Wisconsin Life

Kickapoo Valley Reserve

– The following program is a PBS Wisconsin Original Production.

– Angela Fitzgerald: Coming up on Wisconsin Life… [shimmery music] we meet teens battling it out with buses.

– Announcer yelling: There goes the– Here we go!

A veteran going from the sub to a pub, [laughter] a family serving up sweet treats at a Northwoods landmark, and an animation exploring if moms really do cry.

[whoosh!]

That’s all ahead on Wisconsin Life!

– Mom: Thank you.

[audience applauds] [uplifting guitars, strings, piano, and drums] – 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 Obrodovich Family Foundation, the Stanley J. Cottrill Fund, Alliant Energy, UW Health, donors to the Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programs, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

– Angela Fitzgerald: Hello, and welcome to Wisconsin Life.

I’m kicking back at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve to explore the area and learn about their dark sky conservation work.

That’s right, we’re exploring a potential future Dark Sky Park in the day.

The reserve is more than 8,000 acres and sits between the Village of Lafarge and Ontario, in the heart of the Driftless area.

[plucky country rock] The land is managed in partnership with the State of Wisconsin and the Ho-Chunk Nation.

They work together to preserve, protect, and educate visitors about the rich resources surrounding the Kickapoo River.

As the sun sets, visitors can enjoy the majestic night skies.

The area is working to be designated as the second International Dark Sky Park in Wisconsin, which requires maintaining low levels of light pollution to better see the stars, making one of the best spots to stargaze in our state even better.

We’ll learn more from the team about their efforts to keep the skies dark later on.

Now, let’s head into our first story.

[shimmery music] We drive into New Richmond as teens prepare old school buses for a smashing good time.

[blues rock with electric guitar] It’s been said countless times that the wheels on the bus go round and round.

– Ellajanski: It’s kind of chaotic at first.

– Angela: But on a Saturday evening in New Richmond, Wisconsin… – Dominic Harker: You never know what’s about to happen.

– Angela: The wheels on these buses go crash, bang, boom.

[rock music, loud engines] – Dominic Harker: It’s kind of just hold your foot to the floor and pray that everything goes right.

– Named Battle of the Buses, this part-race, part-demolition-derby has become an annual tradition at Cedar Lake Speedway.

– Brad Both: Only happens once a year and you can only see it this one time.

So, it’s really fun.

– Teams are given the task of retrofitting old, donated school buses into mean, sometimes green, smashing machines.

– Announcer yelling: Here we go!

– Trace: Oh, my God.

[aerosol spraying] – And it’s only fitting that the people these buses were designed to transport make up the crews assigned with their destruction.

– Trace: There’s a lot of people working on this bus and a lot of, like, younger students.

– Angela: That’s right.

Outside of the drivers, the teams for each bus are made up almost entirely of high school students.

– Grant: That’s pretty cool.

[electric guitar riffs, pounding hammer] – Brook Reyzer: We strip it all out.

So, first things to come out are all the seats, all the windows, the side paneling, the roof, the insulation.

– At St. Croix Central High School, the opportunity to work on the buses provides a chance for some kids to switch gears and try something new.

– Peter Nusbaum: They got to do some wiring.

They’re working on the engine.

They’re doing some tuning.

Probably be a stack coming out of this hood probably after this weekend, or so.

[angle grinder howling] – Ellajanski: I had never used angle grinder before, and I just got handed to it and did it.

– About 40 miles north, at Unity High School, students are getting their own bus ready.

– Jake Lee: As soon as they see the bus is in, they run to my room pretty much and say, “When are we working on the bus?

When are we working on the bus?”

[whirring] – The buses compete in three races throughout the event.

The first two races are all about speed.

[pulsing electric bass, electric guitar, and drums] – Jake Lee: It seems like you’re going a lot faster than you actually are.

Going around a dirt track around the corners, it seems like I’m gonna tip over.

But the kids, when they talk to me afterwards, they’re like, “Why were you going so slow, Mr. Lee?

You’re only going like 35.”

I’m like, “No way, I wasn’t going 35.

I was going a lot faster than that.”

