Welcome everybody to Midday magazine for this Friday October 11th, 2024.
Have your host James J. Mailov here.
At 430 today, we're going to be talking with our friends on the Visit Wisconsin Rapids
Bureau.
They are welcoming in to Wisconsin Rapids Area Sports Commission.
We'll be talking about that.
We'll update with us.
We'll talk a little bit about their awards coming up this year and when you can check out
this celebration.
Right now we have with us in studio our good friend Hannah Wendell Scott, food wise nutrition
educated with Wood County University Wisconsin Medicine Division of Extension.
Hannah!
Thank you.
Thank you.
We ran out of time.
I had to say the full name and we...
No, no.
I know.
Seriously, I was laughing in my head.
Like wow, that title needs to come down.
It really kind of does.
It kind of does.
But we love our friends over at Extension and so is Goodham and hanging out with you guys.
And a great way to wrap up the week, especially with the topics we have today, Hannah.
Let's dive right in first and talk about the River Riders bike share program.
Before we dive too into the program itself and how long it's going to be around, we've
been doing this a couple of years.
I've gotten good feedback from the community on about this, about these bikes being around
and the use of them.
I've seen a lot of use of them.
Have you been seeing that from your end?
Yeah, yeah.
We've been seeing quite a bit of use this summer.
I've taken a couple phone calls just with people sharing kind of their experience with
the bikes.
It's been great.
We have stations right now.
We have three stations.
And honestly, I think they all get pretty decent use amongst each other.
Lake Wazie just is always super popular.
It's just right there on the trail.
So it's really nice for families to spend some time at, if their littles have bikes,
but maybe adults don't have bikes in the family for whatever reason.
Or it's just easier to fit a small bike in the car.
Not necessarily easy to fit a large bike.
So I think that's what makes having a bike share program super cool is you can pick it up
wherever you are.
And you don't have to feel like you have to bring your own bike or haul your bike or ride
really far from home to get to the trail.
So Lake Wazie just a good spot.
The library also has really decent usage.
And I think that's just because libraries are just their comfortable space.
Anyone feels welcome coming to the library, especially the one here in town.
So I just love that we have a station there.
And then we also have one close to the farmer's market, which I think is also really nice
because it's on a trail.
And it's a little bit different because you get a river view.
It's really pretty during the fall, during the summer.
It's an easy trail to navigate.
It pretty much just goes out and back.
So it's been really cool to just to watch all the people ride the bikes as I'm walking
around town or driving.
And I'm like, hey, there's a river riders bike.
The programs seemed very successful and it seems to be going very well and we're really
thankful for it.
It's been coming handy also with a lot of events.
I know that science by the river last weekend, they were being used for that and some other
great events too.
I think they've also been a reminder to people, too, even if they have bikes, I'm like,
oh, I haven't gone on a bike ride in a while.
Oh, I mean, the kids haven't gone for a bike ride in a while or something.
We've also seen the popularity of this grow with some of the events with some like a riding
with Sheriff Becker or some of those, the bike rides, the community bike rides they've
done.
That's been a real nice chance not only to promote this and to remind people about it,
let people know about it, but it's been really cool to be able to see more people are
able to do events like that because of these.
Because of these.
Yeah, I know.
I think it's super awesome.
And it's crazy to think that we've been doing the bike ride events with Sheriff Becker
or local law enforcement in general for almost six, seven years by now, which is just
crazy to think about.
And I just love that they've been so willing to come to these events.
I mean, they could go without them, but they're always like, let us know when you're doing
the next bike ride.
We want to be there.
I'm like, okay.
One of the thing too, and this may not come to a lot of people's minds, but one of the
first things I thought of with this program too is there's a lot of kids out there that
can't afford a bike.
They don't have a bike.
I remember what it was like being one of those kids and all my friends had bikes and I
didn't.
You couldn't ride with them and everything.
This gives an opportunity for that.
It does.
Yeah, I know.
They are like more adult sized bikes, but I find I do see a lot of younger like teens riding
the bikes.
And I just think that's so cool because I do see quite a few kids on their bikes like
out on their own, which is great.
