UNCOMMONLY FINE WRITING

Laura Sawosko Serenades Us ‘Home’

By Laurel Ciohon In the midst of the chaos that is Covid-19, many of us are looking for a glimpse of positivity anywhere we can find it, whether it’s neighbors helping neighbors with grocery shopping, uplifting photos on social media […]

A Door County Commercial Fisherman’s Perspective

by Trygvie Jensen According to Gills Rock commercial fisherman Jeff Weborg, “One of the biggest misconceptions of a commercial fisherman is that he’s rich simply because when you get a good lift everyone seems to know about it, and therefore […]

A Door County Portfolio

The Peninsula we know today began with a March 1969 National Geographic article. By Larry Majewski When Ted Rozumalski photographed something in the 1960s, it was usually a significant occasion. Rozumalski and his Leica camera were in the motorcade during […]

Midsummer’s Music Presents Jim Berkenstock’s Premiere Coffee Chat

By Jim Berkenstock Like many of you, I find my movements and options limited at the moment, so I thought I would jot down some notes about what we can expect this summer in Door County when the current cloud […]

Featured Artist Heather Allard: Ancient Technique, Modern Art

Heather Allard is a self taught artist in the meditative art form of paper quilling. Most of her training coming while recovering from an unexpected illness. Encouraged by friends and family, she continues to grow and learn about quilling and pushes herself to new […]

February Notebook

By Norbert Blei THE SAMENESS OF THE MONTH AND THE SEASON…bitter cold, ice and the unyielding snow. December, January, February are one. The calendar holds no promise. The days of the month are blank. Nameless, numberless, neither black nor red. […]

Laurel Grey: Renaissance Glass Artist

Laurel Gray grew up in Japan, Germany and Texas and spent most of her adult life in Washington State and the central coast of California, moving to Wisconsin in 2007. Her glass reflects a blend of all these various geographies and […]

The Importance of Native Plants

By Coggin Heeringa The seed catalogues are arriving, and at Crossroads at Big Creek, the urge to grow plants is intense. Already this year, we have been hosting a project of the USDA Potato Genebank which involves growing potatoes in the Crossroads greenhouse. You […]

The Birdman of Baileys Harbor: Albert Zahn

Folk artist? Outsider? Visionary? Vernacular artist? Baileys Harbor resident Albert Zahn (1864-1953) was all of these. The labels point to a unusual genre of art — art made by natively talented, untrained artists whose work contains a unique vision. The […]

Artist Highlight: Richard Morgan, Early American Bird Decoys

Richard A. Morgan was born in Connecticut and spent a good part of his growing up years in the southwest. He returned to New England to attend The University of Hartford Art School, majoring in wood sculpture. His decoys have been […]

Get Out in the Cold – And Get Warm!

By Coggin Heeringa It’s January and it’s cold outside. We have our regular dog walkers each day at Crossroads, but there is a significant drop in hikers this time of year. When the trails are icy or the wind chill is severe, […]

Featured Artist Clarey Wamhoff: Paintings Evoking Home

Sense of place has always been an integral part of Clarey Wamhoff’s life. From childhood drawings of cozy houses to her recreation of traditional quilt patterns, she has explored the combination of patterns and colors that evoke home. She would describe her […]

Featured Artist Sarka Evans: Contemporary Mosaics

The first half of her life, Sarka Evan’s lived in Prague, Czech Republic, a city full of art and history. Visiting galleries and theaters was part of normal life. When she found herself on the other side of the world due to […]

The Connections That Bring Trees Together: The Wood-Wide Web

By Coggin Heeringa Each December, the Friends of Crossroads decorate a “Fish Tree” and a “Forest Tree” in the Collins Learning Center. It really doesn’t matter if they are called Holiday Trees or Christmas Trees or Hanukah Bushes. This time […]

Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant & Butik Embodying The Spirit of Door County

By Larry Majewski In 1973 Al Johnson sodded the roof of his restaurant and added goats to graze upon it. At some point between then and today Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant & Butik became synonymous with Door County. This Norwegian-style […]

Midsummer’s Music Donations Matched Up to $50,000

By David Perry When Allyson Fleck and the Midsummer’s Music Board asked me to write to you, I was glad for the opportunity. In July, Jim surprised me with a certificate for 20 summers of performing at Midsummer’s. (I knew […]

2019 Winter Solstice Arriving December 21

By Coggin Herringa Winter Solstice occurs at the exact same instant everywhere on planet earth. At Crossroads at Big Creek (and the rest of our Central time zone), that instant in 2019 will be 10:19 pm, on Saturday, December 21. […]

Enjoy Every Moment This Holiday Season

By Door County Coffee & Tea Co. It is so special to see your children (and maybe your grandchildren) with their wide eyes and smiles as they wake on Christmas morning to eagerly find that Santa Claus has arrived. In […]

Scents of the Season in Door County

By Coggin Heeringa Throughout the year, people tell us that they are thankful for Crossroads. But during gun/deer hunting season, people seem especially grateful for a safe place to hike and walk their dogs. Around Thanksgiving, the forest also seems to […]

Door County’s Moveable Feast

By Larry Majewski Imagine it’s 1949. You’re staying at one of Door County’s premier properties, the Alpine Resort in Egg Harbor. Your day oscillates between the golf course, the beach and a wicker chair flipping through Life Magazine. It would take an […]

Attracting Birds to Your Door County Property

By Coggin Heeringa, Director, Crossroads at Big Creek Attracting birds is near and dear to Crossroads at Big Creek. One reason is that we have been working on a Bird and Butterfly Garden around our Collins Learning Center for the […]

Take a Fall Hike: Door County Has Parks Galore!

