January 14: News from around the Driftless Area ‘News from Around the Driftless Area’ is a compilation showcasing the excellent work and interesting tidbits from the community journalists sprinkled throughout our area. VIROQUA –Chaseburg will be buzzing with activity when the Chaseburg Community Snowtrailers hold the 51st Annual Trail Days, Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 16-17. Chaseburg Trail Days has undergone some modifications due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. All events will take place in the lower level of the Chaseburg Village Hall. Saturday includes the poker run card turn-in starting at 4 p.m. Participants must be at the village hall by 6:30 p.m. sharp to qualify for payout. There will be no live music this year; however, drinks, snacks, raffle items and some games of chance will be offered. New this year will be Extreme Downhill Marble Racing. Sunday features Best Ever Chicken being served at 11 a.m. This will be a drive through/walk through pick-up meal, using the lower road of the village hall and picking up the food outside the basement doors. There will still be limited seating inside. The parade starts at 1:30 p.m., followed by Trail Days drawings at the village hall at 4 p.m. Raffle tickets will be available until the drawing. NFL games will be broadcasted all day… Every Thursday Driftless Café will hold their weekly Burger Night. This year they are raising money for The Historic Temple Theatre in Viroqua. Two dollars of every burger sold will go directly to keeping the theatre running in this very challenging time. Orders will be available for curbside pickup, and they will start accepting orders at 5 p.m… The first of the Friends of Vernon County Parks and Forests ‘Winter Walk and Bonfire’ events will take place at Esofea County Park on Saturday, Jan. 16, starting at 3 p.m… According to the Vernon County Museum Notes, planning for the Vernon County Park at Esofea officially began on May 2, 1935 when a resolution sponsored by the Conservation Club of Vernon County was passed giving them permission to develop the park without expense to the county. Development of the 40-acre property was to be an employment relief project. Federal funding initially provided $12,500. The acreage adjoined the Rentz family property on the south and became known eventually as the Rentz Memorial Park. On November 22, 1935, a park board was created and superintendent Albert C. Larson was appointed to oversee the park. Although the property consisted of a forest and numerous springs, it also had washed-out creek beds due to the flooding of the North Fork of the Bad Axe River. The first task was to control the flooding by building a diversion ditch and dyke under the direction of the Soil Conservation Service. In order to widen the lake or swimming pool, local farmers hauled out hundreds of loads of soil which was then used to increase the height of the existing dyke. Under the supervision of the Soil Conservation Service, 46,000 feet of lumber was harvested and some was used to erect the speakers stand, refreshment stand and bathhouse. Work continued on the park in the spring of 1936, when more lumber was cut, dams were built, streams were riprapped, and cottages were built. Larson and his crew worked at landscaping, requesting donations of shrubbery. County Board President Cornelius Skolos was instrumental in the beautification of the park. Citizens donated funds to purchase 50 tables and benches, and the Viroqua Creamery donated a flag pole. One of the first groups to gather was the Soil Conservation Service which assembled in 1936. Representatives from LaCrosse, Monroe and Vernon counties drew an estimated 5,000 people to enjoy a picnic dinner. Dean Christianson of the university at Madison, R.H. Davis of the Soil Conservation Service in LaCrosse and Governor Phil E. LaFollette addressed the crowd. Music was provided by the Coon Valley Orchesters.