That's a lot of trust, but it's awesome.
I think we have a safe community.
But like, yeah, if your friends are all going out and you don't have a bike, maybe you
guys plan to meet up near a bike share station so you can grab one of the River Writers
bikes.
It's a neat accessibility piece that this program brings.
The community's really supported this too.
Really and not only with using these bikes, but spreading the word about them too, word
of mouth has gone so far for these as well and that's been cool to see.
It has been really cool.
And I mean, when the program started 10 or so years ago by now, which is crazy to say,
but it was something that the community identified as a need.
It was their idea.
We had meetings, focus groups and what came out of it was having some sort of shared bike
program and it started really like grassroots used to go to the library and pick up a bike
and it was just, it's kind of funny to think of how far programs like bike share in general
have come from picking it out and filling out your paper form, leaving your driver's license
or something to make sure you came back.
And now you can just do it on your phone in an app.
I hadn't thought about that.
Wow, it really has come a long ways from there.
That's really impressive.
And we mentioned events that are really fun for this.
We've got a really fun one to kind of wrap up the season, if you will.
Yeah, I love our community bike rides.
They typically do happen at Lake Wasicha and that's the one that I came here to talk about
today.
It's the fall community bike ride and I'm partial to fall.
I love fall.
I have a birthday in fall.
I got married in the fall.
So fall is like my jam.
I'm with you.
My favorite season.
It's so pretty.
So we've got our fall community bike ride.
It's next Wednesday, October 16th and it does start at 5 p.m.
We have always tried to find what's that sweet spot of time because the sun's going down
earlier.
You don't want to get trapped in the dark on the trails.
So I think 5 p.m. has become our fall standard time.
So we will be out there at Lake Wasicha at White Sands Beach and you can meet us in the
parking lot right by the bike share station is where we'll kind of rendezvous.
And this is a event that is open to the public, free to everybody.
Free to everybody, family friendly.
So bring your kettos, bring your neighbors, bring people you don't know and tell them
to come and enjoy a bike ride.
It's short.
I mean, it takes about 40-ish minutes to get around the lake.
It's only four miles.
And yeah, you can bring your own bike, bring your helmet.
But if like we were talking about earlier, if you don't have a bike or you live too far
to ride your bikes to the lake or your bike doesn't fit in your vehicle, we have bikes
there for rent.
I will check them out.
You don't have to worry about paying for the bike.
It'll be a free.
It's a free event.
Completely free.
Like, whether you check out a bike or not, we've got you covered.
With that, is this an event people need to register for?
You don't have to register.
It's super casual.
It's very laid back.
If you show up too, I have some river riders bike share t-shirts.
So those will be available for free.
I've got all sorts of sizes, while supplies last.
But I have quite a few.
So I think we should be good.
I got a show up just to get one.
Seriously.
That is a great show.
It's a great idea.
And all of this is wonderful.
And it involves one of our locals around here and a guy that we're very familiar with
joins us once a month to share of Sean Becker.
Yes.
I'm so happy to have shared Becker with us.
He's been with us.
Like I said, six or seven years, he's come to all of our bike rides.
I think it's a really neat space to have your local law enforcement in a very relaxed, casual
setting where you can feel you can connect with them.
And one thing I was reflecting on this this morning, while I was driving here, are law
enforcement in general?
Just they show up.
They come to all of the events, whether it's a bike ride or the community food drives.
I mean, I was there last September, or this past September.
And share of Becker was just directing traffic, greeting people.
I mean, we have really awesome law enforcement in our town.
And I just love that they want to be a part of it because not just because they feel
like they have to, but they just care and they get fun out of it.
Well said.
Very well said, Hannah.
I second everything you were saying there.
With Sean too, one of the things the audience, maybe you get to see it if you go to Wisconsin
Reps Community Video and watch the interviews him and I do.
But when he talks about things like this, he lights up.
He just genuinely really loves these things.
I think in one because certainly being outside riding bike, that stuff that he likes and everything.
But being able to have that one-on-one connection with your community, being able to build that
bridge between you and your citizens and building that trust there.
