Wow
Taylor County was a busy place in the past week.
In Medford, there was the Taylor County Fair which went from Thursday through Sunday with animal judging, rides, food, special events and fun to be had every day. Rumblefest was Friday, Saturday with music and events and capped of on Sunday with 220 entries and near-perfect weather allowing the city park to turn into a sea of shiny chrome and polished steel. The weekend was capped with the annual Lions Duck Race — possibly the wettest way to run a raffle and help make the community a better place to live.
If you traveled west a few miles from Medford on Saturday Cindy’s Bar and Grill was the location for Bump It Up for Easter Seals. The 22nd year of running the tournament was the best one yet, raising $11,704 for Easterseals of Wisconsin.
Traveling a bit further west and south and Lublin Days was in full swing with ball games, events and fun all weekend long. Sunday was the big day for this annual festival with what my son, Alex, describes as “the best chicken dinner he has ever eaten” followed by a parade and polka music in the park pavilion. I am thinking the chicken dinner has a lot to do with why Alex volunteers to take pictures of Lublin Days each year. I appreciate this because, it allows me to run back and forth between seeing shiny and pampered cars at the city park and seeing cars used and abused at the demolition derby at the fairgrounds.
Not to be outdone, Westboro joined the mix this year making an already jam-packed weekend even better with that community’s celebration of 150 years since it was created.
The Westboro 150th celebration included food, footraces, more food, music, a parade, ball games, and did I mention the food? Reporter Mandee Ellis has been raving about the sweet corn that was served there.
I don’t know, but I find it hard to believe that it would beat the corn cooked up by Ron Blackburn and his crew at the fair. I think this might call for a showdown with cobs at 12 paces.
One of the complaints I have heard over the years is that there is “nothing to do” in Taylor County. When I hear this I think of the old adage that only boring people get bored.
Taylor County may not have the bright lights and crowded highways of big cities. What it lacks in gloss and glitz, it makes up for in heart and soul and the simple pleasures of summertime in Wisconsin — things like taking a twirl on the Tilt-a-Whirl at the fair, sitting on a curb and bracing for when a fire truck sounds its horn during a parade, or spending a summer afternoon watching the hometown boys battle at the plate against the team from down the road, are all defining parts of life in Taylor County.
For many of us, the simple appeal of these activities far surpasses whatever glitz and glamour may exist in more crowded communities. I feel bad for people who live in places where they have to make sure to lock their front door when they are sitting on their back porch or who fear their neighbors rather than inviting them over to sit by a campfires and enjoy a frosty beverage in a hot summer evening.
As I was standing on the pulling track at the Fairgrounds on Friday evening listening along with a crowd of spectators to a recording of The Star-Spangled Banner played over the loudspeaker, I thought about how lucky we are to live in a place like Taylor County where there is so much to do on a summer weekend in July and all throughout the year.
And I thought about how all of these events and activities involved the efforts of small armies of volunteers and core groups of organizers who planned and arranged and made it all possible.
Community events are like icebergs, the part that is seen is very small compared to the massive amount of work and effort that goes on behind the scenes.
Everyone involved in helping these events to take place deserves applause for a job well done.
Brian Wilson is News Editor at The Star News. Contact Brian at BrianWilson@centralwinews.com.
