Posts Tagged ‘events’

After the last Christmas ornament is taken down and the last of the New Year’s confetti is swept from the corners of the floor, the “Now What?” season begins.   We’ve entered the time of year when few events take place, when the cold begins to really sink in and day dreams of summer begin to interrupt our work days. Let’s face it, for many of us it’s hard to be a big fan of winter.  I’m feeling it too..

Well, don’t despair, spring is just a few short months away.  In the mean time, there are a few local events coming up to take your mind off the gray days.  Eagle Watching Days kicks off Jan. 14-15 in Sauk-Prairie. January 21-23 will be the 21st anniversary celebration for the Flake Out Festival in Wisconsin Dells.  The Flake out is a good time and certainly worth a drive up to Wisconsin Dells.  The event offers lots of food & drink, an ice sculpting contest, live music, wagon rides and much more. Click here for details about the Flake Out Festival.  On February 5, many Wisconsin state parks will be holding another candlelight ski event including Mirror Lake State Park again.   Then, February 11th-13th the annual snow train will be running at Mid-Continent Railway Museum.  You’ll need to get your reservations in soon for that.  Taking in a local event whenever possible brings a bit of cheerful change to the long winter months.

Of course it helps to learn to enjoy outdoor recreation in the winter months as well. Why not learn to downhill ski this year at Devil’s Head Resort or Cascade Mountain.  We’ve promised our son he’d get to sample snowshoeing, downhill skiing and be able run the tube hill at Cascade Mountain before the season is up.  (One thing is sure, we’ll go during the week when the cost is $22 all day, as opposed to the weekend when they charge $22 for 2 hours!) Setting activity goals for the winter helps provide something to look forward to.

Kayak Sledding at Devil's Lake State Park

You could also head out to Devil’s Lake State Park for a bit of sledding on the big hill in the Quartzite Campground. We like to take our plastic kayaks out there for an occasional run.  What a blast! Oh, and of course there’s all those miles of trails to explore by ski or snowshoe!  It’s worth renting gear to see if you like it, but gear for either sport is not that expensive and it’s best to buy as soon as you feel committed. (Locally it costs about $15 to rent snowshoes for a day.)  Of course lots of folks are out snowmobiling and ice fishing as well this time of year.  We’ve had a bit of snow overnight so let’s hope the snowmobile trails will open up again here soon!

The real trick to surviving the “Now What?” season is simply staying busy.  Get outdoors, even if you’re not a big fan of winter.  Play, walk, take a long drive, explore…  If you just stay active, the late grey months of winter will soon be over.   I promise.

Downtown Baraboo’s fall Fair on the Square made for a great way to spend a Saturday.  Thousands of folks from around the state converged on Baraboo’s historic square for another round of food, music, karate, belly dancers, and of course arts and crafts.  It’s fair to say that clear skies, fall colors and temperatures near 80 certainly boosted the attendance. While the annual event changes very little from year to year we were gratified to see some changes under the new organizers.  The live music was vastly improved (at least in the afternoon) and updated into the last century, while the introduction of a beer garden for the adults was a nice touch as well. The next Fair on the Square won’t happen again until spring.  Next up for downtown Baraboo?  BooFest!!  More on that in the near future…

Huge crowds turned out for the days events.

• More pictures from the Fair on the Square – Click Here.

If you’re going to be in the Baraboo Hills this weekend to catch that fleeting “peak” of fall color, you’ll find quite a few other happenings going on in the area as well including a big-screen showing of the classic , “Wizard of Oz” at the AL.  So put on your ruby slippers and let’s ease on down the road…  Read the rest of this entry »

Hundreds of people of all ages, shapes and sizes turned out at Devil’s Lake State Park yesterday to compete in (or simply complete)  the 2010 Devil’s Challenge Triathlon.  The annual race includes a 1/4 mile swim, 15 mile bike bike ride and a 3 mile run and took competitors an average of  one hour and forty-seven minutes to complete.  Air temperatures were in the mid-50′s when the first rush of racers hit the water at 8am. Luckily for them, water temperatures are usually much warmer than the air this time of year.  From then on waves of additional participants followed at timed intervals.

As a light rain began to fall, racers swam west to east across around giant yellow markers, then turned back to the shore where they ran mostly barefoot, to their bikes.  Quickly drying off and in some instances changing clothing as well,  racers made whatever adjustments they needed before heading out onto the slick streets and into the challenging Baraboo hills on their bikes.  Along the way local county sheriff’s officers controlled the light  morning traffic to keep participants safe along the route.  Amazingly some of the first cyclists were returning to the north shore of the park while the last waves were still just entering the water.

