- Announcer: The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original production.

- Angela Fitzgerald: Coming up on Wisconsin Life: The designer behind a botanical-themed light show, a comedian exploring how much Wisconsinites love to talk about the weather, a yogi bringing the moves, and artists who find empowerment through creation.

That's all ahead on Wisconsin Life!

[upbeat music] - Announcer: Funding for Wisconsin Life is provided by Lowell and Mary Peterson, Alliant Energy, A.C.V.

and Mary Elston Family, Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programs, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

- Hi, welcome to Wisconsin Life!

I'm Angela Fitzgerald.

It's time to hit the ice as I check out the Stevens Point Curling Club at the Sentry Curling Center.

This state-of-the-art center in Plover was completed in 2020, but the Curling Club has been around since 1956.

The club is completely volunteer-run and sees curlers of all ages sweeping, calling, and taking shots.

It's a social sport where the goal is to score more points than your opponents each round.

Teams take turns gliding the granite stones down the sheet while players sweep the ice to reduce friction and land the stones into the house.

Curling season here typically runs from October through the end of March with a variety of events, including league play, 'learn to curls,' and bonspiels or tournaments.

As a nonprofit, the Stevens Point Curling Club has made it their mission to welcome people of all abilities and ages to try the sport.

I'll get my chance to curl later, but first, let's glide into our first story.

As we now travel to Green Bay to join the designer of an annual light show with a botanical theme.

[dreamy music] - Dave Barko: We're a botanical-themed light show.

We have over 350,000 lights.

Something you probably never seen before.

My name is Dave Barko.

I'm the architect and designer of the Garden of Lights.

[festive instrumental] We start in early October.

It takes about six to seven weeks for us to set up.

I'm gonna start some staking and path lighting.

[pounding] I started doing this back in 1997.

That was our first year of the light show.

And I've been part of it ever since then.

Plug 'em in, and away we go.

When we started, we had no idea what we were doing.

[laughs] We just put a lot of extension cords out.

We just threw a lot of lights, whatever we could find at the stores.

It was under a hundred thousand lights at that time.

A good day is when nothing that goes wrong-- That's a great day.

And it seems like every night, there's something that either got unplugged or got chewed on by critters and things like that.

Dirty little buggers!

Dave: We'll change something.

Something doesn't look right.

We'll straighten things out.

[festive samba and jazz] And we have about a two-acre pond and that's my favorite spot.

What we call "Lake of Lights."

And the lights go way up pretty high.

People 15, 20 miles away were seeing-- It looked like search lights going up in the sky.

So, it actually was kind of like a beacon.

It would bring people to the garden.

[jazz music] People are able to walk through a 7-foot by 70-foot caterpillar and there's 20,000 lights on it.

There's 18 different colors.

Some are pretty unique.

We've got some champagne- looking colors on here.

- So you're able to immerse yourself through this tunnel.

People absolutely love that.

I do not buy lights or frames from stores, or anything like that, so they're all custom-made for us.

Now the more popular one is what we call the icicle forest.

They're just dangling in the woods and it gives a real frosty feel to it.

People like it 'cause it's silent and solitude.

It takes a lot of patience, but it's just trying to do stuff that no one else has done before.

[jingle bells] The thing that excites me the most is just hearing what people have to say about it.

- Child: Whoa, I wanna go see that!

- Dave Barco: That's a wonderful feeling to have families come through and smiling, creating a memory for themselves.

- Woman: I wanna take a picture of all three of us in front of... - Dave: This is my 26th year.

I'm honored to be part of the botanical garden.

I've considered myself lucky to be part of this place and experience all these years I've had.

It's a happy time of year for people to come on out and I just enjoy that aspect of it.

[jazz] - Angela: Next up, in this animated tale, comedian Esteban Touma reflects on how Wisconsinites love to talk about the weather.

[harsh wind blowing] - Esteban: As I step out of the deep freeze and unwrap six layers of winter gear in the lobby, I see Wendy from HR approaching.

