From the Editor

Spring is the perfect time to celebrate. New life is popping up, we can shake off the winter blues and the future ahead tends to take on a fresh optimism.

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With this issue of Coulee Region Women, we invite you to join us in celebrating not only the future ahead, but also a look back. This issue marks the beginning of Coulee Region Women’s 25th year of celebrating the amazing women and communities in our area.

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We couldn’t have done it without all of you—our advertising supporters, the faithful readers anxiously seeking out each new issue, the community sharing story ideas with us about the women who influence and amaze and make the lives of those around them that much richer.

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I thought it only made sense to peek back into the archives to remind us of how far we’ve come. Paging through our very first issue—Spring 2002—it didn’t take long to find familiar names and faces. Julie Nelson has been a writer with us from the beginning. In 2002, she brought “Fresh Spring Foods” to readers with a story about Organic Valley; in today’s issue, she shares food for thought when planning family events.

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Satori Arts has been an advertiser from Day 1, supporting our efforts with a consistent presence, and we’ve shared a partnership with WKBT this entire time also, as we recognize that local media can complement each other in supporting community storytelling. Perusing the pages of that first year of publication—two years before my husband and I moved to the area—feels like stepping back and seeing that while much has changed, much has stayed the same, both for Coulee Region Women and the Coulee Region at large. I recognize names of women who welcomed me to the community, businesses we visited as we were just settling into our home and a familiar cadence in a magazine that has always focused on home, healthy living and the amazing accomplishments of our area’s women.

You are all worth celebrating.

So put on your party hat or tiara and dive in! In this issue, we offer advice on how to plan your next family event or backyard bash. Need a sweet centerpiece for it? Cake decorator Lindsey Shaub offers tips for creating a bouquet of cupcakes if you are up for a challenge, or you can call on Shaub or an emerging entrepreneur from La Crescent to create fun cookies for you.

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Find ideas for the perfect party look in our Retail Therapy section and then check out all that the La Crosse arts scene has to offer, anchored by the Pump House Regional Arts Center, the oldest multidisciplinary arts center in the state, where you can engage with visual art, music, theater and more in a historic setting. Be sure to mark your calendar for Artspire coming up in June.

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Step behind the scenes with women who know how to throw a party, from Nancy Flottmeyer’s decades of experience planning everything from weddings to corporate events to Hannah Amundson, the executive director of La Crosse’s iconic Oktoberfest. Celebrate the area’s Norwegian heritage with the women behind long-standing events in Westby and Spring Grove that add the “Uff da” to your day. Rømmegrøt-eating contest, anyone?

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Our stories share the unique wedding keepsakes created by Morgan Haun in the form of paintings done live on that special day, and we celebrate the unique abilities and strengths of all women, including those honored by Aptiv’s Miss RemarkAble pageant coming up in May. 

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While many celebrations are focused solely on joyful events, we also know that some of the most meaningful are those that honor a life. Our Healthy Living story looks into how families can find peace and treasure memories as they plan “celebration of life” events for loved ones who have died, each as unique as the individual being remembered.

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I’m so glad you are here with us as we celebrate and continue to evolve to be the best we can be at sharing stories that bring out the best in the Coulee Region. Cheers to all of us!