Monona's Fall Festival This Sunday At 11am, And No, There Isn't A Packer Game.

Please plan on attending this year's Monona Fall Festival (or Family Fall Festival or Fall Family Fest or whatever it is being called now) in Winnequah Park this Sunday, September 25th. The Festival will begin at 11am sharp with our annual pumpkin scavenger hunt at the Dream Park. Free pony rides, balloon creations, caricature artist, games, crafts, storytelling by Karen Wendt, Rock Williams drum show and the Banned Wagon. Local vendors will be on hand and hot dogs, caramel apples and hot apple cider will be available. Rain location? Don't even think about it, because it's not gonna rain!

Waterlife: Green Tuesdays Movie At The Monona Public Library Tomorrow/ Park And Rec Board Meeting At The Same Time- Choices, Choices...

The Natural Step Monona will be showing the movie Waterlife tomorrow night at 6:30 in the Monona Public Library as part of their Green Tuesdays film series.

From their website: Waterlife follows the epic cascade of the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. From the icy cliffs of Lake Superior to the ornate fountains of Chicago to the sewers of Windsor, this feature-length documentary tells the story of the last huge supply (20 per cent) of fresh water on Earth.

Check out the Waterlife website here for more information about this great film!


Unfortunately I won't be able to make it on Tuesday as the Park and Recreation Board plans to meet at 6:30 in the Monona Community Center. Our agenda includes:

3. Director’s Report

A. Mark Modaff – Public Works Assistant Director
B. Jake Anderson – Parks & Recreation Director

4. Appearances
A. Jane Kuzma – Bur Oak Landscapes

5. Unfinished Business
A. Review/Discussion/Recommendation of 2012 Operating Budget for Community Center, Recreation, & Outdoor Pool Department
B. Review/Discussion/Update 2012-2013 Capital Budget for Outdoor Pool, Parks, & Community Center

6. New Business
A. Frost Woods Park Brush Clearing Information/Discussion
B. Stone Bridge Park Discussion/Master Plan Review

Under appearances, Jane Kuzma will be presenting her draft master site plan for improvements at Stone Bridge Park.

And unrelated, but while I've got your attention,  the Monona Family Fall Festival is coming up soon! Sunday, September 25 from 11am to 2pm in Winnequah Park- the festival will begin at 11am sharp with our third annual Pumpkin Hunt at the Dream Park. As always, if you are dying to volunteer a couple hours of your time, call me call me call me at 206-0062.

Fall Festivus For The Rest Of Us

For those ten or fifteen people who didn't make it down to Winnequah Park for the Monona Family Fall Festival, this is what you missed:

Pony rides! Sponsored by Kellie Unke and Steve Seeliger of Stark Realty!

Local vendors offered some great items: bubble wands from Kristin Yates's jewelry company, Blue Hill By Hand, fresh cheeses from Farmer John, designer cookies and fresh honey products, as well as 10 minute chair massages from Monona massage practioner, Ellen Moen. Ellen, who can be reached at 442-0289, also brought along two of her four chickens. Yes, that's right, chickens. In Monona. And the Sun didn't self-implode or the seas rise up and swallow us all. In Monona.

One of the Family Attraction Committee's goals with the Fall Festival was to keep costs low for all families. A hot dog and an apple for a buck? Can't get better than that. Thanks to Alderman Dennis Kugle, original member of the FARC who helped organize the Fall Festival! Dennis took over the whole vending operation this year, and with the help of Paul Kachelmeier, Susan Fox, Susan Manning, Kathy Thomas, Scott Munson, Paul Gavins and Doud Wood, manned the food stand all afternoon.

A great variety of fall crafts and games master-minded by Heidi Sigimund, as well as some great story-telling by master story teller, Monona Library Children's Librarian, Karen Wendt and her youth volunteers.

It was so cool to see a huge crowd of our city's police officers, firemen and EMTs lined up on Healy Lane with their vehicles! They all looked so welcoming and friendly! What a great representation of our city! As my mom always says, "only in Monona!".

Kids kayaking on the lagoon, courtesy of Rutabaga- so cool! I would love to see the city set up some sort of kayak or paddle boat rental in the lagoon. How awesome would that be in the summer? We could even run a Canadian Goose-watching tour in the spring and fall (joke).

A petting zoo sponsored by Prairie Grove Orthodontics. Thanks to Dr. Dan and Valerie Drye!

