If These Woods Could Talk

If These Woods Could Talk An oral history of Wisconsin's Northwoods

This is a place to learn and reminisce about Northern Wisconsin history. Reach out to record your own story!

This is a republication of one of the first episodes of ITWCT.In this edition of If These Woods Could Talk, Bob Martini ...
11/17/2025

This is a republication of one of the first episodes of ITWCT.

In this edition of If These Woods Could Talk, Bob Martini shares first-hand knowledge of Wisconsinโ€™s history at the forefront of water conservation policy. He has been speaking on this topic for decades and his expertise on the matter is evident. Hope you enjoy learning with Bob!

This is a republication of one of the first episodes of ITWCT.In this edition of If These Woods Could Talk, Bob Martini shares first-hand knowledge of Wiscon...

This is a re-upload of one of our very first episodes. Former resident Mike Haney, whose posts I enjoyed on the "You gre...
11/04/2025

This is a re-upload of one of our very first episodes. Former resident Mike Haney, whose posts I enjoyed on the "You grew up in Rhinelander WI if you remember..." page, recorded some recollections from his years living here. It's short and very sweet.

๐ŸŒฒ๐ŸŒณIf these woods could talk, they might reminisce fondly about their sapling days.๐Ÿ“ท๐ŸŒฒ

In this edition of If These Woods Could Talk, we hear from Mike Haney. Mike lives in Texas these days, but he spent a few formative years in Rhinelander. I reached out to Mike after I saw a contribution of his to a Rhinelander history page. I hope you enjoy his recollections.

๐ŸŒฒ๐ŸŒณIf these woods could talk, they might reminisce fondly about those golden sapling days.๐Ÿ“ท๐ŸŒฒIn this edition of If These Woods Could Talk, we hear from Mik...

NEW BOOK ALERT๐ŸŒณ๐ŸŒฒIf these woods could talk, they might ride the pine and keep on cheering.๐ŸŒฒ๐Ÿ€Weโ€™re extending our range a b...
10/31/2025

NEW BOOK ALERT
๐ŸŒณ๐ŸŒฒIf these woods could talk, they might ride the pine and keep on cheering.๐ŸŒฒ๐Ÿ€

Weโ€™re extending our range a bit for todayโ€™s storyteller. We spoke with Thomas L. Pelissero of Bessemer, Michigan, author of the new book โ€œBring One Home: A Memoir of Boyhood, Basketball, and Hometown Spirit.โ€ The book juxtaposes the decline of Bessemerโ€™s mining industry in the 1960s with their high school basketball teamโ€™s years-long losing streak. Itโ€™s a compelling concept, and the book is filled with far more stories from Bessemerโ€™s heyday than could reasonably fit in an episode.

The bookโ€™s release party will be Saturday, November 1 at the Bessemer City Hall auditorium.

๐ŸŒณ๐ŸŒฒIf these woods could talk, they might ride the pine and keep on cheering.๐ŸŒฒ๐Ÿ€Weโ€™re extending our range a bit for todayโ€™s storyteller. We spoke with Thoma...

TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE!If these woods could talk, they might be "next." I got to speak with Dr. Scott Bonn about a diff...
10/07/2025

TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE!
If these woods could talk, they might be "next." I got to speak with Dr. Scott Bonn about a different sort of history than usual! He talked a bit about his philosophy on media portrayals of grisly events and what to expect from his upcoming presentation at Nicolet College Library.

This Sunday, October 12, come see renowned criminologist, author, and professor Scott Bonn talk about the allure of serial killers and why we love monsters. To be followed by a Q&A.

Knowledgeable, well-spoken, and easy to talk to. ๐™„๐™› ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช'๐™ง๐™š ๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™จ๐™ช๐™ง๐™š ๐™–๐™—๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฉ ๐™ฌ๐™๐™š๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ง ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช'๐™™ ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™Ÿ๐™ค๐™ฎ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™ค๐™ฅ๐™ž๐™˜, ๐™ก๐™ž๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™จ ๐™จ๐™๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง๐™ซ๐™ž๐™š๐™ฌ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ก๐™š๐™ฉ ๐™๐™ž๐™ข ๐™ฅ๐™ช๐™ฉ ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช ๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™š๐™–๐™จ๐™š!

