During the next two years, Dr. Harry Whelan of Whitefish Bay will spend about half of his time in Washington, D.C., as a distinguished researcher.

November 2004

The home theater in this Sterling Hasey Co. home in Hawk’s Landing in Mequon features top of the line digital equipment, ambiance lighting, cherry wood cabinetry and theater/stadium seating with an elevated back row. The chairs recline and are wide and comfortable with cup holders in the armrests.

When Steve Clavette cues "Saving Private Ryan" in his home theater it seems like the bullets are flying over his head.

He spent nearly $300,000 when he built the equivalent of a full movie theater above the garage of his Mequon home in 1999.

"I wanted to build a home theater as far back as 1994, but was concerned about the technology," he says. Clavette worked with several architects to get the project done to his meticulous standards.

"We designed the home theater to have a separate entrance from our house so our children could use it without disturbing the rest of the house," he says.

Clavette, president of Trustway Homes and a new remodeling division of the company, Stone and Banister, says, "Media rooms are taking off like crazy. It’s unbelievable."

Clavette attributes the surge in additions to a nesting instinct since Sept. 11. "We’re seeing people putting more money into the house, they’re not spending money on excursions like they used to."

Karl Ekman, president of Sterling Hasey Co. in Mequon, says home theaters came into vogue about ten years ago. "To some degree it has blossomed recently," he says.

"Some people choose to have a nice environment at home," Ekman says. "You can have a sailboat that costs $60,000 a year to maintain, and you use that a couple of times a year. The home theater you can use a few times a week. These have movie theater ambience, it’s like going to a real movie house."

In a Mequon home in the Hawk’s Landing subdivision, Ekman says he spared no expense, using digital equipment instead of analogue. "You can get higher resolution through digital and now everything is on DVD. This provides better sound clarity and image clarity."

The room, which he says has no other purpose than for watching movies, has appointments such as cherry wood and theater/stadium seating for seven people. "The back row is elevated, so you don’t have to look through someone’s head," he says.

The chairs recline and are wide and comfortable with cup holders in the armrests.

"It has theater ambience lighting that you can dim using the remote control," Ekman says. "Some lights glow during the movie so you can leave without tripping. There are lights for cleaning the room."

In Clavette’s home theater he installed a lighting system with an LCD monitor so he could select actions like "start movie," and lights automatically come down.

"We have a kitchenette, a real movie theater popcorn popper, several rows of chairs and a sofa," he says. "I told them I wanted this to be more than a theater, I also wanted to watch television."

The room’s amenities even stretch into the bathroom. "The bathroom was set up so you could look through a mirror and still see the movie playing," Clavette says.

Media blitz

Wherever he is in his Mequon home, Craig Kasten is never far from a TV. He has five flat screen televisions throughout his home linked to satellite dishes.

"I think some of this goes back to when I was a kid and we couldn’t afford to replace a television," Kasten explains. "When our television went out, we didn’t have one for a long time. Now, when people come over on game days, they can watch four different games on one screen."

But his home theater is the place where he likes to unwind. "The movie sound is incredible. When it’s cold outside, we will run out for some Chinese food and watch a couple of movies."

The home theater was added to the home more than three years ago.

After a remodeling project on his Mequon home a few years ago Craig Kasten utilized the extra space above the garage for a home theater. Sound Designs in Mequon assisted with the project.

"When we expanded the house we had a very large space and extra room over the garage and it seemed like a perfect place to build a theater," Kasten says.

He says he’s happy with the equipment he chose for the home theater, but concedes that technology is constantly changing. "In my opinion, there’s no doubt the technology, the video displays will continue to improve and the market demand will be tremendous. I think we’ll see more home theaters in the future."

Construction priority

At Hi-Tech Homes in Cedarburg, Jim Bark says his firm, too, has witnessed a substantial growth in interest in home theaters.

"Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s it was popular to work on the kitchen. These days, the media room is in the forefront," Bark says. "Ideally, the theater would be built first and the rest of the house layered around it as opposed to the theater being an afterthought or a reaction to an idea."

Bark says each project stands alone; there is no general blueprint. "We assess the future needs of the client and take into consideration the future technology, livability of the space, the lighting of a space, which can offer fades and different scenes and moods," Bark says. "First and foremost, you need to make sure the room is built properly. If we’re involved from the beginning, it’s better than if we have to react to what’s been given to us. We’d prefer to give input as to how it is constructed."

On a Mequon project, the space set aside for the media room was on the home’s lower level.

"When you’re graced with a basement in a large house you can make a cool bar and add a lot of other amenities," Bark says. "You have more latitude to work with the acoustics, which is vitally important with a project of this nature."

The homeowners wanted a comfortable space with optimal audio and video quality where they could watch a DVD or satellite or their children could play video games. The speakers are built in to the attractive wood paneling and the lighting is zoned within the room. A newer technology DLP, which stands for digital light processor, produces video in a front-projection screen format.

Basement rescue

Tracy Soik and husband Paul called Carmel Builders in Menomonee Falls for help after another builder didn’t finish the job.

"Carmel came over and looked at our situation and it was pretty bleak," Tracy Soik says. "They had to rip out part of the foundation because it started leaking. It was all dirt when Carmel took over. The foundation had to be taken down, the house was put on stilts."

Carmel Builders essentially converted a crawlspace into a full basement.

"We created a family type living room, home office, home media room and laundry area," Carmel President Tom Weiher says.

The speakers are built into the paneling of this lower-level media room in Mequon done by Hi-Tech Homes. The room features zoned lighting and a front-projection screen video system.

"Paul worked with an AutoCAD program to design the basement," Soik says. "He planned where every light fixture would go, where we would have Internet and cable access. Even my laundry room is high-tech." Paul Soik designed part of the media room to look like a bookshelf and designed a recess into the wall and put acoustical pads on the walls.

Weiher says he was restricted with design issues due to the lower ceiling of the basement. "The acoustics in the walls and ceilings were important to the homeowner so we used high-end acoustical tiles and ceiling tiles to ensure soundproofing. Our biggest challenge was getting it into the space. We had to get it in and accommodate the low basement ceiling.

"An interesting component of this room was all of the equipment was built into the back of the room with an open face," Weiher says. "You could access all of the equipment from the front, but behind it we built a closet that was accessible from the back of the room. This had separate access from the room itself, hiding all the wires, and the walls were soundproofed."

Weiher says acoustical tiles have come a long way from the fiberglass and cork used for years. "It’s far more sophisticated today," he says. "Today’s systems deflect sound, and it’s tailored to the speaker layout to get the best sound quality."

The Soiks didn’t go with theater seating, opting instead for a couch.

Carmel Builders in Menomonee Falls turned a crawl space of a Mequon home into a full basement, which includes this media room. Acoustical tiles on the walls work in concert with the speaker layout to provide optimal sound quality.

"The room is very homey. It’s very big but you don’t really feel like you’re on top of the screen," Tracy Soik says.

