Route 51

Thursday, May 25 at 10 a.m., Route 51 features our annual garden show, providing growing tips tailored specifically for north central Wisconsin. Host Glen Moberg welcomes back to the program master gardeners Lynn Caine and Nick Schultz, who will answer the questions our listeners have about growing flowers, vegetables, shrubs and trees in our often inclement northern climate. Caine is an orchard owner and vice president of the Wisconsin Master Gardener Association board of directors. Schultz writes the Perpetual Gardener column for the Portage County Gazette .

Thursday, May 18 at 10 a.m., Route 51 celebrates WPR’s first 100 years with Jack Mitchell, author of Wisconsin on the Air: 100 Years of Public Broadcasting in the State That Invented It . Mitchell led WPR from 1976-1997. Prior to his work at WPR he became National Public Radio’s first employee where he was instrumental in creating its flagship program All Things Considered . Joining Mitchell and host Glen Moberg is Randall Davidson, author of 9XM Talking, WHA Radio and the Wisconsin Idea . During his 18 years at WPR Davidson was the network’s afternoon news producer and newscaster, chief announcer and unofficial historian. Rounding out the program is WPR’s central regional manager Rick Reyer, who will provide a regional historical perspective and a look into the next 100 years.

Thursday, May 11 at 10 a.m., Route 51 focuses on the regional impact of human trafficking, defined as the recruitment, harboring, transporting, obtaining or maintaining of a person by means of force, fraud, or coercion, including but not limited to sex trafficking. All 72 counties in Wisconsin have documented cases of human trafficking. Glen Moberg will moderate a discussion with Andrea Oyuela, Hispanic Advocate Program Coordinator of The Women’s Community, a domestic abuse and sexual assault victim’s shelter in Wausau; Sarah Bedish, a Patrol Officer with the Wausau Police Department; and Deb Allison-Aasby, Business Development Director for the Damascus Road Project, an organization based in Appleton that is dedicated to fighting human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Thursday, May 4 at 10 a.m., Route 51 features a discussion about how national trade policies affect our state. The program will look the ongoing dispute with Canada over dairy exports and timber imports, and how it affects both industries in Wisconsin. Glen Moberg will moderate a discussion with Matt Jensen, Vice President of the Great Lakes Timber Association; and Don Radtke, Vice President of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, about the challenges facing dairy and timber in our state.

Thursday, April 20 at 10 a.m., Route 51 features a musical conversation with jazz vocalist Janet Planet, who will be the featured guest artist Friday evening at the UW-Marathon County Vocal Jazz Festival in Wausau. Glen Moberg will ask Planet about her career, her influences, and her work with young musicians as a faculty member at Lawrence University in Appleton. UW-Marathon County Assistant Professor of Music Tim Buchholz will discuss the Vocal Jazz Festival, which will provide a learning experience for high school and college vocal jazz groups in a non-competitive environment. Janet Planet has been called “the voice of the new jazz culture.” She has performed in arts centers, opera houses, jazz festivals and clubs around the world, without losing touch with her Wisconsin roots. She has recorded more than 20 albums, the most recent of which feature the music of Bob Dylan.

Thursday, April 13th at 10 a.m., Route 51 looks at the economic, social, and cultural importance of young professionals to smaller, rural communities. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and NEWaukee, a social architecture firm, have spent the last few years collaborating with young professional groups across the state to brand Wisconsin as a work-place destination for Millennials. Glen Moberg will moderate a discussion with Nick O’Brien, Community Engagement Specialist with MCDEVCO, Marathon County’s economic development firm; Kayla Rombalski, Director of Talent and Development with the Portage County Business Council and Jon Byom, VP of Engineering with Renaissance Learning of Wisconsin Rapids. Both O’Brien and Rombalski are coordinating YPWeek, a week-long statewide initiative of community engagement programming. Byom will speak to Renaissance Learning’s experience as a large employer of young professionals in North Central Wisconsin. YPWeek Wisconsin began as a way to provide a week-long series of events that focus on discovery, adventure, and meaningful conversation and has grown into a statewide initiative with 25 participating communities including Wausau, Stevens Point, Wisconsin Rapids, Marshfield, and Price County April 22-29.

Thursday, April 6th at 10 a.m., Route 51 looks at the importance of language in early childhood development, and a new technology designed to help children who are just learning how to talk. The LENA (Language Environment Analysis) technology measures talk in a child’s environment using a wearable digital recorder and software. The research was pioneered by the late Terrance Paul and his wife Judith, formerly of Wisconsin Rapids. Glen Moberg will moderate a discussion with Michael Baum, Director of Early Childhood Program Development with the LENA Research Foundation; Dr. Corina Norrbom, Health Policy Fellow with the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service; and Erica Huffman, Prevention and Child Advocacy Center Manager for Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, and co-chair of the Marathon County Early Years Coalition.

Thursday, March 23 at 10 a.m., Route 51 features a conversation about the science behind how our minds and bodies benefit from the presence of water. Dr. Wallace J. Nichols is a marine biologist and author of Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do . Eric Olson is the director of UW Extension Lakes, a team of education professionals dedicated to preserving Wisconsin’s legacy of lakes through education, communication, and collaboration. Glen Moberg will ask Nichols and Olson about the cognitive, emotional, psychological, social, and spiritual benefits of healthy waterways. Dr. Nichols is the keynote speaker for the 2017 Wisconsin Lakes Partnership Convention April 5-7 at the Holiday Inn and Convention Center in Stevens Point.

Thursday, March 16 at 10 a.m., Route 51 features three guests who are bringing new life to historic old buildings in North Central Wisconsin. David Hummer is the director and founder of the Museum of Contemporary Art, which will open later this year in the old Wausau Club building, where that city’s leaders met 100 years ago to determine the region’s economic future. Jared Linzmeier is the co-owner of Ruby Coffee Roasters, a specialty wholesale coffee company which is part of a renaissance in historic Nelsonville in Portage County. Stephanie Springborn is the executive director of Winds Paradox, which is renovating Merrill’s historic Matthias building for a future art gallery. Glen Moberg will ask Hummer, Linzmeier and Springborn about the challenges posed by repurposing historic structures, and their goal of using something old to attract new, young customers to a location.

Thursday, March 9 at 10 a.m., Route 51 features a live Blues in the Schools Concert in the James F. Veninga Theater in the UW Center for Civic Engagement with Becky Barksdale and her band. Glen Moberg will emcee the event and ask Barksdale about her experiences and musical influences. The program will also feature Mike Tatro of the Great Northern Blues Society, UW Marathon County Assistant Professor of Music Tim Buchholz and interviews with educators and students about the importance of music and the arts in school curriculums. Barksdale is a Texas born blues musician who has been inducted into the Gulf Coast Music Hall of Fame. She was the lead guitarist for Michael Jackson’s 1993 World Tour and a guitarist and vocalist with the blues rock band Canned Heat. Her music has been used in numerous motion picture and trailer soundtracks. Barksdale headlines the Blues Café concert Saturday March 11 at the Rothschild Pavilion.