dog in a bathtub

the show would not be possible without the generosity of viewers like you. so on behalf of the cast and the crew of "around the corner" with john mcgivern, thank you. keep watching, ok? >> this episode of "around the corner" with john mcgivern is

made possible through funding provided in part by the greater milwaukee foundation's ernest c. and florence m. shocke fund. >> "around the corner with john mcgivern" has been made possible through the support of historic downtown greendale. the norman rockwell-like village

on the south side of milwaukee. there's always something to see in greendale. 100,000 holiday lights framing the historic storefronts in winter, 35,000 flowers blooming four great dining spots and 20 quaint shops. you just got to see greendale.

>> this is the heart of lake country. we are in oconomowoc. >> >> lac la belle, gorgeous day in oconomowoc, wisconsin. we're meeting up with gurda and i said gurda, instead of your bike, bring your boat.

we're in lake country and look, he brought his bike. >> what are you doing on your bike? >> i'm biking, john. >> in oconomowoc? >> force of habit. >> he lives in the city. let's talk about oconomowoc.

>> this is lake country, but it's also bike country, wonderful roads up northeast of here. >> which is where you've been. >> yes in the old norwegian we are at the gathering of the waters, which is one possible meaning of the name oconomowoc.

this is lac la belle, upstream we have fowler lake created by the dam behind us, farther upstream is oconomowoc lake, and settlement begins right here back in 1837, when a guy named charles sheldon moved here, put up a dam and pretty soon is making flour and lumber for all

the settlement here. so oconomowoc gets off the ground as kind of a small rural settlement than the watertown plank road comes in 1852, railroad two years later, so you have a critical mass here, but what really was the spark was in the 1870's and later, you've got

wealthy families who are attracted by these gorgeous lakes, clean water, clear air, easy reach by train, of milwaukee, chicago, and points farther south like st. louis, which was a whole lot of hotter in the summer. >> a whole lot of wealth.

>> and among the families on the lakes were montgomery ward, on oconomowoc lake, you have the millers and the pabsts of brewing fame, and this was the era of carpeted stables and private zoos and gold-plated dinner ware. one family had his own full-time

organist and a lot of these estates, you might have had as many as 30 or 40 locals working on the domestic staff. someone said in the 1900, if you were in oconomowoc in the 1900's, you were a millionaire or a leaf raker. >> how long did that last?

>> until the 1920's and by that time the automobile made people or mobile. northern wisconsin is opening up, and the area began to attract certainly people of means, but not the extravagant means. people.

coming up from milwaukee so the estates were subdivided in the 1920's and accelerated during world war ii and after, so people come out here to work in the industries as well as to live on the lakes. the population doubled between 1950 and 1970.

still growing. >> and industry, what's here? >> the cannery, milk plants, a number of other firms still here, so there were jobs for both blue collar workers and executives. >> population. >> about 16,000 today.

half are german, the wisconsin mix of english, irish, polish, italian and norwegian, are about 7% norwegian and an area north of town that is heavily norwegian. >> boundaries. >> 33 square miles run interesting i-94 up into the

countryside northeast of here and that's certainly an area, 33 square miles, but a lot of that area is water. this is lake country and the lakes are still the big deal. >> so which is why you know, i asked you to bring your boat. >> maybe somebody will pick us

up here, john. >> we could hope and pray for that. >> it's a gorgeous place. >> it sure is. >> this is kind of the most amazing site, this has to be like 10 miles that way. >> it feels like it when you're

walking it, i'll tell you that. >> how far is that? >> that's about half a mile. >> yeah. >> can we talk a little history of this company. >> joshua roundy's and william smith started the company in 1872.

