Welcome everybody to Midday magazine for this Thursday.
I knew I was going to do that.
I knew I was going to do it.
No, it was.
Take two.
Welcome everybody to Midday magazine for this Tuesday, October 15th, 2024.
Have your host James J. mail off here in part two today.
We're going to speak with CEO of the United Way of Southwood and M's counties, Terry
Johns and United Way update will be coming up for you.
Right now we kick off the show with our good friend Mike Hittner and the historic point
boss.
Talk a little bit about their spirit walk coming up.
Mike, good to have you with us as always.
How have you been?
Yeah, great.
Thanks James and everybody in WFHR radio and land.
Yeah.
Great to be here.
Always appreciate talking with you and one of my favorite events that you guys do is
coming right up.
It's right around the corner of the spirit walk.
Mike, let's go ahead and tell people what about this great event.
Well, spirit walk is haunted history as we call it.
It's not scary.
Nobody's going to grab you or reach out to touch you or something like that.
We have those type of events and they're great for those that love that sort of thing and
it's really great.
But this is a family event that people could come to with kids and everything.
It's coming up the 19th of October this coming Saturday and also the following Saturday
the 26th of October and it goes from 6 to 8 p.m.
We suggest for people maybe that have some mobility issues or something like that come
early because you can see the train you're walking on.
It's not perfectly level like a football field.
Of course, we've got contours and everything there and it's about a in and out about a half
mile walk.
So be aware of that and of course dress for the dress for the weather.
All of our spirits are dressed for the weather or they're in buildings with fireplaces or
stoves or something like that.
So they're going to be comfortable and just make sure yourself that you're comfortable.
So yeah, it's a great event.
We've been doing it probably 22, 23 years and it's really growing this year.
We have three from Wisconsin Rapids Community Theater people.
We've got three of our own.
We got one from Southwood County Historical and we have one independent person that's been
with us on and off for probably 15 years started as a young lady and of course, she's a
little older now as we all are.
But it's a great cast of people and you'll have seven or eight haunted stories.
On the second night, you got one extra on the first night.
I think there's seven and there's eight on the second night.
Mike, you and I, we talk a lot of history with Historic Point Boss.
Certainly it's a big part of what we do here.
I was wondering if you would mind.
Do you know the history of how this started this beer walk?
Oh, it's hard to tell.
It's in the curve.
Yeah, that's one of those things and I didn't mean to do that.
And you know, I think it's just to do something in the fall and do something around when
we started with one Saturday and then we added a second Saturday, maybe in the year
or two, because we had so much demand.
We couldn't get everybody through and it was kind of like people were disappointed so
we didn't want to do that.
We noticed that a lot of the people had come.
They'll come back in the next week with some friends or something and say, oh, this
was a great time.
You want to show you what it's about sort of thing.
But it kind of started to kind of slow that with one Saturday and then it got to be
two Saturdays.
And then we thought maybe we should add another day like a Sunday or something Saturday
and a Sunday, but it's a lot to ask for people.
As you know, being in plays and everything, well, it's really going good.
We just had our community theater one about drinking habits and it was great.
And it must have been word about because I went on the first Thursday when they had the
opening and it was, you know, half full, maybe a little more, but by the end, you couldn't
get a seat.
And it's just kind of the word spreading.
It was great too because I think I don't know for sure, but I think maybe the first
times that they've sold out since COVID almost and which is great to see that community
theater is coming back like because it certainly deserves to be patronized and people to
go there and participate in it because it's wonderful access that we have and then on
our community here.
So it's another great entertainment resource and economic resource for our communities
just like historic point bosses where with the events that you guys have going on, it's
such a unique and original event.
I was just curious of that I don't know, I don't know, I don't know exactly how it started
I think.
Bramer and myself and a couple other people.
I always love that the names they pick, you know, spirit walk.
I mean, I don't know how you could get a better name for it, trying to give just a
clue of what you're going to see or hear or something like that.
So I think that was, I was just all last night was Ryan Houston who had just been in the
drinking habits at their community theater here and he's doing something in the house
and we're just trying to line up.
I said, where do you want this and, you know, this sort of thing and he's doing something
he's had in his mind for a couple of years and we just haven't been able to pull it off.
