My childhood was really centered around making art. I don’t know where I got my interest from, but I remember enjoying drawing as early as elementary school. My best friend and I used to have these drawing battles to see who the better artist was. Ramón would draw a ninja and I would draw Scooby-Doo,
“I knew that I wanted to become an art teacher.” Read More »
Jazz music is a huge part of my life. Growing up, my dad had all these jazz recordings and so I started out imitating simpler forms on piano, like Boogie Woogie. Photos by Colleen Bies What I didn’t know at that tender age was that I was absorbing the 12-bar blues form, because every Boogie
“Wisconsin’s gentle poet of jazz.” Read More »
There was always music around when I was a kid. I grew up in Rhinelander and lived there for most of my life, but I also lived on the Lac du Flambeau Reservation when I was younger. Photos by Shelby Cheyka I went to UW-Eau Claire after high school, then graduated from dental school in
“It’s never to late to follow your dreams.” Read More »
My ancestors came from Ireland and Ohio to a parcel of land in the Driftless region and homesteaded in 1854. Photo by Hedi Lamarr Rudd I am the sixth generation to be raised on the family property formerly used as a 40-head milking dairy farm, but the government pretty much forced out family farms. It’s
Farming Music in The Driftless Read More »
I was born in Ban Vinai refugee camp in Thailand in September 1976. I am the oldest of six children. Photos courtesy of Annie Vang When the Vietnam War ended in 1975, thousands of Hmong families were displaced from their homes. The Hmong people were recruited by the American military to fight in the war
“The HmongPhrases app was my gift to myself.” Read More »
I grew up in Port Washington. I feel like I lucked out because we were right near Lake Michigan, it was part of our family routine to take our dogs to the beach. The lake has always been this place for me to have fun, but also reflect and kind of meditate. There is something
Asking a Beautiful Question Read More »
Miranda: I grew up in Green Bay, right near the edge of town. It used to be lots of cornfields and forests, but now it’s mostly subdivisions. I was a very early reader; I started reading before kindergarten. I didn’t grow up in a house with a lot of books, but we did have one of those complete
The Life-Changing Magic of Children’s Books Read More »
Joel: In high school, I took an entrepreneur leadership class. There they really pushed me to think about my community and where I come from. Photo by Abby Chi I had to think about the problems I’ve seen in my community and what I could do about them. I was born in the Democratic Republic
“All children are meant for the stars.” Read More »
My life is never dull. I’m the co-director of the Wild Rumpus Circus in Mazomanie, Wisconsin. The name ‘wild rumpus’ was inspired by Maurice Sendak’s great book, Where The Wild Things Are. Photos by Hedi Lamarr Rudd In the book, Max says, ‘Let the wild rumpus start,’ and we thought rumpus was such a fun
“Let the Wild Rumpus Start!” Read More »
I go by Bobby Bullet St. Germaine. Bobby Bullet is a stage name. In the late 70s, I had a couple songs out, one of them which broke the Billboard top 100. Well, my manager and I had the idea to get the name “Bullet” into the conversation because, if a song was really good,
“Music is a part of me.” Read More »
Oshkosh was a different world when I was growing up than it is today. We would walk eight blocks to school and back every day as a kindergartner and a first-grader, and there was no worry that someone was going to kidnap me. Photos courtesy of Colleen Bies Maybe we were just completely ignorant at
“There is that one moment in your life that really changes everything.” Read More »
The Wisconsin Historical Society Press published ‘Hope Is the Thing: Wisconsinites on Perseverance in a Pandemic’. In this series, we feature five writers who share their experiences as they explore hope in the era of COVID-19. BJ Hollars both edited and contributed to the book. March 10, 2020 was my last presentation in a public
“Writing helps me untangle my thoughts.” Read More »
