♪ ♪
- Angela Fitzgerald: Coming up
next:
Meet a maritime archaeologist
who dives into history,
[splashes loudly]
an ambitious teen
determined to dance,
a pair of Irish road bowlers
,
and an animated tale
reliving the first day of school.
It's all ahead onWisconsin
Life!
♪ ♪
-Wisconsin Life
is funded in part by
Alliant Energy,
Lowell and Mary Peterson,
American Transmission Company,
the Focus Fund for Wisconsin
Programming,
and Friends of Wisconsin Publ
ic Television.
- Anchors away.
I'm Angela Fitzgerald, and th
is isWisconsin Life.
I've taken to great heights,
to explore the Fincantieri Ba
y Shipbuilding
in Door County.
From up here,
I can see the entire shipyar
d
in Sturgeon Bay.
Door County is known
for its rich history of shipbui
lding
that continues to this day,
with companies like Fincantieri
Bay Shipbuilding.
This company builds ships en
tirely on-site,
which includes welding,
construction,
assembly, and painting.
The equipment to get the job
done is huge,
from large floating docks to s
uper tall cranes.
During the winter, boats are br
ought in to the docks
to be repaired before the spr
ing thaw.
It's an impressive display of
engineering
to construct these huge vesse
ls
that travel around the world.
I'll make my way to the ground
where I'm a bit more comforta
ble.
Before I do, let's sail into
our first story.
As we head below the surface
in Sheboygan
to meet a maritime archaeol
ogist
as she explores history unde
rwater.
♪ ♪
- There is a lot of Wisconsin h
istory
connected to the Great Lakes,
but most of it deals with shi
ps on the water
or the towns along the coast.
Tamara Thomsen and her team
are interested
in the lake's hidden history.
Shipwrecks resting on the bot
tom,
hundreds of feet below the waves.
- It's more than just a pile
of wood on the bottom.
[inhaling air from scuba reg
ulator "whoosh"]
- Tamara is a maritime archaeo
logist
with the Wisconsin Historical S
ociety.
- This particular shipwreck
is broken up.
It's sort of filleted open.
- This is theI-A Johnson,
a scow schooner that sank in
1890,
a few miles off the coast of
Sheboygan.
It hit another ship in the m
iddle of the night,
broke apart and sank
while being towed back to shore.
- It's absolutely lovely shipwre
ck.
We don't know much about scow
schooners.
- No one died.
And the cargo was food and s
upplies.
As shipwreck stories go, it's pre
tty mild.
But don't tell that to Tamara.
[chuckles] - I have not found
a boring shipwreck yet.
- Her team has a week of dives
planned,
but don't look for any artifacts
to show up in a museum.
- Tamara Thomsen: We don't colle
ct.
What we do is we collect inf
ormation.
There's not a lot that's underst
ood
about how these ships were b
uilt,
especially the ones that wer
e constructed early.
A lot of those construction tec
hniques
were based on apprenticeships.
So, you learned how to build
the ships.
And then you started developing
your own ideas
on how to make them, how to c
onstruct them.
- Tamara has spent more than
15 years
diving for the State Historic
al Society,
but this is more than just a
job.
- That's right.
It's 90 degrees out.
I'm dressing for 40.
[splash]
I just love working underwat
er.
I love being underwater.
- She first wanted to dive in
high school.
- I begged my father.
I said, "Can we please take
scuba diving lessons?"
And he would say, "Next year,
next year, next year...
...next year."
And it never happened.
So, when I came to school at t
he University of Wisconsin,
it was offered as a class.
[expelling bubbles from regul
ator]
- Ironically, after Tamara l
earned to dive,
her father did the same.
And they were able to enjoy t
he sport together.
She dives year-round.
When the Great Lakes are too
cold,
there's always cave diving in
Mexico.
- Tamara: It's very peaceful.
You can't talk.
You're not listening to the r
adio
or being distracted by a mil
lion different things.
You're just there.
And you're just sort of in y
our own world.
Sort of my way of checking out
from the normal world, I guess.
And being able to relax
and really find peace.
- She first started volunteering
with the Historical Society,
and they offered her a job.
She found there's no shortage
of shipwrecks to explore.
- In Wisconsin waters,
we have cataloged 752 vessels.
[splash]
- Not all of them can be reached
by diving.
