A hockey team that plays underwater, a woman whose hobby is “eggs-traordinary” and a youth counselor who inspires teens to express themselves through the lens are some of the people who share their Wisconsin lives in this episode.
This collection of stories feature people like Door County resident Kathleen Mand Beck. She has always loved eggs… “egg art”, collecting eggs, etc. So years ago when she traveled to Egg Harbor, she was dismayed to discover there wasn’t a single shop devoted to eggs. Mand Beck decided to move to Egg Harbor and establish an egg museum, where she now shows off her personal collection of all-things-egg.
Next, Wisconsin Life stops in Sturgeon Bay, home of Team Sturgeon. Wisconsin is home to a lot of water-related sports – swimming, fishing, boating… and underwater hockey. Team Sturgeon demonstrates what it’s like to scrimmage for the puck and score goals – all the while holding their breath, submerged underwater.
Next up, UW-Oshkosh professor Sue Fondrie shares her story. Fondrie spends her time in the classroom teaching future teachers to be strong writers. So imagine her colleagues’ and students’ surprise when Prof. Fondrie was awarded top honors in an international contest that celebrates terrible writing. As she said, “It takes effort to be bad… although actually I found it to come fairly easily.” Enjoy the best of the worst writing from the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest.
Then, Washburn County photographer/counselor Ben Thwaits takes young people from the Northwest Passages treatment center into the wild armed with cameras. It’s part of a nationally-recognized program called “In a New Light.” Located near Spooner, Thwaits got the idea that it might be therapeutic for teens to express themselves through nature photography. His idea was awarded a National Parks Service grant from the “America’s Best Ideas of 2010” program. For more information on the program and to see some of the incredible photographs produced by Thwaits and his students visit In a New Light’s website.
Finally, many people in Wisconsin are familiar with the leader of the popular UW-Madison Marching Band… but do they really know what it takes to live a day in the life of Mike Leckrone… a day when he’s hours away from putting on the annual mega-UW Band Show?
Get a peek at Mike’s many UW Varsity Band Concert costumes.
