Welcome, everyone, to Midday Magazine for this Friday, March 29th, 2024.
Have your host, James Day, mail off here, and don't need the headphones, you're okay.
Don't worry about it, you're fine.
We have in studio with us some of our favorite people.
We have Sharon Schwab with us, Sharon.
Good morning.
Not good afternoon, I should say.
And thanks for being here, Sharon.
And we have Mary Casey Martin with us.
Mary, good to see you.
Hey, just call me Casey.
Just Casey.
Yep.
I appreciate both of you being here, really appreciate everything that you do with the
Wisconsin Prairie Chicken Festival.
I think it's one of our cooler fun events we have in our area.
It's something we love to highlight and get a chance to do every year with you two in.
And one thing I'd like to do for those that may be new to the area, or maybe haven't
heard of this before, is kind of getting the history of the event a little bit.
And if you don't mind, I will put you on the spot, Sharon, with that, I appreciate it.
Sharon, can we share a little bit of the history of this great event?
Oh, sure.
Well, I think Casey and I, Casey might have started with the Cocamania idea back in like
2006.
And back in 2006, we had a very small event actually at the Hammerstrom home, which is
located near Plainfield.
And so we had a vent all outside and a little bit of the inside where we toured the Hammerstrom
home.
And I can let you expound on that.
And then from there, it just built.
We started in 2007 through about 2012, and it just kept getting bigger and bigger and
bigger.
So we had events then at the Boinevista Wildlife Area, at the Paul J. Olson Wildlife
Area, at the Mead Wildlife Area.
We had things out at the historic bass.
We had, oh my goodness.
At one point, we had, I think, like 11 different venues.
And we had, I think, more than 100 and 20 people that we fit into observation blinds over
the course of a weekend.
And they come from all over the world, all over the world, literally.
We had people from China.
We took about, there was about a five-year hiatus.
There were personnel changes in some of the programming and personnel left the program.
And so we kicked up again in 2017.
And we renamed it, rebranded it, as the Wisconsin Prairie Chicken Festival.
Yeah.
And we have a new website.
It's www.whis PrairieChicons.org.
So the WIS is important in Chiconsplural.org.
And that new site will give people an overview on the schedule, and give them way to interact.
I mean, email.
There's a Facebook link.
So let a good news.
I'm glad you read it.
The Facebook page is also the Facebook page for people to keep in mind, too, that like
and subscribe, too, and keep up the date and everything you guys are doing over there.
So thank you for the history lesson.
I love hearing that.
And I love going down memory lane with you guys.
Why the Prairie Chicken?
What was it about the Prairie Chicken that we wanted to do this for the Prairie Chicken?
Well, Prairie chickens have a story and history in the state of Wisconsin.
They used to be, historically, only in the southern third part of the state of Wisconsin,
where we had a lot of prairie.
Of course, a lot of land news changes have occurred.
And when the state of Wisconsin was logged back in the 1800s, we had wide open spaces almost
everywhere.
At one point, there were prairie chickens in every single county of Wisconsin.
But like a lot of species, they were hunted to near extinction.
And hunting in Wisconsin was ceased in 1955.
However, there still was a stronghold left in central Wisconsin, where we had a lot of
open areas.
So in about five different counties, Marathon, Wood, Clark, Portage, and Adams were really
the strongholds.
And those still exist today, but only really in parts of Wood and Portage County at the
three main wildlife areas, Paul Olson, Boinevista, and Leola.
These are the only places that Prairie Chicken still exist in the state.
They were listed as a threatened species in 1979.
So they're state threatened.
And there's been enormous efforts for the last 80 years, really, to keep them here.
And to avoid extra-patient or local extinction from the state.
And that was the Hammerstrom link.
They dedicated really their lives to a lot of different birds.
But in particular, the Timpanookas cupidopnatus.
And we are the greater Prairie Chicken here in Wisconsin.
There are lesser birds, lesser chickens.
And they are in New Mexico and Nebraska-Western states.
So Frederick and Fran, Hammerstrom, and then Fran went on to write a number of books.
So she became renowned as an author as well.
They've passed many years ago, but we still honor them at the festival.
We bring in a nature writer, every year a nature writer and author.
And this year it's going to be Dr. George Archibald, who is a long time friend of theirs.
And he was one of the co-founders of the International Crane Foundation.
So it's really the whole festival focuses on other birds as well as the Prairie Chicken.
The Prairie Chicken kind of serves as what's known as an umbrella species or a keystone species.
Because if you can retain the kind of the one that's the bird that's kind of at the
species at the top of the chain, so to speak, in terms of habitat needs, because they're the most specific,
then all the other grassland species underneath them can also survive.
