UNCOMMONLY FINE WRITING
Experimental Archaeology at Crossroads at Big Creek
By Coggin Heeringa, Program Director/Naturalist, Crossroads at Big Creek Crossroads at Big Creek, in collaboration with the Door County Historical Society, will add Experimental Archaeology to the Spring Archaeology Experience this year. On the afternoons of Friday, May 21, Monday, […]
Read MoreWink Larson: Orchard in His Blood by Gary Jones
Door County Almanak, No. 2, 1985 “Here’s the story of how Wink bought the orchard,” said Audrey Larson, as she, Wink Larson, and I sat in the spacious living room of their Sister Bay home perched on a bluff, the […]
Read MoreCrossroads Activities Report for May…It’s BIG
By Coggin Heeringa, Program Director/Naturalist, Crossroads at Big Creek Saturday, May 8 promises to be a big day at Crossroads. In the morning, Crossroads Habitat Healers will participate in the Climate Change Coalition of Door County’s BIG PLANT. In the […]
Read MorePeninsula Players Presents: Stalwarts of the Sixties
Doug Alleman, Ralph Foody and William Munchow were talented character actors whose credits included work on film, television and stages across the nation. Bill Munchow returned for his 101st show in the musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to […]
Read MorePeninsula Players Presents: 1965 – 1969
This week, Peninsula Players Presents takes a closer look at some of the highlights of the seasons between 1965 and 1969. During these years, Door County’s appreciation for the arts was symbolized on the County of Door’s newly created flag that was […]
Read MoreSpring Coffee & Spring Cleaning: Tips to Make Spring Cleaning Fun
By Door County Coffee & Tea Co. Spring is in the air, and in the coffee, so it seems the time has come for Spring-Cleaning! We have compiled some of our favorite cleaning hacks, including the best way to clean […]
Read MoreNorthern Sky Theater Only Four Steps Removed from the Birthplace of American Playwriting
Did you know that Northern Sky Theater is only four steps removed from the birthplace of American playwriting?! Follow along as Northern Sky cofounder Doc Heide takes us through the degrees of separation: 1. In the first decade of the […]
Read MoreAstronomy Happenings at Crossroads
By Coggin Heeringa, Program Director/Naturalist, Crossroads at Big Creek Crossroads at Big Creek invites the community, and especially families, to participate in a candlelight hike we are calling “Walk When the Moon is Full.” This luminary-lit hike will take place […]
Read MoreSister Bay, Progressive Town – June 21, 1941 Green Bay Press-Gazette
Fastest Growing Village in County is What They Call Town of Sister Bay. Residents of Community are Wide Awake and Alert to Push Any Plan Which Will Please Guests. “The fasted growing community on the peninsula,” that’s what they are […]
Read MoreWisconsin Water Week 2021
By Coggin Heeringa, Program Director/Naturalist, Crossroads at Big Creek This is Wisconsin Water Week 2021. Crossroads at Big Creek is one of the Wisconsin Water Week Conference sponsors because we have an institutional obsession with water. Besides, sponsorship enables Crossroads […]
Read More2021’s Aldo Leopold Day is March 6
By Coggin Heeringa, Program Director/Naturalist, Crossroads at Big Creek In 2004, Gov. Jim Doyle signed legislation designating the first Saturday in March as Aldo Leopold Day in Wisconsin. At Crossroads at Big Creek, we started celebrating Aldo Leopold Day in […]
Read MoreCrossroads Presents Fish Tales Lecture on the Science of Great Lakes Fisheries
By Coggin Heeringa, Program Director/Naturalist, Crossroads at Big Creek Crossroads at Big Creek will have another fish on the line. Or, more accurately, the second on-line lecture of the “Fish Tales Lecture Series: Presenting the Science of Great Lakes Fisheries.” […]
Read MoreThe Search for Perfection
By Ruth Cook, Door County Almanak, No. 2, 1985 Door County folks are a varied lot, but one common trait is an appreciation for the outdoors – an affinity for green, growing things. My enthusiasm often leads me to a […]
Read MoreValentine’s Day Fun at Home
Courtesy of Door County Coffee & Tea Co. Valentine’s Day is upon us, and after the year we have all had, this seems like the perfect time to make this loving holiday all the more special! From easy crafts to […]
Read MoreFebruary Notebook
By Norbert Blei Working in a converted chicken coop north of Ellison Bay, for 40+ years writer Norbert Blei (8/23/1935 – 4/23/2013) chronicled Door County through the lives of its inhabitants. A newly-revised edition of DOOR WAY: The People in […]
Read MoreThe Dreaded Glossy Buckthorn
By Coggin Heeringa, Program Director/Naturalist, Crossroads at Big Creek At this time most winters, Crossroads at Big Creek is cloaked with mounds of snow. This year, we still have numerous mounds, but they are not snow. They are the trunks […]
Read MoreFishing 101: What Every Ice Fisher Visiting Sturgeon Bay Must Know
By Kenneth Reaves, Courtesy of SturgeonBay.net Wisconsin is my home, and I learned to fish in the waters around here! Sturgeon Bay is well-known and has a special place in my heart. You can fish year-round, but I grew to […]
Read More5 Fun Things to do in Door County This Winter
Article by Door County Coffee Co. With Winter upon us, we are in for a few months of colder temperatures, beautiful snowfalls, and lots of good coffee! People often think Door County does not have much to offer in winter […]
Read MoreJanuary Notebook
By Norbert Blei Working in a converted chicken coop north of Ellison Bay, for 40+ years writer Norbert Blei (8/23/1935 – 4/23/2013) chronicled Door County through the lives of its inhabitants. A newly-revised edition of DOOR WAY: The People in […]
Read MoreRuminations on the Coming Winter Solstice
By Coggin Heeringa, Program Director/Naturalist, Crossroads at Big Creek In other years … more normal years … Crossroads at Big Creek has celebrated the Winter Solstice (December 21) with a bonfire at our Council Ring. And we will do so […]
Read MoreThe Long Dock
by Janet Hough McCray Door County Almanak, No. 5, 1990 As I reach the Labor Day of my life, I think back on all the summers I have spent in Door County and of the tremendous effect these golden seasons […]
Read MoreBirchwood Hall – Summer, 1914
by Barbara Larsen Door County Almanak, No. 5, 1990 Evening shadows were lengthening. Although the sky was still bright blue over the bay, the dense woods surrounding the dirt road leading from Birchwood Hall into Sister Bay kept the sun’s […]
Read MoreThe Cove Estuary: Otters, Great Blue Herons & Opossums, Oh My!
