Advertisement We asked many people in the community their opinion on this question. Here is what some of them think makes Vernon County unique:
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The view from atop Wildcat Mountain in Vernon County on a sunny June day. (Matt Johnson photo)
Having grown up in the area, I'd never really thought of our area as unique. However, after living in other parts of the state, I have realized what we have is truly unique.
In asking other people who have moved to the area, they have also said the land and the people. The Driftless Region is unique, and all of our neighbors (new and old) are friendly and willing to help out. This community has a great deal going for it, starting with Eckhart Enchantment, and moving to the Community Arena, the Temple Theatre, the athletic facility upgrade and most recently the skate park.
Our community has (five) high schools to meet the needs of area students — what a great way to meet the educational needs of our diverse population!
Our community sees what needs to be done, and makes it happen.
Agriculture, moving from tobacco to grapes to organic, we show appreciation for the land.
Canoeing the Kickapoo River, seeing portions of Wildcat Mountain, and the Kickapoo Reserve maintaining wonderful places in our county.
While each community is distinctive in its own way, we come together to celebrate what makes us Vernon County, from Syttende Mai to Cesky Den, and everything in between. Each community has their reason to celebrate what makes them unique, and to remind others who visit why they may want to live here!"
Lisa Solverson
McIntosh Memorial Library Director
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“I think that the land itself is what makes Vernon County unique. We are bordered on the west by the greatest river in the world.
We have bluff and coulee country populated with whitetail deer, wild turkey, and other wildlife. We have rolling prairie with some of the best farmland in Wisconsin. We have lakes and parks. We are sliced through by the scenic Kickapoo River, and we have coulees accented with some of the most fantastic streams full of trout and (on a sunny day) canoeists from all over the world.
There is the diverse habitat of the Kickapoo Reserve and we even have a mountain and a state park. While people, towns, and roads change, the land remains, and is, our greatest treasure.”
Greg Koelker,
author, Grouse Hollow Journal
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"There are so many friendly people in Vernon County. If a crisis occurs, people respond without being asked. When we moved here in 1993, a local prominent citizen advised me to never tell a lie and if you do, you may as well move out of Vernon County. The people are honest, hard workers. To sum it up, I feel that people are the greatest asset to Vernon County."
Thomas Spenner,
Chairman of the
Vernon County Board
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“Vernon County is served by 19 cooperative businesses: Accelerated Genetics, Badgerland Farm Credit Services, Chaseburg Farmers Union, Foremost Farms, Golden Guernsey, Hamburg-Stark Mutual Insurance, Heartland Country Co-op, Hillsboro Farmers Co-op, Organic Valley (CROPP), Rural Insurance, Vernon Co-op Oil Assoc., Vernon County Farmers Union, Vernon County Farm Bureau, Vernon Electric Co-op, Vernon Telephone Co-op, Vernon/Crawford DHIA Milk Marketing Co-op, Viroqua Food Co-op, Westby Co-op Creamery and Westby Co-op Credit Union (WCCU). Vernon County has some of the best road biking in the country. Vernon County is a great place to live. You can live in a rural, uncrowded setting, but yet be close to major metropolitan areas."
Dave Maxwell,
Vernon Electric Co-op,
President VEDA
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“Abundant options and choices… In healthcare — traditional and complimentary. In education — public, private, Christian and technical. In agriculture — traditional and organic. In architecture traditional and ‘green.’
We have unique shops owned by artisans and skilled craftsman, specialty shops, a thriving cottage industry and second-generation-owned anchor stores.
Neighbors know neighbors, and just like ‘Cheers,’ everyone knows your name — and your children’s and your grandchildren’s. We raise our children to be stewards and protectors of our land and natural resources because this is who we are, and this is what we have to offer.”
Ingrid Mahan,
Executive Director,
Viroqua Partners
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“Vernon County is unique because it's a living melting pot of many different ethnic and diverse backgrounds that continues to evolve today. Somewhere in the middle of that fondue of life are wonderful, unique and proud people whose similarities and differences make the county such a rich treasure.”
Chris Hardie,
Publisher,
River Valley
Newspaper Group
Weekly/Shopper Division
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“What makes Vernon County unique is that we reap so many benefits from being in the heart of the driftless area. Here in God’s County, our rich farmland has been preserved because we invented contour farming. We have endless ways to enjoy the outdoors, from the best trout streams in the country to the mighty Mississippi and an abundance of wild turkeys as a result of their re-introduction here. We proudly show our small-town hospitality and our ethnic heritage during our festivals and our many church suppers that have more lutefisk than people!”
Rep. Lee Nerison,
(R-Westby),
96th Assembly Dist.
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“There’s not a county in Wisconsin like Vernon County. From the Mississippi River rolling through the bluffs and coulees to the incredible landscape and beautiful farms dotting the countryside, there’s really nothing like Vernon County. Its home to innovation, as we see in Organic Valley, as well as small town values, like we see in Viroqua, Hillsboro, and the Amish Community. Finally, nature is preserved and put on showcase for all in the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. To me, Vernon County embodies the incredible quality of life we find here in western Wisconsin.”
Sen. Dan Kapanke,
(R-La Crosse),
32nd Senate District
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“The music! I realized I had an audience — and it wasn’t near a city.”
Liz Cifani
Viroqua
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“The music! The variety in the area; jazz, folk classical.”
Malkah Geller,
owner, The Move,
Viroqua
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“First of all, it is a place with great natural beauty and interesting natural history. It has a rich human history from its very inception with great ethnic diversity. It seems to be a place readily available to new people, ideas and adaptations.”
Brad Steinmetz
La Farge
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“The ethnic heritage — Norwegian and Czech and their festivals — fun, music food, lots of activities and culture-specific crafts; the cultural mix of natives, transplants and alternative peoples; the awesome terrain and beautiful vistas. Drive along any highway in the county and you will see some of the most bucolic, picturesque, useful land in the world. Contour farming is not only sound environmentally, but they make our fields look like they are part of a patchwork quilt.”
Karen Dahl, Viroqua,
county board supervisor
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“At least several times a month, the Viroqua Food Co-op receives a visitor from any corner of the country asking about our community. We always list enthusiastically the many cultural events, the independent businesses, our beautiful theater, the farmer’s market and our historical Main Street. They’re always delighted to hear about our busy town, but I find that there are four things that they ask about the most. Here’s what I think continues to draw newcomers to our county; a variety a schools, a wide range of healthcare choices, high quality food grown right here in our region and the beautiful driftless landscape.”
Jan Rasikas, general manager,
Viroqua Food Cooperative
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"I think it's a combination of the ethnic background of the people — German, Scandinavian, Norwegian, Czech — and as I get older I appreciate the beauty of the area… Going for walk to Coon Creek and all of a sudden hearing the water rippling… All that is melted together into an interesting county.”
Gary Gilbertson
WVRQ sports director
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"People help each other and are friendly. Vernon Country is also very picturesque."
Peder Swanson
VHS Athletic Director,
Legion baseball coach
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"It is unique that the retired factory worker, fourth-generation farmer, city ‘escapees,’ young families and a variety of others all want to live here. The love of the land and natural beauty brings a fascinating combination of people together."
Marcy West,
Executive Director,
Kickapoo Reserve
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"It begins with its 'driftless' geology, unique in all of Wisconsin. It continues with its people, varied in lifestyle, respectful, most of the time, for each other. I've always been impressed with the dedication of this community to its young and to the very old. That's as it should be. We live in a great part of a state that is part of a great nation in a world which is ‘charged with the grandeur of God.’ We're blessed to be here!"
Father Robert Cook
St. Mary's Catholic Church
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