Tickets are available online at https://rdlfoundation.org/doc-bonn/ or in-person at the Rhinelander District Library.

See you there!

Criminologist, author, and professor Scott Bonn is bringing his experience studying the worst elements of humanity to Rhinelander! Dr. Bonn has made a name f...

๐ŸŒณ๐ŸŒฒIf these woods could talk, they might tell you a whole bunch of storiesโ€“and like, at the drop of a hat, too, and just ...
09/17/2025

๐ŸŒณ๐ŸŒฒIf these woods could talk, they might tell you a whole bunch of storiesโ€“and like, at the drop of a hat, too, and just go and go because they love it and because they can.๐ŸŒฒ๐Ÿชš

Tales of the Northwoods: Echoes From Rhinelander's Past is the title of two volumes of lore collected and published in 2002 and 2004. After 21 years of living life, author Mark Miazga has brought us a third collection of stories. He stopped by the library recently to talk about storytelling, his background, and some of his outlook on life and what really matters in history.

โ€œTales of the Northwoods Vol. 3โ€ will be released on September 19, 2025, and will soon be available at the Hodag Store and online at hodagpress.com

๐ŸŒณ๐ŸŒฒIf these woods could talk, they might tell you a whole bunch of storiesโ€“and like, at the drop of a hat, too, and just go and go because they love it and ...

๐ŸŒณ๐ŸŒฒIf these woods could talk, they might sayโ€ฆMoo?๐ŸŒฒ๐ŸฎLast month I got to go to the Demmer Memorial Library in Three Lakes t...
09/05/2025

๐ŸŒณ๐ŸŒฒIf these woods could talk, they might sayโ€ฆMoo?๐ŸŒฒ๐Ÿฎ

Last month I got to go to the Demmer Memorial Library in Three Lakes to participate in their history digitization day. While I was there, I wrangled a few stories out of lifelong Three Lakes resident Bruce Brewster, and learned what a โ€œCow Passโ€ is. Now, arenโ€™t you curious, too?

Thanks also to Three Lakes Historical Society and Museum for their part in organizing history digitization day.

You are listening to If These Woods Could Talk, produced by the Rhinelander District Library.๐ŸŒณ๐ŸŒฒIf these woods could talk, they might ask, "...what's a cow ...

Republishing from last September.Check it out, and check out the book!
08/20/2025

Republishing from last September.

Check it out, and check out the book!

If these woods could talk, they might tell you that there is no illegal moonshine operation here, and to beat it, and stop asking questions if you know whatโ€™...

At Demmer Memorial Library in Three Lakes this afternoon for History Digitization Day!Ready to record. Or just talk abou...
08/13/2025

At Demmer Memorial Library in Three Lakes this afternoon for History Digitization Day!
Ready to record. Or just talk about preserving history.

When we began formulating These Woods, we had a shortlist of people we hoped would record with us. Butch Mattek was at t...
08/12/2025

When we began formulating These Woods, we had a shortlist of people we hoped would record with us. Butch Mattek was at the top of my list. I enjoyed watching him play at Birchwood open mics on Sundays at one time and I had heard stories about his band, Premier, and their regional renown.

I reached out to Butch early on and he agreed readily to participate in our oral history project. In fact, he was the first person to record with me.

I'm not great at interviewing now; I was far worse then. I wish I had done a better job, but he managed to tell some great stories in spite of it.

Thanks, Butch.

When we began formulating this project, we had a shortlist of people we hoped would record with us. Butch was at the top of my list. I enjoyed watching him p...

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Rhinelander, WI
54501

Telephone

+17153651070

Website

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/if-these-woods-could-talk, https://

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