Welcome, everyone, to Midday Magazine for this December 8, 2023.
Got your host, James J here.
I am going to welcome in part two at 330,
our good friend, Gretchen Powers,
executive director with Wisconsin Rapids Community Theatre.
Looking forward to having Gretchen join us.
Right now, we have in studio our good friend, Ashley Haginau,
Alison Dairyland's own, our 76th annual,
Alison Dairyland, I should say.
It is really good to see you, Ashley.
Thanks so much for being here.
Thank you so much for having me, especially in studio.
I'm so excited to be in person today.
Ashley, I know you've joined us at least once or twice before, correct?
Yes.
Yes.
And with all the traveling you do, it's understandable.
Usually it's on the phone, but it's great to have you in studio.
You brought a bunch of cool things for us to look at and everything.
Thank you very much for being here.
And thank you again.
It's an honor to travel across Wisconsin.
And I'm so thankful my travels have brought me here to Wisconsin Rapids.
Looking forward to highlighting a few different things here today.
We are in holiday go time.
It is the season, timeless holiday traditions,
is where we're going to go with the conversation today.
And I want to start right there.
What are some of these gift suggestions and recipes
to celebrate the holidays this year?
Right now, we are in the midst of our annual
Alice in Dairyland holiday campaign.
And this highlights various something special
from Wisconsin members and their products.
The something special from Wisconsin program to kick us off
certifies that products under this program
have at least 50 percent of their production
or ingredients or packaging taking place here in Wisconsin.
So it's such a unique program to highlight local small businesses
here in Wisconsin, especially during the holidays.
The gifts I have here in the product ideas
are ways to stay cozy, especially during the cooler winter months.
Kicking us off, we have when I listened to a farmer.
This is a book by author Pete Kuran.
It tells the stories of farmers through images and stories.
And the author believes that farmers are the caretakers of our souls.
This book allows you and your family to also learn the three
hours of living, which is resilience, reverence, and reality.
So to get us started, we have a book option
as a great holiday gift this season or any time of year.
My mother, the former librarian loves this, loves you.
That's awesome.
It's a great gift idea.
Books are always a great gift idea.
They are.
It only adds on to that if you were making it a local book
from a local author and giving an angle and a perspective
that we don't get from a ton of literature,
always the farming world and from the eyes of that and everything.
Plus those three hours are great.
That's really great.
I agree, I agree.
And Peter does a great job at highlighting what we call
America's original entrepreneurs, the farmer,
and being able to share their stories is a true craft
and he does a great job at that.
We love sporting a local around here, and especially
our arts, he's a great one.
I've heard his name many times.
Yes, especially within that agricultural space,
he does a great job.
And another gift idea I have is really great
for keeping the indoors glowing this season during the winter.
And those are candles from Zera Essentials.
These candles use 100% natural soy wax and fun fact about soy wax.
It actually has a lower melting point than paraffin wax.
So these candles burn longer.
And their variety of scents include scents
that will transport you to the beach, to an apple orchard,
to making baked goods in the kitchen.
The options are pretty much endless.
They have great holiday gift options as well.
Yeah, it's interesting you bring up the soy wax,
my mother and I are Jewish.
And of course, this time of year,
we're lighting candles for Hanukkah and everything.
It's something that is applied to that with candles,
where they last longer because of that type of wax.
So a lot of the Hanukkah candles are being made that way.
Yes, yes.
These ones with that, I've also heard,
and I don't know for sure, you can find out for yourself,
this scent lasts longer with this type of wax as well.
I've heard that also.
And these scents, they smell so good.
As I've been traveling Wisconsin,
I'll sometimes open the candles a little bit
because they make your car smell so good
or any room of the house.
I've gotten into candles in the last year or so and everything.
I'm going to try these.
I've heard nothing of the great things about them.
And again, local.
Yes, I'm actually going to go visit
where their candles are made this afternoon.
They're located in Rib Mountain, Wisconsin.
All of the candles are made out of the owner's home,
which is so special.
And it's really all about small businesses
and supporting local and being able to highlight small businesses.
And you know, one of the things that I've talked with other
Alice is about, Ashley,
that I think is really cool about this.
