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And the ribbon is cut!.......as Carrie Miller used the Dodgeville Chamber of Commerce's "big" scissors to announce the open house of the new American Family Insurance (Carrie Miller-Blabaum Agency) location in Dodgeville. - 201 N. Iowa Street in downtown Dodgeville. She is sharing space with her parents, Jim and Patti Blabaum, owners of ERA Arthur Real Estate. Shown at the Wednesday, March 21st ribbon cutting ceremony are (l-r): Bob Berglin (chamber executive director), Jim Blabaum (ERA Arthur Real Estate), Terry Carroll (Dodgeville True Value), Karen Judd (American Family secretary), Carrie Miller, Bob Kratochwill (retired American Family agent), Gert Peterson (owner of the first American Family policy in Dodgeville), Millie and Beauford Blabaum (Carrie's grandparents), Patti Blabaum (ERA Arthur Real Estate) and Terry Fischer (Esch Insurance Agency). There was an informal open house held all day on Wednesday followed by a "Business After 5" chamber of commerce social from 5-6:30 p.m.
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"Oh What a Beautiful Morning....Oh What a Beautiful Day" is what many folks around the midwest have been singing, or at least thinking about singing the past few weeks - and pretty much all the winter that ended officially March 21st! Temperatures have been in the 70s a lot with record highs set eight out of nine days at one period in the last few weeks. Flowers have been blooming. People have been tilling their gardens (because they can). Farmers have been in the fields tilling their fields and lawns have been mowed. How many times have we ever said all of that in March (mid-March to be exact)? I have been around for 65 years and can't ever remember a stretch like this - maybe a day or two in March, but not several weeks. We were supposed to only get into the high 40s this past Monday with a slight chance of frost during the night, but high 60s were supposed to return right away on Tuesday and continue all week. The following week's prediction shows back into the 70s - leading up to Easter. WOW!
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The Dodgeville High School Key Club, along with support from Lands' End, held an Easter Egg Hunt at the high school last Saturday. It was raining when they were getting ready in the morning and the grass was wet, so they decided to have the hunt in the hallways of the high school. I don't think anyone expected as many kids and families as they had, so it was a scramble to get things organized for the inside hunt. They had a petting zoo outside of the school that was a big hit and some games and creative tables for the kids prior to the hunt - again I don't think anyone expected as many people as were there. Hats off to the group of youngsters who had to tackle that project, especially the numbers and having to improvise inside of the school where there just wasn't enough room for everyone!
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High school baseball, softball and soccer games begin this Thursday (today) for many area schools. I don't know what the players are going to think about the weather because it's usually so cold or there's so much snow on the ground that these first few games can't take place! Some leagues have a 40 degree limit that if it's colder than that, no game. It shouldn't bother any around here in the next couple of weeks anyway!
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Check out the legal page in this week's Dodgeville Chronicle to see who you want to vote for in the election that takes place Tuesday (April 3). There are choices in your area for many races - school board, city council, mayor, village board, etc. The big thing is BE SURE TO GET OUT AND VOTE!