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Lake Mills Leader
Lake Mills gets new nail salon
LAKE MILLS — A new nail salon just opened in Lake Mills, and owner Macaria Guillén has big plans for her salon, Maguist. Guillén, who has been thinking about opening a nail business for about a year, came from a hair salon in Madison and wanted to be closer to her home in Jefferson. She heard about the building opening up for rent two months ago, and decided to go for it. ...
America's Best Restaurants to visit Crawfish Junction
JOHNSON CREEK — Crawfish Junction will be hosting a visit from America’s Best Restaurants (ABR) in late August 2024. America’s Best Restaurants, a national media and marketing company focusing on bringing attention to local, independently-owned restaurants, will bring its ABR Roadshow to the Milford restaurant Aug. 28 Popular dishes will be highlighted, along with an extensive on-camera interview with key staff about the restaurant’s special place in the community. The episode will be aired extensively on social media channels at a later date. ...
Lakeside Lutheran parent missing after kayak incident
A man is still missing after he didn’t return from a kayak trip to Big Green Lake Monday evening, Aug. 12. The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office contacted the Green Lake County Sheriff dispatch to indicate that the man did not return home. His vehicle was found in a parking area where he had planned to launch his kayak. The watercraft was found with a lifejacket attached to it Monday, but the individual has still not been found. ...
Lakeside Lutheran parent missing after kayak incident
A man is still missing after he didn’t return from a kayak trip to Big Green Lake Monday evening, Aug. 12. The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office contacted the Green Lake County Sheriff dispatch to indicate that the man did not return home. His vehicle was found in a parking area where he had planned to launch his kayak. The watercraft was found with a lifejacket attached to it Monday, but the individual has still not been found. ...
Lakeside Lutheran set to begin 2024-25 school year
LAKE MILLS — Lakeside Lutheran High School begins its 67th year this month with freshman orientation for 147 freshmen on Friday, August 16. Freshmen traditionally begin the school year a day early to orient and learn schedules, meet teachers and peers, and explore co-curricular opportunities. Classes begin on campus for 553 students on Monday, August 19, a 3.9% increase from the ending enrollment last May. An opening service and teacher installation will take place as part of the first day’s events on August 19 at...
Wisconsin author discusses how he began his writing journey
LAKE MILLS — Sometimes bedtime stories can lead to published books, at least, that was the case for James Salimes, who writes under the pen name J. Ellis Blaise. “At bedtime it was my kids and their friends having adventures, so that’s how it started,” Salimes said. Daydream Believer Books and Gifts hosted Salimes, a Wisconsin author, last Friday to discuss his first book, and share his goals for the...
Early learning center to come to St Paul Lutheran Church and School
LAKE MILLS — St Paul Lutheran Church and School broke ground on an early learning center on Sunday. Principal Steve Gartner said the new section they are adding to the end of the school will be used for newborns to kids age 4, and they hope to house at least 150 children. This will help solve a daycare shortage in Dodge and Jefferson counties, according to Gartner. He said that...
Area exhibitors auction livestock at State Fair Blue Ribbon event
WEST ALLIS — The Blue Ribbon Sale of Champions Foundation and Wisconsin State Fair officials hosted another successful auction, raising $426,750 for Wisconsin State Fair youth livestock exhibitors at the 2024 Governor’s Blue Ribbon Livestock Auction. This year, the GBRLA provided $40,000 in scholarship awards as well as $22,000 to fund Wisconsin State Fair Junior Exhibitor Showmanship, Knowledge Master Showman and Reserve Champion awards. “We are so grateful to the...
Lake Mills Area Schools summer concert
In July, all four summer instrumental ensembles in the Lake Mills Area School District put on a concert showcasing the music they’ve been making since school let out. Tuesday String Ensemble: younger middle school students with older mentors.Summer Pop Strings: 7-12th string players.Summer Symphony: a brand-new summer school class for middle schoolers on band and orchestra instruments and high school mentors.High School Jazz Ensemble. The concert wrapped up with all involved students combining to play Thriller. Thanks to the alums who helped out: Henry Bell, Ian Saylor. Directors: Angela Schmidt (Orchestras), Callie Knoll (new LMHS Band), Steven Walsh (past LMHS Band and founder of Summer Symphony).
