[Bell]
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[Bell]
You're looking at the 360-acre Spring-Fed Lake
that is the namesake for Devil's Lake State Park.
Hello everyone and welcome to a special summer
edition of In Wisconsin.
I'm Tatti Lowe.
Tonight we're here at Devil's Lake State Park.
The most busyest property in the state park system throughout
the summer will be traveling to state parks and natural areas
and bring you some of our favorite stories from
the past year, including this one about a man who
brings his joy for music to to Madison area children.
He's the music teacher we all wish we'd had as a kid.
Fun, hip, a master of musical expression.
[Bell]
Here at Windsor Elementary School, Madison musician Leo
the Stanley is the artist and residence of visiting musician.
Known internationally to gospel audiences, Stanley is a
preeminent singer, songwriter, pianist, and director.
For the next week, these students will get an earful.
[Bell]
I do try to focus on the genres of African American music.
So it would be blues, jazz, gospel, rap, and
spirituals and then intertwined in that positive
messages within the songs.
And so, and then I try to make a variety of music
within those specific genres.
[Bell]
Ten years ago, Stanley looked into the artist and residency
program because his job as a Madison firefighter
gave him some flexibility.
He wanted to work with middle schoolers, but his first
gig was an elementary school.
It was just such a touching moving experience for my
first residency that I only wanted to do elementary school.
Because the kids are so impressionable at that age
and they're learning, they're looking up to somebody
coming into the school and teaching them positive
messages through the songs.
And I said, "I like this.
This is a niche.
This is where I'm going to stay."
[Bell]
And so I love the ability to untapped some potential of
the kids and that's what I want to do and continue to do.
And as a matter of fact, after ten years of doing
it, I decided to leave the firefight just to do that.
That first residency so inspired him, he wrote four
songs, including "Be a Friend."
New songs came with each new school.
He recorded the songs with his students and created a
book, tape, and teacher's guide.
He's at his very best, I believe, when he's with
children and teaching them to enjoy music, appreciate
music, and to learn to be musicians themselves.
He has a real empowering dimension to his personality,
such that he's able to convince the children
that they can do music.
Whether they have talent or not.
Mary Rouse works with Leo the Stanley at the UW-Morgridge
Center for Public Service.
Leo the is a very upbeat personality.
He's always optimistic.
He loves people and that comes across that human
bond is so strong with Leo the.
Open up your hearts to love, never let your
love be too small.
Oh, stay with your sister, can we help you?
Each Sunday Stanley renews that bond as music director
at Mount Zion Baptist Church.
Messages are so important within the music that when the music
is good the messages receive just a little bit better.
We've been fortunate to have a music program that has
helped sustain the church.
? We'll be ?
? We'll rest ?
? Come down ?
? We'll be gone ?
? From fresh ?
? On the ?
Music has sustained Leo the Stanley.
Born and raised in Milwaukee Stanley was the third of
three children.
He had a musical vision early on.
With just two years of piano lessons he became the pianist
for the greater Galilee Baptist Church Youth Choir and earned
$10 a month playing music for the local funeral home.
See the vision.
See what it's going to look like in the end
and then take the steps to make it happen that way.
Stanley's vision also included athletics.
He was a scholarship track athlete at
the University of Wisconsin Madison and was invited to
the 1984 Olympic Trials in Los Angeles as a long jumper.
He didn't make the Olympic team losing out to a
guy named Carl Lewis.
I did my best and what I did to turn the tables to
not just be down about it.
I went over to Hollywood and Vine and I got on the
Will of Fortune Game Show and I won a grand piano.
So it's just a matter of don't let things get you down but
what can you do instead of?
Lee, I like to solve it.
Yeah. Masculine and feminine.
You did it.
You got to play.
He came here wanting one prize, a grand piano which cost
$7,000 and $8.
You have to have $7,100.
Lee, what would you like?
I like the piano.
You got it.
See the vision.
Go for it.
And keep on going.
Get another vision.
? In my Lord, you live a grand piano ?
