Tucked in the space some of us remember as the old Skelly's Market from the days of mom and pop grocery stores you will find Junction Pub in the old Junction end of Milton (west side).  Recently I have been imbibing in the one dollar 16 ounce taps they offer all day on Sundays - segueing off game days. I always get the Miller Lite. 

    When they put the bar in a couple years ago, it was done with all the new interior constructs that bars and restaurants take advantage of now.  There is a walk in cooler - chest and cabinet coolers were such a pain as I remember from my bar tending days.  The tables and bar are solid and attractive light colored wood as are the walls.  Being in the row of old store fronts the place still has a personable timbre.  The place is warm and friendly.  That is not always an easy transition to make when an interior is completely reconstructed with modern templates. 

    The main purpose of this posting today is to chat about their fish fry.  They have a dandy little kitchen you can see into right off the bar.  Heide and I both got the two-piece tavern-esque Cod dinner with a good side of tarter, a couple rolls ,and a tasty cup of cole slaw.  Their cap stone offering is a big heap of Au Gratin potatoes. The caveat is, get there early for the Au Gratins because they are popular.  

    Heide got a glass of 1919 Root Beer on tap.  I got a Diet Pepsi.  We also started off with some fried mozzarella sticks in a basket.  They also offer a Blue Gill Dinner which Heide got the last time we visited and it is dished up with a generous plate of those regional favorites.

    Junction Pub is cool with Cool Dadio.  Find them at 130 Merchant Row, Milton, Wisconsin.  Call (608) 868  -  3596 for more information. 

            Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
    (each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)

    This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Sergeant Mark A. Maida, 22, of Madison who died Friday, May 27, 2005 in Baghdad of injuries he sustained the day before when the Humvee he was riding in struck an explosive mine in Diyarah, about 40 miles south of Baghdad. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned Mark was a 2001 graduate of James Madison Memorial High School in Madison. He enlisted in the Army the same year. He had plans to come home on leave in July to get married. Mark Maida's three-year military term was completed in October, 2004 but he was required to stay in via the U.S. military's "stop loss" program. He already had enrolled for classes at Madison Area Technical College. The "stop loss" program is best defined as personnel who would otherwise leave the military when their volunteer commitments is up, are forced to remain to the end of their unit's overseas deployments and also could be required to stay in an additional 90 days after they come home. Sergeant Maida was deployed to Iraq in January of 2005 with his unit, E Troop, 2nd Squadron, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, based in Fort Irwin, California. The Journal Sentinel went on to say Mark's brother Chris Maida, returned in April, 2005 from a six-month tour in Iraq as a U.S. Marine. At the time of his death Mark Maida was survived by his dad Ray Maida, a retired Madison police detective, and mom Diane Maida. He was also survived also by his brothers Chris and Aaron, and a sister, Juliann Mutch. Sergeant Mark Maida was the 38th Wisconsin military service member killed in Iraq since the spring of 2003.

                                   As of this blog entry's posting date:

    95,289 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
    
    9,369 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    4,379 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003. 

    972 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

    317 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    630 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001. 

    31,648 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003. 

    4,923 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001. 

    101 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    17 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

    139 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    17 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; and, icasualties.org.