Valley Sentinel - 06-16-2021

Inside this edition

Looking for a weekend excursion?

Check out the Community Calendar

Art Around the Valley: Louisa’s cat nap

Young students get outside with community garden program

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Spring Green, Wisconsin

Wednesday, June 16, 2021 Vol. 2, No. 24 Free, Single-Copy

School Board rolls back mask mandate and COVID restrictions as pandemic wanes Taylor Scott, Managing Editor The River Valley School Board met June 10 as the school year wrapped up to take action on their COVID-19 policies put in place during the pandemic, as well as the resignation of an art teacher and the hiring of a science teacher.

With the board set to take up policies on masking, resident and parent Dana Sanftleben spoke out during public comment against masks, vaccines and contact tracing, and for more transparency in the policy process.

“The students should be able to breathe freely

and speak freely,” stated Sanftleben. “I think the staff should be able to do the same.”

School Nurse Jordyn Wendhausen provided an annual report on services provided during the school year, stating that the total number of confirmed cases within the district was 57 over the

school year and outlined taking over with contact tracing from the Sauk County Health Department.

“This year was overwhelming at times, administration was wonderful helping us out and all of the board members have been great reaching out

See page 3

Taliesin premiers Driftless Landscape Tour to emphasis Wright’s dedication to agriculture Photos by Nicole Aimone, Editor-in-Chief

After workshopping the tour last fall, the Taliesin Preservation debuted it’s Driftless Landscape Tour June 12 with an hour long tour of the landscape and agricultural areas of the Taliesin estate.

The tour is designed to highlight Frank Lloyd Wrights commitment to working with the Driftless area landscape as well as the living and learning aspects of the estate regarding geology, ecology, and culture.

The walking tour shows the vast garden and crop plots that are still active on the estate and takes a look at how the Food Artisan Immersion program utilizes the estate now and in the past at the height of educational work at the property.

Tour guide Grace Vosen educates tour groups on the ancient history of the Driftless area of Wisconsin, what the landscape would have featured during Wrights time compared to the landscape now.

The tour includes information on how the Taliesin Preservation is working to preserve various aspects of Wrights last decade on the Estate, and the steps they are taking to preserve the 1950s on the Estate which include creating similar tree lines and planting rhubarb plots.

Participants in the inaugural tour includes visitors from Colorado, Illinois and Virgina.

Tickets for the tour are $25, $20 for seniors and students. Tickets can be purchased at www.taliesinpreservation.org/tours/tour/driftlesslandscape-tour/

Plain plans for parade, street dance and approves various annual liquor licenses Nicole Aimone, Editor-in-chief The village of Plain met for its regular, monthly meeting June 8 where the board approved a parade, a dance and various liquor licenses within the

village.

The village approved a parade on July 25 along with a street dance on Alma Avenue on July 23 or July 25, the date will be determined by Ashley Busse later. The parade will follow the same

route the Three Day Festival typically uses.

Wristbands will be sold to enter the street dance on Alma Avenue, the board approved alcohol within the barricades of the dance and different

colored wristbands will be given to minors.

The board voted to approve Class B liquor licenses for the American Le-

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WednesdaY, june 16, 2021

opinion/letter to the editor

Editor’s column: Passion needs rest too—upcoming at VS Nicole Aimone, Editor-in-Chief If you follow Valley Sentinel on social media, over the last few weeks you’ve seen that we have been struggling with inconsistencies and missteps with the printing company that prints the paper each week.

If you don’t follow us on social media, you might have noticed Valley Sentinel is hitting newsstands or your doorstep a little later than usual.

If you’re someone who hasn’t seen or noticed anything different, I’ll fill you in. For the last two or three weeks, we’ve encountered pretty much every frustration and difficulty you can when putting together a paper each week. We’ve had issues with technology (Adobe is a wonder, but not always wonderful), we’ve had miscommunications between different areas of our press team, we’ve had incorrect prints and reprints.

Our editors have spent almost the same amount of time dealing with problem after problem, pull-out-yourhair frustrations and endless phone calls to customer service as we have in journalism and the community.

The last few weeks have been nearly all consuming with frustrations and “Well, it’s out of our hands” or “It is what is” sayings through the blood, sweat and an abundance of tears.

At the very least, these past few

weeks have exposed some weaknesses, both within Valley Sentinel and personally. Personally, these challenges have hit exposed nerves we didn’t know existed, they’ve tested us and in some cases we failed.

These weeks have not been kind to the mental or physical health of our editors and our volunteers. To put it bluntly, we all need a damn vacation.

We need to heal, physically and mentally. We need to be all consumed with care for ourselves, not with frustrations. However, masochist and journalist are nearly synonymous, and we’ve all for our own reasons chosen to be here and we don’t get a vacation—at least not in the traditional sense. We don’t get to skip a week.

We’ve seen some turbulence and differences in the last few weeks and that period of change is probably going to continue for Valley Sentinel.

Our editors and volunteers need personal time to heal and grow, and we as a publication need to heal and grow with them to keep us thriving, not just surviving.

The personal healing of our editors will come with time and a learned balance between life and work, and in that time, we as an organization can take some small steps and make some small changes for a little while until

that happens, that’s as close to PTO as independent journalists get.