Certainly, any chance to highlight local artists,
we've got local businesses.
We've got so many of these different things in this state,
in this big state, it's a lot to cover.
So we like to get as many as we can out there.
But the other thing that I've noticed
and other Alice's and I have talked about this before,
the inspiration that some of these things can be.
There's other candle makers out there.
And there's other people that will wait a minute.
They're doing this.
Maybe I should give this a try.
Maybe I should start a business.
Maybe I should put something on Etsy or something like that.
And we're just empowering more and more people
to take the ball and run with it.
Well, and that's what I love about this campaign
is as Alice, I get to highlight the stories
behind these products, behind these small businesses.
And if you are a small business owner yourself
and you would like to participate in this program,
we can touch on that in a few moments,
just how you can become involved in this program
to reap the benefits of being a Wisconsin small business,
getting some of that marketing and promotion
and really getting your story out there.
Looking forward to getting into that with you.
We were talking about being comfortable
and of course part of comfort is being pampered.
I don't know what that's like,
but I do hear from enough people
that it is part of being comfortable.
And pampering yourself, take any opportunity
you can this holiday season.
It's a crazy busy time of year.
You get a chance to pamper yourself, do it,
and you can do it with a local item.
You can certainly do it with little bullfalls soap works.
They are also located pretty close in the Ross Child area,
visited their store last night.
It was so cool to see all of the hundreds of soaps
and other types of products that little bullfalls is known for.
But certainly pamper yourself,
this holiday season with some of their products.
Their current and best selling recipe
is the result of tweaking and experimenting
for over 20 years to get that perfect scent
through their soaps and through their candles.
I have with me some of their handmade soaps
and their handmade candles.
These products are made with all natural organic oils
and butters and their soaps also use raw goat milk
made from Wisconsin goats here in our state dairy goats.
We rank number one in the nation
for dairy goat production as the state of Wisconsin.
So these products really highlight local businesses
and also many of our local farmers and processors.
I think that's such a sneaky cool stat about the goat milk.
I don't think that's common knowledge.
I think that's awesome to mention that.
And it's kind of cool what I first heard that.
I think it's really interesting.
That's also one of the better names
for anything I've ever heard.
Little bullfall soap works.
That's a great name.
It is a great name.
I agree.
And they've been around 20 some years.
That's impressive.
They've been around for over 20 years
and their products are high quality.
They have amazing scents.
I have with me their door county cherry.
It's one of their top selling scents
as one of their handmade soaps
and then I also have their cranberry apple marmalade candle.
And that's just tipping the iceberg
on the different options and the sense
that are available through their products.
Ashley brought these products in
and I'm looking at them.
She's showing them to me and everything
and one of the things that I noticed
is not only are they look great in the packaging.
It's awesome on these.
That beautiful red label on there of made in Wisconsin.
Yes, the something special from Wisconsin logo
helps these products to be easily identifiable in stores.
It is an oval shaped or circular shaped logo
that will be found on products that fall under
the something special from Wisconsin program.
My local support local.
We are encouraging people to relax
where they can and when they can in this holiday season.
Again, the stresses, the things they are there.
You can't really avoid them
but you can do something about your downtime
or when you have a chance to kind of take a breath.
And that's whenever you get that chance
and there's ways to kind of help people nowadays
that weren't always around before.
Wisconsin is a big promoter of this
and making it's a big part of our economy right now
and build the future of our economy is CBD
and a lot of the CBD products.
Of course, so if you're looking for ways to relax
and you enjoy relaxing with CBD products,
a super cool business I'm excited to highlight
is Stanton Legacy Acres.
They are a woman and veteran owned farm.
All of their CBD products are produced
and processed and developed on their land
and on their farm.
They have super unique gift packages
and they're really focused on education
and awareness around the CBD industry.
So they are a great small business to support.
If you're looking to use some more CBD products in your life.
I think I also encourage people to reach out to them
if you have questions about CBD and one of them more.
I also would recommend locally here
our friends and family natural foods.
Nobody is gonna try to sell you anything you don't want
but they are gonna try to give you information
and you can make the decisions from there
about how you feel about that stuff.
But what I've actually wanted to get this particular organization
on with us, I've read a lot about them.