Second annual Music in the Mills happening this weekend
LAKE MILLS — Music in the Mills is returning for the second year this weekend, with more activities for everyone. The event, which will take place Saturday, will feature music all day long, along with food and activities for all ages, according to chair of the organizing committee, Amy Winkelman. Music in the Mills will begin at 9:30 a.m. on the Seljan grounds, and will be free admission for everyone. ...
Jefferson Speedway: Grueneberg wins second feature of season
CAMBRIDGE — Wisconsin Dells driver Michael Grueneberg nailed down his second feature victory of the 2024 season at Jefferson Speedway on Saturday evening. Grueneberg drove to the front of the field and hung on through multiple late restarts to secure the win and close the gap in the season standings, with only three points nights remaining until champions are crowned. Steven Sauer and Kyle Smith led the field to green...
Wisconsin State Patrol responds to fatal rollover in Lake Mills
LAKE MILLS — The Wisconsin State Patrol, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, and other agencies responded to a fatal vehicle crash on I-94 Friday evening, Aug. 9. The incident near the eastbound exit for WI-89 (N. Main Street in Lake Mills) took place at 7:19 p.m. Friday evening, according to the agencies. Traffic on I-94 was completely stopped in both directions, re-opening at 9:53 p.m. The driver was declared deceased at...
Lake Mills Optimists Club fundraiser has more sponsors than ever
LAKE MILLS — The Lake Mills Optimists Club is hosting their annual golf outing fundraiser next weekend. Aaron Kuhl, the organizer for the golf outing, said this is the club's main way to fundraise for all of the local programs that the Optimists run throughout the year. This year, Kuhl said his goal was to get more community sponsors to help bring funds to community programs. The Optimist Club is...
Lake Mills receives WIAA Award of Excellence for fifth time
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association salutes the 27 schools that fulfilled criteria to be named recipients of the Award of Excellence in 2023-24. The award promotes and recognizes the efforts and achievements of schools in the areas of sportsmanship, ethics, integrity, leadership, character and accomplishment. The recipients of the Award of Excellence, presented to high schools that have verified they have met each of the award’s criteria are: Clintonville, Crivitz,...
Two Lake Mills FFA students travel to DC
Two members of the Lake Mills High School L-Cat FFA attended 2024 Washington Leadership Conference, in Washington, D.C. Carsyn Peterson and Amaya Untz each attended a one-week session hosted by the National FFA Organization on July 16-21. Both students will be seniors at Lake Mills High School this fall. The 2024 FFA Washington Leadership Conference theme was Explore-Encourage-Advocate-Serve. FFA members from across the country were able to attend a one-week session in Washington DC. The conference focused on personal growth, leadership development, being a changemaker, and living to serve. Highlights of the conference included being able to see the United States Capitol & Capitol Hill, National Mall Museum & Smithsonian Museum, Arlington National Cemetery, Washington Monument, Holocaust Museum, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and many other sights. The Lake Mills FFA Alumni and the WI FFA Alumni Association aided in sponsoring the students on the trip.
Originally a noxious weed solution, Jefferson goats now guests of honor at annual festival
JEFFERSON — The Goats of Goat Island started out as natural lawn mowers and have become a symbol of the city of Jefferson, friendly mascots bringing the community together for a festival every August and even inspiring street art. A few years ago, a small island the city owned at the convergence of the Rock and Crawfish rivers was infested with noxious weeds, but the city couldn’t easily get to the island with mowing equipment. An innovative solution was proposed: to bring in some goats...
Invasive species snapshot day is Saturday
Jefferson County Land and Water Department invites nature lovers of all ages to Snapshot Day, a search for aquatic invasive species (AIS) on August 10 at Rock River Landing Park (629 N. Elizabeth Ave., Jefferson) from 9 a.m.-noon. Snapshot Day is a statewide effort to protect Wisconsin’s streams, lakes, and wetlands by monitoring designated sites for invasive plants and animals that may threaten the state’s wildlife and water ecosystems. Snapshot...
Lake Mills school board to present residents with two referendum questions
LAKE MILLS — On July 15, the Lake Mills School Board voted to present the community with two referendum questions for the November election. “The proposed projects are in direct response to the community-based CAT team’s recommendations, which aligns with the stakeholder feedback we gathered during the recent survey process,” District Administrator Tonya Olson said. Over the past 14 months, a Collaborative Advisory Team has worked on recommendations based on...
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