02.14.2024

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Today’s Forecast

46º | Partly cloudy | 5% chance of rain | Sunrise 6:56 a.m. | Sunset 5:26 p.m.

❤️ You had me at isthmus

Madison, we’re feeling the love

A skyline photo of Madison with social media hearts peppering the sky.png

Madison is bursting with love. | Graphic by 608today

For Valentine’s Day 2024, we made a map of local places where our readers have made memories. We asked for your help compiling everything from proposals to making friends. You did not disappoint.

A pink map of downtown Madison peppered with red hearts.png — Love’s been found all around Madison. | Graphic via Proxi

Explore these local love stories by zooming in on Madison and clicking on the hearts, but there are a few love stories that we just had to share:

“While the solstice bonfire burned nearby [Olbrich Gardens] on December 21, 2023, my partner got down on one knee and I said, ‘YES!’” - Anonymous
“I was new to town when we met on Bumble. First date, day after Valentine’s, we met at Mickey’s. He said, ‘You’ll know it’s me because I’ll be the guy at the bar.’ Nearly two years later we’ve explored and experienced so much of Madison together, falling in love with each other and our community.” - Anonymous
“My boyfriend and I went on our first date here [Cherokee Marsh]! He had asked me to brunch, but I was out of town so I asked if he would be up for a hike after work the next day. He hates to drive, but drove across town and out onto this secluded gravel road to meet me. When he got out of the car, he had brought me a book as a gift and I knew right away that there was something there! The hike was great and we’ve been hiking together ever since (even though it was a million degrees that day and we both sweat so hard and I realized it was NOT the cutest I have ever looked on a first date lol). Now we own a house near Cherokee Marsh and walk our dog together near Cherokee South every day.” - Anonymous

Now we’re really feeling the love.

Click for a love story that started with bolt cutters, finding love at the Crystal Corner, and more.

Love is all around

Events

Wednesday, Feb. 14

Clean Lakes 101: Love in the Lakes | Wednesday, Feb. 14 | 8-9 a.m. | The Edgewater Hotel, 1001 Wisconsin Pl., Madison | Free | Learn about the relationships and reproductive habits of those that live in our nearby lakes in one of DNR’s most popular talks.
Be My Baby: Valentine Date Night | Wednesday, Feb. 14 | 5-7:30 p.m. | Madison Children’s Museum, 100 N. Hamilton St., Madison | $10 | Can’t find a sitter for your Valentine’s Day? No problem. Bring your baby along and have mocktails, make crafts, and participate in a baby balloon dance party.
Valentine’s Day Cocktail Class | Wednesday, Feb. 14 | 5:30-6:30 p.m. | The Cider Farm, 8216 Watts Rd., Madison | $30 | Celebrate Valentine’s Day with your special someone by sampling cocktails while learning how to make them at home.

Thursday, Feb. 15

The Roast of Olivia Witt | Thursday, Feb. 15 | 8-9:30 p.m. | The Cardinal Bar, 418 E. Wilson St., Madison | $10 | Giggle at Madison’s “funniest and least-insufferable Swiftie.”
Doed Koecks | Thursday, Feb. 15-Saturday, Feb. 17 | 8 p.m. | Broom Street Theater, 1119 Williamson St., Madison | $27 | A play about power, death, corruption and...sin eating?

Friday, Feb. 16

Wonderporium | Friday, Feb. 16 | 7 p.m. | UW-Madison, 1207 Seminole Hwy., Madison | Free | Enjoy this expansive concert from a new ensemble specializing in improvisation.

Saturday, Feb. 17

SilverStage Show Choir Invitational | Saturday, Feb. 17 | 8:30 a.m.-10 p.m. | Monona Grove High School, 4400 Monona Dr., Monona | $10-$20 | Show up for showstopping show choir, with performances by Sauk Prairie Middle School, DeForest High School, Monona Grove High School, and more.
Chocolate ABC’s | Saturday, Feb. 17 | 1-2 p.m. | Lakeview Library, 2845 N. Sherman Ave., Madison | Free | Learn a thing or two about chocolate from Certified Master Baker Punky Egan.

