Summerfest Schedule
Proceeds from the Browntown Summerfest go to support the park.
On Friday, June 13 at 7 p.m. the fest gets started with an antique tractor pull and bingo.
On Saturday, a softball tournament for younger boys is scheduled.
The Firemen's Fish Boil begins around 4 p.m.; all you can eat for $10.
From 9 p.m. until 1 a.m. it's non-stop rock and roll with Midlife Crisis, sponsored by Woodford State Bank.
At 10 p.m., fireworks by Kastner Pyrotechnics.
The beer tent, lunch stand and tractor show will be going on all weekend.
BROWNTOWN - High winds last weekend twisted the rain gutters on the restrooms at Browntown Community Park.
Money made from the village's Summerfest, June 13-14, will be used to repair them, unless John Sigafus repairs them first.
Sigafus is a fixture in the park, spending much of his time there doing maintenance, organizing events and overseeing volunteers' work. And to have fun, Sigafus said he just sits there.
"He's almost getting to be the patriarch of the town," said Donna Goebel, who operates Goebel's Inn on Mills Street. Sigafus moved to Browntown almost 50 years ago, when he married his wife Rita.
"They haven't run me out of town yet," Sigafus said.
Sigafus is a longtime member of the Browntown Park Committee. Residents of the village credit him with starting the park and getting it located on top of a hill overlooking the countryside.
The village park used to be near Wisconsin 11, but Sigafus said the village sold that land to Iroquois Foundry and bought six acres of a cornfield on the south side of town from Robert Klemm around 1978.
Today the park has a basketball and tennis court, two volleyball courts, two picnic shelters, three playground areas and a ball diamond - the home field for the Black Hawk High School softball team.
Memorial trees dot the park, some edged with flower gardens, and are maintained by the families who donated them. But some families no longer are around to groom them.
Although well-known around town for his humor and volunteerism, Sigafus doesn't talk much about himself and gives credit for park work to volunteers.
His dream is to maintain the park in its present condition.
"It's almost as much work to maintain it" as it was to create, he said.
Organizations, like the 4-H and Girl Scouts, and private citizens come to do community volunteer service.
Jeri Klemm was pruning bushes Tuesday, while her daughter and son and their friends worked to sand and paint benches and picnic tables.
"Johnny's very good about teaching the kids what to do and getting all the supplies they need," Klemm said about Segafus. "He checks to make sure everybody has what they need."
Sigafus is a mechanic by trade.
"I'm not a fast one; I'm a 'half-fast' one," he said.
But his talents keep the park in tip-top shape, from fixing leaky water pipes to overseeing Girl Scouts painting and weeding for their community service awards.
Sigafus said his favorite chore is fishing.
"He's really just drowning worms," said Goebel's Inn customer Katie Gavigan. She does remember him catching a small fish one time and filleting it with a butterknife.
"When he got done, we had this little tiny piece of fish," she said.
Still, customers at Goebel's Inn can't help smiling when they talk about him.
"All the kids love him," Gavigan said. "My 5-year-old, when she sees him, runs up and hugs him."
"He's a great guy, a community guy," Goebel said. "He just kind of brightens your day."
Money made from the village's Summerfest, June 13-14, will be used to repair them, unless John Sigafus repairs them first.
Sigafus is a fixture in the park, spending much of his time there doing maintenance, organizing events and overseeing volunteers' work. And to have fun, Sigafus said he just sits there.
"He's almost getting to be the patriarch of the town," said Donna Goebel, who operates Goebel's Inn on Mills Street. Sigafus moved to Browntown almost 50 years ago, when he married his wife Rita.
"They haven't run me out of town yet," Sigafus said.
Sigafus is a longtime member of the Browntown Park Committee. Residents of the village credit him with starting the park and getting it located on top of a hill overlooking the countryside.
The village park used to be near Wisconsin 11, but Sigafus said the village sold that land to Iroquois Foundry and bought six acres of a cornfield on the south side of town from Robert Klemm around 1978.
Today the park has a basketball and tennis court, two volleyball courts, two picnic shelters, three playground areas and a ball diamond - the home field for the Black Hawk High School softball team.
Memorial trees dot the park, some edged with flower gardens, and are maintained by the families who donated them. But some families no longer are around to groom them.
Although well-known around town for his humor and volunteerism, Sigafus doesn't talk much about himself and gives credit for park work to volunteers.
His dream is to maintain the park in its present condition.
"It's almost as much work to maintain it" as it was to create, he said.
Organizations, like the 4-H and Girl Scouts, and private citizens come to do community volunteer service.
Jeri Klemm was pruning bushes Tuesday, while her daughter and son and their friends worked to sand and paint benches and picnic tables.
"Johnny's very good about teaching the kids what to do and getting all the supplies they need," Klemm said about Segafus. "He checks to make sure everybody has what they need."
Sigafus is a mechanic by trade.
"I'm not a fast one; I'm a 'half-fast' one," he said.
But his talents keep the park in tip-top shape, from fixing leaky water pipes to overseeing Girl Scouts painting and weeding for their community service awards.
Sigafus said his favorite chore is fishing.
"He's really just drowning worms," said Goebel's Inn customer Katie Gavigan. She does remember him catching a small fish one time and filleting it with a butterknife.
"When he got done, we had this little tiny piece of fish," she said.
Still, customers at Goebel's Inn can't help smiling when they talk about him.
"All the kids love him," Gavigan said. "My 5-year-old, when she sees him, runs up and hugs him."
"He's a great guy, a community guy," Goebel said. "He just kind of brightens your day."