by Greg Koelker
NASA deals with the quality of life while getting out of this world and exploring the stars. Today I am not stargazing like sometimes, but I am referring to the down to earth n.a.s.a. that deals with the quality of life right here on terra firma – the North American Squirrel Association. To the uninformed n.a.s.a. is a non-profit sportsmen’s organization dedicated to helping the elderly and physically challenged in the greater La Crosse area gain access to the outdoors. I have participated in several n.a.s.a. hunts. I went on pheasant hunts with my late friend Bud Veale. He and I and Bud’s nephew Rick Elsen and my friend Gregg Sikora, helped on a few handicapped pheasant hunts with Bud and others, following Steve Earp’s marvelous bird dogs and the n.a.s.a. specially outfitted Kubota UTV with a shooters chair out front.
The North American Squirrel Association isn’t only about hunting. They help arrange and assist in helping the physically challenged play golf, go waterskiing, snow skiing, kayaking, with sled hockey, bicycling, ice fishing, getting out on a pontoon and more. I think this is a very worthwhile endeavor to support. I received notice of their twenty-seventh annual Billy Gowlland Memorial Squirrel Hunting Derby on Saturday, January 31. There are prizes and a dinner at the Badger States Sportsmen Club on Mohawk Valley Road. n.a.s.a. will also hold a fundraising banquet at the Onalaska Omni Center on April 15. If you’d like to participate or donate or help out, you can contact Pat Lamke at (608)386-6602 or email at PSLAMKE1@gmail.com.
We learned recently that Ellen’s cousin Mary (Uppena) Walter of Viola passed away. Mary and her late husband Del visited Ellen’s family farm on occasion back in the day. Mary made history by becoming one of the first female members of the Madison Police Department. Mary and members of her family still come to the annual Uppena Family picnic in Grant County. Mary’s family near Viola are into sugaring, that is collecting maple sap and boiling it down into maple syrup. Mary always had a good word. Mary once paid me a huge compliment after mentioning that she looked forward to my weekly journal, “I think of you as our own Vernon County Michael Perry.” Godspeed Mary.
Until next time, get out – the watch out word outside is ice. We had rain for a while and then got about 5 inches of snow on top of it one night last week. El shoveled and I plowed, but after another couple inches of snow, we had perfect snowball or snowman making supplies, and making for perfectly hidden slippery traps under it. I used one bag of ice melt and got another today. I liked ice fishing. I liked ice skating. Today, I can assure you that I am only a fan of ice shaken not stirred with an olive floating in it. Peace.
I took the accompanying photo of a chickadee, cardinal, and our first ever, that either of us could recall, pine squirrel dining at Ellen’s Cardinal Cafe.
Greg Koelker is a lifelong resident of the Driftless region along the Mississippi River. He is the acclaimed author of the “Grouse Hollow Journal,” a column that celebrates rural life, nature, family heritage, and the traditions that bind communities together. While technically focused on the “outdoors,” his writing often explores broader themes of community values and education.
I have been reading Ken Follet’s Fall of Giants, so that may be where the Fruedian slip of shoot peasants came from. It should read shooting pheasants. Duh!