Greetings from the trail, The trail looks beautiful, as always, thanks to our wonderful volunteers who keep it this way. This letter is a sad one. Grace Milanowski, our part time Lead Coordinator will be leaving us soon. Her husband has gone and gotten himself better employment and they are moving north. When we hired Grace the hiring committee thought that maybe she was too good to be true. Her experience and knowledge about ecology, conservation, and organization of a group

Grab your fishing pole and enjoy a day of fishing on Platteville’s Rountree Branch, a 6-mile-long Class II trout stream that follows the PCA Trail. Wisconsin boasts more than 13,000 miles of trout streams, 6 miles of which are in Platteville. The Rountree Branch is a seepage and spring-fed tributary to the Little Platte River west of Platteville. The stream begins east of the city and meanders through the city along the PCA Trail. According to the Wisconsin Department of Nat

When it came to the inception of Rountree Branch Trail, Ric Genthe was in the room and the stream where it happened. A long standing member of the Marketing and Membership Committee and president of the PCA Board for two terms, Ric initially met with former neighbor Doc Canny to discuss trail plans in the 1990s. Now, after a longstanding PCA volunteer career, he has decided to step back. Ric’s Rountree Branch memories and trail contributions are many. “I clearly remember Doc

Mike Sherer and Dianna Bearse’s love for each other and of the PCA and Rountree Branch trail yielded many generous donations to the PCA from their friends and family attending their wedding party last spring! Mike and Diana were married on May 16, 2021 and decided to have a small wedding and a big party. Marrying later in life and both being financially secure meant they didn’t create a wedding registry for items, but many guests wanted to give wedding gifts to the couple any

Has your child ever asked, “Where do turtles go in the winter?” Have you ever wondered the same? Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. In the upcoming children’s book called Sassy’s Vacation, that question and many other facts about snapping turtles are revealed in a nature-filled tale about Ruby and her learning experience with one special turtle, Sassy. Written by Sue Leamy Kies and illustrated by Ric Genthe for ages 5 to 10, Sassy’s Vacation will be available for purchase fr

Besides our wonderful volunteers that you see weekly working two hours physically beautifying our trail sides, PCA has an equal number of volunteers working behind the scenes on our board and five committees (Activities, Ecology, Finance, Membership and Marketing along with Planning). In the coming newsletters, we will share information about one of those committees’ volunteers and tasks to familiarize you with these volunteers and the critical functions they perform to suppo

New volunteer, Peter Wadlund joined our PCA corps of volunteers earlier this spring and we’re sure glad to have him aboard! Peter decided to get involved with the PCA because he’s been a frequent trail user over many years while visiting family in Platteville. Peter grew up in Platteville but has been living in Lake Geneva for the past few decades; he became a permanent resident here again in fall of 2021. When he returned to Platteville last year, he says he “was amazed to d

Bob Gates began working on the Wednesday morning crew last year and soon signed up for the Monday morning crew as well. What a score! Last year the PCA work crews scored big when they acquired a new volunteer. His name is Bob Gates. He began working on the Wednesday morning crew and soon signed up for the Monday morning crew as well. “I retired in the spring of 2020 and was looking for ways to get involved in the community,” he says. “The fact that this social activity came d

Carley Borcherding loves “playing in the dirt,” and that’s just what she’d been doing along the Rountree Branch Trail since its inception. In 2004 Carley and Alliene LaChine first met with Dr. David Canny in his home to view a video of his horticultural vision for the trail. Karin Peacock and Bev Loy, two other master gardeners, soon joined in the project. And, thanks to their initial planning, planting and foresight, look at the lovely community asset we’ve got today! An ori

Tickets available for purchase from PCA Board Members or at PCA President, Bob Hundhausen's office. Please get in touch at plattevillearboretum@gmail.com if you need more info!