When Paul Soik died suddenly in June of a heart attack he left his wife and two young children in the home the couple had designed together. Now Tracy Soik is planning to leave the home.

"He was only 37 years old and we never intended to move from here," she says. "Even if I can’t stay, I’m glad I did it," she says of the media room project.

Matt Bralick tosses the ball during a tournament in Peoria, Ill.

November 18, 2004

Heidi Schweizer of Marquette said that most of the university online students are seeking career changes.

With her bachelor’s degrees in political science and history under her belt, Casey Timm enrolled at Marquette University to pursue her life’s dream of becoming a teacher.

Two classes into her teaching degree, she says she feels part of a close-knit group even though she has little face-to-face contact with her professors and classmates. Timm, of Milwaukee, is part of a growing number of students obtaining degrees online.

She says she initially expected to feel isolated in the online classroom, but that wasn’t the case.

"In the end I felt even more connected to the material and students than I had during my previous degree," she says. "I got to know the people better. We bounced ideas back and forth and we read through each other’s postings."

Timm says her professors are quick to respond with questions and concerns.

"I’ve e-mailed my professors specific questions and they got back within a day; they don’t leave you hanging. I feel all the people in my classes are excited about their experience."

Technology has provided institutions of higher learning with the means to reach students like Timm across town and around the world. The physical constraints of distance and transportation have been shattered. More subtle limitations, such as being a stay-at-home parent, no longer need to inhibit your ability to advance your education and career.

Heidi Schweizer, an associate professor in the school of education at Marquette and the director of electronic learning, says most of the university’s online students are people in their mid-30s and early 40s who are seeking a career change.

"We’ve had people that were attorneys, engineers, people that have raised children at home, then have decided to move back into the workplace," she says.

When Schweizer came to Marquette nine years ago, there was little in the way of electronic education. "It seems we’re not really cutting into the market we were already serving (the traditional college market), we’re getting folks that would not be able to get the education otherwise."

Concordia University Wisconsin, located in Mequon, reaches students in 16 states through its online program. "It’s a boon to the university’s bottom line," says Ruth Gresley, dean of the school of human services and the director of the graduate program in nursing.

Gresley says a lot of her nursing students are women who have families. "With this type of program, the mother can go to her child’s ball game and their first band concert," she says.

Bridget Scott-Fletcher lives in Washington state and spent nearly three years working online through Concordia to earn her degree as a family nurse practitioner and her master’s degree in nursing.

"I had my own set of obstacles and couldn’t have done it without the online offerings," Scott-Fletcher says.

"These online courses appeal to women who probably already have children, maybe they’re working full or part time and can’t get to a college campus easily," says Teri Venker, director of marketing and university relations for UW-Colleges, 13 freshman and sophomore colleges operating under the auspices of the UW system."

Venker says the UW-Waukesha online system averages 600 students each semester. The online setting has fostered students’ relationships with their professors, she says.

"It’s not like our professors just throw their lecture notes on the Web site," Venker says. "They are trained extensively by instructional technologists who help the professors adapt what they know to the Internet."

Professors’ notes are linked with other Web sites, charts and graphs that make learning more interactive and from varied sources, Venker says.

"What we hear from our professors, they feel they get to know the students better over e-mail."

Shirley Hensch is a professor of psychology with the UW System and has participated with online classes for the past four years.

"Online learning speaks to a different kind of learning process," Hensch says. "Perhaps not as sequential as classroom learning." Hensch explains she is able to see the learning process in her students as it occurs. "Because students communicate with you in writing, you get to see their thought process unfold as they grasp a concept.’"

Hensch says there is a large degree of peer teaching taking place. "They learn from other students in the class so it really changes the teacher’s role from instructor to more of a guide." Hensch says from her perspective, the students love the process.

"We prime students to be self-disciplined," Marquette’s Schweizer says. "They create their own deadlines; they don’t have a teacher in front of them to keep them on task. Students must be willing to adjust to this more self-directed form of learning."

The cost of the online education is the same as the tuition paid by students in the classroom. "While it’s not cheap," Gresley says, "it requires a lot of education to do a good job. We compensate the teachers for their online work with the students as well. Some students enter the online programs with the idea that it’s going to be a breeze. They are ultimately in for a bit of culture shock."

Like Timm’s experience at Marquette, Scott-Fletcher says her peers in the Concordia program had only positive comments regarding their experiences. "I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to advance their career," she says.

"All you really need to know how to do is log on to your computer, check e-mail; most people can do this."

May 2004

Artist Bill Gutzwiller

Bay View artist Bill Gutzwiller began his first life as an electrical engineer at the General Electric company and had a great deal of success, which included numerous patents. You can’t utilize a light-dimmer switch in your home or office without paying some homage to Gutzwiller.

His retirement took him in an entirely different direction. "When I was a kid, long before I became an engineer, I really enjoyed sketching," Gutzwiller said. "When I moved on in life, I didn’t do any sketching or painting for many years." Gutzwiller said when he saw his retirement looming on the horizon, that’s when he started taking workshops in art.

Gutzwiller is perhaps best known for his outdoor paintings and pastel work that include a good portion of the Milwaukee lakefront. "Pastels are the best medium for outside work by far," Gutzwiller explains. "They go on dry and they’re pure pigments. I started out with pastels. Some people tend to think of pastels being warm, drab colors but I use very dark colors and very light colors."

Gutzwiller likes to paint subjects he calls "landmarks."

"I’ve got 15 or 20 landmarks that I’ve painted. "Some of these things are disappearing. A lot of people that buy my paintings are looking for a remembrance of how things were back a few years.

"When I go out and paint in the neighborhood, I like to put up an easel, and that immediately attracts people," Gutzwiller said. "I usually end up with ten or 15 people watching me paint, both kids and adults." Gutzwiller, who has painted all over the world, says Bay View has a lot of painting subjects to offer. "Bay View has so many things because it’s got some 100-year-old places and some of the best views of the harbor. There’s no view like here. You can take in the wide expanse of the whole city."

Jim Haertel is the president of BrewCity; "we have some exciting letters of intent; The House of Blues, Gameworks, and 18-screen cinema, a number of restaurants and drinking establishments and a number of retailers.

Captain Frederick Pabst

No. 1 - Storage Cellar; No. 2 - Storage Cellar; No. 5 - Storage Cellar; No. 6 - Fermenting Storage; No. 7 Yeast Plant; No. 8 Rack Room; No. 9 Keg House; No. 10 Engineering/General Store; No. 11 Dry House; No. 14 Research/Lab; No. 15 Research/Pilot Brewery; No. 16 - Grain Elevator; No. 20 - Brew House; No. 21 - The Mill House/Power House; No. 23 - The Church/Training Center; No. 25 - The Malt House; No. 27 - Jefferson School/Office; No. 28 - Corporate Office; No. 29 Bottling House; No. 35 - Gift Shop/Blue Ribbon Hall; No. 42 Warehouse/Distribution

March 29, 2004

Kaylee Cardinal, Andrew Seidl, Carly Konkol and Sean Baumgartner show off their weighty backpacks.