In terms of the Valley Sentinel as a whole, to heal and grow we have some ready-to-go, workable solutions to implement to give our crew the break we need. Typically we strive to be 12 to 16 pages full of content, in the coming weeks we’ll be focusing on eight, packed pages of content.

The reasoning for this involves a few different things, we hand pick or personally write everything you see on each page of the paper each week, curation and writing like that takes quite some time and creative energy.

Each page and it’s elements are also designed by one or two individuals each week who volunteer their time, so reducing the page number each week will include much less stress on our already overworked designers.

We’re also looking to expand! From the beginning and to this day still, we’re all volunteers. We’re all here for our own separate reasons, whatever they may be, but we don’t get paid to do it. Any money Valley Sentinel gets is directly invested back into the paper. With that said, the work isn’t any less just because of that and we need our group of intelligent, creative and passionate people to grow!

So, we’re officially “hiring”! We’re looking for anyone and everyone who

has interest and experience in writing, advertising, marketing, community relations, audio production to join our team! Money? We have none, but we’re a fun group of people to work with and while this is overwhelming a lot of the time, it’s also really rewarding. (Also, if you’re a college student and your university allows credit for internships, we can make that happen!)

So please, please reach out if yourself or someone you know is interested, we’d love to meet you!

While we’ve taken a couple L’s in the last few weeks, we’ve also seen a lot of W’s. We’ve released our first ever Best of the River Valley, only nine months into our existence and you guys CAME OUT for that. We had hundreds of readers and community members vote and choose their favorites. It’s celebrating those little wins that’s part of the personal healing process, so thank you to everyone who participated.

At our heart, we’re still a brand new, small business and what we’ve been dealing with are frustrations that come with the small business life.

Valley Sentinel was started out of passion and as a passion project, but even passion needs to rest.

If you need me, I’ll be writing stories from a tube on the river trying to balance life and work.

Community Column: Flag Day — Wave The Thing But Don’t Worship It Contributed by Katie Green Editors Note: Community Columns are meant to provide a space for public figures, members of the public or other public staff to share ideas and opinions. Community Columns are submitted to Valley Sentinel.

The radio this morning has paid homage to Flag Day by playing some of my favorite music –for example, John Philip Souza’s “Stars and Stripes Forever”-- and some that I have an aversion to --e.g. our national anthem, which is unsingable and filled with bloodthirsty war images besides. I much prefer “America the Beautiful”, which contains stirring, idealistic phrases that move beyond a narrow definition of patriotism and aspire to something far better, such as “crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.”

WPR also played a number of Negro spirituals, all of which have become part of the American canon linked to this day. There are ironies buried there, in that African Americans were barred for generations from serving in the military for fear they would use their weapons to take vengeance on their oppressors. And ironic that it was during the Civil War, fought over the right of states to retain and even expand slavery, that the first Flag Day ceremony was held in Hartford, Connecticut to pray for preservation of the Union. That was a one time event, however, not repeated the next year.

Wisconsin played an important role in making Flag Day an official annual observance. In 1885, Bernard Cigrand, a teacher at a small, stone grammar school in Waubeka, on the banks of the Wisconsin River near Milwaukee, staged the first formal

celebration for the anniversary of when Congress adopted the stars & stripes for our national flag on 14 June 1777. The next year Bernard wrote an editorial for the Chicago Argus newspaper suggesting that his 14 June celebration be perpetuated nationally as a time to honor the flag, and he criss-crossed the country promoting “patriotism.” Besides flag waving, I’m not sure how he defined the term. In yet another irony, the town of Waubeka was named for a Potawatomi chief who was friendly and helpful to the first white settlers to arrive in the 1840s but, along with his tribe, was forcibly removed from the area subsequently. Such treatment of First Peoples used to be thought patriotic, since natives were clearly inferior: barbarians, brown skinned, dressed funny, and were hunters and gatherers. You know, the usual story.

Meantime, if you are curious, the schoolhouse where Bernard Cigrand hatched his Flag Day plans is restored and open to the public as the site of the National Flag Day Americanism Center. It houses a bust of Bernard which, if no one is looking, you might rub for good luck in becoming a real patriot.

River Valley neighborhoods are big on flags. Not only the red, white and blue one, but flags for sports teams, political candidates, foreign countries representing a household’s ancestry, critters that creep, fly, and slink around the forests and fields.

It’s interesting to see where folks’ loyalties lie. I only worry when the piece of cloth becomes an excuse for unloving acts and claimed as the sole property of a particular political group as our Union frays.

Letter to the Editor: Constant dissent in village of Arena Dear Editor, Every week, week after week, we read about the Arena Village Board and the constant dissent that is prevalent in all their actions. Trustees keep resigning, and no-one can be persuaded to run for their positions.

What’s going on?

The most notable thing we have found in speaking with the residents and reading the local news is that every controversy seems to have one name attached to it: Paul Pustina. In almost every report, if the board is for a measure, Pustina is opposed or vice versa.

Recently there was a brat fry at the Crappie Shop to raise money for an accessible ramp at the fish pond in West Park. Before that happened, we spoke with the owner of the Crappie Shop, who donated, along with other private donors, all the food and fixings to make the event a success.

This is really a cause that everyone would and should support. Why, then, if Mr Pustina had “concerns”, didn’t he just go and talk to the owner? He wouldn’t have had to stir the pot at the board meeting (again).

