Wrong.
“Welcome to Monona” reads the sign on the 3700 block of Atwood Avenue, which turns into Monona Drive just a block and a half south.
What it should say is “Welcome to Monona — as long as you look out the right side of your vehicle as you travel down Monona Drive, at least until you hit Monona Grove High School, but then it’s back to Madison until you get to the Walgreens.”
Otherwise, that’s Madison proper out your left window. If you get it wrong and a Mononanite hears, they will correct you.
“Monona residents are very proud of their community and are very protective of what is Monona and what is not Monona,” says Monona resident and City Council alder Patrick DePula.
I learned that the hard way.
When Tori Gerding, owner of Ancora Cafe + Bakery, announced she was opening a new location at 3926 Monona Drive, I published a web story. “Ancora announces fourth location coming to Monona,” the headline read.
I had a voicemail from a reader not even a half-hour later: “Monona is across the street, and Ancora will actually be in Madison. I think you should make that correction.”