Birds & Bovines II - Vintage Camping Trailer Rally

Rick and I couldn't have asked for better weather than what we had the first weekend in June for our second annual "Birds & Bovines" vintage camping trailer rally. Fourteen other rigs and their owners were part of the weekend's festivities at Ledge Park near Horicon WI.

Our mascots - the Bird and the Bovine. Our name for the
rally is because Ledge Park overlooks the Horicon Marsh
(Birds) and it's June Dairy Month (Bovines).

Friday night we played "Trailer Trash Bingo" to get to know each other at the group cocktail hour. We now know who in the group goes winter camping or plays the piano or has been on television. At next year's rally, the test will be to see who remembers everyone's name!

Here's Rick with the "birds" and "bovines" at our site. He's even wearing a few!

The big hit of the rally was our Open House on Saturday afternoon. People who were camping in the park as well as others from the outside stopped by to see our trailers. Everyone has a story. Hearing those stories and seeing how lovingly restored those trailers are is so much fun. Vintage folks aren't the least bit competitive. Rather they're full of helpful tips on materials and techniques to use if you're restoring or rebuilding a vintage trailer.

Kay and Jim's Shasta. They're from Glenwood City and came the farthest.
It's always easy to spot a Shasta - it has wings.

The Shasta's interior with its vintage-color cushions.

Bill and Anna (from Freeport IL) have a Shasta that they've dubbed the "Cowboy Camper."
It's a work in progress. The "barbed wire" fooled us. It's actually plastic!

Great saddle on the outside. . . 

and cow print cushions on the inside. (The cushions came
from a trailer that Rick had. Bill and Anna purchased
just about all of it - in parts - from him.)

It's always fun to see the accessories that vintage trailer enthusiasts add. I've seen a number with ironing boards for a table on the outside. Makes sense. The right height and easy to fold up and store.

Tammy from Marengo IL has this cute Trailblazer. It was made in Spencer WI.

And now for another Trailblazer that was at the rally. . .

If the trailer has shutters, it's probably a Trailblazer. This one belongs to
Dave and Monica from Baraboo.

Dave did some of the best work on the inside that I've seen.

He even made the modern flat screen TV look vintage!

We were pleased that so many from Illinois were at our rally. Always good to show our neighbors to the south what great parks we have here in Wisconsin.

This is George and JoEllen's Avion - from Elgin IL. Most Avions usually have a matte metal finish.
George polished this one up so many people mistake it for an Airstream.  

Speaking of Airstreams, the iconic shiny silver bullet, we had two at the rally but these were of the painted variety. The Argosy brand was manufactured by Airstream only in the 1970s. 

Rick's Argosy is a "Minuet." I think the last two letters
should be reversed. The trailer is minute because it was
built for the European market and is extra narrow.

The other Argosy at the rally was a motorhome, built in 1976 and owned by Liz and Dave from Okauchee WI. 

This was our only motorhome at the rally.

LOTS of orange on the inside - and it's all original!

BJ from Johnsburg IL has been hosting spring and fall vintage trailer rallies that we've attended for a couple of years now.  The outside of her Trotwood had these great lights.

Not just one - but a string of ten. What a great garage sale find!

This Layton is owned by Jon and Veronica from Rio (Wisconsin, that is, not Brazil!)

Two doors - you don't see that too often.

And a few more. . .

Jay came from Waupaca WI with his trailer. He's here because of our friend, and his, Linda.

My apologies to Dave and Joan from Racine. I did not get a picture of their Avion. Although they were in another section of the park away from most of us, they were good sports to walk up and join the group for all the activities.

And I don't want to forget Rick's son, Jon, who was at the rally with his two boys. They stayed in Rick's Frolic. The boys are great campers. We love it when they are able to join us.

Even though we billed ours as a "vintage" rally, we don't discriminate as to age of the trailers, nor of their owners. Here are a few that are on their way to becoming vintage.

Jim & Vicki's A-frame is amazingly spacious. They were the closest from
Hustisford WI.

It'll take some time before Skeeter and Donna's rig is vintage.