- If you can get any kind of im
agery
or if you can drop down
so that we can get some measu
rements on them.
- Crew: Yup. - Angela: Tamara
and a crew
are using a remotely operate
d vehicle
to visit theThomas Friant
,
which sank in 1924 in Lake Supe
rior.
- There it is.
So, you can see it saysTh
omas Friant,
which is really cool.
Certainly, on the Great Lakes
, we are--
we're not going to find any go
ld.
The thing of most value is und
erstanding
the people who work there
and sometimes lost their liv
es there.
What we saw on theThomas F
riant
was a lot of fishing equipment
.
Fishing equipment from the 192
0s.
So, for what they would use on
a gill-netter,
where they put the doors?
How they operated the equipmen
t.
All of that, we were able to u
nderstand or learn
from the video that we collec
ted.
- Tamara says the history un
derwater
can help the history above wa
ter.
- If you look at every individu
al shipwreck,
every one is representative of
sort of this timeline
of commercial use of our waterwa
ys.
We're starting to get to a po
int where
we've seen enough of the colle
ction of vessels
that we have in our museum un
der the water
that we're able
to start putting the story toge
ther.
- As much as the R-O-V helps,
there's nothing like seeing
a wreck in person.
- Oh, my goodness.
It's new every time. It's gre
at.
So, even the old shipwrecks
that I've seen before,
I see something new every ti
me I go there.
I'm still learning every day.
And I still love it
every day that I can get out
on the water.
♪ ♪
- Let's now make our way to
Middleton
to meet an accomplished teen
preserving a different kind
of tradition.
["Krishna Kauthuvam"]
[chanting lyrics to staccato ta
pping]
- When I was in around eighth
grade,
I was very stressed.
And what I would do is I woul
d go down to my basement,
and I would just dance.
[chollukattus or rhythmic sy
llables]
So, looking back and realizing,
"All those things that I've done
while dancing,
actually helped me relieve m
y stress."
Without dance, I couldn't say
that I would be the person I
am today.
My name is Shruti Parthasarathy,
and I am a Bharatanatyam
or classical Indian dancer fr
om Middleton, Wisconsin.
♪ ["Muruganin Marupeyar"] ♪ M
uruganin ♪ ♪ Marupeyar ♪
Bharatanatyam is an ancient
Indian classical dance form
that originated from souther
n India
thousands of years ago.
♪ Marupeyar azhagu ♪
And it essentially tells mythol
ogical tales
of gods and goddesses.
[traditional Indian music]
So, It's kind of like a play,
but with the musicality of dan
ce into it.
♪ ♪
[patting rhythmically]
My teacher is from Chennai, I
ndia.
[teacher sings Indian song]
We communicate for dance class
via Skype.
And Bharatanatyam,
just to give a little excerpt
about their solo recitals,
is that we do two-hour solo
recitals,
which we call aMargam.
[teacher calls out dance steps]
So, in terms of what I work on,
usually when I practice
at home would be mostly
my technique and stamina.
Stamina is very key, especially
like I've mentioned before,
two-hour solo recitals require
a ton of stamina.
[teacher gives feedback] - You ne
ed to keep going! [breathily] - Okay
.
- One, two, three, four...
- My teacher and I, and I th
ink everyone else,
was very skeptical about Skype.
Because at the time we were
like,
"There are lags or things th
at can happen.
How was dance going to work?"
Because it's such a physical thi
ng.
It's very hard to do over a s
creen.
[teacher sings and taps rhythm]
The bond we have makes it very
easy for us to connect.
And the one on one relationship
is just...
I wouldn't trade it for anyt
hing.
- Announcer: Shruti Parthasar
athy. [cheers and applause]
Middleton, Wisconsin. [cheer
s and applause]
["Muruganin Marupeyar"]
- Bharatanatyam has taken me
almost all over the world.
I performed in Minnesota, Miami,
New York,
many places in India.
[man singing traditional Indian
song]
I think the best part of it
is that it's not just that m
oment.
I mean, it's cliché, but it's
--
What matters is the journey,
not the destination.
And it's very applicable in Bhara
tanatyam
because every single day you're
practicing,
you learn something new.
And it's not just about, you know
, your technique.
You learn something more abo
ut yourself.
Shruti Parthasarathy: Put yo
ur left leg out.
Tap right.
Bring it back.
