Around the Corner with John McGivern

(lively music) (bells chime) We are in Wood County, in the center of Wisconsin. This is Marshfield. (upbeat, string music) We don't usually, whoa! (chuckles) (ladies laughing) So John said, "Meet me at 2442." I said, is that the address? He said, "No, it's the engine." (bell rings) The engine to the Sioux Line. Found it! - Good job. You can't miss it. Not at all. Yeah, let's tell the story of Marshfield. This old Sioux Line locomotive is a good place to start, John, because Marshfield begins as a railroad town. This area had no rivers, no lakes, no obvious natural resources, but it had a great location. We're close to the exact geographic center of Wisconsin, so this point was kind of a pretty obvious hub for cross-state railroad lines. The first train arrives back in 1872, and 20 years later five lines converge on Marshfield, and the town sees a thousand freight cars and 28 passenger trains coming through every day of the year. -

John

Wow. -

John

That's why it's still called Hub City. And those, the railroads even shape the street system here and most Wisconsin towns are kind of laid out in this very strict geometric grid. Marshfield's main streets follow the railroad tracks, which go northwest-southeast here. So the whole downtown is kind of cocked at a 45 degree angle from what you'd expect. Did these trains ship anything out of town? That's hard to imagine, John, when you look at all the farmland around here. But this was once just covered with trees, lots and lots of logs went out by rail as well as a lot of lumber and furniture from a mill owned by a guy named William Upham. And besides the mill, Upham owned a bank, a railroad, a power-plant, served as mayor, and got elected to one term as Wisconsin's governor. So the town might have been named for him as a leading citizen. The story goes that the honor went to another Yankee named John Marsh, who gave 500 books for a public library. So here we are in Marshfield, and not Upham Mills, or something like that. -

John

What did Marshfield do once all the trees were gone? -

John G

All those cleared forests become productive farms, John, and Marshfield becomes kind of the hub of Wisconsin's northern dairy belt. It shipped out a lot of milk and cheese, and made a lot of butter and ice cream. Also attracted a lot of industry, some pretty good-sized ones, including Weinbrenner shoes that moves up from Milwaukee back in 1935, and pretty soon they're making a million pairs of work shoes every year. Still in business. -

John

Was there anything else goin' on? The surprising part to me, John, was back in 1890 a group of Franciscan nuns opened St. Joseph's Hospital here in Marshfield. Had a grand total of six beds and served largely lumberjacks and mill hands, but it grew with the town, so addition after addition. One of the physicians on the staff was a German immigrant named Karl Doege, and in 1916 Dr. Doege persuaded five other physicians to join him in starting a clinic. The idea was to develop a shared practice with distinct specialties to supplement the primary care of the hospital. So, the result was that each of them put in a thousand dollars and moved into the second floor of an old movie theater in downtown Marshfield, that's the beginning of the Marshfield Clinic. So Marshfield begins as a railroad hub and today it's a hub city for healthcare. -

John

And the population? -

John G

About 19,000. -

John

Okay, and the location. -

John G

We are squarely in the center of Wisconsin, about 40 miles southwest of Wausau, 40 miles northwest of Steven's Point in northern Wood County. We're here in the fall, it's a little chilly, so it's a good bike riding? Wonderful bike riding, you got nice city trails, I put on about 15 miles this morning. Perfect, thanks, John. -

John G

See ya, John. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that is a strange map of the United States. No, it's not. You know what that is? That's half of a cow hide right there, and all of those individual pieces, are pieces you can cut, and you use those pieces, guess for what? For shoes. How long has it been in this community? -

Biannca

Weinbrenner Shoe Company has been in Marshfield since 1935. -

John

What kind of shoes are made here? -

Biannca

We make Thorogood branded footwear here, out of the box comfort, they're not hard. 75 different styles we run through the factory, we run from Oxfords to work boots. Marshfield is all welt construction, 'bout 150 steps-- 150 steps to make a boot. - About 150 steps. It all starts out with a piece of leather. They'll look at the hide before they start and they kind of visually have in their mind, they gotta be like a good puzzle guys to cut specific sizes, which will end up to be a specific shoe. In a week we go through about 800 hides. -

