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I messed up a classmates last name in my column last week. My apologies to JoAnn (Mellum) Putz as I gave her a wrong last name. She is married to Dean Putz and they are Avoca residents, whose daughter (Jody) and son in law (Dan Miller) hosted the Iowa County Dairy Breakfast at Miller Time Farms between Highland and Avoca.
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I received a couple of notes of relatives of former Dodgeville graduates who have done well in their respective state's softball/baseball tournaments. These are very special times for families to witness such events.
Pitcher Haley Wynn, daughter of former Dodgeville athlete Eric Wynn led Whitnall High School to the WIAA Division 2 state softball championship recently. They defeated Mosinee 3-1. Her grandparents are Knight and Lynn Wynn, former Dodgeville teachers and current Highland residents.
Last year as a junior my grandson's team won the Indiana State Baseball Championship (he played 2nd base) and celebrated the "thrill of victory" However, this year with most of the team back they were ranked #2 in the state and had to play the # 1 team in the 3rd round of the tournament. The opposing pitcher has committed to Vanderbilt and our team's pitcher has committed to University of Indiana. What a game. 6 total Div. 1 committed baseball players were on the field. We lost 2-1 (the agony of defeat). My grandson played for St. Joe's High school of South Bend and will be attending Notre Dame as a student only.
As we all know those state championships are special and I felt blessed to be there (for both the championship game and last saturday's heartbreaking loss) and see the result of all the athlete's hard work and hours and money parents spend to provide a positive learning experience.
Barry Bilkey, Dodgeville High School graduate
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The above notes show the way a lot of the Mineral Point parents and relatives feel about their Pointers reaching the WIAA State Baseball Tournament and playing on Wednesday as this paper is being published/distributed!
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Coming up soon, June 23-24 is the annual Livingston Good Earth Festival. There will be a tractor pull on Saturday evening with part of the proceeds going to the Tanner Kleist family to help defray expenses from his farm accident awhile ago. There's a lot going on Sunday, including a huge parade at 2:00 p.m. that will feature "Echoes of Camp Randall" Band and Bucky Badger.
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The Dodgeville Lions Club's first Antique Show/Flea Market of the summer took place Sunday. The next one will be August 24. Overall attendance was down a little, but there were a lot of buyers who came. The 40-50 vendors were pretty happy when all was said and done.