Wisconsin Life

- The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original production.

– Angela Fitzgerald: Coming up on Wisconsin Life, a beekeeper with a hive on top of a church, a runner covering every street in Eau Claire, an artist mastering macram, and a couple reviving their farm.

It's all ahead on Wisconsin Life!

- Funding for Wisconsin Life is provided by Lowell and Mary Peterson, Alliant Energy, A.C.V.

and Mary Elston family, Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programs, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

– Angela: Let the party begin.

We're celebrating at the Hmong Wausau Festival, a two-day event with dancing, music, and delicious food.

This year's festival is held at the People's Sport Complex in Wausau and hosted by the Hmong American Center.

The weekend kicks off with a grand parade and opening ceremony.

Then things really start to step up with competitions like singing and traditional or modern dance.

Sports tournaments also run through the weekend as athletes bring their talents to the playing field.

At the night market, street performers entertain the crowds, and there's even fireworks.

The food options are tasty, too, with local vendors offering traditional Hmong cuisine.

It's a fun way to honor and celebrate being Hmong in Wisconsin.

Now, let's head into our first story as we go to Milwaukee to see what's buzzing on the rooftop of a local church.

If you ever stroll past Redeemer Lutheran Church in downtown Milwaukee, you can't help but feel an atmosphere swarming with activity.

– Charlie Koenen: We keep making "bee-lievers" out of people.

– Angela: But it's not the congregation inside that's drawing attention.

It's what's congregating above on the roof that's making a buzz.

[buzzing] - Charlie Koenen: I've always tried to connect my practices with places where communities come together, and faith communities are kind of examples of the bees.

- Angela: Charlie Koenen is the founder and creator of the non-profit group "Beevangelist."

- We say that we spread the gospel of abundance according to the bees through our practice and our product, and our education and our advocacy.

- The "Beevangelists" have helped raise awareness for the plight of pollinators all across Wisconsin... ...holding seminars, maintaining hives, and even marching in parades.

- We're able to engage people, inform people, enlighten people as to the importance and to the innocence of the bee.

And that they can "bee-leave" l-e-a-v-e leave the bees be.

And then, we get some "bee-ciples" who, you know, practice our methods of beekeeping, and then, some of them want to be "bee-vangelists."

It just fit.

It's like the perfect metaphor.

[buzzing] - Pastor Lisa Bates-Froiland: Please stand.

– Angela: For Pastor Lisa Bates-Froiland, the organization's mission felt like an ideal connector between the church and the surrounding community, with a name that's just as "bee-fitting."

– Pastor Lisa: So, I also, on his own behalf, was like, "Are you sure you want to go with 'Beevangelist'?"

And he said, "Yeah, because we need to "spread the good news of the abundance that bees offer us "and the potential for doing so in the city, "as well as in our outlying areas.

"Urban beekeeping will help strengthen the bees and, thus, help strengthen us, too."

- The bees have now become a symbol for the church, both metaphorically... and literally.

– Pastor Lisa: You'll see that there are bees coming in and out through the shape of a cross that looks like honeycomb and there's honey dripping to symbolize the abundance of the place, as well.

That's not only a description of what is, but it's also a prescription of what always needs to be happening here.

We are a hive where things are abundant here, and we're growing.

- To bee or not to bee?

For Charlie, that was no question.

He's devoted the last 20 years of his life raising bees.

It's a job that's kept him busy as a... well, you know.

– Charlie Koenen: It's always a lot of work.

It's always a blast.

I'm a bee.

Just like a bee, I work really hard.

I don't know what the end product is like.

I get enough to get by, and I know that, you know, I've changed the world.

I've made it more abundant, more plentiful, - Helping Wisconsin become a land flowing with milk and honey.

– Pastor Lisa: Charlie's a special guy, and he's got a lot to share with the world.

He is abundance.

He is a little out of the box, but that fits really well here.

And any time he comes, there's, there's joy.

– Charlie: I'm just driven by the passion of the bees and what I see inside of the hive to do what I can and like the bees.

When I do this, things fall into place.

Stuff starts to happen.

If you're passionate about what you have and what you believe in, things align.

- Now, we join a runner in Eau Claire attempting to cover every street in the city he grew up in.