>> in milwaukee? >> in milwaukee. >> how did it end up that you guys ended up in oconomowoc, wisconsin, how did that happen? >> we had the facility on burleigh, seven buildings and we outgrew it, so we got this building because it was close

enough to the source in the southeast but its range can handle stores within a 300-mile radius. the building itself is 1.1 million square feet, so it's on 100 aches. >> this real -- acres. >> this is massive what you're

dealing with. >> this build takes care of all needs for 100 stores in the system. you have so many people, depending on, you you have 18,000 to 20,000 people in the company and you have all the customers in wisconsin, in the

minneapolis area and chicago, we're trying to get that stuff where it's supposed to be on time. >> 16 banana rooms. 16. bananas, a very high maintenance fruit. they come green and by the time

they ship them, they're about to turn yellow and by the time you eat them, they're perfect. the banana room, roundy's, unbelievable. we all know your bread and we're here in oconomowoc, wisconsin, where it's all made. >> that's right.

the best bread, the premium bread, all wisconsin made right here in oconomowoc. >> is it hamid western -- a midwestern thing? >> it's very midwestern. >> wasn't it started by some lady in their kitchen. >> that was a lady in her

kitchen, her name was katherine clark and she founded this company and based her whole entire business on our natural wheat bread. >> watch out. they're going to come to the scale. >> how many loafs of bread come

out of here in a day? >> that is a question i can't answer, but i'll tell you this, we're making about 180 loafs a minute. >> that's my favorite bread. >> how many types of bread come out of here. >> we own many bakeries in the

united states but out of the oconomowoc plant, we're in the 23 to 27 varieties. we are a bake and load facility and we produce the product, put it on a truck and we ship it and it gets to stores as quickly as possible. >> the smell.

>> it's so good. >> i'm going to have have a sandwich. >> we are on main street. we are le cheval, we're here with dog, so i thought there must be some sort of dog. >> horses and dogs go hand in hand.

all horse people have dogs. >> this is all about horses, this shop is, because le cheval means -- >> horse in french. we are a high-end riding equipment store. >> what are these? >> we do custom sheets, blankets

for horses. >> is this a special kind of girth? >> this is a long belly protection girth. >> the long belly -- i need one of these. >> our main equipment line is a company called ontares which is

a french saddle, bridle maker and that's where our name comes from. we also do very good leather collars and leashes. >> just because you don't go to a very big fancy horse show, doesn't mean you don't want nice stuff for your horse.

>> right. >> oakbrook esser studios, this work is beautiful and i thought most of it is antique but this is stuff that you create. >> we're a custom stained glass studio and do a lot of work in the church. we do a lot of very intricate,

you know, old style painted windows. >> this is a really old art form, is it not, stained glass? >> it is. >> like how old? >> one of the samples in our gallery as you saw was the oldest complete window, that's

almost 1,000 years old, so it has a great history. >> talk about your relationship with the frank lloyd wright. >> the foundation wanted to share that internationally, that frank lloyd wright was a lot more than just an architect, so they started a decorative design

program, which we are a part of for the art glass windows, we're the exclusive licensee for the full-scale reproductions and that's a worldwide exclusive license, so we're excited about >> there's four of with you that license? >> it started at four.

the first four license zs, it was tiffany in new york and schumacher in new york, casino in italy and oakbrook esser in oconomowoc. >> did you see this? oh, oh, oh! >> it is called the inn at pine terrace.

can we talk about this house? >> remarkable. >> yes. can you imagine, this was someone's summer home. i think around, you know, 12 bedrooms, actually, probably more than 12 bedrooms, a couple of dormitories for servants, but

that's a big house to come for the summer. >> built when? >> completed in 1880. >> $30,000. >> $30,000 to build it. >> to build it. >> it's awesome the first time you walk in and look at the tall

ceilings and the victorian architecture and the wallpaper and the wood, the big doors and it's just amaze egg. it's a -- amazing. it's a great place to be. and a destination place for people to come to. >> we're trying to build that.

>> we're trying to let people know that we're half the drive to door county and just as good. >> wow, that's a really good -- >> chicago people. >> that needs to be put on marketing materials. >> there were walls taken down. >> there were walls taken down

and doors taken out and closets tank out and we said, where are we going to hang all our pictures, because we have no walls left, but we don't need pictures because we have >> let's talk about the history of where we are right now. >> john bessg was the electric

guy that set up electricity in chicago and then milwaukee and all that, so this is john beggs island. >> this is not the only home on the island. there was one house. >> there was one house and it was in the 1960's i think when

they eventually tore that down and now there's six homes out >> it is a field of water flowers. >> these are sacred or indian lotuses and when we bought the house, we became their caretakers basically. >> how did they show up here?

