Jennifer Born Rutten, Dr. Lori Scarlett, DVM photographer Eric Tadsen
additional photographs
Ryan Brady, D’Vino, Dane Buy Local, Dykman’s Time Shop, Dan Fearing, Jane Furchgott, Soumika Gaddameedi, Helen Holz, Warren Lynn, Ally Magnin, Ryan Myers, Kate Redmond, Schaller Gallery, Triet Tran
Watch for the next issue MAY-JUN 2025
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Grilled Tuna Steak, Balsamic, Kalamata Glaze, Orchietti Pasta with Green Beans and Roasted Heirloom Tomatoes provided by D’Vino (bottom left to right):
Taken by Ryan Myers
Taken by Eric Tadsen at Z Boutique
The year has been nothing if not newsworthy. In fact, in my almost 59 years, I don’t think I’ve ever heard the word unprecedented as many times as I have since 2020 in regard to our political system and governing or nongoverning, depending on your point of view.
Madison Locally Sourced is a community-focused publication. While we’re not a news-focused outlet, things that appear in the news show up here in how they’re positively or negatively affecting our community. We’re confident that our readers understand this and that they expect us to focus on our community and what’s happening within it. For those who may be picking up a copy for the first time, even if we agree to disagree at any point in time, we’re also able to have those conversations.
The theme of this year’s March-April issue is Keeping it Local, which is actually the basis of every issue. Historically, Greater Madison and the State of Wisconsin have made it through difficult periods of politics, economics, health crises, etc., better than other states because we’ve learned that we’re better together. It’s my hope that during what feels like a polarizing period, we don’t forget that unity and we listen and talk to (not at) one another and work together to protect what has made our communities great for many years.
We’re grateful to Dane Buy Local for being a sponsor of this issue, as their model is to serve local businesses, organizations, and more—in essence, to serve our communities. The single biggest reason we have an incredible city, county, and state is because we support one another. When a school or nonprofit holds a fundraiser, it’s the local businesses that are the first to step up with donations. In return, we can show our support back when deciding where to dine, shop, or hire a service.
Inside, you’ll learn about local members of our community and see advertising from them and others, many being Dane Buy Local business members. I hope you’ll support them when deciding where to spend your dollars just as they support the communities we call home.
Dane Buy Local
by Kyle Jacobson
You’ve probably heard of Dane Buy Local (DBL). Maybe you’ve seen their logo as a sponsor for an event, or you’ve come across their member directory, available free at various locations throughout Dane and contiguous counties. For over 20 years, DBL has been helping small and large local businesses coordinate efforts and resources to create the harmonious local business environment owners and customers enjoy today.
Originally run solely by volunteers, DBL started in 2004 as a program of Wisconsin Partners for Sustainability. It wasn’t until 2008 that DBL would hire its first staff person and then become a standalone nonprofit the following year. In 2013, DBL hired its first full-time executive director, Colin Murray. That year, DBL started working with chambers of commerce and business groups to strengthen the services already provided to their members. Each ensuing year, including through the pandemic, aimed to increase public awareness of DBL’s initiatives and its members.
When Colin retired in 2023, Paula Severson took over the role of executive director and has hit the ground running. Though her first year focused a lot on getting to learn the ropes and DBL members,
When local businesses are successful, that money comes back to the local economy.
her work as the director for the Cottage Grove Chamber of Commerce gave her an appreciation for how important it is for members to understand the value of their membership as well as for the public to seek opportunities to support the organization’s mission.
“We made a lot of adjustments in terms of what our focus has been,” says Paula. “We were very event focused prior to my time, and we really wanted to put our focus back on the members—making sure members have the tools they need: the connections and resources. Also, just pivoting a lot of our marketing and social media presence. We didn’t have a newsletter to the public, for instance, so we created a newsletter to help educate the public as well as DBL members to things going on and why it’s important to shop local.”
One of DBL’s core values is to be good for the community—something Paula calls “prosperity with a purpose.” When local businesses are successful, that money comes back to the local
economy. Many businesses are donating to local nonprofits and sponsoring events and local sports teams, but that’s just scratching the surface. They’re oftentimes investing in the community with their time and energy by volunteering with nonprofits and participating in community events.
“We’re also spending a lot of one-on-one time to make connections within the memberships for collaborations,” says Paula. “We have different things going on. There’s going to be a joint e-recycling, waste shredding. We’re connecting five or six organizations, nonprofits, and companies together. For members, rather than just hosting your own event, bring someone else in and have two or three businesses. Don’t compete for a consumer’s time. Go all together.”
There are also more obvious benefits that come from working together, like “shared resources and shared purchasing,” says Paula. “Amazon can scale, and our small businesses can’t. This resource sharing is already happening to a certain degree
“It’s so much bigger than just your purchasing power.”
with our restaurant members. Rather than a huge order of compostable soup bowls, they’re starting to look at let’s have somewhere we can all go locally to get these and still get the low pricing as if we were a big business.”
