Hello again from Mayor Kim Johnson.

June marks 6 months of being your Mayor. Wow I can’t believe how fast the time is going. I continue to learn so much from our city clerk and council members.

With summer vacation in full swing for our West Bend children, I want to make sure we are all being aware of more kids walking and on bikes.

Parents, please continue to have chats with your children about how to be safe when walking and biking around town. Also, there are so many of you that are dedicated walkers (not me any more unfortunately) and I want to make sure you are also ‘defensive’ and ‘aware’ when you enjoy your walk with friends and family. Sometimes it is difficult with the sun as we are driving.

I hope you all have had a chance to enjoy our splash pad and/or swimming pool in the hot days we have had.

The heater is fixed and ready for ‘wimps’ like me who love a nicely heated pool! Kids (and parents) love pool toys so please feel free to donate. I dropped off my donation the other day. On to another fun and important site in town – our community library.  The library is offering such great opportunities for our children this summer. Don’t be surprised if you see kids on their annual summer library scavenger hunt. They are looking for different seating areas that would be great to curl up and read I think! We are so lucky to have an active library in our community that has continued commitment to instill a love of reading for all ages.

I wanted to highlight an opportunity that I just was made aware of which is that our West Bend Mallard Elementary offered tutoring sessions for students in grades Pre-Kindergarten through 3rd grade this summer.

Students qualified for the service by the staff looking at the spring proficiency scores in math and reading as well as teacher recommendations. Twenty five students have taken advantage of the tutoring service. They receive one on one or small group instruction two to three times a week for two weeks in June and one week in July.  The tutors used research based curriculum to support them in using explicit instruction targeting students’ needs. The goal of the tutoring program is to help students maintain the skills they have so that they do not experience the “summer slide” as well as improve and build upon their current skills. The end goal is to help students achieve their highest level. A huge thank you to the teachers who continue to be committed to our students by working this summer program- Kay Auten, Cindy Bormann & Molly McCauley. Welcome Molly, we are so excited you have chosen our school district to share your love of teaching with our 1^st grade students.

I had the pleasure of attending the chamber ribbon cutting for L Square Boutique, owned and operated by our West Bend citizen Shayla Peterson.

This is my first ribbon cutting I ‘showed up’ at and thank Courtney block and Linda Thilges for being there to represent our Chamber of Commerce.  It was fun to see the excitement that Shayla has for her business. Now let’s try to find her a building so we can support this quaint shop in person as well as online. (Mayor Kim’s thought – lol).

Last by certainly not least I wanted to applaud the Union Building’s 130^th year celebration in conjunction with the grand opening for Ellie’s Beehive addition.

The remodel is beautiful, and it was ‘hoppin’ when I stopped in on Saturday. I was reading the history of this building, and it was fascinating to see all the businesses that were in this building prior to Ken Banwart and Darren Fehr purchasing the building in 2006. From the suites upstairs, to the gift shop and consignment shop downstairs, we are blessed to have this vibrant business in our community. Congratulations to Marlene Banwart and her team. Continue to support our local businesses!!

Watch for me walking in our July 4^th celebratory parade on Saturday, July 6^th.

Parade attention is not my thing, but I’ll try to make the best of it. Wave to me, laugh ‘with me’ or stop me & introduce yourself.  Sorry this article was long but there was so much to be excited about!  As always, if there is anything you would like me to be doing as your mayor, please reach out. Be assured that there is no cost for this column. We are very fortunate to still have an actual newspaper that serves our community. Feel free to contact me at any time at my email (kjkimtalk2@gmail.com) or you can reach me by phone at 320-241-4770.