Area: Door County
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“Boot” Hockey: Broomball is Northern Door County’s Unlikely Winter Pastime
It started with the hope of getting enough people together to form two teams for pickup games, maybe 30 guys, to play a little “boot” hockey, a game they weren’t even sure how to play. They just wanted to play something, anything, for exercise and activity to get through the Wisconsin winter. They had this […]
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Off Beat, Off Season: Isadoora Theatre Company
Some say that theatre had its origins thousands of years ago, with a group of friends seated around a campfire eating a meal and sharing stories about their day. Then, one person decided that the story would be better if two people told the story together, each acting out a different part. Over time, the […]
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Admittedly, I’m not a “horse person.” That’s not to say I have anything against horses, as in, “I’m not really a dog person…” The truth of the matter is, I just haven’t spent any significant time in the company of horses. Sure, I’ve scratched a few horses on the neck, and I’ve offered up an […]
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Split, Stack, Stoke: Weathering Winter with a Woodstove
When we first purchased our house, I imagined that I would spend some of the days of the long Door County winter sitting beside the fireplace in the main room. Perhaps I could pass the time with a book and a mug of coffee – what better way is there to spend a January day? […]
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Inspired by the Challenge: Training for the Birkie
It is Monday, January 23rd, and I am breaking a sweat in the 30-degree air. I am trying to cross-country ski over hilly terrain, but the result might be more accurately described as chasing my cousin Helen through the woods with boards attached to my feet. My mission: to prepare for the American Birkebeiner. That […]
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Laying Up the Winter Fleet: Bringing Great Lakes Freighters to Port
“The iron boats go as the mariners all know, with the gales of November remembered.” – Gordon Lightfoot, Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald The predawn morning is met with a blanket of fog that hangs heavy over the thickening ice of Sturgeon Bay’s outer harbor. Harsh, cold winds pile snow into ripples and drifts across […]
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Approaching the Coyote Roadhouse in the high summer season, you are likely to see cars filling the lot, parked amongst the trees and lined up along the roadside. Walk in the door and the place is hopping. Bar stools are occupied, booths are filled with families, friends are mingling at tables on the porch overlooking […]
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Tucked away on the very south side of Sturgeon Bay lies Idlewild Golf Course. The setting is beautiful with forests, ponds and wooden bridges. Driving the cart path seems, at times, more like a tour of a state park than a golf course. At one point on my go-round, a beautiful blue heron (which I […]
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In winter of 2006, quilting as an art form came joyfully out of the closet in Door County with the Miller Art Museum’s exhibit of “Quilt National 2005: The Best of Contemporary Fine Art Quilts.” Initiated by the Dairy Barn Cultural Arts Center in Athens, Ohio, this traveling exhibition of 20 quilts was organized to […]
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Re-Presenting: The Works of Bruce Basch
Bruce Basch is one of those rare artists who doesn’t measure his success by the number of works he sells, but rather by the success of new ideas, color nuances and kitschy provocations. Basch lives the kind of in-between life as an artist and waiter that affords the leisure of moving at whim – but […]
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Fresh Picked: Family-style Fall Festivities
The sky seems a bit bluer, and the air surely feels a bit brisker. At this time of year, there’s something to be said for just sitting quietly and watching the leaves turn color, but with all of the activity surrounding the peninsula’s autumn harvest, it would be a shame not to reap some of […]
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The fall wears on toward winter, and the signs of the changing season are everywhere. As the days get even shorter, the geese as well as the summertime crowds have mostly moved south. The marinas and harbors are emptier after each weekend. As the temperatures fall and the waters of Green Bay darken, sailors might […]
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The First Door County Residents: Native American Tribes in Door County
Before Swedes or Norwegians; before Moravians or Belgians. Before Captain Bailey or Increase Claflin; even before French explorers such as Nicolet and Radisson, who began visiting the area in the 17th Century. For hundreds of years before European exploration and settlement in the Great Lakes region of what we now call the United States, indigenous […]
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Green. Sustainable. And the seemingly ubiquitous “reduce, re-use, recycle” mantra. What exactly do these words mean, particularly when describing a home? Local licensed architect Virge Temme, designing sustainable buildings since 1992, quickly clears up one source of confusion: “green” and “sustainable” are interchangeable terms. She goes on to explain that “green architecture is a well-reasoned […]
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“Ellison Bay Blew Up.” Those were the stunning words that welcomed so many Northern Door County residents and vacationers to their day Monday, July 10.
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A Family Man Foremost: Fred Anderson
Prior to our interview, I asked a handful of people, “What do you know about Fred Anderson?” Expecting the usual pleasantries and biographical snippets, instead I got a unanimous reply: Fred Anderson might very well be the nicest guy on the planet. That seemed like an extreme statement. How could one even begin to quantify […]
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Yachtsmen in Training: The Sturgeon Bay Sail Training Foundation
Door County’s access to Lake Michigan and the Green Bay waters has afforded the peninsula a rich maritime heritage. A piece of that heritage continues to thrive off the shores of Sturgeon Bay thanks to the Sturgeon Bay Sail Training Foundation. Each summer this organization trains young and old alike to learn and perfect the […]
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The summer of 2006 will mark the 100th anniversary of the Ephraim Yacht Club (EYC) and its famous Ephraim Regatta. The Ephraim Regatta is the oldest continuous regatta in the United States and it continues to draw many sailors and enthusiasts to Door County’s shores. July 24th of 1906 was the inception of the charter […]
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The Legacy of an Industry: Quarrying for Stone in Door County
A deep dive into the history and legacy of the quarrying industry in Door County, one of the peninsula’s first exports.
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Door County 4th of July Celebrations
Independence Day isn’t just the 4th on the peninsula. Four days of live music, children’s activities, parades, fireworks, and arts and cultural experiences keep you entertained from dawn till dusk in all corners of the thumb. July 1 Fish Creek (at Clark Park)Food, fun, and music all evening by the harbor, including a Venetian Night […]