It’s time once again for “Baraboo Bits”, where I take a moment to put down all the little bits and bobs I’ve been thinking about when it comes to our community.  You know what they say, “Opinions are like….” and the only difference between yours and an editor’s is that they get to see theirs in print.. Well, until blogging came along… Now we pontificate with the best of ‘em (spelling and punctuation be damned!!).  And with that thought….

Imagine

We drive around our hometowns every day, so much so that we tend to become blind to what our community actually looks like. This photograph above shows a wall mural painted on the side of a building down along South Blvd. just south of the train tracks.  It makes the building look all “hip” doesn’t it!?  Maybe, but there is something about this kind of art on a disused building that doesn’t really project a positive image.  Still, I like the art.

Gone to the Dogs

We talked about the great Manchester Pile in the last “Bits”.  There’s nothing new to report about the pile as of today, but we can say that the area below the pile will become a new dog park.  Ok. We could use a dog park.  I can only hope that something will be done to make the area look a bit more attractive along the way.  Finally deciding to fix the roads in this location is a good start.

RiverQuest

There’s a lot of talk in Baraboo these days regarding the rejuvenation of the Baraboo river shoreline.  I think the vision of Rose Jackson who, as reported in the Baraboo News Republic, wants to open a little coffee/bakery/artsy-craftsy shop in a historic home near the river district, is a good one.  We have to preserve our historic buildings where we can and allow for business diversity as well. It won’t serve the community as a whole to simply focus on lining up the river banks with over priced office buildings.

Speaking of the River…

I know I’m screaming into the wind on this one, but someone again mentioned to me this week how you cannot get a canoe or kayak down the city section of the Baraboo river in normal conditions since the flood last year.  All I can say is, I know.  But if we can’t get enough people to advocate for the Baraboo river’s recreational use, there is little that can be done. We’ll just have to wait for the next flood and hope it clears a path.

Wrong end of the Cat

When I wrote of the litter problem along our roadways, I heard a lot of comments about “clean up days”.  I agree. We pick up trash ourselves all the time, however my point was this; We need to do something about the attitude in our society that allows for people to feel OK about tossing their trash out the window in the first place.  Remember how you tell your kids to clean up after themselves?  Well?  Let’s clean up the  mess, and let’s call out the litterbugs for what they are. If we can’t change people’s attitude toward littering up their own communities we have no hope when it comes to global environmental issues.

Whine Walk

Lastly let me just say to all those folks who once again did not get tickets to the Downtown Baraboo Wine Walk.. I feel your pain. ( Just between you and I, they are raffling a couple off over at the Coffee Been in Downtown Baraboo)

School Bored

Oh, and P.S… there was a local school board election…

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I think that’s it for now.. If you have any thoughts, opinions or other picture post cards to share.. feel free to comment or email.

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