2WLI0713HD_Let_It_Snow_Transcript_Draft

- Announcer: The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original production.

- Narrator: This week on Wisconsin Life: We go skijoring. Meet a music producer remixing a classic game. An awesome mailman making a difference. An artist finding empowerment in their work. And a coach having a ball. It's all ahead on Wisconsin Life! 
[upbeat music]

- Announcer: Wisconsin Life is funded in part by Alliant Energy, Lowell and Mary Peterson, American Transmission Company, Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programming, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

- Hi, I'm Angela Fitzgerald and this is Wisconsin Life. Today, I'm in Lake Geneva to celebrate Winterfest and to check out the US National Snow Sculpting Championship. Winterfest is a nine-day festival that embraces the cold season with art, activities, and live music, all on the shores of this historic lake. There's skating, hovercraft rides, and ice castles. The highlight of the festival is the Snow Sculpting Competition. It sees groups from around the nation create massive works of art out of snow. The sculptures are judged and displayed until they melt away. We'll meet some of the sculptors here later on, but first, let's dig into our first story.
[shimmery music]

That takes us up north to meet a Gleason woman enjoying the snowy season with her four-legged friends. At Willow Springs Garden, a bitter wind whips across the hills. The snowdrifts are measured in feet. It's the dog days of winter. 
[dogs bark]

Perfect weather for a day of racing.

- Melissa: Are you ready? Let's go.

- Melissa Omernick suits up for her turn on the trails. She's an experienced dog musher, but that's not why she's here. She's competing in a different sport.

- Man: Okay, bring 'em up.

- Angela: Skijoring.

- What made me decide to do skijoring? I was a night shift worker, as a nurse, and I was gaining some weight, and I bought some skis for my brother and he didn't use 'em. I need to get my money's worth outta these skis, so I strapped 'em on and hooked up some of my sled dogs and away I went.

- Go, girl!

- Angela: Skijoring is a combination of dog sledding and cross-country skiing.

- I did not know how to ski when I started out skijoring.
[laughing]

It's not the best way to do a sport, just learn as I go.

- Angela: Step one is finding a skijoring trail.

- You need a trail that allows dogs, and most ski trails do not want dogs on it. I am blessed with a amazing husband who grooms trails for myself to use with skijoring.

- Angela: That's why she practices at her home in rural Lincoln County. Melissa has been skijoring for 12 years now. She says it's become her favorite sport, and her dogs agree.

- You guys wanna go for a run today? On my days off, I like to go out and ski to get warmed up a little bit, and then, I'll hook up one or two dogs and we'll go out on the trails. Good girl. And they know, they see my harness I'm putting on and my ski boots, and they get excited. Are you ready? Let's go.

- Angela: The dog is tied to Melissa's waist using a bungee line. Most of her dogs are huskies, but they don't have to be.

- Melissa: It can be a beagle, a boxer, a poodle. I happen to use Alaskan huskies.
[paws brushing on snow]

- Angela: She works her way around the trails on skate skis reaching speeds of 20 to 30 miles per hour.

- Melissa: Go, all right! There's all these fine nuances to staying balanced on skis when you're going that fast, as anyone who does downhill skiing knows. Gee, gee! [turn right]

- Angela: While also keeping an eye on the dog.

- On by! [straight ahead]

- You have to train your dog to wanna stay in front of you, not to heel, not to stay next to you, and you have to train yourself to balance while an animal's pulling you. Their ears and their tails talk to me. They see a squirrel, we're goin' 20-some miles an hour down a hill, the first warning sign I get is their ears go up and their tail goes up and I get my brakes on.
[laughing]

[skis take lift, airborne]

- Angela: Melissa and her dogs compete at events throughout Wisconsin, from the Barkie Birkie in Hayward, to the Willow Springs race in Wausau.

- This is my sport. I don't snowmobile. I don't go out trail riding. I'm not a downhill skier. I enjoy skiing, just plain skiing, and I love dogs.
[praising dog] Good girl!

It's a lifestyle for me.

- Angela: And a great way to glide past the winter blues.

- I do not get depressed in the winter time. I don't look forward to spring because I'm going out and playing with my dogs in the snow and the time flies. Before you know it, it's April. So I feel like they're giving back to me more than I can ever give them.
[skis go airborne]

Whoo! I think skijoring combines the best of both worlds for a pet owner. You are getting physically fit, and your dog is, and you're havin' fun.

