Happy Birthday, Monroe!

Monroe looks pretty spry for its age. Pull on the party hats because our town turns 150 years old on Friday!

Join the Sesquicentennial Gala at Turner Hall on April 4 from 7 pm until 11 pm. Community members will gather for a party featuring "Rocking Dueling Pianos", jokes, entertainment and much more. There will be an opening ceremony, huge birthday cake, vintage item display, decades of costumes, souvenirs for sale, historical storytime, food, drink and dancing. Tickets are $10 in advance at Ruf's, Turner Hall or the Chamber of Commerce, or $12 at the door.

The Monroe Theater Guild has put together a living history presentation and party for the area schools for Friday morning. Homeschoolers are welcome to attend any of the shows, so call the district office for times and locations.

Our town is pretty fantastic. Let's hope the next 150 years keeps Monroe lively and growing.

Property of the Week

This week's featured property is a remodeled home in Monroe.


Step into the comfort and convenience of this home only one block away from Monroe's Historic Square. This house has so much character! There are beautiful archways throughout, and charming quirky details like the pass through window between one bedroom and the hallway. The vintage light fixture in the foyer and iron railing on the staircase are fantastic period elements.

At the same time, you will appreciate the renovations that have been taking place over recent months. There is new carpeting, the kitchen is being completely redone, and the wood floors in the living room have been refinished.

There is plenty of room to raise a family with over 2100 square feet and three bedrooms. Expand your space even more by creating outdoor living spaces on the secluded backyard wooden patio and front yard stone patio. This property has a 2+ car heated garage with plenty of room to store other toys. Garage has span-crete floors with a full basement that features underground access to the house.

If you want a charming home in a great location, this is it! Leave the cars parked and walk to all of the downtown amenities, parks and schools. Priced at $145,000, it also includes a home warranty for your peace of mind.

Begin at the end?

Buying a home is a big undertaking. Whether you are purchasing your first home or your tenth, it is still a process that should be done carefully. Many buyers, especially first time home buyers, begin the process by looking for houses, either on the internet or in local papers. While looking at homes is one of the most fun parts of the home buying process, I strongly encourage buyers to begin instead at a place most go to last – the bank.

When you decide to buy a home, the first question should be “How much can we spend?” I hate to see buyers start looking at homes with no idea what their budget is. It is disappointing to buyers to start looking only to find out their budget is fifty thousand dollars less than they thought. The houses in the lower price range never look as nice as the more expensive homes they started out looking at. Talk to your bank when you start talking with your realtor. If you do not know where to go to talk about mortgages, ask your realtor for recommendations. I am always happy to help my clients find good mortgage bankers.

When you find out what your budget is, stick to it. Being house-poor is never a good situation. When people buy at the very top of their price range or slightly over the top, there is no money left for decorating or regular maintenance. The buyers may have a great home, but there is no room in the budget for dining out, vacations, entertainment or extra activities for the children. When people buy what they can afford, they can still have room in budget for unexpected expenses life may throw at them.

A good realtor should be your partner in the home buying process, not a wolf on the prowl for the biggest commission possible. When you as a buyer know your limits, a good realtor should stay within that limit. It is a winning situation for everyone when a seller gets a fair price on the property they are leaving, a buyer gets a fair price on a home they can afford and a realtor helps the transaction go smoothly.

Things to do

If you are looking for something new and different to do in the next week, the following events are going on area:

~The Gem, Mineral and Fossil show is happening Saturday, March 29 and Sunday, March 30 at the High School. Sponsored by the Badger Lapidary Society, there are hands on activities for the kids like panning gold. It is a fun way to explore earth sciences.

~ The Monroe City Band is having a Cabaret Night at Turner Hall on Saturday, March 29. It starts at 8 pm and tickets are available at the door for $6.

~ Toffler's Pub and Grill in New Glarus is featuring live music by the Mike Croft Trio on Saturday, March 29. The opening receptions always feature wonderful nibbles by local chefs.

~ A new exhibit opens up at the Monroe Arts Center on Thursday. Called "On A Liquid Planet", it features photographs by Stephen Gassman with the common thread of water.

~ On April 4, Monroe turns 150 years old! Join us for cake and celebration. More on this in another post.

Everything old is new again

I was recently reading an article on current housing trends, things that are now considered hot and things that are considered not. I found some of the items quite interesting. Everything old is really is new again.

~ Free-standing soaker tubs for the bathroom are supplanting the whirlpool tub as today's it bathroom accessory. Think of all the old westerns with the cowboy soaking in the clawfoot tub with the raised back, that is a soaker tub. They are back!

~ McMansions are out, homes with reduced carbon footprints are in. This may vary with market, but people are starting to see the absurdity of a 6000 square foot home for a family of four or for empty nesters.

~ Out door living space is in again. The old fashioned generous porches for entertaining and outdoor stone hearths for cooking. There are modern twists of course, but really, grandma and grandpa knew what they were doing sitting out on the porch on a summer evening, and great-grandma's summer kitchen is the forerunner of today's outdoor cook spaces.

~ The top color trend was natural, unstained and undyed materials. Things that people used to do for frugality is now chic.

I find it intruiging how cyclical trends are. There were other, modern trends, like fully hidden appliances and pet showers, but many of the concepts were so familiar.