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To find out more about the Wisconsin Great River Road please check out the website www.WiGRR.com to find out about Stonefield Historic Site visit https://stonefield.wisconsinhistory.org/
https://www.facebook.com/stonefieldhistoricsite/

Susan: You know, there is something about the Mississippi River that just makes such a connection with people from all over the world. And we do get visitors from all over the world. We are just like in the heart of this beautiful area. We love to be a part of the Great River Road, and we are happy that we are one of the Interpretive Centers on the highway.

Bob: The Wisconsin Great River Road Podcast. This time, [I’m] speaking with Susan Caya-Slusser. Susan is with the Wisconsin Historical Society. I visited the Stonefield historic site, and I’ll tell you what: That place was history alive. Susan, that place is amazing.

Susan: It is. Yes, Stonefield is one of 12 historic sites operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society. It’s kind of a hidden gem down in Cassville, Wisconsin. It’s located right on the Great River Road. If you want to get to Cassville, there are so many things to do. There is even a car ferry. Yes, we need to get more people down there because there’s so much to see and so much to do once you get in the area.

Bob: When we were walking through Stonefield – and there are a bunch of old farm implement in there – to be that close to some of that stuff and to look to see how big it was and to know what it does, that’s pretty cool. The little placard told me the story.

Susan: Yes. So how Stonefield came to be is, it started in 1948. There was a great renewal and interest in our farming history. Folks were moving off the farm [and] they were moving into the cities. We wanted to make sure we didn’t lose this rich history, so that was what started it all. And Stonefield opened up for the first time in 1953.

Bob: I couldn’t believe how cool the Stonefield site was. Was that the original Cassville where all the buildings are and the main street and you’re walking around the schoolhouses?

Susan: When you come into Stonefield, there are different components that you’ll get to go on tour. There the homestead of Nelson Dewey. There is an entrance into what was Governor Nelson Dewey’s barn – this large, beautiful stone barn. There’s the State Ag [Agricultural] Museum. There’s a 1901 progressive farmhouse. But then you walk through this beautiful covered bridge that was built in 1964, and it takes you into a recreated village. The cool thing about it is a lot of the buildings that you’re seeing are old schoolhouses from across Wisconsin that have been repurposed. To recreate a village, what would it have been like for a farmer in 1900? This is the recreation in the people’s minds of the Wisconsin Historical Society and UW Extension what a farming village would have been like in 1900. If you visited the schoolhouse, that was actually the Muddy Hollow schoolhouse that was just up the road from where we sit today.

Bob: I was thinking if my kids were in there, they’d be like. ‘How do you get Wi-Fi in here?’

Susan: We are thrilled and we are fortunate that we get school visitors from not just Wisconsin, but also Illinois and Iowa that come and visit us in Stonefield. It is wonderful to be able to compare and contrast how things have changed over time, even to the boys sitting on one side of classroom and girls sitting on the other, even to the point where the boys and girls have to use separate doors. It’s just a way to take the kids back and make them think, and also hopefully make them appreciate what they have today.

Bob: You mentioned just a minute ago about appreciating things that you have. I’m guessing anybody that walks through the State Agricultural Museum that looked at the old metal tires [and] the old iron tires, they would appreciate immediately the rubber tires we get to drive on today.

Susan: Oh, yes. You kind of see a progressive change over time as you move through the State Agricultural Museum, even to one of the first that we have, we have a 1932 Allis Chalmers tractor parked way back in the corner. If you look at it, it actually has tires from an airplane.

Bob: Is that why they’re bald?

Susan: Yes. That is why they are big and bald the way they are. One of our claims to fame is that we have America’s oldest tractor. We have the McCormick Auto-Mower. The tractor we have is one of two prototypes made to exhibit at the World’s Fair in Paris in 1900.

Bob: Besides the beauty of seeing Stonefield in its natural state, I’m assuming you guys probably have different events going on through the year.

Susan: Yes. In June we do Agricultural Appreciation Day, tying in with June Dairy Month. In September we have our annual Great River Road Fall Fest. This one is a favorite of mine because it really brings the village to life – the sounds, the smell, the horse and tractors. It just really takes you back to a different time. One of our most popular events is in October, and that is what we call our “Safe and Spooky Event.” This is put on by the Friends of Stonefield and Nelson Dewey State Park – it’s our volunteer group. What happens is the whole village is transformed. Different volunteer groups come into the village, and all the buildings get transformed to be a little more spooky and eerie for Halloween. You will see everything and anyone at “Safe and Spooky Halloween.” All costumes are welcome.

