Man Woman Wild

                                                Survival skills on display 

A friend of mine and I were chatting about the upcoming tour in Alaska and she suggested I have adventures like the couple on the Discovery Channel show ‘Man, Woman, Wild.’

The TV show basically shows off survival skills of Mykel Hawke, a former US Army Special Forces survival expert, and his television journalist wife, Ruth England. They have to start fires with sticks, eat plants and insects and it’s all set in extreme conditions like the frozen tundra of the Arctic or a danger-at-every-turn rainforest. 

He calls her darling a lot and while you feel they're in the mix, it's easy to note there's a whole TV crew within arms reach.

 

Anyway, it’s a lot of staged drama – but my friend likes it. I said I had true adventure, like during my 2010 tour from Austin, Texas to Wisconsin. Below is a retelling of the experience.

West, Texas - The Senate in Austin passed a bill to legalize noodling, an old southern tradition where Texans catch catfish with their bare hands. Noodling actually involves catching a catfish by finding its underwater den, sticking your hand inside the hole, and when the fish latches on to your arm with its mouth then you haul it out.

One comment among lawmakers during debate on the bill - would noodling with your feet be legal?

On Saturday, I had a nice surprise while sitting outside a grocery in the small town of West, Texas.

A pair of teens, Taylor and Bailey, asked me about the tour and then invited me to go fishing.

We kept it old school, and used poles.

Taylor was a high school junior who wore skinny jeans, a tame Mohawk and liked punk rock.

Bailey was a high school senior, had green spear earrings and a bit of a wanna-be-rebel attitude.

Both were naturally good hearted. We got to the fishing hole in Taylor's old Plymouth. We had to rearrange a bit – in order to push my bike in the trunk I had to agree to hold a chair in my lap in the front seat.  We also ALL had to lean forward in the vehicle while going up a hill. "Added momentum," according to Taylor.

Topics of discussion that afternoon ran the gamut from music, to college, to dreams of moving to Colorado.

While fishing we reeled in about a dozen healthy bluegill and then Taylor said, "You can spend the night at my house."

The whole setup felt so comfortable, I didn't hesitate to say yes.

We drove about seven miles to the small town of Aquilla, Texas where there was a welcome wagon of seven puppies.

My first red flag popped up when I entered the home and there was the "sweet smell" that uncles Cheech and Chong just left.

And there was Taylor's mom; I think this was the first she was hearing of her house guest.

It was about 7:30 p.m. and there was still some light left; I grabbed my gloves and headed for my bike.

The drama started as Taylor's mom came out onto the porch and yelled, "It's OK Hun, you can stay."

Then she doppled over to my bike and with glassy eyes explained how she wasn't sure if "that-damn-Matt’s going to shine around" and she just didn't want any trouble.

Turns out "that-damn-Matt" was a kid who grew up in the house, but later got into some personal trouble and now was on the run from the law.

Taylor and Bailey were extremely reassuring - everything would be fine - and there was fish to eat, so I reluctantly stayed.

With everybody hungry, the homemade fish dinner quickly changed to pizza and ice cream.

I felt like I was at a party for a five-year-old.

With the edginess on the evening subsiding, we relaxed with a bit of King-of-the-Hill therapy, and I was ready to turn in for the night. 

Taylor showed me to my bedroom. "How do you like this bed," he said pulling on the metal-pipe headboard. "We got it out of an insane asylum." The bed was industrial.

"Just kidding," said Taylor. "We pulled it off the curb." 

Taylor had a unique personality, he liked to kid. When we were having pizza, he didn't take any. After a couple minutes, I asked him if he was eating. "Yeah, I'm just waiting. I put poison on the pizza and forgot which half....... just kidding," he said and loped into the kitchen to grab a plate.

It was prickly humor and it made my eye twitch.

I retired for the night to my One-Flew-Over-the- Cuckoo's-Nest bedroom. Within a half hour of going to bed my fingers started cramping, I guess I was clutching my pepper spray and flashlight too tight. I flipped the covers on the bed to get more comfortable and heard something like a battery fall to the floor. Managed to find it right away; my bad - it was a bullet.

I stewed; it was one more stake in my flagging morale. I finally brought it to Taylor who was still watching TV. "You found that here? Swear to God we don't even have a ......" and he stopped mid-sentence.

"That-damn-Matt," said Taylor.

After a lot of consoling, Taylor and Bailey said everything would be fine. I needed a beer, or 12. I went back to bed and looked to lock the door, but there was no lock. Matter of fact, there wasn't even a doorknob. An orange sock hung through the hole. I shook my head, put my faith in prayer and pepper spray, and lay down for the night in front of the door.

This was now crazy with a side of crazy.

My friends asked if I thought about leaving, and I did, every hour - 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock....

At 2:30 a.m. I heard the front door slam and shot up in bed.

I listened and before I knew it my bedroom door opened and I was face to face with "That-Damn-Matt".

