Again, my three jobs are interfering with getting to Friday fish fry. Ol' Cool Dadio always has a contingency plan though. Last night (Thursday) after my part-time job I ran up to Edgerton to a place I spent some Sunday afternoons two falls ago. The Sand Trap Bar and Grill offers some munchies and of course beverage during the Packer games. I could not get over there at all last fall because I was in Iraq and Turkey doing my media project. A pre-season Packer game was on TV Thursday night and it reminded me of going to the Sand Trap on those fall days.
Teresa the bar tender explained that when she worked anyway, she usually kept the grill open until the bitter end. She fried up a double cheese burger with pickle and onions for me after 10:00 p.m. I got a side of thin fries. With a glass of Diet Pepsi (free refill) and 20 percent tip, the damage was $8.75. The patties were thick and fresh. The bun was buttered. I ate every last crumb. Next time I might not need a double I am thinking.
Sand Trap is on the north side of Edgerton, Wisconsin at 520 North Main (Hwy 51). It is a menagerie of rooms with a main bar area - just like an old Wisconsin Tavern should be. You can't judge a book by its cover, so you might miss the place if you are looking for a new building. I am glad I was able to reconnect with the folks there. Sand Trap Bar and Grill is Cool with Cool Dadio. Call (608) 884-8773 for hours and more menu items.
This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Staff Sergeant Stephen G. Martin, 39. Staff Sergeant Martin died Friday, July 1, 2004, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He had been flown from a medical facility in Germany to Walter Reed. Martin was a member of the Sheboygan-based Army Reserve, 330th Military Police Detachment. He was wounded in Iraq when a truck bomb exploded June 24, near his checkpoint outside an American military compound in Mosul. It is the same incident that killed Sergeant Charles Kiser, 37 (remembered in last week's Cool Dadio blog postings) of Cleveland, Wisconsin and also from the 330th. Their unit was engaging an approaching truck, but it exploded, killing Kiser and fatally wounding Martin. Stephen was a New Jersey native. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, he joined the Rhinelander police as a patrol officer in February 1996. He was a police sergeant at the time of his death. He worked in the bicycle patrol and the city's schools. Sergeant Martin had been prior-military-service and joined the Army Reserve in a Military Police unit in Sheboygan in January 2003. The unit was activated in December 2003, and sent to Iraq. The Journal Sentinel went on to mention Martin helped train Iraqi police and worked in emergency medical services and fire training. Staff Sergeant Martin was the 20th Wisconsin soldier to be killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
3,722 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
27,506 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring 2003.
78 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
112 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
Soldier of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; and, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