Bob: Susan, how do people find out more about Stonefield, the Wisconsin Historic Site?

Susan: There are two ways I would recommend. The first is just our webpage, which is stonefield.wisconsinhistory.org. The second is we have a very active Facebook page, which is just Stonefield Historic Site. That’s where you can find out more information about our events. There’s something for everyone when you come and visit Stonefield.

To find out more about the Wisconsin Great River Road please check out the website www.WiGRR.com to find out about Elmaro Vineyard check out http://elmarovineyard.com/

Lynita Delaney: The name is Elmaro Vineyard, but I don’t care what they call us. It doesn’t matter to me. It’s like holding a wine glass. Do I care if somebody holds the bowl with the wine glass? Uh-uh. That’s up to them how they want to hold the wine glass, and it’s up to them what they want to call us. We’re getting to be [where] more folks just say ‘Elmaro,’ and they’ll know where it is and that’s good. It’s like Kleenex for facial tissues – it’s a good thing. One of the things we’ve always talked about is letting people feel special for a day, because people here in the Midwest have a lot of stress and have a lot of things going on in their lives. If they can come here and feel special, listen to music, have someone wait on them, drink a glass of wine and eat a cheese plate or whatever for a day, we’ve succeeded.

Bob: I’m going to tell you that when my wife and I went out to Elmaro, and I explained to you that I wasn’t a wine drinker [and] that I’d stolen a bottle of wine as a kid and drank too much of it and didn’t like it. Elmaro changed my view on wine because I had two glasses of wine. I had a glass of the cranberry and I had the Duet, and they were both fantastic. Then we shared the local cheese and meat tray, and it was delicious. Every piece of that – everything that you just explained – encompassed our time. We enjoyed ourselves. It was at peace. It was a beautiful day. We got to be outside. We got to see the surroundings and your beautiful farm, and we tasted your great-tasting wine. It was an awesome day.

Lynita: That’s what we’re going for: just to let people have somewhere that they can feel like a queen for a day or a king for a day.

Bob: You guys have won a lot of awards. What different awards has Elmaro won?

Lynita: We’re always striving for a little more, and to do it a little better, and we’re learning all the time. We have had one wine that won a sweepstakes out at Long Beach, and that is a suburb of L.A., and that we won the sweepstakes. The sweepstakes means we’re the best white wine in their competition according to the judges. That one we were really thrilled about after we learned what a sweepstakes was, because we didn’t know. When the lady who won the best red wine sweepstakes called me and congratulated me, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s nice. Thank you, and congrats to you, too.’ She said, ‘You don’t get it. We’ve tried 40 years to get a sweepstakes, and we finally got one, and you’ve got one now, too.’ We’d only been making wine four or five years when that happened. We were pretty thrilled.

Bob: How did you come up with the name of Elmaro?

Lynita: It happened in 1976. Mark and his mom and dad had farmed together, and when they incorporated they had to come up with a name. Mark’s dad said, ‘Let’s use all our names together,’ so it was Elaine, Mark, and Robert, which turned into Elmaro. It was Elmaro Farms for many years. When we built the winery we were trying to come up with a name, and we thought about Tremplo and Riverview and all sorts of things. Finally, Mark said, ‘Why don’t we use the name of the farm? It sounds like a winery.’ So we used Elmaro [and] we had a story behind it. We did some research to make sure it didn’t mean anything in Spanish, and then I was picking grapes with a kid out in Oregon for an experience trip for me. He started laughing when I told him what the name of the winery was. I said, ‘No, no, no. We checked and it doesn’t mean anything in Spanish.’ Elmaro, where he’s from, is slang, which means a child you can’t handle or someone who drank too much and you can’t control them. They’re elmaro.

Bob: Are you guys happy to be on the Great River Road?

