[upbeat acoustic]
- Wisconsin is home to more than 15,000 lakes,
but one lake in particular...
[bird cawing]
captivates author and writer, Patti See.
- Patti See: The first time I came to Lake Hallie,
I think, was probably the summer of 1974.
- This lake has a story for every season,
and Patti has endless tales to tell.
- Patti: I write about my quirky neighbors,
but, you know, truth be told,
Patti See, also quite quirky,
or I don't think I would have embraced
living on Lake Hallie
or living in this house.
And so, it's a quirky house on a quirky lake,
surrounded by quirky people.
- Angela: Lake Hallie is a place
local newspaper readers often get to wade through.
- The thing I love most about lake life
is that I've just gotten to know
so many different sorts of people.
And because I write this monthly column
about Lake Hallie,
my friend Karen is convinced that
that is why the lake is getting busier.
- Karen has been Patti's best friend since childhood.
- This is Karen. - Karen Sabaska: Hi.
- She's the source, muse, and co-defendant
for many of Patti's stories.
- Well, I met Karen at Holy Ghost Grade School, first grade.
We have been best friends pretty much ever since then.
We are going on almost 50 years of friendship.
- It's a friendship that has seen plenty of boat rides.
- Patti See: Let's see what we got for juice.
Ooh, a lot of juice.
- Out on the water, these lifelong friends
have time to reminisce with a can of beer, or two,
while cruising Lake Hallie.
- Patti: Perfect.
Oh, that's good beer.
We've just seen each other
through so, so many things,
boyfriends and husbands and children,
and she was always there for me.
- Their memories are long.
However, the ride will be short.
Well, to take a pontoon boat ride around Lake Hallie,
you have to go around twice,
so you feel like you've been somewhere.
This lake life is unique in that
it's a very close-knit community.
It's a small lake.
You can see across, you can yell across.
So, I talk to my neighbors, literally from dock to dock.
[water gurgling]
My route is always that I head towards the boat landing.
- Karen Sabasksa: Osprey. - Patti: Oh, yeah.
[high-pitched osprey screech]
- Karen: Maybe love is in the air...
It's like, "Oh, I think that's a boat."
- Whenever I pontoon, this is the destination.
- Karen: Yeah, this is where we sit. - Patti: Yeah, we do.
We can see the little children fishing. [reel spinning]
The other huge landmark is Lake Hallie Golf,
which has been here since the 1920s,
and the lower nine all are along Lake Hallie.
Just a lot going on at that end of the lake.
- Angela: It's the end of the lake where Karen's family
put down roots.
- Patti: This is the Clark Hughes Boat Landing,
named after Karen's grandpa.
She is the third generation on Lake Hallie.
So, there was a time that Karen probably could name
everybody who lived on Lake Hallie,
but I don't know that you could do it now.
- Karen: Oh, no, not even a chance.
- Patti: Kim and Ken. - Karen: Yeah, Steve.
- Sean from Leinenkugel's. - Karen: Oh, I don't know him.
- Patti: I don't know his last name.
One of the things that makes Lake Hallie special
is the history
and also the people who love it.
- Angela: The other thing that makes it special,
the boatload of stories Patti fished out of this lake.
- Patti: I've always been a person magnet,
particularly strange person magnet,
which is how I got Karen.
- Patti's unique collection of stories
will take you deep into the weeds and reel you in.
- One of the reasons my stories resonate with Wisconsinite
is so many people today crave community.
They crave friendship; they crave family.
And those are the top three things that I write about.
You know, not just Karen, though she's a topic
that I come back to time and again,
can't tell you the number of times
that people have called out to me,
"I wanna be your Karen."
Like, "Oh, yeah?" No, that's sweet.
- Those fans who have read Patti's essays
fell in love with her and Lake Hallie from afar.
- Patti: "I have visited this lake
"since the summer I turned seven.
"51st birthday, I paddle Lake Hallie.
"The mirror-like water and the fluidity of time
"conspire to make 30 or 40 years on this lake
seem to pass in a few ripples."
- Angela: Her book is called "Here on Lake Hallie:
"In Praise of Barflies, Fix-It Guys,
and Other Folks in Our Hometown."
- In Chippewa Falls, barfly is a really positive...
affectionate word, term of endearment.
And the essays are really in praise of barflies
and fix-it guys.
- It's a collection of short stories
about a place Patti long wanted to escape.
- I really did not expect to live
in the Village of Lake Hallie for the rest of my life.
And here I am, just thriving and loving it.
[upbeat music]
- Living in a quirky house with quirky neighbors,
Patti See
sees it all from her perch above Lake Hallie.
- Patti: Every day is something different
and fun in a different way.
My neighbors, my best friend, Karen,
we just have this bond over Lake Hallie.
And so that makes it a special place.
And I realize how blessed I am to say that.
[upbeat music]