Freddy, the unofficial mayor of the Village of Sharon, makes his daily rounds Monday. Freddy visits several businesses each day before returning to the Village Hall. Credit: Mike De Sisti

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Village of Sharon — Truth be told, the mayor of this Walworth County community is a layabout who spends much of his day eating and sleeping.

Actually, the village of 900 has a president and a mayor. The president is human and the mayor is a four-legged tabby cat who wormed his way into the hearts of Sharon, one meow and one leg rub at a time.

Like the cat who took up residence in an Iowa library - and whose exploits became a New York Times bestseller - the cat known as the mayor of Sharon, or Freddy, lives at the Village Hall, greeting folks who come to pay water or property tax bills. He meows to go out twice a day to make his rounds in the small downtown, visiting the post office, the back doors of restaurants and at least one tavern, as well as stopping to catch mice in a wooded area across from the Village Hall.

"This is his town," said Sharon Postmaster Scott Vinke. "Everyone looks out for him. If he's crossing the street, everybody stops and gives him the right of way. He's the mayor."

Almost every day Vinke sees the mayor walk past the post office and turn the corner to hop up to the loading dock area. Sometimes he brings cat food from home to give the mayor a treat.

"I've seen him twice today already," Vinke said on a recent afternoon. "He was here this morning when I came to work and during the lunch hour I saw him stroll by."

At the Village Hall, the mayor also is called Freddy. Deputy clerk/treasurer Jaymie Kunkel named him - she's not sure why she picked Freddy - after she saw him hanging around the back door one summer. She began giving him treats. Sensing a soft touch, Freddy made sure he was there nearly every morning when Kunkel arrived for work.

By that winter, Freddy started to become an overnight guest. That was three, maybe four winters ago. Over the years, residents stopping at the Village Hall have noticed the additional office worker who, Police Chief Wolfgang Nitsche quickly pointed out, only gets paid in kibble.

They began to bring him toys, food, a litter box, even a comfy bed. Some donated money for his food, litter and veterinarian bills. He was quickly dubbed the mayor.

"I think it's great, but then I'm a cat lover," said Harriet Theige, as she stopped to pay property taxes.

The mayor is not shy. He approaches customers like a Walmart greeter. He's curious. Noticing someone observing him and scribbling in a notebook, Freddy sniffed the pen and rubbed against the scribe, leaving behind white and butterscotch-colored fur.

Last April the mayor was let out for his daily rounds and didn't come back. He was gone for four months. No one is sure what happened to him.

Kelly Hadley, owner of Sharon's Sweet Shop, said quite a few people, herself included, missed the mayor.

"You could feel the whole community's morale was down," said Hadley.

A Sharon resident noticed a picture on the website of a local animal shelter and thought the feline fit the mayor's description: large cat - to be kind you'd say he's big boned, but to be honest, he's on the plump side - white belly and legs, orange top coat and tail, head markings that look like he's wearing a tawny Batman-esque cowl.

The resident contacted Kunkel and clerk/treasurer Dawn Redenius, and they picked him up from the shelter where he had been living for a few months and gaining weight. Village employees notified their friends on Facebook and word spread - the mayor was back.

"Within hours everyone knew that Freddy was home. We had a couple people come in that afternoon and make sure it was Freddy," said Kunkel.

Morning greeting

Every weekday when Kunkel comes to work shortly before 8 a.m., Freddy meets her at the door and follows her as she turns on lights and equipment, unlocks doors and turns the "closed" sign to "open." She refills his dry food bowl. When Redenius comes in she usually gives him a can of soft cat food. They take turns on litter box duty.

Kunkel thinks Freddy may have been owned by someone living in a nearby apartment who moved and left him behind.

Even though he has the Village Hall to himself on weekends and evenings, he's only gotten into trouble once - when someone accidentally left some catnip on a desk. When Kunkel and Redenius came in the following day, they found papers strewed about on the desk and the catnip scattered. Other than that, he leaves everything alone.

Aside from a great personality and boatloads of charm, apparently the mayor has an acute sense of time.

"It's really funny. We'll let him out in the afternoon and we'll say 'Freddy, you need to be back by 4:15 when we're closing,' " said Redenius. "And he usually is. If he isn't, he's usually somewhere else and we have to start calling and knocking on doors."