Things to do around Monroe, WI

~ Take a tour of the old world at the annual Amish Quilt Auction. Bid on hundreds of handmade quilts, Amish made furniture, collectibles, and even horse implements. Bake sale and hand made ice cream made with a diesel engine featured. The auction is on Saturday at the Amish Schoolhouse - corner of Hwy. 104 and Atkinson Rd.

~ Turn your trip to the auction into an adventure. Bicycle there by joining the ride sponsored by Bombay Bicycle Club, and the Earth Rider van will bring your purchases back for you. Meet at Earth Rider in Brodhead at 8:00am for the ride. Pace 12-14 mph; Distance: 24 miles; Route: Moderate.

~ Come to New Glarus on Saturday to celebrate the 108th Anniversary of the New Glarus Fire Department. This fundraising event will feature bucket brigades, water fights, children's activities and live music. There will be food stands throughout the day, and there is a steak fry in the evening.

~ If you are experimenting with gardening this year and are curious about how to put up your bounty for winter, consider attending the food preservation workshop sponsored by UW Extension. This one day workshop is from 9 am to 3 pm at Pecatonica High School in Blanchardville. There is a $25 per person charge that includes preservation publications that you will be able to take home. Contact Bridget Mouchon at 328-9440 to register.

~ Fore! Join the YPs of Green County for their annual golf outing this Friday. Registration is required, so get over to their website to print out the form and get it in. $45 per person includes 9 holes at the Monroe County Club, beer on the course, and dinner. Tee time is 5:30.

~ The Green County Entrepreneurs Monday at 6:30 PM at the AmericInn Lodge conference room in Monroe. This month's speakers is Kate Walker from the Center for Advanced Technology and Innovation.

~ The free outdoor movie in Cedarville this Friday evening is "Calamity Jane". The movie starts at dusk, and there will be series of shorts in addition to the main feature.

~ Downtown Freeport will be happening this weekend. Friday evening is Brats, Beer & Blues at the Freeport Art Museum. Saturday, it is Cruise Night. Classic cars will fill the downtown lots. Starting at 7, the drivers can cruise around downtown Freeport as the roads closed to other traffic. Spectators line the street light a parade to enjoy the show. There is also a burnout contest, winners judged by applause and amount of smoke.

~ Don't forget about the great farmers markets happening in the region: Monroe, Monticello, Paoli, Belleville, Orangeville, Lena... Come out, meet your producer and get some great food straight from the source.

Property of the Week

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


This adorable Cape Cod in excellent condition is waiting for you!

Clean and bright, this home has 4 bedrooms with gable nooks, 1.5 bathrooms, hardwood floors, an eat-in kitchen, dining room and a spacious living room.

The newer roof, Energy Star furnace, central air and water heater means all you need to do is bring in your furniture and start living. Great location by hospital, a garage and a nice yard to boot. Home warranty included for your peace of mind.

Don't miss this one!

Helping local disaster victims

Our hearts go out to all the victims of the recent flooding in northern Illinois. Brenda's sister lives in Pearl City, and we have been hearing first hand about the flood conditions there.

We would strongly encourage all in the area to do what they can to help out. The Northwest Illinois chapter of the American Red Cross is operating two shelters and responding to needs in the area. Donations to that organization is always helpful.

Unfortunately, we have been unable to find a comprehensive list of volunteer needs and contact information online, but the basics certainly apply. Food to the Northern Illinois Food Bank. Contact local churches for volunteer opportunities. Call your local city hall to inquire about volunteer needs. Try calling the Freeport Housing Authority to see if they have opportunities for people with construction skills to help out. Clothing and household items will be needed for those who have been devastated by the flooding and lack adequate insurance.

An afternoon spent helping others, a bag full of food, a few clothes that you don't wear often, that rarely used kitchen appliance that you received as a wedding gift, the spare bed that was left behind after the kids moved out - all of these are pretty minor in the long run, but could make a world of difference in the life of someone else in our area.

For residents who are working to clean up after the flood, we encourage you to read the safety information from the Stephenson County Health Department before you begin.

Free Clothing Exchange this week

If you are cleaning out the closets in preparation for fall or if your family could use a little help with back to school shopping this year, the Free Clothing Exchange happening this Saturday at St Victor's in Monroe could be just the thing for you.

Sponsored by the Catholic Daughters of America, Grace Lutheran Church, Hope Evangelical Free Church and community member, the Free Clothing Exchange is looking for people who need help this preparing for this fall and winter, people who have clothing to donate or both.

The Free Clothing Exchange will operate on a simple honor system...donate what you can, visit to obtain what your children need, try to keep the room orderly.

Come browse for clothing from 8 am to 1 pm this week Saturday at St Victor School in Monroe (1416 20th Ave). You do not need to donate in order to attend as a consumer. All items are free to those Shopping for their families. It would be helpful for you to bring your own bags/boxes/laundry baskets for your items.

If you are able to donate, the following items are needed are needed in size infant through adult:

Shoes/Boots/Snow boots/Tennis Shoes
Coats: Fall & Winter
Hats & Mittens & Snow pants
Socks/Under garments/Tights
Shirts
Pants/Jeans
Sweatshirts/Pants
Tote bags/Backpacks/Duffle Bags/Pencil Cases
Scout Uniforms
New School Supplies

Items being accepted are to be clean and without stains. Footwear should be new or with light wear.

Items donated can be dropped off at St. Victor School, 1416 20th Avenue, Monroe WI on Friday, July 23 1 to 3 PM & 5 to 7 PM, or Saturday, July 24 Morning 10 AM to Noon. If you have items to donate, but cannot drop off at these times, email CourtMazzuchelli@luckymail.com or phone Susan at 608-851-9137 to arrange a pick time and site. At the end of the day, anything useful that remains will be boxed and donated to various other programs in need, St. Vincent De Paul, Easter Seals, or other charities.

Volunteers are also needed for this one day event. If you can help out, please contact CourtMazzuchelli@luckymail.com or phone Susan at 608-851-9137.

How effective is print advertising?

I was working on a continuing education class today when I found a nugget of information that was too startling not to share.

Before I share the statistic, let me share a little background. Whenever Luis and I list a house, we always talk with the potential seller regarding print advertising. We do pretty much no print advertising. There is a reason for this. Three years ago, we did quite a lot. However, we decided to keep some statistics ourselves on the return on investment for our print advertising. Care to guess what that return was?

ZERO

It was rather surprising and sobering, and we consequently discontinued doing print advertisements for ourselves and special ads for our properties. We warn our sellers that we do not do prints ads for this reason. Buyers are not looking for homes in the paper; only the sellers look there. We don't even have a good return on open house advertising in print. At the last two open houses we hosted, one had zero percent attendance because of the print ad run by our broker and the other had only one couple out of six list "paper" as how they heard about the open house.

So, today when I found the following statistic, it both surprised me and made perfect sense.

More buyers found the home they actually purchased from a yard sign rather than from an advertisement in a home magazine.

1%of buyers found the home they bought through a home magazine. 14% found the home they bought through the yard sign.

It is interesting food for thought for home sellers, is it not?