Even though businesses share the same
TROY FARM CSA IS BACK!
between DBL members is that a rising tide lifts all ships. Financial support from larger members, like Madison Gas and Electric (MGE), allows DBL to help the smaller businesses. As Paula says, “Yes, there are competitors within our membership, but it’s not cutthroat. And it’s never at the expense of another member.” Consumers also reap the benefits of these relationships, as they’re more likely to find what they’re looking for and feel good about their purchase knowing they’re supporting a business that puts community first.
Getting the public involved is something DBL strives for. Not everybody has the financial capacity to shop local, but we can all think local, which lends itself to Paula’s favorite initiative: encouraging everyone to live local.
“That’s one of the biggest changes we’ve made this year is inserting the word ‘live’ instead of ‘shop.’ It’s a holistic view. It’s not just buying meat from a local meat provider. Yes, that’s a piece of it, but are you using a local tax firm to prepare your taxes? Are you volunteering for local
nonprofits or sending your charitable giving dollars to a local nonprofit? Are you exploring local things to do? It’s so much bigger than just your purchasing power.”
A shared vision is how the organization moves forward as a whole. When it comes to what the future has in store for DBL, its members, and their communities, the answer is entirely dependent on outside forces and adaptability. As consumer trends shift and markets evolve, DBL helps everyone react thoughtfully. “We know who we are,” says Paula. “We know who we aspire to be. As the world changes, DBL needs to change too.”
One constant throughout DBL’s over20 years as an organization is educating the public on just how influential their spending habits are. Studies shared on danebuylocal.com show that if Greater Madison area consumers shift 10 percent of their spending from chains to local stores, $173 million would be retained in their local economy each year.
“At the end of the day, a business owner opens a business because they have
a passion,” says Paula. “It gives them their livelihood. It wakes them up in the morning—gets them excited. So that value that they feel with their business, we want everybody to find that value. Whether it’s volunteering at schools and making a difference with kids or finding other ways to invest in our communities, there’s a bigger heart behind what we’re doing.”
Kyle Jacobson is a writer who thinks the person who only has a hammer is better off than the person who only has a screwdriver.
Photographs provided by Dane Buy Local
Photograph by Barbara Wilson
Kyle Jacobson
D’VINO
by Kyle Jacobson
Dino Maniaci, chef and owner of D’Vino, grew up in a traditional Sicilian family, where “food, dinner, holidays, and celebrations were the center of our world. It would be anything from small dinners for 10 to big dinners for 30 to 40 every Sunday. In our family, food is an intimate and thoughtful language.”
Dino’s family, including those of his grandmother’s side (Gutilla), had operated bars and restaurants in the Midwest since the early 1900s, but I wouldn’t say the food business was in Dino’s blood. As much as he enjoyed growing up with his grandfather Augie’s pizza house, Rudy’s Pizzeria in Milwaukee, he initially chose to heed
the words of his Nana Mary, who owned and worked in restaurants until she was well into her 80s: don’t ever open a restaurant.
“I started out studying fine art, got into retail and merchandising and design, worked for a couple of design firms here in town, and then started my own business,” says Dino. “I specialized in marketing, packaging, branding, and all sorts of intensive design stuff for 25 years. I had an office here and in New York.”
When it was time for a change, Dino’s next pursuit came from his life partner, Jason, a French-trained chef turned
dog show judge. After meeting in 2006, the couple settled in Madison full-time and opened SPAWOOF, one of the first dog spas in the area. The combination of the two of them cooking took Dino’s culinary skills to a different level and introduced him to the world of fine dining and entertaining.
But Dino wasn’t starting from square one as a cook. Back in 1957, when his German Lutheran mother married his Sicilian Catholic father, Dino’s great grandmother (Nana Peppina) had one stipulation. “‘If you marry my grandson, you need to learn to cook Italian food.’ So she taught my mother how to cook all
the Italian recipes. My mom was already a great German cook, but now had this Sicilian influence. I watched my mom learning from my grandmothers and great grandmothers and great aunts, and that’s how I learned to cook.”
With great family recipes and refined abilities in the kitchen, the next logical step would be to open a restaurant. But Jason echoed the wisdom of Nana Mary,
saying, “I want nothing to do with it. It’s too hard. It’s too much. I did this already.” An LGBTQ sports lounge, on the other hand, didn’t come with the burden of a kitchen. Shortly after opening their dog spa, the couple bought the old King Club on King Street and turned it into WOOF’S.
Next door to their sports lounge, Opus martini bar operated for over 10 years,
until closing in 2017. The landlord died shortly after, and in 2019, “Somebody new bought the space,” says Dino. “They approached me and said why don’t you expand WOOF’S into here. I was like, ‘No, I don’t want to do that.’ ... But I started thinking, we can make this into a wine bar. So I got away from having to open a restaurant and told Jason we were just going to have wine and cichetti (small plates): olives, meatballs, small pizzas.” This was the birth of D’Vino, which translates to of wine or divine.
After a well-received soft opening, the time came to officially open to the public in March 2020. It was 10 days of packed houses before COVID changed things virtually overnight. Dino recalls having 200 meatballs prepped when “they started saying how many people we can have in a space. We could only have 12 people, so we invited all the 12 staff from WOOF’S to eat all the food we had here.” At the end of the night, there were four meatballs left, inspiring meatball Mondays, which became a togo carryout business for the restaurant well into the summer months.