It's on; I'm trapped.

It's time for small talk.

[phone ringing] Am I scared?

Of course.

This is not your average banter.

[pouring coffee] This is Wisconsin small talk, and I'm facing Wendy herself, [baseball organ music] the queen of chit-chat.

She's in the big leagues.

As she approaches with the warmest smile, I start to sweat.

["Charge (Fanfare)"] This is not amateur hour.

- "Esteban!"

- She shouts, eyes sparkling.

- I almost didn't make it.

I have no idea why I even got out of bed today.

- Esteban: She says, pointing at the blizzard outside.

This is why she's a legend.

Not even a "Hey!"

No sign of a "Oh, how are you?"

The worst thing about Wisconsin's winter is not that it sucks; it does.

It's that you're forced to talk about it... a lot.

But I don't even flinch.

I've been training.

Big smile, hands on hips, strong eye contact.

The only thing that got me out of bed, I say, skipping a beat for maximum effect... was coffee!

[Wendy laughs hysterically] She bursts into laughter.

Oh, how we chuckle and howl.

Maybe Wendy from HR has finally met her match.

When I arrived in Madison six years ago, I was unprepared.

When animals meet, they growl, display their plumage, or sniff butts.

Small talk in Wisconsin seemed like a similar show of dominance, and I wanted no part of it.

As an immigrant from South America, I tried hard to avoid it, arriving late to all meetings, speaking Español to my Uber driver, or keeping it under 12 items so I could use [scanner beeps] the self-checkout machine at the grocery store.

As Wendy and I move slowly down the hall, I feel like I'm doing great.

She talks about the unpredictability of March.

I mention Al Gore, and we share a moment of silence for the polar bears.

- Wendy sympathetically: Ohhh... - I wonder to myself why Wisconsinites are so keen on this.

There's no need for small talk where I'm from.

Quito, Ecuador is a pretty big cosmopolitan city where we kiss hello with strangers, quickly compliment each other and go on our way.

Our social connections involve salsa music, Catholicism, and all those germs from smooching strangers.

[salsa music] When Wendy and I reach the end of the hallway, I realized we're going in opposite directions, but we linger.

Too much is on the line, and I will not go gently into that.

- Wendy: Have a good day!

- Esteban: But I must confess, compared to the frozen gray outside, Wendy's casual banter is making me feel warm inside and I start to understand.

I imagine early settlers who, after setting up and getting comfortable during the Wisconsin summer, endured their first winter weather.

[snowstorm blusters] What stopped them from packing up and heading south?

Maybe someone rolled their eyes mid-blizzard and joked, "Nice day out there, huh?"

And the extended chatter that followed lasted until it was time to collect berries, split logs, go fishing, and run from bears, or whatever.

[cartoon skedaddle sound] Wendy helped me understand that.

Sure, the weather sucks, but that's a small price to pay for the ability to connect with your neighbors about how much it sucks.

As far as who won our small talk showdown, [audio played in fast forward] neither of us gave it up.

So, after 42 minutes and two follow-up emails, [incoming email chimes] we decided we are getting married!

["Here Comes the Bride"] We're looking at dates for next summer, or, as we here in Wisconsin like to call it, road construction season.

[pipe organ music, construction jackhammer] - Did you know that Wisconsin is a hotbed for curling?

It has one of the highest numbers of curling clubs in the nation.

To learn more about why the sport is so beloved, we're visiting a curling center in Plover.

At the Sentry Curling Center, it's game on.

To show me the basics of this beloved sport is longtime member and board director of the Stevens Point Curling Club, Doug Anderson.

So, can you tell us the essence of what the objective is when playing curling?

- Sure.

- Or when curling?

Is it playing curling?

- Curling, just curling.

- Okay, when curling.

[laughs] - So, when you're-- There's two teams playing against each other, usually a yellow team and a red team.

And you'll alternate shots.

There's four players on a team.

So when the lead is shooting their two rocks, the second and the third will sweep for that player.