Sunday, Feb. 18

Paranormal Investigation | Sunday, Feb. 18 | 4-6 p.m. | Madison Masonic Center, 301 Wisconsin Ave., Madison | $30 | Something strange is afoot at the Masonic Temple. Come and explore it.
50th Anniversary Celebration Tour of Kahil El’Zabar | Sunday, Feb. 18 | 7-10 p.m. | Cafe CODA, 1224 Williamson St., Madison | $25 | These musicians have played with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, and more.

Events calendar here

Click here to have your event featured.

News Notes

Travel

Clearing work began this week for a $14.5 million project to improve safety, drainage, and pavement conditions on Highway 19 between Highway 78 in Mazomanie and Highway 12 in Springfield Corners. In mid-March, Highway 19 will be closed with detours in place. The project should be completed in November. (Wisconsin State Journal)

Closing

Morris Ramen on King Street will close on Saturday, Feb. 24. Francesca Hong and Matt Morris opened the shop with restaurateur Shinji Muramoto in 2016. They noted that lingering financial and emotional effects from the pandemic contributed to the decision. (Cap Times)

Announced

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss just announced North American tour dates and Madison is on the list. The “Can’t Let Go Tour” will begin in June. The two legendary performers will play at Breese Stevens Field on Saturday, June 8. JD McPherson will open. Tickets go on sale this Friday, Feb. 16.

Traffic

Oregon is seeking to create its own transportation system because of its growing population. Currently served by Madison Metro Transit, the village received a state grant which will be used to hire a transportation specialist to help design and work with the community on transportation needs. (WMTV)

Festival

His coworkers might be green with envy. Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist Brady Mallory, on Channel 3 and FOX47, will serve as grand marshal of Madison’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The event will take place Sunday, March 17 on the Capitol Square at 1:30 p.m. (In Business)

Ranked

Madison was recently ranked the No. 2 best US capital to live in (we’re aiming for you, ATXtoday). Indicators considered include affordability, economic well-being, quality of life, education, and health care. (WalletHub)

Family

The Henry Vilas Zoo is offering scholarships to help families cover the costs of the zoo’s 2024 summer camps. The scholarship program, launched in 2020, has raised over $87,000 to date. The zoo’s camp programs give kids ages 4-13 a behind-the-scenes look at the zoo. (Channel 3000)

Holiday

There’s still time to send Valentine’s Day flowers. Pick up a bouquet at Felly’s Flowers, or shop same-day delivery bouquets on 1-800-Flowers.*

Home

If you spent your whole Sunday reorganizing your closet, here’s another spring cleaning suggestion: Move your credit card debt. This card offers 0% interest on a balance transfer until mid-2025. That’s over a whole year to pay off your balance, sans interest. Plus, you’ll earn 2% cash back on purchases.*

Arts

💌 Love poem to Madison

Love poem to Madison contest winners

A pink book of love poems atop an opened book of Shakespearean sonnets with hand cut hearts here and there.jpg

Madison’s poets have penned odes to the city. | Photo by 608today

We invited local poets to enter our “Love Poem to Madison” contest.

Congratulations to our winner, Cynthia Dorfman.

With 12 poems submitted, Dorfman’s was chosen based on its originality and her entry, we felt, best captured the essence of the 608.

Her untitled poem:

They float, the birch bark canoes and sandhill cranes,
through land and air and lake, moving in grace
in the wake of limnologists, lyricists and luminaries
at the shores of learning. Floating Forward from the hub
of Madison, holding spokes of pens for signers
of the Constitution. Their nibs pointing in the direction
of the paint-washed ghost sign for the Hotel Fess
and sidewalks stamped with poems on Williamson.
Madison under the moon glow of dome
echoing effigy mounds marking origins
of civilization. Followed by Yankees blown
across the Lake Effect of exploration
when floating boats steamed across ice-crackings
of lakes. That quartet of lakes now chants odes
to the chamber of law-crafting. And strains
from The Overture accompany the Reveille
of coronet calls from the sandhill cranes
and base notes from birch bark canoes floating.

Read the finalists' poems

The Buy

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The Wrap

Today’s edition by:
Jonathan

From the editor

I met my wife through Twitter and got to know each other through poetry, wooing each other with works by Pablo Neruda and Frank O’Hara. Our anniversary is tomorrow. Maybe we’ll visit A Room of One’s Own and peruse the stacks, looking for some perfect words for the other.

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