We know from personal experience that the Village Clerk, DaNean Naeger, is very conscientious and profes-

sional. For some reason, Mr Pustina takes issue with everything she does.

Kate Reiman is the duly elected Village President, and yet Mr. Pustina questions everything she says and does. Is this retaliation because he lost the election?

At a recent board meeting, an Amplified Device Permit extension of hours (from 9pm to 11pm) for outside music was requested by Tara Hill for her private event venue for an upcoming wedding. Having the mostly empty commercial property generation revenue again seems like a good option for the Village. But Mr Pustina, who lives nearby objected.

(From what we hear he objected loudly and often). We also live nearby and have no problem with events like those Ms Hill proposes.

Mr Pustina appears to be an obstructionist. Our question is: WHY? What is his motive for creating all this turmoil in the Arena?

Kevin and Kristen Shea Arena

Community

WednesdaY, june 16, 2021

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Jennings appoints new board member until April 2022 continued from page 1 to ask questions,” said Wendhausen.

The board heard from Elementary Principal Carla Peterson and took up an end of school year review of reports for the Achievement Gap Reduction (AGR) program.

“Our percent of students that actually achieved our goals this year is much lower than it usually is,” said Peterson. “I didn’t change the goals, I continued to keep the goals as we’ve had in the last few years, knowing that we missed a number of months to school last year and that virtual is never a great thing for kindergarten through third graders and that’s really what the target focus was but we decided to keep our goals high.”

Peterson stated she will use the data to plan for the Fall and assess where extra intervention is needed to make up for learning loss.

“It’s not a great percentage of kids making those benchmarks, but great information for us to move into the next year with and really concentrate where we need to support,” finished Peterson.

Board member Frederic Iausly followed up with a question to Peterson about ensuring these students don’t fall behind, suggesting remedial and summer school as a way to get them back on track. Peterson said that summer school was due to start on June 14 and that 107 elementary students had signed up for remedial education.

High School Principal Darby Blakley shared that 55 high school students were invited to summer school. Middle School Principal James Radtke shared that 35 middle school students had signed up for summer school.

District Administrator Loren Glasbrenner presented a summary of 2021-22 open enrollment applications, with the number of new students who have applied for open enrollment for next year at 13 new in and 20 new out. This is in addition to continuing open enrollment students at 47 students in and 124 students out.

As approved at the March 11 school board meeting, the River Valley School District will be partnering with the Medford School District to offer a full-time virtual school option starting in 2021-22 for River Valley residents to attend Medford’s Rural Virtual Academy. Under this arrangement, students will still be able to participate in co-curricular activities in person at River Valley since

they are counted as River Valley students.

As the board next took up the mask mandating policies, Board President Kathy Jennings reassured the board that any decisions would affect only summer school and that masking and COVID restrictions would be taken back up for reassessment before the fall semester.

“We feel the community is in a place now where they support going masking-optional. People who have had the chance to be vaccinated have been vaccinated, vaccines are still available and just that the demand to be getting the vaccine is going down,” shared Jennings, before inviting any board member that was strongly opposed to rolling back the mask mandate to speak.

No board member shared strong opposition to rolling back the mandates. Board member Sara Young asked that the issue be revisited regularly as case levels change and board member Deb Nelson shared her concerns regarding elementary students not being able to get vaccinated.

“They’ve been talking about an uptick in adolescent cases and I just don’t want to see us take the masks away inside for our larger group of summer school kids and have something happen that we don’t want to happen in our district,” shared Nelson.

Iausly shared that he had small concerns but emphasized the need for small steps forward and that students will be able to wear masks if they choose, while also stressing that he felt every decision made on masking had been made in an open forum.

Board member Elisabeth Minich stated her concern that the proposed policy looked final, rather than being open to reinstatement if cases rose again. Young stated her support for reinstating a mask mandate in the future based on guidance from the county health department Ultimately, the board voted to roll back the mask mandate on a vote of 6-1, with Nelson voting no, John Bettinger absent and one vacancy on the board.

According to board action and a statement by Glasbrenner, effective June 10: face coverings are optional for all indoor district activities; face coverings are optional for all outdoor district activities; face coverings are optional on district transportation; district staff will be allowed to attend off-campus workshops; shared equipment will be utilized in courses and activities where it

is necessary to complete the objectives of the course or activity; as the CDC has backed off on the probability of surface transmission, the district will go back to normal cleaning protocols imposed on those utilizing our indoor spaces for students, faculty, and the community; visitor access will return to pre-pandemic guidelines, which require all visitors to check-in at the respective school office; face coverings will be optional but not required for all visitors; the 2020-21 River Valley School District COVID-19 guidelines are no longer applicable beginning on Thursday, June 10, 2021; no students, staff, or visitors will be asked by any district employee or designee about their vaccination status; students and staff members that exhibit COVID-like symptoms or test positive for COVID-19 must remain home; quarantine procedures regarding COVID-19 will be required for any positive test results and any persons with COVID-like symptoms; individuals will be asked to be at home until they are symptom-free or test negative or attain a doctor’s note; communication with our nursing staff remains important to the well-being of the whole; the River Valley School District will continue to follow the Sauk County Health Department Guidelines for reporting and investigating COVID-19 symptoms and cases; close contacts and their families will continue to be informed by the district school nurses; in addition, if a staff member or student tests positive, all families in that building will be notified of the findings; this will provide each family with an opportunity to make an informed choice for sending their student(s) to school; even with masks as an optional choice, the River Valley School District will continue to encourage social distancing, frequent hand sanitizing, and frequent hand washing when possible; the health and wellness of students, families, and staff remain a priority throughout the summer.