I think I wanna say the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
did a piece on them, I think.
They're a really wonderful set of people
and really representative.
I think of the future of this state.
We know how important it is to support our veterans
and be there for them.
And here, like many of our veterans
looking for ways to help us.
Looking for ways to benefit, which is such a soldier mentality.
I agree.
And we all understand too
that having more and more women in these positions
is vital to our future.
Oh yes.
And I'm not gonna mans point that to you Ashley.
But it is, it's really important.
So any time to see these two groups represented
along with such a great company
and really picking into the future of this state,
really the future of a lot of economies.
But Wisconsin in particular with our ag industry
and where that's going and in the direction
those things are going, this is only,
it's only better, it only helps people
to inform themselves about these subjects.
Well exactly.
And what a great story to tell with all of these companies
that we're discussing today.
But when you get down to it,
the something special from Wisconsin program
has so many amazing and unique local businesses
that are part of this program.
That have such incredible stories to tell
that will continue to be told for years and years to come.
And certainly Stanton Legacy Acres
has such an incredible story to tell.
If you are interested in more of their CBD products
or hearing more about their story
would definitely encourage you to check them out.
Ashley and I were talking in a pregame
a little bit about cheese.
And we can't have you on and not talk cheese, Ashley.
I know.
It's just a natural progression, right?
To talk about cheese when it comes to Alice in Daryland.
Certainly an amazing company I'm excited to highlight
is Widmir's Cheese Sellers.
They are a fourth generation cheese company
that were established in 1922.
They're located in Teresa, Wisconsin.
But they really go all over with their cheeses.
They are known for their famous aged cheddar
but also some of their Wisconsin originals
like their brick and their Colby cheeses,
which I have here with me today.
And the Widmir family is recognized
for their cheeses.
They've won many awards at the local levels
and even around the world.
And they certainly are such great ambassadors
for the cheese and dairy industry here in Wisconsin.
They're real big givers too.
They put back into communities.
They put back into the state quite a bit too.
And I've had their cheeses many different types of them.
And it's so good.
It's so good.
We are so spoiled in the state.
We have so many great cheese companies
and cheese businesses.
We do.
They're well known by a lot of these different things.
And Kurt, there is no product they make that is not famous.
All of them are great.
All of them are amazing.
I agree.
And I have their gift boxes.
I have with me like their brick cold pack cheese,
their brick cheese.
There are so many amazing varieties
to choose from within their gift boxes
that I've been highlighting.
And you can go visit their store or visit their website
and see the full list of products that are offered
that really highlights cheese production in Wisconsin.
And that story to tell, because there's high quality cheeses
that we produce here, over 600 styles, varieties,
and types of cheeses are made right here in Wisconsin.
And it's a culture, all of its own.
It really is.
I was actually doing some homework for our interview.
And I was working on my laptop.
My mom happened to see what I was working on
and was curious about those gift boxes.
And we went down a rabbit hole with those.
There's so many of them.
My ants are all covered.
My ants are covered.
Their gifts are done.
You've got great gift ideas.
They really are.
And there's always going to be at least a handful
if not more people out there struggling with gift ideas.
And I encourage people not only to look into this,
but to check out Ashley's blog and a lot of her social media
where she's been doing a lot,
she's showing you a lot of these things.
And it's been really nice to be able to see those.
I actually pulled some up to show my mom
so she could make the decision a little bit easier for her.
She was visually seeing these things and stuff.
It's really cool that you're doing that.
Well, thank you so much.
And check us out, Alice in Dairyland on Instagram,
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or X and our website
because we are so proud to promote these products
under the Something Special from Wisconsin program.
And hopefully inspire some unique gift ideas
this holiday season.
This time of year is also an nostalgic time of year.
We like to take a trip down memory lane and everything.
And you have something for us with that.
I do.
Lastly, if you want to take a trip down memory lane,
I encourage you to check out CTL foods
and their malted milk powder.
This malt powder is reminiscent of old fashioned diners
in the 1960s and 50s.
They have been hand crafting their soda fountain
malted milk powder for nearly 40 years.
And there's a lot of unique recipes.
