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Bucks of Crawford County Feb. 18

If the winter has been the cause of a bout of cabin fever, a welcome break will be provided by the Prairie Rod and Gun Club's ninth annual deer show, The Buck's of Crawford County, which will be held Saturday, Feb. 18, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Prairie du Chien National Guard Armory on State Highway 35 on Prairie du Chien's north side.

Hunters are encouraged to enter their head mounts and racks of any species from any geographic region. Antler registration is from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday evening, Feb. 17 and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Antlers will be released at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Those entering racks and mounts are eligible for the participants' door prize, a Remington 700 BDL 300 Winchester Magnum, donated by Stark's Sport Shop.

There is an admission, children under 12 are free. Food and beverages available. For more information call 608-326-2478.

This celebration of our deer hunting heritage is the Prairie Rod and Gun Club's only fund raising event, and proceeds are used to support the club's work in improving and protecting the area's natural resources and promoting positive outdoor activities.

Head mounts and racks will be scored and displayed. Scoring will be done by trained and qualified scorers. Sheds are also welcome and will be scored and displayed but do not qualify for the participants' door prize. Vendors booths are available.

Other raffles will be held throughout the day for a rifle, shotguns and a $200 Cabela's gift card. The Prairie Rod and Gun Club's service projects include: trout habitat improvement and stream bank restoration, hunter safety education classes, a kids casting contest, raising pheasants for release, waterfowl habitat improvements in the Kickapoo Wildlife Area as well as building and placing wood duck houses and goose nesting structures, improvements to boat landings, Mill Coulee gun range, plotmaster, and other outdoor and community services.

Sponsors include Stark's Sports Shop, WalMart, Cabela's, Isle of Capri Casino, Bridgeport Inn, the Prairie du Chien Tourism Council, Design Homes and Whitetail Fanatic Magazine.

For lodging and tourist information call 1-800-732-1673.

Council discusses Spring Cleanup

At a regular meeting of the Prairie du Chien Common Council last night, a public hearing was held to discuss a request from Brady Powers. The request is to amend the Prairie du Chien Zoning Code for the 2000 Block of East Brunson Street from ³Agricultural Transition² to ³Low Density Residential.²

One citizen appeared at the meeting to voice a question on the matter. Garth Frable stated that the Brady family is requesting the change in order to build a house on the lot. The motion was carried.

Mr. Mark Ihm was scheduled to appear at the meeting to present information on the Fort Crawford Hotel Project. It was reported that Mr. Ihm will instead appear at the Committee of the Whole meeting in two weeks to give a full report on the project.

Another item on the agenda was a recommendation from Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) on Universal Forest Products' proposal to relocate Tech Trim manufacturing operation from Springfield, Ill., to Prairie du Chien. This move would create 40 new full-time positions of which 38 will be hourly positions with wages ranging from $8.35/hour to $21/hour and two will be professional salaried positions.

The operation would move into one of UFP's current warehouse buildings after renovating it. The schedule is to have the new operation functional by the end of March.

Street Department Superintendent Rodney Fishler reported that this year's Spring Cleanup will be held April 24-28.

Police Chief Mike King also reported that there has been a change in the transportation procedure of detained persons. King said that the Crawford County Sheriff's Department has handled the transports in the past, but has made the decision to no longer do so. Under statute, the police department is now required to make the transports, which include trips to La Crosse, Madison and Boscobel.

Walgreens is coming to busy PdC intersection

Many exciting changes took place for the city of Prairie du Chien last week, as Walgreens, Madison developers and the state of Wisconsin committed their time and money to facilitate development on the northwest corner of the Marquette and Blackhawk Street intersection.

According to Prairie du Chien City Planner, Garth Frable, there were three major events that took place last week to get this long-awaited project moving forward.

One was that Rifken Group, of Madison, agreed to develop the entire city block, which will bring 45,000 square feet of new retail space the downtown area. Walgreens also signed a letter of commitment last Monday to build a new retail store on the block. Frable said that they hope to have the store built and in business by this November. The third major player in the deal was the state of Wisconsin, which agreed to help support these new developments within Prairie du Chien. Frable said that the state agreed that this purchase would be a huge boost to Prairie du Chien's economy and a worthwhile project to invest money in.

"There are still a number of balls in the air," said Frable about the entire project, "but it is really coming together."

The City of Prairie du Chien purchased the property from the Welters last Tuesday for $455,000, while the Rifken Group simultaneously purchased the land from the city for $355,000. The state of Wisconsin committed to cover the $100,000 difference in the transaction. This helped Prairie du Chien to achieve a goal for this project, which was to not spend any of the taxpayers' money.

"This is really only one piece [of the whole project] ‹ but a very critical piece," said Frable.

Unfinished landmark in McGregor is coming down

Last summer the McGregor City Council set a deadline of January 31 for Dan Gingerich to demolish and remove the large timber frame structure next to the Holiday Shores motel, which is owned and managed by the Gingerich family. Gingerich had begun demolition on January 25, but progress was halted when he was required by Iowa DNR to get a permit.

