November 2022

ROXBURY–James W. Frey, 87, passed away peacefully at Maplewood of Sauk Prairie Health and Rehabilitation Center in Sauk City on Oct. 15, 2022. 

He was born in Roxbury on Feb. 4, 1935 to George J. Frey and his wife Anna R. (Lochner) Frey, who were married on May 23, 1929. James graduated in 1953 from Sauk City High School, where he participated in baseball, basketball, football, and was on the sophomore year homecoming and junior year prom courts.

James served in the United States Army at Fort Rucker in Daleville, Alabama where he was a crew chief responsible for testing helicopters, which were experimental at the time. After his military service, he was proud to have operated road construction equipment building new roads and airport runways across Wisconsin in the 1960s. James was employed at Ace Hardware and later at Dischler Heating and Cooling in Prairie du Sac for 50 years as a heating and air conditioning technician where he retired in 1997.

MIDDLETON–The City of Middleton Common Council approved the 2023 budget at its Nov. 15 meeting. The council also approved purchasing equipment to provide unleaded fuel at Middleton Municipal Airport-Morey Field and deferred a resolution declaring the end of the public emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The approved budget includes a tax levy of $20.5 million which reduces the city’s portion of the property tax bill by about 14 percent.

Property values increased in 2022, a reevaluation year, by 23.9 percent resulting in the assessed value of the median single-family home increasing from $336,100 to $414,400 or about 23 percent. The mill rate drops from $6.25 per $1,000 of property value to $5.37 per $1,000.

CROSS PLAINS–The Cross Plains Optimist Club will welcome Santa, who will tour the village on Dec. 3 from 9-9:30 a.m., courtesy of the Cross Plains Berry Fire Department and Police Chief Tony Ruesga.

Drive-through goodie bags will be distributed at American Legion Hall from 10-11 a.m. Follow the traffic pattern clockwise around the block in front of the American Legion building, where Santa and his elves will be waiting. Pull up and request the number of bags you would like.

The Optimist Club is also working with various groups to collect non-perishable food items, which will be delivered to those in need. Santa and his elves will be accepting food and cash donations when you pick up your goodie bag.

In addition to the Optimists, the event is sponsored by the Cross Plains Lions, American Legion and local businesses.

The WIAA state hockey tournament has been relocated to Bob Suter’s Capitol Ice Arena in Middleton.
And there’s nothing the Cardinals would like more than to play a home game at state come March.

That dream could become a reality, too, as Middleton returns a bevy of talent from a group that went 16-8 last season and finished second in the Big Eight with a 9-5 mark.

“Last season was a good step for us,” said Middleton coach Dan Truehl, whose team began its new season with a 10-1 over Waunakee last Saturday. “We won a lot of games and set the tone for even higher expectations this year.”

Middleton brings back an explosive group of forwards, led by junior Brady Engelkes — a first-team all-Big Eight Conference selection last season.

Engelkes led the Cardinals with 28 goals, which was the fourth-highest total in the conference. He also added 18 assists and finished as Middleton’s leading scorer with 46 points.