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Prairie Folklore
Wayne Pauly
Amelanchier spp.
Shadbush, Serviceberry, Juneberry
If you've ever been on vacation and lost track of which week it was, then imagine a pioneer immigrant family living through their first New England winter in a one room cabin, with six kids full of cabin fever. No fresh meat since last fall, salt pork and beans all winter, and they were getting to the bottom of the food barrel. After a hard winter, they'd lose track of the month and wonder if spring would ever come. They had no calendars to mark passage of time; instead they used wildflowers and trees. New comers might be fooled into "thinking spring" as a result of a January or February warm spell.
Neighbors cautioned them to watch that small tree with the smooth gray bark, because shadbush flowers signaled the true end of winter and the time for shad to come up river and spawn. Families gorged on this first fresh meat in nearly half a year, and they preserved hundreds of pounds of fish for the coming year. The shadbush had a special meaning to the hungry pioneers in those uncertain times.
Some called it Juneberry because the delicious fruits ripened in June. Others called it Serviceberry because it bloomed when the dirt roads had thawed and dried enough so the circuit riding preachers could come around and conduct wedding services for couples who had waited patiently through the long, cold winter. The preachers also provided wedding and possibly baptismal services for couples who had not been so patient.
A WORD FROM THE PARKS DIRECTOR |
| Ken LePine
When I think of commitment, insight and an eye to the future, I think about Otto Festge. Otto recently retired from the Dane County Park Commission, where he served faithfully and productively for nine years. His contributions include great advice, guidance and representation of rural areas of the county. His strong knowledge of city and county government, as a former mayor and county clerk, assisted staff on many tough issues. Otto chaired the Ice Age Trail Junction Area Planning Committee, a major project that will have a significant effect on southwestern Dane County. In October 1963, Otto and his wife Evelyn generously donated 15.9 acres of land in the Town of Berry, to establish what is now Festge County Park. Festge Park has grown from that donation to a park of 126 acres. It provides a beautiful overlook with one of the most spectacular views in Dane County. As you look to the south from the park, you can imagine a great glacial river flowing between the two ridges that parallel Highway 14. The Driftless (unglaciated) area of Dane County has some of the most intriguing views and landscapes. Festge Park plays an important role in the interpretation and history of the geology of Dane County's Ice Age. We thank both Otto and Evelyn for their vision of the future and their generous contribution to the citizens of and visitors to our county.
Dane County Parks has a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service to negotiate trail easements and purchases for the Ice Age Trail between Festge and Indian Lake County Parks. This spring and summer, Dane County Park staff will begin working with willing landowners for trail easements or trail corridor purchases. The success of this project will be determined by the funding available for the Ice Age Trail. Good Luck to Otto and Evelyn Festge |
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