As it comes to malted milk powder,
you can use this in an apple crunch malt ice cream
or in some cheesecake recipes or, of course, hot chocolate.
It is hot chocolate season right now.
It doesn't feel like it today.
So don't get warm out there.
Just still have it though.
We'll still get it in there this holiday season.
So this is a great company and product to highlight as well.
Reminiscing a little bit too during the holidays.
It's not a bad thing.
It feels good.
And it just tastes different, you know, that way.
There's not a bad or worse version.
They're all great.
But doing it this way, not only is it taste different
and a little nice, but then nostalgia.
But nostalgia tastes good.
And nostalgia.
We love the taste of nostalgia.
I want to get into a couple of other things with you
actually before we let you go today.
But one thing I did want to highlight
and remind people about is something
we've already touched on a little bit.
You're social media presence.
We have been very lucky.
Every else that I've talked to, and that's about three or four
of them, you guys are amazing.
They pick such great people for this role.
And you guys really knock it out the park.
Every one of you seems to learn from the other
and to take what they did and kind of take the ball
and run with it and kind of do their thing with it.
It's been really cool to see.
I love what you have been doing on social media.
And I cannot express enough to people out there
to like and subscribe to your Facebook pages
to wear your presence on social media.
It's fun.
You're finding out about these products in fun ways.
And you're getting like a little bit of a look at them
that I don't think you would normally,
which I encourage.
And I also wanted to mention your blog.
That's really fun too.
Oh my gosh.
And thank you for helping to highlight what we do,
especially in that digital social media space
with Alice in Dairyland.
With Alice in Dairyland, we are promoting
Wisconsin agriculture wherever we can.
And hopefully reaching new audiences each and every day
through different social channels.
That is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter or X,
being able to highlight the something special
from Wisconsin program.
And what I do on the daily, whether it's industry tours,
getting into classrooms, events that I have the honor
of attending, I think it's so important to promote.
Just what makes Wisconsin so unique.
And we also do that through our blog on our website.
Again, our website is Alice in Dairyland.com.
And we have a blog that we publish on the regular
to highlight Wisconsin agriculture.
We've had a few blogs highlighting the something special
from Wisconsin program and different commodities,
whether it's dairy, cranberries, specifically focused
on cheese, vegetables here in Wisconsin.
The list goes on.
And it's all just aiming to provide education and awareness
on Wisconsin agriculture and what makes our state
so unique for our agricultural industry.
You mentioned this earlier.
If there is a business out there listening
that is a Wisconsin business,
it would like to be a part of this.
They can reach out to you actually.
I find out more.
Certainly.
And I would definitely encourage folks.
If you are a small business owner especially
and are interested in learning more about the something
special from Wisconsin program to visit the website
somethingspecialwi.com.
This website is an incredible resource.
Especially if you're a small business owner,
you can find more information on becoming a part
of the something special from Wisconsin program.
If you have a product where at least 50%
of the production, ingredients, or packaging
is taking place here in Wisconsin.
On the website, there is a link to follow
where you can submit a membership application.
You pay a small membership fee and then you start
to reap the benefits of promotion,
of marketing, of storytelling on behalf of your company
and the products that you offer,
getting the word out in Wisconsin and even beyond
on what makes your small business so special.
So highly encourage folks to visit something
specialwi.com.
You've got a great business.
We want to help that business.
And no matter how big your clientele
or how well your business is doing,
you can always do better.
You can always have more and reach more people.
And we want to support that.
We want to be a part of that and help you do that.
So please reach out to Ashley and the team over there
and support your business support and put it out there.
And maybe you never know who you might inspire.
I agree.
We've got local new businesses starting all the time.
And I think it's pretty cool that we bring each other up
in this state.
And I like seeing that.
Ashley, we've talked about a lot today.
Where can people find out more information
about some of the things we've talked about?
I would encourage folks again to visit something
specialwi.com on the topic of something special
from Wisconsin, especially if you are looking
for some last minute gift ideas or local businesses
to support any time of year, the something special
from Wisconsin website is a great resource.
There is a member directory on the website that lists
all of the hundreds of something special from Wisconsin
members and their businesses and their products.
You can even search products by category.
If you have a certain gift idea in mind
or a certain local business that you'd love to support,
you can easily search that on the something special
from Wisconsin website.