So if they're there, we know that a lot of other important species are also there.
Yeah, well go ahead.
We'll also have at the festival on Saturday, April 13th in the morning,
we'll have an oversized Prairie Chicken.
He's called, we call him Boomin Bob.
And he's a costume character that the children and the adults love to see up here once a year
during the festival. The great photo apps and fun activities.
So there'll be children's activities, there'll be Boomin Bob.
There's vendors, there's artists, there's wildlife photography.
You know, Casey, let's do this in order for people.
Let's let's go ahead and give them the details here of how this all event this starts
and where it wraps up and everything.
Let's start right away.
When does the event begin?
I imagine around noon or something like no.
No, that's an early event.
Well, we'll talk about the precursor to the early early mornings.
And that is on Monday, April the 8th.
McMillan Library has been a great sponsor of this event in the years.
And again, this year, and they're going to offer a movie.
A series of movies at 1.30 and 6 p.m.
and it's entitled Carbon Cowboys.
And I'll let Casey talk about it.
Well, it's again, the festival over time has also implemented a great partnership
with the farmers of Mill Creek out in Portage County.
And they have actually adopted the Paul J. Olsen management of that facility.
But the festival gives an opportunity to talk about different farming alternatives.
And that's what this series of shorts is going to offer up to people.
Carbon Cowboys.
They've joined us on the air here before.
They're a great organization.
Great group of people doing some really vital work over there.
And that's cool to hear that they're a part of this.
That makes sense that they would be.
But I didn't hear that part.
That's great.
That's really great.
Again, the habitat is part of the message that we try and offer to people.
But there's ways we can partner together to make it all work for everyone.
Yeah.
And I'm so glad that this came up too.
And you highlighting this, Sharon,
because when it comes to an endangered species,
I think we focus on that animal in particular as we probably should.
But it's so important to remember that that animal is part of a chain.
And if that animal is out, then it affects the whole chain,
which we are a part of people.
I'll just remind everybody out there.
So keeping these animals alive is a good feeling.
It feels good.
I don't want to say to any of my grandkids one day.
I don't want to have to say to them,
hey, there was this animal called the Prairie Chicken we used to have.
We don't have anymore.
I don't want to have to have that conversation with my grandkids.
And the reason we call our character
our oversized Prairie Chicken Woman Bob.
I'll let Sharon speak to that naming.
Well, that gets to our other events.
If you're hardy enough and you're willing to meet us at 4 o'clock in the morning,
you go into when you come with all your gear
and your waterproof boots and your flashlight and get warm
and please don't drink coffee,
because we take you out into a Prairie Chicken blind
about 4 o'clock in the morning.
You have to be there before sunrise.
And you will have the experience of seeing the male Prairie Chickens boom.
So they make this guttural low volume sound
that you can hear for over a mile kind of like,
mmm, it's really low.
And then they flutter, they flap, they pound their feet,
they have these air sacs on their side of their head that are orange
and they blow up.
And then they have these feathers on the top of their head called pinny
and those become erect.
And these guys are just nuts.
And they dance for hours just to attract these females
who nonchalantly make their way through the booming grounds
and look them over and go,
mmm, I don't think so.
It's a story in my life.
But the boys dance their hearts out to win a heart.
Yeah, yeah.
It's really, it's heartwarming to see them try so very hard
and it's just such a colorful, extravagant display.
And how often in life do you have a chance
to experience these things in real time
and be in the moment of them?
You know, I know nowadays you can catch so many things online.
There's a huge difference of all of your senses taking in a moment
and just seeing something online.
There's a gigantic difference of that.
And regionally, you know, not a lot happens in early April.
Yeah, yeah.
We're not against a lot of competition for things to do.
Yeah.
Um, so that calendar date is usually around that early,
like this year it's April 8th through the 14th.
It varies a little but typically it's that that time period in April.
So if you can't make it this year, you can come next year.
It's a good thing to plan ahead for.
Yeah.
There will be vendors down there as well.
So yeah, so we have different sites to go into observation
blinds. We have sites available.
Well, well, there's no sites available now.
But you can always email where we have our email site as well
to see if there's any spots because sometimes people cancel.
They get the information.
They're like on second thought.
I don't want to do it.
Well, as Casey said, maybe for next year if you can't this year.
So we have sites at the Boinevista Wildlife Area in Portage County
and at the Paul J. Olson Wildlife Area.
But the festival events itself, the breakfast on Saturday, April 13th
will be held at the air and event barn.
That's where our vendors will be.
That's where our presenters will be.
And then in the afternoon, Dr. Archibald will be here at McMillan Library
again on April the 13th.
