a sweet and safe Halloween, remember to: track local transmission rates, take precautions like wearing a mask and washing your hands, and avoid activities that put you and the children around you at increased risk for COVID-19.

SAFE

Take these precautions, and have fun!

SCARY

Beware of…

Incorporate a cloth or surgical mask into your costume Trick-or-treating in small groups outdoors, or enjoying other outdoor activities

Indoor parties and gatherings

Inviting trick-or-treaters inside

Wash hands before eating candy

Using a costume mask as a substitute for a cloth/surgical mask

Track local virus transmission rates, and take extra precautions where rates are high

Crowded doorsteps

Get the COVID-19 vaccine (age 12+) and your flu shot

Trick-or-treating if you feel sick

Follow community guidelines from your local health department, and stay at home and away from others if you are sick or have been in contact with someone who is sick or has COVID-19 symptoms.

More information: cdc.gov/coronavirus

Track local COVID-19 rates: covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker

Arts & Culture/Sports

Thursday, October 28, 2021 Page 9

Art from Around the Valley — Jen Salt & Grace Vosen present Ash for Halloween Painting by Jen Salt

Ash (short for Ashland) wishes everyone a Happy Halloween. A rambler-turned-house-cat living in Prairie du Sac, Ash came home with his new family to spend one night and then never left. That was ten years ago. His family is still waiting for his personality to mellow out a little (maybe next year). Ash’s paw-some portrait was painted by Jen Salt and is based on a photo by Vanessa Smith. No birds were harmed in the making of this picture! —Grace Vosen ...

Valley Sentinel welcomes local artists across all mediums to share their work with the community. Send your submissions to: editor@valleysentinelnews.com

RVRC Girls Swim Team beats Stoughton, takes a dive in Platteville Mike Nachreiner, RVRC Girls Swim Coach Last Thursday night the RVRC Swim Team defeated Stoughton by a score of 99 to 71. This win puts the team’s dual meet record at 4 wins and 2 loses. This was another team win. Coach Mike Nachreiner said, “I knew Stoughton had a good team with 4 to 5 swimmers that could challenge us. For us to win the meet we needed everyone to finish in scoring position (top five) in each event”. That is what happened. Every swimmer that swam in an individual event scored points for the team. RVRC won by 28 points. RVRC swimmers that finished 3rd, 4th or 5th scored the team 28 points. Coach Emily Nachreiner said, “this team has surprised us every meet. They put the work in at practice and come to the meets and swim very well. We have several swimmers each meet swimming personal best times. It is fun and exciting to witness it”. After the first three events, the teams were tied going into the 50-yard freestyle. Beverly Harper won RVRC’s first 1st place, along with Alivia Glasbrenner and Grace Tjossem taking 4th and 5th place, respectively, gave RVRC a two point lead. RVRC then won four of the next six races to seal the win. Individuals scoring points: Bobbi DuCharme finished 2nd in the 200 freestyle and 2nd in the 100 freestyle Kris Langrehr took 3rd in the 200 freestyle and 3rd place in the 100 yard butterfly Charlotte Ferstl was 4th in the 200 freestyle and 4th in the 500 freestyle Megan Nachreiner finished 2nd in the 200 Individual Medley and 1st in the 100 butterfly Lily Saperstein took 3rd in the 200 Individual Medley and 1st place in the 100 yard backstroke Molly Peckham was 5th place in the 200 Individual Medley and 2nd in the 100 yard breaststroke Beverly Harper finished 1st place in the 50 yard freestyle and 1st place in the 100 freestyle Alivia Glasbrenner took 4th in the 50 yard

