Canceled. Or is it cancelled?

I’ve been going with the double L version. I’m a fairly good speller, so I was feeling smug and wondering why other people were ignoring spellcheck. 

According to the blog on grammerly.com, both versions are acceptable. Americans are said to favor the single L in the word canceled, while those of British English heritage prefer the double whammy with LL in the word cancelled. The debate wraps up with the following statement: “There is only one correct spelling of the word CANCELLATION, no matter where you are.” 

Cancellation is definitely an appropriate word this summer.

At the beginning of the year, I did my usual due diligence in populating various online and printed event calendars with the details on happenings large and small. Parades, church dinners, annual fund raisers, car shows, festivals — you get the idea. Four pages in the 2020 Green County Visitor Guide are dedicated to calendar of event information.

A few months later, I began “un-populating” online calendars as cancellation notices began popping up. A trickle at first, and then a river, and now a slow but steady stream. 

When I planned out my monthly topics for this newspaper column, July’s article was supposed to be an overview of behind the scenes happenings leading up to the Cheese Days festival. I was going to cover updates on food vendors and new menu items, details on logistics and highlights on parade entertainment — like the supersize Cookie Monster inflatable balloon.

With the cancellation of Cheese Days announced in June, my new plan was to write about ice cream and all the fun spots to “get the scoop” in Green County. But that requires research (and tasting!) and I’m not done. My article on ice cream is tabled for now, but I can say that Lemon Meringue (from Garden Deli in Monroe) is a flavor you must sample.

So there’s that saying about life and lemonade … and here’s a fun topic for something that has not been tabled and not been cancelled — live music. Maybe not big shows with big speakers on big stages, but there is a sweet infusion of live music going on. Here are some of the venues that welcome you to enjoy the tunes:

Hawk’s Mill Winery, near Browntown. Bring lawn chairs or blankets to spread out on the lawn and to cool off with a wine slushie. Music tends to be on Sunday afternoons, but the schedule does vary. If you’re lucky they might also be scheduled to fire up the outdoor pizza oven when you are there.

Tofflers Pub and Grill, New Glarus. Tofflers continues to offer free live music like they have always done. In addition, they’re now mixing it up with some ticketed events, which is a great way to know in advance you’ll have a spot reserved for your small group on their deck. Enjoy their complete menu and full bar while you listen.

Bailey’s Run Vineyard, just west of New Glarus. Lawn chairs and blankets are welcome. The schedule varies, with the lineup often including options for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Happily, this coincides with the availability of made-to-order pizza from their wood-fired oven.

Other locations also randomly throwing some live music in the mix: Horseshoe Saloon, Minhas Wine Garden, and Friendly Inn (all in Monroe), Shawna’s in Monticello, Broughton’s Corner Bar in Albany, and Attica Bar — in Attica, of course. If there are other spots missing from this list, please let me know so I can promote as well — on the county-wide calendar of events at greencounty.org.

Finally, I’m happy to say that there is one outdoor live music option that hasn’t changed this summer: the always delightful Twilight in the Park Concert Series in Brodhead. Held at Veteran’s Park (next to the Depot Museum), the series offers a different genre of music each Sunday evening. You can catch the last show of the season on Aug. 9. Bring lawn chairs or a blanket, and maybe your own lemonade. 

— Noreen Rueckert is director for Green County Tourism and Green County Cheese Days. Her favorite cheese is rumored to be Feta. She has the best office in the county — overlooking Monroe’s Square from the tower of the Historic Green County Courthouse. She dabbles in photography and graphic design, adores cats and iced coffee, and secretly loves the Cheese Days Song.