Check the district website for additional information related to COVID-19 guidelines & updates: https://www.rvschools.org/district/ rvcovidupdates.cfm The Board heard from Jennings’ appointment of Sara Carstensen to fill the Area 4 board seat vacancy that was due to resignation.

Carstensen will fill the seat until April 25,

Contact us

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

2022. At the 2022 Spring election, a candidate will be elected to fill the remaining one year of the term, which expires in April 2023.

“I’m interested only because I truly believe that being involved is how you maintain and progress and I just want to be a part of that,” shared Carstensen, before signing her oath of office. “My son’s been here his whole life, I’ve been here my whole life and I want to keep seeing it thrive.”

Other action taken by the board: —Approved the following policies for 1st Reading: Distribution of Electronic and Printed Material, Academic Honors and High School Laude System, Exhibit Laude Chart, Public Participation at Board Meetings and Rural Virtual Academy: Organization for Instruction, School Day. —Accepted the resignation of Haylee Rognholt, Middle School art teacher, who resigned effective at the end of this school year.

—Increased .6 FTE science teacher position to 1.0 FTE and hired Claire Eno to fill the High School science teacher vacancy created by Mike Hill’s resignation.

Join Us for Make Music Day! • Trippers Lite Band • Meadows Assisted Living Mon., June 21st | 3 - 4 pm 477 Rainbow Rd | Spring Green

Bring a blanket or chairs and come around the back of the building.

Inclement weather? Call 588-2101 to check details.

meadowsspringgreen.com

Deadlines: The display and classified

Valley Sentinel is published in Spring Green, Wisconsin every Wednesday by Lower Wisconsin River Valley Sentinel, LLC. ISSN 2694-541X (print) — ISSN 2694-5401 (online) Interns Graphic Design/Pagination Anna Stocks-Hess Graphic Design/Infographics Whitney Back Editorial Adeline Holte Graphic Design/Editorial Nicole Hansen

advertising deadline is Monday at noon for that week. If you would like our design team to design the ad then please allow extra time for the creative process and proofing.

Ad team: ads@valleysentinelnews.com

Editorial Matthew L. Beyer Editorial Adam Meyer Distribution/Photography Kalen Scott Regular Contributors Arts & Culture/Editorial Bill Gordon

Arts & Culture/Editorial Alison Graves Arts Jen Salt Columns Grace Vosen Sports Mike McDermott

Our team will be growing and changing as we settle into publishing regularly, please stay in touch. Thank you to all of our contributors, by name and by pen, for believing in our community.

Editorial Policy

On certain topics in areas of great community interest, the editors of the Valley Sentinel may take positions they believe best represent and serve the interests of the community. Any opinions or positions taken by the editorial board are separate and distinct in labeling and substance from the community journalism that appears in the rest of the publication and does not affect the integrity and impartiality of our reporting. .

Est. 2020 igne conflatum “Forged in Fire”

Letter to the Editor Policy

Letters submitted for consideration are subject to fact-checking and editing for space and clarity.

Submissions must have a compelling local community interest. Letters to the editor must fit within a 500-word limit, and include name, city and phone number. Phone numbers are for office use only and will not be published. Letters of a political nature, without chance of rebuttal, will not be published the week before an election.

Valley Sentinel is a free, weekly single-copy news publication, available on newsstands in the area.

Covering Arena, Lone Rock, Plain, Spring Green and the surrounding areas.

Column Policy

Editors may feature opinion columns written by public figures, members of the public or other publication staff. Columns reflect the opinions of the individual contributors and do not represent positions of the publication. Guest columns of an anticipated length more than 500 words should seek prior editor authorization. .

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Community Discussion Policy

From time to time the editorial board may select letters to the editor of a particular compelling community interest where a public figure or accountable public action is the recipient of criticism and allow, in the same issue, the subject of the criticism chance for rebuttal, with expounded independent input.

The format shall be point, counterpoint and expert analysis. This community discussion shall serve as a moderated dialogue that presents multiple views of important community topics. .

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Community

WednesdaY, june 16, 2021

COmmunitycalendar Events for June 17 - June 30 Thursday, June 17 Zoozort at the Park 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM . Plain Community Park Pavilion, 925 Parkview Avenue, Plain . Free . LIMITED TICKET EVENT . www.kraemerlibrary.org.

Zoozort is a unique, hands-on interactive program that features live exotic animals from all around the world. Children are enthralled with animals, information, props and humor; sparking an interest in animals that will last a lifetime.

APT: Talk Backs — An Improbable Fiction 4:30 PM - 5:00 PM . www.americanplayers.org. Our usual post-show Q&A continues this year through the magic of Zoom. Bonus: we're recording them this year, so if you can't make the live stream, you can still watch any time after.