- Angela: Next, catch up with a Milwaukee music producer who brings an unlikely twist to the classic game of chess. 
[rascally piano music]

It's Tuesday night and it's time for chess club. A game of strategy, intellect, and rigor. And...
[needle scratches across record]

[hip-hop music]

- Whoo, yeah! Milwaukee's hottest hip-hop beats. § Wave your hands if you wanna hear me go down § § So what gets you into your mind when you realize § § That you ain't never moved the checkmate to the side §

- People always say like, "What, hip-hop, chess, how does that go together?" 
§ Yo, the is the hip-hop chess club §

- Angela: Brandon Kitts is a music producer and co-coordinator of the Hip-Hop Chess Club of Wisconsin.
§ It's a blessin' and a lesson §
§ 'Cuz you' messin' with their knight §

- I love hip-hop; I just love it.
§ This is how we do it §
§ It's all about the art, love, the movement §

We live it, we breathe it. The chess comes into play and it's a great experience, I feel like.
[hip-hop music beats]

- Angela: Once a week, the club meets in the back of a Milwaukee salon. The goal? Provide kids and adults a place to make beats and moves on the chess board.

- Basically, they come here to learn how to play chess, and then we listen to hip-hop beats and people can cipher, which is a freestyle session and learn how to rap and learn how to make beats.

§ You think I go to wrap around the edges of my life §
§ Because my daddy didn't §

- Angela: This is likely Wisconsin's loudest chess club. But for these kids, it's also the most fun.

- You have to come check it out. Then you'll be like, oh, okay, I get it. Once you see everyone getting along and just the vibe and the energies there, you'll understand.

- Angela: Brandon says there's rhyme to the reason, and not just on the mic.

- § Insane Hip-hop chess club lane §

- He hopes chess is teaching these kids valuable skills.

- If my piece was right here, you could've attack from diagonally. Yeah, I could take that rook right there, but do I wanna lose my queen in the process? Nah, let's take a step back and let's figure out a different way. Ooh, good job, man, good job. We hope that they learn how to see the bigger picture, think about their actions, the consequences of their actions. That's what chess does, I feel like. Put hip-hop in the mix, whew. You can definitely reach a lot more people.

- Angela: The plan is to expand the organization to offer other hip-hop-focused programs.

- We really hope to impact the community for the better and make a positive impact for kids that might not otherwise have a creative outlet.

- Angela: For Brandon, it's not about chess or music, but about giving people a space to get together and move forward, one square at a time.

- § C'mon c'mon § I love the fact that all these people are coming from different walks of life within our community. And we're all getting along. I look forward to this every Tuesday. It's like my favorite day.

- Angela: Now we join a Janesville postal worker on his route to learn how he became known as the Awesome Mailman. 
[classical music]

 A frosty February morning doesn't phase the mailman.

- A lot of my customers will ask me this time of year, "So, you willingly chose this job?"

- Yes, good morning.

- Truck Driver: Prepared for winter to be over yet?

[in a cheerful voice]

- I am, I am.

- Winter's not my best time of year, but I'm good with it. Sun's out, so I'm okay.

- Angela: Tom Hathaway loves delivering mail to his Janesville neighbors.

- Here's your mail, no bills.

- And there's yours.

- Thank you.

- Happy Valentine's Day.

- Happy Valentine's Day. Look: a cookie, guys!

- Angela: The neighbors love him too.

- Awesome guy.

- All right, thank you.

- Thank you.

- Angela: Around here, he's known as 'Tom the Awesome Mailman.'
[Tom laughing]

- Have a good day.

- Woman: Thanks.

- Alrighty.

- Angela: While his job is fun, Tom's travels give him a chance to view the city from another angle.

- The mail route, I've been doing since 2008, and I see what others don't.

- Angela: Including people living in cars or on the streets.

- Most people think that homelessness occurs in the big cities: Chicago, New York, LA, et cetera. But most people do not realize that it happens in Janesville, Wisconsin. I found that's something that I could relate to, unfortunately, seeing it first-hand.

- Angela: In 2013, Tom decided to do something about it. He held a backyard fundraiser to help those in need, and the turnout was tremendous.

- Well, we ended up with 200 people, 200 customers, besides my family and friends,
in my backyard. So, I decided at that point, "Well, why not turn this into something that helps our community?" I wanna thank your dedication to those who are homeless in Rock County.

- Angela: Tom and a group of volunteers turned it into the "Helping the Homeless" fundraiser, an annual event at the Rock County Fairgrounds.

- We raise funds. We collect donated wish list items. We raise awareness of the services that are available to the homeless and those less fortunate in our community. 

§ When I was just a baby §
§ My momma told me son §

- Angela: The event features live music and a silent auction. It raises money for six area charities, including ECHO, short for Everyone Cooperating to Help Others.

- We are well-known for being a food pantry. We also are very well-known for doing housing services for low-income and homeless population.

- Angela: It takes dozens of volunteers to unload and sort all of the food ECHO receives. ECHO's annual food budget is $70,000. Not nearly enough to meet Rock County's needs.

- So, last year, we gave out 3.5 million meals here at ECHO, which was probably about $1.5 to $2 million worth of food.