[footsteps flopping, energetic guitar music] - Alex Rongstad: The freedom that you get.

Being able to step outside into the world and move and experience something new every time.

My name is Alex Rongstad, and I like to run.

Gosh, first memory of running.

That's a really good question.

Wow!

– Tony Rongstad: He always ran.

I mean, he always was, you know, chasing his brother, sisters or was involved in running one way or another, and I was a runner when the kids were little.

You know, bring them with when I was running races.

And actually, Alex ran a few kids' races when he was quite young.

Couple of times, me running with him, holding his hand as we go.

– Alex Rongstad: My mom got a photo of it, and it sticks in my memory as kind of one of the most like exciting, earliest memories of moving and just like really enjoying that experience.

I grew up here in Eau Claire.

I think it's an awesome town.

It's not too big; it's not too small.

You can get to know the people here, and it was an awesome place to grow up, but, like, at the same time, I recognize that there's so much of it that I didn't know.

[upbeat melody] I was kind of looking at a map, and I started seeing like, "Wow, there's these huge gaps that I've never been in, never seen before."

– Tony Rongstad: I don't know how these ideas come to him, but he actually mentioned the idea to me of running every street in Eau Claire, and I told him he's crazy.

I said, the first thing you need to do is call the City Streets department and ask them, "How many miles of streets are there in Eau Claire?"

And he said, "No, Dad, I'm not going to ask 'em that question.

I'm just going to commit to it and figure out a way to do it."

– Alex: So, the name of the project is called the Eau Claire Project.

The mission is to run on every street in Eau Claire, my hometown, before the end of the year.

I think there's something like 500-some-odd miles of streets in Eau Claire, but I'm doing it all from my apartment.

Every street is connected to every street.

I like proving that by kind of branched out, kind of started in downtown and kind of like got all the neighborhoods that I could kind of easily.

– Tony: And once he got going with that and he started keeping track of things, I started seeing, you know, how he's just crossing off the streets, and it was pretty amazing.

- In total, this year, I'll have run over 3,000 miles.

The response has been extremely positive.

My dentist, the person that cuts my hair, my coworkers, family-- people have been amazed.

– Alicia Condit: It reminds me of the movie Forest Gump when he runs across America.

For some reason... [Alex Condit laughs] I don't know why, but I use that analogy.

because Alex has had some people even say, "Can I run with you?"

I imagine that scene when, like, all the people are running behind him and, you know, Alex with his hat on.

– Adam Condit: And Alex goes in and out of awesome facial hair, and then, he'll shave it all off.

– Alex: My philosophy behind beards is that you don't trim them because that's why they're beards.

– Tony: As the project evolved, he started finding more meaning in it.

We would talk about that, and he says, you know, "And I didn't realize it at the time, "but what I'm really trying to do "is really connect with everybody in my community.

"This is where my childhood memories are.

This is my home."

– Alex: Every block triggered a new memory of a, you know, a friend that lived there or an experience I had with, like, my siblings.

It was like I was watching my life sort of on, you know, on repeat or something.

[film projector clicking] It made me think about how, literally, every person has this connection to where they came from.

– Adam: I think people can really relate to what he's doing.

He's literally running on the same streets that they run on.

– Tony: The fact that he can kind of get outside of himself and try to do something that's bigger than himself, that's not something that I've ever done.

Alex seems to always want to go beyond that and to do something bigger, something that affects other people in a positive way, and it just makes me extremely proud.

– Alex: Despite the odds, despite kind of whatever you may think about what you can do, you can do so much more.

[laughs] So much more!

It's amazing what you're capable of when you kind of tune down the mind a little bit and just let yourself do it.

Connection is not a very difficult thing or complex thing to grasp.

It's just you and the other.

Humanity is kind of at this dichotomy where we think that we're sort of, like, living in such a way where we aren't connected with one another, but you look anywhere, and you see connections everywhere.

Just put one foot in front of the other, and when you choose to do that, you're already there.

Just keep going.

Just keep going!

Love you, Dad.

It's just you and me.

[laughs] Just you and me.

[laughter] [cheers and applause] - We're taking in all the sights, sounds, and flavors at the Hmong Wausau Festival.