Drumlin Ridge, located just outside Madison, offers a private rental space for small gatherings. Guests can relax with a glass or a custom flight of locally produced wine while overlooking the hillside vineyard. Enjoy small plates or browse the gift shop.
6000 River Rd., Waunakee 608-849-9463
DRUMLINRIDGEWINERY.COM
Razor Clams, Butter, Garlic, Wine Sauce
Classic Penne with Meatballs, Nana’s “Sugo”Red Sauce
The early months of hardship were a s ort of blessing for Dino. With no professional training as a chef, he was able to comfortably cook like he was preparing a meal for family at home,
allowing him to ease into what D’Vino would become. Still uninterested in reentering the profession, Jason was happy to offer advice, which Dino initially pushed back against. With
Dino’s education being mostly onsite, some speed bumps along the way were to be expected.
“I had three cases of lemons because I didn’t know how many lemons were in a case at that time. I ordered them thinking, yeah, you need three cases.” It turns out three cases is way too many, but when life gives you lemons, make limoncello. The next week, he was selling bottles of his limoncello along with a recipe for limoncello martinis.
With each passing month, D’Vino looked more and more like a restaurant until one day it was undeniable. After almost two decades of there being no restaurants in the family, Dino had found the backroad to creating the next entry. In recognition of his journey and his family, the space is full of thoughtful art pieces he’s collected from longtime friend and local artist Martha Glowacki as well as actual images of the family members who inspired him throughout his life.
“One night, I had a couple sitting at a table. One of my staff said, ‘Table 6 wants to see you.’ I was like now what? Could be good; could be bad. So I get out there, and the woman at the table said, ‘I just want to tell you that this pasta tastes exactly like home.’
“Well my grandmother’s side of the family (Gutilla) all settled in Rockford. I said, ‘Where are you eating pasta in Rockford?’
“And she said, ‘Oh, my sister used to date a guy, and we would go to his grandmother’s house for dinner on Sundays.’
“I said, ‘Really, what’s his grandmother’s name?’
“She said, ‘Grace Saladino.’
“And I pointed to my Aunt Grace in the picture above her table and said, ‘Oh, my Aunt Grace.’” The connection was amazing, and Dino marveled at his ability to maintain the smell and flavor his Nana Peppina imparted onto his Aunt Grace, then onto his mother, and finally onto him well over 50 years ago.
Five years in and going strong, the centuries-old traditions Dino continues are the essence of D’Vino. He still makes cannoli for all the people who helped his family throughout the year, just as his Nana Mary had. The house Old Fashioned, named the Five Nunzios i cinque Nunzios, celebrates his father and his father’s four cousins who were all named Nunzio after their great grandfather, Nunzio Maniaci. With so many stories filling the space, D’Vino is truly an experience several lifetimes in the making.
Kyle Jacobson is a writer who likes his wine like he likes his dad jokes—cheap yet consumable.
Photograph by Barbara Wilson
Kyle Jacobson
Photographs provided by D’Vino.
Z BOUTIQUE
by Kyle Jacobson
For those who’ve lived through the 80s and 90s, the idea of boutique shopping might conjure up images of Julia Roberts on Rodeo Drive in Pretty Woman , where commission-hungry salespeople belittle customers who don’t wear their finances on their power-suit sleeves. It’s an unfortunate stereotype, but at Z Boutique, Zoe Schuler and her sales team are familiar with breaking down all types of societal misconceptions.
Owned by Zoe and her mother, Marvel Felton, Z Boutique is a plus-size clothing store, which in the United States fashion industry typically means size 14 and up. To put this in context, roughly 67 percent of women in the United States are size 14 and up, with the majority wearing sizes 16 through 18. But Zoe’s issue doesn’t
start at the definitions of plus size; it starts at the restrictions in fashion placed on those who are plus size.
“As a plus-size woman, finding clothing that was nice and not such poor quality that it falls apart was really hard,” says Zoe. “Being a 20-something plus-size woman in Madison, there was no place to shop. It was the back corners of department stores sifting through an old rack of giant flowers and hideous print clothing.”
To address the issue, Zoe envisioned a shopping experience that would be friendly and accommodating, but she wasn’t quite sure what that looked like. Before settling on a brick-and-mortar location, she considered a pop-up store
and a website. The problem is those options felt too much like how she’d been shopping for clothes over the years: ordering something and then sending it back when it didn’t fit.
When she was 15, Zoe started working for Cornblooms shoe store at the Hilldale Shopping Center and was eventually promoted to manager. There, she learned to appreciate what a small business can do for its customers. She realized her own store would give her the freedom to stock the store with clothing her customers would love and provide a boutique level of service that wasn’t offered elsewhere.
“I have several customer segments in mind when I’m on a buying trip,” says Zoe. “On one hand, there are mature
professional women who travel a lot and expect style and quality. Then there are young moms, still chasing after their kids, who are looking for clothes that move with them. We try to have something for everybody. What I really like to make sure we have is more elevated basics that won’t go out of style next year, that wash really well, and that don’t change their fit once you wash them.”