At times you feel as though the weight of the world is crushing down on your shoulders. With a penchant for carrying loaded backpacks on their tiny frames, filled with books, binders and supplies, our children may unwittingly be aware of how that weight actually feels.

If your child’s posture is beginning to resemble a poster for Darwinism, you may want to rethink the acceptability and utilization of these colorful accessories. Kids in elementary and intermediate school have spines and backs that are still growing. We have to ask ourselves if it’s safe and responsible to subject a child’s body to the potentially oppressive weight pressing down on their developing bodies.

Carly Konkol, Kaylee Cardinal, Sean Baumgartner and Andrew Seidl attend Merton Intermediate School. On the surface the children seem none the worse for the wear on their preadolescent bodies, despite having carried backpacks since the first time they walked through the doors.

Konkol is 11 years old and is in sixth grade. "The backpack helps me bring my homework home instead of carrying it," she said. "I use it to store my stuff. My soccer uniform and spikes are in there, too." Konkol says she usually doesn’t give much thought to the weight of the backpack, as she grabs a strap and puts it over her back one shoulder at a time. "Sometimes I do wonder why I have so much in there," she confesses. "I’ve had a backpack since preschool. It was a Hunchback of Notre Dame backpack," Konkol says, oblivious to the irony inherent in the statement.

Why should a child question a practice they’ve been performing since watching Barney on television? It’s something these kids do every day and almost every kid has one.

Baumgartner is a fifth-grader and plays the tuba. That means in addition to lugging around his backpack, he gets to tote the oversized brass instrument too. "My favorite subject is computers," Baumgartner says, probably grateful he doesn’t have to lug that around as well.

A saxophone is the instrument of choice for Andrew Seidl, a 12-year-old seventh-grader, interested in communications and literature.

Kaylee Cardinal, an eighth grader, is a guard on the Merton Mustang basketball team. "I’ve never lived without a backpack," Cardinal said. "A few kids carry their books by hand," she adds, admitting a little soreness at times where she keeps the strap on her shoulder. "I keep my binders for classes, my math book, binder for literature, Spanish book. I guess my parents are concerned at times."

Sue Cardinal, Kaylee’s mom, said she recognizes the fact that Kaylee has a heavy load. "Oh my god, yeah, I notice it all the time," she said. "One of the problems is that Kaylee wants to make sure she carries everything, that she’s organized. She likes to get ahead so she brings all her work home. I can’t even lift it."

There are some options such as backpacks with rollers, Sue says, however they don’t fit in the lockers. "Kaylee may have some back problems in the future," she admits. "I may ask myself why I let her carry the backpack, but she’s also a very strong-minded individual. What other option is there for the kids unless teachers let them keep bags in their classrooms? But with hundreds of kids, that’s not realistic."

Are these young students predisposing themselves to future agony and back ailments? Each of the students at Merton was asked to take a guess at the weight of the backpack they carried each day. Cardinal guessed hers would weigh in at 13 lbs. In actuality, it was 18 lbs. and felt like more. Baumgartner believed his would tip the scale at 7 lbs., but it weighed in at 15 lbs. Seidl guessed a mere 4 lbs., but his weighed in at 15 lbs. also. Konkol guessed 7 lbs, five pounds off the acutal weight of 12 lbs.

The fact that each student underestimated the weight of the backpack in itself may not mean a great deal, but it may illustrate how little discussion is brought about by the topic and therefore, awareness.

"I haven’t read any stories giving definitive evidence that there is a link between carrying a backpack and future injury," says Meghan Klinck, a certified physician’s assistant at the Bluemound Orthopedic Group in Brookfield.

Klinck says the broad usage of backpacks is a relatively new phenomenon. "We just don’t know what’s going to happen with these kids," Klinck said. "We haven’t seen any damage in our practice, and there may be more evidence with pediatricians."

As a general rule, Klinck says all back protective measures should be used, bending at the knees instead of the back.

Conversely, some specialists believe by the time these kids are teenagers, they will be complaining of back pain and dropping out of sports and other activities. While definitive links between permanent damage and backpacks have not been shown, more and more physicians are issuing a set of guidelines for those who carry backpacks. Proper packing, with the heaviest items closest to the back of the backpack and proper lifting techniques can help. Some physicians believe in the theory that if you can’t pick up the backpack with the fingers on one hand, then the pack is too heavy.

February 2, 2004

It’s a difficult and often thankless job, and she’s apparently happy to have it. Captain Nan Hegerty was sworn in as Milwaukee’s first female police chief on a dreary Tuesday in November. She inherits a job that has seen its share of

"One of the first things I can remember as a child growing up on 50th and Manitoba was the squad cars whirring by," Hegerty said from her office. "It looked like it would be fun to be a police officer." Hegerty was only 7 years old when this thought occurred to her and in those days, girls didn’t dream of being officers when they grew up. It goes to show how Hegerty was thinking about breaking barriers way back in elementary school.

"I didn’t have any family members on the force, although my father was a B-26 pilot," Hegerty reflects on her predisposition to law enforcement. "I don’t really know if that influenced me in my decision to join the force."

Hegerty attended the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, studied to become an elementary school teacher and decided her destiny lay elsewhere. "It was fun but not something I wanted to do for the rest of my life," Hegerty said. "I became a flight attendant for Delta Airlines. It’s interesting because as a flight attendant you’re called upon to perform a lot of the same duties as a police officer. It’s your job to handle problems and quiet rough situations. You’re kind of a police officer in the sky. As a flight attendant you’re in a position to take care of people and look out for people."

After a tumultuous relationship with former Chief Arthur Jones, the Fire and Police Commission voted 4-0 with one abstention to appoint Hegerty, who had been head of the department’s Sensitive Crimes Division, to a four-year term. Hegerty was chosen from a field of 25 candidates. That choice makes Milwaukee the largest city in the nation to have a woman leading its police force.

"I don’t think being a woman will have any effect on me performing my duties as police chief," Hegerty said. "Of course it’s no secret it’s been a male dominated career but I’ve never used the fact that I was a woman to get ahead. Officers in my squad back in 1976 asked to work with me because they knew I could do my job. I always did a thorough job on investigations and they recognized that."

Her propensity to be "first" in a field continued in 1991, when she became Milwaukee’s first female captain. A few years later, President Bill Clinton appointed her U.S. Marshal of the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

By her own admission, Hegerty was not surprised by her new title. "My entire life has led me to this position and it’s the right time and the right place. I’m not sure any preceding chief has been afforded the perspectives I’ve had as most chiefs came directly up through the ranks."

The perspectives to which Hegerty alludes include serving as a U.S. Marshall for eight years. "The opportunity to work outside the police department allowed me to look into the department from a different perspective," she said. "Since I’ve been back with the police department, I’ve been able to look out the same way I used to look in and found it to be very useful."

So, what does it take to be a good police chief in Milwaukee?