Sherry from Jackson WI can pull her teardrop trailer with a bicycle!

Someone has a sense of humor!

A complete kitchen in the back. Now that's livin'.

One last trailer - this one designed by Tammi out of cream cheese and veggies! Definitely the best-tasting trailer at the rally.

We already have the dates for next year's "Birds & Bovines III." Mark your calendars for June 4-7, 2015. By popular demand, we're adding an optional Thursday evening to the rally - especially for those folk who have a longer distance to drive. 

Tent Show Radio

A few weeks ago, before camping season began, Rick and I spent an enjoyable evening at the Overture Center for the Art's Capitol Theater here on Madison's State Street. We attended a live performance of Tent Show Radio featuring the Blue Canvas Orchestra from Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua near Bayfield.

The Capitol Theater was originally built in 1928. It became
part of Madison's Civic Center in the 1980s and was known as the
Oscar Mayer Theatre. With the building of the Overture Center,
this stage house reopened as the Capitol Theater once again.

Tent Show Radio weekly concerts feature music from Big Top Chautauqua and monologues by Wisconsin's own Michael Perry who is also a best selling author, humorist, and pig farmer. The show has been broadcast on Wisconsin Public Radio since 1994. In celebration of its 20th anniversary year, Tent Show took to the road with a live show in a variety of communities around the Midwest. 

I probably first heard Tent Show Radio soon after broadcasting began on WPR. I was lucky to get to a Big Top Chautauqua performance soon after. I introduced Rick to this great venue and the terrific performances maybe 10 or 12 years ago. And now BTC is a favorite of his as well.

Before the show began we saw that we fit in perfectly with this audience.
Lots of "mature" adults in the seats.

Given that not many 20- and 30-somethings were in the audience, I had to remark to the young woman who sat next to me that she didn't seem to be the right age to be at the show. She wasn't typical of the crowd in the theater with their white hair and canes. After a bit of chatting she said that she was there with her mom who had taken her to the Big Top when she was a child. It took a little more conversation among the young woman, her mother, and me to realize who we were, but we eventually figured it out. Turned out that this young woman's mother and I had gone to high school together and we were in the same graduating class!

The Blue Canvas Orchestra performed a number of songs from BTC house
musicals. Visuals at the back of the stage complemented the lyrics to many
of the original songs.

If you've never been to Big Top Chautauqua, put it on your bucket list. The Chequamegon Bay area of Wisconsin (Ashland/Washburn/Bayfield) is one of the loveliest in our state. BTC is a great venue and the music under the big blue tent is wonderful. We're excited to be going back in August when Willie Nelson performs. Ballyhoo!

Spring Has Arrived - Finally!

We didn't venture too far from home over the Memorial Day weekend this year. Astico Park (another lovely Dodge County park) is about 30 minutes from Madison near Columbus and about an hour away for Rick. This time we brought "Frolie," the '65 Frolic vintage camping trailer. 

Here we are among the big white boxes. But several people stopped by
because they wanted to see our little rig.

Our site was on the Crawfish River so we saw a number of canoers and kayakers paddle up and down the water over the weekend. And the weather couldn't have been more beautiful. Good thing the rain held off until AFTER we were gone. 

The view from our camp site across the Crawfish River.

Another view of the river. Very peaceful since the campers
near us didn't have children nor were they rowdy drunks.

This year Rick has added a new piece of equipment to our camping gear - a propane fireplace. It's really neat. No muss, no fuss! None of that smoke to make your eyes water or smell up your clothes. Did I mention - a breeze to light? Rick figures that a canister of propane is probably about the same cost as several bundles of firewood that we would have to buy at the park to burn for the same amount of fire. 

We were listening to a podcast of jazz while we enjoyed the fire on
Friday evening.

While the sunsets weren't as spectacular as we experience when we're at Ledge Park, another Dodge County favorite, the evening sky was still quite beautiful.

The river was smooth as glass.

The only disappointment of the weekend was that most of the antique and vintage shops in Columbus were not open for the weekend. But that really didn't matter since we spent most of our time at our site watching the world go by or reading a book from the Little Free Library.