Mazo Music & Street Market: Shelley Faith 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM . The Apothecary & Mercantile 18 E Hudson St . Free . Spend a fantastic evening in Mazo! Enjoy live music and browse a bountiful farmer/craft market.

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

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

Friday, June 18 Wine Down Fridays: John Gay 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM . Wild Hills Winery, 30940 Oakridge Dr. Muscoda . Free . www.wildhillswinery.com. Wine down and chill at Wild Hills Winery! Live music every Friday! Enjoy the sounds of local musicians and singer-songwriters outdoors on the patio. Food and drink specials.

Saturday, June 19 Spring Green Farmers Market 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM . S230 E. Monroe St Spring Green . www.facebook.com/SGFMarket. Local farm fresh produce, coffee, fresh baked goods, honey, soaps & lotions, bedding plants, cut flowers, maple syrup and more.

Brat Fry 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM . River Valley Area Community Garden, 900 N. Westmor Street, Spring Green . Brats and Chicken luncheon costs vary . info@rvacg.org. River Valley Area Community Garden will hold a Brat Fry at Prem Meats on Hwy. 14, Spring Green. All proceeds will go to build a shelter at the Gardens.

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

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

The Underground Collective 7:30 PM . Mazomanie Outdoor Pavilion . www.ruralmusiciansforum.org. Performing Beethoven's Septet and more.

Sunday, June 20 40th Annual Richland County Dairy Breakfast (Drive Thru) 7:00 AM - 1:00 PM .

Richland County Fairgrounds, 23630 County Hwy AA, Richland Center . $5 per carryout . www.dairydaysofsummer.com. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 40th Annual Richland County Dairy Breakfast will be as a drive thru event at the Richland Co. Fairgrounds.

AD German Warehouse, Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Tour 11:00 AM 3:00 PM . $15/person, cash or check only . 300 South Church Street, Richland Center . www.adgermanwarehouse.org. Tour the only warehouse designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Tours are available by appointment only.

Story Time Special: Father’s Day 12:00 PM . Spring Green Community Library, 230 E Monroe St Spring Green . www.springgreenlibrary.org. Facebook exclusive storytime special.

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

Monday, June 21 Take & Make Craft Kits: Animal Habitats 11:00 AM . Spring Green Community Library, 230 E Monroe St Spring Green . www.springgreenlibrary.org. Drop by the library to grab a Take and Make Animal Habitats! These kits are created with adults in mind (all are welcome to them!) and contain materials needed to complete the project. Kits are available first come, first served, while supplies last.

Make Music Day 3:00 PM - 4:00PM . Meadows Assisted Living, 477 Rainbow Road, Spring Green . Free . www.meadowsspringgreen.com. We are hosting a free senior-friendly concert to celebrate “Make Music Day”. This worldwide celebration of music was launched in 1982 and invites people of every musical persuasion to “share music with friends, neighbors and strangers.” Preformace by Trippers Lite.

Tuesday, June 22 Story Time at South Park 10:00 AM . Spring Green Community Library, 230 E Monroe St Spring Green . www.springgreenlibrary.org. Join Ms Christi at Spring Green's South Park for a fun morning of summer Story Time!

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

Wednesday, June 23 Story Time at South Park 10:00 AM . Spring Green Community Library, 230 E Monroe St Spring Green . www.springgreenlibrary.org. Join Ms Christi at Spring Green's South Park for a fun morning of summer Story Time!

Thursday, June 24 Local Night: Camela Widad 5:30 PM - 8:00PM . The Shed/Post House Garden, 123 N Lexington Street, 119 E Jefferson Street Spring Green . Come out and spend your Thursday evenings with some local music and local food. The food cooked on the grill on the patio is from our many local vendors in Spring Green and surrounding towns, and the musicians are from the River Valley area.

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

Friday, June 25 An Iliad 12:30 PM & 8:00 PM . 5950 Golf Course Rd, Spring Green . Ticket prices Vary . www.americanplayers.org. A reincarnation of Homer’s epic tale by Lisa Peterson & Denis O’Hare. Limited seating.

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

Saturday, June 26 Spring Green Farmers Market 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM . S230 E. Monroe St Spring Green . www.facebook.com/SGFMarket. Local farm fresh produce, coffee, fresh baked goods, honey, soaps & lotions, bedding plants, cut flowers, maple syrup and more.

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

June Dairy Month Drive-thru Celebration 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM . S8641 CR-G, Plain . www.wisconsindairy.org . Due to the Sauk County Breakfast being canceled, we are hosting an on farm June Dairy Month drive-thru educational event to highlight a local Sauk County farm. We'll have trivia, a goodie bag for the whole family, and information about the farm!

Acoustic Jam 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM . Spring Green General Store, 137 S Albany Spring Green . www.springgreen.com . Come to play, come to listen. Come to teach, come to learn. Or just hang out & enjoy the people and the music.

The Growlers 3:00 PM - 6:30 PM . Wisconsin Riverside Resort, S13220 Shifflet Road Spring Green . www.wiriverside.com/entertainment. Summer music continues on the River Stage!

2021 Spring Green Pride Paddle 3:30 PM . Highway 14 Boat Landing, Spring Green . Free . www.ourliveswisconsin.com/event/2021-spring-green-pride-paddle/. Dress up and decorate your kayak, canoe, or paddle board for the second annual SG Pride Paddle! We will paddle to Peck’s Landing. The celebration may continue at the Pecks Landing sandbar - more information coming soon.

