Super Saturday brings fun as well as some road closures

By Jason Arndt

Correspondent

The Village of Union Grove has announced the hours for its Open House commemorating 175 years as a municipality.

“The History Seekers will be here to staff the building with displays and pictures of Union Grove,” said Village President Mike Aimone, speaking at the Village Board’s Aug. 26 meeting.

The hallways will be decorated with pictures and items from Union Grove’s history, and the Chamber of Commerce offices will be dressed up and staffed by Mary Nichols and Carol Knight – two knowledgeable ladies about the Chamber’s history.

The local historical society will be at the Village Hall from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., with an extended trolley service provided to the hall from Main Street.

The trolley is funded by Super Saturday, and will not be at any additional costs compared to prior years, according to trustee Gordon Svendsen.

In addition, the History Seekers will have displays pertaining to other milestone years, including the Villages Centennial and 150th anniversaries.

The local historical society has worked with the Union Grove Chamber of Commerce and Village Board for several months to incorporate a lot of plans for the community milestone.

Union Grove focused on the 175th anniversary theme in its annual Independence Day Parade this year, and is using a flag bearing the commemoration of the anniversary through the remainder of 2013.

Road closures

In response to the Fire Department’s request to be notified of street closures, the Village also announced all side streets will be closed from Friday evening, Sept. 6, until the conclusion of Super Saturday at midnight Sept. 7.

The Department made the request at the Fire Commission meeting held Aug. 21, after not being properly notified of closures in some other events surrounding downtown Union Grove.

“We always try to let the Fire Department and Sheriff’s Office know ahead of time of any closures,” Svendsen said.

The Fire Department noted at the Commission meeting that there had been some miscommunication during this year’s annual car show, which led to unanticipated street closures.

But Main Street will not be closed at any time – either prior to and/or during the Super Saturday event – due to state Department of Transportation protocol.

“You cannot close Main Street without approval from the DOT,” Svendsen explained. “It is just one block so we won’t need detours.”

My comeback

After more than six years of being away from the journalism profession due to a myriad of personal and medical issues, 2013 was the year I was able to make a return.

Following my excellent experience as a News Intern with the Lake County News-Sun, my life hit a snag for several years and since the departure - I wondered if I still had the talent.

Enter in Southern Lakes Newspapers, where I previously served as a Sports Intern eight years earlier for two weekly newspapers (Whitewater Register, Palmyra-Eagle Enterprise) and I was able to make my return.

One thing is certain - having a writer make a return to writing was like riding a bike. I still have the perspective of the citizen in mind, although a bit rusty. But it is a restart I have been waiting for since 2007. 

The challenge of writing for two smaller communities is to dig harder for information and generate stories. While attending Village Board and School Board meetings might not be exciting to an outsider, but many small details and items within meetings can be a major story for a small community.

And sometimes being present at Board meetings catches news NOT contained in the meeting agenda issued. 

In order to understand the significance of small items on meeting agendas, a reporter needs to know the history of the community. Learning about the history in two small communities is a hard task but once I am able to get over the learning curve it will be much easier to follow.

It takes a considerable amount of time for a reporter to not only learn the history but also the public officials and what they stand for.