Mount Horeb: Anniversaries and Fantastic Creatures

I went to Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, on the way out of Madison because I heard there were a lot of trolls there. They weren't noteworthy, in my opinion, but there were a few other things that were.

Fifty years ago today, John Kennedy campaigned in Mount Horeb, appearing at one of the town cafés, which is now Schubert's Diner and Bakery. They commemorate his appearance with photos labeled with the date (see the little piece of paper in the lower left corner). I wonder if they'll do anything special to mark the anniversary? Maybe serve some Irish stew along with their Swedish rye bread.



Thanks to Roadside America, I was on the lookout for Wally Keller's scrap iron sculptures. They were a little hard to find, since RA said they were 3 miles north of Mt. Horeb, when actually it was about 4.5, but soon enough they appeared on the left side of the road.


A dinosaur...


...a turtle family...


...Peg Leg Pete, standing (kind of like a mislocated troll) on the bridge to the house....


...and this creature, which I can only think of as a Samurai cat.


Especially from the back.


The Tin Woodsman holds the family's mailboxes.

I was very sad to hear from RA that Wally Keller died last summer in a tractor accident. He and his work have been commemorated in a book called Miracles of the Spirit: Folk, Art and Stories from Wisconsin.