Angela Puerta duo or trio 7:30 PM . Mazomanie Outdoor Pavilion . www.ruralmusiciansforum.org. Columbian traditional music and Latin American Rhythms

Sunday, June 27 Family Day 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM . Taliesin Preservation Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center 5607 County Road C Spring Green . Adult– $25; Student, Senior & Military – $20; Children Under 10- FREE . www.taliesinpreservation.org. Taliesin is offering a self-guided opportunity to walk the 800-acre estate. This experience offers visitors a chance to explore the stunning Driftless Area landscapes of Southwest Wisconsin while also providing a unique look into the estate’s history from architectural and agricultural viewpoints.

Poem Homes Open House 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM . 770 N. Westmor St. Spring Green . Free . www.poemhomes.org. Tour Spring Green’s first net zero energy home and meet Amber Westerman, owner/designer/contractor. Learn how this solar-powered, super-insulated home works.

Musical Tribute to Don McDougal 1:30 PM . The Shed/Post House Garden, 123 N Lexington Street, 119 E Jefferson Street Spring Green . Free . Join us for an afternoon of music to celebrate the life of our friend Don McDougal. The tribute will feature performances by many musicians throughout the River Valley who knew and loved Don, and seek to honor him with live music, one of the things he enjoyed the most.

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

Dog Park Open House 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM . Lions Park, Walter Rd Entrance .

Party with your pooch!

Monday, June 28 Take & Make Craft Kits: Marbled Tiles 11:00 AM . Spring Green Community Library, 230 E Monroe St Spring Green . www.springgreenlibrary.org. Drop by the library to grab a Take and Make Marbled Tiles! These kits are created with adults in mind (all are welcome to them!) and contain materials needed to complete the project. Kits are available first come, first served, while supplies last.

Arcadia Book Club: Bad Moon Rising: a conversation with John Galligan and Jim DeVita 6:00 PM . 102 E Jefferson St, Spring Green . https://www.readinutopia.com. John will sit down with James DeVita to discuss their dark tales of murder and police work, all set in Wisconsin. There's a good chance they'll also talk about fishing.

Tuesday, June 29 Story Time at South Park 10:00 AM . Spring Green Community Library, 230 E Monroe St Spring Green . www.springgreenlibrary.org. Join Ms Christi at Spring Green's South Park for a fun morning of summer Story Time!

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

Wednesday, June 30 Story Time at South Park 10:00 AM . Spring Green Community Library, 230 E Monroe St Spring Green . www.springgreenlibrary.org. Join Ms Christi at Spring Green's South Park for a fun morning of summer Story Time!

Community

WednesdaY, june 16, 2021

Page 5

Board Actions Spring Green Village Board approves block party, Liquor Licenses

Lone Rock Village Board approves various licenses, permits

The Spring Green Village Board met for a regular meeting June 9. Actions taken by the board at the meeting include:

The Lone Rock Village Board met June 8 for it monthly regular meeting.

Actions take by the board at the meeting include:

• Approving the use of a coin machine for the Spring Green Golf Club and Zwettler & Hutter • Approving various a Class A Liquor License for Wander Provisions and Hometown Supermarket • Approving Class B Beer and Class B Liquor Taverns Liquor Licenses for The White School, Convivio, Post House Property, Freddy Valentines LLC, Slowpoke Lounge and Cabaret, Baron Brooks and The Shed.

• Approving a Class B Beer and Class C Wine Licenses for The Spring Green General Store, The Shi**y Barn and the Paper Crane.

• Approving A Class B Beer and Class A Retail License for The Usonian Inn • Approving 23 Operators Licenses • Approved John Finn’s request to close E Adams Street for a block party on July 17.

• Approved allowing a vacant board seat empty until the April 2022 election as there have been no letters of interest to fill the vacancy.

• Approved a variance for Pat Slaney to build a storage shed on Union Street.

• Approved Liquor Licenses for Dollar General, Lone Stop Shell, D&Z’s One Stop, the Woods Bar and Grill, Keg & Kettle and Lone Rock Bistro.

• Approved 18 operators licenses, pending a background checks • Approved an electrical/plumbing/ramp building permit for Johnny Harrison • Approved the purchase of a welder The Lone Rock Village Board will meet 7 p.m. July 7 at the Village Hall and via Zoom.

The Spring Green Village Board will meet 7 p.m. June 23 via Zoom.

Plain reviews committee action, hears updates on pool, street projects continued from page 1 gion, I-Diehl Tap, Rings Bar and Sam’s Place. Class B licenses cover hard liquor to be served on the premises.

A Class A Beer and Class A Intoxicating Liquor license was issued to Plain One Stop. This type of license allows for beer and hard liquor to be sold as retail to be consumed off-site.

A Class A Intoxicating Liquor license was also granted to Country Crossroads Floral and Gifts and Plain Kwik Stop.

The newly granted licenses will be effective July 1, 2021 until June 30, 2022.

The first order of business on the agenda for the board was to run through various committee reports, first up was Trustee Steve Whitford with Streets and Utilities. Whitford reported the road work on Nachreiner Avenue is going well and on schedule, last week crews began working to repair driveways and sidewalks.