But now he's working on it and so he finally came out, he says he was too busy of course
during the production because they were going every night and if anybody saw that, you
wonder how Ryan could have survived that last 10 minutes, he had four outfits on.
He was all the way from the, from a citizen through a nun and through a, through a priest
and a bishop and he had all of the office.
I said, how did you stand it?
He says, well, the bishop's office wasn't too warm, but he said it was good that it was
only 10 minutes at the end, but it was a hilarious show.
It was great.
Sometimes the, the what's going on behind the scenes is just as entertaining as what's
on the stage.
Well, and I was kind of talking to Pam before I came in and we're talking about any of
these productions, anything you see whether it's community theater or whatever it is, you
know, it's like an iceberg, it's about 90% happens behind the scenes.
The practices, the staging, the costuming and all that and finally when it gets to the
final production, whether it's spirit walk or something, you got to realize that 90% you
don't see.
How much of that, that we don't see went into the spirit walk with this and traditionally
goes into the spirit walk?
Well, it depends.
Now, we did some more props this year.
Ryan needed some different things that we don't normally have all the time.
We had someone, we had to make some modifications or something like that.
And then I always ask people, Mike Barrett's in it this year and I says, Mike, what do you
need?
And that sort of thing and and and Mystique McCommer and everything.
And most of the people that you notice, more so I notice, anyway, that people that
in community theater don't really need a lot.
For some reason they've been in so many productions over the years that, well, you know, I don't
really need too much props.
I think their props are their voice and their expressions and that sort of thing.
And I always notice that because we have three of our own people in there and three from
community theater and and our people sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes need a little
more because they don't do this often enough.
A lot of these other people have done it for 30 years.
Yeah.
You mentioned some people that are going to be a part of this.
Those individuals will kind of be telling stories to people taking it as people walk the
path.
Yeah.
And it's stories about somebody.
Most of the time they lived and died and maybe some strange ways and it'll be relating
those stories.
Ryan's thing is about not to give anything away is about something that happened in those
days that doesn't happen anymore concerning death.
And so his is going to be more about that that he's wanted to do and and Tom is Braemer
is doing one and he hasn't done this for about five years and and so, excuse me.
We're looking forward Tom to do his thing because he actually asked to be in it.
You know, a lot of times I got to kind of pull a few strings to get people involved, but
he asked to be in it.
And so Tom's number three in line.
So that'd be great.
Yeah.
That's going to be cool.
That'd be a fun part of this.
Mike told you early on, this is for the entire family.
So not only are these individuals and the event itself designed for that, but it's also
a chance for those kids and everybody to see adults supporting history, supporting the
area while having a good time.
Right.
And we got to, you know, when you get your ticket cell, put you in groups.
If you come like with eight or ten people, you'll be your own group.
But otherwise, they'll probably take if there's, you know, two couples here and there's
four people here.
They'll put them together because we like somewhere between eight and 12 in a group.
Sometimes in the past, we've had 17 or 20 and the problem with that is, excuse me, is
coming into the buildings.
You got so many people.
It's hard to get them there so they can all hear properly and also see what they want
to see.
But it'll be a great event and everybody enjoys it.
Like you say, from the kids all the way up through senior citizens.
And like I say, pay a little attention to the weather.
Now this coming weekend, Saturday the 19th looks like 68 degrees during the day and probably
45 a night.
Looks like a great, you know, October weekend.
Next weekend might be as nice or better, but you don't know.
So sometimes go with what you know.
Yeah.
Mike, for those like myself that have attended this event over the years, you guys, one
thing that I always get to, like, I can't remember the first one I intended to was, it was
early on in us living out here.
And then it was probably a good four or five years and then I went to it again.
And I remember thinking, wow, this is completely different.
Right.
They added so much to it or they did some different things.
Each year you guys seem to work really hard to try to do that.
Well, we try to do.
And if anything's repeated, it's probably in four or five years.
We don't repeat.
And usually if it's repeated, it's not the same person doing so you have their own take
on it.
We've had a couple times over the years we've had somebody have been an itinerant, you
know, somebody that's going out selling stuff, salesmen, sneak oil salesmen, whatever
you want to call it.
And we've had two different people do it.
But I went, I saw both of those and I, you know, I hardly recognize it was the same
thing because they're working them basically off the same script.