>> the story goes that mr. begs, he was part of the chicago's world fair in 1897, the first world's fair where they lit the fair with electricity, and at the end of the world's fair, these were all in egyptian exhibit and they were going to just, you know, dredge them up

and throw them away and mr. begs say, i think i have a place where those might do ok. >> it's really beautiful. >> so it's pretty special to come out here literally in the morning with a cup of coffee, you know and look at the flowers all opening up.

>> because you can't see it anywhere else. >> no. >> unless you -- >> there's nothing like summer in oconomowoc. can we toast that? >> toast. wave.

>> let's talk about living on this lake. you live here all summer. >> correct. >> we love the friendliness of the people and we love the lake life, right, so for us, kind of the social area on the lake is the yacht club, so there's about

300 families on the lake, about 125 are part of the yacht club. we don't have an actual physical building, so we have all of our activities at people's houses so we get to travel around. people like to say we don't have one yacht club but 125 yacht clubs.

>> what a way to do it. >> that's how we met so many people and you're at somebody's home, they're almost instant friends because you're in such a casual, relaxed set something. >> is there some good winter living here? >> absolutely.

if the lake freezes, when it isn't windy, it's a giant sheet of ice and you get the ice boats out there, you can go two or three times the wind speed, 20-mile-per-hour winds, 60 miles per hour and we actually race them if you can believe that. it's crazy.

every time i go, my fares hurts because i'm smiling so much here to ear. >> you would think of retiring here? >> we're planning on doing that. >> you're living a lot of people's dream. >> we are living our dream,

that's for sure. >> how long have you lived here? >> a year and a half. >> where did you come from? >> we met in north carolina and moved up to wisconsin about six years ago and moved here a year and a half ago. >> who is originally from

wisconsin. >> i'm from wisconsin. >> you're from north carolina. >> new york stock exchange i call maryland home. >> have you ever been to wisconsin before? >> how's it going? >> i love it and raising kids

here has been a breeze. >> say hi. >> let's talk about live in >> would you want to live anywhere else? >> nine months out of the year, no, this is the perfect place to live. the lake, the weather, the

family atmosphere. i couldn't trade it. don't like the winters. >> you don't. >> january 15th to february 15th, we could trade in. >> if somebody called you and said, we're thinking of moving

to oconomowoc, what can you tell us about it, what would you tell them? >> don't hesitate. >> you won't be bored,. >> there's always something to do. >> what happened? batman.

>> and you can be whoever you want to be in oconomowoc, you can even be batman. >> how did you guys end up in oconomowoc batman and robin? >> we've been here a long time. it was created as somebody's imagination to cover us, but we've been here our whole life.

>> what do you do in oconomowoc? >> we make the world a better place. >> you do, don't you? >> how down that? >> find goodness in everybody, squash evil, and make the world a better place. >> don't tell him.

what kind of community stuff do you do, seriously, i would love to talk about what you do for the community? >> one of the things we like to do is we go to school, talk to children about keeping bullying down and helping those in need. we work with special needs kids,

make-a-wish type events. parades obviously are great fun. it's hard to keep a straight face driving this car because people go crazy. >> people wouldn't go whether you had a straight face or not. >> all the buttons and switches i'm nervous i'm going to get the

ejection seat and he's out of >> you want quiet? you want scenery? you want episcopal church, here in oconomowoc, it's the best. so on these grounds, is anybody welcome? >> everybody is welcome. we have people come and

meditate. oh, yeah. >> this is a landmark, and kind of iconic in this community. >> the physical church actually was organized, incorporated in 1886 before the state was a state, actually and they built frame building on this property,

which was given to the church by john rockwell, who is basically the father of oconomowoc, if you will, because it was frame, it kind of deteriorated, so they built a brick building. because of foundation problems is started to collapse, that's when 1888, they decided to build

this building and it's been added on to twice. >> how long have you been a member? >> my wife and i were married here in 1960. >> you know the church? >> definitely. >> you know the people long

>> well, most of the people have been here most of their life, but you have people that come and go. >> when are services. >> wednesday service at 10:00 a.m. and then we have a sunday service at 9:30 a.m. everyone is welcome.