freestyle and 3rd in the 100 breaststroke Grace Tjossem was 5th in the 50 freestyle and 5th in the 100 yard freestyle Marissa Needham finished 3rd in the 500 yard freestyle and 3rd in the 100 backstroke Elizabeth Jeweel was 5th in the 500 yard freestyle Alexis Webb took 4th place in the 100 butterfly and 5th place in the 100 backstroke Megan Langrehr was 4th place in the 100 yard breaststroke Relays Scoring points: 200 Medley Relay – 2nd place with Lily Saperstein, Molly Peckham, Beverly Harper and Grace Tjossem 200 Medley Relay – 3rd place with Marissa Needham, Alivia Glasbrenner, Alexis Webb and Elizabeth Jewell 200 Free Relay – 1st place with Megan Nachreiner, Bobbi DuCharme, Kris Langrehr and Beverly Harper 200 Free Relay – 3rd place with Grace Tjossem, Megan Langrehr, Elizabeth Jewell and Charlotte Ferstl 400 Free Relay – 1st Place with Megan Nachreiner, Bobbi DuCharme, Kris Langrehr and Lily Saperstein 400 Free Relay – 3rd place with Charlotte Ferstl, Marissa Needham, Alivia Glasbrenner and Molly Peckham Personal Records: Kris Langrehr had a great night clocking personal best times in the 200 Freestyle with a 2:15.97, in the 100 butterfly with a 1:11.96, in their splits in the relays with a 50 yard time of 26.97 and a 100 free time of 1:01.97. Megan Nachreiner had her best time in the 100 yard butterfly with a 1:06.45. Charlotte Ferstl’s split in the 200 yard free relay was her best ever with a 31.47. Elizabeth Jewell had a new personal record in the 500 freestyle with a 6:51.14. Bobbi DuCharme clocked her best time ever in the 200 freestyle with a 2:13.32, in the 100 yard freestyle with a 59.49 and in the 400 free relay with a split time of 1:00.25. Alivia Glasbrenner had a new personal

Photo contributed by Mike Nachreiner, RVRC Girls Swim Coach Senior Kris Langrehr swimming their leg of the 200 free relay at the Stoughton meet. Langrehr swam a personal best time of 26.97 in the relay. The relay took ﬁrst place with Langrehr, Megan Nachreiner, Bobbi DuCharme and Beverly Harper.

Photo contributed by Mike Nachreiner, RVRC Girls Swim Coach Picture of Bobbi DuCharme swimming in the 100 yard freestyle at the Stoughton meet. DuCharme took 2nd place in the event and clocked a personal best time of 59.49. best time of 29.59 in the 50 yard freestyle. Alexis Webb swam her best time in the 100 yard backstroke with a 1:26.74. Olivia Hackl had a personal best time in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:37.34. Marissa Needham clocked her best time ever in the 100 backstroke with a 1:18.66. Lily Saperstein swam a personal best in the 100 free with a 1:02.77 as her split in the 400 yard free relay. Tessa Schluter had a personal best time in her 100 yard breaststroke with a 1:35.63. Megan Langrehr has best times in the 100 yard breaststroke with a 1:35.11, in the 200 freestyle with a 2:27.89 and in her 50 yard split in the 200 free relay with a 31.94. ... Saturday the RVRC Swim Team competed in the Platteville Invite. The Team finished 5th place out of 8 teams. This was the second time in the season that the RVRC swim team had to compete in two meets in a day and a half. On Thursday night the team defeated Stoughton by giving their best effort to get the win. With only one day to recover, the RVRC team had a strong showing in their events but had slightly slower times. Coach Mike Nachreiner said, “Even though most of the team didn’t have their best times, I am proud of their effort in the meet and in their practices. They have been building all season to begin their taper and it will be exciting to see how their times improve after tapering.” Beverly Harper brought home the team’s only first place by winning the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.82. Beverly also took 2nd place in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 56.74. Megan Nachreiner also took home a 2nd Place in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:54.64. Kris Langrehr was the next top finisher with a 5th place in the 200-yard freestyle. Even though the team was still exhausted from their winning effort at Stoughton, the team still managed to put up some personal records. Charlotte Ferstl’s 31.33 50-yard split in the 200 free relay was a personal best, as was her 6:27.58 time in the 500yard freestyle. Grace Tjossem 50-yard split time of 28.43 from the 200 free relay was a personal best, as well as Elizabeth Jewell’s 50-yard split time of 30.31 in the same event. Alexis Webb posted two