[bus slams into another bus] – The third race is all about strength.

– Jake Lee: It’s not fun if we’re just racing around a track.

Nobody wants to see a bus race around a track.

They want to see us smash into people, tip over, all that kind of stuff.

– Announcer: Over there, turn three, whoa!

[crowd cheers] – Dominic Harker: The definition turns like a dump truck is true in this circumstance.

– Jake Lee: My strategy is, I tell the kids, I don’t want this bus to be running by the end of the race.

[adrenaline-filled electric guitar] – For these students, when it comes to high school milestones, there’s Battle of the Buses, and everything else is a distant second.

– Jake Lee: One year, we had the prom the same night as the bus race, and so a lot of the kids were upset about that and had to make this big choice on, “Am I gonna go to the prom or am I gonna go to the bus race?”

There were several dates that were a little upset that they chose the bus race over the prom, so… – Angela: And like prom, race night promises to be a night they’ll likely never forget.

[punchy snare drum] – Brook Reyzer: Most of the time, I’m not even watching the track, but I’m watching these kids and I’m watching their families’ faces.

I’m watching the littles, you know, look at these high school kids and dream about doing this someday.

[fireworks sizzle] [booming] [crackling] Brook Reyzer: The whole full cycle is something you can’t describe.

[fireworks fizzing] [crackling] [snapping, buzzing] [popping] [shimmery music] – Next up, we navigate to Manitowoc to meet a veteran who went from serving soldiers in a sub to serving them in his pub.

[seagulls squawking] At the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, a tour of its World War II submarine is a peak experience.

– Kevin Cullen: An engineering marvel, diesel and electric.

– Painstakingly restored, the sub looks and feels much as it would have when on patrol in the war-torn waters of the Pacific.

For the museum’s executive director, the ship represents many things.

– Kevin Cullen: Behind me here is USS Cobia, a national landmark from World War II.

It’s a testament to the service and sacrifice that the submariners endured.

And, of course, the legacy of building submarines in Manitowoc.

Twenty-eight subs launched here and Cobia kind of has a sentinel of that heritage.

– For Manitowoc native and Navy veteran, Jeff Tess, boarding the Cobia means something else.

– Jeff Tess: This is home.

This is where I felt comfortable.

Life on a submarine is the most peaceful existence you’ve ever had in your life.

American submarines are the best, so you don’t worry about much.

Do your job, and you don’t worry about anything else.

– The Cobia was already a museum piece by the time Jeff joined the US Navy’s submarine service.

But for him, it’s not so different from the advanced nuclear submarine he called home.

– Oh, yeah, not much different.

I was a cook; that was my job.

We have our coffee machine here.

We have a flat-top griddle.

We have an oven.

– The job was a vital one.

– If you can’t cook or you’re not good, you don’t last very long.

And that’s a true statement.

I believe that the cooks are the most important person on the boat because there’s nothing else to take your mind off of life except the food.

[food sizzling] [utensils clinking] – Jeff Tess: Food is something that brings the world together.

So, on a submarine, that’s the same thing.

It’s the one time where the crew gets together, shares a meal, talks, laughs, has fun.

You made cookies or sticky buns.

You’ve made those, you had a lot of friends.

– Jeff is still making friends and bringing people together around food.

– Jeff: What can I do to you?

[laughing] – In Two Rivers, just up the road from the USS Cobia, overlooking the open waters of Lake Michigan, Jeff opened Submariner’s Pub in 2022.

– Jeff: My job is to serve good food and nice cold beers so that everybody can enjoy themselves.

– Just like his job in the Navy, Jeff’s work serves a higher purpose.

Here, he honors the service of others.

– Jeff: This is my homage to the veterans that provide the safety and security and the freedom we have.

– Like the cramped confines of a submarine, every nook and cranny of the pub serves its purpose.

– Jeff: There’s hats, there’s a bunch of memorabilia around, and there’s pictures on the wall.

I have 12 pictures of my family up there that all served.

I have an Uncle Gordy who jumped in on D-Day, his Purple Heart and his Bronze Star are over there.

And anybody can bring a family member, themselves, whatever in.

I call it my Hero Wall.

