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Boscobel Community Christmas Festival kicks off this weekend
Cmaber Xmas for web
Santa and Mrs. Klaus, 2014
Erin Martin
Updated: Dec 3, 2015, 1:00 PM
Published: Dec 2, 2015, 4:06 PM

Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, and two of their reindeer will visit Boscobel on Saturday, December 5.

Children wishing to sit in Santa’s lap and share their hopes for the holidays can visit the Blaine Gym from 1 until 3:30 p.m.

The reindeer will be located nearby on East Oak Street between 2 and 4 p.m.

Mr. and Mrs. Claus’s visit is the center point to the Boscobel Chamber of Commerce’s efforts to help you have a very merry Christmas this year!

Starting the weekend after Thanksgiving, the Chamber is offering free giftwrapping. Volunteer wrappers will man the giftwrapping station at the Boscobel Depot on Saturday, Nov. 28 from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 29 from 1-5 p.m.; and Saturday, Dec. 12 and Sunday Dec. 20 from 1-3 p.m.

This is a new Christmas endeavor for the Chamber, which hopes community members will find useful.

“Free will donations will be accepted, but that should not stop anyone from using the service,” says Chamber Treasurer Barb O’Kane. “This is free and we are there to help people and make the season just a little easier!”

The Chamber’s annual Boscobel Community Christmas Festival runs from December 4 through December 13.

The festival kicks off on Friday, Dec. 4 with the second annual Memory Tree Lighting and Program at 6 p.m. in the front lawn of the Depot. The names and dedications will be read, the tree lit, and the high school choir will perform a few selections.

Lights are $5 each. Each one will be dedicated as the purchaser desires. It makes a lovely way to say thank you to the person or organization that has helped out, or to recognize a birth, service, memorial, and more.

The Memory Tree will raise funds for both the GAR Hall and the Boscobel Fire Department, while allowing community members to commemorate what is important in their lives.

Forms for purchasing lights are available at the Boscobel Dial, the Boscobel Public Library, the hospital, and local banks.

Ugly Sweater walk/run

Things get much busier the following day, starting with the Fourth Annual Ugly Sweater 5K & 1 Mile Run/Walk on Dec. 5.

Don the sweater you swore you would never wear and hit the pavement for a good cause! Funds from the race go to the Boscobel Slide Pride effort to help purchase and install a slide at the Boscobel Pool this spring.

Registration gets underway at 7 a.m. at the BMZ Church, with the race beginning at 8 a.m. Registration is $15 per person or $40 per family. Clark Jillson of AccuRace will be on hand to track times for participants.

New to the festival is the cookie decorating event! Beginning at 10:30 at the VFW Club and continuing until 3:30 p.m, this free event is for anyone of any age! Sponsored by Violet Dreams bakery, you can come and decorate your own sugar cookies.

There will be coffee, punch and popcorn available for free and BBQ for sale.

Kids activities start at 11 a.m. at the Tuffley Center. Sponsored by Big Green Clover 4-H, volunteers will be on hand to help with ornament making, while offering face painting, a coloring table, and other activities until 3 p.m. Food will be available.

Free movies

The first of three free movies will be shown at the Blaine Theatre that day from 12-noon until 3 p.m. The first showing is a medley of traditional Christmas shorts, such as Frosty the Snowman. Additional showings of full-length Christmas features will be held on Saturdays, Dec. 12 and 19 at 1 p.m.

The Chamber asks attendees for a free will donation of a non-perishable food item for admission to help stock the Boscobel Food Pantry.

Another new activity begins at 1 p.m. Ten-minute horse and wagon rides begin at the Boscobel Depot and take you on a mini-tour of Boscobel. Rides run from 1 to 4 p.m.

After your ride, skip heading home to cook supper. Head over to the Boscobel Fire and Rescue Building to warm up with a bowl of chili or soup!

This is an all-you-can eat affair that costs only $5 per person, ages six and up. Ages five and under are free.

There will be a hat and mitten drive being held at the fire department during the supper. All donations collected will go to students at Boscobel Area School District.

The fire department is located just north of downtown at 510 Wisconsin Avenue.

Parade of Lights

Capping off the day is the Parade of Lights. The theme this year is “We’ll Be Home For Christmas.”

Everyone is encouraged to let their imagination run wild and come with their own light adorned entry!

Line-up begins at 4:30 and the parade at 5 p.m.

The parade begins at Bluff Street, kitty-corner from the hospital, traverses up Walnut Street, turns onto Parker Street then onto Wisconsin Avenue and marches to the Boscobel Fire Department. It then turns right onto Kansas Street and proceeds to the ice rink.

Entries will be judged for originality, best use of lights, use of the parade theme, and overall Best in Show!

There are three longer running events associated with the Chamber’s festival.

Opening on Dec. 5 and running through the 13th is the Festival of Trees.

This tradition of 27 years allows community members – individuals, business, and organizations – to decorate an artificial tree to be placed on display at the Boscobel Antique Club grounds. The Festival of Trees also features an outdoor ‘Winter Wonderland’ display.

The trees and outdoor displays will be open to visitors on Saturday, Dec. 5 from 2-8 p.m.; Sunday, Dec. 6 from 3-6 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, Dec. 10-11 from 5:30-7 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 12 from 5:30-8 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 13 from 2-6 p.m.