Kudos to Dodge County for installing a Little Free Library.
There's one at Ledge Park, too. I'll be dropping off a few books
the next time we camp there.

This was our second time out so far this season. The weekend before we were in Marengo IL for a "Spring Fling" vintage rally. Even though there were only a few of us at that rally, the quality of the company made up for it. I even learned a new game - Mancala.

We camped in the Argosy when we were in Illinois. Rick is pulling it with
a conversion van he bought last fall. He says with the van he can hardly
tell he's towing the trailer 

Rick and I are looking forward to next weekend when we will be hosting our second "Birds & Bovines" vintage trailer rally at Ledge Park. If you are in that neck of the woods on Saturday, June 7, stop by between 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. for our Open House. In the meantime, happy camping!

Sip, Sup, and Stroll

We didn't venture too far the weekend following Easter. Milwaukee was our destination. First stop - the  Westside Art Walk on Vliet Street on Friday night.

Even though Rick grew up in Milwaukee, he said he had never walked down this street. Actually our stroll was only about four or five blocks, so we only saw a small portion of Vliet Street.

The Art Walk is sponsored annually by the Vliet Street Business Association which has worked over the years to reinvent the street, attract destination businesses, and promote art and arts events. Vliet Street, on Milwaukee's west side between 43rd and 62nd Streets, is now the location of commercial clusters, meeting places, and unique shops, restaurants, and services. 

Some of the places we stopped included the Nomad Art Gallery where I took part in the creation of a "communal canvas." I'm not much of an artist, but it was a great deal of fun to try my hand at painting. And here's the result. . .

I call this "Cherry Tree." Anticipation of a future adventure this summer was my inspiration.

At Salvaged Studio & Gallery I learned that the owner, Rachel Winkley,  used to live in Madison. Her studio is also a member of Local First Milwaukee. The cake she served to celebrate her first anniversary was delicious - from Simma's Bakery, one of the places we stopped at during a holiday Milwaukee Food Tour the year before last.

I like to look for the "Local First" logo in Milwaukee-area shops.
It's as good as seeing the Dane Buy Local decal in establishments in Dane County and the seven counties that surround it.

Along with the art came live music at the West End Conservatory. 

We were treated to performances by guitar students of Neil Davis.

We also stopped in at Four Corners of the World, where handmade home decor items from global artisans are available. Four Corners guarantees that all of the merchandise sold there is created by people who are paid a fair wage and have safe working conditions.

Fortunately for us, the weather cooperated and it was a sunny evening - a
perfect time for strolling down the street.

On Saturday is was on to State Fair Park where the Shepherd Express sponsored its annual "Stein & Dine" event - a beer, cheese, and sausage festival.

It took a while to get into the Expo Hall, but once we
were in, there was no waiting to get samples of beer,
cheese, sausage, and other goodies.

3 Sheeps Brewing Company is from Sheboygan. The name is a play on
"three sheets to the wind" (an expression to say that one has indulged just a
bit too much) with a Wisconsin agricultural edge thrown in.

One of my favorites at the festival was a Bloody Mary made with Jimmy Luv's mix from Milwaukee. We appreciate bars that use the mix to make their Bloody Marys. It's flavorful and the Bloody Mary is so much better than one made with just tomato juice and the various seasonings.

Lots of breweries were represented at "Stein & Dine" and we sampled from just about every one of them.

Titletown from Green Bay is a favorite. We like to stop
at the brew pub for burgers and a beer when we're in the Green Bay area.

I liked the fudge cheese that is made by Scott's of Wisconsin right here outside of Madison in Sun Prairie. What's not to like about a combination of chocolate and cheese?

Another favorite is the cheese made by the Weyauwega Cheese Company. We have been known to drive nearly 100 miles to buy their cheese. Rick especially likes the packs with assorted cheese and sausage bites. We learned that the packs are only sold at the store in Weyauwega.

Even close to home Wisconsin wanderers can usually find something fun to do on the weekend and we are glad that Milwaukee has much to offer. 

Freedom Summer - 50th Anniversary

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.