personal best times, a 1:11.67 100-yard freestyle split from the 400 free relay and a 1:26.50 in the 100 yard backstroke. Marissa Needham also posted her best time in the 500 yard freestyle with a 6:21.76. Megan Langrehr’s 100 butterfly time of 1:32.22 was a personal best. And Tessa Schluter’s 100 yard freestyle split of 1:13.85 in the 400 free relay was her best. Relays scoring points: 200 medley relay – 7th Place with Lily Saperstein, Molly Peckham, Megan Nachreiner and Grace Tjossem. 200 medley relay – 13th place with Alexis Webb, Alivia Glasbrenner, Megan Langrehr and Tessa Schluter 200 free relay – 5th place with Kris Langrehr, Grace Tjossem, Megan Nachreiner and Beverly Harper. 200 free relay – 12th place with Megan Langrehr, Elizabeth Jewell, Charlotte Ferstl and Marissa Needham 400 free relay - 7th place with Kris Langrehr, Lily Saperstein, Molly Peckham and Beverly Harper. 400 free relay – 13th place with Elizabeth Jewell, Charlotte Ferstl, Marissa Needham and Alivia Glasbrenner. Individuals Scoring Points: Kris Langrehr finished 5th in the 200 freestyle and 10th in the 100 butterfly Charlotte Ferstl took 13th in the 200 freestyle and 8th in the 500 freestyle Marissa Needham was 16th in the 200 freestyle and 7th in the 500 freestyle Lily Saperstein finished 9th in the 100 Individual Medley and 9th in the 100 backstroke. Grace Tjossem took 10th in the 100 Individual Medley. Alexis Webb was 10th in the 200 Individual Medley. Beverly Haper finished 1st in the 50 freestyle and 2nd in the 100 freestyle. Elizabeth Jewell took 16th in the 50 freestyle. Megan Langrehr was 14th in the 100 butterfly. Alivia Glasbrenner finished 12th in the 100 freestyle. Megan Nachreiner took 2nd in the 500 freestyle and 6th in the 100 backstroke. Molly Peckham was 16th in the 100 breaststroke.

Sports Blackhawks Girls Volleyball celebrate WIAA Regional Championship, look to more

Page 10 Thursday, October 28, 2021 Mariah Hill, RVHS Head Volleyball Coach This past week the Blackhawks started tournament play as we hosted the 11 seed Sparta on Tuesday. The Hawks took charge of the match and won in three straight sets. We played strong and conﬁdent and kept the errors low and the energy high. We played well and kept Sparta guessing. I was very proud of our level of play all match. Leaders for the Hawks were Morgan Brickl with 9 kills, Kate Hanson and Brooke Anderson with 12 assists, Katie Hahn with 4 blocks, Brianna Zaemisch with 17 digs, and we had four players with 2 ace serves each. Last Thursday we traveled to Platteville for an epic matchup and battle. This is the 3rd time we have seen Platteville this season and

they have beaten us both times in conference play. Platteville was the number 3 seed. We were very prepared and ready to go to work. We started strong, but had too many errors the ﬁrst set and lost. It then turned into a back and forth battle and we took sets 2 and 4 to force a 5th set. To say that everyone was on the edge of their seats is an understatement. It was a point by point back and forth battle between us and the level of play was so intense and amazing. River Valley ultimately came out the winners on a huge block kill by seniors Anabelle Willoughby and Lydia Kersten to end the 5th set 15-13. This was the best we have played all

continued on page 11

Photo by Janeen Anderson Blackhawks Girls Volleyball celebrate their WIAA Regional Championship win.

Blackhawks Cross Country finish up season at WIAA Sectionals in PDC Brian Krey, RVHS Cross Country Head Coach The River Valley Cross Country teams wrapped up their seasons at the WIAA Sectional Meet in Prairie du Chien this past Saturday. 15 teams competed in the Division 2 race, with the top two teams and the top five individuals (not qualifying on a team) advancing to the state meet in Wisconsin Rapids. It was an absolutely perfect day for running, as the sun was out and the temperature was in the low to mid-50s. I was really pleased with the effort every runner gave at our last meet of the year the goal for each of them was to compete with confidence and to leave everything they had on the course and every single runner accomplished this. The race was held at the Prairie du Chien Country Club -and turned out to be the most challenging course we ran all year. The course included a lot of rolling hills in addition to a few steep climbs. The boys’ team finished 10th overall, while the girls were 14th. As a team, I was happy with how both of our teams ran. The boys’ were able to stay in front of Platteville, who finished in 11th place, 10 points behind our team. The girls finished just behind conference rivals Richland Center-Ithaca and Prairie du Chien at the Sectional. I’m hopeful that many of our new runners learned from this experience and we can build some goals off of this race for next year. Individually, the girls’ results were: Bobbi DuCharme, Sophomore, 20:58 Alana Merritt, Freshman, 23:38 Abi Cummings, Senior, 23:54 Jayla Maier, Senior, 25:11