That means more than I think he could put into words and how important it is going forward,
having that bond, having those connections are vital to our communities going forward.
But among all this, all that is very important.
One of the biggest things that him and I and many others try to bring attention to with
an event like this is the idea that it's the adults certainly, they matter, but kids.
And little kids being able to interact with and seeing a person with a badge as a human
being, doing things with their parents, building these connections, building these bridges.
So that if that child hopefully never does, but if they ever do need a police officer,
they're comfortable going to one.
Having the community, having a trust in that, building that bond.
This is a fun event, but it also has these kind of like side stories, these side layers
to it and everything that really add to this event, having such meaning to it.
Yes, yeah, I love that.
I think that's so true.
It's just a really neat place to see them as role models.
And just yeah, like you said, be comfortable with them and feel like you can turn to them
there, there for you, they're protecting you.
I think that's a really nice way to put it all.
That was beautiful.
The other thing that I love to do is I have a retired police chief, Mel Peterson.
So he's the Grand Rapids Police Chief, former Grand Rapids Police Chief, and he like as he
was retiring, he really wanted to be a part of the bike ride going forward.
And I just love that he connected on them so much and still is like, let me know, like
in my retirement.
And I hope he's staying very busy in retirement in the best way and he still wants to come
out for bike rides.
Yeah, I hope you're enjoying your retirement, sir.
And I love that he wanted to be a part of this.
Can I still be if I'm retired?
Could I still be a part of it?
Yes.
That's right.
That's right.
Again, the River Riders bike share, fall community bike ride.
When is this taking place again, Hannah?
Wednesday, October 16th at 5 p.m. over at White Sands Beach at Lake Wasicha.
Should be plenty of bikes down there for everybody.
Get on over there and get there early so you can get one of those cool t-shirts.
Be sure to do that.
I am a large village grab.
No, no, no.
Get down there, everybody, and check this out and get one thing I wanted to mention before
we wrapped up here and everything.
It is fall.
It's a beautiful time of year.
But we also know what that means.
Winter is coming.
Winter is coming.
Get outside while you can.
Enjoy these bike rides while you can before we got to put bikes away, everybody.
Oh, as far as when the bikes might be stored, when is that going to be happening here?
So we've been having gorgeous fall weather.
I don't know about you, but I've been loving this weather.
And I hope it stays for Wednesday.
But we should be able to have bikes out for rent just in general at all three stations
until the end of October.
Cool.
We got some time.
Yeah.
Enjoy the River Riders bike share, fall community bike ride, with share of Sean Becker coming
up next Wednesday, October 16th.
They're meeting over at White Sands Beach at Lake Wazice at five o'clock, head on over
there, everybody.
Speaking with Hannah Wendell Scott from UW Extension and Hannah, one of the other things
that we wanted to focus on today with our time is our Wisconsin Rapids Downtown Farmers
Market.
Yes.
I love Farmers Market season.
It's one of my favorite parts about this community here in Rapids and tomorrow is the
last day.
Yeah.
I know that I came so fast and I think we opened mid-June and now we're kind of closing
out in mid-October.
And it's just been a really awesome season.
We've had more vendors than we have in the past, which is fantastic.
We love to see our market grow.
And we've just had so many community members coming, both Thursdays and Saturdays.
They're both very different vibes.
If that makes sense Thursday and Saturday, you have different vendors.
So if you can and you're able and work allows, try to come to both days.
It's been really cool to see everybody show up this year.
It's an event that we talk about quite a bit because we love to support local, supporter
ag industry, supporter local vendors.
So many of these things that are wonderful about this event.
I had heard rumbling say, wow, I don't know if I've ever seen this many vendors down
there before.
To actually hear you say that, it makes sense, but it's cool to hear still.
Yes.
That's really impressive.
It's been great.
Yeah, everybody.
Well, even throughout the whole season, you'll get new people reaching out and asking,
do you have any room?
Can we still come and vendor?
Can we just try it out for a day, which we do allow day passes?
So if you are curious about what is it like to vent at a farmer's market, I'm a little
unsure.
We offer that for $10 just for the day.
And then if you like it, you could pick it up at any point in time as long as we have
the space.