Z Boutique opened in 2013, which was when the body-positive movement was taking off. Though larger brands were starting to make clothing for plus-size women, many were still not getting it right. The message plus-size women were being told was they shouldn’t feel like they have to hide themselves, but how good can a person feel in clothing that’s meant to fit what amounts to a larger silhouette of a size 2? Plus-size women’s body shapes are different than those of smaller women, so if the clothing is going to look good and fit
right, it needs to be designed around those silhouettes.
Zoe says, “I spend a ton of time doing research and finding brands.” Every season, she’s finding specific clothing that meets the needs of each of her customer segments. She sometimes even pays full price so that she can wear them and see how they fit. Over a decade into the age of body positivity, it’s still difficult to find
things that fit right that also don’t feel cheap or like they’ll fall apart.
When a customer comes into Z Boutique, Zoe wants all those worries they have about shopping for clothing to disappear. “We just want everybody to feel welcome with a no-pressure type of situation. We want them to feel like they’re shopping with a girlfriend with suggestions of style and things you can fit together. If somebody just wants to browse, they’re welcome to do that too. We’ve had customers come out of the fitting room in tears of relief, saying, ‘Oh my gosh, everything fit me.’”
There’s quality behind every product Zoe sells. A piece that fits right is a great start, but what’s the point if it barely lasts a season? She likes designers that have a story behind them to show they’re thinking about the person who will wear their pieces. Instead of a polyester t-shirt akin to those at a big-box store, Zoe would rather sell a $50 t-shirt made with intention that will last five times longer.
Sustainability is also on Zoe’s mind, which is part of why she runs a semiannual consignment sale. “Twice a year, I do a plus-size resale pop-up in the store. We invite our customers to set up an appointment with me and bring in gently used plus-size clothing. We sell it for them; they earn store credit. ... This year, in addition to the pop-up takeover, we’re going to test out carrying
consignment all the time in a small section of the store.”
• Gluten-Free
• Meatballs & Sausages
The bottom line is, as plus-size women, many of Zoe’s customers spend a lot of time being hard on themselves, so Z Boutique provides some reprieve. When a person works hard to make themselves presentable and still doesn’t feel good about themselves, when there’s an assumption out there that a person looks a certain way because they’re too lazy or have no self-control, Zoe provides a space for them to restore their self-image. She wants her customers to know they deserve to be taken seriously.
when • Housemade
“I’m really proud of building this community here. I think plus-size women, especially middle-aged plussize women, get overlooked so often. I think they don’t get a boutique shopping experience. Now, they get the opportunity to come into a shop and be catered to. I’d love it if they can just feel more
or
they leave. That’s my goal. Even if they just feel seen or they just had somebody to talk to or had a pleasant experience, they didn’t have to think about how they should change for 15 minutes.”
Kyle Jacobson is a writer who wonders why everyone who knows better does worse.
by Eric Tadsen .
In Memoriam
Liz Wessel
I first met Liz playing volleyball, and as I got to know her better, a couple of her best qualities stood out. She was a lover of nature, spending as much time in it as possible, and she was an active participant on behalf of her beliefs.
Liz also owned Green Concierge Travel, specializing in ecotravel and ecotourism. It was during this time that I asked Liz if she would be interested in contributing content about things to do in Wisconsin. She did, and our magazine benefitted from it. Often when she was going to talk about something to do, she and her husband would go on an outing so she could write directly from their experiences.
Liz fought on behalf of the environment, individual rights, and other important causes until brain cancer took her from us on December 22, 2024. We are all better because of Liz’s life and fortunate for what she brought to our lives. All of us at Madison Locally Sourced are thankful for what she shared through our pages. I am grateful for my friend and, in my personal belief, feel she is at peace in a place of natural beauty hitting the best hiking trails.
Photographs
Photograph by Barbara Wilson
Kyle Jacobson
DYKMAN’S TIME SHOP
by Kyle Jacobson
Humans have been obsessed with measuring time for millennia, from the Egyptian water clock to portable sundials. When Peter Henlein invented the pocket watch in 1510, we started keeping track of time in style. And look at us now. Our phones are clocks, our watches are phones, but when the battery dies, we still have the urge to figure out what time it is. Which is why there’s a place for those who want a fashionable timepiece that doesn’t buzz when it needs attention.
Since 1962, Dykman’s Time Shop has prided itself on providing expert knowledge and customer service for those seeking a timepiece that’s...well...timeless. It started with Woody and Juanita Dykman at their State Street location and continued when Jeff and Patty Plance bought the shop in 1986 and moved to Lakepoint Commons in 1990. Glenn Gardner then bought the place in 2002, and his daughter, Tracy Schoohs, purchased it from him in 2015.
What has changed over those 60 years is the increased scarcity of watchmakers. It used to
be that every jewelry store would have a watchmaker on staff, but that’s not always the case these days. Tracy tells me jewelers often send customers her way when there’s a problem with their timepiece, no matter what it is.