Whitford also reported the state will be doing resurfacing work on Highway 23 and Highway B at the end of June.

Trustee Merry Lynn Riek thanked staff and attendees for attending the playground dedication on June 6, which had about 30 attendees. Riek also reported that the Recreation program is working on setting up a

garden near the park.

Riek reported the Fire Board offered the position for EMS Chief to Tracey Brent, who accepted the position.

Former EMS Chief Kay Feiner stepped down as chief but will remain as an EMT in the village.

Trustee Brian Brey reported that seeding has begun at the village golf course, and Nick Ruhland, a village public works employee, is investigating which trees will be planted in the new acreage the golf course gained due to boundary changes from the new subdivision being built next to the golf course.

The library had 806 visitors and 1,442 checkouts in the month of May,

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reported Trustee Kelly Yanke.

Trustee Melissa Marx reported the village pool had a busy opening weekend starting June 4, with 348 visitors and 29 pool passes sold that weekend.

Water aerobics started June 6, and will be Monday-Thursday’s at 5:15 p.m.

Police Chief Mike Stoddard reported that Spring Green has hired one new full-time officer as well as hired retired Sauk County Deputy Eric Miller.

The board first approved a resolution giving support and asking the State to provide a controlled intersection and a reduced speed limit on State Highway 23.

To submit your songs, please email us at editor@valleysentinelnews.com or message us on Instagram @VS_Wisconsin.

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

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

Let’s try to keep it mostly recent and up and coming.

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Page 6

Arts & Culture

WednesdaY, june 16, 2021

Art from around the Valley: Jen Salt’s “Cat Nap” will melt your heart My favorite cat, Louisa posed for this painting......she loved her naps.

SHE “found” ME at a farmer’s market while I stopped by for tomatoes and potatoes. I was reluctantly taken in hand by two adorable little boys and coerced into checking out a huge toilet paper box full of six tiny fluffy kittens. Uh oh. There was Louisa, a perfect tiger tabby and the smallest of the bunch. We bonded immediately.

In the car, on the way home from the market, she perched herself on my shoulder and meowed. After that, she rarely ever left my side and always chose to sit on my shoulder, especially when I was painting at my art table.

She was the perfect “English Door” cat that welcomed everyone into our home. After guests would admire her beauty and sweet personality, she would curl up and snuggle next to one lucky person. She had a good long life.

Moral of the story, keep an open mind when shopping at your local farmer’s market here in town. You may come home with more than tomatoes and potatoes......if you’re lucky.

“Cat Nap” is a very small 6” 6” oil painting of Louisa Claire.

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

This is home.”

Painting by Jen Salt

Review: An Improbable Fiction perfect homage to APT history to kick-off Hill Theater season Nicole Aimone, Editor-in-Chief An Improbable Fiction kicked off American Players Theatre’s (APT) 2021 Hill Theater season on May 27 with a nod to APT’s strong connection to Shakespearean theater in the quippy play written by James DeVita.

This play was originally written and given as a table read in APT’s Out of the Woods series, and according to the summary on the theater’s website, the play has been almost entirely reworked for it’s world stage debut.

While I didn’t see the original table read, the most striking thing about the performance was that you can absolutely tell that it was written, directed and performed by a group of people who, for many years, have lived, breathed, slept and performed Shakespearean theater—the words and jokes were written perfectly for the characters, the actions and temperaments of the characters were portrayed by actors who can only portray complex, almost ancient characters like

that when they’ve intimately known them before. Essentially, this show was the perfect summary of what you get when you think APT, world class Shakespeare.

I’ll be upfront and honest, my knowledge and familiarity with Shakespeare ends with High School AP English, I’ve only read a handful of his works and I probably couldn’t pick them out of a lineup. With that said, I still thoroughly enjoyed this work, but my familiarity with the characters and references definitely made it harder to follow (It took me about half way through the play to realize Chiké Johnson was portraying Othello.)

Director Tim Ocel describes the play as “Six Shakespearean characters walk into a bar…” and that’s truly, exactly it. The five characters in the play, Sir John Falstaff, Mistress Nell Quickly, Cleopatra, Othello, Juliet and a messenger are the characters, and the entire play takes place inside a tavern, during a public shut down because

of a plague outbreak. The characters are forced to take a long look at their lives, their loves and their intertwined relationship they share as creations of Shakespeare. It seems like it was written to be the perfect mix of drama, comedy and tragedy that comes with this type of theater.

My favorite part of the performance is that the characters are actually aware that they’re fictional characters, they’re aware that their lives are completely controlled, adjusted and determined by Lord Shakespeare’s pen. References to that are sprinkled through the play in passing statements, but in the end it becomes a larger part of the plot and message to the story—to me, at the end of the play the characters learn to love their fiction-ness, the beauty in being able to persevere and entertain millions of people across generations as fictional characters.

I also think it’s really interesting the story takes place during a lockdown

because of the plague, it’s interesting to know that this play really came to life during COVID, and to see how that could have possibly inspired DeVita in the writing process.

Ultimately, if you’re not a Shakespeare fan, this performance is still enjoyable mostly because you can see and feel the passion from the people who wrote and performed it for the characters involved, you can tell it’s a group of people who have intimately performed Shakespearean theater for a very long time, and truly understand it’s place, meaning and essence.

