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It was a busy and long weekend that began on Friday for me at the concession stands at Centennial Park and the High School Field at the Middle School. We had a State 16-18 Babe Ruth Tournament at both fields on Friday and Saturday with the finals held at Centennial Park on Sunday. The Dodgeville team, made up of only Dodgeville players, finished as runners-up. They lost to one Eau Claire team once and the other one twice. That was very respectable considering several teams were made up of All-Stars from their area. There was tremendous help at the stands, with the fields and whatever needed to be done from the community and area! The Dodgeville plus' mothers and friends were a huge help, especially Jessica and Lisa!
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Players, coaches and fans from Eau Claire, Green Bay and Reedsburg all were impressed with the two baseball fields, especially Reilly Field at Centennial Park and the park and swimming pool overall! They complimented us on the beautiful area with all the rolling hills and trees. I did a lot of the cooking at Centennial and that even was given some high praise!
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Both the Eau Claire team and the Dodgeville team will be playing in the Ohio Valley Regional that is held in Green Bay this Thursday through Sunday. The winner from there gets a chance to play in the Babe Ruth World Series!
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Farmers Appreciation Day - in its new venue in the courthouse parking lot - went pretty well. Not knowing what to expect away from the move from Harris Park several vendors ran out of product fairly early. Reports said the setup needs some tweaking, but that was expected with it being a first time in that location. The parade was pretty long and there was a huge crowd for it - again participants ran out of product to hand out!
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I broke away from my set up duties for the ball games Friday morning (actually got up earlier) and met Reilly cousins Jeanette, Jeanne, Deb and Jeff for breakfast at the Red Room. Jeanette was leaving to head back to Atlanta on Sunday and that was going to be the last time I'd get to see her before she left. It was a great time catching up with the four of them. Even though Jeanne lives only in Richland Center and Deb and Jeff live in Dodgeville, I don't see them that often! I was glad to get the chance to go to Jeanne and husband Joe's 50th Wedding Anniversary two weeks ago and get to spend time with them, along with Jeanette and Jack plus other cousins. Jeanette and Jack's daughter Melanie and granddaughter Grace made my day the couple times I got to see them while they were here! They are all good people, even though they are related to me!
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If you get a chance, stop at the pop up "Town Square" located on East Merrimac Street between Bob's Bitchin' Barbeque and The Red Room for the next week or so. It was a big hit with the players from the State Babe Ruth Tournament as well as a lot of locals and people passing through the first weekend!
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Check out the sign that is being utilized as the backdrop for the stage where bands play at the Town Square. It was made by the Dodgeville High Schol Art Club for the Dodgeville Lions Club. With it are Lions Bob Kratochwill (left) and Terry Carroll.
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All roads lead to Highland this weekend for their annual "Our Town" celebration. There's a lot going on in the village to our north-west!