It’s a tribute to the people that made us great.

– Those tributes are not just for the distant past.

Submariner’s Pub has quickly become a second home for area veterans.

One vet with her picture on the wall is Ashley Smits, head of the organization Manitowoc County Vets.

– Ashley Smits: A lot of veterans, when they get out of the military, they feel isolated, they feel alone.

To have Submariner’s Pub is a place that you can connect that just brings that camaraderie together, and a place where you can feel understood and seen and heard again.

– One of the things that I was missing as a veteran was a place to come talk to people that are like-minded and get through it.

– Where Jeff cooks today is laid out almost exactly like the submarine’s galley, and the satisfaction he takes is the same.

– Jeff: It’s a part of my heart.

When I cook your meal, and you eat it, and I see the smile on your face, and you’re telling me how good it was, it’s what I need for my feedback.

Your smile makes me happy.

Feeding the world is a cool thing, and making people happy, there’s nothing better.

There’s really nothing better.

[shimmery music] – I’m at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, learning about The Driftless Area and what it takes to become a designated Dark Sky Park.

[uplifting acoustic guitar] My first stop was to the Nature Center to meet with Executive Director at the Reserve, Jason Leis.

– Jason Leis: The Kickapoo Valley Reserve is an 8,600-acre tract of public land that offers a multitude of recreational activities.

We have over 50 miles of trails here.

Horseback riding, hiking, biking… Bird watching is very popular, as well, and, of course, we have the Kickapoo River that runs right through the middle of the property, which is very popular for canoeing and kayaking, as well.

– And what’s unique or special about the ecology of the reserve?

– The reserve is located in the Driftless area, so untouched by glaciers mostly.

What is kind of unique about this area is the sandstone cliffs and outcroppings, and a lot of those are best seen along the river.

[birds chirping] – Up in the sky, visitors can enjoy spectacular stargazing as the Kickapoo Valley Reserve works to become a designated Dark Sky Park.

One of the leaders of that effort is Scott Lind.

– Scott Lind: Well, the Kickapoo Valley Reserve is located in a part of Wisconsin that still has relatively dark skies compared to the rest of the state, and so it’s a natural place to try and continue to keep that area dark and provide a good space for stargazing, ’cause it’s rare in the state of Wisconsin now to be able to see as many stars at night as you can see in this part of the state.

– And so, in terms of trying to minimize that pollution to maintain the opportunity to stargaze here, what do those conservation efforts look like?

– So, we do that right here on the sites that we’re actually trying to get designated.

But the next step then is to try to do outreach to the communities around us to try and encourage businesses and residences to also do the same thing with their fixtures, because all those lights around us, as far away as La Crosse even, produce sky glow here.

– It’s a great point.

It looks like you have an example of one of those light fixtures here.

– I do, yeah.

There’s something a lot of times folks don’t understand is that when you get a light fixture like this, which is a full cutoff fixture, what that means is the fixture’s entirely opaque, except for the bottom surface where the lens is right here.

That controls the direction of the light.

So, what they often don’t understand is when they see that small opening at the bottom, you might assume that all the light goes right there.

This LED fixture right here can throw light at far distances away in front of it, right?

That light is cast out in front, but none of it goes above this line right here.

So, dark sky lighting gives you lower electricity bills for the same amount of light on the ground, and you have the benefits to the habitat, and you don’t get the sky glow.

– I love that that message is expanding such a wide terrain in terms of how we collectively can do our part to help maintain what’s needed in order for folks to enjoy the sky.

Angela: With cutoff light fixtures and a dedicated team managing the land, the Kickapoo Valley Reserve works to keep this area wild and dark.

[gentle, pensive guitar] [shimmery music] Now, we head to Tomahawk to get the scoop on a family keeping a Northwoods tradition churning.

[strumming acoustic guitar] This Dutch-style windmill is an icon of pop culture in the Northwoods.

– Pat Berg: It is a landmark for sure.

The history of the building is fantastic.

We hear a lot of stories.

– Russell Berg: It was part of Phil’s Resort on Lake Nokomis.

The building goes back to 1939, and it was originally built as a Sinclair gas station.