It was like I gave Mike Barrett a script and I said, well, Mike, you don't have any problem
with it?
No, no, no.
The only one has ever done that script before is myself.
So Michael, do his own take on it.
And I'm sure it'll be as good or better than any we've had before.
And when it comes to, as you were touching on with the weather and everything paying attention
to that dressing warm for the event, certainly a good idea.
Most of the people attending this are Midwest Seniors.
You guys know the weather.
You know one mother nature does out there.
You layer it.
Yeah, exactly.
And certainly to anybody taking in this event mobility wise, as Mike mentioned, that's
another thing to keep in mind.
This, if you, this is, there's no really, this is a paved path, but it's still dirt.
It's still a dirt, you know, path and everything.
Well, it's all grass.
Yes, yes, yes.
So there are some undulations we don't have, you know, like we said, football field
before.
And, and, you know, we have hot apple cider that we pressed at our harvester in September.
And so that'll be served hot, you know, so you'll have some beverage to warm up.
And then they put you in groups and we'll have Larry Knudsen will be there.
He's not a character this year.
But he'll be around the, around the fire and where people can say we have benches and
everything.
And he'll be telling some stories and he'll also be talking about historic point bass.
Some of the people I've never been there before or have only been there for a spirit walk
so they don't know maybe some of the history of the buildings, how they came, came about,
you know, today.
If, in fact, when we're talking, the Saratoga Town Hall is getting the, the Joyce for
the floor put on it today.
We just did the brickwork around the top two feet of it last week and now they're putting
the floor on it.
And so, you know, things are progressing.
So every time you come there, there's something else has changed or is it going to change
soon?
That's so cool to hear.
And great.
A big thank you to all the people that are working so hard on that and to make this event
happen and work on this.
And we, it takes a lot of volunteers, takes a lot of people to be able to do that.
And we've talked about that often, James, because as we can see, there's, you can't see
folks, but I got a little bit of gray hair.
And so, we need those younger volunteers if possible and in any place you want to think
you want to fit in, you know, it's, it's like going to, actually, it's not much different
than, than signing up for community theater, whether you want to read for a part, you want
to work on the stage, you want to, you want to be pulling the curtains or moving, you
know, different things on the stage during sets.
I mean, they need people all over the same we do the same was what we do.
I'm glad you said that Mike, because I actually think when it comes to the tie in there
with this in theater, if you want to give one a chance, you might get a taste for the
other.
So whether it's community theater and maybe, oh, I should see if they need volunteers
at a store point boss or vice versa, you're going to get a good idea of what the atmosphere
is like and how much fun it is.
Right.
And it's, it's one of those things that kind of grows on you.
And like I say, people can start wherever they're at.
We don't force anybody in any, any position.
And it isn't like when you come out to point boss, oh, I got to be an interpreter.
No, you don't.
I mean, it can be a worker.
You can do typing, filing, you know, different applications.
We have to put through a different times of the year, all this sort of thing work behind
the scenes.
I mean, there's lots of those opportunities.
So and a lot of the people actually work from home and just, just do something and bring
it in or something at a later date.
So I mean, all kinds of volunteers are needed as in any enterprise out there.
And like our other nonprofits out there, the store of point boss will work with people
as far as when you have availability and what the things that you can do as Mike is telling
you there.
And those volunteers become all the more necessary, not only to keep history alive over
there, but to keep the prices where they are.
Mike, you've talked about this before.
How important it is to you to the team over there at a store point boss to keep these
prices where they were back when I first went to this event when I was a kid.
Sure.
I think this may be started at $3, but I think it's been $5 probably for 15 years or something
in that regard.
And if anything changes on the adult side, we always try to make sure students and children
are inexpensive.
So if you feel that if you've got three or four kids, is it going to break the budget
to come there?
No, it is.
And it's very, very reasonable for you.
And like we've talked in the past, you can get a membership and then you can come to
all onsite events for the price of the membership.
When you look at it, it's probably, you say probably $25 over the whole year just for
the membership.
You're not.
I was trying to come up with comedic examples and I can't even come up with comedic
examples of what you know could compare to that.
There's no comparison.
You can't get more bang for your buck with that because along with all these great events
that they do, and they have all kinds of events throughout the whole year, not just
the spirit walk.