By Coggin Heeringa, Director, Crossroads at Big Creek Fall is such a great time to hike at Crossroads at Big Creek, Ida Bay Preserves and, of course, throughout Door County as a whole. The leaves are turning. The scent of autumn […]

Memories of a Door County Childhood: A Budding Artist Remembers His Peninsula Youth

By Laurel Ciohon A Door County native, Joe Risch says growing up on the Peninsula clearly shaped his “artistic soul.” The youngest of three siblings, and raised on a former cherry orchard in Gills Rock, Joe fondly remembers his childhood […]

A Weekend Trip to Washington Island

By Laurel Ciohon Having grown up on Door County’s ‘mainland,’ Washington Island was always a mysterious place to me. I traveled there once or twice throughout my life, but never for more than a few hours. As some city dwellers […]

Midsummer’s Music: Powerful Music, Brilliant Musicians, Intimate Settings

By Beverly Ann Conroy I just came from the final performance of the Midsummer’s Music summer festival – a splendid gala at Björklunden that was so delightful – and I couldn’t wait to tell you about it! The bittersweet Ashokan […]

Making Childhood Memories in Door County

By Laurel Ciohon Growing up as a child in northern Door County, there were two words that would make me (and every other kid) squirm with excitement: Thumb Fun. Thumb Fun Amusement Park was the only park of its kind […]

In Memoriam to a Beautiful Spirit: Ann Gamble

By Jude Genereaux One of the most recognizable and friendly personalities Door County visitors looked forward to seeing in Fish Creek each year was Ann Gamble, whose father once owned the former C&C Club (now Juniper’s Gin Joint). Her early […]

Fishstock Music Series Hosts an Incredible 2019 Line-Up

By Laurel Ciohon If you’re not familiar with Fishstock Concert Music Series, you’re missing out! Concerts at Fishstock are held in a 100-year-old Door County barn which seats 300 in the ground-level area and 150 in the hayloft acoustic area. […]

10 Things To Do–To Undo–While in Door County

By Marise Redman We’ve all heard this…how technology is evolving to solve human problems, make life easier and create more time. But is your life easier and do you have more time? What about the culture of technology and its […]

My Experience with Community-Minded Wellness Care

By Laurel Ciohon As someone who has always been blessed with good health, Door County Medical Center was not a place I’ve spent much time, at least not since I was born there in 1982. I’ve had a few health […]

As American As Belgian Pie

By Larry Majewski What do they call a Belgian pie in Belgium? They just call it ‘pie.’ That’s an old joke to accompany an old pie recipe from the old country. The old country is of course Belgium, which generated […]

Handverks Music: Celebrating the Beauty of Celtic Harps

Playing the harp is an amazing gift that you can give to yourself and to others. And as the adage goes, it’s a gift that keeps on giving. The harp appeals to people of all ages and all walks of life. Uniquely among musical […]

Northern Sky Theater’s Season in the Park

When it comes to theater companies, Northern Sky is like no other. At first glance, one might think that their most unique feature is that they perform their summer season in the middle of a state park, beneath red pine […]

Glowacki’s Art Represents U.S at Embassy in Czech Republic

Connie Glowacki’s art represents the unique spirit of Door County, she says. Featuring people of varied ages and backgrounds, the figures are united, even briefly, in specific landscapes and also in their enjoyment of the beautiful surrounding natural scenes and […]

Jacksonport’s 150th Anniversary

By Jude Genereaux What better way to honor the past and celebrate the continuing energy of the little Town that COULD, than with the opening of a new Town Hall in January of their 150th year? In preparation for the […]

DIY…Door County-Style

By Laurel Ciohon Even on vacation, some people have to stay practically busy with a project, and that’s where DIY (do-it-yourself) art studios come in. Two new studios have recently opened in Ephraim – but they’re as different as night […]

Creating a National Park in Door County

By Bob Bultman Famously, the Door Peninsula is part of the Niagara Escarpment, the ‘Great Arc’ of ancient dolostone cliffs that sweeps hundreds of miles from eastern Wisconsin north into the Upper Peninsula, and then arches east into the province […]

Washington Island’s Stavkirke: How a Small Island Community Came Together and Built a Dream

By Jude Genereaux It is fitting that “STAVKIRKE, The story of Washington Island’s Norwegian Replica”, comes to us from the pen of Dick Purinton, one of Washington Island’s finest writers and keeper of island history. Purinton’s fresh-off-the-press collection takes us […]

The Off-the-Beaten-Path Perspective: Ephraim Artist Fred Bridenhagen

By Laurel Ciohon Undeniably, Door County is filled with natural beauty. The water, the rock formations, the trees – we are surrounded by physical manifestations of one of the most beautiful places on earth. Among that bounty, what most inspires […]

Door County Is Introduced to The Griffon String Quartet

New Music Group Launched Through Efforts of Midsummer’s Music, Fine Arts Institute and St. Norbert College By Laurel Ciohon In a lively press conference followed by a reception at Door County Maritime Museum on January 16, 2019, the Door County […]