>> you're going to be jealous, i am outside the marjorie ward estate, we're here with john. how are you john? >> very good. >> you're the realtor. >> i'm the realtor in charge of finding a buyer for this incredible estate.

the home was built in 1926 through 1928 by a margie montgomery ward and built it as her summer home. house is about 15,000 square feet. >> 18,000 square feet. >> it's a big home. it has eight bedrooms, 11 full

bathrooms, four half bathrooms and the house is spectacular. it's a one-of-a-kind. >> and everybody knows it. >> everybody knows it. >> i was telling people that i was coming and this is what people said to me. i check out the dog bath.

>> she has a little marble bathtub in the master bathroom for her little dog and that's what she designed it for. >> and the grounds outside, can you talk about those? >> the grounds are spectacular. 335 feet of frontage, it has westerly views overlooking the

lake and that's specifically why she want #-d -- wanted to build here, she wanted the westerly sunset. >> we are in the field house hat oconomowoc high school. it's a home of the raccoons. >> the raccoons. >> today we're talking about

girls volleyball with my brother mike mcgivern. >> michelle, the head coach, took over a team that hadn't won a conference team in a number of years and understands how to develop a program. they're getting wins now and really building the youth

program in the city of oconomowoc and in turn, making the common high school team much stronger. >> what we're talking about today is developing a program. >> no doubt. >> we haven't talked about that. >> we haven't and i love this

story, because i'm a big fan of the way michelle is doing it and that's from the ground floor up and having these kids really learn to love volleyball and dream about playing for her team here in the fieldhouse. >> what do you think it takes to be a good volleyball coach?

>> you know, i think to understand the game obviously, but more than that, to get kids to play in the offseason. they have to play in the offseason now hey days. >> what does it take to be a good volleyball player? >> you need to ask michelle

>> i did. can i tell you what she said? i love your outfit. >> oconomowoc high school, home of the raccoons, only in oconomowoc do raccoons wear sweats. the oconomowoc art center, it's a beautiful art center in

of course, i perform here. they have a statue of melody out front. i guess she's performed here too. melody, i wonder who she knew to get her own statue. whatever. >> kathy, am i an elephant or a

clown today? what am i? >> i believe you are an elephant. >> let's talk about what this is, imagination station. >> imagination station is about a 16,000 square foot fully accessible playground.

you're able to get to the highest point in a wheelchair. there's a hammock style swing too for kids who aren't able maybe to fit. it can play songs and has a nice, nice tone to it. it's something for all abilities, right in the middle.

>> well played in. >> so it's well played in, it's sometimes overcrowded, especially on hot days, they're having a hard time getting kids through because they're sweaty and running around, but what's most amazing is when you come here and see grandparents or a

parent with a disability or v you know, not able legs, using a wheelchair to help their child or see their child at the top of the slide. that's amazing, or having a child come in with a powerrized wheelchair, that's what made hall that work, like all worth

it. >> we are at the petite chef. >> today we're going to make some bread pudding, with blueberries, which are in season. >> the idea was sprang from? >> i was raised a foodie. i'm passionate about food.

my mom, she was always cooking, so i learned a lot from her, i just love it. i love standing on the stool and being up there an learn how to make stuff and people liked it. >> from an early age. right and kids do, they come in and they just dig it.

pour that right in there. they eat stuff that they wouldn't normally eat. >> that's what we want. >> and it's a lot of fun. there's even adults out there, they don't know how to cook. >> and it's more than just cooking.

absolutely. >> look how good it looks. we made that. >> we have a big table up there and we have communal dine, so when the kid come in and they cook whatever they cook, they sit down together, it's important to learn that skill.

we kind of lost it a little bit. >> that's pretty good you guys, don't you think. >> was this halls a restaurant. >> it was. >> it looks like a home. >> that's my new home. pretty much, i live here. >> let's talk about your menu

and concept behind this place. >> the concept behind it a normal 6-2 lunch spot, anyone come in, have a good time, talk to me while i'm cooking, keep me occupied for the day so i don't get in trouble. >> this gentleman is having a wisconsin omelette and the young

lady is probably having a ham and cheese omelette. >> is what you guys want? >> i don't even think they would say no. >> they're like would you shut up and make my food is what you're thinking. tell me what people eat here a

lot. >> we have a wisconsin omelette that's a huge sell, we just came up with aztec omelets. >> looks good, what is in there. >> refried beans, cho rei zo, tomato, onions. >> that says it all, doesn't it. >> it dokes part of the clean

plate lunch. >> this is a great, beautiful historical build, it's the old train depot. >> in like 1978, 1979, it became a restaurant. >> it did. >> what's it known for foodwise. >> greek food is our specialty.