“There are a lot of people coming these days for heritage pieces,” says Tracy. “They’ve found or they’ve gotten grandpa’s watch or grandma’s watch, and they just want to restore it. We do that and a lot of clocks.” Many customers
Rachel Lichtman
Photograph by Eric Tadsen
Photograph by Eric Tadsen
Photograph by Eric Tadsen
come in with something sentimental, and Tracy wants people to rest assured she’s going to treat it with the care it deserves.
The staff at Dykman’s are the reason for that customer trust, and those customers come back time and time again. Tracy not only appreciates the experience her staff bring to the table, but goes out of her way to let them know they are the reason for the store’s success. “Paul Donahue has been here 20 some years fixing and selling watches. He is a wealth of information about watches—so good with the customers. And then CJ Schnier has been here for over 40 years. She has so much experience with watch bands and bracelets. She loves the customers and seeing all the different watches and clocks that come in. And then Salem has been with us for 10 years. He’s so good at making customers feel good; he takes great care of them. Raymond is a newer member of the team. He’s a watchmaker from the Philippines. He’s good at fixing many brands of watches. Everyone appreciates his big smile and friendly attitude. And then we have Anna. She’s very helpful with filling in and working with customers.”
Along with watch and clock repairs, Dykman’s is also a great place to access a few fantastic lines of clocks and watches, including Howard Miller and Seiko for clocks and Citizen, Tissot, Tense Wooden Watches, Bulova, and 40 Nine for watches. “Bertucci is a local brand we carry that’s been made in Illinois for 20
years,” says Paul. “They’re a great price for something that lasts 10 times longer than a normal watch.”
Buying a nice watch is generally still a prestige thing. It’s something nice you buy for someone else or for yourself to mark an accomplishment, show you care, or complete a look. Dykman’s staff have noticed a younger generation of people coming in looking for mechanical watches to stand out against smart watches.
Paul, as a watchmaker, acknowledges the efforts of various brands to create mechanical timepieces with crystals on
the back to show off the inner workings. “Prior to that, we were the only ones who could see all that beautiful work,” says Paul. “When they spend all this time and attention on detail making the inside as pretty as the outside, everyone should get to appreciate it.”
It’s funny that before talking to the team at Dykman’s, I’d have thought artisan-made watches and clocks were something of the past. The clocks I have around my house weren’t purchased with much thought, but maybe that was too dismissive on my part. I remember as a grade schooler marveling at my grandparents’ cuckoo
Photograph by Eric Tadsen
Photograph provided by Dykman’s Time Shop
Photograph by Eric Tadsen
clock and their grandfather clock. Dykman’s and other watchmakers are effectively keeping something alive that deserves recognition not only for its artistry, but the ingenuity of the craft itself.
Paul says, “We do it all. Everything from while-you-wait repairs, easy things like battery changes, to complete rebuilds. We can do cosmetic refinishes of timepieces as well, which I do by hand. We service clocks. We do house calls. We try to assess a customer’s needs, ask all the pertinent questions, and then we go through the watch top to bottom to make
So many old clocks and watches ticking into a mechanical hum accented by the occasional chiming of yet-to-be-synchronized hours.
sure there’s nothing that got missed. We always doublecheck our work before it goes out the door.”
Dykman’s even has their own line of watches, which they started for their 40th anniversary. They use the same Swiss parts found in other watches, but because they’re assembled in the United States, they’re roughly a third of the cost. Every Dykman brand watch is surgical-grade stainless steel and has sapphire crystal, which is highly scratch resistant. If you
go with one of their battery-powered watches, you’ll also get free batteries for forever.
Watchmaking feels like one of those old-world professions. In fact, one of my friends likened it to a cobbler. To me, performing such a specialized skill by hand equates to a sense of pride in the work being done. Paul encourages anyone interested in watchmaking to pursue the career, saying, “If you’re a young person and you want to get into the trades, if you
Photograph by Eric Tadsen
Photograph by Eric Tadsen
Photograph by Eric Tadsen
have good eye-hand coordination, if you think like an engineer, if you become a watchmaker, you’re never going to be unemployed. ... It’s 100 percent job placement before you graduate.”
Throughout the interview, I often felt like I was in another world. So many old clocks and watches ticking into a mechanical hum accented by the occasional chiming of yet-to-be-synchronized hours. I think it’s incredible that these sorts of establishments exist right here in Madison. Not every jewelry store gets to feel like it’s part museum. If you ever find yourself in the area, stop by and take a look around. As Tracy likes to say, “We always have time for you at Dykman’s.”
Kyle Jacobson is a writer who believes when figuring out how much time you’ve wasted, it’s important to measure twice.
Photograph by Barbara Wilson
Kyle Jacobson
Photograph by Eric Tadsen
Finding Joy Again Through
BIRDING
by Jennifer Born Rutten
I began my Great Wisconsin Birdathon journey eight years ago and haven’t looked back since. There are many impactful aspects of participating and being captain of a team of passionate birders and conservationists.