- Angela: That's where donations from the community help make sure no one goes hungry.

- So, without everyone's cooperation, we would not be able to do what we do, so we're very grateful to Tom for having his annual fundraiser and having ECHO be a part of it.

- Angela: In six years, the Helping the Homeless Fundraiser has raised more than $43,000 for Rock County charities.

- I would like to thank all of you for your support. We appreciate it. Your community appreciates it. Thank you.
[audience cheers and claps]

- Angela: Tom the Awesome Mailman, is proud that he's now known for delivering more than just the mail.

- It's amazing what happens when people see the average person doing something. We're all busy people, but man alive, we love doin' this. We love it. You feel good about yourself, you're helping your community. We love it.
[classical piano music]
 
[shimmery music]

- Winter is celebrated across Wisconsin from as far north as Bayfield to right here in Lake Geneva. It's time to embrace the snow and cold. Lake Geneva Winterfest offers several ways to savor the season with a variety of events, including the United States National Snow Sculpting Championship. Competitors from around the country participate. Teams have 100 hours to construct, carve, and fine-tune their massive snow sculptures, no matter the elements. Mike's team, Up to Snow Good, just finished a carving in frigid temperatures. I feel like it takes a lot to brave the elements. You all were out here during sub-zero temperatures.

- It's brutal, yeah, we were out here. A lot of the businesses, the pipes froze and that's how cold it was, but we came out. We have a limited amount of time, so we have to be out here, irrespective of the weather, and we've all done this. We dress for it. There's an old saying, "There is no bad weather, there's only inappropriate clothing."
[Angela laughs]

 I'm exhausted.

- You're exhausted?

- I am wiped out.

- So tell us about your sculpture.

- So the sculpture itself is titled "The Bremen Town Musicians." It's based on a Grimm's fairy tale story about four animals who go and, they're old and abused and neglected by their masters, so they head off together and wanna become musicians in the town of Bremen. If you look at the sculpture, you see them, they're actually singing. They're making their music.

- Announcer: It's time to be judged.

- Angela: With the sculptures complete, participating teams also have a hand in judging the competition. Win or lose, it's a pretty cool experience to witness and be a part of.

- Just to be here, it was like my Super Bowl. It was so cool being here. I met people from Alaska to Maine and all points in between, and these are some of the finest people. Not one sour, salty disposition in the bunch. That alone is worth the price of admission. My experience here is once in a lifetime. We get to do something. How many people in America get to do what we're doing?

- Not many.

- Yeah, so cool.

- It's clear as ice, Lake Geneva knows how to celebrate the season. There's a lot to do here, including trying to take a spin around the rink. Let's head out and meet others from around our state. No matter the time of year, art is thriving in Wisconsin, where an artist finds empowerment through their work. 
[gentle acoustic music]

- Ryan: Ryan grew up in the Ojibwe community on the Lac Du Flambeau Reservation in northern Wisconsin.

- Angela: Despite this tranquil Northwoods setting, Ryan Young had a complicated childhood.

- I felt isolated in a sense that there weren't other folks that identified the way that I did that I could really talk to.

- Angela: Ryan never really felt connected here or understood why. As a teenager, Ryan was told to make a choice.

- I was basically told you're gonna have to choose whether you wanna be Native or you wanna be queer. At that moment, I was like, probably just devastating. The one time I meet someone who's out and queer and to kind of be handed that question.

- Angela: A few years later, a random computer search erased that burden, connected the dots, and recast the doubts Ryan had been feeling.

- It wasn't until I went to college that I was kind of researching queerness in Native history. That's where I stumbled upon the Two Spirit term, which is translated from the Ojibwe term, Niizh Manidoowag.

- Angela: Two Spirit embodies both the masculine and the feminine. It's a centuries-old Ojibwe phrase for queer Native people, adopted as a pan-indigenous term at a gay and lesbian conference in the 1990s.

- As soon as I saw that it was an Ojibwe word, like, that just like kinda clicked. Not only can I do this, this is my history. This is my culture. That was my aha moment right there, just kinda figuring out I can exist as both these identities.

- Angela: Ryan now uses art to provide a voice and example for those still searching for answers.

- I still see my role as kind of helping and healing. All of our journeys are different. The reason why my art focuses so much on identity, empowerment, and representation is because that wasn't there growing up.

- Angela: Drawing came first, then photography.

- I started a Two Spirit project, so I was focusing on photographing people that identified as Two Spirit. The piece. "my queerness is traditional", was to remind people that's a part of our culture. I wanted to use text, give them mantras and quotes that build up our identity.

- Angela: In middle school, and again, at the University of Wisconsin, Ryan was told to abandon any aspirations of being an artist.

- The advisor was like, "Well, I saw their work and they should pick a different major."

- Angela: Ryan transferred to the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.