– Russell Berg is the family historian.

– Russell: Over the years, it’s been a candy shop.

There was an information booth, and sometime in the mid to late 70s, it became an ice cream shop, and it has been ever since.

– The Berg family built its own history with the Windmill and can serve up stories and ice cream all in one scoop.

– Russell: In 1993, my parents bought it, Pat and Charlie Berg.

Mom was getting close to retirement as a fourth-grade teacher down in Athens, Wisconsin.

– Pat Berg: And I said going past here, “Someday, we’re going to own this.”

Never giving it another thought at all.

Can I help you, sir?

[twangy country guitar] Pat: When we bought it, I said, “We’re buying it for the kids and for the young at heart.”

Oh, here comes the kids.

[fun, swinging jazz] – Ice cream is what put this tourist attraction on the map.

[bouncy jazz] – Russ: We like to think we’re at the intersection of Wisconsin’s dairy industry and tourism industry, offering the best of what the state of Wisconsin has to offer.

– Customer: Thank you so much.

– For more than 32 years, the Bergs have hand-scooped, served, and created smiles.

– Rodney Berg: The biggest surprise for me was just how happy it makes people feel.

No one ever comes into an ice cream shop crying.

– Pat: Hello, come on in.

Don’t be shy.

And I love when they come in as a family, and all the kids are smiling and looking already what they’re going to order.

– Child: I’m going to, ahh… – Adult: Okay.

– Pat: Even the little babies, I always say, “Oh, Baby came for a treat.”

– Russ Berg: It’s become a tradition.

People reminiscing to where their grandparents brought ’em, and now they’re bringing their kids or their grandkids.

[lively swing] – Mother: All right, guys.

Smile!

– So fun!

– For several generations, the Windmill has also become a Berg family tradition.

– Rodney: Spending 30 years working alongside my mom, seeing how it grew throughout all those years.

– Pat: Two scoops on that?

Chocolate on top, hot fudge.

– Rodney: And then, as I got married and had children, when they got old enough, I was working alongside them, too.

– Meagan Berg: I grew up here, so it’s a special place for me.

Meagan: When I was really little, I would come and help clean up in the morning.

And then, when I was old enough, I started scooping ice cream.

I got to hang out with her and I became super close with her.

Just watching her own her business inspired me to just follow my dreams.

– Customer: I’m gonna get a single scoop in a bowl.

– I have very good grandchildren, and they’re very helpful, and they’re very good.

They learn fast.

– Angela: With more than 100 flavors in rotation, there’s always a favorite in store.

– Russ: You always have to have vanilla, chocolate, strawberry.

– Teen: Here’s strawberry.

– Russ: Okay, we have a blueberry cheesecake to go in next, along with bubble gum and cake and ice cream.

Okay?

– Pat: Yep.

– Flavor after flavor, year after year, the Windmill made a name for itself.

– Child: Yay!

– Adult: The birthday cake.

– If it’s a holiday, it’s lines out the door all day long.

[sentimental acoustic] July 4th is our Super Bowl week or weekend.

It’s the biggest holiday here in the Northwoods.

– Pat: Oh, we’re gonna need a new one.

– Russ: There are times where we will go through 70 to 80 tubs of ice cream.

– Meagan: You get to see all these people coming in on boats, [boat blows horn] you know, enjoying their summer.

– Family in unison: Bye!

– Meagan: You get to see people, you know, connect with one another and have a smile on their face.

– Pat: Sometimes, I think, “Wow, this is fabulous!

“The lines of people that come and good people, nice people.”

– You want the chocolate one, or do you want the one with chocolate chunks?

– I love the Windmill, and I always did.

– Place…

I have so many memories here, like countless.

[laughs] So, it’s just a special place for me.

A million funny stories.

– Charlie: It’s kind of humbling to have so many people come and love and comment on their experiences here.

The biggest compliment we can get is when a family says, “We’ll be back tomorrow.”

[acoustic guitar riff] [shimmery music] – For our last story, we joined storyteller Takeyla Benton on stage in Madison as she explores motherhood and all the emotions that come with it in this animated tale.