Anna Johnson, Senior, 25:58 Emma Anding, Sophomore, 26:32 Kylie Morrey, Junior, 26:52 Bobbi finished 15th overall, and really attacked the race as she had planned. I’ve been so impressed with her work ethic all year, as she has balanced our practices with swim team practices quite the accomplishment in itself! I also thought Alana Merritt ran a smart race on this course, as she went out a little more conservatively and then worked her way up throughout the race. In addition, on a really challenging course, Emma Anding ran her personal best for the year, which was outstanding. These three along with Kylie Morrey gained some valuable experience and I can’t wait to see them grow as a group and come back next year, which will be needed as we lose Abi, Jayla, and Anna to graduation. Abi and Jayla have been dealing with some nagging injuries but powered through to run solid races. Anna ran a great final race for her career. Individually, the boys’ results were: Julius Ross, Senior, 17:44 Noah Radtke, Freshman, 18:22 Ethan Wastlick, Senior, 18:54 Josh Maes, Senior, 18:54 Connor Grant, Freshman, 19:11 Mason Henkel, Senior, 19:32 TJ Strine, Junior, 24:09 Julius wrapped up a great career, finishing 17th overall. He ran a great race, in a really competitive field. In addition, Noah went out a little quicker and ran another consistent and smart race for a freshman. Ethan Wastlick,

Photo contributed by Brian Krey, RVHS Cross Country Coach Seniors on this year’s cross country team after the sectional meet last week in PDC. Connor Grant, and Mason Henkel all ran season personal bests. I was fired up to see all of the boys (Including Josh & TJ) start the race more aggressively. The entire group seems to have someone different take the lead through the first mile and feed off of that person, which puts all of them in a great position to compete for the rest of the race. Mason and Josh took off strong and led the group this race, while the week before it was Ethan (at our conference meet), and prior to that, it was Connor. They have really fed off each other and come together to run as a team in the second half of this season, something that I am really proud of them for doing. The hardest part of the last race

of the year is saying goodbye to our senior class. We lose 10 seniors, who have provided so much leadership and strength to this program over the last four years. Julius Ross, Ethan Wastlick, Josh Maes, Eli Johnson, and Mason Henkel wrapped up their careers for the boys. They led our boys’ team to the highest ﬁnish at our conference meet since 1988. Abi Cummings, Jayla Maier, Anna Johnson, Madeline Hutnik, and Madison Krey ﬁnished their careers for the girls’ team. Their experience and leadership throughout the year has really laid the foundation for our program to grow moving forward. A huge thank you to all ten of these runners - they will be greatly missed.

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Commercial Construction Superintendent

Duties: • Management of construction activities • Ensuring compliance with design, schedule, and budget requirements • Overseeing multiple subcontractors Requirements • 5+ years of commercial field management experience • Experience in one of our self-performed trades • Must be able to demonstrate prior success in working effectively as a team with project owners, architects, and subcontractors. Must possess the leadership abilities to achieve top-flight results

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Outdoors & recreation/Sports

