John McGivern’s Main Streets

– John McGivern: This city in Wisconsin is one of only two major American cities built on an isthmus.

– Announcer: Thanks to our underwriters.

- Looking to bring life to your Wisconsin Dells getaway?

Bring your family, bring your friends, bring an extra suit, and bring on the water parks.

Summer in Wisconsin Dells: Bring it on!

Wisconsin Dells: The waterpark capital of the world.

WisDells.com.

- From the Green Circle Trail to Point Brewery, you'll find more fun in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

- Wisconsin's picture-perfect historic downtown Greendale isn't just a great backdrop for photos.

It's the perfect place to find unique gifts, spend time with a friend, enjoy a perfect brandy old fashioned, learn about the past, and enjoy the beautiful flowers.

Ask anyone who's made memories here.

We'll all tell you the same thing.

You just gotta see Greendale!

- Twenty-minute commutes.

Weekends on the lake.

Warm welcomes and exciting career opportunities.

Not to mention all the local flavor!

There's a lot to look forward to in Wisconsin.

Learn more at InWisconsin.com.

- At We Energies, we believe communities are stronger when we all work together.

For more than 40 years, the We Energies Foundation has supported charitable organizations across Wisconsin.

Together, we're creating a brighter future.

- Heiser Automotive is honored to help John McGivern and his team arrive safely at many Main Streets.

Heiser itself has been in the community for over a hundred years.

We have worked hard to achieve the American dream, and now it's your community's turn.

We are here to help.

- My father taught me that to make great bakery, you have to do it the right way.

O&H Danish Bakery, where Kringle traditions begin.

– Announcer: Thanks to the Friends of Plum Media and to the Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

'Cause these are our Main Streets Somethin' 'bout a hometown speaks to me There's nowhere else I'd rather be The heart and soul of community's right here On these Main Streets - This is Madison, the capital of our great state of Wisconsin.

Oh, by the way, an isthmus is a strip of land between two bodies of water, and the other major American city built on an isthmus: Seattle, Washington.

Madison is in southcentral Wisconsin in the center of Dane County.

And it's between the shores of Lake Mendota and Lake Monona.

And for this episode, we're focusing on the area around State Street, which connects the State Capitol and the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Emmy, I don't understand why Milwaukee is not the capital of our great state of Wisconsin because it's the largest city in our state.

– Emmy Fink: Here's where the story began with Madison.

We're going back to 1829, when former federal judge James Doty purchased over a thousand acres of swamp and forest land on this isthmus.

I mean, he had big ideas.

So at the time, the Wisconsin Territory was just getting created.

The legislature was meeting all the way out, like, 65 miles southwest of here in Belmont.

Well, their whole goal was to try to find a permanent location for the capital.

So for those undecided voters, Doty said, "You know, it's cold here.

"Let me get you a buffalo robe to keep you warm."

– John: A fur coat for you.

– Emmy: And you wanna build a nice house here in Madison?

Here's a discounted lot.

– John: It's a great deal.

- It is; it's a great deal.

- But I don't understand why they named the city Madison then.

- So in 1836, James Madison died.

So Doty said, "You know what, in his honor, we're gonna name the city Madison."

Which, I gotta say, is a better choice than, like, Dotyville.

– John: And we're covering in this episode, the area around State Street, which really shows the energy of this city.

– Emmy: Best people-watching ever.

– John: But from the Capitol to Bascom Hill.

– Emmy: Yeah.

– John: Twelve-minute walk.

- You're a super fast walker.

- Yeah, I'm a fast walker.

- Everybody else is gonna be 14.

You can bike it in four.

- And get an episode of television in 28.

- Well, then, tick-tock, let's go.

– John: Let's go!

[light uplifting music] I'm very excited to be back in our state capitol.

What a beautiful building.

The visitors here, they're not just Wisconsin people.

They're people from all over the world, I'm sure.

– Chris Wagner: We have the pleasure to meet people internationally.

It would assist if I knew foreign languages.

- The three that you know are enough, Chris.

[Chris chuckling] A badger.

Are there a few of these in the building?

- A few.

- How many?

- 1,800 is what somebody has counted.

On each door, there are two.

750 doors, carry the one, 1,500 right there, yeah.

There is a 1,200-pound badger outside of the governor's office.