John

Employee-wise, how many are here? -

Biannca

We have 125 employees here in Marshfield, overall company-wide, we have around 300 employees. -

Woman

Put it in here and then you push a button. Help me! -

Woman

It's gonna bring it all in. Oh, jeez. Okay. -

Woman

So that's what your shoe looks like. That's the first day of a kind of person doing my job, right? Yes. - Yeah. Insole's the foundation, just like your house. Everything's gonna be built to the insole. We pull back the leather, we trim it, put the steel toe on like that, it's gonna put a thread through the welt, through the leather, through that white rip, and now that shoe's all together. -

John

That's the cork right there. Yep. - Wow. -

Dave

It's heat-activated, put together, and pressed. Coming up here, just final inspection. Then it goes down on our packing line, put lacing in. -

John

Do polishing? -

Dave

Label and put 'em in a box. Finally, the part I like best, shopping. Wow, they're handsome. Perfect! They're very different than the shoes I wear for work. And these are work shoes. -

Biannca

They are work shoes that everyone likes to wear from work to play. Hello. Thank you so much. -

Man

We're a custom house, that's all American-made right here in Marshfield, Wisconsin. -

John

We're at the Marshfield Furniture Company. How long has this company been going? -

Man

75 years. -

John

Is the line from this year different from the line from last? -

Man

Yes, we're always changing, whatever the style dictates.

Bill

In many environments, you can only get it the way you see it, because that's the way it's in inventory. -

John

Right. We're gonna make it to order, for you. A lot of times, the consumer becomes the designer of their own furniture. -

John

What's the turn-around on an order like that? -

Bill

From the time we schedule to the time something comes off the line is six working days. This is our CAD room. This is first day, right here. First day? - Yes. Once they have the pattern set, they'll network it. It's networked with our cutter, so when they pull up the one fabric they'll cut two, three styles at one time. -

Man

This is our fabric cutter. This will allow you to cut a 15 yard pattern in roughly 15 minutes. Once they're done cutting it, that bundle will travel the little belt into the next room here. They each have their own set of production notes that tells them how it's sewn, where it's sewn. -

John

The number of people working here on a daily basis? -

Bill

A little under a hundred. -

John

This is a maze. -

Man

This is our cushion department. I love who you get to run into. I ran into my first cousin, who works here at Marshfield furniture. Yep. - Can I work next to you? And after you get that done, did you do both sides? No, oh sorry. I'm new here. I know you are! (lively music) (staple gun clicking) -

Man

They'll cut most of the sheet pieces, then they'll start assembling the front of the frame. We use a smaller stapler here for upholstering. But, she'll put that on, staple it all in place. As it goes down here, they'll start padding up the arms. Then, by the time its going through here, they're putting the fabric on the arms. Wow! (staple guns clicking) -

Man

Then, they head from here up to inspection. Our philosophy is simple. We want to provide our customers good products and services so our customers come back and not our products. Going to Maryland. Is it break time? (woman laughs) No, not til noon. (John laughs) Not til noon! We are standing in front of what used to be UW Wood County. A two-year school in the University of Wisconsin system. It just recently became University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Marshfield. It's now a four-year school right here in Marshfield. Really important for a community of this size. (lively music) You can say Marshfield to anybody, and they know that this is here. This has been a part of the community for a long time. We're proud to be here and be part of that community. Yeah. - Yep. -

John

Can you talk how many employees are here? -

Brian

Yeah, the Marshfield campus has about 4,000 employees that come and go on a daily basis. So, it's a busy place. -

John

Are you in these halls every day? I have been with Marshfield Clinic health system for 30 years now. I actually came up after medical school and did my pediatric residency here. -

John

Is an institution of this size, for a town of 19,000 people kind of unheard of? -

Edna

It's very unusual. Being in a small community and yet having this wonderful referral hospital is very unique. -

