Some items worth mentioning after cleaning out my files:
2008 Fall Tree Planting Season>
Monroe is a Tree City USA, and has been in the comprehensive program since 1986. But Paul Klinzing, city forester and park supervisor, said the city loses 70-80 trees every year from disease, damage or old age.
The Park and Recreation Department is taking orders until Oct. 6 for fall tree planting to replace some of those missing trees. Three varieties are being offered for $49 each and will be planted the week of Oct. 20 in the terrace by the Parks Department.
The trees that arrive will be about 8-10 feet tall, with a trunk diameter of about 1.25 inches, and come with a one-year guarantee from McKay Nursery Co., Waterloo, the upper Midwest's oldest and largest nursery.
Residents who would like to participate can contact the Park and Rec office at 329-2460.
The trees being offered this fall are:
Deborah Maple - A vigorous grower with a central leader, it can reach 40-60 feet tall. The tree's foliage is brilliant red in spring, becoming dark-green in the summer. Many are planted around the East School Park on Ninth and Tenth streets and 22nd Avenue.
Emerald Lustre Maple - Similar to the Emerald Queen, but more vigorous and with a better branching habit, it reaches a height of 50-60 feet. Glossy, green foliage have red tips on new growth and turns yellow in the fall.
Ivory Silk Japanese Lilac - Sturdy and compact, it grows to 15-25 feet tall. This selection will flower at an early age, with white flower plumes 10 to 12 inches long. It must have a well-drained site and no high nitrogen fertilizer.
Where's the Whinnying?>
What ever happened to horses being able to use the Badger State Trail, since ATV use has taken over Cheese Country Trail?, asked a Times reader.
Every state property has a Master Plan, and the plan for Badger State Trail was two years in the making, with public input. After that, the Natural Resources Board adopts the plan and it becomes the "bible," for that trail, according to Green County DNR Works Unit Manager, Steve Johnston.
Horses were restricted from the trail, because they weigh up to 1,500 pounds and their hoofs cut into the trail surface, which eventually softens too much for bicycle use.
Equestrians were helping to develop horseback riding on adjacent trails, but "it seemed they lost interest," Johnston said.
But the idea can be taken up again at a meeting of the Friends of the Badger State Trail, he said. The next bi-monthly meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 17 at Monroe Clinic, Monroe Room, 515 22nd Ave., Monroe.
Information about Friends of the Badger Trail can be found by following the links at www.badger-trail.com. Johnston can be reached at 527-2335.
Conservation move in store>
for New Glarus
No, it's not for another store coming to New Glarus. What looks like a construction site along Wisconsin 69, with trees being removed behind and south of the New Glarus Veterinary Clinic, is actually a stream bank improvement project. The clinic sits next to the Sugar River Trail.
Veterinarian Randy Cruise, who owns about eight acres of the site, is trying to establish a natural prairie.
The area was recently deemed a blighted area by the Village of New Glarus, so Cruise went looking for options available to him. The Green County Land Conservation office suggested some ideas with cost sharing funds.
"All the ripping and rapping" will stabilize the Little Sugar River banks, with a goal of establishing a natural prairie, Cruise said.
"We were worried about removing the trees along the river, but Boxelder trees are not considered a nice species, and there are other nuisances," Cruise said.
Cruise said the project will provide shelves for turtles and lizards and improve trout habitat.
"We put out about 65 fish lunkers, a box shelter under the banks covered with rock, about a foot, foot and a half deep," Cruise said.
"Blackhawk Trout Unlimited came and spent a day building about 78 boxes, but we ran out of room. So they used the rest of them somewhere else," he said.
"Video Game" strikes at the generation gap>
Wii Therapy is the hottest new thing in nursing homes, said Tammy Derrickson, director of the Behring Senior Center of Monroe. Seniors are forming leagues and, every Monday at 2 p.m. at the senior center ... bowling.
The game does not require seniors to get out of their chairs, but still it helps exercising with a wide range of motions, Derrickson said.
