So technically this is Part 1 of our interview but . . . when Paul and I recorded this interview in Mid-November we had too much fun and ended up with 3 parts, but I realized later that the 3rd part had some more time sensitive info for our "local" listeners, so I decided to air it first. So if you listen to this episode and wonder why I left the end of the episode "hanging" that's why. So you'll have to go back in time and listen to last week's episode in order to hear the stuff that came after this, which was aired before this one. This is one of those temporal anomalies that Star Trek characters are always getting in trouble over. Actually it's an insidious plot to get you to listen to more of my podcasts. Heh Heh Heh (diabolical laugh)
Years ago I met Paul Wolter when we started a tradition of doing a radio interview around Christmas time in order to talk about an annual event at the Sauk County Historical Society. Each year the Van Orden Mansion, a local landmark, is decorated with all sorts of Christmas trees in a beautiful tribute to the holiday season. So this year, given my new podcast format, we decided it would be a good time to talk even more about the History of Sauk County with regards to Christmas traditions and so much more. We also again talked about the old Railroad Depot in Baraboo, which is being restored to it's original splendor by the Historical society, as well as the importance of getting history right. We also talked a lot about the importance of history and how we determine that something or some event has historical significance. We set the record straight on all of that.
Paul Wolter is a native of Reedsburg in Sauk County and now lives in Baraboo with his wife Anne. He holds an undergraduate degree in Fine Art from the UW- Madison. Paul is the Executive Director of the Sauk County Historical Society but has been with the organization since 1996 serving as president from 2000 until 2015. His hobbies are genealogy, cycling and travel.
On a side note, if you blow up this week's show icon, it's a scene from the Van Orden Mansion Christmas event. Beautiful place that REALLY gets one into the Christmas Spirit!
Thanks for listening. Please check out our website at www.forsauk.com to hear great conversations on topics that need to be talked about. In these times of intense polarization we all need to find time to expand our Frame of Reference.
