All things seem possible in May... |
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Happy May Day! Does anyone remember creating may day baskets, hooking them on your neighbor's door and running away? Go here for more info on the history of May Day.
We hope that everyone is enjoying some outside time. We are having beautiful weather, everything is greening up, the tulips are amazing. Here are a couple of songs on both ends of the musical spectrum about May:
And don't forget Mother's Day! DO NOT FORGET YOUR MOTHER!!!! Just a note, or a call will mean so much.
And, please get vaccinated. We at WCAB are doing a lot of planning for summer: Summer Nights Concerts are scheduled, ARTicipation Week and Arts on the Square... (if you are an artist, go here to be part of the juried art show!) and we are going to follow CDC guidelines. Please be part of the solution that will help us be able to enjoy live music again: GET VACCINATED!!!! We at WCAB feel very strongly about this.
As always, we encourage you to browse through: see all the happenings and many opportunities in our community, and if you feel curious, click on the bright blue links to take a deeper dive and get more details!
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The Main Street Reconstruction project is in full swing! The retailers are all still open on North Main Street, many have back door access. Please remember to support them, as we eagerly await the installation of the Sidewalk Poetry.... |
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The first downtown concrete will likely be poured around the week of May 17. This is when the first poems will go in to the sidewalks!
Go here to find the list of poets whose poems will be gracing our downtown sidewalks! Congratulations to you all! Can't wait to see the poems in our sidewalks!
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By enlivening back doorways and alleyways during Waupaca’s Main Street Renovation Project, we are creating a fun Downtown landscape for customers during Waupaca’s summer construction, and then for years to come.
Waupaca!!! We had over 100 mural submissions from far and wide! Now our jury committee is finalizing the choices for the 26 murals that will be painted throughout the alleys. WE will then be alerting the business owners of impending murals! Stay tuned to our FB page and website for news of when the weekend painting will begin!
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WCAB's Waupaca Local Live:
We are so excited to bring our dear friends and excellent local musicians, Fran Rademacher and Reinal Kunz to the studio! Tune in
Thursday, May 20 at 7pm!
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These two good friends, both lifelong musicians, are beloved not only for their musical ability, but for their lives of service and kindness to others. Both have played in numerous bands, including most recently Reinal being with Del Weed and his Sweet Rollers, and Fran with Baba Ghanooj; and both have sat in with hundreds of musicians over the years. We will listen to their original songs: both are accomplished songwriters! Reinal has so many interesting clever tunes, and Fran has beautiful instrumental pieces; They play on vintage mandolins as well as guitar and violin. We will also delve in to their exemplary lives: lives that have touched so many with their open hearts and real life examples. Join us on FB live for this fun interview with these two "codgers!"
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We are so looking forward to being back in the studio! Due to Covid precautions, we will not have a live audience just yet, but we are happy to be back with our 96.3FM crew who will make the sound quality excellent: what we had been used to prior to Covid. Looking forward to more shows produced by our tech staff in the coming months! Stay tuned, we have some great events lined up!!!
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We seek to bring local and regional musical excellence to the airwaves! If you have suggestions for musical talent that you would like to hear on our show, send us a message via our Facebook page!
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The Waupaca Community Arts HUB |
We are pleased to announce that a new program has emerged through the Wauapca Community Arts Board:
The Waupaca Community Arts Hub will be going live this summer!
A place where creativity lives!
This exciting new ongoing program will feature a wide variety of art classes, private music lessons and more!
Our mission is to provide quality, sustainable, accessible arts programming to Waupaca and surrounding area that can grow and evolve with the community.
Join us May 7 as our website goes live!
And find us on Facebook! We are now accepting students for lessons in Piano, Guitar and Drum. We will soon be registering students for a variety of art classes that will be held starting in July.
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WCAB's COVID QUILTS are now on display! |
Before WCAB launched our Summer Craft Cafe in late June, the volunteer-driven Waupaca Medial Masks group — which formed Mar. 21 — already had produced more than 30,000 ThedaCare-approved cloth masks. They distributed these masks for free to medical personnel, and then to the public through a contact-free pick-up system at the Waupaca Area Library. This Herculean mask-making effort produced mounds and mounds of small fabric scraps. perfect for creating quilt squares! Challenges always create opportunities, especially creative opportunities.