By Coggin Heeringa, Director, Crossroads at Big Creek Last weekend at Crossroads, between Leadership Landing (our kayak launch) and the Utah Street Bridge, an otter was fishing in The Cove Estuary. This was hardly surprising. We’ve been seeing these sleek […]
Read MoreGift Guide for the Door County Lover
By Door County Coffee & Tea Co. Is there someone on your list this year that LOVES Door County? Ok, we know everyone loves Door County, but if you are shopping for a Door County fanatic, you are in luck. […]
Read MoreBINKHAVEN: Despite Amazing Architecture and Design, Still Solidly Under the Radar
By Jude Genereaux Even for the many people who have lived and traveled within Door County for decades, the name “Binkhaven” may not quite register. That will likely end soon, since this once very private Ephraim estate is about to […]
Read MoreLee Radtke, Best In Show
In memoriam by Kevin O’Donnell On a gloriously warm day in May 2018, my wife Colleen, and I leisurely strolled through a one man art exhibition at the Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay that featured the work of […]
Read MoreSunday Drives by Martha Lambiotte
Door County Almanak, No. 5, 1990 During the years that our children were growing up, every disagreement between parents and their offspring was blamed on the “generation gap.” In our family, the most evident sign of that so-called gap was […]
Read MoreSilent Sports in Door County: Propel Yourself Into Nature
By Marise Redmann It’s so quiet I can hear my heart beat. I haven’t been this alone in ages. I paddle gently so as not to disturb the peace. I slip through the bulrushes, feeling them standing rigidly, protesting my […]
Read MoreWhite Gull Inn Celebrates its 125th Anniversary
By Jude Genereaux Loyal guests and visitors returning to Door County expect to find two things each year: the assurance that it never changes, and the joy of new discovery. Blending those expectations has been a goal well met at […]
Read MoreThe Names in the Orchard by Tom Davis
Door County Almanak, No. 2, 1985 The shape of the conversation remains the same. Its timing varies only slightly from year to year, beginning as an offhand remark in mid-summer, by September swelling in proportions like an apple tree loaded […]
Read MoreNorthern Haus Expands Wedding Options into New High-Level Territory
By Laurel Ciohon Imagine driving down a tree-covered country road, dotted with wildflowers and farmhouses, the sun peaking out from the trees. You pull up to an expansive 30-acre property in the midst of it all. The beauty of this […]
Read MoreThe Conversion from Manpower to Steam Power in the Fishing Industry
By Walter M. and Mary K. Hirthe, Door County Almanak, No. 3, 1986 Although the age of steam was well launched on the Great Lakes by 1818, the revolution made possible by steam power did not reach the northern islands […]
Read MoreInterview with Midsummer’s Music Violinist Ann Palen
Respectfully submitted by Allyson Fleck Ann Palen has played violin with Midsummer’s Music since 2014. Growing up in Edwardsville, Illinois, Ann studied Suzuki violin. Her start to instruction was somewhat of a challenge for her mom, but not what you […]
Read MoreWhat’s Lurking In Your Mole Sauce?
By Jim Berkenstock I recently looked at the date when I wrote the last Coffee Chat and was astounded at how much time had gone by. How time flies when you are having fun (in quarantine). So, with apologies, I would […]
Read MoreSummer Grilling with Door County Coffee Co.
Memorial Day weekend is known as the kickoff to Summer. Now that summer is in full swing, before you buy burgers and get the grill out, Door County Coffee Co. reminds you to take time to remember the fallen, as well […]
Read MoreWhat Do You Call a Group of Pelicans?
By Coggin Heeringa, Director, Crossroads at Big Creek A group of pelicans is called a pod. Actually, there are many other names for pelican groupings — a pouch, a scoop, a squadron or if they are fishing as a group, […]
Read More11th Annual Crossroads Trail Run Goes ‘Virtual’
By Coggin Heeringa, Director, Crossroads at Big Creek The Crossroads Trail Run 2020 promised to be the best ever. We had generous sponsors, exciting plans, and registrations were coming in. And then, everything changed. It was clear that, for the […]
Read MoreA special 30th Anniversary Message from Jim Berkenstock of Midsummer’s Music
It is hard to believe that it has been 30 years since we started Midsummer’s Music. I remember the first concert at Dianne and Peter Trenchard’s in 1991 (I still have the attendance list), along with so many milestones and […]
Read MoreCoffee Chat with Jim Berkenstock: Secret Sauce
I’ve often referred to cooking when talking about music. We use some of the same words to describe music and foods — words like “sweet,” “sharp,” “dry,” “complex,” etc. Frequently, an audience member tells me after the concert that they […]
Read MorePerfect Door County Coffee Co. Pairings for Every Meal
You’ve heard of beer and cookie pairings or wine and cheese pairings, and we love those too of course, but we think it is about time for a Door County Coffee and food pairing! Breakfast: While we know all of […]
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