Brian

That's one of the unique things, that we are here, is not for profit. It overall shapes the vision and the mission of what we have for patients, is to provide care, and doing it in an excellent and cost-effective manner. -

Edna

We serve a population of about a million. And, now we're in the West Building. We are trying to really provide care beyond treatment. So, really taking care of the whole patient. So, this is the Snoozelin room. It's a multi-sensory room. It's for kids to help them relax, kind of relieve their stress or anxiety. This is very good. I want one of these at home. -

Edna

Okay! -

John

This is very impressive. -

Brian

The helipad is where our helicopter, Life Link III, lands and brings patients from all over the area. They start from here, they get in the helicopter, they fly out to the referral hospital, start the initial care there, and then they'll return back to neo-natal ICU, with the patient. This is physical therapy. It is. So, there's a lot of awesome tools and what-not, that our therapists can use to help kids with their rehab. There's two boards up here. So, we can get the kids to hit the colors with their hands. (hands slapping) Does it just keep going? I won! You cheater! (Edna laughing) We're in front of the Charles Apartments which used to be known as the Hotel Charles, built in 1925. It was the fanciest hotel in all of central Wisconsin. Guess who stayed here? The cast of Gunsmoke, John Dillinger, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and his wife Jackie. But,

my favorite guest who stayed here

Lassie at Hotel Charles. Quite the guest. Left a little present in room 201. (chuckles) (upbeat music) -

Sara

my favorite guest who stayed here

We walked down, and we knew that this was where we were gonna be. We're at 2 1/2 Cups, this is Sara and Mary. You're the 1/2 cup? - Yes. (both laughing) The owner, but the half cup, yeah. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

How did this all start? Best friends since fourth grade. So, we met in elementary school. Anyway, I got into cake decorating, and she likes baking. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Pies, cakes. -

Sara

my favorite guest who stayed here

Key-lime is great, that's one of my favorites. What are these? Chocolate and white toffee. Usually, we have eight to twelve flavors per day of cupcakes alone. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

If you added up all of your types or flavors, how many would you have? -

Sara

my favorite guest who stayed here

I know we have over 150 flavored cupcakes. -

Mary

my favorite guest who stayed here

Oh, we've got turtle, Oreo, salted caramel, cherry almond, and peanut-butter cup. Each flavor has a different, like the cherry almond has cherry filling. So, each one is different. - Yes. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

So, it's not like you can make all chocolate and then, let's top 'em with-- The same thing. - Right, no. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

That's not the way it works. -

Mary

my favorite guest who stayed here

No, it's not, unfortunately. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

It would be easier, Mary. -

Mary

my favorite guest who stayed here

It would, tell me about it. (chuckling) Yes it would. (all laughing) She counted, how many cupcakes? What was it now? 770 cupcakes just for weddings. What? - That's just weddings. Just, for this week, yes. Yeah. (John chuckling) Should we leave? Do you need to go? (laughing) -

Sara

my favorite guest who stayed here

We've been here since one. Part of our attire is your apron. -

Mary

my favorite guest who stayed here

Baker's hat, beautiful. -

Sara

my favorite guest who stayed here

It's pretty much us. Now, we bring in Jodi. We're frostin' a cupcake, John. Okay. - You ready? -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Sure. -

Jodi

my favorite guest who stayed here

Load some frosting in it. We're making a turtle cupcake, gentle pressure. (lively music) It looks as easy as can be. Like that. Just in a circle and then you gradually build up. Look at that, perfect! -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Just drizzle, a bit. -

Jodi

my favorite guest who stayed here

Just a nice little drizzle. Perfect, John. Just so you know, I'm on a diet. Right. (Mary laughing) Well that will change later! Well, then I think you're out of luck. (all laughing) -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

In the van, I was like, oh my god. -

Chris

my favorite guest who stayed here

Yeah, it's really this street that brought us to Marshfield. Because we wanted to live somewhere in central Wisconsin. There's quite a few historical houses here in Marshfield. We moved in with just the two of us, and now we have three little munchkins running around. Oh, you do? - Nine, eight, and four. -

