jan 2 2002

January 2, 2002

'Carpy Diem'
After weeks of hard work and planning, organizers of the inaugural Dropping of the Carp deemed the event a success and are already saying the second annual dropping of the carp is a "go" for next year.
Tom Nelson of the Dropping of the Carp Committee says they were astounded by the publicity the event received across the state and nation, and it is an example of promoting the fun we can have in our city.
Nelson said they received about seven nominations for the honor of Carp King and eight for Carp Queen (not including the nominations of men for the position of queen which were submitted by the folks at "Sny Magill University.")
Don Valley was named Carp King, based upon his nomination letters, and his great-niece Crystal Valley was named Carp Queen. The king and queen represented three generations of a traditional river family which has a long history in the city.
The carp was named "Lucky" and Nelson said that all future carps will likely also have that name, kind of like Sun Prairie's "Jimmy the Groundhog."
The contest event yielded a theme as well - "Carpe Diem," which mean "seize the day" in Latin. The Dropping committee changed this to "Carpy Diem" just for fun.
The name the carp contest had more than 300 entries of 200 different names from area school children.
Derek Dressler and Jonathan Lochner were recognized for coming up with the names.
Lucky was prepared for the event by Mike Valley, and even sported a crown.
The fish was lowered from a crane boom which extended 102 feet into the sky. Dan Gingerich of McGregor donated the use of the crane.
Nelson said that plans are already underway for next year's event, and "Lucky Jr." the carp for next year's drop will likely be grown in a tank at Old Will's Bait Shanty.
The crowd also enjoyed 25 pounds of smoked carp and several even participated in the Carp Plunge.

WI Electric - WI Gas sale complete
On Friday, Dec. 28, Madison Gas and Electric Co. (MGE) took over operations of Wisconsin Electric - Wisconsin Gas of Prairie du Chien. MGE's service in this area will be known as the Prairie du Chien Gas Co.
"We are looking forward to being in the community," said John Yogerst, assistant vice-president of MGE Gas Operations.
Yogerst, along with Stephen Kraus, manager of MGE media relations, say customers will see no change in rates as a result of the ownership transfer.
Although the local office location and phone number will remain the same, gas leaks and other emergencies should be reported by using the new emergency number - 1-800-245-1123.
All six Prairie du Chien employees will be retained.
MGE will continue a $400,000 system upgrade started by the former owner.
MGE will be sending out packets to all customers on how the new billing will work, new phone numbers, etc., within the next few weeks. Customers will also notice the billing from MGE, rather than Wisconsin Electric, beginning in January.

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