His vision has taken him full circle to a community
that values him and work that inspires him.
? In my Lord, you live a grand piano ?
Although the congregation at Mount Zion is primarily
African-American, its choir is distinctly multicultural.
Yes, it is and we try to welcome anybody and everybody
that wants to sing if they have a love of the Lord.
? Shining hour ? That's right.
Give me a shining hour.
? Shining hour ? Let me hear your shining hour.
? Shining hour ? Multiculturalism is a core
value of Leo the Stanley.
It's at the center of his volunteerism.
It's at the heart of his music.
It's a theme he tries to convey to his students.
? Talking about justice, freedom.
Talking about freedom.
?
I think they ought to be proud of who they are, no matter
where they've come from.
Because some people get down on you because you might
come from a different social, economical background.
But be proud of who you are and you have to
appreciate other people that are different than you.
And what do you want the kids to get out of that experience?
Self-confidence, self-esteem, working with other people.
? Open up your heart to walk.
Open up your heart to walk.
?
? You're a legend that leads me to strong.
?
? Old friendly, distant, tall.
?
I want to make a difference while I'm here.
The older I get, the more that makes so
much sense to me because I know that the time is limited now.
And I want to just give that to younger people so that
they can have that attitude while they're coming up.
And I just want to be a difference maker.
Make it a little bit better since I
was here than before I came.
? Always find a way to stand tall and be
a friend who cares.
?
Give yourself a hand.
That was good.
?
Like many of you in Wisconsin is on the road this summer
enjoying our state parks.
But we know many of your travel plans aren't confined by state
borders, so neither are we.
This next report comes to us from our friends at Iowa
Public Television.
It was just too good to pass up.
It's about a world champion dance duo.
Between the two of them, they have three left feet.
He's just hammered it up.
And he's having a good time up here.
This is keeper, an eight year old golden retriever
who loves his tennis ball.
And this is Linda Farm.
? Last to the human.
?
They are, believe it or not, dance partners.
In fact, Linda and keeper are the World K9
Freestyle organizations first overall national champions
in both heel work to music and K9 Musical Freestyle.
That pretty much makes keeper the Fred Astaire
of the Dog World and Linda is Ginger Rogers.
When he was puppy tested at about six weeks of age, he just
was always very focused on my face.
And he would watch me and he was a real intense dog.
And was very food motivated.
But as a puppy, if I would take off in one direction, keeper
was always at my feet.
And he was always following me.
He was always with me.
And he was funny.
He was just a very happy, fun dog.
He wanted to be busy.
Keeper is a type of dog that needs a
job to do.
He needs to work.
He's just constantly in motion.
Oh, he's so cute.
? Show how we do it now.
?
The World K9 Freestyle organization has around
400 members in 13 countries who participate in what
is a fast-growing sport.
It keeps Linda and keeper busy cutting rugs and
competitions across the country.
? ?
Together, she and keeper dance to everything
from disco to the tango.
? ?
And they aren't afraid to get out the top hat and brush off
the tails.
Or break out the cowboy hat and boots for a
little boot-scoot and boogie.
? ?
Keepers are better dancers than probably used to about any man.
I wouldn't trade him for anybody.
He's a great dancer.
He likes to lead.
I mean, not only does keeper know the routine,
he likes to be the lead partner.
He's supposed to be the lead.
But his personality and his temperament is just that he
wants to take control and lead.
So sometimes if I'm competing and I can see that he's
taking over and he's leading, I just have to follow.
? ?
It was after seeing Linda and keeper tango together that the
people who make kibble dog food concluded they were star
material and decided to feature their fancy foot and paw work
in a commercial for kibble-salt.
? ?
Wags! It's time for your kibble-select.
Let's mumble.
? ?
The reason you haven't seen Linda and keeper dancing across
your TV screen until now is because kibble-select presently
isn't being marketed in Iowa.
That's something the folks at kibble hope to
change in the near future.
Marringer! It was just the most wonderful
experience I had, a hairdresser.
