Announcer: The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original production.

Angela Fitzgerald: Coming up on Wisconsin Life:

[gavel banging]

Meet a Kenosha veteran tracing his family’s history of service.

[dialogue sounds]

Interviewer: Are you ready for your headliner tonight?

Angela Fitzgerald: A seasoned comedian takes the stage in Brookfield.

[audience laughs]

A teacher building robots on Washington Island.

And the organizers of a music festival bringing music in the heart of the Driftless.

[celebratory sounds]

That’s all ahead on Wisconsin Life.

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Announcer: Funding for Wisconsin Life is provided by: the Wooden Nickel Fund, Mary and Lowell Peterson, the A.C.V. and Mary Elston Family, the Stanley J. Cottrill Fund, UW Health, donors to the Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programs, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

[trumpet fanfare]

Angela Fitzgerald: Hello, and welcome to Wisconsin Life. I’m Angela Fitzgerald. We are at Pritzker Military Museum and Library, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving military history in a new state-of-the-art facility. Just off Interstate 94 in Somers in Kenosha County, the museum and research library recently made Wisconsin its home after 20 years in downtown Chicago.

[rousing marching band music]

Founded in 2003 by Jennifer Pritzker, a retired colonel in the Illinois Army National Guard, the museum has amassed thousands of items in its collection, all housed within this architectural marvel. The building’s design was inspired by a Higgins boat, the amphibious World War II vehicles that landed on the shores of Normandy on D-Day. Inside, the building is designed with bright exposed beams and floor-to-ceiling glass designed to let light in while protecting the art from harmful ultraviolet light. Creating a beautiful space for visitors to participate in programming, learn about their collections, or browse through rotating exhibits. It’s all part of their work to “ignite a passion for understanding and preserving our military heritage.”

We’ll dive deeper into all the happenings at the museum and the library, but first, let’s head out around our state.

We join a Kenosha veteran who is uncovering his own family’s history in the service.

[stately military music]

Michael Hellquist: I knew I wanted to be military from a young age. I served in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Angela Fitzgerald: Michael Hellquist grew up in a military family, along with a sense of honor and tradition.

Michael Hellquist: My grandfather is probably my biggest inspiration.

How’s it going, Gramps?

George Swenson: Just wonderful.

Michael Hellquist: It actually started with the American Legion. I was a kid, and any time he’d have a Legion meeting to go to, a function, I’d go with.

George Swenson: What?

Michael Hellquist: You’re the longest-serving legionnaire in the state of Wisconsin.

George Swenson: You’re kidding. I didn’t know that.

[gavel banging]

Angela Fitzgerald: Grandfather and grandson still share time together at the American Legion in Kenosha.

Michael Hellquist: So this is probably one of my favorite pictures of my grandpa. That was just this past Army Navy game.

Angela Fitzgerald: Michael is on a mission to piece together his family’s history in the armed forces.

Robert Hellquist: You know, I got that hat.

Michael Hellquist: Yeah, I’d like to put it on display at some point.

Robert Hellquist: Yeah.

Angela Fitzgerald: On this day, he shares the collection of military memorabilia with his dad.

Michael Hellquist: Grandpa’s original dog tag from Korea. Your dog tag and then my dog tag. You got my uncle, Les, and cousin, Verle. He was in Korea and Vietnam.

Angela Fitzgerald: During the pandemic, Michael started tracing his family’s story.

Robert Hellquist: I think on his mother’s side, how far back he got. Because he got back into the 1700s.

Michael Hellquist: There are eight generations of military in my family that I’ve been able to trace from the Revolutionary War until Iraq and Afghanistan.

Angela Fitzgerald: This Iraq War veteran has made some fascinating discoveries that make his family unique.

Michael Hellquist: Every story is unbelievable. James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States, is my fourth or fifth great-uncle.

Angela Fitzgerald: Michael’s ancestor, James Buchanan, was the 15th president. But Michael’s connection to history doesn’t stop there. His family tree also includes multiple Medal of Honor recipients. And Michael himself is working to ensure that his family’s legacy of service is never forgotten. He’s created a foundation that will help preserve the stories of veterans.

Michael Hellquist: The goal is to share all these stories with as many people as possible, so the sacrifices of our veterans are not forgotten.

Angela Fitzgerald: That sense of purpose and tradition will continue on, as Michael’s son is now serving in the military as well.

Michael Hellquist: When he enlisted, it was important to me that he understood the weight of that decision and what that meant for our family, continuing the tradition of service.

Angela Fitzgerald: From Kenosha, we head to Brookfield, where one performer is sharing the gift of laughter.

[upbeat music]

A stand-up comedian who’s spent decades perfecting the craft, our next guest has performed across the United States.

Comedian: Are you ready for your headliner tonight?

