Dregne's in Westby

It’s called the driftless area. That part of southwestern Wisconsin where the last great glacier failed to reach. A place of steep hills and long valleys. A place where a goodly number of Norwegians settled back in the mid 1800s.

On Saturday, Sue and I signed books at Dregne’s Scandinavian Gift shop in Westby, south of LaCrosse and deep in the driftless area. As an aside, it is here where I found my wife, Ruth, with a last name of what else, Olson.

Dregne’s is celebrating their forty-second anniversary as one of the region’s premier gift shops for all things Scandinavian. Want to know how to make lefse? They have the books and equipment that will get you started. Want some Swedish herring with dill, this is the place. A gnome? Sure, lots of gnomes. Norwegian Christmas ornaments? Many choices. A sweet tooth? How about some Swedish milk chocolate with caramel?

But there’s more. I quietly asked Jana Dregne, she and her husband Dave, own the place, if she had anything German. “Sure,” she said, and was soon showing me some beautiful wooden ornaments made in Germany. “We’ve got some Irish stuff, too,” she offered showing Sue and me some “Inis,” a unisex cologne that “makes you feel close to the ocean no matter where you are.”

And books, lots of books at Dregne’s. Books about Scandinavia. Books about Wisconsin. Kids books. How-to books. Gift books. Many books.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Plan a stop at Dregne’s in Westby. Something for everyone, especially if you are Scandinavian, or married to one.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Thursday, Dec. 7, 6:00 p.m. Waupaca Historical Society, Trinity Lutheran Church, 206 E. Badger Strreet, Waupaca. Christmas on the Farm

Saturday, Dec. 9 McFarlane’s, Sauk City. Old Farm Country Cookbook. Jerry and Susie

Sunday, Dec. 17 –Readers Realm Bookstore, Montello 1 p.m. Old Farm Country Cookbook. Jerry and Susie

Purchase Jerry’s DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fundraiser for them):
The library now has available signed copies of Jerry’s DVDs:

Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps (based on The Quiet Season book.)
Jerry Apps a Farm Story (based on Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old Farm books.)
The Land with Jerry Apps, (based on the book Whispers and Shadows,) and Never Curse the Rain, Jerry’s newest DVD based on his book with the same title.
Also available are several of Jerry’s signed books including: Jerry’s newest nonfiction books, Never Curse the Rain and Old Farm Country Cookbook, and his newest novel, The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County. Also available are Wisconsin Agriculture: A History, Roshara Journal (with photos by Steve Apps) and Telling Your Story—a guide book for those who want to write their own stories.
Contact the library for prices and special package deals.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
920-622-3835