[energetic music] Celebrating Hmong life in Wisconsin, the Hmong Wausau Festival offers a variety of family-friendly entertainment.

I caught up with the chairman of the festival, Yee Leng Xiong, to find out all there is to do and eat at this two-day celebration.

- Today, we have a wide variety of activities such as, you know, dance competition, singing competition.

We have a wide variety of sports tournaments, such as flag football, soccer, and volleyball, as well.

[cheering] I think what's most very important here is the fact that we have quite a bit of vendors, more vendors than we've had in the previous years.

So, we're just very excited about the whole activities that are occurring today.

- Wonderful!

Yeah, I appreciate that you have the sports piece because I think that's unique when compared to other festivals.

It looks like that's what's taking place behind us.

- Yes, so sports is a big component in the Hmong community, as well, too.

- Hey!

– Yee Leng Xiong: The Hmong community actually went out and created their own competitions, tournaments, as well, so that that way they can compete in those and have a chance to be competitive against other individuals, as well, specifically from other cities, as well.

- Wow, so can you tell us the significance of this two-day festival for the Hmong community?

- Yes, so it's very crucial and very important to our community here because one thing about the Hmong community in the state of Wisconsin is they're scattered across many, you know, many cities.

And the only time-- We only celebrate-- We celebrate the New Year.

We celebrate, you know, weddings, funerals, etcetera, but this, you had to have a reason for them to come and gather.

So, by having those opportunities, now having a reason to come and gather, they're all coming here together as a city and as from individuals from all across the state here, and Midwest, and country, coming together to celebrate.

– Angela: It's an abundant festival with a wide reach, bringing the community together to have fun.

– Yee Leng Xiong: It takes over 300 volunteers that collaborates together to make this event a success, and key word "volunteers."

You know, honestly, that's one of my favorite parts of this event here is being able to see a lot of individuals gather and have fun, be able to enjoy smiles.

That's what makes me happy and keeps me going year after year.

[traditional Hmong singing] - A showcase of talent from dancers, musicians, to athletes.

Now, let's meet another Wisconsinite sharing their talents.

We head to Madison, where a macram artist is creating works of art tied to her Hmong culture.

[piano music] - Maly Vang: I don't know where this journey is going to take me, but it's a journey that I'm willing to risk it all for, just to see what will happen and what will come of it in the end.

My name is Maly Vang, and I'm a macram fiber artist.

I discovered macram in 2007.

I was working a full-time job, you know, working that nine-to-five.

I just kind of fell into a slump, and I wanted to find something to retrigger that creative side of me.

I really got into it around 2018, and that's when I started my business, malyMade.

I think what I liked about it was that, first of all, that it's like home decor.

So, at that time, I was living in a two-bedroom apartment, and I wanted to fill the space with like beautiful things.

So, one, I, like, that it was something that I could make with my own hands that I can then showcase in my own home.

And then, I also like that it was something that I was already familiar with.

Growing up, I did make friendship bracelets.

So, that kind of brought me back to my childhood with the knotting to make the friendship bracelets.

A lot of my designs are focused on my culture, so the pieces are Hmong-inspired.

The most popular piece that I have right now is my "sew inspired" pieces, and those are modeled after the traditional Hmong necklace that is usually worn with traditional Hmong outfits.

I mainly use cotton cord.

What I like to use mostly is the raw cotton cord, which is unbleached cotton that is then spun into cord or twine.

The duration varies depending on the size of the piece.

So, if it's a smaller piece, it may take me an hour to two hours.

For my larger macram pieces, it would take me around six to seven or maybe even up to 10 hours sometimes if I'm doing a lot of reworking or trying to like figure out which designs work best together.

In my real life, I'm a huge introvert so I don't really get out much.

I'm usually holed up in my art room just making macram and connecting with others that way.

So, because macram is such a therapeutic thing for me, I make pieces, and then I sell them, and then I kind of forget about them and move on to the next thing.

So, it hasn't really been about sales for me, but more of, like, the being able to create something to use my hands, to create something that people will enjoy.

So, that's kind of been highlight of this whole macram journey for me.

I've never been very confident in my art, so creating these macram pieces and getting the positive feedback-- It's just it's very exciting, and it does definitely give me the confidence to do this full-time.

