Susie the Duck

I don't know how old I was the first time my family drove through Lodi, Wisconsin.

But, I'm sure that was when I learned Lodi is home to Susie the Duck.

All these decades later, if I hear the name Lodi, my first thought is of Susie.

She became the town mascot in 1948.

It was then the daughter of the police chief named a nesting Mallard who was making her home in a stone basket along Spring Creek where it runs under the town's Main Street.

That area is now a small park tucked between commercial buildings on the tidy main drag through Lodi.

You can buy a handful of cracked corn from a vending machine to feed Susie's kin, and to greet the current Susie.

It's a little difficult to tell which one duck is Susie, but all the drakes are happy to vie for her attention.

Unlike the unique village down the road, maybe all the female ducks are Susie.

It's worth a stop - walk down the steps, feed the ducks a little corn, and relax along the stream.  Say "hi" to Susie.

And say hello to Susie.