And every day, our fourth graders come and they rub its nose for good luck.

- And is there anything you say when you rub the nose?

- Go, Pack.

- Go, Pack, go!

[laughing] Go, Pack.

- Our first Capitol at a different site down near Belmont.

- Looks like a grocery store to me.

- Correct, and it lasted only 42 days.

So they built this, and we outgrew this one.

And they built this wonderful second Capitol until 1904, when fire did take place, and this is where we are today.

People go, "Oh, my gosh."

And you're as safe as could be.

Look, one can see two of the four mosaics.

And each of these four mosaics, 100,000 pieces of tile.

– John: Observation deck this way.

Only 11 steps more.

- That's right.

- I'm counting them.

- Please do.

- Okay.

Eleven.

[Chris chuckling] - It's Madison's best-kept secret.

It really is.

People come up and go, "I've lived here for 40 years.

And I've never been up here."

– John: They've never been.

The size of the dome.

– Chris: The volume makes us the third or fourth largest dome in the world.

On the top, our Lady Wisconsin, she is in all her magnificence at 284 feet.

This exquisite building has one flaw.

- What am I looking at?

- To the right side of the window, this one is missing an ornament.

- They forgot to put it in?

- They purposely-- - Purposely did not?

- To show that nothing is perfect.

- Yeah.

Can we get it done though?

I'd like to see that done before I leave.

- Yes.

Two o'clock this afternoon, it'll be done.

– John: Thank you so much.

– Chris: Yes, yeah.

– John: Yeah.

- Do you see this building behind me?

It has been through so many makeovers.

It opened as the Capitol Theater back in 1928, and it opened as a silent movie house, complete with a Grand Barton theater organ.

And it's one of the only Grand Bartons that still works, and it's still in its original location.

Of course, silent movies were pretty short-lived.

So it turned into a concert hall, and they welcomed acts like The Beach Boys and Lawrence Welk.

Well, then came the '70s, and the city redesigned this corner, and they turned it into the Madison Civic Center.

Well, fast forward to the 1990s, and this building really needed a lot of repairs.

Well, thankfully, one Madison resident stepped forward in a big way with over $200 million.

At the time, it was the single largest donation to the arts in American history, right here on State Street.

- Let's talk about the importance of public art in any community, let alone Madison.

– Meri Rose Ekberg: Public art is really, it brings people together.

It encourages critical thinking.

It's something that, it's more than just beautifying space.

– John: And really encourages discussion, doesn't it?

- Absolutely, yeah.

A lot of discussion, which is what we love about it.

– John: You have a high respect for local artists, don't you?

– Meri: We've worked with a ton of local artists on projects, but we also like to keep it open to international artists to apply.

– John: Can we talk about your more recent installations?

– Meri: One of our newest pieces is at the Confluence at Library Mall, which is this meeting of the State Street Pedestrian Mall and the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Library Mall.

On the one side, we have this natural Wisconsin granite that's very rough and rugged, and it's sort of acting upon this stainless steel laser-cut form that is very sleek and modern.

I don't know that a lot of people realize this, but there's this orange circle at the top.

The Sun shines through on the Equinox, which is kind of a cool, fun thing to know.

- And the total number of pieces in the public art in the city of Madison?

- We have a little over 80 outdoor public artworks in the city, not including our utility boxes.

Of those, we have a little over a hundred.

– John: A utility box?

- The City of Madison in 2016 did a pilot program to start wrapping utility boxes, which control all the functions for the traffic signals.

– John: Yeah.

– Meri: And the public loved it.

And each year, we'll do more and more.

– John: What is this called?

– Meri: This is called Four Lakes.

And it represents the four lakes of Madison: Mendota, Monona, Waubesa, and Kegonsa Lakes.

And in the middle is a water feature representing the river.

And at the end, there's a badger.

And obviously, the badger is UW-Madison's mascot.

– John: Yeah.

What are these guys?

- So these are Philosophers' Stones by Jill Sebastian.

– John: And they're multipurpose, aren't they?

- Yeah, so they're really encouraged people to, you know, sit.

Yeah, see, they're very comfortable seats.

– John: And you'll find these up and down State Street?

– Meri: Yeah, absolutely.

- This is a plaza, sort of?

- Yeah.

