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WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2018
922 W. EXCHANGE STREET, BRODHEAD, WI 53520
New studio in Orfordville welcomed in ribbon cutting......................................... 4 Green highway roadwork scheduled.......................................................5 Quilt and consignment auction is Saturday......................................................6
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1 • Wednesday, July 25, 2018 - The Independent-Register
Cheese competition results announced.................................................... 6
Millions of sunflowers rise to new future at Brodhead Golf Course Decatur Lake Golf Course has since 1926 been an integral part of Brodhead and the surrounding rural community—a cherished place in our neighborhood where traditions were made. It was a thriving golf club and training ground for several generations of the high school golf team. It was a gathering place for families and friends making fond memories of serene morning and evening walks across the manicured greens and under the massive oaks. Many still savor memory of a juicy hamburger at Billy’s Sand Trap clubhouse. For nearly a century, both human visitors and wildlife found solace and refuge on the shady slopes of the golf course, marveling at the picturesque forested bluffs along Decatur Lake and the Sugar River visible from its expansive open vistas. According to the Southern Wisconsin Land Conservancy, the new owner of the “front nine” and a new land trust organization in the region, that experience will remain untouched for centuries to come. Today, a new tradition is unfolding on the “front nine,” as millions of 5-foot-tall sunflowers bloom in a blaze of yellow across former fairways and roughs. Planted as a “smother” or cover crop, the sunflowers are the first step in restoring the course to resemble the early landscape encountered by settlers in the region. Several hundred species of native
SUBMITTED PHOTO Brodhead Independent-Register
Those who want to discuss ways to conserve land in southern Wisconsin are invited to see the sunflowers now covering the front nine of Decatur Lake Golf Course in a pair of Sunday meetings upcoming.
grasses and wildflowers will be put in dense and deep-rooted sod in the sandy place to succeed the sunflowers. Over loam soils. time, the new planting will develop a This combination of a diverse, above-ground plant community and below- ground growth of roots will serve to soak up rainfall and nutrients that would otherwise find their way more quickly to the adjacent Sugar River. This means cleaner water for the Sugar River and below-ground The GCGS Research Center (located in lower level of the Monroe Public Library) is available to the public for research. Research Center hours are: Tuesdays and third Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and first Saturday after the meeting from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday summer hours, June through September, at the Research Center are 1 to 4 p.m. After hours, please leave a message at 608 921-1537. Someone will call you back. Main holdings are on Green County. Both Rock and Lafayette counties are well represented as well as several other counties, states, countries, and ethnic groups. A large clipping collection of births, marriages and obituaries is available. Volunteers are on staff to help with your research.
‘The Estate’ to be presented at August GCGS meeting Green County Genealogical Society members will present “The Estate” skit at their Aug. 4 meeting. They will represent relatives sorting a recently deceased’s belongings. The audience will learn what papers are helpful to discover family history. Examples of important papers to keep will be available for viewing. The meeting will be held at 10 a.m. in the second floor meeting room of the Monroe Public Library at 925 16th Ave. Light refreshments are available 15 minutes before the meeting. Visitors are always welcome at our meetings and there is no cost to attend. Call Sharon Mitchell (815-8682416) or Donna Kjendlie (608-9211537) if you have questions. Please leave a message if we are not available to answer.
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aquifers. A new conservation future of the golf course will feature public access to nature trails for recreation and education, and other diverse opportunities. Southern Wisconsin Land Conservancy is reaching out to new community partners to help envision the best uses for the clubhouse and other structures and facilities on the property.
Among prospective partners are local food producers, who may see potential for vegetable growers and grassfed meat producers. Early conversations are exploring use of the commercial kitchen for creating value-added products for direct sale to local restaurants and consumers, and to serve at onsite events and gatherings. “We look forward to community input,” stated Steve Apfelbaum, conservancy president, in a release last week on the new initiative, “and we invite everyone to come for a visit soon to see the sunflowers and to share ideas.” To make this possible, the conservancy and partners have scheduled casual Sunday meet-and-greet sessions at the property, at N3941 Golf Course Road, just north of Brodhead, from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on July 29 and Aug. 5, during the height of blooming. Come sit on the deck and sip a glass of wine or beer (the bar is still open in the club house) while you share ideas and glimpse wildlife among the sunflowers. For those not familiar with online Google Maps, following are directions to the sunflower display. From the north end of Brodhead, take County Highway E north to Golf Course Road, and follow Golf Course Road until you see yellow blooms. The conservancy is also interested in capturing your ideas with a survey, which you can access at www.sunflowersurvey.com. Southern Wisconsin Land Conservancy is a land trust organization located in Brodhead, dedicated to protecting land in southern Wisconsin. For more information, contact Steve Apfelbaum at 608.201.9375 or steve@ appliedeco.com.
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SW LAND CONSERVANCY