Local News

By Correne Martin

The Prairie du Chien Parks and Recreation Department Drama Club—Drama Hawks Junior—will perform a family friendly play, “The Snow Queen,” on Friday, March 20, at 7 p.m., in the Prairie du Chien High School Theater.

This adaptation of “The Snow Queen,” written by Lynn Brittney, is based on the original fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. The story, according to Director Luana Stiemke, is that of a sun queen who becomes cold and gets a piece of an evil spirit’s mirror in her heart, freezing her heart like a block of ice. There’s a foretelling that a child can help bring her back to her old self again, so she begins looking for a child who can do just that and also put her mirror back together. When one of two siblings, Kai, is taken by the snow queen, his sister Gerda tries to rescue him, going through her share of trials along the way. Overall, the story centers on the struggle between good and evil as experienced by Gerda and Kai.

 The city of Prairie du Chien and Nelson Agri-Center, LLC, officially signed a developer’s agreement and land sale agreement, which will result in a new Nelson True Value hardware store being constructed in the Block 43 site, north of Walgreens, this year. Work on the site will commence as soon as next week, with a targeted completion date of Nov. 1.

85 deer sent in for CWD testing,

samples taken from near Harpers Ferry

Final samples are being submitted for testing for Chronic Wasting Disease after the close of a special collection period for whitetail deer in Allamakee County March 15. Landowners and regular season deer hunters took part in the collection over the past three weeks near Harper’s Ferry. That came after three deer from the area tested positive for CWD in the 2014 hunting season. One 2013 sample, from the same area, also showed positive.

By Correne Martin

For parents looking to find the perfect summer activity for their kids, you might consider horse riding lessons at the Childrens Ranch in Prairie du Chien. Held throughout June and July in three-week sessions three days a week, or one-week sessions five days a week (two hours per day), these lessons teach kids not only to ride and interact with horses but also to have self-confidence and be willing to challenge themselves.

“We never lead them. From day one, they ride by themselves on their own,” Childrens Ranch Manager Gracie White said. “The horses I use are kid-safe and kid-broke. Even in the winter, I work with them. They’re perfect horses for these lessons.

“Sometimes the kids are nervous at first, but once they realize they can do it all on their own, they get a huge smile on their faces.”