I had a wardrobe artist.
And keeper had his own private air conditioned dressing room.
So they pampered him the whole time.
And I mean, the focus was really on keeper.
Let's mumble.
He wants a camera in his face and he wants to be
the center of attention.
He likes to ham it up.
Marringer! Keeper gets the star treatment
at home as well.
There's the weekly bath, the regular
brushing, and even the occasional massage by licensed
massage therapist Denis Beaver.
It helps keepers stay loose and takes the kinks
out after a competition.
Linda even makes sure keepers canine stay pearly white
with regular brushing.
Because if I don't do this, his teeth are going to have
cavities, he's going to have gum disease, and then I will
have to take him to the vet.
And half his teeth worked on.
Can you write?
Good, good boy.
Good. On top of all that, they work
out together 7 to 8 hours a week, perfecting the moves that
made them national champions and developing new ones.
Circle, circle side, good boy.
In front, front.
Yeah. Yeah.
According to Linda, Keeper understands over 50 different
commands and knows 10 different dance routines.
This impromptu dance demonstrates the voice and hand
commands that Linda uses when she and Keeper dance together.
Good. Oh, you're good.
Yes, you are wonderful.
If I want him to spin, well that's telling him right there,
I can say spin, or I can just use my hand and he knows.
Now I also train him on the opposite side too.
Okay, twirl.
But I give that, so he's getting a different body
cue for the way that he's spinning, and he's also
getting a different voice cue.
If I want him to go to my right, I'm going to say spin.
If it's to my left, I'm going to say twirl.
And then eventually the dog, and I can use a treat to
teach him this, I started out using a biscuit or a hot dog,
and all he's going to do is he's going to follow that,
he's followed that treat.
Wherever the treat goes, the biscuit goes, the dog
goes, and he will follow.
He's very food-motivated.
While the dance competitions are fun, Keepers' work as
a registered therapy dog brings the biggest rewards.
Keeper and Linda have been going on therapy visits like this
one since he was nine weeks old.
I think one of the most rewarding opportunities that I
had was when we went to do some therapy work for burn victims.
And there was a young man in a wheelchair whose face
was just severely burned.
And the boy was kind of leaning over with his face
down because he really didn't want people to see his face.
And Keeper walked right up to him, and he
started licking his face.
And he loved it.
I mean, he just, he just perked up, the man perked up, got
a big smile on his face, and he just, and Keeper knew.
I mean, Keeper just knew, and he was just kind of
looking, kissing, just gently kissing his face.
And it said, "Type of thing, that's just so rewarding."
And that's what the dogs do.
It was actually during a therapy visit that Linda got the idea
to start dancing with Keeper.
Someone mentioned that it looked like she and Keeper were
dancing together, so Linda added some music to their routine,
and she has been promenading with her pooch ever since.
We need to have some fun and enjoyment and some humor,
and that's what I'm hoping that Keeper and I bring to
the world is just lots of happiness, lots of cheer.
If we do that, if we can make people happy,
we've served our purpose.
[Music]
Devils Lake, where we are today, is home to brown
trout, wild-eye bass, and other fish, but not sturgeon.
If you want to catch a glimpse of that prehistoric, looking
fish, head up to the Wolf River.
That's where the sturgeon spawn, and where a group of
area residents is working hard to protect the fish.
[Music]
There is no catch and release tradition among spurs who
populate shanties on Lake Winnebago during February's
brief open season on sturgeon.
Once the spear is thrown and hits home,
there's no going back.
The only way a spear can ensure there will be fish in
the future is to make sure sturgeon produce as many
baby sturgeon as possible.
Well, I've been spearing since I was a little kid when I
first started out in the '50s.
When the water warms up and the sturgeon starts
spawning in the spring, Keatshrater of Lake Puygon
stops being a spear and starts being a sturgeon patrol.
And when they started the sturgeon patrol, I kind of
got into it when I could.
Now I've been up here about every year for
the last 10 years.
