Wisconsin Life host Angela Fitzgerald heads underground in this week’s episode. Join her as she crawls and weaves through the caves outside of Calumet County, Wisconsin at the Ledge View Nature Center. Visitors can take tours of the caves and climb to the top of a 60-foot observation tower. Surrounded by woods and prairie, the caves below the surface are the hidden gem of the nature center.
Carlsville, Wisconsin has some hidden gems of its own. It’s home of Henschel farms where Jamie and Mike are fourth generation farmers. The Henschel family does a lot more than run a dairy farm. They also cook, bottle and sell their own maple syrup. They sell their own brand of Door County honey, have a cherry orchard and a saw mill. The Henschels say, at this point, farming has become their hobby and the saw mill has become their main job.
Veterans have a close, familial bond and are always looking for ways to help each other. This is the mission of Mobility 4 Vets Wheelchair Shop, a non-profit in Waupaca. Mobility 4 Vets sells refurbished wheelchairs at prices ranging from zero to whatever you can afford. Everything in the shop is 100 percent donated. Ken Tourville, the non-profit president explains that while they have a soft spot in their hearts for veterans, they provide help to anyone in need.
Paco Fralick of Rhinelander is proving it’s never too late to live out your dreams. Fralick says he considers himself a “late-comer” to music. He explains he has just turned 50 and released his first album in 2017 titled “Letting Go.” Part Ojibwe from Lac du Flambeau, Fralick started having a lot of spiritual dreams. He says, “My dreams became about Native American things and it caused me to go on this journey.” As a songwriter, Fralick is grateful for the songs the spirit brought through him.
Summit Players Theatre puts on performances of their own. During the summer months, this group of seven travel throughout the Wisconsin state parks entertaining the public with Shakespeare performances for free. The group hopes to establish positive associations with Shakespeare and the state parks by teaching Shakespeare in an engaging way you often won’t find in a classroom. The group travels to High Cliff State Park and performs Shakespeare’s “A Comedy of Errors.”
