University of Wisconsin - Extension

For More Information:

Michelle Graff, michelle.graff@wpt.org

Christine Sloan Miller, series producer, (608) 263-7124

This week, In Wisconsin on Wisconsin Public Television (WPT) looks at the art of metalwork in Merrimac.

The newsmagazine airs at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18. It repeats at noon Sunday, Oct. 21. The program also airs at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 21 on WMVS-TV in Milwaukee.

Steve Hackbarth's business, Badger Village Blacksmithing, in part evokes the famous Longfellow poem, "The Village Blacksmith." Producer Andy Soth's report weaves together the words of Longfellow with scenes of Hackbarth working and performing original music on guitar outside his shop on the Wisconsin River in Merrimac.

Next the Door County Land Trust, a small non-profit, has managed to preserve some 4,000 acres of land in the peninsula area. Land prices are very expensive and are climbing every year. Producer JoAnne Garrett explains how these 4,000 acres have remained permanently open to the public, providing valuable green space for an area facing increasing development pressures.

A small Madison company, "Just Coffee," participates in the fair trade system, importing coffee from farmers in Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico. This system guarantees a minimum price for coffee and promises a long-term relationship with these farmers. Every year, the partners in the Madison company travel to remote mountain farm communities to meet the farmers who grow their coffee.

In Wisconsin/Add One

Finally, Reporter Frederica Freyberg delivers an update on the progress of the state budget.

Funding for In Wisconsin is provided, in part, by Alliant Energy, UW–Health/UW Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center and Animal Dental Center of Milwaukee and Oshkosh.

WPT is a service of the Educational Communications Board and University of Wisconsin-Extension.

Wisconsin Public Television is a place to grow through learning on WHA-TV/DT, Madison; WPNE-TV/DT, Green Bay; WHRM-TV/DT, Wausau; WLEF-TV/DT, Park Falls; WHLA-TV/DT, La Crosse; and WHWC-TV/DT, Menomonie-Eau Claire.

DESCRIPTION: IN WISCONSIN #607

Producer Andy Soth introduces viewers to Steve Hackbarth, who opened his business, Badger Village Blacksmithing, in part to evoke the famous Longfellow poem "The Village Blacksmith." Also: Door County land preservation and this week's state budget brief.