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he Dodgeville-Mineral Point girls cross country team has a string of 16 consecutive state tournament team appearances going and have won the last two Division 2 championships. Saturday, they looked as if they are well on their way to a 17th straight appearance at state and possibly a third consecutive crown. They beat the large school field handily at the River Valley tournament.
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Sunday, brother Pat and I made the trip to Big Bend (Wisconsin) to my nephew's (his son's) house - that's Darren and Michele. Their son Liam turned one year old and there was a family and neighbor gathering. His brother, Gavin, is a little older, so he got to open all the presents and blow out the candle. Liam did make a pretty good mess of himself with a rather large cupcake though!
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I painfully watched most of the first half of the Green Bay Packers/San Francisco 49ers game. I thought the replacement officials did a pretty good job, but they did miss two big calls that really hurt the Packers - a pass interference penalty on the 49ers and an offside by the 49ers. There may've been some penalties on the Packers that were missed too, but these two really did sting as one would've probably meant a Packers touchdown and the other could've stopped a 49ers scoring drive. I'm not whining because the 49ers played the overall better game, but.......!
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This Saturday is the annual Ethan Smith Open at Deer Valley Golf Course - a god fundraiser for the Ethan's Shining Light Foundation that does a lot of good for the community. Their last project was a FREE movie at Centennial Park a few weeks ago that was attended by some 200 kids!
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On Sunday, you can find me at the Dodgeville Area Scholarship Fund annual golf tournament and fundraiser at Dodge Point Country Club. We have some 30 teams of former DHS students and friends participating and can still use more - or just stop out and see some people you probably haven't seen in quite some time. There will also be a fundraising auction and some raffles going on.
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I've  had a few people say to me - "So you were a hog farmer?" Most of them were cattlemen. I guess that means that they read this column!
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One of my nieces - Kelly - had emailed me thanking me for the "Little Cards" CD I had given her. That was from her son (Quentin) and nephew - Grant - played against the "Little Cubs" this summer and crushed them both times! Also, she mentioned her uncle  Robert Peterson - being in Dodgeville and looking for me to be crossing the street. Hmmmm - does that mean he's from IOWA?