Erin

my favorite guest who stayed here

This used to be the library. The library. So, there was bookcases on this wall. -

Chris

my favorite guest who stayed here

My wife's a country girl and I'm a city boy. So, we found a house in town that had a nice piece of land with it, which really worked out well. -

Erin

my favorite guest who stayed here

Yes. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Let's talk about this neighborhood. -

Erin

my favorite guest who stayed here

We live in a really historical town, it's really cool. But, this is the doctor right here, on the far right. -

Chris

my favorite guest who stayed here

And we heard it was a 30 bed hospital. That's so great to have, isn't it? Oh yeah. - Yeah. -

Erin

my favorite guest who stayed here

So, this is the latest project in our own home. -

Chris

my favorite guest who stayed here

We're restoring the hardwood floor. It's just a house you can call home forever. It's had a lot of owners over the years. But, we hope that we're here for the next 50 years. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Let's talk about property downtown. What's your work? -

Chris

my favorite guest who stayed here

We love to buy historical properties and restore them, and just bring them back to life. Here's a building that was sitting there, run-down apartments, run-down stores. -

Erin

my favorite guest who stayed here

What made it passionate for us is, we fall in love with the people that we work with. So, they have that passion, that drive, that desire, they want to create an experience. -

Chris

my favorite guest who stayed here

But, it's really the tenants who fill it with life. -

Erin

my favorite guest who stayed here

Right. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

So, how many businesses are you the landlord for? -

Erin

my favorite guest who stayed here

I think we have 87 tenants. -

Chris

my favorite guest who stayed here

Some are commercial and some are residential. -

Erin

my favorite guest who stayed here

37 commercial, and the rest are residential. How big is your staff? Like, do you-- (Chris chuckles) This is our entire staff. - It's just us. No way! -

Chris

my favorite guest who stayed here

We just gotta turn 'em loose and say, hey, here's the space. Do with it what you want. Fulfill your dreams. And that's the definition of working with them, isn't it? -

Erin

my favorite guest who stayed here

Yes, it makes them feel like we're their partners, too. We want people to enjoy where they live, work, and play. So, we're in downtown Marshfield. We're on Central Avenue, which in any other town is called, Main Street. And, the one thing they do have in common is that Main Street, or Central Avenue, in Marshfield is the highway through town, yeah. So, sometimes it gets really loud! (cars whirring by) It goes back to 1885. It was Saul Nason. You have dad Nasonville, Saul and Anna. We are at Nasonville Dairy, this is Ken Heiman. You are the general manager. I'm the general manager, one of the partners, one of the three brothers. Along with our six sons. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Are you the first generation here? -

Ken

my favorite guest who stayed here

We are not the first generation. Our father and mother were here before we were. They brought us here in the late '60s. The plant ran 7,500 pounds of milk a day at that point. Now, it runs 1.5 million pounds of milk a day. They're doing feta right behind us. Yes, they are. We're doin' about 17% of all the feta made-- -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Say it again. You make 17% of all of the feta sold in the United States of America, comes out of here. -

Ken

my favorite guest who stayed here

Right. This pasteurizer is feeding the feta plant. The milk in the other room is coming into here, and what's happening to it is it's actually going into the machines right there. Now, it picks up the first set of knives, and then he'll cut one direction. He'll spin it, and he'll come back and cut the other direction. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

What's comin' out of here? -

Ken

my favorite guest who stayed here

The feta itself. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Here it comes. -

Ken

my favorite guest who stayed here

This will all be leveled out, and then as it cures, going down here, and goes into the next room. And then, it'll be stacked up and ready, and it will sit until tomorrow. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