I found the Birdathon during a time of family loss. Birding, or birdwatching, provided a distraction from my sorrow, a sense of purpose in raising funds for a cause I believed in, and a connection to nature that brought me peace. Not only did I want to succeed in competitive birding and team fundraising, but it also became a solace for dealing with my grief. Getting out and recording spring migration for the Birdathon helped me through a sad time.
As we know, nature has healing powers, but the feeling of being in a Birdathon pack is also healing—a pack of excited and likeminded people that crave the
first sighting of a black-and-white warbler on their Birdathon eBird list. My pack walked new lands to grow our bird list, gathered to share food and talk about birds, and learned about ways to improve bird habitats on our state’s vital lands. This sense of community is deeply fulfilling.
Today, growing the teams and being a part of the Natural Resources Foundation (NRF) Great Wisconsin Birdathon planning committee, being captain for the Glacial Lakes Conservancy’s (GLC’s) Chickadees team, and creating a fun day of birding is something I look forward to every year. Since GLC is a land trust, we have access to protected lands that our team’s birders may not otherwise be able to see. Recruiting new birders, pairing them up with experienced birders, and seeing them grow over the years with the GLC team is fantastic.
Seeing the commitment of our team over the years to raise over $5,000 per year towards NRF Bird Protection Fund and GLC’s preservation of bird habitat in five key southeastern Wisconsin counties is compelling. And honestly, collecting the annual Great Wisconsin Birdathon t-shirt is quite satisfying. I encourage you to get involved, join a team, and raise money.
About the Great Wisconsin Birdathon
The Great Wisconsin Birdathon is Wisconsin’s largest fundraiser for bird conservation. It’s like a walk-a-thon style fundraiser, but instead of logging miles, participants log their bird sightings. Each year, bird enthusiasts from across the state raise support and awareness for bird conservation by forming a team or donating to a team.
Participation is free, and all skill levels are welcome to join. How, when, and
Photograph by Jane Furchgott
Photograph by Ryan Brady
Photograph by Triet
Tran
Eastern Bluebird
Prothonotary Warbler
Semipalmated Plover with a Sanderling and four Dunlins
where people go birding is up to them. While most teams choose to compete over a 24-hour period, many opt to bird over the course of a weekend, a week, or even the entirety of the Birdathon. Teams can bird anywhere in Wisconsin: a backyard, a local park, or a route to hit all their favorite birding hot spots. Both novice and expert birders can have fun and make a difference in protecting birds.
The Great Wisconsin Birdathon is organized by the NRF of Wisconsin as part of their mission to protect our state’s lands, waters, and wildlife. Since it began in 2012, it has raised more than $1 million for bird protection in Wisconsin.
Projects supported by the Birdathon proceeds include conservation of Wisconsin’s most threatened and endangered bird species; creation and protection of critical breeding, stopover, and overwintering habitat; research and monitoring; and education and outreach. The Bird Protection Fund Committee, made up of a group of Wisconsin bird conservation experts, helps determine where each year’s funds will have the most positive impact on our birds.
In 2024, more than 800 birders came together to raise $117,846 to protect Wisconsin’s birds. Get involved at wisconservation.org/Birdathon.
Jennifer Born Rutten is the executive director of Glacial Lakes Conservancy (GLC), a land trust. GLC is in its 29th year, has preserved 2,200 acres of land, and continues to grow. Jennifer has been a Birdathon team leader for the last four years and has been a part of the Natural Resources Foundation’s Birdathon planning committee for five years.
New to birding? Start with ducks!
When you begin your birdwatching journey, certain types of birds, like ducks, are better starters than others. Ducks are bigger bodied, slow moving, and allow for close viewing— ideal for honing your identification skills. Many ducks can be viewed close to shore and have unique identification features that help you easily distinguish the different species. We are fortunate to have a bounty of waterbodies in Wisconsin to go birding for waterfowl. Check out Horicon Marsh, Harrington Beach State Park, and University Bay.
Jennifer Born Rutten
Redhead Duck
Mallard Red-breasted Merganser
Wood Duck
Photograph by Kate Redmond
Photograph by Warren Lynn
Photograph by Helen Holz
Photograph by Soumika Gaddameedi
by Dr. Lori Scarlett, DVM
Recently, I fielded a question from a concerned cat owner about whether it was ok to feed her cats food containing eggs since she’d heard cats were dying from bird flu. I thought so, but realized I didn’t really know much about bird flu, cow flu, or cat flu. Dane County is home to many cats, dogs, people, horses, cows, bats, and backyard chickens. The commonality among these animals is that they all can be infected with influenza A. But what is influenza exactly? What’s with all those numbers and letters? Why are egg prices so high?
The influenza virus is a single-stranded RNA virus, and there are four types: A, B, C, and D. Influenza B only infects people and is the type most likely to cause a flu pandemic. Type C infections also only occur in humans and tend to cause mild illness. Type D primarily infects cattle and is one of the pathogens causing bovine respiratory disease (BRD), an often-fatal disease in calves. It can also infect horses, sheep, goats, poultry, pigs, and camels as well as humans. While type D can cause infection in humans, it’s unlikely to do so. Influenza type A, however, can be carried by or infect a lot of different animals, including birds, humans, and pigs.