>> really? >> our owner is from greece originally, that's what we specialize in, authentic gyro meat, authentic. >> ok. >> look at there. >> i love the sauce. >> what is the sauce?

>> i can say it but i can't spell it. >> we make ours here too, so it's homemade. >> when i drove up, i saw the train car, what is that? >> they do special parties out there, we do a lot of wedding rehearsals, has air conditioning

in there, you have your own waitress out there, your own cook out there. >> you can call them and book it? >> do you ever come here to eat? >> they give me a hard time because i come in all of the time to eat, almost every day.

i love our food here, i never get sick of it. >> do you want some? >> that is a trout stream, just so you know. what are they waiting for? >> they're waiting for a grass hopper to come off the banks and then they'll come out and pounce

on it. >> there he is, right there. he's coming. he sees us. quiet. can you tell us why this area itself is special in southeast wisconsin? >> well, there's not that many

trout streams, you know, in southeast wisconsin, maybe half a dozen. >> see down there? >> do you see him? >> he's down there, he's huge, john. >> you have to have clean water, ok.

you have to have cold water, and unpoe lieutenanted waternd -- unpolluted water and that's what makes this place so special. it's not so much about catching the trout, it's about the environment that the trout live and that's why this area is so special, you know, to this area.

you could close your eyes, open you were eyes, and if you didn't know it, you might think you're in northern wisconsin. >> you would -- you wouldn't know you're a moment from complete civilization. >> we are on the deck of the oconomowoc community center,

with bob duffy. what do you do? >> my job is to promote oconomowoc to visitors and tourists and businesses to come to the community. >> what do you want to talk about? >> we can talk about this

community center. >> this is really for the people of oconomowoc. >> it's for the people of oconomowoc, it's the residents lake home, we want them to use it on a daily basis, seniors use it, we encourage our residents to rent it.

if you enjoy the beautiful view over lac la belle, adjacent to our city beach, so a great attraction and gateway. >> right downtown. let's talk about some stuff that people may not know about the community. >> most people don't know that

oconomowoc is the site of the world premiere of the "wizard of oz," happens here in 1939. >> why would that be, why did it premiere here? >> it's our understanding, it has to do with the composer of the original score of the "wizard of oz," had a vacation

area here and looked for a midwestern hometown to premiere the show. >> what's on your pen? >> life comes naturally here in >> life comes naturally here. thanks. 26 lakes in lake country, but this is the heart, oconomowoc.

>> this is how it works. you have 30 seconds to tell us why oconomowoc wisconsin is the best play in the world to live, work and play, an mayor, can you start now. >> in 30 seconds, it's tough, but i'll tell you, we have a tremendous asset in our people

and our community and our cultural. we have one of the most beautiful down towns as you've seen in the past several days, the resources of our lake, beautiful architecture surrounding our city, events on an almost consistent basis being

offered for people in the surrounding area to come, be part of our community and we can live, work, play all together -- >> that's it, mayor. you did a good job. oh! >> do you know what these are? what am i doing?

oconomowoc high school, home of the raccoons. raccoons. [laughter] >> yep. >> raccoons? >> raccoons. >> do it again. >> i can't say it.

you're not supposed to drink it, zachary. do you want a straw? >> ono -- shut up. big time in summer, it's beautiful year-round. >> additional funding for "around the corner" with john mcgivern is provided by the

greater milwaukee foundation's ernest c. and florence m. shocke fund. >> this program around the corner is brought to you by generous supporters by you and the communities we visits around the state. thank you so much for supporting

milwaukee public television. >> and local programming.

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