You're a master cheese maker. -

Ken

my favorite guest who stayed here

I am one of the masters. What really got us here, what got our fore-fathers here, was the minerals that are in the water. If you look in the minerals in the water here, you'll find that they're the same as you'll find in the Black Forest of Germany, or the Swiss Alps. That's what it was all about. Our fore-fathers couldn't test anything except here. It has good body, it didn't fracture. It actually did the opposite. And this just came off the line, right? Yep, yep, it hasn't even been packaged yet. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Well, I gotta ask you what kind of cheese you make? We make Cheddar, Colby, Monterey, Parmesan, pizza cheese, Queso Blanco, Queso, Sico, Parma, Romano, Asiago, Fontina, Feta, Caseri, Capelateri, Capela Graviara. We make 20 different flavors of Monterey. As well as making Edam, Gouda and Muenster. Okay, would you mind? (clapping) (Ken laughs) I am in downtown Marshfield. None of these buildings were here until after 1887. There were buildings here, but they were wooden buildings. In 1887, there was a huge fire that destroyed all of those wooden structures. They built the next structures out of brick. And, they still stand today. Downtown Marshfield. Michael, we're in Marshfield. (whistle blows) Home of the Tigers. - We are. Talkin' high school football. -

Dennis

my favorite guest who stayed here

Here we go! -

Michael

my favorite guest who stayed here

John, it's a great program. I'm a big fan of Denny Gehl, he's the head coach here. Been coachin' at the school 26 years, he's a math teacher. But, he's been the head coach 11 years. Since he's been here, they've gotten to state five times, they've won states twice, and have taken second three times, which is a big number, I think. To be able to get up to state that many times, division two football, 1200 kids in the school, 142 kids in the program from freshman to varsity. Sig out. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

And Denny is coaching his son, isn't he? -

Michael

my favorite guest who stayed here

Yes, Joey is a quarterback here. But, he's goin' to Mankato State on a division two scholarship. When you talk to Denny about his son, he just lights up. As a father, you're proud as heck. He's a pleasure to coach, he's really a good student of the game. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Coach, that new stadium is something else, man. -

Dennis

my favorite guest who stayed here

It's a gorgeous place to play. We're really, really happy and really, really lucky to have that in our community. We're really proud to play on it. It's really exciting. -

Michael

my favorite guest who stayed here

Home of the Tigers. Thanks, Michael. - Thanks, John, good. That's a round barn that was built in 1916. It has 250 stanchions. I know you're thinking, that is a big, round barn. Well, it's the world's largest round barn. I know that for two reasons. One, it's in Ripley's Believe It or Not. Second, it has a sign on it. -

Steve

my favorite guest who stayed here

This is all they've ever really known. They were rescued straight out of their den. They carried the bears down in backpacks. Can I call the bears somehow? Yeah, we can, actually. You ring the bell, they'll come on out. (bell clanging) -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Oh my god, they are huge! -

Steve

my favorite guest who stayed here

Yeah, so Boda's on the left, and Muncy's on the right, there. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

To have Kodiak bears in a zoo environment is crazy special. This is Steve Burns, and you are the zoo manager. It's my job basically to take care of all the needs of the animals. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

So, in 2015, when this opportunity came, were you surprised that they said, "We're gonna send these two to Marshfield"? -

Steve

my favorite guest who stayed here

Yeah, I was very excited. People get to see them, learn from them, every single day. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Where else am I gonna see Kodiak bears in captivity? So, two of the three Kodiak bears outside of Kodiak Island reside here, at Wildwood Zoo. Two inches away from a Kodiak brown bear. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

That's amazing. -

Steve

my favorite guest who stayed here

The case we made for having the bears here, in this exhibit, honestly, I've traveled around, I've seen a lot of bear exhibits, this is the best-- - Look at 'em. -

Steve

my favorite guest who stayed here

I see them all the time interacting through the glass with people. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

That's his spot. He's gonna sniff right there. -

Steve

my favorite guest who stayed here

They lull you into a sense of, aw, they're a big, lazy, slow bear. But, when they wanna be fast, they're fast. (bear roars) They really interact with the public. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

That's good TV! So, they're all in there? -

Jim

my favorite guest who stayed here

Pretty much all of them. Steve Burns wanted to do a butterfly exhibit. He heard of us, and asked if we would do this exhibit. Where do you get the caterpillars? I hunt them. You hunt them? - Hm mm. Where do you find them? Ditches, fields. One out of every 10 to 20 caterpillars make it in the wild. So, that was our incentive to start bringing them in and helping them out that way. We basically raise them at our house. We just bring the slats to the zoo, so people can see 'em hatch, and they can see 'em flying around. They can see that process. -