The sturgeon patrols were started about 30 years ago
by the conservation group Sturgeon for Tomorrow.
The volunteers helped the DNR guard the fish's spawning
grounds along the Wolf River.
Pod Schaller is a DNR warden.
He's earned the nickname "The Sturgeon General".
What we're worried about from an enforcement standpoint
is during this spring run, the fish are so concentrated
and very shallow, they really don't pay attention to what's
going on around them to get obsessed with somebody
who can walk down, pick one up, take them illegally.
Schaller says the volunteer patrols have made
poaching a rare event.
We really don't see the problems we've had several years ago.
But occasionally we was probably four or five years
ago, we still had a case where people in this spring
run took some sturgeon and they were apprehending.
The guards now include a number of people like Richard
Bates of Children who don't spearfish in the winter.
Probably the most amazing fish we'll have in this area.
Prehistoric takes a long form to start to reproduce.
The sturgeon run is turned into a spring festival in New
London, Shaocton and Shaunho.
Walkways have been built at several points so people
can observe the fish.
Probably just after noon at the peak there was probably
around 5,000 people here.
All the parking lots, the highways built there.
Police officers, directing traffic in and out.
There is a bunch of them.
Locations along the highway being a sturgeon patrol
means doing crowd control.
At secluded backwoods locations it's the Wisconsin equivalent
of swimming with dolphins.
But just getting a chance to be a sturgeon guard
anywhere along the river is like winning the lottery.
Spawning starts when the water reaches the right temperature.
It's difficult to predict when that will be.
I've wanted to do this for probably five years now.
Dunn Thompson of Oatoma and his wife Priscilla
have signed up before.
And they canceled about 12 dollars before
we came in this year.
They called and said that it was on for today.
So here we are.
The Thompson's got their assignment at the sturgeon
camp, just north of Shaocton.
Well, steamberg is real important.
It's their shallow there and there's hundreds on them.
Okay, that's right there's hundreds there.
Wardens keep track of where fish are spawning.
Isolated locations are known by the name of a
landowner or a unique aspect of a particular site.
We're going to have you go to site which is called "Cellars".
It's on the Wolf River.
Thompson is getting lucky, drawing a site
well off the beaten path.
Right across the map there's a lane, a fire
number lane going back.
There's water in the road, you can drive on the road.
Okay, here there's three cabins in here.
The water's real high and they're actually coming
up into the yard area.
And indeed they are up into the yard.
The wolf is near flood stage.
Several inches of water cover the grass well
beyond the river's banks.
And you can literally walk amongst the sturgeon.
They seem gentle like they're in a different
kind of state-tissue.
What's been the most memorable thing you've seen out here?
Heading the fish because I have to pet him up by the rocks.
Just watching him, the size of them, how big they
are, they're just gigantic.
You don't get a chance to see him like this.
You never do.
You've never seen this many fish.
No, never.
Not like this ever.
There must be thousands of them in this river today.
They're just everywhere.
Sometimes when you see them spawn like that
you'll see 6, 8, 10, 15.
Just stick down here in the bank of the river.
Splash them around.
[water splashing]
Done and Priscilla have a chance to watch them all night.
So when people ask you what you did over the week and you say
spent the night with sturgeon?
That's right.
Yes, that's right.
I told a lot of people.
And what do they think of that?
Well, some of them have a reaction like, I guess,
you know, what's wrong with you and other people.
A lot of the friends I have are sports people.
A lot of them are spear and a lot of them are like,
you know, good for you.
Something different.
It's fun.
We have food, water and the fish.
And the fish.
Watching the fish.
Just to see what they're doing and
say something during the night that they get really going.
You get really loud and noisy.
That'll be something to see, I think.
It'll be an experience.
Oh, yeah.
Forget. Just another interesting
facet of life to be found in Wisconsin.
Thanks for joining us here at Devil's Lake State Park.
We'll leave you with more sites of the park and hope
you join us next week.
For In Wisconsin, I'm Patty Lo.
Good night.
[Music]