In the future, I really hope to
continue Bharatanatyam
and pass it down to future gene
rations.
Whether it be opening a dance
school in the United States,
and I'm also now very interested
in, too, Bharatanatyam therapy.
So, when you're stressed,
these are simple things that
you can do
to relieve stress.
I have started, essentially,
like, a movement
which is called "Calm with K
alaa."
Kalaa means art form.
And what I really hope to do
with this
is show kids my age and young
er
there is a way to handle stress
in a very simple way.
We're going to tap one.
Bharatanatyam, even though it'
s very traditional and very unique
with many technique elements
and things like that,
there are very, very simple
elements to it
that are proven to relieve s
tress.
[jazz music]
Bharatanatyam is a workout for
all parts of your body.
We use...
from our facial expressions
to our toes,
every single part of our body
is being used constantly.
So, it is a very good workout.
Apart from the physical benef
its,
it gives you a mental calmness
in your mind.
I would say my favorite part ab
out doing Bharatanatyam
is finding more about myself.
As I dance every day, I discov
er more about me
and who I want to become.
And I think what really makes me
come back to it every day,
apart from it's just my passion,
is that it's my personal ide
ntity that
I would never want to lose fo
r anything.
[cheers and applause]
- I'm in Sturgeon Bay aboard
a floating dry dock
exploring the local shipbuil
ding industry.
[employees conversing]
At Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding
employees work around the clock
to create and repair
these massive floating vessels
.
To understand how it all works,
I met supervisor of skilled
trades, Joel Kaczmarowski.
- Shipbuilding is an ancient
trade
that we now do with modern te
chniques, modern equipment.
The science that goes into w
elding and metallurgy
and steel fitting is pretty in
tense.
It's fun to see that every day.
There's a lot of moving pieces.
We receive raw steel from the
mill.
Comes in on trucks.
We start by: all the plate steel
that comes in,
it all gets blasted and prim
ed.
After that, it moves through
our factory
where parts are cut out of t
hat plate.
They're formed, they're made.
After that, it moves to asse
mbly.
We sometimes take thousands of p
arts and move them
and build them into sections.
We take those sections,
move them out to our graving d
ock where
we might put two,
sometimes three of them togeth
er.
Modular parts of our ships th
at we build.
We set those down on the dock.
After that process,
after they're all-welded, fit up
, painted,
that floats out of there
almost a complete vessel.
Exciting to be a part of!
- Exciting does describe the
atmosphere throughout the yard
including in the building
where I met welder Gabriel Ho
st-Jablonski.
- The entire nature of my job
is to take two pieces of met
al and make them one,
which is really great because
even when we mess upa lot,
we just cut them apart and make
them one again.
- Oh, nice! - It is actually
very satisfying.
- With that,
it was time for sparks to fl
y.
[welding gun's electric arc si
zzles]
- Oh, wow!
Is the metal still solidifyin
g,
or is it still kind of in a l
iquid state?
- No, it's going to be rock sol
id now,
but it's very, very hot.
What we've done is just pumped
a whole lot of energy into it
through the metal,
essentially fusing it all togeth
er.
- From welders to steel fitters,
satisfaction in the work
is something I hear througho
ut the shipyard
including from Kylie Owens.
- I am a steel fitter.
I tack, torch,
a little bit of everything for
the welders,
put the boat together,
before you get full...
- Angela: Full assemblage? -
Kylie: Full like that, yeah.
I kind of do all that stuff so.
- Nice! [birds call "mew, keow
"]
So, how long have you been do
ing steel fitting?
- Two years. - Two years.
How did you get into it?
- Believe it or not, I was wo
rking at McDonald's,
and I was kind of bored
and wanted to learn somethin
g new.
And a buddy of mine told me
to apply here.
And I did, and I've been here
ever since.
- So, how has it been?
- It's a lot different.
It takes a lot of physical di
fferences to do this job
compared to others.
No matter how tough the job ma
y get,
one thing everyone has in comm
on
is a love for what they do.
- Some of the ships we work on,
they were built long before I
started my career.
And the ships we're building
now,
they'll be sailing the Great
Lakes
long after I retire.
So, it's cool to be a part o
f that.
- I love working here.
For me, as a welder, I get a
variety of different work
and what I can say is most o
f us
really enjoy this work
because it's physical, it's h
onest,
and very proud of this work.