Jim

my favorite guest who stayed here

They're actually called, yeah, the Super Generation. The Super Generation? - Yep. -

Melissa

my favorite guest who stayed here

They're born without the hormone, the mating hormone so they live longer. That's how they're able to survive that long to make it to Mexico. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

And, how many have you brought into the world this year? -

Jim

my favorite guest who stayed here

1500. You won't believe what I have in my hands. It's a newborn, no, I swear. This just left its chrysalis today. -

Jim

my favorite guest who stayed here

It's rewarding to see 'em turn into butterflies and when they fly away, to me, that's a success. It's a success every time. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Have a good trip to Mexico. I like Playa del Carmen! (upbeat music) - Yes. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

We're right downtown Marshfield, in this incredible plaza. If you stroll down our Central Avenue, we have a lot to offer. This really just compliments this beautiful downtown we have. It's been years in the making that we wanted to bring something downtown. We would really like to just add more music. I never knew that I was wrong More entertainment. Bring food vendors out. So, the plaza came about because this spot was being underutilized. We try to keep it as busy as we can Thursday through Saturday. We want the downtown to flourish, we want people to come down, shop. Then, come down to the plaza and see what we have going on. (people clapping) - After 93! (country music) -

Nikki

my favorite guest who stayed here

I think it's been a really successful thing for Marshfield. -

Stacey

my favorite guest who stayed here

Kitchen Table will be 42 in November. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

How many seats, if it's maxed out? -

Stacey

my favorite guest who stayed here

So, max, we're at about 50. We try to feed 'em fast. The faster you feed 'em, the faster they get out. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

What time do those doors open? -

Stacey

my favorite guest who stayed here

At 7 a.m. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

I bet you have some true customers who show up every morning. - Every morning. There's people parked outside. If they have their spot-- I heard this is the girls' table. But, when the men sit over there-- Yes. - That's right. Do you know everybody? I know quite a few people, yeah. If I don't know their names, I know what they eat. You do? - Yeah. What do you usually eat? -

Woman

my favorite guest who stayed here

I have two poached eggs and toast. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Has the menu changed much in the 24 years? No, not much at all. - It hasn't? It hasn't. -

Stacey

my favorite guest who stayed here

We add a couple things here and there. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Really good food. -

Stacey

my favorite guest who stayed here

Yeah, really good food. Just, home-made. It's hard to beat the soup and the home-made bread. It's made with love. We're gonna teach you how to make an omelet. You seem excited. I am. (chuckles) -

Nicole

my favorite guest who stayed here

You're gonna whisk up the eggs. You want 'em nice and light and fluffy. So, we'll give it a swirl. You can go ahead and pour the eggs right in. You're just gonna pull and tilt. Pull, and tilt? - Yeah. And, we'll wait for steam to start rising up off of it. - Oh. That way you know it's cooked underneath. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

What is this one called? -

Nicole

my favorite guest who stayed here

This is our Peasant omelet. It's probably our most popular. Then, we're gonna go under here. It's just gonna finish off the top of that omelet for you. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

When it gets crankin' and you have 15 omelets up there, are you like, ah? No, we got a pretty good crew. They always help us out. You have a crew? Hey, crew. - Hi. -

Nicole

my favorite guest who stayed here

Now when you get here, stop. Just flip the whole pan right over. Oh, the whole pan. - Ta-da! You made an omelet. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Not bad. You may be surprised, but this is my favorite part of the day. Breakfast? (John giggles) No eating, no matter what time. To the Kitchen Table. - To the Kitchen Table. (mugs clanking) Thanks so much ladies. Thanks for taking the time with me. Appreciate it, we'll see you. To you guys, thank you. - Woo hoo. Thank you, John. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