Lynita: Yes, yes. The Great River Road is a great spot. We actually did some research before we built. We knew a winery had to attract 2 percent of the population in a 50-mile radius in order to survive. That’s where we started with the research. We also did research on how many cars go by Highway 35 on the Great River Road, and how many of them might stop based on how many cars were going by. That’s how we got here.

Bob: Is Elmaro open year-round?

Lynita: Yes. Thank goodness for the locals. Because we’re open during the winter Thursday through Sunday, the locals are what keep us alive. In fact, one day – and it’s very important to be open when we say we will be. One day, there was a blizzard on Sunday this winter, and everybody stayed home who worked here, except for me. Because I live walking distance away, I came down and opened the winery, and I had three guests all day. But those three guests had driven from Holmen, which is 20 miles away, and from Dodge, which is 10, 15 miles away on a bad road, to get here. If they would have come to the door and found out nobody was here, that would have been terrible. So yeah, you have to be open when you say you are.

Bob: When is Elmaro open?

Lynita: From the first of April to the first of January, we have summer hours, and those are every day except Monday. On weekdays it’s noon to 6. On Friday and Saturday it’s 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Sunday we’re not open in the morning because I don’t want it to be an excuse for kids not to go to church, so we’re open at noon and we close at 5 on Sunday.

Bob: What a fun conversation with Lynita from Elmaro Vineyards, located on the Wisconsin Great River Road, Highway 35 north of Trempealeau, Wisconsin. [It’s] a wonderful place to visit, chill out, and enjoy a sip of some great wine. Check out their website at elmarovineyard.com, or find them on Facebook at facebook.com/elmarovineyard.

https://www.hypnotistchrisjones.com/

Chris Jones is well known for his appearance on America’s Got Talent when he made the impossible happen: Known germaphobe Howie Mandel shook hands with Heidi, Howard, and Mel live. Since his first TV appearance, Chris has performed on shows like The Steve Harvey Show, Windy City Live, Good Day Chicago, Penn and Teller, Scam School, and the Adam Carolla Show.

This episode we start to talk about Chris Jones getting married and where he is going on his honeymoon. Listen to where the conversation takes you.

https://www.hypnotistchrisjones.com/

Chris Jones is well known for his appearance on America’s Got Talent when he made the impossible happen: Known germaphobe Howie Mandel shook hands with Heidi, Howard, and Mel live. Since his first TV appearance, Chris has performed on shows like The Steve Harvey Show, Windy City Live, Good Day Chicago, Penn and Teller, Scam School, and the Adam Carolla Show.

This episode we start to talk about Chris Jones losing one of his high school friends, and how he took the door off his bedroom. Listen to where the conversation takes you.

To find out more about the Wisconsin Great River Road please check out the website www.WiGRR.com to find out about Wyalusing State Park find them at https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/wyalusing/

Bob: Chad Breuer is the Property Supervisor of Wyalusing State Park. Wyalusing is kind of a different name. Where does the name come from, Chad?

Chad Breuer: It comes from the Native American word meaning ‘Where the old, or the Holy Man, dwells.’ I think what sets us apart is just where we’re located. We have the river, the confluence, the bluffs. And that’s why the park was formed back in 1917.

Bob: [It’s] over 100 years old. What kind of changes have been made in those 100 years, Chad?

Chad: Well, we’ve added camping. We’ve added more electrical sites. One hundred years ago, people were relying on rustic tent camping. Now, people like to still camp and get out, but [they also want] some of those luxuries of having, in case rain comes in, that camper, the grill or the oven, and the refrigerator to keep food cold. To be honest, my wife likes to sleep in a bed at night, so it’s those little things that a camper has that a tent doesn’t. We have sites for campers and a site for tent camping. A lot of people still tent camp. It’s very popular yet year-round; we even have people come in the winter and tent camp, so that’s pretty neat to get out and talk to those folks.

Bob: Do you have showers?

Chad: Yes, absolutely. We have two campgrounds. One [is] on the Wisconsin Ridge; that’s the older campground. It overlooks the bluff, and at night you can see the lights of Prairie du Chien. Then we have another campground – Homestead campground – that’s located a little more interior of the park. [It’s] a little more secluded, [and they’re] beautiful sites. [There is] a brand-new shower building, [and it’s] a beautiful shower building. We have about 109 campsites between the two campgrounds.

Bob: I’m assuming since you’re on the backwaters that kayaking is probably a pretty big thing to do there as well.