- Ryan: So, I didn't listen, and, like, two years after that, I got flown back to Madison to talk about my art.

- Angela: Today, Ryan's artwork hangs in institutes of higher education, like the University of Illinois, Brown, and Princeton.

- This piece is called, "My Gender is Indigenous." A lot of people that have seen this piece are just drawn in by him staring right at you.

- Angela: Now, a lot more people are seeing Ryan's work.

- Eighth Generation put a call out for concept ideas of the Two Spirit blanket.

- Angela: Once again, an opportunity to mix art, culture, and identity when Ryan's design was selected.

- It was unreal. I was just super excited 'cause this was a really important project just to know that this is gonna be a gift to the Two Spirit community and that I had this opportunity to have my art out on a larger scale was just unbelievable experience.

- Angela: The inspiration for the blanket is steeped in Native lore.

- This story was told to me by Ojibwe language teacher when I was younger. 

I had talked about how at one time crows had rainbow-y feathers and bright, vivid colors and had a really beautiful singing voice. And one day there was this forest fire. As they were flying past the smoke to warn the animals, the smoke turned their feathers black and it made their voices hoarse. So, they ended up having to sacrifice these really beautiful elements of their appearance and their existence in order to save their community and help make sure all the animals got out safely. 

For me, it just kinda symbolizes a similar experience of giving sacrifice and having to give up parts of myself, really put myself out there in order to help my community and to know that I still carry the effects of those sacrifices even today. It's kind of like the symbolism of my feathers turning black and my voice going hoarse.

- Angela: A writer for The New York Times got wind of Ryan's Two-Sprit story.

- It is an identity that fits Young uncomfortably, one that took time to find even though the term itself comes from a translation of an Ojibwe phrase, Niizh Manidoowag. It was probably one of the coolest. My mom and my dad were super excited. We literally were hunting The New York Times. As soon as they got published. We bought four or five newspapers.

- Angela: Again, Ryan's truth connected with the Two Spirit community.

- We are important and we are valid and we exist and that's empowerment to me.

- Angela: Discovering that Two Spirit term awakened Ryan to new possibilities: a reconnection to Ojibwe culture, and provided a sense of home in northern Wisconsin. Our last story, we journey to Milwaukee to meet a soccer fan who juggles being the owner of a professional indoor team.
[kicking balls]

- Yes, good work, fellas! Yes! My name is Denzel Pettigrew. I'm the coach and owner of Brew City Legends FC, the newest pro indoor team in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Yep, let's talk, okay?
[blows whistle]

Indoor soccer is very different than outdoor. It's a different style. You have to be in tip-top shape. More of play like a hockey-style, up and down, up and down, getting your shifts in, quick play, quick combinations, and just gettin' a lot of shots off. We play in the Premier Arena Soccer League against Cincinnati Swerve, Chicago Mustangs, Detroit Waza. I feel like we have the hardest division, the best division, to be honest with you. Last year, the division champs, and now we're trying to repeat.

- Agustin Rey: So, there's a big statement to make this year, you know. This is a great program. The team, the atmosphere is awesome. The coach: man, couldn't ask for more genuine guy.

- That's what I wanna see, got some big team.

[shouting]
Who's on the keeper?

- It's impressive for one guy to kinda take it all on his shoulders and start something pretty much from nothing and grow it already after a couple years into what it is now.

- Denzel: Been playin' soccer since I was seven.

- Señora Pettigrew: Soccer took him all over the world and it still does.
[Señora Pettigrew cheers]

 He came home one day and said, "Mom, I wanna own my own." And I'm like, "What do you mean?" He was like, "Mom, I think I can do this." He said, "I've been all over the world "studying from everyone. I wanna try it."

- If it was somethin' I loved, my mom always told me to go after it. She keeps me motivated, she keeps me going every day. She pushes me. It's an awesome lady right there. 

There's not a lot of African Americans I feel like, growin' up, was in that sport. I am the first African American soccer owner in the PASL.

Let's go! 
[blows whistle]

It's a blessing that I am the first one, but color factor doesn't matter. It's just me just doin' what I love at the end of the day. We have all different type of nationalities on this team, and I like it that way. To team: Every time you talkin'... We all get along. It's a family, it's a brotherhood here, and they all play for each other. Great practice, lookin' good. One, two, three.

- All in unison: Legends! 
[shimmery music]

- There's one last thing I have to do before we head out and that's tour this amazing ice castle. If you'd like to learn more about Lake Geneva Winterfest, or any of the people featured, visit WisconsinLife.org. Do you know someone doing something extraordinary? Email us at Stories@WisconsinLife.org. I'm Angela Fitzgerald, and this is our Wisconsin Life. Stay warm. 
[gentle music]

- Announcer: Wisconsin Life is funded in part by Alliant Energy, Lowell and Mary Peterson, American Transmission Company, Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programming, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.