So, WCAB collected the scraps from the mask makers, divided and bagged them by coordinated colors, and wrote up directions for creating a 12x12 quilt square. Quilt Squares packets then became the third Craft Cafe project of the summer. Packets were available for pickup at the Waupaca Library.
Both novice and experienced Quilt Square makers happily returned their finished squares with stories of pride and happiness.
WCAB was thrilled to collect enough Quilt Squares to create two quilts.
The finished Covid Quilts, and their story, are on display in Waupaca during 2021. Go check them out, they are in the lobby between city Hall and the Library! Go here for more details and pics!
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The Waupaca Area Arts and Culture Network |
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The Waupaca Area Arts and Culture Network is a monthly meeting of Waupaca's arts and cultural organizations, city and business leaders, who share information, mutually support each other, and work together on events that enrich our community. Join us! WE love welcoming new members to our collaborative network!
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The WAACN meets at 6 pm on the 4th Thursday of each month, on ZOOM! Join us! Send us a FB message to get the zoom link! |
At the WAACN's last meeting in April, we continued to discuss updating the Waupaca Arts and Culture Plan, and are excited to work together to set new creative goals for our community. An event is planned for September 2021, with Arts and Culture stakeholders. Waupaca is a community that prioritizes the arts! If you care about Arts and Culture, Join us!
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Other MAY Happenings... in and around our community!
Events, classes, stress relief and local artisan shopping!
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Attention Serious Artists: Here is a fantastic opportunity to submit designs for a major piece of Public Art that will enhance Waupaca's Downtown!
The City of Waupaca invites artists to submit their qualifications for the commission of a significant public art
installation at the intersection of West Session Street and Main Street. A successful project will foster a greater sense of place and identity in our historic downtown by interacting with the theme of “Gateway to Waupaca's Waters.” Do you know someone who should apply for this opportunity?
Go HERE for more information on how to submit!
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The Jensen Center's Annual Tomorrow River Variety Show is happening May 1, streaming live on their Facebook Page!
Also: their drive-through Plant Sale starts tomorrow! Stop by to donate your divided plants or gently used garden items and shop for something new. It's a beautiful time to get your spring gardening on...whoop whoop!
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Life Class Thursday, May 6
at 6pm on ZOOM
Join us in our latest series, "Whole People" brought to you by Twin Cities PBS. This 4-part virtual series focuses on the importance of creating a community that is safe, vibrant, resilient and connected for ALL! Learn how our personal stories connect us to each other.
- Part 3 - Whole People: A New Response
"It takes a village” …; what part will you play in building a compassionate community?
Shawna, Michelle, Jane and Dustin from Waupaca County Department of Health and Human Services will facilitate this series.
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KITE FIELD DAY
Saturday, May 22, 2021 - 10:00am to 3:00pm
Join us for this fun day all about Kites!
- Free Family Event
- Huge kite shows
- Many different styles of kites
- Kite making workshop for kids
Event will be held at Waupaca Municipal Airport.
Special Thanks to Wisconsin Kiters Club for bringing this event to Waupaca!
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The Waupaca Area Public Library |
Look here for a variety of exciting scavenger hunts this summer! there are 11 different hunts that you and the family can do, in and around Waupaca! click on the link to find instructions!
As always, check the Library's FB Page and Website regularly to see what sorts of things they are doing for our community! It truly is incredible, so be brave and click the link and explore all the opportunities at our wonderful Public Library!
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The Library and the Historical Society are joining forces with other community partners to bring us this fun interactive 2 part event! Get your gardening gloves and join friends at the Hutchinson House on May 14 or 15!
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Teen Dungeons & Dragons Club
Every third Tuesday from 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
When we meet: Every third Tuesday of the month, 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Where we meet: On Zoom
What we do: Our teen Dungeons & Dragons Club is open to any teen that wants to play 5e D&D (or other tabletop rpgs) once a month. Members will often build a first level character, unless told otherwise by the Teen Librarian (our Game Master).
Go HERE for more info and to register.
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celebrates our shared co-creative cultural, sustainable development,
and rural regeneration in Central Wisconsin. Through shared stories, co-supporting events and cultivating relationships, this grass roots movement is worth a look!