I stood up and in that moment Matt went wide-eyed and found religion. "A lady in my bedroom - Thank you Jesus," he said with a heavy drawl that sounded like Spicoli swallowed a Texan.

Then he let go a low Beavis-and-Butthead laugh.

That-damn-Matt looked 12 years old. He had a round face, shaggy bowl haircut, and said he was ready to party. I was taller, Matt was quick to point out I was older, and I was in no mood. I quickly set my boundaries using my no-nonsense voice, which included dibs on the bedroom. I turned, closed the door and flipped the sock-lock in disgust.

I spent the rest of the night with one eye open and making frequent surveillance trips with my water bottle to the kitchen. During one trip I grabbed a fillet knife off the counter and slept with it under my pillow.

At 5:30 a.m. I left with the thought, it’s all part of the adventure.

Ground blessing for new memory-care complex

WEST BEND - Jim Williams, Director of Operations at Cedar Community, mixes soil from each of the Cedar Community campuses during a blessing of the ground ceremony held this week at the Paul Ducharme farm. 

The half-hour, outdoor ceremony marked the beginning of the development of Cottages at Cedar Run, a 60 apartment assisted living memory-care complex located south of Cedar Ridge and bordered by Ridge Run County Park. 

Rev. Kathryn Kuhn gave the Prayer of Blessing and then members of Cedar Community and the Foundation offered words about the soils from Cedar Landing that invite us “to trust and persevere” and the good earth from the grounds of Cedar Crossing that “yield greater good to all.”

Some in attendance included Cedar Community resident Marilyn Zimmerman, Dale Pauls – President of Cedar Community Corporate Board of Directors, Dan Davis with C.G. Schmidt, and Honorary Chairpersons Doug and Sharon Ziegler.

“This is one of the best things that’s happened in a long time,” said Sharon Ziegler, praising the development.  “This memory-loss facility puts us up on the next tier as a community,” she said. “It’s a beautiful setting, people will have sun rooms and they’ll be able to look out onto nature. The Cedar Community Foundation Board is a class act with all the research they’ve done on what these people will need.”

Debra Meinert’s family knows firsthand the demands of caring for a family member with Alzheimer’s. Her mother is 88 years old and a resident at Cedar Community’s Friendship House, an Alzheimer’s-Dementia unit on Highway Z.

 “My mother lived in the big six bedroom farmhouse for 68 years and it was very hard for us to move her there but the stimulation, love and care she receives is just wonderful,” said Meinert.

“Our prayer now is when the Cottages open mom can be part of that.”

Construction of the Cottages at Cedar Run will be in two phases with a pair of 20-unit buildings completed in summer 2014; the final 20-unit building will be finished depending on market demand.

                                                      Cottages at Cedar Run

The general contractor is CG Schmidt of Milwaukee and the architect is Plunkett Raysich of Milwaukee. The estimated cost of the project is $13 million; a philanthropy campaign is underway to raise approximately $3.7 million for programming.

West Bend wheelchair racer safe after Boston

Trey Roy inspires me.

                                                         Photo courtesy Illinois Wheelchair Athletics


WEST BEND - The mother of 2012 West Bend East High School graduate Trey Roy is still trying to wrap her head around reality in the aftermath of Monday’s tragedy in Boston.

Chris Roy’s son Trey was one of the wheelchair racers at the Boston Marathon.

“He called me as soon as he got home, 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, to his dorm at the University of Illinois,” said Chris Roy. With a long pause, a deep breath and a sigh she continued. “It’s the first time I actually got to talk to him.”

Trey Roy, 19, is a freshman and the youngest member of the Illini Wheelchair Athletics Program. He, along with 14 of his teammates, were in Boston.

In a marathon the wheelchair division typically starts the 26.2-mile race well before the runners. Trey Roy finished in a time of 2 hours, 15 minutes and 14 seconds. He was off the course by 11:30 a.m. and at the Sheraton Hotel restaurant, two blocks from the finish line, eating lunch when he first heard the news.

“I didn’t feel any of the percussion but the restaurant manager came on the P.A. and said there was criminal activity on the street and I saw countless ambulance and fire trucks racing past,” he said.

                                          Trey with H.S. coach Rick Smith in 2010

“As soon as people started texting I knew it was a big deal and so I immediately started texting my family to tell them I was OK.”

Back in Wisconsin, Chris Roy watched the race via a broadcast on the Internet; she had taken her personal computer to work.

“Not much of the wheelchair race was shown,” she said. “They did have live updates so I could at least keep track of where he was and how he was doing,” she said.

By 10:30 a.m., Chris Roy turned off her computer. “I had blown two hours of work time and I had to help at the front desk from 2:30-3:30 p.m.”

Chris Roy said she didn’t know about the explosions until she returned to her office later that afternoon and saw several voicemails from her husband.

“First thing he tells me is that Trey’s OK and then he said there had been explosions and I kind of lost it,” she said.