In the end almost 550 individuals completed the challenge.  Congratulations to everyone!  Mike Lavery took the winning male individual time with 1:08:32 and Cindi Bannik brought in the best female time at 1:16:24.  To view more results including relay results at Online Race Results, click here.

We’ve also put up a large collection of photos from the event here.  Or click here for a slideshow in a pop-up window.

There will be loads of fun, but few fall colors when “Wo-Zha-Wa Days” kicks off tomorrow in Wisconsin Dells and runs through the weekend ( September 17th, 18th & 19th, 2010).  W0-Zha-Wa is an annual event and includes an arts and crafts fair, antique flea market, marathon run, live entertainment, a 75-unit parade and more (And of course you’ll find plenty of food as well.)  Festivities will be held in downtown Wisconsin Dells as well as at Bowman Park (Also located in Wisconsin Dells). Fall color watchers might see a few splashes of reds and yellows along the way, but as you can see from photo (above) taken at the Wisconsin Dells River Walk today, things are still pretty green. The real trick this weekend will be making the weather cooperate.

For More Information: Wisconsin Dells Visitor & Convention Bureau Event Page.

The annual Baraboo River Rendezvous has come to an end. This morning, the last of the events participants will be loading up their cars and driving back into the modern world. If you’ve the show don’t despair, we’ve put together a collection of photos and some video of the event for you to enjoy.

The Baraboo River Rendezvous is just one of many held across the country each year.  A Rendezvous is a living history reenactment of the  pre-1840s fur trade era when “mountain men” would gather together to sell their furs and socialize.  Modern “mountain men” and their families spend their time at a Rendezvous offering demonstrations, selling their wares and are for the most part expected to have no modern conveniences at their camps.  One thing I always wonder about these historic reenactments is, do the kids keep GameBoys and cellphones hidden in their bedrolls?

• Click here for the photo gallery or you can view it as a slideshow here.

Below is a quick video tour showing some of the sights and sounds of the event.

Update: We’ve now added even more pictures from last weekend’s Cow Chip Throw & Festival. In addition to the cow chip tossing contest, the craft fair, the live music and the great food, the annual Wisconsin State Cow Chip Throw & Festival also includes a street parade which a classic slice of heartland Americana not to be missed.  We’ve posted a collection of images from this year’s event which includes;  flags waving, children playing, musicians signing, goats and bikes, authors & artists, and of course a great big pile of  cow stuff!  Oh, and did you catch the  event mascot walking down the street in the suspect boots?!

• CLICK HERE for the slideshow
• CLICK HERE for the standard Flickr gallery

Former Greenbay Packer Linebacker David Robinson was in Sauk Prairie in support of the book “The Lombari Legacy”, which he co-authored with area resident Royce Boyles.  David Robinson played with the Green Bay Packers during the early 60′s heyday and continued with the team until 1972.  During his tenure he played in one championship and 2 Super Bowls; 1965, 1966, 1967 consecutively. He was also named to 3 pro bowls as well. Robinson was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in February of 1982.  Read the rest of this entry »

The annual Baraboo River Rendezvous will begin this Friday, Sept. 3 and run through Sunday, Sept. 5. from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  The event is a living history reenactment of the  pre-1840s fur trade era put on by the Spirit Lake Mountain Men. Events will include kids games & candy cannon, hawk & knife throws, pie baking contest, flint fire starting, trap toss, fry pan throw (women only), fishing on the river, blanket bow shoot and more. Period food is available on site.  Admission for adults is just $1. Children ages 5 and under are free.  Pets are not allowed at the event.  You can visit the Spirit Lake Mountain Men’s Website for schedule of events and printable flier.  Read the rest of this entry »

Workers are busy putting the finishing touches on the new Veteran’s Memorial display at the Sauk Prairie airport just in time for this Saturday’s fly-in event.  There will be a Fly-in/drive in breakfast from 7 to 11am. At 11am the new memorial display will be dedicated. Lunch will follow. Throughout the day (7am to 4pm) there will be a huge Mega Flea market, scenic airplane and helicopter rides, kids games, K-9 agility demonstrations and more. According to signs posted yesterday, drivers are asked to pay just $1 for parking.

For More Information Visit: www.saukprairieairport.com

Map (Event location marked by blue plane)

View Baraboo Area Travel Guide in a larger map