Door County Pulse Podcast

The 15th Door County Short Film Festival is coming Feb. 16 and 17. Founder Chris Opper joins the podcast to talk to Myles Dannhausen Jr. about how he picks selections from more than 100 submissions, what makes a great short film and the joy of browsing the shelves of movie rental stores back in the day.

There is nothing about Jennie Bexell that isn’t colorful. From her hair to her clothes, from the interior of her thriving retail stores and her latest restaurant, Sip, to her conversation, there is nothing bland about her. Myles Dannhausen Jr. talks to her about building a retail brand, what she learned working at Al Johnson’s and behind the bar, and what’s next.

Debra Fitzgerald talks with Rep. Joel Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay) about some of the legislation that passed in 2023 and some of the big-issue legislation on the docket right now, including a medical marijuana bill and a bill that would put an abortion referendum question to voters.

Myles Dannhausen Jr. and Debra Fitzgerald talk about Gibraltar’s decision to scrap its Transportation Utility Fee. Then they discuss another wave of business sales, including the Wild Tomato.

The relationship between electric power plants and peregrine falcons is helping to preserve a bird that was nearly extinct less than 30 years ago, and still remains endangered in Wisconsin. Debra Fitzgerald talks with the man responsible for the successful peregrine falcon nesting seasons at WPS power plants in Wisconsin, Greg Septon, and WPS's Matt Cullen.

When the legislature passed a bill overhauling alcohol rules in Wisconsin in December, it was hailed as a grand compromise. But wedding barn operators were left on the sidelines. Myles Dannhausen Jr. talks to Debra Fitzgerald about how the law impacts wedding barns, event venues and breweries and wineries. Plus, look at AI and the art world.

From big developments to big fires, Myles Dannhausen Jr. and Debra Fitzgerald dig into the stories that made the year.

As Crossroads at Big Creek undertakes a project to clean contamination on its property from former pesticide mixing sites, Debra Fitzgerald talks with Bill Schuster about historic orchard management practices and the legacy they left in Door Soils. Schuster not only founded the county's Soil and Water Conservation Department, he grew up in Door County and worked in those orchards that later in his...

Kendall Weisgerber loved a great playground. When she died at age six in 1991, her family and the Baileys Harbor community built a playground in her memory. On Saturday, they opened the revamped Kendall Weisgerber Memorial Park with an incredible new playground. Kendall’s sister, Kari Baumann, joins the podcast to talk about her sister, the building of the playground, and what it meant to her to w...

With the latest exhibit at the Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay as the springboard – Newfangled, which presents artworks from the museum's permanent collect that illustrate the Modernist period – Debra Fitzgerald receives a spectacular primer from a woman who has a fascinating and accessible way of talking about art and its meaning and importance in the world: Helen Del Guidice, the museum's cura...

It’s the final weekend to check out Christkindlmarkt in Sister Bay and John Nelson joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to tell you what’s new on the grounds this year. Then they talk a bit about the evolution of Sister Bay from the doldrums of the mid-2010s to the thriving climate of today.

An unprecedented number of Door County municipalities are going through market updates and revaluations given the meteoric rise in the real estate market, especially residential homes. This year, Baileys Harbor, Gibraltar, Union. Sister Bay and Liberty Grove have gone through this process, with more coming up in 2024. People always wonder what will happen to their property tax bill when their muni...

Myles Dannhausen Jr. and Debra Fitzgerald discuss the sudden closure of Zion Early Childhood Center and what it means for the families of the 60 children there. But first, a look at the vote by Gibraltar voters to say no to a road tax.

Myles Dannhausen with an essay on life in winter on the peninsula, with some words from the late writer Norb Blei.

Ben Jones joins the podcast to talk about his recent story about the reinvention of Baileys Harbor. He talks with Myles Dannhausen about the evolution of the town from the sleepy, “quiet side” to a bustling food and drink hub still holding tight to its small-town, laid-back ethos.

Sturgeon Bay is kicking off the holiday season with Christmas By the Bay, then the rest of the county joins in the cheer next week. Myles Dannhausen Jr. and Debra Fitzgerald run down everything going on for the season, plus a look at the latest round of Destination Door County’s Community Investment Fund grants.

It took over 100 hours of footage, 43 interviews and 1,400 hours of editing to create Ridge and Swale, the documentary celebrating the legacy of conservation in Door County. Myles Dannhausen Jr. talks to director Brett Kosmider about the film, his process and what lessons we can learn today from the conservation battles of the past.

It’s municipal budget season and several communities have big expenses on the docket that will trickle down to their taxpayers. Myles Dannhausen Jr. and Debra Fitzgerald break down a couple of these budgets and why its so hard for municipalities to get ahead. Plus, Peninsula Players gets a big grant and the Northern Door Children’s Center embarks on the last phase of its expansion and renovation.

A plan for new multimodal paths to connect Egg Harbor to Fish Creek is taking shape with the help of the National Park Service. Community Planner Christopher Morgan and Landscape Architect Patrick Lydon of the National Park Service join the podcast to talk about their work assisting the village in engaging the public and planning the route for a path that could provide an off-road connection from...

Jewel Peterson Ouradnik is the 11th child in a family of 12 kids who grew up at Rowleys Bay Resort in Ellison Bay, which was purchased by her parents in 1970. A fire the day after Labor Day weekend destroyed a big part of the resort, lodge and bakery at the end of County Road ZZ that she has owned and operated with her husband, Bob, since 2013. Jewel talks with Debra Fitzgerald about the fire and...

Anders Erickson got his start behind the bar at the late, great T. Ashwell’s in Ellison Bay. Twenty years later he has turned his cocktail skills into a thriving cocktail channel on YouTube where he has nearly 500,000 subscribers and his cocktail recipe videos garner millions of views. He joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to talk about his journey and how the channel has grown.

In 1959 legendary coach Curly Lambeau was finished roaming NFL sidelines, but football was never far from his mind. Retired to his cottage in Fish Creek, he showed up at a Gibraltar Vikings high school football practice and was soon instructing players for coach Pat Spielman. Herb Gould joins Myles Dannhausen Jr. to talk about his article detailing Lambeau’s stint in Fish Creek.

Fishers Island is a community of about 400 people off the coast of Long Island that has faced some of the same housing shortfalls for residents that Door County is grappling with. But in 1987, residents of the island came together with land and money to devise a solution. Myles Dannhausen Jr. talks to the program director of Walsh Park, Matt Edwards, about the nonprofit housing trust the island cr...

Pulitzer-nominated author Dan Egan joined Mark Holey and Myles Dannhausen Jr. for a special Fish Tales lecture series event at Crossroads at Big Creek on Oct. 16. Egan, the author of Phosphorus: The Devil’s Element. They talked about the vital element that is a key component of one of the most vital substances on earth: fertilizer, which has sustained life for billions of people. It has played a c...

What's a citizen scientist and why are they so important to Door County conservation and land protection organizations? Debra Fitzgerald finds out from Paige Witek, community conservation coordinator for the Door County Land Trust, and Tony Kiszonas, director of research for The Ridges Sanctuary, prior to the first Citizen Science Symposium that will take place at the Ridges on Oct. 21. To learn m...