Along The Ad Routes

 by Mike Reilly

We’re on a roll! For the third week in a row we’ve found a new place for Saturday morning breakfast, bringing our total to 62! We headed east about 15 minutes to the Barneveld Cafe. We hade been to the same place when it was called Barneveld Community Cafe, but now it is under new ownership. We were waited on by two young visiting women from Milwaukee, where they go to school. They were visiting Barneveld and their father, who runs the restaurant. The two names of our waitstaff were Nani and Sassy, both nicknames. The food was pretty good with Dewey saying his skillet was amazing. Four of us had omelettes. There was only five of us because Dave was ill and Potsie couldn’t make it. That left Bob, Terry, Dewey, Tom and me at the table. We went to that place because Jim Massey had talked about it and then Leo Clerkin wrote me a note telling about it and the fact that Tom’s (DeMuth) folks had run a bar just a few doors away when Tom was just a little one! Leo and his wife walked in so we had a good chat. We also ran into Wanda Owens, longtime (now retired) school board member in Barneveld. We sat around and talked for quite some time with all of the people who came in after us already gone. We also saw Dave and Kathleen Schmitz ( Schmitz Chiropractic in Dodgeville) there as we were leaving. It was a good time!

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I received my “Saffron Buns” for Christmas from good friend Lori Lawinger, the late Kathryn’ McGraw’s granddaughter. They were gone in minutes! Lori also threw in a few Christmas cookies that were great. Oh, and she made me my annual birthday “Apple Pie” the end of November. I’m really getting spoiled!

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It was a wet Christmas, but not with snow! Rain happened most of the weekend and into Christmas Day. A good share of the family (Pat’s) had a very enjoyable Christmas in Waunakee at his daughter Kelly’s (Brett) home!

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Last Friday was the final day at Cathryn’s Market (former Corner Drug Store) right next to our office for Bailey (Lindner) Upmann, someone I have become to enjoy since she has been working there (don’t tell her husband Acea). Both of them are Iowa-Grant graduates. I made it a point to stop in that day to wish her well as they are heading to Mississippi where she is pursuing her nurses career. I wish both of them well and hope to see them down the road!

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Speaking of someone leaving Cathryn’s Market to pursue other interests, it’s going to be a really, really, really hard time this Friday when Macy Ahrens leaves for Michigan. Her fiance Eli Hardy is being sent there by Miron Construction for him to oversee a project. Macy and Eli are both Dodgeville graduates.

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A very Happy 2024 to everyone!