"I think it takes an open mind," Hegerty explains. "You’ve got to be able to work well with the community and the officers in the department, have an inclusive administration.

It’s a very controversial job so if you go in thinking you’re going to please everyone, you’re not. It’s going to take a lot of focus on my part," Hegerty said.

Hegerty says she wants to create a "safe and secure" Milwaukee. "I’ll have to conduct a sort of internal audit and find out where each position is in relation to their law enforcement roles," she said. "We need cops in the street. I have to tailor different methods throughout a city that is thriving with the new theater district and other developments. It’s a tough job where the expectation for my administration will be so high. Sometimes the expectations are out of this world."

According to Hegerty, crime fighting takes a community to help get the bad guys off the street. It’s extremely important that a chief communicates well with the community," Hegerty said. "It’s a continuous cycle. If we inform the community quickly and accurately about a given situation, they will be more likely to help us with information. It goes both ways."

The mutual communication between the department and those it serves is an integral part of an individual’s ultimate success as chief. Hegerty says the media tends to portray people in a bad light and makes people reluctant to come forward with information. "That’s why beat cops are great, they’re approachable," Hegerty says. "The only problem with beat cops is the distance they have to travel to respond to a call quickly. We need to respond to service calls immediately, not 12 hours later. We don’t need people telling us we never showed up at all for a call."

January 2004

While today’s youth are relentlessly trying to "keep it real," David Fantle, who lives in Bayside, and his writing partner, Tom Johnson, are doing everything they can to "keep it reel."

In the ‘70s when most teenagers were trying to figure out where they might go to college, Fantle and Johnson started interviewing Hollywood celebrities. They’ve compiled interviews with some of the big screen’s most enduring legends: Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, James Cagney, Lucille Ball, George Burns, Frank Capra, Gregory Peck, Milton Berle, Charlton Heston and Tony Curtis were interviewed by the industrious duo. The duo’s book "Reel to Real" represents the culmination of 25 years of celebrity interviews.

"Tom and I set out to capture a bit of show business history," Fantle said over coffee in Mequon. "A lot of research went into this project. In those days most of our work was conducted through reviewing newspaper microfiche, as we didn’t have the Internet to conduct a lot of research."

One of the early interview subjects was William Demerest, best known as "Uncle Charlie" on the television series "My Three Sons." Demerest also won an Oscar for the "Al Jolson Story."

"People can identify with a lot of the interviews in our book because a lot of people watch ‘Nick at Night,’" Fantle explains. "Nikelodeon runs many of the popular television series from previous decades.

"We caught up with Demerest at his home in Palm Springs when he was in his late 80s," Fantle said. "He wasn’t a curmudgeon like the character he portrayed on ‘My Three Sons.’ When he turned 90, we showed the Al Jolson story in Minneapolis, but his health prevented him from attending."

Like many of the interviewees in the book, Demerest is long dead, but that only seems to add mystique to the project. "This book will have the greatest appeal with folks over 40," Fantle said. "Some of the people in this book were part of the greatest movies of all time. I wish every person in the world could see ‘Singing in the Rain’ at least once in their lives. I now see we were privileged to be in the presence of a lot of these people."

One of Fantle’s most memorable and challenging interviews was James Cagney back in 1979. "A woman by the name of Marge Zimmerman took over Cagney’s life in his later years," Fantle said. Fantle explains how Zimmerman initially refused to allow Fantle and Johnson in the home, despite the fact they were invited by Cagney himself. After consulting with Cagney, Zimmerman agreed to allow them to come to the house. "When we met Cagney, he lived in Beverly Hills in Coldwater Canyon." Fantle says Cagney was rather soft-spoken and much gentler than his Hollywood tough-guy persona. "Cagney told us, ‘If Freddie will see you so will I.’"

"Freddie" was Fred Astaire. "Once we interviewed Astaire and Kelly, a lot of doors were opened."

"Cagney looked every bit his 80 years. He suffered from diabetes, strokes and a heart condition. Shortly after our visit, he entered a hospital for treatment of sciatica, a painful lower back disorder. But like the characters he portrayed on the screen, he still seemed larger than life.

"He told us that as a self-taught dancer, when he was young, he would ‘acquire’ steps from stage performers as he sat in the audience watching vaudeville acts, and then immediately swap them with other aspiring hoofers on the streets of New York."

One of the first people to open the door to Hollywood for Fantle and Johnson was dancer and actor, Gene Kelly. "We met twice with Gene Kelly," Fantle said. "The first time was in 1978. He was very encouraging to us and I think he respected the fact we were two guys that appreciated and knew his work."

Fantle says the "stars" were anxious to reach out to another generation and compliant when it came to promotion, even if they were tired of the process. "They understood publicity," Fantle said. "They recognized their earning potential was based on the success of the films they were doing and publicizing at the time."

Between 1978 and 1983, Fantle and Johnson conducted about 70 interviews together. They took a break and pursued their respective journalism careers and reunited in 1994. "Since we re-established our collaboration in 1994, we’ve done 140 interviews over the last ten years. When we decided to jump-start our collaboration, we went back to Gene Kelly and George Burns. Kelly said, "The college kids are back. That was 16 years later. He didn’t wear his toupee; he had to hold on to my arm to move around. It was quite a contrast to the man I met 16 years before. That memory really stands out."

Lucille Ball was also one of Fantle’s fondest memories. "Our interview was tanking with Lucy at first," Fantle confessed. "We alluded to something in her past and she asked if ‘that was the kind of question she could expect?’ Overall, she was warm to us, she offered us Cokes."

Fantle asked her: "Can you understand why "Laverne and Shirley" is often compared to your show?"

Lucy replied, "Well, it is about two girls involved in different situations. Many others have done it besides us. But those slapstick premises were all copied from the ‘I Love Lucy’ writers. There are only so many jokes that people can do, only so many situations that a comic can get in or out of. I like ‘Laverne and Shirley,’ but I don’t laugh at it."

Young people today fascinated by Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise are probably blissfully unaware of the ‘stars’ included in this book. "They weren’t just ‘pretty boys,’" Fantle insists. "They had real talent. No matter how tired they were of doing interviews, they made you feel important. Tom and I made a conscious effort not to go on current movie junkets even though we could have, we think they are too impersonal."

Fantle says there are 32 pages of original photos in the book. Some of the photos show the interview subject on their own, others with the writers. "These pictures have never been seen before," Fantle said.

The road to writing about the stars certainly wasn’t without its share of bumps. When Fantle went to interview Henry Winkler in 1981, his publicist told them Winkler was out of town. "We went onto the Paramount lot to interview Ron Howard, and Winkler showed up," Fantle said. "We went to Winkler’s secretary and told her the story. We ended up spending time with him. A nice man, just before the final season of ‘Happy Days.’"

He told us that "the greatest thing about it is that I really enjoy being a celebrity. I can’t even begin to tell you about all the great things. Earning a living. Being able to live out a dream. Meeting people that I’d never met before but had seen all my life. Having dinner with James Stewart. The only thing bad has been the occasional invasion of privacy - like people jumping over my fence and ringing the doorbell at midnight," Winkler said.