And I mean, we can make that street go pretty far.
So we do have a lot of room, which is a, that's one reason why we love the location of
the market.
The location is perfect.
It's great.
You know, with the river and everything, but because of what you say there, with the
being able to add on to it and everything, that's pretty cool.
And gives us an opportunity to mention as well, you know, there's always next summer.
You know, if you want to, whether it's the winter farmers market, if that doesn't work
for you, the summer market will be around before you know it.
Yeah, I know.
It's just crazy.
Every after the holidays and kind of winter starts to quiet down.
We honestly start planning for the market in March.
We put a lot of time into planning the market.
I mean, it is a large market.
We're very fortunate here in our community to have such a booming market.
And we spend a lot of time with our vendors, making sure we have regular start of season
meetings, end of season meetings, we offer a survey for our vendors.
I mean, we want it to be the best that it can be for our vendors and for us as community
members too.
Is there a time that is a good time to reach out if you want to try to reserve a spot
or be a part of this next year?
Yeah, I would say any time starting like now because we have a lot of vendors that
just carry over through from the end of the season.
They're like, yep, mark me down already.
I know I want to be here next season, but it does.
We do start to fill up spaces fast.
And so I know I said we can extend it pretty far, but it's still good to kind of reserve
your spot and have peace of mind.
So you could start reaching out to us right now.
Usually people will message us through Facebook, but you can also give us a phone call
to which I can share my number at the end.
Yeah.
And we'll give sure to get that information out there for you.
You know, another thing that has really grown with this event is the amount of like kind
of side things that you have going on, the face painting and some of the things involved
for the kids, some of the entertainment stuff that has been added over the years.
Yeah, I love, I love that our market is more than just a place to shop.
It's a place to spend time to get your goodies and get your shopping in.
But then you can stay, bring your family, get your face painted, grab a balloon twist
from our balloon twister. And there's always someone who kind of sets up and just plays
some light music.
It's very, it's a very nice ambiance.
I love, I love that so much.
I don't know that a lot of markets make you feel like you can spend more than just 10
minutes shopping around.
I think that's pretty special.
And that's just a testament to how much our community appreciates having a farmer's market.
I feel like pretty much every Saturday I've driven past it this summer.
And I've stopped a couple of times, but even just driving past it gives you this good
vibe, let alone showing up there and everything.
The music and everything you hear going past, it's catchy.
It really pulls you in.
And it's really great to be able to give kids another opportunity, something else fun
to do. Again, just like I was saying, with Sheriff Becker in the ride program,
this is another one of those things where you see the kids see adults, see their
parents buying local goods, talking to local vendors, doing these things.
We need more of that stuff.
And it is the essence of buying local and supporting local.
And it really shows that example to kids.
And it's fun for the kids.
They have fun things to do down there and stuff, so that's a win, win.
Yes, it is.
And I am a nutrition educator for UW Extension.
So farmer's market is just, it ties really nicely into what I do.
And one of the things that I love is just seeing parents take their kids to the market
and get them involved in the shopping.
I mean, that role modeling piece for just getting used to trying new things,
looking for fruits and veggies, shopping, local, what does that mean?
It's just, it's really neat to see.
And I encourage so many families, if they are able to do that, bring your kids to the market.
It's going to make a huge difference.
And I, one of the biggest reasons why we champion this event is certainly to help
our ag industry and our local vendors and giving them more opportunities to sell
their goods and make a living quite bluntly.
But it also gives an opportunity for creatives in the community.
There is not a ton of opportunities for if you are a balloon,
you know, a farmer or a face painter or a musician or an artist or something.
And there, there's just never enough opportunities for those.
So here is another opening for that and a job creator, really.
So that part of this has been very unique and very cool to our particular farmers market.
Yes, I know.
I just love it where I am biased, but I think we have one of the best markets in the state.
I agree, I agree.
When it comes to, we mentioned vendors before, but if you are a creative,
if you are somebody that does something with kids like, you know, face painting
or something, or if you're an artist, a musician that may be placed in acoustic guitar
or some kind of music that would fit well with that, similar to the vendors,
should they reach out to you soon?
