The next Inventors and Entrepreneurs Club meeting is Tuesday, July 8th at the Gays Mills Community Building, 212 Main Street.  This month's topic is "What Makes a Good Business or Product Idea?"  Jan Gallagher, Director of the UW-L Small Business Development Center, will talk about what to look for when deciding to go forward with an idea. What evidence can you uncover to sort out your decision?  What resources are available to help you?  What are the steps to exploring your idea? Come early to network at 6:00 pm, program starts at 6:30 pm.  New ideas are just a spark...

Liz Cifani is hosting two recitals this summer in her acoustically designed home in Brush Hollow.  The first performance is  by Erin Ponto, harpist, on Sunday, July 13 at 3 p.m.  The second is by Jim Bowers, classical  guitarist, on Sunday, August 17 at 3 p.m.   Reservations are required;  please call Liz at 637-6849 for reservations and directions.  $15 per  person.  Seating is limited so don't delay making the call....

Hello Dear Friends, Things are beginning to settle back a bit after our recent bout with flooding, and thankfully, the library here in Soldiers Grove has remained safe & dry once again. Dedicated crews of volunteers have been helping Maura at the library in Gays Mills,which took in water soaking the carpet and seeping up the walls.  She hopes to be open by mid-July, with fresh paint & a brave smile. Meantime, the Summer Reading program has begun here and the theme is: "Catch the Reading Bug" featuring story hour Tuesdays at 10am. Ongoing weekly t-shirt drawings are open to...

Tom Neilson is coming to Viroqua this week, so here is a preview of his work.  This clip is his singing introduction for Ralph Nader that puts a bit of perspective on the much criticized 2000 Nader vote. All Because I Voted For Ralph Nader It should be a rousing good time next_Wednesday at the old Dahl Pharmacy....

Tourist need not worry about coming back to the Kickapoo Region for recreation and Matt Wagner highlighted this in this last week's State Journal.  A long_article provided all the promotion the area might wish for. Also on a flood theme, for those cleaning up from the floods, here is a nice_article about how clorine bleach is not effective against mold, and what alternative is better. They suggest a mix of borax and vinegar, and while that seems likely to kill about anything I'd be careful handling that too....

Tom Neilson, the Jon Stewart of folk music will be playing on Wednesday, July 2nd at 7:30 p.m. for a benefit concert for Asbury Ridge Community for Hope (ARCH) and People for Harmony Opposed to Pollution for the Environment (HOPE), Don't Dump On Us. Neilson will be performing in  the Dahl Pharmacy building, 210 South Main St., Viroqua.  Neilson, a celebrated children's performer, will also perform at a children's concert at 4 p.m.  on July 3rd in the Dahl Pharmacy Building. More detail below the fold, and more info from Karen: kdahl[at]frontiernet[dot]net or 637-7710...

Welcome The_Pines back to Viroqua at Main_Street_Station, Friday 6/27 at 8 pm.  Tickets $10 in advance/$12 at the door.  Tickets/608-637-1912 tickets available at Nelson ag-center and all Viroqua public market merchants....

The Flood Relief Kitchen at the North Crawford High School, located between Soldiers Grove and Gays Mills on Hwy 131, is in need of volunteers to help with food prep and serving.  The Relief Kitchen is serving hundreds of meals daily - lunch and dinner - to families and flood relief volunteers who are hard at work cleaning up their homes and communities.  If you have some free time over the next two days please consider lending a helping hand. Volunteers are needed for lunch and dinner and are as follows: Tuesday, June 24th 10AM-12PM and/or 1PM-6PM  **There will be...

[Interesting article about the great lengths some people go to in order to have a garden...Los Angeles Times, by Joe Robinson, Special to The Times, May 29, 2008] Scott planted the garden on the median early in the morning to avoid detection. He continues to weed and clean. Residents encourage his work. Stealth growers seed or plant on land that doesn't belong to them. The result? Plants that beautify or yield crops in otherwise neglected or vacant spaces. BRIMMING with lime-hued succulents and a lush collection of agaves, one shooting spiky leaves 10 feet into the air, it's a head-turning...

Solstice 2007 pictures from Stonehenge and some schmaltzy music to boot. And here is footage from this year's events at Stonehenge....

The Country Today covered_a_story about an evacuation of neighbors living by a dairy CAFO. Several rural Minnesota families evacuated their homes last week when the odors from a nearby dairy farm reached unhealthy levels. Hazardous hydrogen sulfide levels at Excel Dairy near Thief River Falls, Minn., in northwest Minnesota triggered state Department of Health toxicologist Rita Messing to advise nearby homeowners to leave their homes. At least a half-dozen families living near the 1,500-cow farm left their homes to stay with relatives or in hotels. Locally Wisconsin's Department of Ag, Trade, Consumer Protection (DATCP) CAFO Siting Review Board reversed its...

Gary Thompson, VSN Stewardship and Education Coordinator, is presently coordinating a work crew with Workforce Connections to work on flood clean-up in the Kickapoo River Watershed. Workforce Connections is a local organization working to assist community members who lost their jobs due to the August Floods of 2007. Clean-up work began in April of 2008 with the removal of deposited debris from last year's flood event. Now, area residents are faced with much more work as the process starts all over again.     image from recent cleanup This is a daunting task due to recent additional flood damage in...

If you need a bit of recreation this weekend, think about a float down the Kickapoo River.  I would call the Livery (a probably partial list is here) to be sure of conditions, but I know from Ontario to Bridge 5 is open (Kickapoo Yacht Club has a nice map and the Wildcat_State_Park is closed for repairs, so that landing is not available.)  These businesses had an unexpected 7-10 day closure due to the storms and need folks to come out and enjoy a day on the river. What is normally a fairly lazy float is a bit more work...