There are a host of interviews that didn’t make the book including Don Rickles, Martin Landau, John Voight, Jay Leno, Julia Louis-Drefus. "Perhaps we’ll do another book for people under 40," Fantle muses. He says the omission of the interviews was a tough choice, who to leave in and who to leave out. "We were concerned about meeting people while they were still alive," Fantle said. "We wanted people who had a track record."

Peter Haise and his ear biter wife Susan.

December 15, 2003

Most guys his age are oversleeping for college classes or trying to secure a fake I.D. so they can secure a beer. T.J. Ford, an early entrant into the 2003 draft, was the eighth player selected and the first round pick of the Milwaukee Bucks. Ford is being called upon to restore some stability and respectability to an organization that sent more players packing last year than Century 21.

"I’m just happy I’ve been able to achieve part of my goal by reaching the NBA," Ford said. "A lot of people don’t know what it takes to get here, the work ethic you have to put in. It’s a lot of work each and every day.

He’s young, good looking, wealthy and has the attention of Bucks’ fans that hope he’ll help make this team a playoff contender. "There’s no pressure on me," Ford said after a rigorous practice session at the Cousins Center. "My teammates and coaches have been great and given me a lot of guidance. They’ve let me play a lot in the pre-season to get experience, and that’s what you need, experience.

"It’s mostly my mother that calls me Terrance," explains Terrance Jerod Ford, with a grin. "When I was at school, everyone started calling me T.J. and that’s what they’ve called me since I was a kid."

At 20 years of age, some would argue that Ford isn’t much more than a "kid" himself.

An education major at the University of Texas, Ford says he’s still in the process of thinking about what he’ll major in if he decides to complete his education. "I know I want to be around kids." Ford says he’s very family oriented and keeps in touch "all the time." "They’ll come up to Milwaukee and see me play."

Figuring out how the college game differs from the professional game has been Ford’s primary focus. "Getting to know the guys and their personalities has been exciting. Once we get on the court and gel together, I think we’ll be great."

Declaring your eligibility for the NBA draft before completing college can be a risky venture. You hope for the best, but have no guarantees. "Once I got picked, I felt good," said Ford. "I had a workout with the Bucks before the draft and it went well. They were honest with me and told me if I was still available when they drafted, they would take me. They kept their word and that made me feel good. You get the feeling this is the team that really wants you and feels you can help the organization and the team."

The team has a new coach in Terry Porter. Most of the players on last year’s roster are gone, including standout guard and exceptional personality, Ray Allen. "My job is to come in every day and give the best effort I can give," he said. "It’s not my job to worry about those types of things."

He’s right. It isn’t his job to worry about those things. Those worries belong to new head coach Terry Porter. "T.J. is a guy who wants to get better, he wants to be a student of the game and that’s important," Porter said. "He’s always asking me questions about the point guard position. He comes from a background where he thinks it’s important that he gets good at basketball, so that’s a good thing."

Being a first round draft pick carries its own set of emotional luggage. Even if a team denies it up and down, they’ve got a lot invested in the selection. "Hopefully he doesn’t think he has to do it all, I hope that’s not his mindset," Porter said regarding Ford’s answerability. "We try to tell him everybody is going to be a piece of the puzzle, every person has to do their job on the team, try to run the show. He’s done a good job to this point." Porter says he’s not a coach who categorizes a player just because he’s a rookie. "If he’s good enough and he’s done it well enough and beat the other guys out, he’ll start."

In some ways Ford and Porter are on a similar learning curve. This is Ford’s rookie season as a player and it’s Porter’s rookie year as a head coach. "You have to be a part time everything in this job," Porter chuckled. "You can’t please everyone but you’ve got to be fair with everyone. You’ve got to take 12 different personalities and try to mold them into one kind of heartbeat."

While Ford will have an opportunity to show what he can do on the court, he’ll have plenty of competition at the guard position in Erick Strickland, Damon Jones, Michael Redd and Desmond Mason. "You have to do your best to give each equal time and you have to make adjustments as to what’s best with the team," Porter said. "And how they will blend with the rest of the unit. As a coach, all you can do is be honest. They may not agree with what you have to say, but they have to abide by it."

Larry Harris, the new 40-year-old general manager of the Bucks, is largely responsible for the recent overhaul of the roster. The new regime has shown little patience with malcontent players such as Anthony Mason, Jason Caffey, and Sam Cassell, sending them all on their merry ways.

"He’ll be as good as he wants to be. His character was an important criteria in us selecting him," says Harris. "He’s not only a humble kid, he knows there is a lot to be learned."

Robin Lehnert’s recommendations put quality and "child power" at the top of the list.

December 2003

How does a young woman from Wauwatosa find herself in the inner sanctum of one of the most heralded franchises and coaching regimes in NFL history?

Invitations to dinners and cocktail parties hosted by legendary coach Vince Lombardi were frequent happenings for Marie Leupold, an elegant and diminutive 86-year-old devout Green Bay Packer fan. "My husband Glenn used to work with the Packers’ former executive board president, Dick Bourguignon," Leupold said. "Dick and my husband were very good friends and worked together at Allis-Chalmers here in Milwaukee."

Leupold says Bourguignon, knowing he was an avid sports enthusiast, asked Glenn if he’d be willing to join the board of directors. "Of course, we were always fans," Leupold says. "Glenn would go to Green Bay for all the meetings and travel back and forth. We never lived in Green Bay but we were there so often, it seemed like we did. We’d stay for long weekends in town."

Before Lombardi decided to come to Green Bay, the team was mired in a downward spiral and few knew the background of their soon to be savior. "When Lombardi came, that was quite an occasion," Leupold said. "Your average fan didn’t know of him before he arrived, other than the fact he was a coach with the New York Giants, he wasn’t a famous coach. But the executive board knew who he was and had no doubt that he’d produce a winner."

Marie Leupold is surrounded by some of her Green Bay Packer treasures. She has been an avid fan for over 40 years. Leupold and her husband Glenn were good friends with Vince Lombardi.

So convinced of his prowess prior to his arrival, the Green Bay Packers Alumni Association issued a formal statement expressing confidence that "the Lombardi plan for resurgence will pay dividends and that the thrill of good, sound and representative football will again be a part of the everyday life of the citizens of Green Bay and Wisconsin."

Avid Packer fans in the ‘50s were usually men, Leupold confesses, and adds she was never afraid to buck the trends. "I come from a family that’s very sports minded. My father enjoyed baseball and sports, and I just became that way, too. My father was an avid Milwaukee Braves fan and we had season tickets for the years they were here. We’d go to all the games."

When the Packers played in Milwaukee, Leupold says she made it a priority to attend all of the games. On one occasion, she waited outside the locker room to greet and talk to Hall of Fame receiver, James Lofton. "He gave me an autographed game ball," Leupold says with pride. "I just wanted to tell him how much I appreciated him as an athlete and congratulate him on how well he played the game. The next thing I knew, he was giving me a game ball. My husband was surprised."

