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I had a chance to help out working the Dodgeville Lions Club's Annual
Fun Night at the Dodger Bowl Saturday night. There were nearly 300 people
in attendance, most vying for a $3000 top prize. In all, in money give-aways
only, the club handed out over $7500 to people who bought tickets. Myself,
Dave Stone and Bobby McNeill II worked the 50/50 raffle. There were also
bucket raffles where ticket purchasers placed tickets into buckets of prizes
they were seeking. A couple of the larger prizes were a TV, a freezer, Fanta
Suite and a lot more. It was truly a "fun night" as a lot of conversation took
place, some card playing and some very good food plus all the prizes and
money handed out. People stayed around until the end to see who claimed
the top prize(s) of $3000, $1000, $750, $500 and $100. Three of the winners
were present and one worked the set-up of the event, but had to work the late
shift! Check out some of the crowd in the above photo during the drawing.
*****
It was quite the roller coaster ride for 2015 Masters Golf Tournament champion
Jordan Spieth. He was trying to become the only player to win two consecutive
"Green Jackets" going wire to wire both years. He led for three 1/2
rounds and then went bogey, bogey, quad-bogey on the first three holes of
the second nine. He made a charge, but fell short to 24 year old Englishman
Danny Willett, who shot the round of his lifetime at a 67 Sunday to win the
Green Jacket. Spieth is just 22 years old and has nothing but an impressive
future ahead of him - as does Willett.
*****
There was a German Masters player - Bernhard Langer - who was in contention
until Sunday's round ate him up. He won the Masters in 1985 and
1993, the last time was four months before Spieth was born!
*****
I stopped playing golf over 15 years ago - due to the fact I lost a lot of my
coordination. I have a special love for the game however as I started playing
golf as therapy after having brain surgery when I was 10. I played on the very
first golf team at Dodgeville High School in 1962 as a sophomore. We had
two freshmen (Mike Collins and myself) who wanted to start a golf team in
1961, but "back then" you had to have enough for a full team to compete.
We had to wait until the graduating class of 1965 entered high school to form
a full team. We had a great time playing in high school. I continued playing
in leagues at Dodge-Point Country Club until it became too tough to do with
my work schedule and the fact I wasn't "improving with age"!
*****
We're just two weekends before the Wisconsin Grilled Cheese Championships
will be held in Dodgeville at Harris Park on Saturday, April 23. It's
a great event that brings a lot of people to the area - many staying overnight
to get a fresh and early start on Saturday and take part in the 1st cooking
school the night before. We expect from 2000-3000 people to make it to the
FREE event on Saturday. You can spend the day there without spending a
cent. We hope, though, that you buy some beverages, grilled cheese sandwiches
and other cheese food and/or some souvenirs. They are still looking
for volunteers - call 608-935-9200 for the Chamber of Commerce office to
do so. They have two shifts on Saturday with a lot of workers/runners needed.
*****
The Community Connections Free Clinic is holding its "Spring Auction"
from 6-9 p.m. Saturday, April 16 at the Wisconsin Riverside Resort in Spring
Green. That's a great event to help