We show up, work hard every day,
and we do like the whistle at
the end of the day
to let us know it's time to go
home sometimes, too.
But I think for most of us the
grandiose nature of our job,
to create something so big
makes us feel like little kids
playing on a boat.
[ship horn blares]
- From ship construction to win
ter repairs,
these workers are keeping the
tradition of shipbuilding
alive in Door County.
Up next, we head to Onalask
a
to meet a pair
keeping an old Irish ritual aliv
e.
♪ ♪
[hard object rolling on the r
oad]
- Ball coming.
- It's a little cannonball.
- So, when you say,
"I'm going to go chuck a cann
onball down the street,"
people get really confused.
You have to Google it,
and once you do, you realize,
"I want to do that.
Why not chuck a cannonball do
wn the road?"
That's exactly what it comes d
own to.
That might live.
- Angela: On the backroads of
La Crosse County,
Luke Seielstad and Brady Hoeth
have come to play...
- That'll do. - Basically,
it's a sport that they do in Ire
land on back roads.
- Irish road bowling is a spo
rt
born during the Renaissance...
and now enjoyed by these modern
-day Renaissance men.
- It's a historic thing that h
appened in Ireland
all the way back to the 1600s.
- There is a theory that
the Irish stole cannonballs
from English
and didn't want to carry them
the whole way,
so they just threw them down
the road.
- Angela: The weapon of choi
ce these days...
- Luke: We call it a bowl.
That's why they call it Iris
h Road Bowling.
- B-O-W-L and it weighs 28 o
unces.
- So, it's a 28-ounce steel
and lead and iron ball.
- On this particular evening...
- I gotta figure that out.
- Luke and Brady scout the course
for the 5th annual
Irish Fest Road Bowling Cham
pionship.
- I'm really kind of wondering
if they are going to let us p
lay that back section.
- The gravel?
- That could be interesting.
- And these defending champions
are ready for battle.
- When you talk a big game,
you have to be able to put u
p a fight.
- Angela: So, let the champion
ship begin.
[jovial fiddle music]
- Think we're going to win?
- Luke: Absolutely!
- We better.
[hard bowl rattles against the
road]
- Bowl coming!
- Once a year, I live for thi
s game,
just like Irish Fest.
- The rules are simple;
As simple as propelling a tw
o-pound cannonball.
- It's heavier than you think.
- And you want to chuck this
two-pound ball
as hard as you possibly can
as far as you possibly can.
And it's exhilarating; it rea
lly is.
It's liberating.
- There you go. - Nice throw
!
- You can't toss it overhand;
it's all got to be underhand
hand.
- You can be gentle, you can be
hard.
But the answer is
you have to go across the se
t course
in the fewest number of throws;
It's kind of like golf in that
respect.
- The gamesmanship is intense
...
- Stop talking and start bowl
ing.
- You gotta put some mustard
behind it.
- That's a nice line.
Get that bowl, get that bowl!
- This might look like chaos...
- Is it far enough or not?
- Yeah.
- But there is a method to L
uke and Brady's game plan.
- Brady: I think Luke kind of t
akes care of the long power shots.
- Luke: I thought it was going
to wind up short and it just kept g
oing.
It works out having a partner
like Brady:
He has the finesse role,
he can make those curves,
and things like that.
Look at that too, dead on, DEAD
ON!
- Where it goes off the road,
that's where you mark it.
Hey, you wrote 19, right?
So, this is 20. - Yeah.
- Between the two of us, we make
it work.
- Perfect.
- Making it work isn't always e
asy.
One bad throw...
[playful fiddle music] - We'll
find it.
- Other times,
that's just how the bowl bou
nces.
- Brady: You could have a pe
rfect shot,
and one little rock in the mid
dle of the road
might just send it flying the
other way.
- Luke: Stay up.
[exhales audibly]
- MULLIGAN!
- Angela: Then again,
redemption lies in the luck of
the Irish.
- Brady: Good roll, Luke.
- Luke: Told you about that s
ide.
Ayy, we'll take a kick.
That's what I'm talking about!
- Angela: The game also teaches
patience and perseverance.
- Road bowling takes a lot of
time,
only because you lose the bowl.
[ball rolling, mischievous mu
sic]
Right off the edge? - Brady:
Yeah.
It didn't go that far either,
but I just didn't watch the
exact spot it left.