During the Milwaukee games, Leupold held ten tickets to each game. "We’d sit in a spot for dignitaries. We sat with the board directors and their wives.

"I still go to all the games in Green Bay and I still love to tailgate with my family." Leupold says on 2003 Packer game days, she leaves her apartment in Wauwatosa at 7 a.m., and drives herself to her son’s home in Mequon. "He drives the rest of the way to Green Bay," she said.

When Lombardi coached, she and her husband would go to his home after the games, win or lose. "Vince Lombardi would be at the bottom of the steps in what you’d call a recreation room," Leupold said. "He’d be right at the bottom, he’d kiss all the girls, and he was very warm and friendly. Of course, he was never that friendly as a coach, he was rough with his players and others. He was very knowledgeable about a lot of things, intelligent, knew how to speak, and knew how to handle people, not only football players. He had a strong personality and a desire to win."

Leupold says she liked Lombardi on a personal level. "He wouldn’t say too much in front of people after a game. He didn’t want the public to know his reactions to the game. Lombardi didn’t like to be in the limelight. He wanted to go to a quiet place where there wouldn’t be a lot of people. Vince was private when he was with friends."

In her home, Leupold has many tangible memories of Packer football. Photographs with Lombardi, Bart Starr and various other storied players. "I still believe fans in Green Bay are loyal and therefore that’s why the Packers have such a good reputation, the fans are earnest. I don’t think it’s like it is in other cities."

Leupold has Super Bowl beads from San Diego and New Orleans, she attended both games. "The Super Bowls were fun, I should say so. They were very special."

When grandma has an extra ticket for a coveted Packer game, there is no shortage of grandchildren to answer the call. "My eldest grandchild is 30 years old and she’s an avid fan living in Appleton," Leupold said. "Every time I have an extra ticket, she is there. She says, ‘Grandma, don’t ever worry about selling the tickets because I can sell them anytime.’"

Leupold says her husband, who died in 1981, didn’t live to see the recent success of Packer teams, and says he would have been cheering with everyone else. "Glenn would be absolutely ecstatic." She says her husband would also be impressed with the recent renovations to Lambeau Field. "The atrium is an addition that anybody would enjoy, everybody should go to see it," she said. "The approach to the stadium is well done. When I think of all the years we stood in long lines to get in to the stadium, it was awful. Now it’s a delight to walk into the stadium, it’s beautiful."

Will Milwaukee ever have a NHL franchise? Phil Witliff, the general manager of the Admirals, doesn’t see it on the horizon.

Admits former Admiral Cal Roadhouse, "As much as I would like to think Milwaukee could sustain a NHL team, I don’t think it could."

October 2003

The number of kids who live and play in the city of Milwaukee is on the rise. It’s not necessarily an exodus from the suburbs; instead it’s a rather steady influx of families into a predominantly urban setting in downtown Milwaukee.

Mike D’Amato, the alderman for Milwaukee’s Third District, is pleased families are feeling the urge to move back into downtown Milwaukee. "City living offers a very diverse and different experience from the suburbs," D’Amato said. "When you live in a city, the public space becomes a focal point for improvement. You tend to work with your neighbors to this end." D’Amato says he’s seen this kind of unified effort in operation.

"The Cass Street playground and the Pulaski street playground are excellent examples of this kind of cooperation," D’Amato said. "Since the mid 1990s, we’ve seen owner occupancy in the Brady area go from 11 percent to 22 percent. We have homes in the area surrounding Lyon and Kane up to about 25 percent to 30 percent owner occupied. My son went to daycare off Brady Street. You can go into the shops. Sciortino’s Bakery hands out cookies to the kids, Glorioso’s gives out suckers. Kids live like kings like they may have in an old-fashioned Milwaukee."

D’Amato says living in the city lends itself to a good overall experience. "These aren’t the kinds of things that happen in a mall. I hope we see more of this type of movement of families into the city. I think the area surrounding the Park East freeway reconstruction will be more family friendly. We’re seeing movement back to single family dwellings. This type of commitment has begun to take a positive toll on neighborhoods and schools."

Craig Haskins lives downtown just above the Safe House with his sons Tyler 5, and 2- year-old Jack. After a divorce, Haskins decided he wanted to make the move into the city. "After we park the car, the first thing I end up doing with the boys is solving an argument," Haskins admits. "The argument stems from who gets to push the buttons on the elevator door. I give each one of them the chance to make it even. After dinner, assuming the weather is nice, we’ll go down on the Riverwalk and feed the ducks. With luck, a bridge is going up. We watch the bridge open and close, and then we have spider-hunting contests on the Riverwalk.

"We belong to a lot of places downtown for recreation," Haskins said. "We are members at the Betty Brinn Museum, Discovery World, the Milwaukee Public Museum, the zoo. We take the bikes and the big wheel to the lake at Bradford Beach and ride up and down the shore."

Haskins says his friends were a little skeptical of his move downtown with his sons but he suggests they try it before they knock it. "There may not be little league and soccer, but I’m a member of the Milwaukee Athletic Club and the boys go there for exercise," Haskins said. "We tend to dine out a lot, usually at child friendly places. The Rock Bottom Cafe is the world’s greatest restaurant as far as my boys are concerned. They can make as much noise as they want. Stout Brothers, the Safe House, any place that’s going to have a little noise is good."

The city-bug has hit other members of Haskin’s family. "My step-dad’s moving downtown with my mom," Haskins said. "My boys will have their grandparents downtown with them. Milwaukee is big enough to have the city lifestyle but still small enough without taking a subway. We’d be lost in Chicago. Here, I’m sitting in the center of the city and I can get anywhere I want without mass transit."

Tyler has taken to the city rather quickly. "We’re going to the Brewers game tonight," Tyler said. "On my birthday, we’re going to a secret park down by the lake."

April Alexander lives smack dab in the city near the Milwaukee River with her sons Roland, 15, and Hitman who is 10 years old. "I wanted a different feeling," Alexander said. "I didn’t want to feel like I was in a residential area. I didn’t want the boys to leave schools and friends." Alexander says her sons are within walking distance of Rainbow Summer and River Splash. "They often go up to MSOE to play basketball," Alexander said. "A friend of theirs lives at Yankee Hill and they go swimming over there. We never miss a downtown parade."

Alexander says living in the city has given her sons a bit of a metropolitan experience. "It’s no big deal to get them to school. They are very versatile. They know how to catch the city bus to school," Alexander said. "I think it’s because it’s such a different experience from a (suburban neighborhood) that kids want to come and visit my boys. We have a community room, and grill in the building. We have an outdoor patio, pool table, cable television."

On occasion the boys will ride by their home with friends who are surprised they have such a "cool" location in which to live. "I love it too," Alexander said. "I love listening to the live jazz in the park and I think the people are friendlier in the city than they were in the suburbs. They made me feel welcome right away. It’s like a mini New York. My kids love it. My whole family loves it down here and we have the river right in our backyard."

