Page 66 – Wisconsin Life

Wisconsin Life host Angela Fitzgerald heads to Blackhawk Island, near Fort Atkinson to explore the life of twentieth century poet Lorine Niedecker. Fitzgerald begins at the childhood home of Niedecker and travels to the Dwight Foster Public Library to speak with librarian Amy Lutzke.

Retired Milwaukee Teacher Plays Latin Music In Grupo Renacer
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Retired Milwaukee Teacher Plays Latin Music In Grupo Renacer

The Arts

Retired Milwaukee Teacher Plays Latin Music In Grupo Renacer

Margarita Sandoval Skare is a second-generation Mexican-American who loves to call Milwaukee home. She was born and raised just a few blocks from the United Community Center that serves Latin American residents.

UW-Madison Student Earns Extraordinary Academic Opportunity
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UW-Madison Student Earns Extraordinary Academic Opportunity

Culture & History

UW-Madison Student Earns Extraordinary Academic Opportunity

Deshawn McKinney is a lot of things. UW-Madison fourth-year creative writing major, organizer, activist, First Wave Scholar and a 2017 Marshall Scholarship recipient. Above all, he’s determined. “There are people who are chasing greatness, and I think I have a bit of that in me.”

Nonagenarian Woman Crafts Artistic Blooms From Beads
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Nonagenarian Woman Crafts Artistic Blooms From Beads

The Arts

Nonagenarian Woman Crafts Artistic Blooms From Beads

If it’s Monday, Velma Cox and her friends must be playing Rummikub. At 96 years old, Velma has a busier social calendar than most people half her age. “I played dominoes this morning and usually this time of the afternoon we play Skip-bo and Rummikub.”

Pewaukee Couple Help Santa and Mrs. Claus Spread Holiday Cheer
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Pewaukee Couple Help Santa and Mrs. Claus Spread Holiday Cheer

Culture & History

Pewaukee Couple Help Santa and Mrs. Claus Spread Holiday Cheer

Every year, kids around the globe are excited to tell one of Santa’s helpers what they want for Christmas. But once a year, a handful of children around Pewaukee are lucky enough to meet the real Santa and Mrs.

Wisconsin Life Holiday Special
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Wisconsin Life Holiday Special

Culture & History

Wisconsin Life Holiday Special

Food is a big part of the holiday season no matter what or how you celebrate. Many of us eat turkey on special occasions but is there a better fowl for holiday feasting?

The Poster For The Otis Redding Show That Never Was
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The Poster For The Otis Redding Show That Never Was

The Arts

The Poster For The Otis Redding Show That Never Was

Posters for concerts are a common sight around central Madison, particularly along State Street, near the UW campus and on Willy Street. They’re ephemeral, covered over quickly by new layers of promotion.

Luke Skywalker’s Milwaukee Connections
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Luke Skywalker’s Milwaukee Connections

The Arts

Luke Skywalker’s Milwaukee Connections

The highly anticipated next installment of Star Wars hits theaters this month. Unlike the first movie in the reboot launched two years ago, the Last Jedi is expected to feature way more screen time for Luke Skywalker – the light saber wielding hero who might be based on a Civil War hero from Milwaukee Some Star Wars fans will probably scoff at the idea that Darth Vader’s son was inspired by a soldier who lost his father at a young age and left home to wage war in a land far, far away… but stick with me.

Growing Trees For Seasonal Holiday Is A Year-Round Job
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Growing Trees For Seasonal Holiday Is A Year-Round Job

Culture & History

Growing Trees For Seasonal Holiday Is A Year-Round Job

Picking the right Christmas tree can be the biggest choice of the season. Ken Ottman tries to make it easy. “We try to make it so people can walk up and down the aisles and find a tree.”

Jump River’s Yodeling Bar Owner
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Jump River’s Yodeling Bar Owner

Culture & History

Jump River’s Yodeling Bar Owner

Piotrowski’s Bar is likely the most jumping spot in the town of Jump River. Some bars have a jukebox full of 45s. This one plays the greatest hits of 1945. Ninety-three-year-old Cindy Piotrowski not only owns this bar, she often provides the musical entertainment.

Photographer Uses Lens To Share International Stories
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Photographer Uses Lens To Share International Stories

Culture & History

Photographer Uses Lens To Share International Stories

Saiyna Bashir was born in a small town in Pakistan. While visiting with her aunt one day she discovered a still camera. “So I took that camera and I just started playing with it.

Commercial Ice Fishing Has Door County Resident Hooked
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Commercial Ice Fishing Has Door County Resident Hooked

Food & Travel

Commercial Ice Fishing Has Door County Resident Hooked

Door County, Wisconsin can be a tourist hot spot in summer, but in the dead of winter the frigid temps send snowbirds south. For commercial ice fishermen Will Henriksen and John Koessl, they can sometimes arrive to work before their pick-up truck ever warms up.

Winter Stockholm Syndrome
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Winter Stockholm Syndrome

Culture & History

Winter Stockholm Syndrome

You came around again like I knew you would. I braced for you, or should I say that I braced myself against you, knowing that I was powerless. But then there you were, and our beginning, like all of our beginnings, was actually pretty sweet.

Aldo Leopold’s Lost Radio Talks: Winter Bird Feeding
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Aldo Leopold’s Lost Radio Talks: Winter Bird Feeding

Science & Nature

Aldo Leopold’s Lost Radio Talks: Winter Bird Feeding

Conservationist Aldo Leopold gave a series of talks in the 1930s on WHA. Unfortunately, we don’t have the recordings but we do have the transcripts. UW professor emeritus Stan Temple shares one of Leopold’s talks from December 1933 on the importance of winter bird feeding.

Wisconsin Life #509: “Woodland Wonders”
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Wisconsin Life #509: “Woodland Wonders”

Full Episode

Wisconsin Life #509: “Woodland Wonders”

Wisconsin Life host Angela Fitzgerald heads outdoors to explore Roche-a-Cri State Park in Adams County. This beautiful park offers a close up look at ancient petroglyphs and pictographs created by the First Nations as well as a 300 stair climb to a beautiful vista overlooking 10 counties.