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'In Wisconsin' Has Wheelchair Hockey, Barn Recycler, Theremin Aficionados, More

July 11, 2003

For More Information

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

Chris DuPre, publicist, (608) 265-6193

In the spotlight on the next In Wisconsin from Wisconsin Public Television (WPT) are Milwaukee residents who play hockey in wheelchairs, a Baraboo man who recycles barn materials, the unusual musical instrument known as the theremin and people who like its otherworldly sounds, and a first-person piece on how politics and government affect daily life.

Patty Loew anchors In Wisconsin, the new magazine series from WPT. This episode will air at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 17, with an encore at 6 p.m. Sunday, July 20.

On tap for this In Wisconsin:

In Milwaukee, young people with disabilities share good times and goals in games of wheelchair hockey. The games, in which all the people attending usually find their way onto the ice, are about exploring what the kids can do, focusing on the good things in life and celebrating moments when anything seems possible.

A Baraboo man is recycling Wisconsin's old-growth forests one barn at a time. Rick Bott transforms 150-year-old barn timbers and weathered siding into beautiful post-and-beam homes, furniture, flooring and trim.

Geoff Brady is a Madison percussionist whose quest for new sounds led him to the theremin, an instrument invented in the 1920s that works when the operator's hands move through the air at varying distances from two antennas. Perhaps best known through '50s horror movies, the theremin has a hip cachet for sound seekers like Brady and Chuck Collins, a Mukwanago man who collects, designs and builds theremins.

Many people say they don't care for politics. Producer Andy Soth decided to spend a day looking for the ways politics affects his life so he'd know whether he should care more.

Program support for In Wisconsin is provided in part by Alliant Energy.

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

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