We're in Peace Park, and we have lots of festivals that use it all the time.

- Meri Rose is the expert, and I saw a sign that said, "Please step on green circle to activate fountain."

She was like, "No."

[laughing] Right?

- I'm impressed.

- So how long have you known-- - I'm excited.

- Not known that these work?

- Eight years.

I had no idea that this functioned.

- Isn't it crazy?

- Every day, you learn.

- From where I'm standing, I can see one, two, three museums.

Within a mile from where I'm standing, can you guess how many museums there are?

[quirky music] - Within just one mile of the State Capitol, you will find, count 'em, seven different museums.

So right on the Capitol Square we have the Madison Children's Museum, the Wisconsin Historical Museum, and the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.

Just down State Street is MMoCA, the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.

And then on campus, well, we have the Chazen Museum of Art, the Geology Museum, and the Physics Museum.

And I feel smarter just having read you the list.

- The food selection on State Street is no joke.

There are concepts from all over the world.

We're talking Greek and Mediterranean, Venezuelan, Hawaiian, Mexican, Chinese, Russian, Italian, Japanese, and Nepalese.

If you come to State Street and you can't find something to eat, you're not hungry!

[bright upbeat music] We're on State Street.

We're at a place called Justveggiez.

How did you open up a vegan restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin?

– James Bloodsaw: My father had a whole lot of health issues, and he told me, don't end up like him.

I went vegan.

So I made a Reuben slider.

- Okay, you made a vegan Reuben slider?

- Yeah.

- Shut up.

[both laughing] Can you tell I'm not a vegan?

- I see that.

[both laughing] - John: It's nice to have your own place, isn't it?

– James: Yes.

– John: It's a lot of responsibility.

- It's a lot of hats.

- It's a lot of hats.

- A lot of hats.

'Cause you know, I'm the prep cook, dishwasher, the HR.

– John: So does your wife work here as well?

– James: Yeah.

– John: She does?

– James: Yeah.

– John: It's the whole family.

– James: The whole family.

I have nine kids.

- Excuse me?

- Nine.

And I-- [both laughing] I see why 'cause he know I needed some employees.

- You need help.

- Right?

- This is Mercy and Grace.

Is that right?

- Yeah.

- So is everybody in the family vegan?

- No, just our dad.

- Just your dad?

- Yep, we're vegetarian.

- Oh, you're vegetarian.

That's the vegan chicken.

And in truth, what is it?

– James: Just wheat and spices.

– John: Wheat and spices.

Oh, and they're gonna go into the fryer.

– James: Yeah.

- Do people turn vegan to lose weight?

- Sometimes it's about health issues.

Then sometimes it's about animals too.

- Cruelty to animals is one issue around it as well.

Orange sauce.

[food sizzling] Oh, here we go.

Right on top.

Take a look; how gorgeous is this?

But does it taste like chicken?

Do not lie to me.

[both laughing] Now, that's stupid.

[all laughing] It tastes just like chicken.

Then they'll be like, "And then McGivern left Madison a vegan!"

[all laughing] This is delicious.

Some places change a lot.

State Street is one of those places.

And some places stay the same.

State Street is one of those places as well.

The Orpheum Theater, been here since 1927.

Goodman's Jewelers since 1933.

Badger Liquor and Triangle Market, both established in 1935.

Nick's Restaurant began serving food in 1959.

And Paul's Bookstore and Stop & Shop have been here since 1962.

That's the best thing about State Street.

There's always something new and there's always something familiar.

[groovy music] Talking about something called Mad Lit.

- Rob "DZ" Franklin: Mad Lit is an eight-week event series that usually happens right here at the top of State Street.

The idea is to make a more inclusive and engaging downtown.

We do that through music, we do it through visual arts, and we do it through small business vendors, all of color.

- How did this come to your mind?

- Funny story, I used to live in this building right here for about eight years.

And during between the pandemic and civil unrest, I saw that State Street kind of lost some of its luster.

And I was figuring, you know, what ways can we try to get that experience to get people to come back and help revitalize this area?

- So you don't live here anymore?

- I don't live here anymore.

- Well, now look, it would've been perfect.

- It would've been.

I'm still a downtown guy.

- Yeah, yeah.

You can walk here.

- I can still walk here.