Yeah, they should reach out to us soon.
We, as long as if you're making something, as long as it's made in Wisconsin,
you are welcome at our market.
We do like to keep that local focus.
I think a lot of the markets around the state do that as well.
So it's not unheard of, but we do like to try to make sure that you're,
you're making something.
It's a local good.
We want to appreciate all the things that we have in our community.
And one way is keeping things local as much as we can.
Even the, I mean, you could come from anywhere in the state if you wanted to,
but a lot of our vendors are only from around Wood County.
There's a couple marathon and Adams, and they'd like to spread around,
around through the other markets in central Wisconsin, but you,
when you come to the market, it's, it's very local and it's awesome.
It's so nice to be able to do that too to know that your,
your dollars, your cents are really going into the community,
helping people in the community.
It goes a long way.
Hannah, though, I know we're friends.
I know we're having a good time here, but every once in a while,
I got to ask a hard question.
Yes.
So that's my journalistic job I have to.
What about the Winters Farmer market, Hannah?
Will we have a Winters Farmer market?
I have seen on Facebook that yes, we will have a winter farmers market.
It is not associated with the health department and the Wisconsin rapids
downtown farmers market, but they're very good friends.
And the coolest part, I think that I didn't realize right at first,
but the winter farmers market is at the Moravian Church,
which is literally at the end of the summer farmers market.
So I have really high hopes for like how the future and how if we could
link these markets together, that's a long project and a big idea.
But I just think it would be really cool to have their markets kind of come
together because they are right next to each other.
But I'm so happy that the Moravian Church kind of got that market started.
And they are a space for vendors who normally have the,
they only have time during the summer to do this or they just don't have enough
events. Like you said, I mean, we're lucky.
We do have quite a few events within Wisconsin rapids that vendors can go to,
but to have a dedicated time every week and the Moravian Church stepped up.
And now there's a space for that.
It's so cool. It's great.
And when we get more information on when that is opening and everything,
we'll certainly get it out to the audience.
And one of the things that I appreciate about the time with you, Hannah,
is that when you, you share things behind the curtain with us a little bit
there and just what you're talking about there, that project with the winter
farm market, this farmer market, whatever happens with that or doesn't,
I love that we have people in these positions that are constantly
creating and are always looking for ways to make things better.
We have a great farmer's market. You and I have just been talking about this.
It's, it's awesome.
I, if you went in next year and did everything you did this summer,
you'll knock it out the park. That'd be great. But that's, that's not you.
That's not what you're going to do. And I appreciate that.
I really do. And I know how much the community appreciates it.
Adding these little things here and there,
what might not seem that big to some is huge to others.
And that's what a lot of this is about.
Yeah. I mean, we hear the feedback.
We hear you when you reach out and talk about, for example,
parking, we know that parking is really tricky by the market.
That's one of the, the downfalls to having it where it is.
And we're always trying to think of, okay, how can we make that better?
We're trying to work with, and the city's been great to work with the city
of Wisconsin Rapids. They help us think through thoughts and ideas.
So we hear you. And if you, if you do have suggestions or thoughts,
please share them with us. We do want to hear how the community likes or what
they might not like in the moment about the market.
I mean, that's what makes something successful is listening to what people
need and want. Well, sad. You can check out the winter farmers mark.
All right. The Wisconsin rapids farmers market.
One more time this Saturday from eight to two over to 21st Avenue South.
And again, we'll let you know when the winter farmers market opens up.
And be sure to mark on your calendar, the river riders bike share fall community
bike share coming up on Wednesday, Wednesday, October 16th at five o'clock
over at Lake Wazeech and White Sands Beach.
And Hannah, if people have follow up questions, one of the more to reach out
to you about some of the things we talked about today.
How can they get in hold of you?
Yeah. Please give me a call.
My office phone number is 7154218530.
Appreciate the time. As always, Hannah, good to talk to you.
We'll, we'll have to hang out again real soon.
Yes. We will. Thank you, James.
We'll have more midday magazine coming up for you right here at 97 5 FM 13 20
a.m W F HR locally grown radio.
