An Unbelievable Amount of Summer Fun

An Unbelievable Amount of Summer Fun  June 13, 2016

A few months ago I made a confession while speaking at “Good Morning Platteville”.  When I moved here from Minneapolis, I thought that I would spend a lot of my weekends in Madison and Dubuque due to the sheer shock of moving from a large city. But that has not been case. In fact, I find it kind of challenging to keep up with what us going on around here.

This coming weekend is a great example. I will be hosting my family for a Father’s Day get-together. These days all of our family gatherings are pretty much driven by my niece and nephew. I’m fortunate to have a pretty impressive array of activities to keep this tough three and half year-old audience entertained.

First there is “Pup-a-Foo-Glee”, a free day of puppets at the Opera House in Hazel Green on Saturday (http://hazelgreenoperahouse.blogspot.com/). Technically not Platteville, but who can resist a beautiful drive in the driftless region?

Next, we will be heading to “A Day on the Farm” at the Digman Farm to see the animals and enjoy other farm activities (http://platteville.com/visit/events/). This is the first of two new “agri-tourism” events being planned by the Chamber of Commerce as part of

their work as the cIty’s tourism entity. Platteville’s rich agricultural roots make us a natural match for families who want to learn more about how food is produced. My parents grew up on farms near Cascade, Iowa and I spent some time on those farms in my youth, but my niece and nephew will have limited opportunities to experience farm life without events like “A Day on the Farm”.

We may also try out the new sensory-friendly day at the Avalon Theater http://www.specialdayatthemovies.org/.  On sensory-friendly days, the rules are relaxed so that children with autism can enjoy the theater without worrying about disrupting others. My nephew has autism and this would be his first movie. The twins may not make it through the whole movie, but it would be good practice for the future.

Lastly, a BBQ at the house on Sunday to celebrate Dad. I’m thinking we will all be pretty tired by then.

My sister and her family may hang around a few extra days to enjoy the pool and the Make Music Festival on Tuesday, June 21.  The Make Music Festival is another new event for Platteville.  Music will happen throughout the day at six different locations in the city (City Park, Katie’s Garden at the Chamber of Commerce, Benvenuto’s, Mining Museum, Driftless Market and the Stone Cottage). This event is held throughout the world on the summer solstice each year. Our very own Adam Bartels will be taking a break from his park duties to perform at the Museum at noon. Check the schedule out here:

http://makemusicday.org/listings/platteville/2016/locations?location_nam... hood=Platteville.

Like I said, who needs to leave town?