Wisconsin Life

A classic Wisconsin activity is making its ways into the world of high school sports. Ice fishing teams are popping up in schools across the state, and the excitement and challenges of spending a cold day on the ice don’t stop until the fish are collected and the winner is determined. Taylor Pomasl brings you the story.

Boleslaw Kochanowski spends hours at his drafting table in his office above the blacksmith shop, creating designs for his metal sculptures. Getting the details right in drafting matters. The drawings, the modeling, the planning all matter. But it’s at the forge where his metalwork becomes art. Rob Mentzer brings you the story.

Dreaming can help some people get through incredibly difficult times. Tandalaya Taylor of Madison talks about how daydreaming helped her overcome a major health crisis and appreciate everyday life. Taylor’s story came to us from the UW Odyssey Project, where low-income adults find their voices and earn college credit in an English literature course. Taylor was a guest on the new podcast ‘Inside Stories.’

Just in time for the holidays author BJ Hollars brings us a Christmas story about an Eau Claire newspaper’s determination to preserve the community’s faith in Santa Claus. WPR’s Karl Christenson produced this story.

Have you ever been at a wedding and caught a glimpse of your parents slow dancing? Maybe you marveled…or maybe you cringed, but I’m willing to bet you felt…something. Jan Larson shares a story about how watching her parents dance in the kitchen brought her comfort as a child, and now as a mother as she watches her children forge their own affections. Karl Christenson brings you the story.

It seems that every season has its cocktails. When the temperature drops and the snow piles up, people want a little more warmth and folks in Wisconsin turn to a hot drink known as the Tom and Jerry. That got listener Pam Stachowski of Whitewater wondering, “Is the Tom and Jerry a Wisconsin thing?” Steve Gotcher reports.

It seems that every season has its cocktails. When the temperature drops and the snow piles up, people want a little more warmth and folks in Wisconsin turn to a hot drink known as the Tom and Jerry. That got listener Pam Stachowski of Whitewater wondering, “Is the Tom and Jerry a Wisconsin thing?” Steve Gotcher reports.

Author Eric Dregni has been a keen observer of roadside attractions for years. He recently wrote the book “The Impossible Road Trip” that chronicles the most famous stops across the United States. And, believe it or not, Wisconsin is home to some of the quirkiest. From La Crosse to the Dells and Hayward, Dregni takes you on a tour of the best roadside attractions across the state.

Just about everyone in Wisconsin is familiar with Culver’s. Whether it’s the cheese curds, the custard or the ButterBurgers that draw you in, its popularity has extended beyond its home state of Wisconsin to the greater Midwest — and even southern states like Texas and Florida. But have you ever wondered how the food chain came to be?

This story was inspired by an audience question as part of the WHYsconsin project. Submit your question at wpr.org/WHYsconsin and we might answer it.

Birch bark canoes take a long time to make. But according to master artist Wayne Valliere from the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the process is just as important as the finished project. And he should know. Valliere was just selected to be a 2020 National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment of the Arts, one of the top honors in folk and traditional art. WXPR’s Mackenzie Martin brings you the story.