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No Heritage Celebration this year
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MONROE - The 140 candles on Turner Hall's birthday cake will not be lit this year.

The Heritage Celebration originally planned for March 8 has been canceled - or at least postponed until next year.

The celebration is delayed because members of the planning committee have been inundated with illnesses and hospitalizations, said Deborah Krauss Smith, director of the Monroe Swiss Singers.

But some Turner Hall events will be incorporated into the city's sesquicentennial celebration this year.

The Swiss Heritage Series that promotes Swiss culture has a full roster this year.

On Friday, March 28 at 7 p.m. Swiss Movie Night will feature a Swiss movie with English subtitles in the Grand Hall. The informal evening will offer popcorn and Gemütlichkeit.

A Tribute to Rudy Burkhalter, the Moser Brothers and Others, presented by Dr. Jim Leary of UW-Madison at 7:30 p.m. on April 24, features the Swiss musicians legendary to Turner Hall and Green County.

A Swiss Independence Day Observance will be held at 6 p.m. Aug. 1 at Pleasant View Park. A dinner potluck with informal Swiss musical entertainment is planned for all members, supporters and friends of the Turner Hall and Swiss heritage.

And at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 15 in Turner Hall's Grand Hall, Peggy Mueller, button accordionist from Germantown, will present an evening of folklore music.

In 1867, a group of Swiss/German young men decided they needed a building in which to practice their gymnastics and wrestling. Formerly known as the Turn und Schwing Club, this is the group from which Turner Hall derives its name: Turner is the German word for gymnast.

They raised a substantial amount of money to ward the project, but decided it would take too long to raise the money. So the men approached the town merchants who agreed to lend them $25 each with the promise to repay the loan at $5 a year for five years. The original Turner Hall was completed in 1868, just in time for the state Turnfest Convention.