When the civil unrest happened, there was a lot of visual art that happened out here.

And that's kind of what inspired the idea of making sure that we had visual artists that were representing a series as well.

– John: Food-wise, what do they do?

- Food-wise, we get different vendors from throughout the city, of color.

– John: So we're at the top of State Street.

Is there anything specific about as you make your way towards campus?

- So, like, on this end, it's more of the traditional business idea.

Once you get past Johnson, then that kind of becomes the campus area.

– John: Look at the kids!

– Rob: But hey, let 'em have their fun.

So if you get 150, 200 college kids that come up the block and then you mix that in with the 100 or 200 community folks that are coming out, that's the hope is that we put to practice the idea of being inclusive.

Reach out to someone that you don't know, you know, and take that chance to have that conversation.

- I'm sure the community thanks you for doing this, but thank you for doing this.

- That's cool, man; thank you.

- Did you know that Madison has its own official city bird?

And it's not the same as our state bird, the robin.

It's much taller and much more colorful.

Okay, that was your hint.

[quirky music] - As farfetched as this may sound, I promise it is true.

The official city bird of Madison is the plastic pink flamingo.

That's right; it dates back to 1979, when two students literally filled Bascom Hill here with over 1,000 flamingos.

I mean, it started as a huge prank.

It has turned into a yearly tradition that is a awesome fundraiser for UW.

It's so cool.

They were so popular, it officially became the city bird back in 2015.

Good, I just need a thousand more.

- You know where I'm at?

I'm at the Terrace at the Memorial Union.

Do you know what this is?

Sunburst.

Sunburst chair.

The back of this chair is the trademark design of the Wisconsin Union.

That's what all students have in common, they've all sat in one of these chairs some time in their student career here in Madison.

These colors, they're supposed to evoke summer, spring, fall.

And they're supposed to pay tribute to the history of Wisconsin farming.

Do you know, you can buy these chairs, but you buy 'em in red and white.

And if you own one that is green, orange, or yellow, you're a thief.

- If you have never tried standup paddleboarding, give it a shot.

– Dan Dunne: It seems scarier 'cause it's like, "Oh, this is gonna be tippy," but-- - John: It's not.

– Dan: It's not.

– John: I've done it.

– Dan: They're super fun.

– John: But the first moment on it is like, "This isn't gonna work."

And then 20 minutes later, it's like, "Look at me!"

– Dan: Yeah, it's super easy.

It's getting you out there and trying something new.

- Talk about this program.

- Yeah, so Outdoor UW has been in operation for the last four or five years, and it's kind of a newer component of the student-run clubs, which is the Hoofer Clubs.

– Emmy: Where did the Hoofers name come from?

– Sam Hagedorn: There was a saying called hoofing it.

Basically just meant getting somewhere on the power of your own two feet.

- So Sam, how many clubs are there within the Hoofers organization?

- Yeah, so there's six clubs, the Outing Club, Mountaineering Club, Riding Club, Sailing Club, Scuba Club, and Ski & Snowboard Club.

– Emmy: This has been a UW thing since what, the '30s?

- Yeah, it stood the test of time, definitely.

I think it's just, the outdoors doesn't go outta style.

– Dan: Our goal here at Outdoor UW is to get folks to learn more about the outside, to recreate.

So we have all sorts of rentals, like kayak rentals, standup paddleboard rentals, camping gear rentals.

In the winter, we just started a program last year, ice skating.

– John: This isn't just students?

– Dan: Part of it is students, but a bigger part of it is community education and getting people out.

- And if you think these adventures are just here in Madison, oh, that's not the case.

- No, Outing Club is super cool.

They do a ton of, like, week-long trips.

I know they went to New Mexico, they've gone to the Everglades.

Mountaineering Club went to Spain last year.

- You guys provide the access to all of these great experiences.

I mean, you can show up with no knowledge, no experience, and they're not gonna laugh at you.

Right?

- Right, exactly, yeah.

I'm a great example.

I had no idea how to sail a year and a half ago.

I'm like, "It's right here.

Might as well try it."

– Emmy: Right?

– Sam: Now I do it all the time, and I love it.

- With all the things you've been able to experience being the president of this club, what has filled your soul the most?

– Sam: This is gonna be kind of a cheesy answer, but I love the people.

