Colin Welford has served as the music director for theater hits like Wicked and Hamilton during their Chicago productions and traveled the world as a music supervisor for The Lion King, but a stint with Northern Sky Theater hooked him on Door County. Now, he has returned to his first musical love playing the organ and shares that passion through his Colin & Friends community concerts. He joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to discuss his journey, leaving the big stage, and finding joy in plying his craft in a tight-knit community.

Angostura Bitters is the essential ingredient in many cocktails, including the Wisconsin staple, the Old Fashioned. And it is the concoction that made Nelsen’s Hall and Washington Island famous. But the company and the beverage have always been a bit of a mystery. Robert Simonson, cocktail writer for the New York Times, journeyed to the distillery in Trinidad to get answers about Angostura, and even found some. His story about the journey appears in the winter edition of Door County Living. He joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to talk bitters, the rebirth of cocktails, and the evolution of the bartending craft.

This year’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Jacksonport will benefit eight-year-old Lucia Ramirez, who is battling leukemia. Her mother, Melanie, joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to talk about how Lucia is fighting and how she and her husband and seven daughters are juggling life and trips to the hospital as they support her, and how the support of the community is helping them beyond finances.

In the early twentieth century, a mysterious ecological crisis nearly wiped out the fish that most people cared about in the Great Lakes. The impact reverberated across the region, ruining local industries, damaging small town economies and indigenous communities, and destroying the livelihoods of people in the United States and Canada. Myles Dannhausen Jr. talks to Lindsey Haskin, the producer of the film The Fish Thief, about how the mystery was solved and the creativity that saved the Great Lakes Fishery and continues today.

The lodging tax numbers are in for this year’s summer tourism season and Debra Fitzgerald and Myles Dannhausen Jr. dive into some of the data, discussing what can – and can’t – be known about the world of lodging revenues, average nightly rates and occupancy averages. They also talk about the corrected beach monitoring data for the 2025 season – the reasons for it and what it reveals compared to the original data about Door County’s beach-water quality.

Cynthia Germain is a true catalyst for creating livable, age-friendly communities – not an easy feat in the essentially rural villages and towns of Door County. As the founder and president/CEO of the nonprofit Do Good Door County, she leads initiatives that empower older adults to age in place, living safely, independently, and confidently while strengthening community connections. She talks with Peninsula Pulse Editor Debra Fitzgerald about the proven programs that have made a real impact, explores the work that still lies ahead, and highlights ways residents of all ages can get involved to shape more supportive communities.

As Congress and the President battle over funding the government, nearly 2,000 Door County residents who receive foodshare assistance are wondering if they’ll be able to cover the next grocery bill. Myles Dannhausen Jr. talks to Debra Fitzgerald about who those residents are and how they’ll be impacted if a funding solution doesn’t come to pass. Plus, the Clippers head to state in soccer, a Halloween thank you and an update on the future of Rowleys Bay Resort.

Peninsula Pulse reporter Eleanor Corbin joins Debra Fitzgerald to discuss the Nov. 5 Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) public hearing on the proposed expansion of Gilbert Farms to CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) size, which is larger than 1,000 animal units. The hearing will give residents a chance to voice concerns before the DNR finalizes the permit. Eleanor and Debra talk about the expansion, the permitting process and the opposition’s concerns for water quality if the expansion is granted.

Write On, Door County is offering free registration to its upcoming young writers conference on Nov. 8 at Muse in Sturgeon Bay. Artistic Director Jerod Santek and Executive Director Al DeGenova join Myles Dannhausen Jr. to talk about the conference, the growth of the Juddville writing center, and the ongoing program to collect stories from local residents through the Memoir Mondays program.

Do you remember the Haunted Mansion? Myles Dannhausen Jr. talks to one of the last people to work summers scaring visitors to the Thumb Fun Haunted Mansion. Rian Hill joins the podcast to look back at the legendary house on the hill in Fish Creek, but first, a rapid-fire bounce around the county to preview Halloween events over the next two weekends, including the haunted house in Baileys Harbor.