You're also knowing that every penny of that is going into the work that they're doing
or their business.
One of the administrators that's all non-profit, all volunteers, right?
And that work, you can feel good from that the whole year.
That's a good feeling.
You can carry with you all the time.
Again, the historic point pops, the spirit walk, you get two of chances to check this
out Saturday, October 19th and Saturday, October 26th goes from six to eight.
One other thing that I want to mention with this mic is the timing of this.
If you are, it's 730 at night and you feel like, oh, I don't know if it's too late for
me to stop by or anything like that.
They do seem to try to take care of everybody that shows up.
Well, if we go from six to eight, the last group goes out eight supposedly.
But if some people would come there at the last minute, we're not going to turn them
away.
I'm sorry.
No.
If it's 830 and the last group went out a half an hour, they'll probably say, no, you
know, because that, because some of the characters start coming in because the last group
has always told, well, this is the last group we know.
And so as they go past them, those people can leave.
But if you're coming around any round, time around eight o'clock, and there's still people
coming and going, you're certainly going to be included in that.
We used to say 830, but we really probably go to 830 anyway, but we just just put it in
writing the differently.
Sure.
Speaking with Mike Hittner from the historic point boss, Mike, if you don't mind, I
wanted to tease ahead a little bit of the heritage holiday coming up Saturday, December
7th.
It goes from noon to four over there at the historic point boss.
It's another fun event.
You'll be in before then to talk a little bit more about this, but just to kind of preview
it a little bit for people.
Well, it's kind of old fashioned Christmas.
And we've linked up last year was the first year.
And this year we're linking up again with Nikusa hometown Christmas because they do such
a great job.
And the collaboration is great because it gives both of us something a little added
difference to it.
And we also help out volunteer for their hometown Christmas.
We do some of the things where they greet Santa and stuff.
We got one where we're going to dress up in historic costumes and we'll be there for
photo op or whatever you want to do with it sort of thing.
But this has been a great collaboration.
We like working with Heather Sarers and the rest of the crew down there.
They do a great job.
I went to one of their meetings by the way.
And it was interesting because there are some guys there, but mostly ladies.
Boy, those, those gals are on, on task because the meeting starts at six.
It's done at seven.
I mean, I have had tendency of our meetings to drag out or we here to go off and different
tangents and everything.
But those, those gals are on task.
They evidently got more in their life than just hometown Christmas.
But it's old fashioned.
It'll kind of give you an idea of what Christmas is like years ago.
A few Christmas trees, but not in very many in the buildings, the house and, and, and also
the school.
And then they also have games that are appropriate for the era and different projects for the kids.
You get a taste of some food and some beverages there and what they would have had in those
days.
And, and it's just kind of a step back in history and, and a little bit of a slower momentum
for Christmas kind of slows you down a little bit.
And it gives you a little bit of a, not only perspective, but a little bit of the curse
of spirits and some of that.
There, there's so many great things about the event again.
I'm looking forward to talking more about this with you later on.
Heritage Holly Day is coming up Saturday, December 7th over the store point boss.
Mark your calendars.
Be ready for that.
And keep in mind if you are unable to volunteer maybe for the spirit walk, there's plenty
of time to throw your hat in the ring for that event coming up.
You can volunteer and find out more support the historic point bossters, all the kinds
of different ways you can do this by going to the website, historicpointboss.com, historicpointboss.com.
And one more time when I remind everybody about the spirit walk that is coming up this
weekend, October 19th, and then again Saturday, October 26th.
This will go from six to eight.
It's a guided, lantern lit walk around the historic point boss.
It's going to be a very fun event.
Be sure to join them for this one.
Mike, appreciate the time as always, sir.
Yeah, and thanks, James, and WFHR.
Again, make your, uh, Mark your calendars and visit us over at the historic point boss
at 364 Wakely Road, Indicusa, Wisconsin.
You can find out more at historicpointboss.com and be sure to follow them on social media.
It's a great way to keep up the data and all the good things they are doing over there.
And then you can share their work, uh, their posts on your, uh, social media feed.
You just never know who might see it otherwise.
Historicpointboss.com support those that support our community.
We'll come back.
We'll have some more conversation here on Midday magazine and 97 5 FM 13 20 AM WFHR.
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