The experiences, the activities are awesome.

But if you can't do it with people you love, why do it?

- It sounds like a great gig.

- It's great.

- Congratulations.

- Yeah.

- Thanks for talking to me.

- Thanks, John.

- Thanks.

- UW-Madison has been around for 175 years, but the Ho-Chunk people have lived here for thousands of years, and they called this area Dejope, which means "Four Lakes."

Now we know this for two reasons.

This university has more Native burial mounds than any other campus in the entire world.

And this is pretty neat.

Back in 2022, the oldest canoe ever found in the Great Lakes region, they pulled out of Lake Mendota.

It was over 3,000 years old.

Now that's a well-made boat.

- We're at PBS Wisconsin.

I am talking to a host of a PBS series, Angela Fitzgerald, who has a show called Wisconsin Life.

It's great to be at PBS Wisconsin.

– Angela: I'm excited to have you back.

- Thank you.

You don't work in here though much, do you?

- I don't, no.

We do all of our shoots out on location.

- Out in the field?

- Yes.

So you do kind of exactly what I do.

- Yes.

- So we're out there talking to people.

- Out there talking to people.

Managing the elements, the sun, all of that.

– John: Who do you talk to and what do you want to happen?

– Angela: With Wisconsin Life, our whole goal is to elevate diverse stories and experiences from across our state.

– John: How many episodes a season do you do?

- We do, ooh, six, eight?

- Six?

– Producer: Eight.

- Eight.

- Oh, good, I love that your producer is behind here, because so is mine.

– Angela: That helps!

– John: If people only knew-- - Angela: The information.

Other people's concept of TV is like, "Oh, you have a trailer and you have a makeup and wardrobe," and I'm like, "We have a van with some bug spray.

That's as glamorous as it gets."

[John laughing] And it's great to be able to share with someone who was born and raised in the state, something that they didn't even know existed here.

- That's what we love.

We love that people are like, "I had no idea that that was in my hometown."

And I don't know if you have this.

These are the people I travel with every shoot.

[all laughing] - Angela: This is your entourage?

– John: Yes, this is my entourage.

- Who are they?

- They're with the John McGivern Main Streets bus tour.

And they're going where I went.

- Wow!

- Which is great.

Did you have a good time, you guys?

– Group: Yeah!

- Yeah, wow.

No one said no.

[all laughing] - Good.

- Thank you.

Kelly, you are the producer of Wisconsin Life.

– Kelly Saran: Yes, I am.

We're in UW, part of UW-Madison.

- Yeah.

- And it really takes a whole station to move a show forward.

- What's challenging for you?

- Challenging is going to a place that you haven't been, John.

- That's what's challenging.

[both laughing] That's what's challenging.

- Is that right?

McGivern was here.

- I'll see the sticker and I'm like, "Ah, McGivern was here."

– John: Sorry.

[both laughing] - Kelly: The control room.

We've got graphics, we've got lighting back there.

We've got the directors, the producers, and the audio.

- John McGivern's Main Streets, 7:00 p.m., PBS Wisconsin.

– Kelly: So these are our editing suites.

– John: This is Wisconsin Life?

– Kelly: This is Wisconsin Life.

- The editor's stamp on a show really creates a show, does it not?

– Inga Foley: You hope so.

- Yeah.

Now what's all this?

- This is what's airing now.

So John, what we saw inside the station, we're also seeing here.

We have a light board.

- Director sitting over here.

- Director's sitting over there.

Nice.

- So you don't ever bring this out for Wisconsin Life?

- We don't, nope.

We're just a couple cameras in a van with me and two videographers.

- And bug spray.

- And bug spray.

[chuckling] - John: Is there a snack machine on this bad boy?

– Kelly: No, you gotta bring your own snacks.

– John: You do?

- This building behind me has been here since 1969, and since that time, it has gained quite the reputation for being the most confusing building on the UW campus, especially for incoming freshmen.

So there are myths that this building was built upside down, backwards, and as a maze.

I'm really not sure, the architect, he built it in the brutalist fashion.

AKA ugly, the real blocky concrete, small windows, straight lines.

But guess what?

Good news.

In 2029, it is slated to be replaced.

So if you have an interest in getting lost in the humanities building for old time's sake, I don't know, do it before 2029.