If you’re a Shakespeare fan, this play will be a super fun, ingenuitive way to experience some of the A-1 characters in the playwrights collection.

An Improbable Fiction runs at the Hill Theater until June 26, tickets can be purchased at https://americanplayers.org/plays/an-improbable-fiction. APT is currently offering limited availability in its theaters due to COVID-19 guidelines.

Driftless Music Gardens hosts Bonfire Festival

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People of all ages enjoy and dance to People Brothers Band at Bonfire Festival hosted at the Driftless Music Gardens in Yuba. The festival marks the first in-person festival at the gardens since COVID-19 shutdowns began.

Valley Sentinel was provided the opportunity to attend Bonfire in an effort to cover arts and culture in the regional driftless area.

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Community

WednesdaY, june 16, 2021

COVID-19 Dashboard

Page 7

Wisconsin Summary

611,819 Positive Cases

Cases as of 6/15/2021

+651 from 6/8

2,963,669 Negative Test Results +8,762 from 6/8

7,212 Deaths +34 from 6/8

Vaccine Summary Statistics Updated: 6/15/2021

5,782,655

5,382,350 Administered

Allocated

2,932,323

2,229,409

Pfizer doses administered

220,468

Moderna doses administered

Johnson & Johnson doses administered

Vaccine Data

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

-Madison Public Health and Dane County

Richland County

1,328 Positive Cases +3 from 6/8 8,379 Negative Tests -12 from 6/8 16 Death +0 from 6/8

Richland

Sauk

Target Range

48%

Iowa County

2,060 Positive Cases +0 from 6/8 11,905 Negative Tests +28 from 6/8 13 Deaths +0 from 6/8 Sauk County 5,947 Positive Cases +3 from 6/8 36,314 Negative Tests +48 from 6/8 50 Deaths +0 from 6/8

50.5%

Percent with at least one vaccine dose

Percent with at least one vaccine dose

45.3%

44.8%

Percent fully vaccinated

Target Range

Percent fully vaccinated

Iowa

Target Range

57%

Percent with at least one vaccine dose

52.7%

Percent fully vaccinated

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

Cases per zip code Cases as of 6/15/2021

Updated: 6/15/2021

Lower %

Higher %

Richland County Ages 12-15

22%

Iowa County Ages 12-15

Percent of Wisconsin residents who have received at least one dose

33.6%

Sauk County

Ages

12-15

Ages 12-15 23.9%

16-17

18-24

Dane County Ages 12-15

Graphic by Whitney Back

55%

25-34

35-44 45-54

Updated: 6/15/2021 24.5% 34.8% 40%

45%

53.8%

55-64 65+

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

55.7%

66.4% 83.9%

“The good stuff.”

Page 8

Sports/Outdoors & recreation

WednesdaY, june 16, 2021

RV trap team takes home the Division 2A state title Photo by Kimberly Crook, Contributor

The River Valley Trap Team won the Division 2A State Title June 13 in Rome, Wisconsin.

River Valley’s score of 485 edged out West Salem’s team by one point to take the title. Clear Lake’s team finished third with 482.

RV’s Hannah Hegland won the varsity female state champion title with a score of 97.

Each competitor shoots at 100 clay targets broken down into 4 different 25 target rotations.

The team title is determined by the 5 best individual scores within each classified level, which include Novice, JV and varsity. The classifications are then broken down into female and male.

RV individual scores include: Andrew Maxwell 98, Hannah Hegland 97, Chase Bindle 97, Joe Day 97, Jaydon Rose 96, Cole, Amble 95, Gaige Dilley 95, Evan Alt 94, Josh Crook 93, Dylan Luther 92, Garrett Palmer 90, Lucas Palmer 90, Sam Cady 90, Colton Box 90 Pictured, four RV trap shooters with the team’s coaches.

RV Track and Field Following the Track and Field Regional meet in Prairie du Chien June 14, 10 River Valley Students qualified to move on to WIAA Sectionals which will be held at Whitewater High School June 17 at 3:30 p.m.

Sectionals Qualifiers: Girls: McKenzie Kruse- 400, 200 and Pole Vault Lily Borucki- 300 hurdles Bobbi Ducharme- 800

Weekly School Activities

Boys: Zach Vickerman: 100 and 4 x 100 Zach Gloudeman: 200, 4 x 100 and Shot Put Ryan Norton: Disc Kameran Smith: 4 x 100 Anthony Favreau: 4 x 100 Isaac Prem: 100, 4 x 100 and Triple Jump Kalen Scott: Shot Put

Varsity Baseball: WIAA Regionals Dodgeville High School 5 p.m. June 15 Varsity Softball: WIAA Regionals River Valley High School Field Softball 5 p.m. June 16 Varsity Track: WIAA Regionals Whitewater High School 3:30 p.m. June 17

RVACG holds inaugural student gardening program to get young student outside

Photos contributed by River Valley Area Community Garden The River Valley Area Community Garden started a Student Gardening program to get young students out in nature and learning about gardening. The program had its first event June 8 where students had the chance to assist gardeners with planting different type of plants and produce in garden beds. The program will include planting and tending to the garden beds, arts and crafts as well as story time in the garden.

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