2008 Fall Tree Planting Season>
Monroe is a Tree City USA, and has been in the comprehensive program since 1986. But Paul Klinzing, city forester and park supervisor, said the city loses 70-80 trees every year from disease, damage or old age.
The Park and Recreation Department is taking orders until Oct. 6 for fall tree planting to replace some of those missing trees. Three varieties are being offered for $49 each and will be planted the week of Oct. 20 in the terrace by the Parks Department.
The trees that arrive will be about 8-10 feet tall, with a trunk diameter of about 1.25 inches, and come with a one-year guarantee from McKay Nursery Co., Waterloo, the upper Midwest's oldest and largest nursery.
Residents who would like to participate can contact the Park and Rec office at 329-2460.
The trees being offered this fall are:
Deborah Maple - A vigorous grower with a central leader, it can reach 40-60 feet tall. The tree's foliage is brilliant red in spring, becoming dark-green in the summer. Many are planted around the East School Park on Ninth and Tenth streets and 22nd Avenue.
Emerald Lustre Maple - Similar to the Emerald Queen, but more vigorous and with a better branching habit, it reaches a height of 50-60 feet. Glossy, green foliage have red tips on new growth and turns yellow in the fall.
Ivory Silk Japanese Lilac - Sturdy and compact, it grows to 15-25 feet tall. This selection will flower at an early age, with white flower plumes 10 to 12 inches long. It must have a well-drained site and no high nitrogen fertilizer.
Where's the Whinnying?>
What ever happened to horses being able to use the Badger State Trail, since ATV use has taken over Cheese Country Trail?, asked a Times reader.
Every state property has a Master Plan, and the plan for Badger State Trail was two years in the making, with public input. After that, the Natural Resources Board adopts the plan and it becomes the "bible," for that trail, according to Green County DNR Works Unit Manager, Steve Johnston.
Horses were restricted from the trail, because they weigh up to 1,500 pounds and their hoofs cut into the trail surface, which eventually softens too much for bicycle use.
Equestrians were helping to develop horseback riding on adjacent trails, but "it seemed they lost interest," Johnston said.
But the idea can be taken up again at a meeting of the Friends of the Badger State Trail, he said. The next bi-monthly meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 17 at Monroe Clinic, Monroe Room, 515 22nd Ave., Monroe.
Information about Friends of the Badger Trail can be found by following the links at www.badger-trail.com. Johnston can be reached at 527-2335.
Conservation move in store>
for New Glarus
No, it's not for another store coming to New Glarus. What looks like a construction site along Wisconsin 69, with trees being removed behind and south of the New Glarus Veterinary Clinic, is actually a stream bank improvement project. The clinic sits next to the Sugar River Trail.
Veterinarian Randy Cruise, who owns about eight acres of the site, is trying to establish a natural prairie.
The area was recently deemed a blighted area by the Village of New Glarus, so Cruise went looking for options available to him. The Green County Land Conservation office suggested some ideas with cost sharing funds.
"All the ripping and rapping" will stabilize the Little Sugar River banks, with a goal of establishing a natural prairie, Cruise said.
"We were worried about removing the trees along the river, but Boxelder trees are not considered a nice species, and there are other nuisances," Cruise said.
Cruise said the project will provide shelves for turtles and lizards and improve trout habitat.
"We put out about 65 fish lunkers, a box shelter under the banks covered with rock, about a foot, foot and a half deep," Cruise said.
"Blackhawk Trout Unlimited came and spent a day building about 78 boxes, but we ran out of room. So they used the rest of them somewhere else," he said.
"Video Game" strikes at the generation gap>
Wii Therapy is the hottest new thing in nursing homes, said Tammy Derrickson, director of the Behring Senior Center of Monroe. Seniors are forming leagues and, every Monday at 2 p.m. at the senior center ... bowling.
The game does not require seniors to get out of their chairs, but still it helps exercising with a wide range of motions, Derrickson said.