---

Dodgeville graduate Randy Severson sent a letter the other day. He has lived in Florida for the majority of his life, but comes back to visit - mainly his dad Ron. He said he saw the biggest hurricane this year that he has witnessed in 45 years in Florida. He makes trips back home four times a year to spend time with his dad. He says his dad still enjoys the Chronicle every week and it shows up more regulary in Dodgeville than it does in Florida! He said his last trip north was in February and that he hadn't seen snow for 39 years. He walked out of a basketball game in Middleton and the wind chill was -10. The next day it was a -24. He said he followed the snowplow to the airport as there was 8-10 inches of snow. He finished by saying it would be another 39 years before he makes that trip again in the winter. "Stay warm - it's 83 degrees here," he said.
*****
Saturday morning breakfast took us to The General Store in Spring Green. Bob had to be back for a funeral and Dewey had a meeting at Taliesin st 9:30. That left myself, Terry, Dave and Tom as nowhere urgent to be, but we didn't venture very far again. Bob and I had the St. Patrick's special that was scrambled eggs, ham and some additions. The peach pancakes with toasted pecans were the choice of Tom and Terry. Dave had blueberry pancakes with toasted pecans and Dewey had french toast and bacon. It was all very good and with Terry, Tom and Dave not able to finish their choice of two pancakes I had a carryout for supper! This was the closest to sweets that I had come since Lent began (giving up desserts and sweets), but I used sugar free syrup at home!
*****
We had a great time talking about things, joking and laughing. I believe it's Karin, the owner, who came out of the kitchen and said something like "Boy, and I thought a table full of women was bad!" She hit it on the head. We were really on a roll Saturday!
*****
I did have somewhere to go after we got back to Dodgeville. I headed to the Iowa-Grant Elementary/Middle School for their Craft and Vendor Sale. I had a chance to meet a few people that I only knew via email before and also run into a few friends that I hadn't seen in awhile. I bought a berry/rhubarb crumble pie from the Sunny Side Down Farm (Dodgeville) table. It looked so good! I froze it for after Easter figuring that I may not see them until around May or June! Almost every time I see them at a market I buy a pie!
*****
Brother Pat is presiding over the 2023 Wisconsin Newspaper Association (WNA) Annual Convention in Madison at the Concourse Hotel this week. He is the WNA President this year. The event is Thursday and Friday with a special "Student Journalists" awards ceremony at noon on Friday and the annual banquet that night from 6:00-9:00.
*****
It was a kind of feather in the Mineral Point Boys Basketball Team's hat when Onalaska Luther won the Division 4 championship Saturday 60-46 over Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic. The Pointers lost in the Sectional Semifinals only 60-55 to that Luther team a week before at Lancaster!
*****
Today - Thursday, March 23 is National OK Day. It could be spelled OK, O.K or okay. It is one of the most (if not the most) commonly used word in the English language! The day is all about recognizing the worth of this evergreen noun/verb/adjective/adverb/interjection, which is so popular, that it transcended the language barrier a long time ago. It's not uncommon to hear a French, Korean, or any other non-English speaking person casually slip in an 'okay' while speaking in their native tongue!