Thursday, October 28, 2021 Page 11

Birding Report: Wisconsin’s Wintering Birds Arrive Amid Waterfowl Migration Ryan Brady, DNR Biologist After a slow start, waterfowl migration kicked into gear across northern Wisconsin this week. On Lake Superior, thousands of diving ducks were on the move, including scaup, redheads, ringnecked ducks, all three scoter species and long-tailed ducks. Farther south, dabbling ducks such as pintail, wigeon, gadwall, shovelers and wood ducks were more prevalent. A good number of green-winged teal were reported statewide, while warm weather has encouraged blue-winged teal to linger longer than usual. The ﬁrst tundra swans have slowly trickled in but trumpeter swans remain much more prevalent. The number of swans and other waterfowl will increase signiﬁcantly over the next few weeks. Other waterbirds on the move now include common and red-throated loons, horned grebe, American white pelican, Wilson’s snipe and Bonaparte’s gull. Despite our unusually mild weather, birds that are often associated with

winter have arrived, including snow bunting, northern shrike, rough-legged hawk and golden eagle. However, no snowy owls have been found south of Canada yet. Purple finches migrated across northern Wisconsin in large numbers the past two weeks, as did moderate numbers of pine siskins. The first common redpolls, white-winged crossbills, and pine grosbeaks were also reported in the far north, although numbers of American goldfinches have been below average. A detailed continental “Winter Finch Forecast” can be found here: finchnetwork.org/winter-finch-forecast-20212022-by-tyler-hoar. Typical for October, sparrows have been prominent across much of the state, including dark-eyed juncos, American tree sparrows and fox sparrows. Harris’ sparrows continue to be seen in above-average numbers, while white-throated, white-crowned, song, swamp, Lincoln’s and other species frequent weedy fields, wet ditches and

other brushy habitats. Other reported short-distance migrants are American robin, cedar waxwing, rusty blackbird, ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglets, yellow-bellied sapsucker, brown creeper, winter wren, hermit thrush and a few eastern bluebirds. Warm weather has allowed eastern phoebe, ruby-throated hummingbird, and some warblers to linger, especially across southeast Wisconsin. Some of the rare birds spotted this week were pomarine jaeger in Douglas County, a beautiful male harlequin duck in Sheboygan, white-eyed vireo in Milwaukee, an ibis species in Dodge, Ross’s goose in Dane, and both Hudsonian godwit and red knot in Brown. The next few days will see migration turnover as some birds depart and others arrive from points farther north. The ﬁrst half of next week looks a bit static before northwest winds return for late week into the weekend, which may bring a new batch of migrants ready to stop by Wisconsin’s forests, waterways

Photo via Wisconsin DNR Did you know 12 to 15 species of gulls are found in Wisconsin most years? Among them is the pigeon-sized Bonaparte’s gull that migrates through the state each spring and fall. and backyards. Help us track the migration by reporting your ﬁnds to ebird.org/wi.

Sauk County Gardener — Overwintering Geraniums Jeannie Manis, Wisconsin Certified Master Gardener “Well, I love geraniums, and anybody who does not love geraniums must obviously be a depraved and loathsome person.” - Beverley Nichols We finally got our first hard frost at our house this past weekend. Even though it’s really time to let fall arrive, I spent a couple evenings covering my potted outdoor plants and my in-the-ground dahlias so I could enjoy them just a little longer. After covering everything it was dark, but I still was out in my yard cutting flowers for bouquets in the house. I now have fresh cut flowers in just about every room. Some of the plants I was trying to protect (in particular) were my geraniums. I like to winter over as many of my geraniums as I can as I use a lot of them in my garden containers each year. It helps me save a little money so that I can purchase other unique plants for my containers. I also have some very different ones that I’d like to save for next year in case I can’t find ones like them next spring. And of course, I always like the challenge of trying to propagate them from cuttings. Usually after a hard frost, you get a few more nice days of above-freezing temps before the real cold sets in, so it gives me a little longer to dig up my tender plants. In this case, it’s just been rainy weather so I’m going to throw in the towel and dig my geraniums today for overwintering. It’s not hard to overwinter geraniums. My grandmother did it for years; she’d have us kids bring them into the basement in their heavy clay pots and just put them up in the casement windows. Then every couple of months, we take them down, give them a good watering, let them drain, and then put them back up in the window. Come spring,