The Festival of Trees theme is the same as the parade, “We’ll Be Home For Christmas.” Only artificial trees may be used. Set up for interested participants is Nov. 29 through Dec. 4 and needs to be scheduled ahead of time by calling the Boscobel Chamber of Commerce.

As with other elements of the Boscobel Community Christmas Festival, donations are sought to assist the Boscobel Food Pantry.

During the Festival of Trees, a silent auction will be held. Baskets and gift certificates will be available for bidding through the 13th.

The last ongoing event is new this year, as well. The Community Business and House Decorating contest will accept entries through Dec. 14 with winners announced on the 16th.

Break out those lights and move over Clark Griswold. There will be some decorating going on!

The contest is open to any business or resident of the Boscobel Area School District. Winners will receive Bosco Bucks that can be spent at any Boscobel Chamber of Commerce member business. There will be a $200 Bosco Buck overall winner, $100 Bosco Buck business and residential runner-up winners, plus  $75, $50, and $25 Bosco Buck winners.

If you have questions, contact:

• Memory Tree: Patsy Pippin at 608-375-2474;

• 5K-1 Mile Run/Walk: Angie O’Brien at 608-778-1987 or Holly Jillson at 608-375-5717;

• Silent Auction: to donate a basket or for questions: Ramona Ford at 375-4655 or Mary Wilson at 608-485-2221; and

• Festival of Trees and general questions: Boscobel Chamber of Commerce: 375-2672.
Eagle Day proves very popular
In the Village of Ferryville
Eagle day
Abbey Krumrie, owner of River Valley Raptors, holds Maverick, a young Golden Eagle.
Crawford County Independent & Kickapoo Scout
Published: Mar 12, 2025, 7:38 PM

The 15th Annual Eagle Day was held on Saturday, March 1 in the Ferryville Village Hall. Over 150 people from as far away as Milwaukee, Watertown, Janesville, and Wisconsin Rapids, all in Wisconsin, as well as Rochester, Minn., and Scales Mound, Ill., drove to Ferryville specifically to attend this event!

Monique Gonzalez was the chairperson, and she very capably organized a group of enthusiastic volunteers from the Ferryville Tourism Council as well at the Friends of the Tourism Council. The Friends of Pool 9 were the co-sponsors once again. Bob Schmidt was the announcer who kept everyone on schedule.

The village hall was full of fun and excitement. New this year was a very friendly eagle who was available for photo ops and hugs, and even was outside several times to draw attention to the event. The costume was the idea of Tourism President, Deb Lomas, and the costume was worn all day by Deb’s daughter, Danyel Buncak. 

Friends of Pool 9 had shirts and hats for sale, and Deb and Don Warren had a rack of beautiful photo cards with pictures taken by Deb in the Ferryville area for sale. One hundred percent of the money from the sale of these cards was given to the Ferryville Tourism Council for Eagle Day 2026. Deb and Don also very generously donated a photo of a Bald Eagle in flight that was printed on metal. This was raffled off as the top door prize for the day, with all proceeds going to the committee for next year’s program. Treats donated by various people were also given out throughout the day.

The wonderful program began at 10 a.m., and moved swiftly through the day with a variety of ways for the guests to learn new information about eagles and other birds that grace our area. Erica Rassmussen from the Genoa National Fish Hatchery was the first presenter. She shared about eagles, mussels, and fish, and led the children in a very organized building of a model eagle’s nest.

The live bird program this year was presented by Abbey Krumrie, who is the owner of River Valley Raptors in Buffalo City, with her husband. She gave an excellent demonstration  using a barn owl, an American kestrel, and a young Golden Eagle. 

Krumrie was very appropriate with information that was very interesting to the young of many ages, and all of the adults. It was a very full house listening to her.  She gave information about the differences between bald eagles and golden eagles, but she also stressed that the majority of the eagles we will see around the Driftless Area will be Bald Eagles.

Krumrie is part of a research study on Golden Eagles, and the group just recently netted a Golden Eagle who was wearing a leg band put on in the state of Pennsylvania in 1992, making it the oldest Golden Eagle ever studied. The researchers fitted him with a transmitter so they can now track his movements.

Amy Ries from the Raptor Resource Project, Decorah Eagles was the next presenter. The eagles that are featured on their remote monitoring camera have two eggs, and they are supposed to be hatching some time after March 16. If you want to follow along with the nest cam, the link is https://www.raptorresource.org

The final presenter of the day was Ian McGuigan from the WDNR Duck ID Program. He explained similarities and differences between the waterfowl that frequent the Mississippi River Flyway.

The event organizing “committee is very appreciative for all the guests who drove long distances to participate, as well as the local community of SW Wisconsin and NE Iowa,” White remarked.  “It is our goal to showcase the eagles and raptors who live along the river and the bluffs of our beautiful area. This Eagle Day educational event is one of the main requirements for Ferryville to be one of the 125 Bird City communities in Wisconsin. In fact, Ferryville is THE SMALLEST of the 125 Bird City communities. For us to organize and make this event happen, it takes a large number of volunteers who give very generously of their time and resources. We are proud and thankful for the large numbers of eagles and raptors who share this beautiful part of the Mississippi River with us. Next year’s Eagle Day is already being planned!”