Along The Ad Routes

by Mike Reilly

We received a renewal and note for a classmate of mine, Sherrie Zinck of Boscobel. She wrote: “Hi Mike & Pat: I am so grateful for you and small town newspapers, especially the Chronicle, that I’m renewing my home-town newspaper again! If you travel to Boscobel for breakfast again, Mike, let your old classmate know! Merry Christmas!”

*****

It speaks a lot for Big Ten Women’s Volleyball when three teams from that conference make it into the final 8! They were Nebraska (top rated team), Purdue and Wisconsin. It was great to have Wisconsin advance to the “Final 4”.

*****

Saturday and Sunday were one of the coldest (feeling at least) days of this winter with high temperatures around 5 degrees (feeling like -10), but we survived it! It’s hard to believe that by the time you read this we would’ve had 3 days of temperatures in the 30s with about 40 degrees expected on Saturday. That will probably make some conditions icy and dangerous, but a good share of the snow should have disappeared!

*****

Saturday morning breakfast took five of us to the north (brr) to the General Store in Spring Green. We probably hadn’t been there in a year, so we figured it was time to go! Royce had never been there, so he was a first timer! It was Bob, Terry, Royce and me heading out to meet Dave there at 8:00. Tom and Potsie were both under the weather! Excellent peach pecan pancakes were the choice of me and Terry. I should say pancake, because  one was plenty! French toast was the next choice and everyone was very pleased with it all! We sat there and talked for quite some time probably not wanting to go back out in the cold! We had to drop Terry off on the northeast side of town at John Houck’s new shed that he built for his vehicles and other projects. Terry was meeting son Bill there to help him with a project. We toured Spring Green a little with Bob driving and then headed back to Dodgeville as Bob and I wanted to make it to the Iowa County Historical Society Holiday Bake Sale. After that I went to the “Little Giver’s Magic Market” at the high school to take a few photos of older kids helping younger kids shop for their families and friends. It is always a lot of fun seeing the youngster’s faces as they shop without their parents!

*****

I don’t know what will happen with the temperatures going into the 40s this week. We have had a lot of really cold days, so the snow is packed down and there’s ice underneath! That could mean a lot of ice by the time the temperatures lower again!

*****

All through eighth grade I was the youngest person in the Dodgeville High School graduating class of 1964. Our freshman year, enter Vicky (Meuer) Nadler from a country school. Her birthday was four months or so after mine  since she skipped a grade in her country school. Vicky, who with her husband Merle, ran a great A&W Restaurant on the north side of Dodgeville for years. Vicky passed early Sunday morning with a funeral today ((Thursday)). Vicky was a good friend since we met our freshman year!

*****

Christmas is just a week away! My shopping days are limited!

*****

Oh, by the way, it was a Friday at 4:00 p.m. that I had heat restored to my house after 11 days without due to my furnace dying! Thank heaven I don’t get cold very easily!

*****

I’m jumping to Saturday for my special day this week. It’s National “Ugly Sweater Day”. Now, I pretty much only have 3-4 sweaters and they are all pretty plain. So I don’t qualify for being part of that day!

Each year, ugly Christmas sweater wearers, decorate, shop, and do their darndest to out ugly last year's ugliest sweater. Whether they sport the most lights or colors, bells or characters, ugly sweater wearers find the most ribbon and felt ladened sweaters and festoon them with glitter so blinding no Dustbuster invented will capture the wave left behind. The sweaters serve as beacons of light so bright, Rudolph himself will someday be out of a job. And there’s usually a party involved!