Weekends are for wandering Wisconsin. That's what Rick, my guy, and I do. Occasionally we wander during the week, too. Sometimes we just drop in on other people's lives.
This blog is my way of sharing where we've been, neat places and things to do that we've found.
Last fall I took on another assignment - freelance writer for Madison Essentials Magazine. It's a great quarterly publication that highlights unique local restaurants, shops, businesses, nonprofits, and attractions in the Greater Madison area. You'll read about events, entertainment, people, and places - all that's essential. The writing assignments have been fun and interesting. Check out two recent issues that each featured two articles written by me. February 2016 Cambridge Winery One of 120 wineries in our state that opened a tasting room in Madison. The vineyard is located in Cambridge, WI to the east of Madison. A friend and I visited the tasting room at 1001 S. Whitney Way last fall. It was a fun way to end an evening following dinner.
The tasting room is open Wednesday - Friday 4:00 - 9:00 p.m., Saturday noon - 9:00 p.m.,
and Sunday noon - 5:00 p.m.
February 2016 Wisconsin Historical Society Headquarters Building I worked in this building for 7+ years. I never got tired of going up its steps nor of promoting the Society to people throughout the state, especially to its members and donors, many of whom became friends.
I'm saddened to say that this image is definitely historical. With all the recent
construction at the lower end of the UW campus and on Library Mall, these beautiful
crabapple trees are relics of the past.
May 2016 American Provenance A producer of personal care products for both men and women located in rural Dane County outside of Madison. The owner gave me a ton of samples which, in turn, I gifted to Rick and the men in his family. Along the way, I learned why deodorant is better than antiperspirant.
May 2016 University of Wisconsin Dairy Barn Just in time for June Dairy month. A great deal of history was made in this space thus qualifying the barn for National Historic Landmark status.
Cows are still housed in the Dairy Barn, one semester at a time, so students
in the UW's College of Agriculture can get practical experience as part of their coursework.
Watch for future articles in the next issue that will be online in August.
I didn't venture far from home earlier this month but the people who told their stories at an event I attended certainly did. I was at the Wisconsin Historical Society for a special program celebrating the brave students who collected civil rights manuscripts in the South during the 1960s. The Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) owns one of the nation's richest archives documenting events of the civil rights struggle 50 years ago. The collection contains more than 1,000 boxes of unpublished letters, diaries, meeting minutes and memos, phone logs, photographs, audio tapes, and other documents obtained at the grassroots level. Much of the collection - 30,000 items - has been digitized and is now available at the click of a mouse. When the question is asked, "Why Wisconsin rather than Washington, D.C?" the answer is a handful of UW-Madison graduate students who braved the tumult and dangers of the times to collect this evidence of the civil rights movement.
"History is not long ago and far away," Michael Edmonds, Deputy Director of the WHS Library-Archives, stated in his introduction of the students who gathered in Madison to share their stories.
In December of 1964, three of the members of the panel who spoke approached then WHS Director Les Fishel with a proposal to collect material of the civil rights movement that wasn't easily collectible - stories and papers of ordinary people. These students knew the people involved in the struggle because they had worked in the South to organize residents for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and register voters. Some were members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
Freedom Summer panel members Front row: Mimi Feingold Reel, Vicki Gabriner, Alicia Kaplow Back row: Bob Gabriner, Leah Johnson Wise, Gwen Gollon
Back in the 1960s these students were being taught by such UW-Madison legendary professors as Harvey Goldberg and George Mosse. They believed that history was being made from the bottom up. Studying social action movements was a new approach to studying history at that time. These students helped regular people appreciate and respect their own work.
Because I had worked for the Wisconsin Historical Society's Foundation in the past, I was familiar with the letter written on toilet paper from a southern jail. A facsimile of it was displayed in the Director's Office. But now I heard the rest of the story from the author, Mimi Feingold, herself. She managed to wrangle a pencil from the jail's trustee and wrote the letter to her CORE friend on the only paper available to her - toilet paper. Getting the letter out of jail was another matter. Mimi shared how her mother, who was not a good seamstress, had hemmed the skirt she was wearing - with long stitches. Mimi was able to roll up the letter and hide it in the hem of her dress once she was released.
Staff at WHS have also created a special exhibit, "Risking Everything," for students that is displayed on the first floor of the Society's headquarters at 816 State Street.
The WHS Press has released Risking Everything: A Freedom Summer Reader, edited by Michael Edmonds. Firsthand accounts of the struggle for civil rights is provided in this book as well as a broader understanding of the movement. Another fine example of the work done by the Wisconsin Historical Society, one of the great treasures of my state.
Very close to home this
past week and a half. On October 18 I attended the Grand Opening of the Nancy Nicholas
Hall on the UW-Madison Campus. This new hall is the first exclusive-use academic building on
campus named in honor of a woman. And this building houses my school – the School of Human Ecology. With its mission of improving the quality of human life, SOHE turned out to be a great place for me these many years ago.
The new building, with an attached preschool and an appropriate place for SOHE's nationally-known Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, gave the School much needed space.
This is the old building - rather, the "historic building." Its second floor looks very much like it did when this building opened nearly 100 years ago. The terrazzo floor remains.
The two buildings are connected by "The Link."
Bucky Badger on a mural directs visitors from the parking area below the new building to the public stairway.
There's even a secure area for bikes in the parking area.
I’ll admit that graduating from SOHE (formerly School of
Family Resources and Consumer Sciences, and before that Home Economics) was the
quickest way to finish my undergraduate education. I had taken a variety of classes during some tumultuous times at UW-Madison without having a specific
goal in mind. Fortunately, I stumbled upon SOHE. The School accepted all of my prior courses. In the end, my undergraduate years provided me with a great liberal
arts education. I like to say that I was a few decades ahead of my time because now there’s a department in SOHE, Interdisciplinary Studies, that offers a major in community & nonprofit leadership. This would have
been my major had SOHE been organized back then the way it is today!
Parents dropping off their children for the SOHE Preschool have their own secure elevator from the parking area. LED lights change color on the marquee. Notice the drop ceiling. What could be more appropriate in a school that offers a design major!
One of my jobs when I was in human resources was at the
Wisconsin Union. The organization has two facilities – Memorial Union on
Langdon Street and Union South near the College of Engineering campus. Back
when I was hired, Union South (originally built in 1971) was relatively new.
However, in the 70s, it seemed that buildings were designed to be disposable. So 40
years later, there’s a new Union South. It is a stunning structure, planned to
last far longer than its predecessor.
Last Saturday was Homecoming at UW-Madison and the 40th anniversary of the biggest tailgate party on campus – Badger Bash at Union South. Former Wisconsin Union staff and student leaders were invited to celebrate the occasion. The best treat was a pre-game show from the wonderful UW-Madison Marching Band, led by Mike Lekrone now in his 44th year as Director. The band performed in the plaza between Union South and the Engineering Library. We had a fabulous view from a second floor balcony.
There's even a big screen TV so fans on the ground don't miss a moment of pre-game action.
Mike Lekrone directing the band. It was a great mini-concert designed to rev up Badger football fans.
Our view was spectacular.
My cousin’s son, Eric, plays euphonium in the band. Early this year he had
the unique experience of participating in the 2012 Rose Bowl. Eric is following
in the footsteps of his uncle, another cousin, who played tuba a few years
earlier, also under the direction of Lekrone. Given his tenure at UW, today Lekrone
might very well be directing grandchildren of
band members who were there in 1969 when he became head of the program!
Rick is a graduate of UW-Milwaukee, but he enjoyed the Bash
as much as I did. He even captured the band doing the “Bud” song.