A big thank you to McMillan Library working with us.
We love our friends over at McMillan.
And Dr. Archibald for doing this too.
You mentioned he was a friend of theirs?
Yeah, lifetime friend.
When Fran and Frederick were recognized and got the good egg award,
he was also present at that.
That's cool.
See them.
See them.
So he's an amazing speaker.
He's like the Pied Piper people.
It was just kind of full of everywhere.
And his collection of stories is called My Life with Cranes.
So as I mentioned, the Hammerstrum Fund for Writing
is at Encourage Foundation.
And we started that the year that Fran passed.
And it grew to $10,000.
So now we use the dividend funds from that annual fund
to bring in a wildlife nature.
Very soon.
That's really cool.
That's a great way to do that too.
Well, we want to encourage more writing
about the concerns we all have, about the environment.
I forgot to mention that we also have a bus tour that morning.
That is completely booked.
But we have two wonderful wildlife biologists, Stan Scoutek,
retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
and Susan Voss, who works over at Fort McCoy,
excellent grassland biologists who will lead that birding tour.
It gives you such great, like,
it's one thing to have a good tour,
it's another to have one so well informed
and really knows their stuff like that.
Well, and Dan O'Connell from Portage County
could not be with us today.
But he and Sharon have really,
are the co-facilitators of all of this craziness.
A big thank you to Dan.
Hopefully next time he can join us.
And then thank you to all of you for doing this
and the work that you're doing on this.
It's greatly appreciated.
And I know the birds really appreciate it.
We're speaking with Casey Martin and Sharon Schwab,
about the Wisconsin Prairie Chicken Festival 2024.
And wanted to be sure to mention the speakers
that are going to be a part of this event, ladies.
Yeah, thank you very much.
So we've got some, we've got a really nice set up for,
excuse me, for that day.
We have one of the things that people might really enjoy
is Amber Eschenbach is bringing a live Kestrel.
Kestrel's like other people might know it as a sparrow hawk.
So of course they are really dependent on grassland.
So she's going to bring along a live Kestrel
and give a presentation on that.
Ashley Stinke will be there from the Audubon Society,
Lisa Kardashian from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources,
Dan O'Connell and Tracy Arnold from Portage County.
We'll speak about their youth education program.
Heather Doudary may be speaking from Fezans Forever
about programs that are available to farmers to sign up for,
so from some of their private lands.
And then I will have a representative from the probably John Aaron
from the Farmers of Mill Creek.
And I think that's everybody.
Very cool.
So hopefully I didn't miss anybody.
That's a great group of people.
And a lot of and for a lot of great information.
And very good speakers, by the way,
all these individuals are very charismatic
and do a really nice job with these speeches.
And Lisa will talk about kind of an update
on what the Prairie Chicken population is,
what the status is right now.
That's a really good information.
That's great.
We also have some wonderful vendors.
I don't know if you want to hear about that.
Yeah, definitely.
So we have some, not only in addition to vendors,
we have some educational exhibitions there.
We have the Farmers of Mill Creek Council,
the Ice Age Trail Alliance,
the Nature Conservancy,
North Central Conservancy Trust, Fezans Forever.
And then we have some vendors, Heather Baker from HB Studio.
We have Deb Bilker, she has a children's book,
Joe Readerer, who's also on our planning committee,
and is heading up the website this year,
does some amazing photography,
and he'll have his prints and his cards,
and Sue Tupper, who did a biography
of Fred and Fron Hammerstrom.
And Bird City, I apologize.
There are Kuba Shack is also on our committee,
and he has just done a lie of things.
We're also going to have a silent auction.
Oh, very nice.
We did that last year as well,
and really reasonably priced,
starting beds,
and hopefully they exceed and go overboard.
But it's another way for people to get some items
and a variety of items.
Food as well as art,
as well as functional things,
and nature-related things.
Oh, as you mentioned, the food.
We're going to have a great breakfast on Saturday,
and that's being done by Kathy Havitz
with Chatterbox Cafe.
It does a nice job for us.
Yeah, when we shout out to Chatterbox,
they do a lot of great work in this community.
Great kindergarten.
And along with all of this,
this event doesn't happen without some great sponsors,
and I do want to let those sponsors know
I put the ladies on the spot here
when I bring you this up,
but we do want to thank them.
Okay, so we've got clean green action, Bird City.
We have the Hammerstrom Fund for Writing
within the Encourage Foundation,
Portage County Planning and Zoning,
the Farmers of Mill Creek Council,
WFHR, thank you very much.
Fezans Forever, Dane County Conservation League,
and the Wisconsin Rapids Convention of Visitors Bureau.