they looked pretty sad, and some didn’t survive. But for those that did survive, we’d move the pots back outside after the danger of frost had passed and they would soon perk right up. There are three good ways to overwinter geraniums and can help improve your success rate of overwinter them. The ﬁrst technique is like what my grandmother did as you keep them growing in a container. Before you bring them in though, cut the plants back to about half their size and inspect them disease or insects. Then dig them up and replant them in clean pots using potting mix, not regular garden soil, so the pots will drain well. Water and then place the containers in a cool location with bright, indirect light. Water them throughout the winter when the soil starts to dry. Pinch back the shoot tips a couple times in the winter to promote branching and strong growth. Come next spring, fertilize them lightly before transplanting them out into the garden. Cool thing about overwinter geraniums this way is that they will be larger than most you can get in any garden center or nursery, so you’ll have a good head start on blooms. Another way to save your geraniums is to propagate cuttings. When you’re cutting back the plants for moving indoors, save some of those cuttings for this. You’ll need about 3-4 inches of the plant’s stem tip. Remove the leaves from the lower half of the cutting, dip it into rooting hormone (this is optional) and stick the stem into a pot of well-draining rooting media. This can be coarse sand, perlite, or vermiculite. The pot should have holes, so it drains well. Once you’ve put the stem(s) into the rooting media, cover the pot with a plastic bag to create a mini greenhouse. Place the pot in a sunny window and water as needed. As the geranium grows, pinch it back to again

promote branching and strong growth. Next spring, these cuttings will be similar in size to what you can purchase in stores. You can also try dormant storage. Because of their succulent-like stems, they can survive a long time without being in soil. If you want to try this technique, dig up the plant and gently shake oﬀ the soil from the roots. Put the plants inside open paper bags or hang them upside down in a cool, dark location – approximately 45-50 degrees F. Then a couple times over the winter, take them out of the bag or down from wherever you hung them up and soak the roots for 1-2 hours in water. When you do this, take the time to also really look over the plant. It will most likely have lost all of its leaves, but the stem should still be ﬁrm. Throw away any that are shriveled or dried up. In the early spring (March/April), take the geraniums out of storage, pot and water them, cut back any dead stems, and place them in a sunny window until they start to show new growth. It may take a couple weeks so be patient. Once the danger of frost has past, you can move them out into the garden.

Photo via Sauk County Once you have all your geraniums dug, don’t forget to start digging your other tender bulbs. They won’t last long in the ground after a hard frost. Oh yes, the work of a gardener is never done – isn’t it glorious!

Want to be the ﬁrst to get Valley Sentinel? More subscriptions mean more routes, and our distribution intern is back at college so we’re looking for help distributing the paper! We can’t thank those who have recently stepped up to oﬀer to help enough, thank you! Paper Distribution Routes Arena Subscribers: COVERED Arena Businesses: COVERED Lone Rock Subscribers: AVAILABLE Lone Rock Businesses: COVERED Plain Subscribers: AVAILABLE

Plain Businesses: AVAILABLE Spring Green Subscribers: AVAILABLE Spring Green Businesses: AVAILABLE Want to enjoy scenic fall drives or a walk around town and assist in connecting our businesses, subscribers and community? Whether for fun or for volunteer experience, just one village, route, or more, we’d be happy to have you! Interested? Email: editor@valleysentinelnews.com or call 608-588-6694

Blackhawks Girls Volleyball heads to Reedsburg for Sectional Semi-Final Play continued from page 10 season. We wanted this win so bad. To say I am proud is an understatement. I don’t think I could be any prouder of a team of players that all worked incredibly hard to get this win. Leaders on the night were Anabelle Willoughby with 17 kills and Morgan Brickl with 14. Brooke Anderson had a total of 26 assists and Kate Hanson had 25. Brickl also had 3 ace serves and 19 digs. Block leader was Lydia Kersten with 5. Saturday we matched back up with the number 10 seed Prairie Du Chien for a chance at the Regional Championship title. We split with them during the regular season, so we were prepared to battle them again. They have a very strong

outside hitter and she deﬁnitely came to play. We focused on her and worked hard to keep our errors low. We played 3 very close sets, but won in 3 straight sets and took the Regional Championship. I am just so proud of this team and how hard they are working right now. They are really bringing it each night and are playing to win. We are spreading our oﬀense out so well and our defense has really stepped up. Leaders on the night were Morgan Brickl with 10 kills and 13 digs, Katie Hahn with 3 ace serves and 4 blocks, and Kate Hanson had 19 assists on the night. This week we travel to Reedsburg to take on the number 1 seed Thursday in Sectional Semi-Final play. Game is at 7:00pm.