Thankfully, there are a bunc
h of people there
that are watching it
and that are willing to help
you find it.
Otherwise, you spend a lot of
your time
tromping through the grass
and just trying to find your b
owl
so you can throw again.
[Luke and Brady in unison] Th
at'll do donkey, that'll do."
- Angela: At the end of the day,
with the battlefield behind t
hem,
Luke and Brady win another ch
ampionship
while sporting their Irish pride
- Brady: We've got a lot of
Germans, Norwegians around here,
and they have all their fest
ivals and stuff.
It's kind of cool to bring the
Irish bit in.
- I hope people get excited
about it.
I hope they see how much fun
we have,
and I hope we bring more peo
ple into it.
- For our last story,
writer Joe Shaffer
shares the terror that comes
with the first day of school
in this animated tale.
[muffled chattering]
♪ ♪
- The first day of school.
Lockers will slam, and bells
will ring.
Pencils will be sharpened, an
d chairs will creak.
You will see more people in one
place
[stampeding feet]
than you have in months.
[student screams]
If you 're like me,
you'll be nervous. [heavy doo
r closing]
I'll be a junior at West High
in Madison this year.
[muffled chatter]
I've never been a very confide
nt person,
and the first day of school
terrifies me.
It's not just the return of hom
ework and tests.
The first day of school
meansrelating to all of yo
ur classmates.
When you pass the ten or so pe
ople you actually know,
you say, "Hi."
For the other two-thousand, ni
ne-hundred, and ninety,
you stare straight ahead.
You endure the feeling that,
for the past three months,
everyone was having more fun
than you.
Meanwhile, you watched all nine
seasons
ofEverybody Loves Raymond.
You shake it off and go to your
first class.
Now comes the worst part of al
l.
The thing you've been dreading a
ll summer:
Name Games. [trembling, teet
h chattering]
The rules may vary, but the
concept remains the same.
"Tell us about yourself.
"Let us get to know you.
Expose yourself to judgment fr
om your peers."
The risk of humiliation is t
remendous.
"Okay, class," the teacher says,
"Can you name three facts about
yourself?"
They 're not just asking for thre
e facts.
[bell rings in a deep tone]
They 're asking you to sum y
ourself up.
[ominous vibration]
[heart beats "club dub" loudly]
[dripping] You 're sweating p
rofusely.
Why did you wear boots on the f
irst day?
It's still summer,
but you just had to have that e
xtra inch of height.
You cleared six feet,
but, good God, at what cost?
Now there's just one more kid
away from your turn.
The guy in the polo shirt is tal
king about
how his uncle owns a farm.
You 're jealous.
That's really not such a bad fac
t.
Can you top it?
Humor might be your best option
.
But then again,
a joke is risky.
What if no one laughs?
[screaming]
Now the kid in the polo shirt
has only one more fact to go.
Turns out he's passionate about
dirt bikes.
Why ardent you passionate abou
t anything?
He works in a joke, and it g
ets a chuckle.
At this point, you would give
your soul for a chuckle.
Finally, it's your turn.
There's a pause.
Everyone's looking at you.
The kid in the polo shirt seem
s so happy he survived.
[chatter in background]
And then,
a gift from the gods.
The sweetest sound known to man.
The clear... bright...
[brrrrinnng]
Class is over. [exhales audibly
]
You pack up and meet your frie
nds for lunch.
You marvel at your good luck.
Maybe this year won't be so
bad after all.
♪ ♪
- From tall cranes to huge sh
ips,
we've seen a lot as we explored
the Fincantieri Bay Shipbuil
ding yards.
If you 'd like to learn more
about shipbuilding in Wisconsin
or any of the people you've s
een today,
visitWisconsinLife.org.
And if you have a story to share
email us at
WisconsinLife@wpt.org.
I'm Angela Fitzgerald, and th
is is ourWisconsin Life.
Bye.
♪ ♪
I've heard you had some funny
stories
about third shift operations.
- Right. [Angela laughs loudly]
- You don't have to share--
just, that is what I heard.
I was told what happens on t
hird stays on third...
- There you go.
Like being in Vegas, basically.
[both laughing]
-Wisconsin Life
is funded in part by
Alliant Energy,
Lowell and Mary Peterson,
American Transmission Company,
the Focus Fund for Wisconsin
Programming,
and Friends of Wisconsin Publ
ic Television.