Wisconsin Life host Angela Fitzgerald heads outdoors to explore Roche-a-Cri State Park in Adams County. This beautiful park offers a close up look at ancient petroglyphs and pictographs created by the First Nations as well as a 300 stair climb to a beautiful vista overlooking 10 counties. Fitzgerald meets with Paul Zajackowski, District Supervisor of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, to discover what makes this park so unique.
Fitzgerald also shares a new collection of stories from the Wisconsin Life team, including a profile of two commercial ice fishermen in rural Door County. Will Henriksen and his lifelong ice fishing buddy John Koessl apply their trade off the shores of Sister Bay in the dead of winter. They commute to work more than two miles out onto the ice shelf by snowmobile and can haul in 300-400 pounds of fish a day for Door County restaurants.
Next up, we head to Madison to meet a photojournalist who views her world through a camera lens. Saiyna Bashir fell in love with photography while living in her home country of Pakistan. She moved to the United States in hopes of continuing her career as a photojournalist. After grad school, Bashir got a job at the Capital Times newspaper in Madison and is now living her dream of telling people’s stories one click at a time.
Then we catch up with a Christmas tree farmer who travels from his Door County farm to Milwaukee to deliver the fruits of his year-round labor. Ken Ottman was born into the Christmas tree business, helping his father plant, shear and sell trees. While his customers only see him in December, the real work takes place in the summer.
Finally, we meet a 93-year-old bar owner in Jump River with a special talent. Cindy Piotrowski grew up learning piano, guitar and how to yodel. After creating a successful country and western music group, Piotrowski’s music career was put on hold. Her big comeback came in the 1960’s when Piotrowski and her husband Jim bought a bar in Taylor County. Cindy Piotrowski didn’t know much about running a bar, but she knew how to be an entertainer. Piotrowski has now gained notoriety as a yodeling bar owner who can play a 6-sided harmonica.