[audience applauding] – Takeyla Benton: It’s a rare thing to get a glimpse of yourself from the outside.

All of your hard work, love, devotion, the sacrifices and sleepless nights and think, “I’m a pretty freaking awesome mom.”

[audience laughs] Well, [whoosh] this is not one of those times.

[laughter] It’s more like [whoosh] one of those occasions surrounded by half-folded [whoosh, child’s karate call] baskets of clothes and piles of books and papers screaming, “Will you kids just leave each other alone?

“WHY?

Why, why, why am I always stepping on Legos?”

[audience laughs, Takeyla sighs] “That’s it!

Go to bed.

Everybody, just go to bed!”

[laughter] I forced a smile, recalling that day.

“It was an overwhelming day,” I said to my son.

“I was very sad.”

“But you didn’t cry,” my little guy responded.

“Moms get mad a lot, but they don’t cry.”

In that instance, I realized how my kids must’ve saw me.

Have I failed to show my kids it’s okay to display emotions in a constructive way?

Hmm…

Surely, I’ve cried in front of my kids, right?

[purses lips] Well, when I was pregnant, I remember crying all the time.

Those ASPCA commercials get me every time.

[audience laughing] But that was late at night, and I’m sure my daughter was sleeping.

Maybe one of the times when the pain from my migraine reached a fever pitch.

Probably not, since I prefer to hide in the bathroom.

I tend to hide in the bathroom a lot I think, when that uncomfortable emotional side of me starts taking over.

Could that be why my kids refuse to allow me any privacy in the bathroom?

[click, door creeks opens] Even if I’m on the toilet, they feel it’s okay to burst in, mid-argument, forcing me to mediate from the porcelain throne.

[kids yelling, audience laughs] Locking the door doesn’t help either.

I see little, tiny fingers underneath the door.

[laughter] They slide notes under there.

[laughter] Hear my son screaming, “Mom, Mom, “I know you’re not using the bathroom.

“You have your phone.

“I can see it.

“Poo particles!

Poo particles are getting all over your phone.”

[Takeyla and audience laughing] They don’t know that I’m Googling affirmations because everything that I know how to do is not working anymore.

I’m replaying the last 14 years of my life, trying to figure out what went wrong.

And perhaps if I had cried more in front of their dad, he wouldn’t have been so distant.

He has told me on many occasions that he felt I was only open when I was crying, and my guard was down.

Yet the thought that my kids have not seen me cry bothers me deeply.

It bothers me as deeply as the constant tears that are ingrained on my shoulders that my mother cried on.

I knew early on I didn’t wanna be emotional like that.

I said, “I’d be a boulder like my grandmother, “who I only ever saw shed a tear for my father’s incarceration.”

Even when I saw her the last days of her life laying in her hospital bed, she looked at me and smiled, and motioned for me to come and sit next to her in the bed.

I couldn’t.

I ran in the bathroom and cried, and I still regret that to this day.

“Moms do cry,” I told my son, “Like when you leave your Legos on the floor, and I step on them.”

“Or, especially, when your sister uses up all the data, yeah, I cry.”

[audience laughing] [speaking as son] “No, no, you curse, Mom.

You don’t cry.”

Okay, note to self, stop cursing, at least out loud.

[Takeyla and audience laughing] Or perhaps the next time I’m in the bathroom, and one of them slides a note under the door, I’ll write a reply back that says, “Mom is crying.

Do not disturb,” and slide it back out to them, poo particles and all.

[audience laughing] Thank you.

[applause] [shimmery music] – We’ve traversed the state learning about the people and places that call Wisconsin home, all while celebrating the efforts of the Kickapoo Valley Reserve to protect the land and skies.

To explore our collection of radio and TV stories, visit WisconsinLife.org.

Connect with us on social media or email us at [email protected].

Until our next adventure, I’m your host, Angela Fitzgerald, and this is our Wisconsin Life.

Happy stargazing!

[uplifting guitars, strings, piano, and drums] [feet thudding, brushing] – 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 Obrodovich Family Foundation, the Stanley J. Cottrill Fund, Alliant Energy, UW Health, donors to the Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programs and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.