Along The Ad Routes

by Mike Reilly

I ran into a courteous and law abiding youngster the other day in Dodgeville. I’m thinking he was about 10 years old. First he opened and held the door for me at Kwik Trip downtown. Then a few minutes later a vehicle stopped for him to cross the street. He was pushing his bicycle in the crosswalk, something you’re supposed to do to make you a pedestrian.

*****

It wasn’t too long after that I was stopped at a stoplight heading downtown at the Walgreen’s/ Culver’s intersection and a vehicle just pulled out to cross the highway when the stoplight was still on red! That’s something I hadn’t seen in quite some time. There was a small window without any immediate traffic heading east/west, but that’s still no excuse!

*****

Saturday morning breakfast took us a little bit to the west of Dodgeville when we ventured to Fennimore at Friederick’s Family Restaurant on the corner of highways 18 & 60. We hadn’t been there since they kicked us out due to a suspected gas leak. That time we had just finished eating and had to pay quickly to evacuate. I asked the waitstaff if there was going to be another gas leak today and they looked at me like “are you crazy - what are you talking about.” They were both pretty new and didn’t have any idea what I was talking about! Adrianna was our server. Their coffee cups are pretty small so we kept her hustling to keep ours filled. Actually her helper poured coffee for us twice!  It was Bob, Terry, me, Tom and Royce meeting at the Chronicle office to leave at 7:30 a.m. We had a good variety of food as Bob had biscuits & gravy, Terry had strawberry pancakes with bacon, Tom had 2+2 along with bacon, Royce had his eggs bacon and toast while I had a huge omelette. It was a deluxe that the menu said came with either ham, sausage or bacon. Adrianna forgot to ask me what kind of meat I wanted so it came with ham, which is what I wanted anyway! It rained all the way heading to Fennimore (with thunder and lighting) and rained all the way back. But it ended by 11:00 to make the rest of the day a beautiful one!

*****

On my way out of Friederick’s a fellow stopped me asking about our trips. It was Denny Shields, an Iowa-Grant graduate. His sister Kay was in school at I-G the same time I was at Dodgeville.  She was a cheerleader and came out to our farm after basketball games to party with the Dodgers. Their mother Betty played piano at Thym’s many years back! I think there was a singing group among Betty and some of the family at one time too.

*****

Town Square events began in Dodgeville on the blocks between Union and East Merrimac Streets (near the Red Room Bar & Restaurant and Bob’s Bitchin BBQ) the moment Farmers Appreciation Day ended last Sunday. There are events scheduled everyday until it ends on  Saturday, July 26 with Maxwell Street Day all over the city and wine tasting at the Town Square. Check out the chamber FACEBOOK page for a complete schedule!

*****

Rounding out the July events in the area is Linden’s Annual Frolic Days. They will run July 24-27 with a chicken BBQ and parade culminating events on Sunday.

*****

Coming up in early August (and that’s not too far down the road) will be DodgeFest right here in Dodgeville on August 2 that features four bands and a lot of fun.

*****

Also the Cobb Corn Roast is scheduled for August 5-10 with free sweet corn and a huge parade on Sunday.

*****

There’s also the Iowa County Antique & Collectors Club’s show in August and then the Iowa County Fair runs August 28 thru Labor Day!

*****

I was getting a big case of 40 waters for the concession stand the other day at Walmart. A young woman was in front of me as I was going to put the case in my cart. She turned around and asked if it was ok if she put it in my cart for me. I was thrilled that she asked as I was thinking about grabbing an employee to do the same. I thanked her over and over again for helping. She smiled and her young fellow with her smiled and said glad to help.  He was on crutches.

*****

Today, Thursday, July 24 is National “Tell an Old Joke Day.” It is all about keeping traditional humor alive—it is a day to tell old, tried-and-true jokes. The jokes are to be "clean," as many old jokes are. Jokes are a type of short, humorous oral literature. Although they are often written down, they don't need to be told verbatim and can be transferred and passed along orally. That is really what today is all about! On Thursdays, some of our group eats at Dino’s in Dodgeville for lunch. I won’t have to worry about hearing old jokes. Two of those who will be there are John Swanson and Bob Kratochwill. Bob, especially, is known for his humor!