And they'll be trying to execute the shot that the skip at the other end of the ice has called.

- Angela: And so, the sweeping is to reduce the friction, I understand, so the rock can travel more easily to its target.

- Doug Anderson: Correct.

- Doug, you shared with us kind of the objectives of the game and how it works, but how does a team know if they've won?

What does that look like?

- Once all 16 rocks have been thrown, then you determine the score.

Who's ever closest to the middle of the target area, or the house, we call it.

The strategy is very complex in how do you get more rocks closer to the middle than any of your opponents.

- Okay, sounds like fun.

I look forward to it.

Go ahead and get started.

- Let's do it.

- Angela: The first step in learning to curl is to get the positioning down.

- I wanna be heel-to-toe, so my sliding foot is going to be heel will be even with my toe that's in the hack.

- Okay, now to practice the mechanics.

- Good, get your hips down.

[Angela screeches] Get your hips down.

Hips down.

- Okay.

- Let's extend that foot.

Let your toe go out just like that.

- Oh, so this is what I should have looked like.

- That's what you want to end up at.

Get your hips down, hips down.

- Angela: And after practicing pushing off.

-Doug Anderson: There you go.

- Angela: It's time to throw the stone.

- As you bring your hips up, bring the rock back just a little bit, and out you go.

[gliding sound] Very nice, way to get your hips down right away.

That's really much better.

- Angela: Whoo!

- Much better!

- Angela: No curling lesson is complete without learning how to sweep.

- Always want it angled slightly, like that, just like that.

So, you go right in front of me, just like that.

Good, are you out of breath a little bit?

- Angela: Yeah.

I learned pretty quickly that curling takes skill and strong leg muscles, but it's a blast to play.

- Doug Anderson: Oh, it's over the hog line.

- Angela: No one knows that better than Kris Henning, who started curling with his wife at the club when they were newlyweds.

- Kris Henning: I became a curler 35 years ago because a friend of mine asked my wife and I, we were newlyweds, if we'd like to try the game.

So we had so much fun that day that we joined right away and you start curling and start having a family, your kids are pretty much raised on the ice, and they were out here all the time.

I want to teach people how to play a game that I've enjoyed so much and my family's enjoyed so much, with the hope that if it, if curling does for them what it did for me, that they enjoy it as much as I do.

And I just wanna kind of pass it on.

I would say just come out and try, and no one's gonna bite you.

They're gonna welcome you with open arms, and, hopefully, you'll have a good time and, hopefully, you'll-- this will become part of their lives.

- Angela: Curling is a perfect winter sport for all ages, with curling clubs located throughout the state.

- Oh, my God, ow.

- Angela: Now, we catch up with a yogi in Fitchburg, working to bring light into the world as a teacher, musician, and interfaith minister.

- Hi, hi.

- Hi, hi.

- Keith Borden: Thank you for being here.

I love teaching.

I love the conversation that is part of teaching.

So that you can feel completely, so that you can see clearly, so that you can breathe freely.

- Angela: Yoga is the ancient practice of moving your body to improve breathing and to relax your mind.

- Keith Borden: Roll yourself slowly backward and let your head touch down.

Keith Borden: We don't end up in these situations by accident.

I decided to become a teacher because something in me said this was the right time.

- Angela: Today, Keith Borden has more than 20 years of experience.

- Start by taking your dominant hand and just holding it up, kind of like you're making a pledge.

It's not easy to make yoga a profession.

When I started, I just jumped in.

Give yourself about five more breaths.

- Angela: Trained as a classical musician, and interfaith minister... - Keith Borden: You can join me.

[chanting and harmonium] - Angela: Keith takes those callings into the classroom.

- I played harmonium and we did some chanting as a class.

How do I need to be in order to recalibrate myself, express myself in ways that support a better world around me?

♪ May all beings everywhere ♪ ♪ Be wild and free ♪ - Angela: This restorative and calming approach guided him through the pandemic, and, in exchange, helped his students.

