Center House

I hear center house is closing Saturday. For good? For a little while? What's the story? They always have a pretty good happy hour.

The New School Year

Now that the new school year is in full swing how are things going there? I haven't heard much recently.

What is With the Court House?

I thought we built a new court house so everybody in the current courthouse would be moving out to the new one. Now I guess we need to add 25,000 square feet to the new courthouse to accommodate some other offices that weren't included. More tax $$$ at work. This is just ridiculous. What is going on with this town?

Oakwood Memories

I am sorry to say Oakwood Lodge is having an auction this Saturday morning at 10 AM. It is part of the orginal Oakwood and has been a B&B since before I was born. When I was a kid the Roth family owned it. I always had a great time there. Mary Ellen made great breakfasts and Patty was always working around the place somewhere. I wonder what will happen to it now?

David Greenway was the founder of Oakwood in 1867. It was originally 35 acres and was the first resort built on Green Lake. It accommodated 75 guests. At one point it could hold 300 guests and went all the way down Lake Street. It even had its own vineyard and telegraph system. People were called to dinner with a large Chinese Gong. The 1905 rate for a room started at $7.00. The current Oakwood building was the largest cottage for rent. The large white house kitty corner from the current Oakwood Lodge is the house built by David Greenway to retire in. He died there at age 79.

The auction is at 10 am Saturday. Do you have any great memories of Oakwood?

Vikings at Lambeau

So what about the Vikings at Lambeau?

New Library Roof

Since a simple commentary on someone being on "Millionaire" has digresses into a discussion about the library, let me enlighten some of you.

Yes, the library was a gift. A VERY generous gift. Not once but twice. The current GL Historical society is housed in the old library. (Before that it was in the city hall offices with about 4 book shelves.)

Officially the City of Green Lake owns the library. It is of course used by many more people than the city residents and the Town of Brooklyn does contribute part of the operating budget for day to day things.(Which it is not legally required to do) Maintenance of the building is legally part of the city because the city owns the building. We all know where city budgets stand right now. The cost of a new roof(which despite what all of you out there may think have a life span of about 15-20 years, read the fine print on your roofing contract...)is more than an annual budget of operating the library for a year. This town is very lucky to have this library. We are the envy of surrounding communities for our library facilities. But...it needs to be maintained. The city cannot afford this by itself. The library is trying to think ahead and get the funds to replace the roof before it becomes a critical issue. Stop bitching about your taxes, poor planning and what is wrong with everybody else approach and understand they are trying to plan ahead. Or are you just like a bunch of spoiled kids who are unable to take care of the gifts given to them now complain because they want someone else to give them more. Municipal funds are not going to be able to cover all the costs. Period.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

Was anybody else watching Millionaire on Tuesday afternoon? Linda Denell's sister was a contestant. Linda is the director of the library and her sister called her for her "phone a friend" line. Linda, of course knew the answer before her sister even finished the question. Congratulations! That was fun!

Feingold Town Hall Listening Session this AM

I went to the town hall listening session this morning at the Brooklyn Town Hall. It is always interesting to see your public officials in person. Feingold visits all 72 counties every year. It is also interesting to see who actually goes to this listening sessions. Joe Parise, Dan Priske and Sydney Rouse were all there. Joan Ballweg was also in the audience. One of the things I like the most with Wisconsinites is their innate sense of politeness. Even when they may disagree with certain positions they don't get into screaming matches like you see on TV in other states. They treat each other with respect. I like that. For those of you who have not ever shown up at one of these sessions you should. One of the interesting things he said was if he gets 30 phone calls or emails in one day on a subject that is a lot. He gets a log every day of the number of people who contacted his office as do all the congressional reps. He said he is always surprised by the low number of people who do contact their reps. I would bet more of you make your point of view known on this blog than actually contact you state or national representative with whatever concerns you might be having on a particular issue. Try contacting you elected officials once in a while and see what effect it has.

City Council Meeting Tonight @7:00

Mayoral Censure

I understand people should "follow the rules" but I think this whole censure think is way overblown. I don't really think it was such a big deal, we have bigger issues to deal with in this town, but I guess it was important to someone out there. I guess Joe is looking to be the mayor again.

Packer vs. Vikings?

So who is going down in Monday night's game?

ABA Development

It looks like we didn't have to have all the meetings regarding the Green Lake Center Development. Lindendwood Development is going to be its own worst enemy after they knock down all the trees, re-route the roads and ruin any of the beauty left in the ABA they will be broke.

Norton's October Fest This Weekend

For you who had a good time at Harvest Fest, which is my favorite festival in Green Lake there will be one more chance this weekend at Norton's. Harvest Fest ends the summer and starting at 4:00 on Saturday afternoon Norton's will be having October Fest to kick off the fall. Tuba Dan will be there and great food. I think they will even let you wear tie-die shirts if your in the mood. Mike and Jill throw a great party.

The cost is $29.00 and requires reservations. Give Norton's a call @ 920-294-6577.

Am I The Only One Who Thinks This?

I read on the front page of the Green Lake Reporter this week about the restriction of dogs and skateboards in the downtown area during the Harvest Fest Weekend. Dogs are not allowed in any of the parks at any time. This doesn't create a Festival friendly atmosphere. This is the only town I know of where this happens. Why can I go to Door County and see dogs and kids on their skate boards all the time, festival or not? How can a city like Chicago or Los Angeles or New York be OK with dogs but Green Lake seems to have a problem with this? It is absurd. Green Lake is not people friendly which may also be extended to the way businesses get treated which is why people don't want to open a business here. (Look at the silly sign ordinance here) This dog/skateboard ordinance is foolish and detrimental to a tourist atmosphere. It is just one more way Green Lake tells tourists we want your money but we really don't want you to feel too welcome.