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I happened to stop at Culver's in Dodgeville Saturday night around 7:00 and thought I was at a tailgate party after the UW Badgers/Penn State football game. The place was pretty close to full and over half of the people there were ones I didn't know and they were dressed in Badger "Red" apparel. I talked with a few of them asking how they enjoyed the game. Most said it was a little wet, but the mild temperatures made it very standable. They also were impressed with the way the Badgers played - winning 45-7 - and a few said they were heading to Indianapolis this coming weekend for the first ever Big 10 championship playoff game. It would be awesome if the Badgers could win it and put themselves into the record books as being the first Big 10 football playoff champion!
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Oh, above is a photo of two of the Badgers mainstays in this year's football team - running back Montee Ball (28) and quarterback Russell Wilson (16). Ball is only a junior while Wilson is a senior, who is going to graduate school at the UW and had a year of eligibility left. He is playing football- and he should be in the Heisman race if he isn't already, In fact, both players should get mentioned for the prestigious award!
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While I'm taking football, there sure were a lot of games to pick from starting with Thanksgiving Day through Sunday. The college games pitted a lot of rivalry games (Oregon/Oregon State, Michigan/Ohio State, Alabama/Auburn, Georgia/Georgia Tech, West Virginia/Virginia etc.). The Green Bay Packers played on Thanksgiving day and took care of business for the 11th consecutive time this season against the Detroit Lions - always a good match-up, especially on Thanksgiving day. I was happy to see Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers win the Thanksgiving day trophy that was given to the Most Valuable Player of the game, but I do miss the "Golden Gobbler" award Don Madden used to hand out - the huge turkey drumstick. That always seemed so perfect on Thanksgiving!
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I hope a lot of you will join me at the Dodgeville Senior Center this Sunday and next (December 4 & 11) for photos with Santa. Santa really likes talking with all the kids about what they want for Christmas and the seniors enjoy seeing all of them! Any proceeds from the $1/photo will go to the food pantry.
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There are plenty more events going on in Dodgeville this weekend with the annual Breakfast With Santa taking place Saturday morning at the Congregational Church, across and down from the Chronicle office on West Merrimac Street. There is also a Kids Only shop open at the Methodist Church that is on the main street next to the MHTC building. That one is also open next Saturday too! Other Saturday events include the annual Christmas Open House shopping at businesses and culminates with the 6:00 p.m. "Miracle on Iowa Street" parade that goes along the main street with a "warm up" reception at the Methodist Church following. For those of you who want some exercise, there's Open Skate at Harris Park. And, on Sunday there will be Photos With Santa" at the Dodgeville Senior Center from 1-3 p.m. That should give the youngsters a lot to do over the weekend!
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I ran into some people at Linens & Accents on "Black" Friday who had just made a stop at my late buddy's place - the bakery next door. I asked them if they had sampled anything yet and they replied they hadn't. I said that was good as now they could finish their holiday shopping without any "ill effects"!