- Keith Borden: I could still have something to offer, something to share that would help them get through the experience.

[harmonious chanting] It continues to get me through this experience.

- Angela: At the same time, Keith sees yoga as a place of shelter and representation.

- Keith Borden: This is a space where you can feel safe.

It's a space where you can feel seen.

It's important that people have teachers who are not like them, teachers who are men, in a place where there's mostly women.

Spend just a little bit longer here.

So, representation provides an opportunity for people to have those 'Aha!'

moments in their lives.

When someone who does look like me comes to my class, that they see themselves represented and they know that the space is also for them.

If you like, you can bring your two palms together.

And I think it gives me the permission, and the daily reminder, to be who I am no matter what the situation, to be as authentic as I can.

To do as you need, to be as you are.

- Angela: Being authentic also means being open and honest of his family, his entire family.

- My great-grandfather was a white man and he had been a slave owner.

I think it's important for all of us to know where we came from.

We don't get to pick and choose necessarily what part of our family history we acknowledge, who we consider to be an ancestor and who's not an ancestor.

They're all our ancestors.

I often like to think that living the life that I'm living, my ancestors couldn't have imagined that.

Any message from your soul, any message from your ancestors that needs your attention, any burden that you can lay down, just drop that.

I think the biggest message that I probably receive on a daily basis is keep going, and that's the message that I take from my ancestors.

That you keep going so that the ones who follow you can also keep going.

[birds chirping] - Angela: Drawing on those experiences also allows Keith to inspire and be inspired from all directions.

- But I draw inspiration from my interactions with my four-year-old daughter.

I draw inspiration from the nature around me.

I want to think about the connections to the earth and the connections to the sky.

There's an artistic quality to practicing yoga.

The love of what I do is a huge part of it and I've also been really surprised by how much people who practice here in Madison are willing to grow in that experience.

And then, bring those limbs back up to the sky.

This might be different at first, but okay, crazy guy, I'll take this thing that you're bringing to the table and I'll see what happens with it, and then, I'll grow with it.

And see if you can still breathe... or laugh, that's fine too.

- Angela: Through it all, Keith has also grown.

Stretching far beyond the title of yogi.

- I'm a dad.

I'm a husband.

I'm a singer.

I'm an interfaith minister.

Peace be with you, and blessings upon you.

I try to be a little bit of light in a world that has a lot of darkness.

And I try to be better each day than I was the day before.

I just try to be me.

I can't be anything more than that.

- Angela: For our last story, we head to Hayward, where artists are finding empowerment in creating and connecting with others.

[ukulele] Hayward artist Shannon Kocka draws inspiration from her daydreams.

They take flight in the form of fantasy and science fiction.

- Shannon Kocka: You get to use your imagination or you get to explore these little worlds in your head.

- Angela: Creating art takes courage to try new things.

That's especially challenging for Shannon.

She was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder as a child.

- I was really antisocial.

I didn't wanna do things different.

I sometimes screamed and cried a lot for no reason at all.

- Angela: Trying new things and socializing are often more difficult for people on the spectrum.

Giizhik Klawiter was diagnosed with autism at age five.

Ten years later, his mother says, his peers still struggle to accept him.

- Pam Miller: My hope is that people one day understand autism and accept autism.

They have an ability that we don't have.

Giizhik has a photographic memory, and so I think that's what makes him so good with his artistry.

- Giizhik and Shannon are both members of See My Art, or SMART, a nonprofit organization created by Drummond artist Sara Balbin.

It provides support and guidance for people with disabilities through art.

- Sara Balbin: Oh, I see it!

Raccoon, bear.

It's a good way to give what I've been given, and I have mentors, and now I'm mentoring.

That is awesome; nice colors!

- Angela: The SMART organization offers artists a platform to showcase their work online.

Sara's also formed relationships with several Northwoods businesses to give gallery space to SMART artists.

- Sara Balbin: They've become artists.

They've become professional artists.