What’s the Deal with Influenza?
Influenza viruses are further divided into subtypes based on two proteins found on the surface of the protein. There are 18 hemagglutinin (H) subtypes and 11 neuraminidase (N) subtypes. This is why scientists rattle off all those letters and numbers. There are also clades and subclades; thankfully, we don’t need to go into that much detail.
Two subtypes have only been found in bats common in Central and South America. The virus was found when screening healthy bats, so we don’t need to worry about congested, snotty bats flying around. Research suggests that bat influenza viruses would need to significantly change to become capable of infection and spread easily among people, so there’s no current risk to humans at this time.
Dogs can get influenza, and we’ve seen sporadic outbreaks across the United States. The most common brand of dog influenza is H3N2. Just to confuse matters, humans have an H3N2 subtype that causes seasonal influenza, but it’s not the same as the dog subtype. You can’t get influenza from your dog and vice versa. Dog influenza causes respiratory signs, like coughing, sneezing, discharge
from the nose, lethargy, and a decreased appetite. Another subtype, H3N8, affected many racing greyhounds in 2005. There is a vaccine available for dogs that protects against both subtypes and is recommended for dogs that travel a lot or have compromised immune systems. H3N8 is also the subtype of horse flu. But again, not the same as the dog H3N8. Couldn’t we just give each subtype a name, like Orion? Equine influenza virus (EIV) causes the same symptoms in horses as we see in people and dogs: upper respiratory signs, fever, and fatigue.
Each of the dog and horse subtypes were originally found in birds and then spread to the other species. The first description of bird flu was in 1878 in northern Italy and referred to as “fowl plague” since it had a high death rate, much like the black plague. By definition, plague is caused by bacteria; scientists didn’t determine it was a virus until 1955. In 1981, the name was changed from fowl plague to avian influenza.
Birds have a lot of different subtypes and strains of influenza, so they’re classified as either low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) or highly pathogenic (HPAI).
In the United States, most bird flu outbreaks have been due to LPAI strains, which cause only mild disease. If you raise chickens, you might notice some nasal discharge, decreased appetite, fewer eggs laid, diarrhea, and ruffled feathers, but most chickens recover. The highly pathogenic strains are the ones we worry about. Currently, the subtype is H5N1, making the full name HPAI A(H5N1). Infected birds may have nasal discharge, coughing, sneezing, diarrhea, reduced egg production or soft-shelled/ misshapen eggs, purple discoloration of the skin, swelling of the head, tremors, incoordination, and sudden death. Rarely do chickens or other poultry recover from HPAI. When a flock is showing signs, the whole flock will be euthanized to contain the disease. Wild birds don’t get sick, but carry the virus and can pass it to other poultry in the area.
In March 2024, HPAI A(H5N1) was found in cows on many dairy farms over several states. Prior to this, bird flu viruses hadn’t been found in cows. HPAI can also infect other animals, including cats, dogs, and people. Lactating cows are most commonly affected, and clinical signs include a decreased appetite; reduced milk production; and a thickened, discolored appearance to the milk. Luckily, most affected dairy cows recover with supportive treatment.
Cats can become infected if they eat sick or dead infected birds, drink unpasteurized (raw) milk from infected cows, or eat undercooked or raw meat. Dogs also become infected in the same
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way as cats, but the incidence is lower. Signs of HPAI infection in cats and dogs include fever, lethargy, decreased appetite, reddened eyes, discharge from the eyes and nose, difficulty breathing, tremors, seizures, blindness, and incoordination.
How can you protect your pets? For cats and dogs, make sure you are feeding a cooked diet. Raw diets are
not recommended, as they can be contaminated with bacteria as well as viruses and aren’t a healthier alternative to cooked diets. Avoid unpasteurized milk and raw eggs. If your pet shows signs of an upper respiratory disease or just doesn’t seem right, please contact your veterinarian for care. While human influenza vaccines don’t protect against HPAI, it’s always a good idea to get your yearly flu vaccine. We never know when one subtype may suddenly become much more severe.
Dr. Lori Scarlett, DVM, is the owner and veterinarian at Four Lakes Veterinary Clinic. fourlakesvet.com
Dr. Lori Scarlett
by Ryan Myers
RYAN Myers
by Kyle Jacobson
“Every art fair, I get at least a dozen or more really horrible comments,” says Ryan Myers. “People upset with my work, or they’ll say, ‘What the [expletive deleted] is this [expletive deleted]. I don’t want to be in your dreams.’”
Welcome to the wonderful world of being an artist who doesn’t fall in line. Many of Ryan’s pieces are instantly recognizable with their subdued facial expressions and revealed teeth. The effect may initially be off putting, but spending time staring into the lidded eyes of one of his bird sculptures inevitably taps into some back part of the mind. Why is this familiar? Just as with the glassy sheen of a placid lake, we start imagining everything going on underneath the surface.
