Current Issue: Winter 2007 Available throughout the Peninsula-

Door County Living - a magazine that celebrates the area's unique culture and lifestyle is available at select locations throughout the Peninsula. Through its coverage of home & garden, boating, leisure & recreation, dining, fashion, culture, and the arts, Door County Living entertains its readers by highlighting the many wonderful things the Peninsula has to offer.

 


Satisfying a Niche
The Fairfield Center for Contemporary Art
By Allison Vroman

I, like many Northern Door folk, seem to keep just busy enough that my spare time is more often than not filled with mundane tasks such as laundry and dishes rather than exploring the wonders of this great place.

However, the fact that my free time is rare does not stop me from dreaming up ways to fill it should the opportunity arise; in fact, between the mental notes and the ones I’ve actually jotted on scraps of paper, there are literally over a hundred items on my list of “Things to do in Door County.” (more)

 



Guarding the Door: The Peninsula’s United States Coast Guard
By Peder Nelson

Mariners through the centuries have faced the reality of Lake Michigan’s relentlessly changing moods. Violent storms, raging windswept waves, fog, shoals and reefs have ushered ships and their crews to their ice-water graves off the shores of Door County.
Those conditions are no less imminent today as they were then; yet, through it all there has been and still exists a guardian for the unsuspecting mariner: The United States Coast Guard. (more)


The White Sand Beach
Ice fishing isn’t all about the fish
By Myles Dannhausen Jr.

Bring up ice fishing to just about anybody and the last image to come to mind would be guys in t-shirts tossing around footballs, clubbing golf balls, or the notion of any comparison to summer days going to the beach.

But that’s exactly what one group of Sister Bay friends calls what to most is a foreboding, chilling expanse of ice and snow covering Green Bay in the winter months. (more)


Alexander’s Restaurant: A Change of Scene for an Established Favorite
By Julia Chomeau

The Hotel Du Nord, a beautiful establishment overlooking the Little Sister Islands, was once home to a restaurant well known for its delicious dinners.

While the hotel is no longer there, lucky for us the restaurant lives on. Alexander’s, under the guidance of Bruce Alexander for the last 20 years, now has a new home north of Fish Creek on Highway 42. (more)


Ceramic Performance
By Mary Johnson

He was trained as an actor at Carnegie Mellon University. So it comes as a surprise to him as much as anyone, that his life’s work is now forging ceramic art. When Chad Luberger, owner of Plum Bottom Pottery, talks about the transition from acting to pottery he finds an unexpected geometry of connections. “When you perform in theater you share yourself with your audience in an intimate way. There is nowhere to hide your work on a theatrical stage. It is all there for everyone to see. You are exposed in a deeply personal way.”

Chad has discovered that pottery demands an analogous level of exposure. He says, “Every part of my history, my being, fuses with the work I do.” So when his gallery had its grand opening this past summer, he recognized an old feeling – a form of “stage jitters” just before the first guests arrived. He wondered if his work, the illumination of his innermost realities, would fare well under the gaze of strangers and friends. He felt as though the curtain was just about to rise on something he had literally poured himself into…and he was just a little nervous. (more)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our current issue features:

Land of Midnight Sun Comes to Light in Door County
Scandinavian traditions in the Door
By Kay McKinley Arneson

Scandinavians staying in Door County have been known to experience a more friendly type of “Stockholm Syndrome” whereby the affected travels thousands of miles to feel as if he never left home.

Case-in-point is recent Swedish immigrant Helene Ingsten-Anderson, owner of Flora Special Occasion Flowers in Sister Bay, who sees glimpses of her homeland at every turn. (more)


 

Speeding Off to “Virtual Work” on the Information Highway
By Kathlin Fisher Sickel

Every morning Jana Raines of Baileys Harbor finishes her morning coffee and a chat with her husband and leaves for work – in Somerset, New Jersey, 1,047 miles away.


It takes only seconds as she sits at her desk, just off the living room, turns on her computer and logs onto the company’s website with its new state-of-the-art software. (more)

 

Nestled into the Landscape
By Katie Dahl

Anyone with a basic working knowledge of children's mythology knows the dangers of building a house out of straw: a mere huff or puff from an irritable wolf can take your house—not to mention you—permanently out of commission.

A small community of builders and homeowners in Door County, however, are disregarding the moral of the first little pig's tale and adopting straw as their primary construction material. Their numbers are growing, and their homes—far from blowing down—are thriving. (more)

 

 

Warm Memories of Cold Winter Fun
By Karen Nordahl

Many Door County locals experience a wave of nostalgia every time they drive past Little Sweden on Highway 42 between Egg Harbor and Fish Creek.

A quick glance in the direction of those rolling hills brings back fond memories of a crackling fireplace, knit caps, seeing your breath in the cold air, lace-up boots and bear-trap bindings. Such memories exist because in days gone by, this location was the site of the popular ski hill Nor-Ski Ridge, where a generation of Door County residents learned to downhill ski. (more)


Paul Sills: Theater Games
By Christine Callsen

Paul Sills is quite possibly the most influential man in American theater that you have never heard of. Like so many successful people who have chosen to make Door County their home, Paul has had a long career of triumphs in the New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles theater scenes, and now focuses on sharing his unique vision with local actors and audiences here.

While the name Paul Sills might not be widely known outside of the theater community, you have no doubt heard of some of the products of his work. The Second City, Comedy Sportz, and even Saturday Night Live all sprang from the visionary philosophies of Paul Sills and his mother, Viola Spolin. Nearly every great actor working today has been influenced by the techniques they created. (more)


 

Winter's Harvest - Pure Maple Syrup
By Jessica Sauter

A steaming hot stack of pancakes drizzled with pure maple syrup is one of the best breakfasts to enjoy on a cold Door County winter’s morning.

Locally produced at a variety of “Sugar Bushes,” the proper name for a maple syrup farm, Pure Door County Maple Syrup is one of the unique treats found on the peninsula. (more)

A Little Less Isolated - DCA Lecture Series Brings World Issues to the Door
By Patricia Podgers

Each January, Door County experiences a mass exodus as the snowbirds fly away to warmer climes. The hearty souls who remain hunker down for the winter to enjoy the pastimes of snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and indoor activities, many of which include sitting by a roaring fire…and that includes the fire burning in the Door Community Auditorium’s fireplace.

For the past four years, the Door Community Auditorium (DCA) has hosted the St. Norbert Distinguished Lecture Series and it has proved a most rewarding experience for the peninsula’s winter warriors. A series of Saturday morning lectures featuring some of St. Norbert College’s most “distinguished” professors, the topics discussed have ranged from the war in Iraq to the geographical disaster wrought by Hurricane Katrina. (more)


 

Kites Over the Bay
By Megan O’Meara

After the holidays wind down and spring begins to feel like it will never come around, Fish Creek will have a much-needed break from the winter doldrums. For two days over the Winter Fest weekend in February, spectators will be treated to a skyline full of spectacular color, artistry and drama, also known as Kites Over the Bay. This is the fourth year that Fish Creek has celebrated winter with the kite-flying event and the attendance has expanded steadily. Co-sponsor Toby Schlick, owner of the Fish Creek Kite Company, is not surprised to see interest grow. “People get so excited seeing those big kites over the ice,” Toby reflects. “Anyone who has seen our kite fly or the one that used to take place in Madison [Kites on Ice] is still talking about it years later.” (more)

 
 

© 2007 - Door County Living, Inc.