Hello world, welcome to WFHR's Rapids Report, probably brought to you by Crockett Sceptic
for this August 29th, 2025. Have your host James here and I'm joined by some of my favorite
people. We have this door coin boss with us right now. First, Mike Hittner joining us,
Mike, always good to see you. Good morning, James, and everybody on Radio Land.
And Johnny Wolf is with us. Johnny, it's been a while. How you doing? Yeah. Good, good to
see you. We're going to talk about the harvest fair in a moment and some other fun things
going on over at this door point boss. But, Johnny, if you don't mind, I kind of want to start
somewhere with something we're just talking about in a pregame a little bit. You guys got an
exciting phone call the other day. Yes, we received a phone call from Robert Wakeley, not the original,
but the Robert Wakeley, probably the fourth from Seattle. And he had been informed by his son
of the work that we're doing out at the site. He was so excited about the preservation of the
homestead. And he wanted to be a part of that. And so I was really honored to talk to him.
It was kind of like, you know, man, ask who's calling. And he says, Robert Wakeley, and you go,
what? Yeah, that's it. You're going to take a second on the way, but what?
Just say I or what?
Had it been the original, we had a broken news with that. That's very different story. How
wonderful of him to do that to go out of his way to do that and everything. It really shows what
it means to that family, that tradition, and that while also really just, I hope that you all
took that as a, in a way, a pad on the back. Hey, thank you. Hey, great work. I met affirmation,
right? Yes, I imagine that you don't get, I guarantee that you don't get enough of it. I know
that no matter how much you're getting, you don't get enough of it. So, and especially coming from
him and that family, well earned and deserved and really cool to hear. Thanks for sharing that.
Thank you. That's awesome. I wanted to focus on the harvest fair a little bit with the time that we
have that is coming up September 6th, 10 to 4 over that story point boss. So many cool things about
this mic. Yeah, this is kind of the wrap up of early fall and the harvest season. And so we
do some of those same things. We press the apple cider. We've got most of the apples on our site.
This year, because the heat, we've got a little less than normal, but we've got some people that
help supply a few extras if we need them. And also, I'm kind of shredding the cabbage and pounding it
and putting a little salt on it and making the sauerkraut for the winter feast and for next year.
And then we've got some, of course, leftover from 2024. And we're going to be sampling that, but I'll
have that as a lead in for Joni. Yeah, what do you, what do you got in storage? Okay, so we're on Saturday.
We're going to be doing some sampling. I can, I don't know how many moms out there still do, but
from the garden to when you eat it. And so we're going to be showing you, you know, what, what
looked like and how they did that. And you could taste it. And I know Mike, your sauerkraut isn't quite
done when we're out there at the harvester. No, no, it's just in the beginning stage, but we have some
from the freezer from 2020. So we can be doubly sampling that and there'll be some apple butter,
some pickles, bread and butter pickles and some crab apples. And yeah, so fun.
And not only fun, but I think it's so interesting to see sometimes how the sausage is made, how some
of these things are done. While also being able to kind of taste things from the past, you, you get a,
it's hard to imagine being able to taste or smell the past, but you get a bit of that with this,
you get an idea of that with this. And it's another fun part of this, I think.
You know, James says one of the things that I love about living history is that you can smell it,
you can taste it, you can touch it, you can hear it. It's all alive. Yeah, yeah, it's called
immersion. And you are, and what, I mean, this is a, a, a museum that is out in the open, a
museum without walls. This is where you go there and you, all those things you were just saying,
Joni, and to your point, Mike, you are immersed in that history. And just even, even if you're walking
in the grounds, when there isn't an event going on, you're a part of that. You're feeling that
and everything. When the events are going on, it's just heightened to such a wonderful degree
in different areas. And this one in particular, really focusing on food and how we survived in
that area for so long. Well, and I think I, I don't think we realize, you know, with grocery
stores around and everything, you know, at, at fingertip length for us, that what they had to go
through, you know, especially in the first few years there, because they were other than
trading with the Native Americans, there was no other white people at state year round there. So
they had to grow their own and raise their own things, fish for it or whatever, or trade for it
with the Native Americans. Otherwise, they're going to starve literally because there is no other
people around or store around. Yeah. For me, making apple juices usually involves taking the
can out of the freezer, putting it in like, but we're not doing that though. We've got different,
type of apple juice pressing going on over there. And you really get a chance to taste that apple.
You get to taste the taste of real apple juice. Yeah, we've got mostly all heritage trees on the
site. And then we get some from a few other people. And it's usually the blend that works best.
I think for apple cider, if you got two or three of types of apple, I think it tastes a little
better than just one variety. And we also picked some pears too. We've got some pear trees planted,
but there are a few years away from production. But we also add a little pear into it too, because
it gives a little distinctive taste to it. So we kind of like that. And Don Matthews is kind of
in charge of that. And Don's kind of a connoisseur. He reprides himself on what kind of mixture he
makes and how he does it. So you guys do such a nice job of having events a month to month almost.
How much time do you have to prepare for something like this? Or is this something that's
throughout the year you're doing little things here and there to kind of get it ready? Well, I think
Donnie realizes and we did the Civil War event right after the pioneer fast. And then the
who done it two weeks later. And then this year, now about three and a half weeks later,
it's you get done with one and you start on the next one right away. In fact, with spirit walk,
we started talking about that in August, right? And we'll, you know, because that's a little
bigger production for us in two weekends in a row. So we start on that early. I had your
son in here earlier this just yesterday. I was talking with Stephen and I. We don't get to do a
lot of so shows together. We had a lot of fun. I love when Katrina's around, of course, but you
put a couple guys in the room and we're going to have some fun with that. But I didn't have a
note from him. Just to remind you that you are retired, sir. You are. I'm only 77. So I've got
another 20 years to go to historic point. You guys keep so busy over there. It's so greatly
appreciated. There really, really is. It's important to the other question, James, that you
always talk about the segue. Hey, we need more volunteers out there. It doesn't matter what you
would like to do or what you want to do or a little bit or just get your feet wet. We're always
looking for volunteers, whether they're workers or want to be interpreters or they just want to
send some mailings out or do something on a digital basis. I mean, we welcome anybody.