How are they arranged? In any order? Oh yeah, precise order. (John laughs) I like to start out by showing you something that's different than anything else you'll ever see around here. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Okay. That's a octonoggin', seven heads and a cranium. (bottle pops) My bong bird. (bell rings) Bong bird. Yeah, I'll show you what makes that work. You see the hose there, runs in the shop? My wife's in there blowing. (John laughs) -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

What's going on here? -

Clyde

my favorite guest who stayed here

You mean when I started this, or something? -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Yeah, when did you start all this? Well, about 26 years ago, I made a big bird and hung it in the tree out there. It got so busy, people started coming. I don't know how they started coming. It exploded on us. Now, we get around 15,000 people every year. Let me show you my best piece ever. By far. - Ever? Almost looks real, doesn't it? It's so good. (laughing) He can't help himself. You pushed all his buttons, you know. These are fun, this is fused glass. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

You do mostly glass work? -

Nancy

my favorite guest who stayed here

Mostly glass, yeah. How do you make a bead? That glass melts at about 1100 degrees. Now, I have molten glass. I'm gonna catch that drip. I wrap it around. So, I'm rolling it on here to shape it. If you have to have something matching exactly, you don't want mine. You don't want yours, yeah. No, because, I make each one individually. They probably will not be the same. -

John

my favorite guest who stayed here

Jurustic Park, who came up with that? -

Clyde

my favorite guest who stayed here

Well, you know, I couldn't call it Jurassic Park. - No, you couldn't. (chuckles) Yeah, so, Jurustic, and you may have noticed, there's a rust appears here and there. -

Nancy

my favorite guest who stayed here

A lot of things that he's done are from the story. Then, you know, I got it up there, and it more resembles a naval dragon. You can tell by the big outie on his belly. (John laughing) When people come out here, they see you? Yeah. - They do. Yeah, if he lets 'em. (John laughing) They first called Marshfield Hub City because of the railroads, now they call it that because all the activity. Marshfield, great city. We're here with Mayor Bob McManus. How are you, sir? I'm very good, thank you. We love your town. Thank you, very much. I have an assignment for you. Okay. You have 30 seconds to tell us why Marshfield, Wisconsin is the best place in the world to work, live, and play. And, Mayor Bob, you can start now. (bells dings) You know, we are very fortunate here. We have world-class health-care, great employers, right now with hundreds of good paying jobs. Elementary, middle and high schools, both public and private, University with an MBA program, as well as trade schools. Great places to eat and to shop. And great places where you could just walk around the city at any time, day or night, it is so safe. Yeah. That's what we have here in Marshfield. It's a great place to live. - Three, two, one. Perfect, Mayor! Michael, we're in Marshfield, home of the Tigers. We are. (John roars) (both laughing) Aw geez. -

Steve

my favorite guest who stayed here

You could be one of the few people in the world that's been licked by a Kodiak bear and lived to tell about it. Sure, maybe. I'm never gonna wash my hand! Yeah, take that home with you. (chuckles) I'm nervous! You are, what do you think about me? (John laughing) I just wet my pants, I think. (both laughing) Here we are, John, at the end of the bike trail in Marshfield, Wisconsin. And we wouldn't be here without the support of our underwriters. So, underwriters, thank you so much. Thank you. (peaceful music) -

Narrator

my favorite guest who stayed here

The Greater Milwaukee Foundation's Ernest C. & Florence M. Schocke Fund, and by the David A. & Nancy E. Putz Fund. The Greater Milwaukee Foundation, inspiring philanthropy, serving donors, and strengthening communities now, and for the future. -

Host

my favorite guest who stayed here

Michels Corporation, serving the energy, transportation, telecommunications, and utility industries. Michels, constructing North America's infrastructure for our future. (intense drum roll) (calming music) - We Energies Foundation and Wisconsin Public Service Foundation are proud to support public television. Together, we create a brighter future for the communities we serve. (upbeat music) - ATC moves electricity from where it's generated to communities where it's needed. American Transmission Company, helping to keep the lights on, businesses running, and communities strong. (birds chirping) (air blowing)