Then Ryan shared some of his inspirations (comic books, superhero stuff, antiques, and South American ceramics), and the aura of his work started to take shape. Birdman , He-Man , and Johnny Quest jumped to mind, and I reveled in a piece of my childhood I’d not considered in decades. But that’s me. Other viewers will find something else reflecting back—an extension of incoherent experiences that insist on some level of meaning. Some might see that energy as taboo. I started to see it as rad, with the ability to inspire everyone from art connoisseurs to skateboarders.
Going back to his days at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Ryan really just wanted to make art. But
Photograph by Ryan Myers
Photograph
LETTING THE PROCESS OF WOOD FIRING TAKE OVER IS PART OF THE ENJOYMENT.
getting to that point wouldn’t be so straightforward. Art students often struggle to make a living on their work alone, so a supplementary career is often recommended. For Ryan, it was teaching K-12.
After completing the education program and becoming K-12 certified, Ryan realized “I had enough credits where if I stayed another semester, I could get my BFA too. While I was in school that final semester getting my BFA, I had an adjunct professor who pushed me toward grad school. He helped me get into UW–Madison.”
Ryan fondly remembers the UW–Madison program having low enrollment while he attended, from 2002 to 2005. Not only was he receiving an education from great professors, some of whom became great friends, but he also had access to unlimited kiln space. It was a luxury he shared with the undergrads who were in the class he assistant taught. Ryan also met Kay, who he would later marry.
After grad school, Ryan moved to Stoddard to be closer to his daughter in La Crosse and focus on making life as an artist work. “I had to rethink what I was making because I was trying to sell it,” says Ryan. “That’s where the pots started. I started making sculptural, functional pieces. People are more likely
to buy a functional piece, even if they never use it.”
After a short time substitute teaching K-12, “I had the opportunity to teach at Viterbo. I taught there for four years. It was just adjunct and paid horrible, but I had a blast.” Kay, on the other hand, couldn’t find a job she truly wanted. She was overworked and underpaid, so after some discussion, Ryan and Kay decided to move to Madison.
Today, Ryan and his family live in Stoughton, where he has been able to focus on his art full-time for the last three years. His studio is loaded with pieces at every phase of creation on shelves and against walls. In the corner sits an electric kiln, but the past year was spent gathering brick to build his own woodfire kiln in the backyard, something he’s wanted since going out to wood fire his pieces at Picnic Point in Madison 20 years ago.
“The thing I like about wood firings is when it has some flashing and there are different tones and layers. It’s all natural. There’s no glaze on the outside; it’s all in the atmosphere. ... I grew up around antiques. My dad was a dealer, and I feel like that’s why I make stuff primitive. I want texture. I try to distress my pieces so it looks like they have some history and some age.” Different woods result in a range of effects: oak for a yellowish
color, elm for orange, and pine for a green gloss appearance.
Much to Ryan’s nature, letting the process of wood firing take over is part of the enjoyment. “Every time I unload the kiln, it’s kind of exciting or very disappointing.” If you turn over some of Ryan’s pieces, you’ll notice color variations indicating the path of the flame.
Photograph by Ryan Myers
Photograph by Ryan Myers
Photograph by Ryan Myers
Being a full-time artist is also possible because Ryan has learned where to spend his time and effort. As noted earlier, art fairs can be a bust because people aren’t looking for the style of art he creates, so he focuses on pottery tours.
“Part of the excitement about finding this place in Stoughton is the Clay Collective Pottery Tour. I’ve been a part of that for years, and now I’m a host. So I’m a stop on the tour. There’s two sales: a spring sale and a fall sale. I don’t have to do anything except clean up my space and walk out my door in the morning.” Ryan also participates in the St. Croix Pottery Tour in Minnesota as well as others in the Midwest.
Though some pieces are biographical, such as a head with a bird’s nest in its mouth—representing his finding a place to call home, Ryan views his work very matter of factly. “To some extent, they’re just pots. I feel people will, because there’s a face on it, believe there has to be more to it. Why is this a cup with a face on it? What’s the history? I want
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Photograph provided by Schaller Gallery
the perceived idea that there’s a history behind it, but that’s not necessarily anything more than a cup.”
I think a small part of why Ryan creates is to see people’s reactions as they project themselves onto his pieces—arriving at meaning where none explicitly exists. He then focuses on furthering his own meaning after pottery-tour season by taking time off to be with his daughters, explore Greater Madison’s bike trails, and fish placid waters.
Kyle Jacobson is a writer who thinks vampires are considered counterculture because of Sesame Street.
Win a Bergamot Massage Signature 60-Minute Massage ($95 value)
question:
“What was the name of Dino Manciani’s dog spa?”
Enter by submitting your answer to the above question online at madisonlocallysourced.com or by email or mail. With your answer, include your name, mailing address, phone number, and email to mls@madisonlocallysourced.com or Madison Locally Sourced c/o ASJ Publishing LLC PO Box 559 McFarland, WI 53558
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winners
Thank you to everyone who entered our previous contest. The answer to the question
“What is the name of another restaurant created by the owners of Gates + Brovi” is Marigold or Sardine. A Bergamot Massage & Bodywork gift card was sent to our winner, Elizabeth Burtman of Cottage Grove, WI.