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Common Roots Rising is joining the 2021 Fox-Wolf Watershed clean up event! We are leading a cleanup on the Waupaca River on May 1st at Brainard’s Bridge Park. The park is located at 637 Bailey St. in Waupaca. We are planning fun activities and some educational opportunities to share with our community.
Saturday, May 1,
9 am til noon, at Brainard's Bridge Park in Waupaca
Listen to podcasts: about our loca community members and lots of interesting and inspiring happenings in our area.
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Not easily defeated, a group of local artists decided to hold an online show, and it was so successful that this year, they have this year linked up with the Fine Arts Festival and are again hosting the Social Distance Art Show.
The show is now open, go to the website to see some of the finest art our community has to offer! Categories include 2D, 3D, Photography, video, compilations and High School!
There is just an unbelievable amount of quality stuff to see, take some time to sit down and enjoy this virtual show!
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The Waupaca Historical Society |
Where in Waupaca on Wednesday?—Check out the Waupaca Historical Society’s Facebook page for updates on the Society, peeks into their collections and stories of Waupaca and Chain O’Lakes history! On Wednesdays, try to figure out Where in Waupaca the Society’s photograph has been taken! Then, check back on Thursday for the answer and some local history.
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The Holly Center is open for appointments only. If interested in doing some research or viewing the exhibits, please call (715) 256-9980 or email us.
Check out their extensive web page, which includes HIstorical information on the Chain O Lakes, and all three Historical Society buildings: The Hutchinson House, the Historic Depot and the Holly Geneology and History Center.
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Grow Potatoes in a Bag!
Please join us for this great two part event and take home activity!
Get Started: May 14th at 6 pm, or May 15th at 10:30 am at Hutchinson House South Park
- Story Time, Poetry Reading, Scavenger Hunt and more!
- Learn about Waupaca being the Potato Capital of the World!
- Get all you need to grow your own potatoes this summer
Gather Again: August 7th at the Historic Train Depot
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Waupaca Area Chamber of Commerce
The Chamber is planning for in person events! Strawberryfest will be happening just off of downtown on June 19, in a new location this year, because of the downtown reconstruction. if you are a vendor or artist and would like to participate, GO HERE!
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Check out the Chamber's new webpage! WE love the new pages, they are full of info and events! Check out this particular page that shows a variety of things to do in our wonderful community!
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As we enter our Downtown Remodeling project, our downtown retailers want to remind you that they are still OPEN FOR BUSINESS! Check out the back door entrances of many of our local retailers: Explore the alley!!!
Go here for an online directory of our downtown businesses.
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Waupaca Fire Department Sesquicentennial Celebration
May 22, 10 am til 11:30 pm!
Swan Park
This local community celebration is sponsored by multiple local sponsors, and there will be events all day and in to the evening, including a parade, an all day music stage, games, food, cornhole tournament and more! This free event is for everyone!
Go here or more info on the history of the Waupaca Fire Department and all of the events that are planned.
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Finally! The rescheduled 100th show anniversary show, celebrating
100 Wednesdays with Wags Shows Anniversary!
May 15, 1-5pm!
On the Deck at the Wheel House, free concert! The greatest players who have come out over that past years to play with our own Tony Wagner.
Come out, celebrate live music with Tony, and party down!
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Celebrate Hmong Week and honor Hmong culture with a variety of events from May 10-15! Go here for more information go to this FB page:
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May 1st with an open start time between 8:30-11am this year. walk up registration available this year! With both 5K and 1-Mile options, this race is fun for those of all ages and abilities. Bring your strollers for the kiddos or your dog on a leash.
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...and one last little treat for you....
The Waupaca Community Arts Board's 2021 Arts on the Square Image was done by mural artist Leif Larson!
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As we plan ARTicipation Week and Arts on the Square, we especially celebrate our return to gathering and participating in the arts with this wonderful image painted by the artist who brought us the phenomenal Union Street Mural. Leif Larson is truly a treasure! You will be seeing more of this whimsical colorful image in the weeks to come as we start to reveal all we have planned for our community.
We are still accepting submissions for the juried art show on Saturday August 21. If you are an artist who would like to be part of the juried art show, please visit our page for information on submissions.
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