Curiouser

Since WAUP 99.1 FM has a lot of good stuff going on, we decided to interview the station's founder and manager Mark Gerlach. We talked with Mark about growing up in Weyauwega, how he made his way into, out of, and back into radio, and some cool stuff happening at the station.

Some artists paint with oils, some with watercolors and some with beeswax mixed with pigments. That last method is known as encaustic painting. To find out more about it and how one artist was led to work in the medium, listen to our intervie with Jessie Fritsch of Jessie Fritsch Encaustics and Buzz in Art Studios. Jessie is talented, accomplished, funny, and has an interesting story to share.

If you or anyone you know is walking around with a pacemaker or other implantable medical device inside their bodies, it may be thanks in part to Curt. Though he's retired, he's been keeping active in the work of setting standards for devices - it's serious work, but as we learned, Curt doesn't take himself too seriously. A great and interesting conversation!

This was a lot of fun - interviewing local radio legend and entertainer Jim King (a.k.a. Jim Schulz). Why a career in radio? It was a way to be an entertainer without winding up dead in the gutter! Lot's of funny and interesting stuff.

Had a blast interviewing Gordon and Carol about moving from Milwaukee to Scandinavia to start a couple of businesses - Odin & Freja's, and The Runestick. Very interesting and funny people.  

Why does Laura Colbert love her job as Director of the City of Waupaca Parks and Recreation Department? Because - as you'll hear in our interview - each day provides her the opportunity to be her best self and to help people in our community?
 
Where does that sort of approach to life come from? From her advanced degrees in Educational Leadership and Experience-Based Education? Her service as an M.P. in the War in Iraq? Her world travel during a "Year of Laura" after the war? The self-reflection she underwent to write a book? Her upbringing in a home where service to others was a core value? Yes...all of it.

Scott Neumann is owner of Waupaca's Piggly Wiggly (a.k.a., The Pig). We talk with Scott about growing up in Waupaca, how he realized his long-held ambition to own a grocery store, and what it takes to run a store with so many moving parts. Fun and educational.

Our guest this week is Joe Udoni, owner of Udoni & Salan Realty Group & Auction Services. We had a great time talking with Joe about his childhood in Chicago, his career, how he ended up in Waupaca, and the dynamics of our local real estate market.

Our guest this week is Bruce Ceranske, co-founder of Legacy Seeds who - in his retirement - is finding ways to give back, including as a member of the Board of the Waupaca Area Community Foundation. We learn about his interesting and inspiring life, about the Community Foundation, and about the organization's upcoming "Evening of Gratitude" celebration and fundraiser.
If interested in learning more about/buying tickets to attend the Foundation's 2026 Evening of Gratitude, click this link: https://cffvr.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/list/event?event_date_id=6874 . 

What a fun and interesting conversation we had with Brian Smith, Mayor of the City of Waupaca. Conversation flowed from his youth growing up as one of ten children in Waupaca, to the years he spent teaching, to starting his own tax and accounting business, to public service - first on the City Council, then as Mayor for over two decades.