Friday September 6th, 2013
Parkway Inn’s Country Fling is this Saturday. The big tents were already up last night when I went by. If you are in the neighborhood, stop in tomorrow for some country music, cookout food and fun times.
2013
Friday 8-30-2013
Greetings and welcome!
It is the holiday weekend and time to do an update. I would have liked to do it earlier in the week, but life has been insanely busy.
Item one, go whitewater rafting this weekend, or if that isn’t your cup of meat, go tubing on the Peshtigo. We had rain Monday and Tuesday and again Thursday night that has both the Peshtigo and Menominee Rivers running at record high levels. The record for the past 20 years on the Menominee for this date is 2,300cfs, and it was running about that yesterday. The Peshtgo the record for the 15 year history of the gauge was 272cfs, and it running at 409 and rising this morning. That is probably about a +4″.
That is a very fun level for both rivers, so if playing in the water is your thing go for it.
Next up the weather..
We have a chance at some storms later today. There is a chance of heavy rain, high winds, and some hail, but where it will hit ( or IF it will hit) is anyone’s guess.
After that the forecast has bounced around daily. Right now the NWS has us in for a chance of some rain Saturday night into Sunday morning. The NAM model shows it splitting around us and leaving the region dry. The GFS is a little more wet, with a shot at some rain anytime Sunday.
My honest opinion is that it is a loaded atmosphere and it depends on front timing. I have seen it go from a wet weekend to just Sunday morning and a couple of variations. I’d say be ready for it but don’t let it be the focus of your weekend or a reason to cancel plans.
Next up is events.
August 31
Annual Corn Roast and ATV Parade – Valley Inn, Townsend
ATV Parade at 10:30 am from Townsend Shell to Valley Inn – Meat Raffles, Food & Refreshments – Live Music at 7pm
Under the Big Tent – Rain or Shine – Hosted by the Red Arrow Snowmobile Club – Proceeds go to trail maintenance
Sept. 1
37th Annual Auction Fundraiser – Northwoods Bar – Athelstane – Benson Lake Rd & Northway Dr.
Parade lineup at 10:00 a.m. at Fire Station #2 on Benson Lake Road, parade begins at 10:30 a.m.- Auction to follow – Food, games, music
Proceeds from the Auction go to the Athelstane Fire Department and the Silver Cliff Rescue Squad.
Aug 31 Riverview VFD Corn Roast- FREE corn all day, meat raffle, kid’s bounce house, a corn eating contest, and a DJ. That runs from 11am-? Riverview is the next town south of Lakewood on 32.
Saturday is also the Amberg VFD 33rd annual picnic. Th4ey have a parade at 11 am and then the festivities start at the park. There will be horseshoes, bounce houses for the kids, a homerun derby, free corn and a couple of live bands. The park with the festivities is west of 141 on Hwy V. You go about 1/2 mile and when the road swings left by the town hall and museum and you will be looking at the park.
That is about all that I have for today. Have a fun and safe holiday weekend!
RJB
Friday 8-23-13
Greetings and welcome!
Storm reports continue to come in. From what I can tell there was a lot of tree damage from about the Red Pine BP down to Thorntons along Parkway Rd. South of Thornton’s on Parkway looked like there wasn’t any damage at all visible from the road.
The house by Bella Riva about a mile west of C and the Peshtigo River lost a few trees, and there were some down between there and the BP.
Additional reports came in that there were some tree tops taken off on Richard’s Lane just west of the Peshtigo, but it was specific to a couple of tall trees. Silver Cliff Camp looked intact driving by.
There were reports of damage by the old Borderline store at Tower Rd and C at the Athelstane/Silver Cliff line, and some wind damage a mile and a half east of there.
Finally, there were some trees down on Benson Lake Rd around Northwoods Bar, but I haven’t pinned down exactly where.
When I checked the McCaslin Mountain and Old J & Harper Rd areas yesterday they looked fine, as were some places a mile east of C and Parkway south.
The storm damage appeared to be very area specific. One house would lose trees, and the next would be fine. Oaks seemed to be the tree of choice.
This weekend is the Marinette County Fair in Wausaukee. Here is a link to their web site with the events and information.
This weekend is also the Oconto County Fair in Gillett. Again, here is a link to their web site with events and information.
The bees didn’t get me last week, life did. I had planned a late week update but a flood of things came up that prevented that. My apologies.
As far as the hornet’s nest, I won on that one. I went out there at 4am on a 39 degree night, crawled under the steps and let ’em have it from about 3′ away. Not a one came out, they never knew what hit them.
One last item, the black raspberries out in the yard are becoming abundant. There are a lot that aren’t ripe yet, but I had no problem finding plenty to snack on.
Last year about this time I went out to the abundantly fruited canes in the front of my land expecting to harvest a bumper crop. I went out and there was not a single berry to be found. Huh? I started looking for tracks- deer, bear, people? I found no tracks at all.
As I am sitting out there contemplating this mystery I saw a chippy run up a cane, tip it to the ground, and start feasting on the unripened berries. Ah ha ! Mystery solved.
Last year I had a big chippy population, this year not so much. I have a barred owl that hangs out in the back, and he is the prime suspect for keeping that population down. Maybe this year I will get some berries.
I will be checking a few more places over the weekend, if you want me to check on yours let me know.
I will also consider helping clean up people’s places with oaks down in exchange for the firewood. I have a good sized chain saw, truck, trailer, and straps. I even know a couple of guys that do stump grinding.
That is about it for me today. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!
RJB
Thursday 8-22-13
Storm update #2
I surveyed a few people’s places this morning and am happy to report that all is well with them. The first stop was a place near McCaslin Mountain. That was fine other than a little gravel erosion in the driveway.
The next stop was Harper Rd by the Rat River. Fisherman’s, Poacher’s and the other roads around there looked fine. Stop number three took me up Parkway north. Again the cabin was fine, but there were a few branches down along Parkway and a big cottonwood leaning over the side road at about a 45 degree angle.
Almost all of the damage that I saw was trees and branches down between Bella Riva and the gas station at Parkway and C, and from the gas station south to about Thorntons. The hunt club folks with the memorial forest will want to bring a saw, their driveway was blocked by a couple of trees. The cabins just north of there had trees down but no damage to the houses.
I saw a lot of trees down but no property damage other than the crunched car.
As of 11am the gas station was still dark, but the power company crews were across the street working on it.