Gingerich had intended for the structure to be a banquet center to complement his family's motel business, but the structure was never completed. The distinctive cupola-topped frame has become something of an unwelcome landmark in McGregor since it was begun in 1998.

Gingerich says that Iowa DNR requested that he submit a sample of the timbers he was planning to burn at the city dump to check for asbestos and other contaminants. Since the timbers are all from old barns, and contain no hazardous materials he expects to receive his permit sometime this week, and will resume the demolition.

Some of the timbers will be salvaged and Gingerich says he will sell them. Other demolition debris will be hauled to a landfill.

Although the project is a little behind schedule, Gingerich says that the city has been understanding. "Norm's trying to help, everyone has been real helpful," Gingerich said of McGregor city clerk Norm Lincoln and members of the city council.

Once he has all of the appropriate permits, Gingerich says he has hired Dillman Construction to assist with the major portion of the demolition. The demolition project will be completed within about two weeks, Gingerich said.

Eagle Appreciation Day, Fisheree enjoyed by all

Many people from near and far were in Prairie du Chien this weekend for a pair of wintertime events, the Bald Eagle Appreciation Day and the 56th Annual Fisheree.

Eagle Appreciation Day activities went from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and the eagles cooperated quite nicely this year as families were able to view several American Bald Eagles soaring above or perched in the trees along the Mississippi River near the Tourist Information Center. Prairie du Chien's Dennis Lenzendorf and former conservation warden Dennis Kirschbaum were on hand to help people view the eagles through several spotting scopes at the Information Center.

Other eagle activities included a life-size eagle nest building demonstration, eagle photographs by Prairie du Chien photographer Don Valley, wooden eagle carvings and eagle paintings by Prairie du Chien Intermediate School students.

Two live bald eagle programs were presented in the lobby of the AmericInn by Mary Beth Garrigan, Director of the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, Minn. The star of the presentations was "Angel," a rehabilitated bald eagle that has participated in numerous demonstrations for appreciative audiences. The presentations were conducted in front of a special display of the painting "Freedom," one of the largest bald eagles ever recorded in this region.

The audience at the AmericInn also enjoyed informative presentations by Chloris Lowe about the significance of the bald eagle to Native Americans. Lowe is a member of the Sky Clan of the sovereign Ho-Chunk Nation.

Fisheree

Despite a relatively mild winter and a lack of ice, the 56th Annual Fisheree was enjoyed by those who participated Saturday and Sunday. A few ice fishermen were to be found on the still frozen part of Gremore Lake near Ambro Road directly across the lake from the Lakeview Restaurant and Bar. Other anglers of various ages fished from boats or from shore in other areas of the river.

People were also able to enjoy ice sculptures that were on display at several locations in and around Prairie du Chien. An ice sculpture of a hula dancer that stood next to a palm tree on the deck of the Lakeview Bar mocked the warm temperatures that have left much of the Mississippi with open water.

While registration was down quite a bit from previous years, the temperatures this weekend were more "winterlike" and some nice catches of various species were reported. Those attending had a good time and several prizes were awarded. Prize winners were as follows:

Pike:1st- Jordan Panka, Prairie du Chien, 7.692 pounds; 2nd Nick Scheckler, Prairie du Chien 7.138 pounds; 3rd Josh Fernette, Janesville, 6.918 pounds.

Walleye: 1st- Jerry Hoilien, McGregor, 1.708 pounds; 2nd- Jerry Finney, Prairie du Chien, 1.098 pounds; 3rd-none entered.

Black Bass: 1st- Dean Gunderson, Monona, 5.188 pounds; 2nd- David Hudson, Prairie du Chien, 2.95 pounds; 3rd- none entered.

Sunfish: 1st- Paul Dunkel, Dyersville, .844 pounds; 2nd- Bart Caley, Waterloo, IA .756 pounds; 3rd Dewey Vosberg, Potosi, .594 pounds.

Crappie: 1st- Jim Schilling, Prairie du Chien, 1.472 pounds; 2nd- Doug Ernst, Edgewood, IA 1.246 pounds; 3rd- Larry Dundee, Waukon, .904 pounds.

Only one prize was awarded to a young fisherman in the "12 and under category," due to lack of youth participation this year with the poor ice conditions. Sunfish: $20 Kristian Tesar, Prairie du Chien .408 pounds.

Harold R. Schultz, Brodhead, Wis. won the Grand Prize - a 14-foot Alumacraft boat from Stark's Sports Shop.

Special thanks to all the businesses that donated prizes to the Fisheree and to the participants.

The 56th Annual Fisheree was sponsored by the Prairie du Chien Area Chamber of Commerce, Prairie du Chien Jaycees and the American Legion Baseball Team.

The 57th Annual Fisheree is planned for Feb. 3 and 4, 2007.