Times-Register

By Audrey Posten, Times-Register

The Monona City Council gave the go-ahead, at its June 15 meeting, to establish several permanent campsites at Gateway Park.

Robin Jones, who has stayed at the park’s recently-updated sites with her husband, made the request.

“It’s nice out there,” she told the council. “If there are campers there, others tend to come. I’m not saying make them all permanent, but have a few. You put all that work and money into doing that, so it may bring people in.”

Currently, campers cannot stay at the park for longer than two weeks at a time.

Sit back and relax and sample a variety of regional wines and beers at the Lazy River Beer and Wine Festival. The annual event will be held this Saturday, June 27, from noon to 4 p.m., on the Marquette riverfront. 

The McGregor-Marquette Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the event, will be implementing physical distancing measures to help assure the safety of both attendees and vendors.

Five wineries are slated to participate this year, including Marquette’s own Eagles Landing Winery. Other attendees are PromiseLand Winery from Guttenberg, Jennings Winery from Strawberry Point, Empty Nest Winery from Waukon and Winneshiek Wildberry Winery from Decorah.

Gerald (Bert) Bruehahn, 79, of McGregor, formerly of Prairie du Chien, Wis., passed away at the Great River Care Center in McGregor on June 14, 2020.

He was born on Oct. 27, 1940, to Bert and Eliza Bruehahn in Monona. In his younger years, he had a country band called Little Bert and the Country Class. He worked security at 3M in Prairie du Chien until he retired. Bert owned the Circle Bar in Prairie du Chien for a while and also had a cab business called B Line Cab Co. After retiring, Bert continued to work security jobs.  

Surviving Bert are his four children, Scott (Jill) Bruehahn of Mt. Horeb, Wis., Stephanie (Jerry) Koons of Elkader, Tina Bothum of Colorado and Rhonda Ruhser of Colorado; one sister, Loretta Funk of Buffalo, Wyo.; 12 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.  

By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register

What makes a musician? Is it passion? Practice? Or the performing? Or, are they simply born that way? For local artist and Elkader native, Sophia Landis, in her own words, “I did not choose music. Music chose me. I basically came out of the womb singing.” 

She was born in the Elkader hospital back when it still delivered babies, and she began taking piano lessons at age three and has no memory of a time when music wasn’t an integral part of her life. She was inspired by her parents, who she admitted were not “heavily involved in music,” but they “sensed” the musical urge and talent in their daughter and provided every opportunity they could to nurture that talent.