We're going to milk this for all it's worth.
It's Dairyland Diaries.
And look at local stories around Wisconsin.
For a certain section of Wisconsin and the populace, this is going to be a huge deal.
The World Pinball Championship is coming to Depear this weekend, 80.
of the top ranked competitive pinball players on the planet.
A sentence I never thought I'd have to fit on my business card.
They represent about more than 20 countries will keep their eye on the ball as they battle it out this weekend at district 82 pinball for the 21st annual Flipper Pinball Association's World Pinball Championship.
Wow.
Here we go.
They are they all have supple wrists.
We know that Jamie.
Yes.
So District 82, the arcade that opened in 2018, hosting the most prestigious event in competitive pinball is a bonanza of all bonus points.
I've got it.
This story is filled with things I never thought a competitive pinball world.
I did not know.
It's like being chosen as the host city for the Super Bowl, they say.
The tournament bounces back and forth between cities in Europe and the United States, Austria.
Hosted the last one with the host site selected a couple of years in advance It's likely a once-in-a-lifetime honor for district 82 which is home to one of the largest tournament quality pinball collections in the country Now you may be saying how do people get invited?
Well, they earn an invitation to compete in the championship based on their ranking from tournaments throughout the year some of them have spent years traveling internationally and competing in hundreds of events in hopes of making it to the championship this weekend
is made up of men and women of all ages and includes Appleton's own Neil Graf.
He's our odds-on favorite.
Parker, you should cover this on What's My Line, your big sports show.
Make
sure you're doing that
either play
by play
District 82 has more than 100 paintball machines ranging from 70s classics to new introductions themes like kiss and Godzilla the Flintstones and Dolly Parton tournament director selected 66 machines that will be played 22 from three different eras ensuring that the champ will have to be good at every area to win this sounds like
I've never,
I
don't know anything about it.
I'm not good at pinball.
I've
played
excessively over the years, but I
would like to
see what competitive pinball looks like.
I think this would be super, super
fun to check out.
And again, just in Depeer, so not even that far if you're
in
Wisconsin.
And then this story, this one's just creepy, but kind of cool at the same time.
Giant bugs are taking over Milwaukee County Zoo in a new exhibit.
Powerful pollinators have taken over the zoo for the summer and early fall.
As part of this exhibit, when you visit, you can expect to see more than 20 enlarged animatronic models of the tiny critters that run our...
ecosystems.
There is going to be a climbable structure and photo ops with larger than life bees, beetles, and other bugs, at least according to a statement from the zoo.
Now, if you visit, you can also collect limited pollinator trading cards.
Ooh, this is like garbage pail kid cards
way back in the day so
that you can unlock rewards with return visits and return returns throughout the summer.
Now featured pollinators include the only bee protected by the federal Endangered Species Act,
the rusty patched bumblebee, as well as the golden rod crab spider, the red band leaf hopper and the hummingbird clear wing moth.
Oh, those things are really neat to see when you see them floating around.
I have not
heard of any of these, but they all, by their name alone, I'm like, I got to find out what a
red band
leaf hopper is.
Like I need to check these out.
Now, if you want more information and a little bit more fun on these,
The zoo is also gonna hold activity series days from 10 until two.
That's every Wednesday until Labor Day.
These days feature expanded interactive content, which is really great for kids between the ages of three to nine.
Zoos, when you are a parent and you have young kids, it is what you do.
You hang out and the kids have a great time.
hours, hours and
two.
Were
your kids ever into bugs?
No, Dexter was into frogs.
That's what Dexter was into.
Dexter was my frog kid.
We had a window well where critters hopped in all the time and every morning he'd come in all gloved up with this new critter to show me and shove in my face at 6 a.m.
because he'd find it in the window well.
Here mom, look at this.
Oh, honey, that's a rat.
You should probably take that outside.
Wow,
that actually happened.
Your son was Robert F. Kennedy back in the day.
Just grabbing snakes and rats
and toads.
We called him Steve Irwin.
We were like, what are you?
Like, seriously, what are you right now?
I like that he had no fear, though.
That's pretty cool.
He did not.
He would glove up even and he'd go out there with his little hat, his jabbies and bring me
at a critter at six a.m.
It was something because it was a deep window well.
So every night there was something new in there.
Oh,
something was in there.
Oh, yeah.
Would he
climb into the window well?
Yeah, cause he could just step right down into it.
Yeah, no, he'd step right in he'd pick it up with his little gloves And then he'd bring it inside to show his his mommy which was very lovely and I'm glad he I taught him to share No, and
I I know dinosaur kids I haven't met a bug kid But we've got some bugs real quick on Alaska is a grand opening of their expansion at Dash Park It includes a splash park.
So if you're in on Alaska today, they're having a big ribbon cutting.
That's Dairyland Diaries
you