“It was almost like I didn’t hear the part that he was OK, because even if he’s OK, it’s complete chaos and you don’t know if there’s more bombs and he’s still there in the city; it’s just very frightening.”

Chris Roy immediately began working her cellphone. “The service was so bad, we just kept texting. He was pretty worked up and scared too, although he wouldn’t admit that to me,” she said.

Although the family was back home, Trey Roy was with his coach Adam Bleakney.

“I was just sending the team an email thanking them for their cooperation, being patient and responsive,” Bleakney said Tuesday afternoon.

After receiving word of the tragedy, the team pulled together in the lobby of the hotel and Bleakney told them not to move. “I wanted to be ready to go immediately when we got a sense we’d be able to catch a shuttle and get to the airport,” he said.

A tweet from @IlliniWCA was posted within an hour of the incident: “Awaiting a final confirmation, but it appears that all of the members of the elite wheelchair division are accounted for following the 2013 Boston Marathon. Our thoughts and prayers to all involved.”

The team’s departure flight out of Logan International Airport to Chicago O’Hare wasn’t until 9:30 p.m. Monday. Bleakney credited his support staff for helping with logistics and gear, considering every athlete travels with their personal wheelchair and a racing wheelchair.

Trey Roy was still in his dorm room around noon, feeling “totally drained both physically and emotionally.”

“I’m not too sore, but that was a tough course and I have no energy,” Trey Roy said.

Questioned about the impact of the bombing, Trey Roy said, “I really can’t watch it (on television) because it’s scary-strange for me.

“My thoughts and prayers go out to all the people affected by the bombing; I hope Boston recovers quickly.”

At home in the town of Jackson, Chris Roy took off a half day from work — still numb with the news.

“I take it the worst,” said Chris Roy. “I’m the one that’s been sitting in the hospital with him through all of his surgeries and we have a pretty tight bond. I just take these things worse than everybody else.”

Asked whether the family had plans to go to Champaign, Ill., Chris Roy said no, but, “I expect we will be making some sort of trip this weekend. Mom needs a hug.”

West Benders will remember Trey Roy at 16 as a sophomore taking home three first-place medals in 2010 during the WIAA State Track and Field Tournament in La Crosse. The West Bend Common Council and Mayor Kris Deiss issued a resolution recognizing Trey Roy for his accomplishments that season.

Tour jersey arrives!

                                                     Photo by John Ehlke-West Bend Daily News

Preparations for this summer’s bicycle tour are rolling along as I will spend three weeks in July pedaling around small gold-mining towns in Alaska and filing stories about my adventures. This tour is slightly different as I’m biking to raise money and awareness for Alzheimer’s programs at Cedar Community.

So far I’ve managed to raise $17,000 in corporate pledges and sponsor logos will be featured on a tour jersey that finally arrived last Friday. It was a real team effort working with Kelly Dahlberg and Helyn Skurzewski from Husar’s Corporate Gifts and Promotions. Husar’s sponsored the printing of the jerseys.

Michael Albiero with Versant Solutions designed the “Ride 2 Remember” logo and the primary sponsors include Time Investment Co., Kilian Management, the U.S. Concealed Carry Association, American Metal & Paper Recycling Inc., Wiedmeyer Express, Time Investment Co. and CG Schmidt.

My father has Alzheimer’s. He inspired my love of bicycling and I feel this effort is the least I can do to pay him back.

At 89 my dad can tell you the day he was born, the names of his seven children and he can still recite Mass in Latin. However, he doesn’t know his age because he doesn’t know what year it is. To put it in perspective, he thinks Bill Clinton is president.

Classified as a “happy Alzheimer’s,” my father is easy going, a dedicated walker and avid napper. He doesn’t build or fix things anymore, but we often take road trips to The Shed, a handyman’s consignment store in Slinger, to see if he can identify tools like a wood planer, big tractor wrenches or a cutter head for a doweling machine.

I see the positive impact music and exercise have on his life. This past weekend we went to the Schauer Center in Hartford and saw “Tap: The Show.” While he never initiates conversation, my dad turned to me after the performance and said, “Now that was an ‘A’ No. 1 show.”

A dancer in his youth, my dad frequented the Eagles Club on Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee. My mother said he knew how to waltz and polka and they were always in a class like country line dancing or square dancing.

In a memory book we made him for Christmas my sisters wrote about how “One year in high school I invited Dad to the Father/Daughter Dance — I was proud that my Dad was such a good dancer.”

For the next few months I’ll be training for Alaska and rallying support for Alzheimer’s. I’m also looking for a little help, as I’d like to bike each day in memory of a person affected by Alzheimer’s. Tour pledge information and details are on my website at http://imthebikewriter.blogspot.com. Donations can be made to Cedar Community Foundation 113 Cedar Ridge Drive, West Bend, WI 53095. For a tax write-off, include the Federal Tax ID No: 39-1249432.