And when we get people involved in that, we keep this alive. We keep the, not only the things
going and rolling over there at a historic point, boss, but the pride that you get in these kind
of things too. I think that especially central Wisconsinites can really feel that and get that
once they're over on those grounds and they're a part of these things. I would also say it's not a
gigantic time commitment. It's not something that's going to take away your whole weekend or these
kind of things, helping out over there, being a volunteer over there, go so much farther than we
can really put in the words. And then you kind of get inside. Look at some of these cool things
that they're doing, like the things we've been talking about. And this forging class for beginners.
I love this idea, Mike. Yeah, that's one we came up with. You used to be combined in the fall
with our, with our cooking class. But we kind of expanded a little bit and thought that, well,
when you're forging, there's more available in the fall, actually. And I think Ann Rosner,
the one that does this for us, is really good at it. And she kind of recommended, hey,
no, be a lot easier for me to look around for stuff if I do it in the fall. So Ann's going to do that.
I think it starts like at nine or something before the event and at last to like 11 or so.
And then she'll come over and talk about some of those things and some of the people that have
done the forging class will also come over. But I don't remember, Joni, do how many people she
has in her class sign up might, I know there's still room. There's still room. A people wanted to
sign up. Yeah. But it does have excellent, you know, opportunity and job on on her forging class.
And goes into all things. And she makes here what she talks about. She, she collects these
violets and she makes jam out of them. I mean, she uses them in every different way. Yeah,
did you have something, Joni? I'm sorry. I didn't want to cut you off. No, no, no, no, no problem.
I was, I was just going to say, you know, when you were talking about the weeklies first coming out
to the site where they had to forage for their food and they did. Yeah, see it all ties together.
And I know again, something that Stephen and I were talking about with one of their presentations,
they've got coming up and everything a field trip. It seems like going to red sands and everything.
This is something that people are more and more interested in. And while a lot of the,
you know, the conversation that we have over this door, pulling bosses about the history of it,
and this is part of that, this is something that even in 2025 people are very interested in and
doing, I think that's a really cool combination of that, right? It's very current. I think a lot of
people, especially I would consider a lot of younger people want to be know about these different
herbs or our foods that they can eat and they can forage because they go walk by these every day
and they don't realize what benefits it has or how it can be used. So I think it's has a great
understanding and interest from younger people. And then that's the ones we want to touch anyway.
But speaking of food, I just want to mention that while you're out there, we will be having lunch
available to you to purchase through the Hartiff Wisconsin Genealogy Society. And so you could taste
some of the old and foraged foods, but they'll be regular food available for you as well.
It's one of those things, James and Joni, that unfortunately our license covers three events,
which is a winter feast and two days of the festival. And we just can't do it without getting a
bigger license, which would be more expensive for us. So we offered out to different organizations,
non-profit organizations, similar to us that like to raise a little money and we encourage people
to participate and purchase things from them. Yeah, big shout out to the Wisconsin Genealogy.
Genealogy Society. And it's a great combination. You guys and that really fits. I think a lot of
our members are also members of that. It's got a kind of a cross membership. So I think it is
very appropriate. That foraging class by Ann is going to be on Saturday, September 6th. It'll
be going from 10 to noon. Be sure to check that out and register over at historicpointboss.com.
And of course, the harvest fair is going to be this September 6th, 10 to 4 over at the
historicpointboss grounds. You can find that at 364 Wicked Road right here in Acusa. Guys,
want to also mention, of course, that the prices are the same. If you've been to this event in the
past couple of years, it's the same price as it was those years. I bring this up in part because
of how much I and I know the community appreciates you all doing that and putting the families first
in our community first. Even though to your point of what you were just saying, Mike, you certainly
could use a couple more bucks. Even if you raised a 10 cents, we would understand we also respect
that you don't. Well, our main object and opportunity in the community and our mission statement
is basically for education. And so if we can keep these prices as low as possible and we can still
exist, we're going to do that. Yeah, I really appreciate that and appreciate both of you being
here today. Anything else you wanted to mention before we let you go? Because I feel like I think
we covered it. Yeah, I think we covered everything, James, just to let everybody know that all the
buildings will be open. They can come and tour. And like we've talked in the past, James, it's one of
those events. It's not quite as busy. You get more time to spend in the cabin or someplace where
you really haven't had time to talk to people because it's been too busy and you kind of shuntled
in and all because there was too many people waiting. This is the opportunity to do that talking and
visiting. Yeah, well said. And of course, go to the storepointboss.com to sign up for that forging class
or find out more. Take a look at their events tab. I'm not kidding. They got something lined up
every month, you guys. We have got the encampment coming up. The spirit walk kind of can we for the
spirit walk? Heritage holiday. You mentioned the a couple of other ones. We're right there. Boom,
boom, boom. They're coming all up. So make sure to mark them on your calendar, make plans and
support the great work that they're doing at this storepointboss keeping history alive over there.
Thanks again, you too. Appreciate you. Thanks James and WFHR. And appreciate all of you out there
listening. Thanks so much to you. And of course, our friends over at Crock Acceptic Sponsor in this
here show, we appreciate them. We'll have more rapid support coming up for you right here at 975 FM
1320 AM WFHR.
