At the heart of the property stands the new indoor barn venue. The barn was designed with gatherings in mind, from elegant weddings to lively graduation parties and unforgettable special events with an open floor plan allow the space to transform easily depending on the occasion. For a wedding reception,Continue Reading

This new festival is appropriately named Summer Jam. The 2 day music festival’s debut was June 20th and 21st of 2025. Considering it fell on the summer solstice you can’t get a better name than that! I was fortunate enough to be able to attend as a V.I.P. Guest, courtesyContinue Reading

The car was full of windows. A family to my left was laughing over a card game and a couple up ahead was sipping coffee hand-in-hand as they watched the station fall into the distance. We sat down and tried to name all the birds we saw skirting along theContinue Reading

Trail Days Save the Date!Save the date! You’re invited to join us at our second annual Trail Days on Saturday May 30, 2026 at the Chatfield Center for the Arts. This year’s event is even bigger than last year with guided interpretive hikes along the newly designated section of theContinue Reading

Credits:Host: Dan WanschuraProducer: Christian ElliottEditing: Morgan SpringerAdditional Editing: Dan Wanschura, Ellie Katz, Claire Keenan-KurganMusic: Blue Dot Sessions This episode is based on a story Christian Elliott wrote for bioGraphic Magazine. Read it here. Feature image by Prairie Rivers Network- A dead oak tree that later had to be cut down on SethContinue Reading

The Music Box The Music Box is a downtown listening lounge honoring the original shop owned by Rick Nielsen’s father. Co-owned by Miles Nielsen and his wife Kelly, both musicians, it hosts live music in an intimate setting. Midway Village Museum  Midway Village Museum features Cheap Trick memorabilia, including aContinue Reading

It was at the university where he first saw her — the woman who would become his partner, his compass, his home, his light. He fell in love immediately, completely, and without reservation. That love was not a detour from his purpose. It was his purpose. Eventually, they both cameContinue Reading

Tell us about a project or accomplishment that you consider to be the most significant in your career with your business.Pulling off the interstate in the middle of the night somewhere in Iowa while on a book tour to discover my book had hit the New York Times bestseller list.Continue Reading

These early skates didn’t carve into the ice the way modern blades do. Skaters pushed themselves forward with poles, trading speed for efficiency, moving across frozen landscapes because they had to. That instinct still resonates in the Driftless. This is not a flat place. Rivers bend, cold pools in coulees,Continue Reading

Long before I understood ice fishing as solitude or ritual, it existed for me as memory—messy, loud, half-frozen memory. As a kid, winter fishing wasn’t about stillness. It was about movement and noise and the kind of impatience only children possess. Ice fishing meant piling into a truck that smelledContinue Reading

I’ve spent many snowy afternoons tucked into a corner chair while one kid disappeared into graphic novels and the other hovered near the computers or interactive learning stations. Winter reading challenges have been a lifesaver, turning reading into a game and giving the boys something to work toward when outdoorContinue Reading

Towns are small. Social calendars shrink. A long stretch of gray days can make even the most grounded person feel unmoored. But the Driftless offers something powerful in winter if you meet it on its own terms. Shake Them Off by Going Into the Season The biggest mistake many peopleContinue Reading

Recent years have reshaped our sense of time. Days blurred, plans dissolved, and certainty became conditional. In that context, 2026 feels less like a year for declarations and more like one for alignment: living more honestly as who we already are. There is collective fatigue, but also clarity. Many ofContinue Reading

CREDITS:Producer / Host: Dan WanschuraEditor: Patrick SheaAdditional Editing: Ellie KatzMusic: Jonas Hipper, Holizna, pan, Maarten Schellekens, Nuisance Feature Image: Lake Superior waves crash in Eagle Harbor, Michigan during a storm in October 2022. It was in this area where Keweenaw County Deputy pulled off a dramatic rescue of a 68Continue Reading

Highlights The Coon Creek Watershed is known for its extensive network of Class 1 trout streams, numerous public fishing access points, and exceptional recreational opportunities. The watershed is also a thriving hub for organic agriculture, and the world headquarters of the Organic Valley Cooperative. The watershed is notable as theContinue Reading

Credits:Producer: Ellie KatzEditor: Morgan SpringerAdditional Editing: Dan Wanschura, Claire Keenan-Kurgan, Ruth AbramovitzHost: Dan WanschuraMusic: Blue Dot Sessions Feature image by Jasmine Lu- A Petri dish with Physarum polycephalum, or slime mold. Computer science researcher Jasmine Lu used the slime mold as a “living wire” in a smartwatch at the University ofContinue Reading

There you will find a public restroom, drinking fountain, as well as a place to rest your feet & read up about the Elma area. The Visitor Center is open seven days a week, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. in season (roughly May-September).  The Old Roundhouse Trail is a hardContinue Reading

Do you have a life philosophy that you live by?Never rush through life. If there’s a cool cloud formation to look at, stop and spend the time to look at it. If I want to stop and share something I would like to say or share, I hope you tooContinue Reading