But I sure hope they don't do anything with these beautiful flowers.

[upbeat music] We look so good!

We are at the dairy plant.

- Dairy plant.

- Where all the magic happens.

- Yeah, this is one of the oldest schools that do research in dairy in the entire country.

– Emmy: So this chemist, Stephen Babcock, he developed a test to measure the amount of fat in milk.

'Cause before that, it was being sold just purely by volume.

You didn't know how much milk fat was in it.

– John: So Babcock was really important.

Here we're at the School of Agriculture.

- Right.

- And in the 20th century, they developed a program to put the stop to rickets, the softening of the bone.

And they had to make sure that there was vitamin D in the milk.

– In unison: To strengthen bones.

– John: What's happening today?

– Emmy: There's about $8 million that is being used here, at River Falls and at Platteville.

Just in dairy research.

– John: Research.

- Because $45 billion is the Wisconsin dairy industry.

– John: I love that on this campus, they have a lovely herd.

– Emmy: Real cows.

– John: 84 cows on the campus of UW.

So they use the milk to make the cheese, to make the ice cream.

– Emmy: This is the Babcock dairy plant.

- This is called the bird's eye view.

We're kinda like the bosses looking over our-- - Right.

– John: Yeah; do you know what they're making?

– Emmy: No.

– John: It's cherry ice cream and then a swirl of fudge.

Look, it's full.

– Emmy: Wow!

– John: Wow!

– Emmy: This is so cool!

– John: Can you hand us one of those and two spoons, please?

Well, finally at the dairy store.

- Finally, this is John's first time here.

I have been here many times.

- You have?

– Emmy: Since they opened up the dairy store in 1951, how many flavors of ice cream do you think?

– John: Forty.

– Emmy: Over 270.

Oh, boy; he's gone there.

Now it's all over.

I might as well have brought my kids.

- What is your point?

– Producer: Have you not met before?

- Well, did the last few days here make you wanna be a student again?

- No.

- Or maybe a legislator?

- No, neither.

You know what it made me want to do?

- What?

- It made me wanna visit this place again.

- That's a good plan.

- Yeah.

There's nowhere else I'd rather be The heart and soul of community's right here - Actually, can I get your autograph?

- Yeah, sure, sure.

It's all Greek to me.

- Plastic; he's like... - I'm nervous.

- I'm not used to that, so that was...

Right, I'm like, "Wait a minute."

- This is my dad.

Hi, Dad.

- How are you?

Did you see your face?

"Eh, wasn't that good."

- Now you have to be a bottom sucker the rest of the day.

– John: Emmy.

- Cut.

– Announcer: Thanks to our underwriters.

- Looking to bring life to your Wisconsin Dells getaway?

Bring your family, bring your friends, bring an extra suit, and bring on the water parks!

Summer in Wisconsin Dells: Bring it on!

Wisconsin Dells, the waterpark capital of the world.

WisDells.com.

- From the Green Circle Trail to Point Brewery, you'll find more fun in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

- Wisconsin's picture-perfect historic downtown Greendale isn't just a great backdrop for photos.

It's the perfect place to find unique gifts, spend time with a friend, enjoy a perfect brandy old fashioned, learn about the past, and enjoy the beautiful flowers.

Ask anyone who's made memories here.

We'll all tell you the same thing.

You just gotta see Greendale!

- Twenty-minute commutes.

Weekends on the lake.

Warm welcomes and exciting career opportunities, not to mention all the local flavor!

There's a lot to look forward to in Wisconsin.

Learn more at InWisconsin.com.

- At We Energies, we believe communities are stronger when we all work together.

For more than 40 years, the We Energies Foundation has supported charitable organizations across Wisconsin.

Together, we're creating a brighter future.

- Heiser Automotive is honored to help John McGivern and his team arrive safely at many Main Streets.

Heiser itself has been in the community for over a hundred years.

We have worked hard to achieve the American dream, and now it's your community's turn.

We are here to help.

- My father taught me that to make great bakery, you have to do it the right way.

O&H Danish Bakery, where Kringle traditions begin.

– Announcer: Thanks to the Friends of Plum Media and to the Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

- So if I were to steal a chair, let me show you the one I want.

Take a look.

"She's here with her dad."

[laughing]