The congestion of the city does have a few drawbacks. "Sometimes parking can be a problem," Alexander confesses. "Our spot is on the rooftop and it’s difficult to get to it on occasion. The only safety concern I have for my boys is the traffic. People driving on Wells Street are always in a rush on their way to work. Some people have no perception of children downtown. I have to remind them that people don’t see them."

Lisa Marie Menefee and her family have made their home near Brady Street for the past ten years. She and her husband Donny, their 9-year-old son Dylan and daughter Mauren, who is 5, live just two blocks from Brady Street. "We really like to patronize the business as much as possible," Menefee says. "My kids like to go to Bella’s for custard. We shop on Brady Street, we go to the hardware store on the street. I think it’s been good for our kids. They have access to so much."

The Menefees ride their bikes to a lot of events and locations such as Summerfest. They take the trolley to other places. "We do a lot of activities that revolve around the city," Menefee said. "We have a strong neighborhood association. We have activities at Cass Street park. Every year, we have an egg hunt and we get about two hundred kids to participate."

The safety and security of her children are an obvious concern for Menefee, but she is quick to point out that bad things can happen anywhere. "My kids know not to talk to strangers and they’re always with someone else."

Menefee writes for the Brady Street newsletter, which reaches about 800 members. "I write about the events that are coming up in the parks, safety tips, about the movies we offer at the park and about our big Halloween events. Right now the demographics seem to indicate empty nesters are moving into the city but one of the developments along the river is designed for families," Menefee says. "I hope the trend continues. I think it’s a really great place to live."

August 2003

Kent (from left), Tyler, Kelsey and Abby Lorenz of Pewaukee have a family passion for waterskiing. The entire family is involved in the Pewaukee Ski Show.

In his novel "Anna Karenina," Tolstoy wrote that all happy families are alike. If that’s true, perhaps there is a common denominator. It may be possible that a special bond develops between members of a nuclear unit, forged by a bit of friendly competition and the desire to win in every aspect of their lives, not just their chosen sport. If we were able to identify a link between competition and familial contentment, that would explain the visage of three local families that seem to be grinning from ear to ear.

The Lorenz family, the Maupin clan and the Wheeler family collectively believe that organized competition can and does improve family chemistry. According to the families, the rigors and preparation involved in each of their respective sports has directly impacted and fortified the dedication and discipline they apply to their careers, education and home life. The Lorenz family are waterskiers who reside on Pewaukee Lake; half of the Maupin family races motorcycles while the other half engages in horse shows. The Wheeler family braves the uncertain and taxing circumstances of Wisconsin weather while sailing boats on North Lake.

The Lorenz Family

"My husband taught me to ski when we were dating," Abby Lorenz said referring to her husband, Kent. "He was a gymnast in high school and college and we started dating in the 11th grade. I was always pretty active as a kid; I was a gymnast and a musician when I was young. As far as the competitive skiing goes, I’d have to say it was more of a struggle for me to learn than it was for our children."

Tyler, 13, and his 10-year-old sister, Kelsey, are both competitive waterskiers. "We knew right away they had something," said Abby. "We already had all the equipment that would require them to ski. We knew we’d be able to start them at a young age, but we were cautious. We wanted them to participate at their own pace. We first pulled them along the grass on skis, then took them into shallow water."

Abby says her children chose to stay with skiing because she and her husband never exposed them to a bad experience. If the water was cold, they waited until it warmed up.

They imparted the positive attitudes they held about the sport to their children. "They’d see us having a good time and then they wanted to ski," Abby said.

Abby doesn’t compete, but she is a show skier. She is also an indispensable part of her husband’s and children’s skiing lives. Lorenz says she’s chosen to support her family as a pit crewman would support their driver. "If I’m not behind the wheel of the boat, I’m observing," Lorenz said. "It’s important to play together as a family."

Kent Lorenz, an engineer by trade, performed with the Tommy Bartlett ski shows in Wisconsin Dells. "It was a summer job for college during the early ‘80s," Lorenz said.

"I was a gymnast at college and high school. I saw a lot of kids forced into sports by their parents and Abby and I decided we were never going to do that with our kids."

Kent says Kelsey started competing last year and didn’t waste any time focusing on her goals. "At her first competition, I wasn’t expecting her to go out and win right away, but I saw her looking at the trophies," Lorenz said. "I told her we were there to have fun, but she wanted the

trophies. She ended up winning it all. I had never seen that kind of competitive spirit in my daughter before that time."

"I think Tyler is more in it for the purity of the sport. He likes to win, but he is a trick skier," Kent continued.

The Lorenz family approaches competition

differently than some may expect. They aren’t necessarily out for blood when they compete. "When we go to a tournament, we try to do our personal best," Kent said. "We don’t go to beat ‘Johnny,’ or ‘David,’ I would say that’s fairly common to the sport. The guys I compete against are all good friends. We cheer for each other, as you would at a swim meet."

The Pewaukee Lake family does admit a good portion of their lives revolves around skiing. They go to Florida each February to train and hit the lakes in Wisconsin as soon as the weather makes it possible to do so.

"I do a lot of visualizing," said Tyler. "We tie a rope to a post and we practice our moves. I work out my routine in my mind and most of it’s fun for me. Skiing teaches me how to compete, it teaches me about winning and losing and about dedication."

Tyler says his parents are big motivators for his skiing efforts. "It’s something I’d like to do for a long time," Tyler said. "The Olympics are on my mind at times."

Kelsey says she can recall the first time she was on skis was when she was 5 years old. "I just remember how the boat pulled me around," Kelsey said. "My dad compliments me on how well I do. He’s better than me, he’s older and he has more experience." Kelsey says she learns a lot from her older brother. "He’s one of my coaches. He’s good at doing tricks and stuff. I like having fun at the tournaments and winning is nice. It’s a really fun sport," Kelsey said.

"My parents know I’m really into waterskiing and they’re proud of me," Kelsey continued.

"We’re building a solid family foundation," Kent explained. "Whatever path they choose, I hope that waterskiing will remain a part of their lives."

Maupin Family

"I’m a motocross manager mom," quips Melissa Maupin of the Town of Lisbon. "I’m always there for them." The motorcycle duo she’s ‘always there for’ is son Stefan and husband Grif. Conversely, Melissa and her son Nick both ride show horses competitively.

"I’ve always been into riding," Melissa said. "I never had the opportunity to ride when I was younger." Maupin says she’s been riding for about two years. "We ride academy shows throughout southeastern Wisconsin and Illinois. We ride saddle seat. It’s a type of riding with show horses. The horse is the show and what’s judged is your ability to present the horse, how you look on the horse is what you’re scored on." Maupin says there are no maneuvers or tricks involved.

Maupin is quick to give credit for her riding successes to instructors Nancy Turner and Ann Wilt and Knollwood Farms in Hartland.