Chad: Absolutely. We have a canoe trail. We have a canoe trail that kind of heads south from the park, and you can head north out of the park. Our friends group, the Friends of Wyalusing, is a nonprofit group that works just to support the park. They support programs in the park, especially like our naturalist positions. They have canoes they rent every day. You can come up to our concession stand and rent the canoes from the Friends [of Wyalusing]. And that money stays right back here with the park by supporting our naturalist program by giving us the opportunity to hire someone to put on programs throughout the summer.

Bob: You mentioned a canoe trail. What is a canoe trail?

Chad: We’ve got signs up so people don’t … You get in the backwaters in the refuge there, and people could get lost. This way, we have signs up just marking a path, a route, for people to canoe so they don’t get lost if they’re not from the area.

Bob: If somebody hasn’t been to Wyalusing before, what would be the definite ‘you’ve got to see this’ moment there?

Chad: The big thing you have to see is Point Lookout. That’s why the park was identified; it’s where the confluence [of] where the Wisconsin [River] flows into the Mississippi [River]. We’ve got some great lookouts all along the park in the bluffs. If you want to come down and you want to spend some time, go to these lookouts and walk some of the trails and see the bluffs. If you’ve never seen it, it’s just spectacular. We’re 800 feet above the river, so it’s just spectacular views from up on the points.

Bob: Being on the Wisconsin Great River Road has a lot of perks. What are some of the perks that you find for Wyalusing being on the Great River Road?

Chad: I think anybody who’s traveling, this is definitely a destination stop. People are going to travel the Great River Road, and this is just a destination stop for people. They might not camp, but they’re going to come spend a few hours here seeing the park [and] going to the lookouts. They can look over the bluffs into Prairie du Chien, into Iowa and Marquette, [and] Pikes Peak State Park. If you’re traveling the Great River Road, this is a destination stop.

Bob: Where can people go, Chad, to find out more information about the park?

Chad: Definitely go online to the Wisconsin DNR [website] and type in ‘Wyalusing State Park.’ That’s a great way to start. It’s going to talk about the park and what we have to offer.

Bob: The big question is, you said type in ‘Wyalusing.’ How do you spell Wyalusing?

Chad: [It’s spelled] W-Y-A-L-U-S-I-N-G.

Bob: Is there anything I’m missing, Chad, that I should be asking you about?

Chad: On the Great River Road – correct me if I’m wrong – we’re talking about Highway 35?

Bob: Yup.

Chad: Then there’s a smaller property just south of Wyalusing, [and that’s] Nelson Dewey State Park. That is adjacent to historic Stonefield Village. When you do travel the Great River Road, make some time to stop at Nelson Dewey also. We have hiking trails, [but] not as many. We don’t have the boat landing, but you still have really neat lookouts down there. A lot of people go down there and they hit the lookouts, then they can go across the road and they’re at historic Stonefield Village.

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https://www.hypnotistchrisjones.com/

Chris Jones is well known for his appearance on America’s Got Talent when he made the impossible happen: Known germaphobe Howie Mandel shook hands with Heidi, Howard, and Mel live. Since his first TV appearance, Chris has performed on shows like The Steve Harvey Show, Windy City Live, Good Day Chicago, Penn and Teller, Scam School, and the Adam Carolla Show.

This episode we start to talk about Chris Jones turning 33 and how his life has gone to this point and we always hit a rabbit hole and start talking about that. Listen to where the conversation takes you.

To find out more about the Wisconsin Great River Road please check out the website www.WiGRR.com to find out about the Genoa Fish Hatchery find them at https://www.facebook.com/GenoaNFH This month on the Great River Road microcast we feature the Genoa Fish Hatchery. So, When is the Great River Road Interpretive Center open?

Raena Parsons: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. We just opened this weekend for the weekends from 10:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Bob: Are you guys the only fish hatchery? Or are there more fish hatcheries around?

Raena: There are only two federal fish hatcheries within Wisconsin.

Bob: What exactly happens at the Genoa Fish Hatchery? We drive by it all the time, but it’s usually 55 or 60 miles an hour. You kind of glance over and you see some pools, but I’m not really sure what they’re for. I’m guessing that most of the people listening right now have no idea what those even are.

