I had a busy April, but most of that was one-on-one activities with friends (or events with a defined endpoint where I couldn’t linger). Recently, though, I had the pleasure of going to a real live Event. It came complete with kids running across the lawn, adults from outside my “bubble”, delightful vintage items for sale, and lunch served by a local business. It was my new community in miniature, and the energy was infectious.
The State Senate recently passed a bill that would make a national exam for EMR’s optional, in hopes to ease staffing difficulties for rural EMS departments in the state.
On May 13, Wisconsin began offering COVID-19 vaccinations to children ages 12-15.Children can currently only receive the Pfizer vaccine, which requires two different doses.
Citizen Action of Wisconsin, along with various area residents held a rally in May 5 in Spring Green to show support for BadgerCare expansion in the state 2021-2023 biennial budget, a single day before State Sen. Howard Marklein and the Committee on Joint Finance took its first votes to bring the budget “back to basics,” removing those expansions.
The River Valley Area Community Gardens (RVACG) held a community gardening demonstration to kick off the 2021 growing season on Saturday, where new gardeners were given tips and tricks of the trade and a tour of their garden home.
The River Valley Varsity Softball team took on Richland Center May 4, taking down the RC team 15-1. The varsity girls also beat Deforest during a May 5 home game 6-1. On May 6, the team overtook Platteville 22-2. Pictured, varsity player No. 6 Katie Hahn hits at the away game May 6.
Tortilleria Zepeda hosted an open house at it’s Lone Rock location Wednesday, which featured tours of the production facility, fresh tortillas and unconventional twists on traditional Mexican fare. The open house allowed members of the community to tour the facility where the Heidi and Julian Zepeda produce their authentic and organic nixtamal corn tortillas, and learn more about their unique process that differs from typical, mass produced corn tortilla manufacturing. The couple also uses locally grown ingredients. The open house offered samples of their original tortillas, dressed with serrano-avocado salsa and traditional tamales. The event also offered cocoa tortillas and dessert tamales with strawberries and cream cheese. Julian also offered a fermented mesa drink that is traditional to his home area of Mexico, called Tejuino. Currently, Heidi and Julian are planning to host different social events or host classes at the location, and are considering opening monthly to offer fresh tortillas and other options.
A few years ago I spent some time on the Rod and Loraine Anding farm in rural Arena near Coon Rock. I had asked if I could take photos of their beautiful white faced horned herefords, as I was interested in animal subjects for my future paintings.
The Octagon Barn held it’s third annual Barn Sale, featuring antiques and vintage finds May 8.
The River Valley High School spring sports season officially kicked off on April 19—with a later start and a shorter season than usual due to COVID-19.