- Angela: Giizhik's passion is painting.

- Giizhik Klawiter: Painting animals that you would locally see here in the wild, around the region.

This is a type of bear that is locally seen in Wisconsin, and you can see that it's, like, full of berries over there.

- Angela: He also loves to spread Christmas cheer.

- I really like Christmas.

One of my favorite things about Christmas was snowmen.

The top hats, I really like top hats.

- Angela: It led to his biggest brush with notoriety.

- Giizhik Klawiter: Mom had this idea of turning them into cards.

- Angela: For the past decade, Giizhik sold holiday cards across Sawyer County to raise money for autism research.

The proceeds go to the Waisman Center at UW-Madison.

- Pam Miller: We've raised over $18,000.

- Giizhik Klawiter: And I think it was a pretty neat thing.

- Pam Miller: He has difficulty with the notoriety, because people recognize him and he has difficulty with that social interaction.

He is very proud that his cards help other people.

- Sara Balbin: He wants to make a difference, and isn't that wonderful?

Fifteen years old and wanting to make a difference.

You have to love it!

[warm laugh] - Angela: While Giizhik crafted cards, Shannon scripted her own story.

In 2017, she published her first book, titled Wings.

- Shannon Kocka: The main character is Irving.

He has no memory of where he came from, and he's different from the other dragons 'cause he's got butterfly patterns on his wings like you see on the cover.

And he's separated from his people, so he's gotta, gonna try and find the courage within himself, and try and find them again.

- Angela: It sparked Shannon's writing career.

- Shannon Kocka: There were star sprites everywhere, migrating in a massive cyclone above him, illuminating the jungle in all colors like thousands of tiny rainbows.

A feeling overcame Irving, one he could only describe as sheer happiness.

There were tears in his eyes, but he couldn't wipe them away.

He didn't wanna miss this beautiful sight.

Well, first, I wanna make a trilogy out of this first book, and I already have a couple ideas for future books.

Most of them involve dragons.

I'm definitely gonna be a fantasy writer.

- Angela: She's also working on her social skills.

At Sara's encouragement, Shannon was the keynote speaker at the 2018 See My Art annual Gala event.

- Sara Balbin: She will open doors for others to realize that it's okay to be, like, who, you know, who you were born to be.

Becoming an artist, an author takes the term autism and Asperger's away.

Now you are an author, you're a writer, you're a creative person.

- Shannon Kocka: I'm still hesitant to try new things and do things differently, but yes, I'm still trying, and there's still people supporting me for it.

- Sara Balbin: I am so, so happy for you.

- Thank you.

- Angela: Shannon says living with autism has its ups and downs.

But ask her if she'd change a thing, and she'd say... - I'd say no 'cause it made me who I am, and without it, I'd probably be a very boring person, and being boring is not fun.

- Angela: Spoken like an artist who's learned to follow her daydreams.

- Shannon Kocka: Sometimes, you'll listen to that voice in your head, and you'll just sit and do nothing, but other times you get to push through, and you accomplish something.

- What a workout.

I got swept up by curling, all while sharing stories from across the state.

To explore more, check out WisconsinLife.org.

Connect with us by emailing Stories@WisconsinLife.org or reaching out on social media.

A huge thank you to the Stevens Point Curling Club for showing me around.

Until we meet again, I'm Angela Fitzgerald, and this is our Wisconsin Life.

Bye!

- Doug Anderson: Do a slight forward press.

- Slight forward press.

- Doug Anderson: Back and up with your hips and bring the rock back a little bit.

Slide out, keep it at 10 o'clock and then release it at noon, just as you're following through.

Let her go!

Good, that one's got better rotation.

- It's got more of a spin.

- Doug Anderson: Okay, good, that's got nice rotation.

You have nice weight.

Let's watch this one go all the way down.

- Announcer: Funding for Wisconsin Life is provided by Lowell and Mary Peterson, Alliant Energy, A.C.V.

and Mary Elston Family, Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programs, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.