Raena: It varies by the time of year. We have 20 different ponds on station, ranging in size from one-tenth of one acre to 33 acres. We also have six raceways and seven intensive rearing buildings that make Genoa capable of collection, culturing, and rearing cold, cool, and warm-water fish species. On station, we rear anywhere from 15 to 20 different species of fish. The outdoor ponds are a great habitat for the fish in the summer when the water can warm up. Some of the ponds we use for broodstock production, and broodstock are spawning fish. They’re our own broodstock. We keep the little, small fish, and then we put them out there when they’re adults, and then they actually spawn and lay eggs. Right now, you can actually come down to the hatchery and see the smallmouth bass creating nests. They actually create nests along the shore, and then they spawn in those nests. Our largest pond, which is the 33-acre pond, is for our broodstock minnows. We actually raise our own minnows on station to feed our other fish, so it reduces our cost associated with fish food.

Bob: Can anybody go by and check out the Genoa Fish Hatchery?

Raena: Yes. Actually, the majority of the facility here is open to the public. There are a couple of facilities that are isolation facilities and quarantined for ill or diseased fishes or wild fish that we bring into the station, or eggs, that isn’t open to the public because of biosecurity concerns. But the rest of the station is actually open 7 a.m. until dusk. People can come and walk around the dike roads. The main buildings are going to be open 8 a.m. until about 3 p.m. You can into most of the buildings here on the station. But a good way to figure out where you can go or can’t go is actually to stop in the interpretive center, and we have a self-guided map that you can take, and it talks about what’s in each of the buildings and what changes in each of the ponds because the species of fish you’re going to see in the pond is going to change throughout the year depending upon what we have on station and what gets moved where.

Bob: Can I bring a fishing pole?

Raena: No, you cannot. We actually don’t permit any kind of fishing on station, except for special events. We do do a couple of kids fishing events here on station. We have a kids’ ice fishing day that we do in the winter that’s really popular. We did that one last February, and we actually had more than 450 people come to that event.

Bob: What do you think of the Great River Road?

Raena: I think it’s really a fantastic opportunity to see the region. To have this to go along and see all these different cities and towns is really fantastic.

Bob: With the Genoa Fish Hatchery being on the Great River Road, does that help with the traffic of people that stop in and check it out because it is on such a beautiful, scenic byway?

Raena: It is, and that’s actually part of the way that this facility was funded. That’s where the first original funding came from, through the Highways Commission, because Genoa actually bisects the highway. We have property on both sides of Highway 35, and we get a lot of people who come through here. This year, I think we’re going to get a really large increase of the number of visitors we get here because we have this great, new interpretive center that opened last June. Now it’s open every weekend. We have our volunteers who come in and work. Then I’m hoping this summer we’ll have some special events that happen on the weekends as well for the public, including guided tours and then some touch tanks.

Bob: Raena, what will somebody find for the first time that they go to the interpretive center?

Raena: Coming into the interpretive center, there’s a great map of the Great River Road. That’s the first thing people see. They can explore other options that are on the Great River Road. Upstairs on the main level, if you park in the parking lot, there’s a mezzanine that goes out and you can look over some of our ponds. We also have a green, living roof that’s visited by all four pollinators and bees. Downstairs, we have three main exhibit halls – one on the Mississippi River as a trade highway. Then we have one that talks about the fish and wildlife resources of the area. We have one dedicated to the Battle of Bad Axe, and then one that talks about the Mississippi River commerce. We also have two freshwater aquariums downstairs. We have a stream aquarium, and then a large, deeper water aquarium with sturgeon and catfish and perch and all sorts of stuff.

Bob: Is there a cost at all?

Raena: No, the entire facility is free. The interpretive center is free, and then coming to the hatchery is also free.

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https://www.hypnotistchrisjones.com/

Chris Jones is well known for his appearance on America’s Got Talent when he made the impossible happen: Known germaphobe Howie Mandel shook hands with Heidi, Howard and Mel live. Since his first TV appearance, Chris has performed on shows like The Steve Harvey Show, Windy City Live, Good Day Chicago, Penn and Tellar, Scam School, and the Adam Carolla Show.

This episode Chris talks about his start into the business. Also his college job. Can you guess what it is?