Balloon creations by Tami of Funny Faces 4 Kids, sponsored by Klinke Cleaners!

Monona Public Library's Andy Nath and his spectacular band, the Banned Wagon. Dancing ensued.

ALPACAS from Forest Academy Alpacas!

My awesome parents, who helped out herding kids at the pumpkin scavenger hunt again this year, holding a tiny pumpkin dressed as my daughter.

Deb Hansen of Simply Wisconsin graciously donated two huge CSA shares as the festival door prizes. The winner of the vegetable share is Nicole Rosenthal and the winner of the meat share is Michael Quieto. Thanks so much, Deb! Too bad it would have seemed slightly suspicious if I had won either one of the shares, maybe next time I can finagle it.

Monona Family Fall Festival This Sunday!

The Monona Family Fall Festival will take place this Sunday, September 26th at the M.Y.Dream Park/ Winnequah Park from 2 to 5pm. Bring a sack to cart off your treats in!

The Pumpkin Hunt begins at 2pm SHARP! at the Dream Park. Stay for music from the Banned Wagon, balloon creations, storytelling, crafts, local vendors, kayak rides, petting zoo, pony rides and games!

Win a pool pass! Win a CSA share! Have a caramel apple blossom! Eat a hot dog! Run a three legged race with your bestfriend! Pet an alpaca!

A Couple of Fall Festivals in the District:

I love just about everything autumnal. The colors, the crisp air, the school supply shopping, the massive collective death of mosquitoes, not feeling like the entire interior of my house has been coated in the rubber cement-like sheen of humidity. I especially love the many fall events that take place when people get off their Jet-skis, put away the lawnmower, rinse off the chlorine and get down to business.

The deadline for registration for the 28th Annual Monona Grove Businessmen's Association Chili Cook-off is this Friday, September 17th. The event itself will be held at 10am on October 2nd at the AmericInn, 101 West Broadway. For more information click here.

And there's more than just chili... Lioness Raffle and Bake Sale, Classic Car Show, Pony and Horse Rides, Face Painting, Live Music by Chameleon (Classic Rock), Food (Chili, Chili Dogs, Hotdogs, Brats and Snacks), Beer, Soft Drinks, Bottled Water, Babcock Hall Ice Cream

After the chili cook-off, stop by on October 2nd for the annual Cottage Grove PTO Fall Festival. The Festival, a long-time community favorite and phenomenal fundraiser for our kids and community schools, will be held at Taylor Prairie from 10 am - 4 pm.

Taken from Cottage Grove Elementary PTO President Jennifer Pickel's blog:

"There will be games, food, a silent auction and, back by popular demand - a raffle. There will also be a Silly String Corral where kids and teachers will be able to have a good-natured silly string fight! The Monona Grove football players will be running a football toss game and the Monona Grove Pom Squad will be painting faces from 12-3. The EMS team will also be on sight to do some community education! New this year will be themed baskets created by each classroom. These baskets will be available at the Fall Festival, so be sure to come on over and check them out!!This year, the Cottage Grove PTO will continue it's campaign to raise money for Smart Boards. Please mark your calendars and join us for this fantastic event!! See you then!!"

The Cottage Grove PTO has already provided numerous Smart Boards to our schools through their wonderful fundraising. Thank you for all that you do!

Please plan on attending the Monona Family Fall Festival on September 26th at Winnequah Park from 2 to 5pm. This will be the third year that the Monona Family Attraction and Retention Committee has organized this event and it has steadily grown in both size and popularity. I am particularly excited that this year we will be having free hand-led pony rides throughout the park! Who doesn't love a pony ride?


The Festival will begin at 2pm sharp at the M.Y. Dream Park for a pumpkin scavenger hunt. Don't be late or you will miss out on all the fun! Afterward plan to stay to enjoy many local vendors, music from Monona Public Library's Andy Nath and his band the Banned Wagon, storytelling by Monona Children's Librarian Karen Wendt, balloon animals, a petting zoo and fall crafts and games. We are also pleased to have Rutabaga giving kayak rides on the lagoon this year. And back by popular demand: the alpacas from Forest Academy Alpacas! Check out the festival on our city website http://www.mymonona.com/ .

The rain location is the Monona Community Center, but we're not even going to think about the possibility of rain. Not gonna happen.