[audience noise]

Angela Fitzgerald: Comedy is a love language for many. It brings communities together and provides a moment of relief from everyday stresses. Our next storyteller uses humor to connect with audiences night after night.

Comedian: You know, I’ve been doing this for 30 years. And I still get butterflies before I go on stage.

Angela Fitzgerald: Performing at comedy clubs throughout Wisconsin, this seasoned entertainer is dedicated to giving his audiences the best night possible.

Comedian: I want people to walk out of here having forgotten about their day.

Angela Fitzgerald: Now from laughter to learning. We head to Washington Island, where an educator is using robotics to inspire the next generation.

[energetic music]

Teacher: When I first started teaching robotics, I wasn’t sure how the students would respond. But the enthusiasm was immediate.

Angela Fitzgerald: On Washington Island, an instructor is building more than robots. He’s building confidence, problem-solving skills, and a passion for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Teacher: These kids are learning that they can create. They can build. They can problem-solve. And that’s a skill that will serve them for the rest of their lives.

Angela Fitzgerald: From the island, we travel to the heart of the Driftless, where a festival founder is creating a space for music lovers to gather.

[music performance sounds]

Crickett Lochner: Peace, love, music, community. Why not enjoy music, middle of nowhere, and good weather?

Angela Fitzgerald: Crickett Lochner’s greetings are meant to make guests feel at home.

[playful background voices]

Angela Fitzgerald: Because it’s Crickett’s home that she’s welcoming people to. The Music Gardens occupy the farm where she grew up. Land that’s been in her family since the 1850s. She lives in her childhood home where her father also grew up.

Sherry Wallace: This will take it on to the sixth generation now, with Crickett.

Angela Fitzgerald: Crickett’s not alone on the farm. Husband Tim might like it there even more than his wife.

Tim Lochner: I couldn’t be prouder to have married into this family. I tell people all the time that I married into the hippie dream out here. I’m growing vegetables, I’m throwing music, I’m hanging out with my father-in-law who looks just like Willie Nelson.

[Sherry laughs]

Sherry Wallace: Just got out of the fields. My husband, he’s in a band.

[high-energy music]

Angela Fitzgerald: Tim’s group, the People Brothers Band, had played and put on music festivals. That experience opened the couple’s eyes to the family farm’s potential.

Tim Lochner: When we moved out here, we kind of started dreaming of having music over in this nook, or music over in that nook. Hence the Driftless Music Gardens.

Angela Fitzgerald: Driftless for the region’s topography.

Crickett Lochner: The glaciers never came through to readjust the landscape.

Angela Fitzgerald: And Driftless for the vibe the land inspires.

Crickett Lochner: And that’s the same with here. It just flows. The Driftless, it just, you flow.

[drumsticks clack rhythmically]

Angela Fitzgerald: The number of music lovers flowing to the Gardens has grown steadily since 2016. But this season marks a new stage for the venture. Literally, a new stage to keep the shows going on.

Crickett Lochner: Every ounce of energy that we had went into building that stage. Love, sweat, and tears.

Angela Fitzgerald: But they didn’t do it alone. The community they’d built built it with them.

Tim Lochner: Once we got the project rolling, we had to start making a lot of phone calls and calling in a lot of favors, and have friends over. And it was kind of like an old-fashioned barn raising.

Crickett Lochner: I think at one time, we had 50 people out here just, like, hammering away.

Angela Fitzgerald: Even the farmland offered up its own contribution.

Crickett Lochner: The inside of the stage that you see is the pine from the land. And so, it is a huge, proud moment and love that we share with the land. All my team members that shared a hand in building the stage, the first show that we all saw, it just brought tears of joy.

Angela Fitzgerald: It’s a new landmark on a landscape that’s been home to six generations of Crickett’s family. But for all that’s changed, the life they live today may not be so different.

Crickett Lochner: We’re out here farming music now instead of growing corn or raising cows. There’s some striking similarities to what we do. Everything is dependent on the weather. And if it’s a great weekend, we could have a good crop. If it’s gonna rain all weekend, we’re in trouble. So no different than a lot of my neighbors.

Angela Fitzgerald: But what they grow here now feeds the soul.

Crickett Lochner: Why did I come back here? Because it’s where my bliss is, where I feel home. It calms me, balances me, gets me rooted. To be able to offer that to so many others is a huge gift.

Angela Fitzgerald: We’ve patrolled Pritzker Military Museum and Library, checking out their collections and exhibits while meeting folks from around our state. For more, visit WisconsinLife.org. Link up with us on social media or by emailing [email protected]. I’m Angela Fitzgerald, and this is our Wisconsin Life. It’s not goodbye. It’s see you later.

[gentle music]

Announcer: Funding for Wisconsin Life is provided by: the Wooden Nickel Fund, Mary and Lowell Peterson, the A.C.V. and Mary Elston Family, the Stanley J. Cottrill Fund, UW Health, donors to the Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programs, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.