Along with June comes the parade of summer events, which for small communities in Driftless Wisconsin, feels like homecoming. The Midsummer Festival at Norskedalen Nature and Heritage Center near Coon Valley on June 18 – 19 certainly qualifies. The Norwegian event, which celebrates the arrival of summer solstice and the return of full light, includes Norwegian music and dance, pancake breakfast, baking demonstrations, wood and heritage crafting, and plenty of activities for the kids.Norskedalen is a sanctuary for things worth saving, nature and our past, and celebrates the area’s Scandinavian heritage amid the rolling landscapes of the Driftless area. The Center also hosts the “Always on Sunday Program,” featuring regional authors, artists, and presentations on history and travel.
The annual Prairie Villa Rendezvous in Prairie du Chien on June 16 – 19 celebrates a heritage of a different sort, that of 19th century gatherings of Native Americans and fur traders that made Prairie du Chien the center of regional trade. Located on historic St. Feriole Island near the Villa Louis, the Rendezvous attracts hundreds of participants to reenact the meetings of the past and thousands of spectators to shop for crafts and sample fry bread and buffalo burgers.
The following weekend on June 25, the Fort Crawford Museum in Prairie du Chien will present Bits and Pieces, a historic narrative set to music by Deloris Hayes from Edina, Minnesota. This year’s event will take place at the historic Dousman House Hotel on St. Feriole Island, and include a lunch buffet and a talk on the hotel’s history.
Soldiers Grove will once again host Crawford County Dairy Days on June 17 – 19, a salute to the area’s rich agricultural heritage, featuring a truck and tractor pull, pedal pull for kids, carnival, parade, horseshoe tournament, and all things rural. In that same theme, the Kickapoo Valley Reserve continues its educational series “Driftless Dialogue” on June 29, with a discussion of “how to make $$$ on a small acreage farm.” Open to the general public, the presentation will cover crop selection, production guidelines, and marketing tools for farming.
June’s events set the stage for the summer-long march of activities that celebrate communities and their heritage. Better make plans before this old friend packs her bags and leaves before the fall harvest. Summer will be gone before you know and it’s best to enjoy her company while she’s here.
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