And if you really, really want to support
hyper local in your area, there is also a member map
on the somethingspecialwi.com website that lists businesses
in your area or your part of Wisconsin
that you can certainly check out their website,
even visit their businesses in person to highlight
supporting local and supporting local community members
in your area.
And if you'd like to learn more about Alice in Dairyland,
I would definitely encourage folks to visit our website
once again, that is Alice in Dairyland.com.
On our website, you can learn more about the something
special from Wisconsin program, but also more about
what Alice in Dairyland is, our program history,
our current initiatives, and information
for the upcoming Alice in Dairyland Finals,
which will be held in Door County.
Yeah, that's coming up.
It's coming up.
It is.
It is May 2nd through 4th of 2024.
Are the official Alice in Dairyland Finals dates.
I actually am getting up to Door County this weekend
to attend a few different holiday markets, make reads,
celebrate the holiday season up in the Door County area.
And about once a month, I travel up to Door County
as the current Alice with the goal to promote Door County,
promote agriculture in Door County,
and really get folks excited for the Alice in Dairyland Finals.
As we get closer to that, I would love to talk with you
a little bit more about how you've enjoyed this run.
And as far as how you could, the type of people
that should really try for this, and encouraging them
to do so, because it's such a great position,
a great thing to be able to do for your state.
And I'll also encourage people to check out
probably the website, but if you're interested
and haven't actually come visit your business
or your event, please reach out to her.
She loves doing this stuff.
Please, yes, oh my gosh.
And again, I would direct folks to our website,
Alice in Dairyland.com.
There's also a request Alice portion on our website.
If you have an upcoming event, or you'd like me to attend
a tour or anything else happening in your community,
you can certainly go ahead and request Alice in Dairyland.
We'll get that added on the calendar.
And I would love the chance to highlight
an event or a business in your community.
Ashley, you can touch on this a little bit
as we're getting ready to let you go here.
Where are you going?
What you got going on next?
Great question.
So this afternoon, I'm heading over to W-A-O-W
to continue highlighting the Something Special
from Wisconsin program.
And in the coming weeks as we prepare for the holiday season,
I will also be highlighting Wisconsin Butter.
As Wisconsin Butter sales increase pretty dramatically,
especially leading up to the holidays,
as many of us might be using butter in holiday recipes, cooking,
baking, you name it.
So that's what the next few weeks look like.
And then looking ahead to already in 2024,
we will have some fun campaigns highlighting
Wisconsin Jinsing, Wisconsin Potatoes, Wisconsin Cheese.
We'll have a whole topic dedicated to Wisconsin Cheese
production.
And I'm looking forward to getting into more classrooms
with the Expedition Agriculture Program,
especially with fourth and fifth grade students.
We have some fun events around the state highlighting
Wisconsin agriculture, some fun upcoming conventions
and expos highlighting different Wisconsin commodities.
And hopefully, plenty of miles traveled
with our new program vehicle.
Her name's Tassie.
We just unveiled the new name.
It looked new.
It looked like it's a great ride right there.
It is a great ride.
Yeah, yeah.
I love her name.
I love the name.
I love the great name.
Yes.
Ashley, we love talking with you.
Love hanging out with you.
And thank you so much for everything you do.
And not only for us, but our state.
Keep up the great work, save travels out there.
We've mentioned it a couple of times.
So people want to connect with you.
How can they do that?
If you'd like to connect with Alice in Dairyland
or give us a follow to follow along with my adventures
across Wisconsin, go ahead and like or engage with us
on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter, or X.
We are on those platforms, Alice in Dairyland.
And if you'd like to learn more about the program,
if you'd like to request Alice to come to your upcoming event,
go ahead and visit our website,
Alice in Dairyland.com.
We talk a lot about buying local supporting local,
that includes Alice in Dairyland.
By supporting Alice, support the work that she is doing.
We appreciate you, Ashley.
Thanks so much for joining us.
Thank you so much.
And happy holidays.
Happy holidays to you in yours.
Enjoy your holidays.
Thank you, you too.
We'll talk soon.
We'll be back with a more midday magazine for you right here
at WFHR.