And I hope I didn't forget any.
All great people, all great individuals,
and all people that really believe in this,
and believe in this cause,
and believe in how important this is.
And I'd like to just take a note too, too.
You know, I'm a transplant.
I've been in this state for about 20 some years,
and my children were born here and everything.
And if there's one thing I learned about Wisconsinites,
Wisconsinites are proud of being from Wisconsin.
Take a lot of pride in being Wisconsinites,
and I love that, and I think that's great.
One of the things, one of the ways to show,
they show your pride, and Wisconsinites do,
is the history of your state,
the animals in your state, the nature in your state,
enjoying that and supporting it,
and keeping it around for other generations.
That's what this event is all doing,
is keeping this things around for future generations,
preserving this land, preserving these animals,
and helping so much of this to happen.
I think, I would think,
if you're a proud Wisconsinite,
you want to be a part of this event.
You want to be involved in this,
and enjoy this great event.
In case you had a really nice way to kind of wrap things up,
I thought that was very no worthy,
so I'm going to let you do that.
Well, one of the after-front,
and Frederick had passed earlier,
but when Frond died in the late 90s,
her daughter, Elva Paulson,
Hammerstrom Paulson,
is also a renowned nature and wildlife artist out in Oregon,
but she compiled reminiscent stories
from various people that knew the Hammerstroms
over the decades, over their lives,
and either interacted with them in a birding sense
or an ecological sense.
So at the back of the book,
the collection of stories is called the Hammerstrom Stories,
recollections of the life of Hamie and Frond Hammerstrom.
I found a 1947 paper that Frederick had written,
talking about water pollution,
conservation's most urgent problem.
So in 1947, he wrote,
life cannot exist without water.
All plants and animals,
including man himself,
depend upon water.
Water made our industrial system possible.
Water is used in the processes of manufacture
and is a means of carrying off industrial waste.
An important part of our food supply comes directly
from oceans, rivers, and lakes.
Water holds for us tremendous, aesthetic, social,
and recreational values.
So 1947, I mean, a friend of mine, Danny,
and wrote a whole book about water and the great lakes,
recently linked in the last couple of years, so far.
To show how long this has been a topic,
in how future thinking they were.
Yes.
And then the other paper was done by both Frederick and Frond
in 1957, ecological patterning as a tool in wildlife management.
Wildlife management generally means the management of habitat
as much as the management of the animals themselves.
Habitat management means without which wildlife cannot live.
It happens sometimes that existing land management
quite inadvertently produces both commercial crops
with their measured in bushels, pounds,
or board feet and excellent crops of wildlife, too.
So again, they knew the importance,
well, and they also studied under Aldo Leopold.
Aldo Leopold, they were Leopold students,
and Frond was the only female student of his.
Oh, wow, that's interesting.
Yes.
So again, more of our historical reflection.
Well, in talking about how long this has been a topic,
how long this has been important to us in this area and the state.
That's a thank you so much for that.
That was really good.
Well, Frond and Hammy used to lure people
to their farm property in Plainfield,
and before they'd take them out birding or they'd take them out birding
and bring them back and they crack eggs,
they always served up a great breakfast.
It was one of the ways that they got people personally invested.
That's really cool.
As we're wrapping up, ladies, let's tell people again
when the event is beginning and where the event is going to be
taking place.
Well, it officially begins with the kickoff at McMillan Library
on April 8th.
Blinds are observation blinds are occurring between the 12th and the 14th,
but the main event is on April the 13th,
beginning at 4 o'clock in the morning with observation blind,
6 o'clock in the morning and the bus.
But if you're just coming for breakfast and all the morning speakers, etc, etc,
you can come about 8 o'clock and breakfast will be beginning,
and then be sure to catch Dr. George Archibald in the afternoon at 3.30.
And the silent auction ends at 10.30 at the event, far in that morning.
Keep in mind, you can find out more about this event
and follow along with it throughout the year on their Facebook page,
just type in your search bar, Wisconsin,
a W.I. Prairie Chicken Festival, W.I. Prairie Chicken Festival,
and their new website you want to check out as well,
wisprairiechicans.org, and that's with WIS,
with the plural chickens in there.
So wisprairiechicans.org, be sure to check that out,
and we're looking forward to talking with you guys again,
already looking forward to this event.
Thank you to you, to the sponsors, to all the volunteers,
and everybody that helps make this event happen year in and year out.
We appreciate you.
Thank you for the time, and thank you both.
Thanks James.
Have a great time at the event, but enjoy yourselves.
Well, the Mar and Midday magazine coming up for you right here on WFHR,
locally grown radio.