So, as I-- as I mentioned earlier, I don't know where this journey is going to take me, but it's a journey that I'm willing to risk it all for, just to see what will happen and what will come of it in the end.

- Next up, we connect with a Mondovi couple restoring their farmland with the hope of preserving it for future generations.

[gate clangs, dog barks] Angela: On a bend in the Buffalo River... - Heather Mishefske: We started with this vision of restoring the prairies.

- ...Heather Mishefske and Chad Rykal envisioned a new kind of farm.

– Heather: The land here has been in, like, an ag rotation for decades.

Like, soybeans and corn.

– Chad Rykal: We have roughly 20 acres that we've turned into prairie.

– Angela: Restoring this century farm means making the land sustainable for another 100 years.

– Heather: I noticed the first year that we were here, there were no birds.

And it's crazy how just in one year, you know, you walk out on the prairie, and the pollinators are everywhere, and the birds are everywhere.

We have a lot of trail cams, and I love just watching to see what kind of critters are kind of milling around here at night.

It's kind of amazing to see how the nature just kind of takes over.

[grasses rustling] You build it, and they will come [laughs] kind of a thing.

- Chad and Heather are building a lifestyle for every season.

– Chad: It's a good mix for me because we've got the water and the woods, and just being able to walk out my back door and have access to that is just one of the most amazing things ever for me.

– Heather: We knew we wanted to just live out in a place where we could just walk the dogs and be in a rural setting.

It really was our ultimate goal.

Our southern boundary is the entire river.

River really ebbs and flows through the land.

The dogs love it.

[gentle guitar] There is something to love here in every season, as fall gives way to winter.

– Chad: I will make ski trails and fat biking trails.

I love mountain biking in the woods.

[bike chain rolling] - Heather: We have about three miles of trails.

Whoo!

They go through the prairies.

They go through a lot of the woods.

[skis scritching] - Chad: When people come here, and they get to experience what we experience, I think they just end up having such a good time.

We enjoy having people come hang out.

It's a really cool thing.

[dog barks] - This is a hot fire, Chad.

– Chad: I know.

Feels good, doesn't it?

- Mm-hmm.

I like to see people get outside and enjoy the outdoors.

[warm laughter] - What they also want this farm to be... ...is organic.

- I tell people she's interested in the flower side of things, and I'm interested in the vegetable side of things.

My focus is on the garden and growing organic food.

- Chad is definitely the grower of the two of us.

I like the prairie part of it and like the woods.

- We can't go on a hike without Heather walking out into the prairie and pulling some invasive out of the field [Heather laughs] so it's...

Between the garden and that, we're pretty darn good at pulling weeds.

- Restoring this land hasn't always been pretty.

– Chad: We filled five 20-yard dumpsters with garbage and that was just over a year ago.

We essentially had a dump on our property, and we had tires, TVs.

Almost anything you can think of was in there.

We like to be outside, and we like to be working, and using our hands, so... - Heather: Yeah.

- In the end, it felt great just to remove all that garbage.

– Angela: Healing the land while exercising their mind and body is the ultimate goal.

- Every year is going to be a new project.

It's going to be project after project, and I think we'll probably do it until we die.

[laughs] - Angela: The winds of environmental change are blowing on this Buffalo County farm.

– Chad: My hope is that we can create this amazing thing that hundred years from now, when I'm dead and gone, that the people are living here can still take that and continue to live that way.

– Heather: How cool to think about that!

Every time the monarchs come through, like this is a spot that they stop.

Kinda giving back to the Earth what maybe was taken away before.

– Chad: It's a lot of gratitude just to be able to live here and own it and do the things that we do.

I feel very fortunate in that regard.

- We've had a great day and met some new friends at the Hmong Wausau Festival while sharing stories of Wisconsinites.

Visit WisconsinLife.org to learn more about the people we've met today.

To share your story, email [email protected].

Until our next celebration, I'm Angela Fitzgerald and our friends... - Dance Troupe: Luna Bellas!

- And this is our Wisconsin Life!

Bye.

[excited cheering] [triumphant cheers] - Funding for Wisconsin Life is provided by Lowell and Mary Peterson, Alliant Energy, A.C.V.

and Mary Elston family, Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programs, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.