Photo by Janeen Anderson Senior Kate Hanson serves during game play this past week.

Outdoors/recreation

Page 12 Thursday, October 28, 2021

An Outdoorsman’s Journal

Mark Walters, Contributor

Back to Fall Camp Hello friends, So, fifty falls ago I saw the Meadow Valley Wildlife Area and the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge for the first time. These large tracts of public land are located, for the most part, in northern Juneau County, but melt into public land in Jackson, Wood, and Monroe Counties as well. I have spent at least three years of my life camping, exploring, and enjoying life in Meadow Valley and believe I have witnessed about as much as any living person in this neck of the woods. In the early 80’s I had a duck blind on the Meadow Valley Flowage and starting in 1987 I would build what I called ‘Fall Camp’. I started writing this column in 89 and my income was $25.00 per week and I would stay at Fall Camp all of October thru some of January. My pastimes were duck, grouse, bow and gun deer hunting, as well as trapping. Ice fishing, cross country skiing and ice skating started in December, and I would say my number one pastime was simply strapping on hip boots and exploring. This past weekend I tent camped in Meadow Valley with my golden retriever Ruby and lived large!

Friday, October 15th High 72, Low 41

I was just about to pull into my campsite when a very large grey wolf crossed the road in front of my truck. You did not see them here 40 years

ago, there were a lot more deer and that attracted a lot more deer hunters than you see these days. Simply put, in this column I supported the wolf recovery program which called for a managed pack of 385 animals for the state of Wisconsin. I also support harvesting wolves in a managed plan through our WDNR biologists. So, I build camp, my mood is excellent, I put on my chest waders, grab my 1187 and go for a long walk to watch day become night to a flowage that I call home. Not a shot did I fire, not a care did I have.

Saturday, October 16th High 74, Low 46

This morning I chose to watch night become day on the Meadow Valley Flowage. Back in the winter of ‘91 I trained at night on the Meadow Valley Flowage to hike the Appalachian Trail. I carried a 7-foot, 80-pound oak log on my shoulder, and my golden retriever “Ben” carried two frozen one-gallon milk jugs in a pack. That spring the two of us explored 1,244 miles of the Appalachian Trail together and I snail-mailed this handwritten column to my publisher every week without failure. This morning’s hunt was uneventful except that I met Mike Grimm, his 11-year-old son Kyle, and Cousin Ed Smart on the marsh. We had a good talk, and it was very cool to meet three people that also have a deep love for this area. This afternoon Ruby and I went exploring by way of hip boots, compass and a 12-gauge. I wish I had more space, but the number one part of this adventure would be large scale flooded timber due to a beaver population that

Photo by Mark Walters, Contributor Ruby and a nice limit of drake wood ducks.

Photo by Mark Walters, Contributor A unique backcountry photo!

Photo by Mark Walters, Contributor Mike Grimm, Kyle Grimm, and Ed Smart enjoying a waterfowl hunt on the Meadow Valley Flowage.

simply is not managed anymore due to the plummet of fur prices. We put on four miles, and I was game for anything from grouse to ducks. What I observed was flooded timber, next to zero deer sign, and well into the hike I flushed a flock of wood ducks and got lucky, dropped one and Ruby made a fine retrieve. We took a break and enjoyed the moment; another flock flew over and I dropped another drake. It was an awesome evening by the campfire and the next morning I hiked into woody central before it got light out. I had my limit of wood ducks in no time and then went on a literal death hike. I had no drinking water in my pack and traveled into no man’s land, which was flooded tag alders loaded with ducks. When I came to dry land it was always less than an acre and it was absolutely

loaded with wolf and black bear sign. I got myself in trouble due to dehydration and water that was ankle to chest deep for three hours in tag alders that obstructed my view. I lived by my compass and a “I can get out of here attitude” and when I made it back to camp both of my legs cramped so bad that it was impossible to walk. Fall Camp at 60 years old some things have changed, yet nothing has changed! —Sunset

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