"My husband told me to start riding instead of whining about not riding, which is what I was doing," Maupin said. "Nick and I ride out at the barn twice a week and horse shows started in March and go through October."

Maupin says the motorcycle riding Stefan and Grif are involved in usually takes place on the weekend and doesn’t interfere with the riding that Nick and she enjoy. "If they don’t have a race going on, they come and support us," Maupin said. "If they do have a race when we need to ride, Nick and I go our way and they go on without us."

Melissa says her family loves what they’re doing. "Stefan got his first motorcycle when he was 4 and he’s been racing since he was 5," Maupin said. "My husband Grif has always been interested in motorcycles. When Stefan was young, we got him a little motorcycle and he never let go of it. We agreed we were never going to push him." Unlike his brother, Nick has never been too intrigued with motocross. "Nick was going out to the barn with me and he asked if he could start taking riding lessons," Maupin said. "He’s already a better rider than I am and he’s just 9 years old. He and I have been in the same class before and he beats me all the time."

Maupin says for her and Nick, winning is nice, but if they had a wonderful ride, that is usually enough. "When I first watched my mom ride horses, I thought it’d be cool to try it," Nick said. "It’s a lot of work. You have to learn a lot before you can ride. I love to ride. I just go out and it kind of feels like you forget everything else," Nick said.

Nick’s brother Stefan, 12, relates more to the heart-stopping thrills of the motocross track than the more sedate ambience of the horse show track. "During a race, you come across ‘whoops,’ which are little bumps that slow you down and you’ve got to go over them," Stefan explains. "When I’m riding, it’s just like I’m in my own world. Before and after a race, I talk a lot with my dad about how we will approach a race, things that we could do better next time, things I need to focus on and work on."

Stefan says that during any given race there are as few as three and as many as 40 other riders racing alongside him.

Right now, Stefan uses two bikes. "I’ve got a Yamaha YZ 125 and a Kawasaki KX 85. Each bike is used in a different class," Stefan explains. "It’s cool to have sponsors," Stefan admits. He already has two motorcross sponsors, Scott USA and Decal Works.

Despite the sponsors and the glitter of winning, Stefan says his father makes sure his son’s head doesn’t swell too much. "When I get home, it’s usually late and I’m tired. The next morning, my dad makes sure I get out a pressure washer and get all the mud off my bike."

"I think the most important thing about racing to me is we do it as a family," Grif said. "Even though Stefan and I are doing the racing, Nick is involved with the cycle club and we’re all out there as a family, we’re doing something together. So often it seems like families are split in different directions," Maupin said.

Grif thinks his kids are picking up responsibilities as a result of their sports and competition. "They’ve developed an understanding that you have to put forth some planning and some effort if you want to succeed," Grif said. "You have to plan how you’re going to run the race and train, when you get to the race, all that preparedness is keen."

For Maupin, motorcycles truly are a labor of love. "I’m an engineer at Harley-Davidson. I eat, drink, and breathe Harley," Maupin said. "As a kid, I was just fanatical about bikes. Unfortunately, my mother was also an emergency room nurse, so I had to beg and plead to get a motorcycle," he recalled. Even though he’s been riding since he was a kid, Maupin says it never gets old. "It’s that adrenaline rush you get from a little bit of beer, but it’s what turns me on. It’s always been the thing that gets my juices flowing. I don’t have to be winning. It’s a blast to compete with other guys."

Maupin says there are natural athletes in sports and there are those that have to constantly work at it. "I try to tell Stefan that during every event he has to think about improving," Maupin said. "He’s got to consider his corner speed; he has to have a good start, things like that. Whether or wherever he finishes, there’s no room for complacency. Winning isn’t everything but he has to put forth the effort. That’s the neat thing about motocross," Maupin continues. "You have points. You don’t have to win each race; you can gather points and be in the running."

As far as Nick and Melissa’s sport is concerned, Grif knew he had to support them in something they felt strongly about. "My wife had interest in horses and my youngest son loves animals," Maupin said. "Riding horses is her relief from all the stress at work. You should approach life with the attitude that you’re going to enjoy whatever you’re doing."

Rick (left), Garrett and Gail Wheeler love sailing together near their home on North Lake.

Wheeler Family

On any given spring or summer day you may find one or all the members of the Wheeler family sailing their boat on North Lake. Rick, Gail and Garrett Wheeler say they live for the cerebral and physical challenge of sport sailing.

"I was born and raised in Madison," says Rick. "My dad had a sailboat and when I was 14, he wanted to race. He asked me to crew for him the first year. With all that’s involved, he asked me to be the skipper the following year and he was first mate."

By 16, Wheeler was sailing a 20-foot sea scow, a flat-bottomed boat with a beam of about seven feet. "A very fast boat with a mast height of 28 feet. In the right wind it can get up to 18 knots," Wheeler said. "Most of my sailing is on North Lake, but you might find us on Lake Mendota once in a while. Sailing provides a lot of excitement for my family and me."

Gail caught the sailing bug early as well. At 14, she sailed her sunfish and helped crew on boats later on. "I enjoy sailing a lot," Gail said. "As a member of the crew, you like to be on a winning boat. I knew I wanted to be on Rick’s boat." Gail says being a member of the crew is a lot different than being the skipper of the boat. "You’ve got a lot of work to do as part of the crew. You’ve got to handle the boards, distribute the weight in the boat." Wheeler says as a family, they sail together very well. She says it’s to the point where they’ve sailed together so often they can anticipate each other’s directions and nuances.

Garrett,12, like the rest of the family, seems to have sailing in his blood. "I have to take orders from the captain," Garrett said. "When I step on the boat I have a lot of responsibility. I have to pull boards, shift weight on the boat so you can get a better speed."

Rick cautions how the winds on inland lakes change at the drop of a hat. "We won’t race in a thunderstorm, as the mast is a big lightning rod," Rick said. "Rain doesn’t stop us from racing. I enjoy competing and I definitely like to win. Obviously, I don’t always win, but if I’m sailing well and making good decisions, it doesn’t matter where I finish. It’s the sailing that’s rewarding for me. I would hope that my son learns he’s not going to win every single race," Rick said.

Rick and Gail believe Garrett has learned discipline and sportsmanship from the sport of sailing. "Some people think sailing is all about winning," Garrett said. "I sail for fun. I don’t win every race, but I have fun with it. It’s special to race with Mom and Dad."

"Sailing will always be a part of this family," Gail added. "That’s one of the nice things about sailing, Garrett started when he was 5 and I anticipate he’ll sail as long as he can climb into a boat."

The sport of sailing may be perceived as a wealthy person’s sport, but the Wheelers don’t buy that impression. "You don’t have to be rich to own your own boat," Rick Wheeler said. "You can look at it as a family investment. A good boat costs no more than a Harley Davidson motorcycle or a good camper."

Tolstoy may have never employed the phrase, "The family that plays together stays together." It may be one of the most overused phrases ever to emerge from the English lexicon. Then again, in these three instances, it’s a perfect fit for the dynamics of these families.