Verona, WI

• Dec. 1 (8:00am - 5:00pm) - Community Giving Tree for VASD Children Begins.
  
• Dec. 3 - VAHS Food Drive Ends Today... get Your items in now!
  
• Dec. 5 (6:00pm - 10:00pm) - Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony and Chili Supper sponsored by the Verona Fire Department at Central Park and Verona Senior Center
  
• Dec. 5 (6:00pm) - Dec. 7 (2:00pm) - Verona Hometown Holiday Celebration. - Fri 6:00pm - Lighting of the City Christmas tree in Central Park.
  - Fri 6:30pm - Three Alarm Chili Supper at the Verona Area Senior Center.
  - Sat. - Sun. Retailers will be offering special holiday shopping opportunities. There will be retail give-away drawing sponsored by local businesses.
  
• Dec. 6 (7:30am - 11:30:am) - Bloodmobile at St. Andrews Catholic Church
  
• Dec. 6 (8:00am - 11:00am) - Breakfast with Santa at State Bank of Cross Plains
  
• Dec. 6 (10:30am - 1:00pm) - Holiday Bazaar and Luncheon, Salem United Church of Christ
  
• Dec. 7 (8:00am - 5:00pm) - Rhapsody Arts Center Community Arts Celebration
  
• Dec. 27 (8:00am - 12:00pm) - Bloodmobile at Resurrection Lutheran Church

Make it a Great December!
Bob

bob@bentleyrealtygroup.net

www.bentleyrealtygroup.net

Image by Randy Son Of Robert via Flickr

Today I volunteered to assist with The Red Kettle Christmas Campaign through the Salvation Army. Yep, I'm going to be a bell-ringer!

The Red Kettle Christmas Campaign enables the Army to provide food, toys and clothing to over 6 million people during the Christmas season, and helps more than 34 million Americans recovering from all kinds of personal disasters nationwide.

I recently read that volunteers know the truth of the verse "it is more blessed to give than to receive." How true that statement is. I believe there are very few things more rewarding than giving of one's time to help another. That is why I am a volunteer.

Up until Christmas, for a few hours a week, you can find me at the Verona Walgreens ringing that bell in hopes of helping others. As a business owner in the community I also hope that I can help others see the importance of giving. I am asking other local businesses to donate either their time or money as well.

What do I get from being a volunteer? I get the knowledge of knowing I helped another. And....hey, I get to meet a lot of friendly people along the way!

The Salvation Army is looking for many other volunteers to help out this season. Just click here and you can sign up online. And remember..... the funds raised through this campaign remain in the towns where the money was deposited into the kettles.

Let's all do our part to help the millions of people in poverty who turn to the Army for food and toys at Christmas, utility and homeless assistance, senior and child care, drug abuse treatment and many other social service needs.

Make it a Great Day!
Bob

bob@bentleyrealtygroup.net
www.bentleyrealtygroup.net

Bell Ringer Image by Compromised Exposure via Flickr

Take a break and go to this little gem - Avanti's Italian Restaurant in Verona, WI.

Avanti's is a quiet, relatively casual restaurant located right on Main Street in the heart of downtown Verona.

I had the pleasure to have lunch this week at Avanti’s Italian Restaurant in Verona. Although I've eaten at Avanti's on numerous occasions for dinner, this was my first lunch opportunity.

I had lunch with my fellow Chamber of Commerce members; this was our monthly lunch "social" get together.

Since this was a larger group of people, we had a buffet rather than ordering off the regular menu. Our buffet consisted of salad, pepperoni pizza, and spaghetti. The salad was fresh and crisp with a nice choice of dressings. The pizza had a nice balance of sweet and spice, and was loaded with plenty of cheesy topping. Unfortunately, I found the spaghetti a bit bland, but I'm comparing that to my wife's excellent spaghetti sauce.

The staff at Avanti's was very friendly and accommodating, and the service was quick. They offer a full lunch menu Tuesday through Friday and full dinner menu every day of the week. They also have a full bar for those who need a spirit or two. Carry-out and delivery are available as well.

Bob



bob@bentleyrealtygroup.net
www.bentleyrealtygroup.net

The Lincoln Traveling Museum "Self-Made in America" made it's momentous stop in Verona Wisconsin today. This exhibit celebrating the former president's 200th birthday in 2009, will travel the United States during the next two years inspiring visitors with the story of Lincoln's life and his accomplishments. It is free of charge to the public and will not make another stop in Wisconsin until May, 2010.

The only exhibit of its type in the country, the mobile museum is very interesting and well worth the few minutes it takes to take the tour. The semi-truck/trailer, which carries the museum is very long at 53 feet, and has a double expandable trailer to make a very large inside area (what a nice RV it would make for a family traveling the country!).

Once inside the trailer, I was greeted by a hostess, who gave me initial directions to begin the tour... then I was on my own. The exhibit uses an engaging mixture of interactive elements, graphics, facsimile documents and artifacts including reproduced papers that Lincoln wrote throughout his lifetime, all commemorating the Lincoln Bicentennial. The exhibition starts early in Lincoln's life while living with his parents and his poor beginnings, to the time he is elected to the presidency and his assassination.

Grand Lawyer
The exhibit includes information about Lincoln as a lawyer. In case you didn't know, he was considered quite a good lawyer and made a good living at it, but was also known to give out a deal or two at times.

Farewell to Springfield
One of my favorite parts of the tour was a video recreation of Lincoln's 1861 Farewell Address from a train car in Springfield as he left for Washington DC (it is sort of a hologram and is quite realistic), and of course the award-winning "The Civil War in Four Minutes" video presentation.

The Presidency
As I worked my way through the exhibit and information about Lincoln's presidency, I learned about his work to free the slaves and his plight during the Civil War. Almost 1.5 million people were killed during that war. Lincoln was elected to a second term during the war, and no southern states voted for him in either election. He was first elected only with electoral votes, as he only received 39% of the popular vote.

The Assassination After a 4 minute video of the war and how it progressed across the south I was then taken back to the time that Lincoln was assassinated.

The End The tour ends with a spot about Lincoln's funeral train tour, 1/3 of the entire country went out to see him on the Funeral train. At the end of the tour I was given a Lincoln penny pin and a brochure to join the Lincoln Museum Society.

My Summary I spent about twenty minutes visiting the museum/exhibit, and that seemed about right. I was one of the early visitors getting there when they first opened - a time when they weren't very busy. There were a couple of school groups and several seniors awaiting their turn when I departed. It was a very interesting tour I am glad I went. The next stop for the tour is at the University of Mass. on Monday. They will be in Verona today (Friday) and tomorrow.

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." Lincoln's Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863.

Bob

bob@bentleyrealtygroup.net
www.bentleyrealtygroup.net

The Kiwanis Club of Verona has started putting out collection barrels around businesses in the Verona WI area.

The Kiwanis hope that all of us look through our closets for gently used or new coats, hats and mittens that can be donated to those in need.

With winter fast approaching everyone will need a warm coat to get through it. Let's look around our homes and find at least one extra coat or hat to give to others.

If it hasn't already hit you, the spirit of giving will soon be overwhelming us. Though it would be great if we had that spirit year-round, the holidays do help bring it out even more.

There are collection bins throughout Verona, and we are also willing to collect your donations at our office through this Thursday. Call 608-848-9998 to make arrangements to drop your items off.

Bob

bob@bentleyrealtygroup.net
www.bentleyrealtygroup.net