Madison Essentials Magazine November 2015-January 2016

MADISON ESSENTIALS m

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CONTENTS november 2015–january 2016

vol. 44

Formerly Madison Originals Magazine

publisher Towns & Associates, Inc. 126 Water Street Baraboo, WI 53913-2445 P (800) 575-8757 • F (608) 356-8875

essential art

MadisonEssentialsMagazine.com

Philip Salamone.............................24

editor

dining

Amy S. Johnson ajohnson@madisonessentialsmagazine.com

contributing writers Jeanne Carpenter, Chelsey Dequaine, Yvette Jones, Cara Lombardo, Lily Mank, Kay Myers, Lauren Smith, Liz Wessel, Joan W. Ziegler

publication designer

Plaza Tavern..................................20 Tempest Oyster Bar.........................6

home The Art of Aesthetic Pruning...........52 Creating a Warmer, Healthier Home..........................................42

Barbara Wilson

service

copy editor

Holiday Stress.................................32

Kyle Jacobson

graphic designers

The Road Home..............................18

Susie Anderson, Jennifer Denman, Sarah Hill, Barbara Wilson

shopping

photographer

Cornblooms ..................................14

Eric Tadsen

additional photographs Green Concierge Travel, Maison Meredith Photography, NARI, Philip Salamone, The Road Home, ZDA, Inc.

advertising director Amy S. Johnson

Book Shopping, Part I....................10 Jazzman.........................................28 Vinyl at MadCity Music Exchange....................................38

travel A Getaway to Madison’s Capitol Square ..........................48

ajohnson@madisonessentialsmagazine.com

(800) 575-8757x105

advertising coordinator Kelly Hopkins khopkins@madisonessentialsmagazine.com

(608) 445-5556

administration

including From the Editor................................4 Contest Information......................54 Contest Winners............................54

Jennifer Baird, Lori Czajka, Krystle Naab, Shayla Porter MadisonEssentialsMagazine.com

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Cover photo of Oysters Rockefeller taken

by Eric Tadsen at Tempest Oyster Bar .

from the editor When it feels like someone is only presenting me a best-case scenario, I inquire about other scenarios, including making sure we consider the worst case. This can sometimes come across a bit pessimistic. But in actuality, I feel I’m being a realist by looking at all sides, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

And I most often choose a common-sense approach when determining both my personal and professional paths. But occasionally common sense inexplicably clashes with life. I am weary from an onslaught of negative media, negative political rhetoric, headlines of violence, and a “we vs. they” mentality. The weight of constant negativity can wear one down. But common sense tells me that, while I may feel the urge to shut my eyes, it is eyes wide open that see solutions.

The completion of our final 2015 issue has my team looking forward to our 2016 editorial calendar. We are thankful to continue the positive community focus we’ve had since our start in 2004. We are fortunate to be able to do so because there are great things constantly happening. Additionally in 2016, we will broach a few of the more difficult topics that affect us daily. It is our hope to do so in a way that respects all parties and sides, and inspires our working together for solutions. The contemplation and consideration of varying views can ultimately provide the best solutions, and it is our hope to encourage this type of cooperation in 2016, leading to an even stronger community by its end.

To finish out the 2015 year, we are featuring the classic Plaza Tavern and newer favorite Tempest Oyster Bar. For holiday shopping, there is still no one better for men’s attire than Jazzman, and for shoes and accessories, we have one of my favorites: Cornblooms. We also start a two-part series on local book shopping, and part I includes some wonderful reading and gift suggestions.

If you’re looking for a great weekend at this or any time of year, look no further than downtown Madison. There you will find endless food options, shopping, museums, and our beautiful State Capitol!

We talk vinyl with MadCity Music Exchange; pruning with ZDA, Inc.; how to create a warmer, healthier home with NARI members; and we talk with artist Philip Salamone.

On a more serious note, we feature The Road Home, which helps homeless families with children, and we discuss the potential challenges brought on by holiday-time stressors.

At the end of each year I like to express my gratitude to all those who make our publication possible: colleagues, writers, photographers, advertisers, and you, our readers. Without every one of you, we couldn’t do this.

Finally, if I could wish all of you one thing for the holidays and New Year it would be human kindness. May you find yourself both a contributor and benefactor.

Photos on page 3: top—taken at Cornblooms by Eric Tadsen.

amy johnson

middle—taken at Jazzman by Eric Tadsen. bottom—taken at MadCity Music Exchange by Eric Tadsen.

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Madison’s Children Museum Rooftop

Photograph provided by Green Concierge Travel

Watch for the next issue February 2016.

Family-crafted wine and spirits in a historic setting overlooking the Wisconsin River.

Voted Best in Madison for 32 years HOLIDAY PARTIES­—we make it easy! Private dining rooms available at no extra cost. The smallest is ideal for 10-20, larger rooms seat up to 100 and the cocktail lounge accommodates up to 50. We make menu planning simple: guests may order individually or banquet options include tea, appetizers, family style entrées and dessert.

Winery Tours & Tastings Spirits Tastings wollersheim.com Open daily, year-round Winery: 10am-5pm | Distillery: noon -5pm

238-6445

2039 Allen Blvd. • Corner of University Ave., Middleton

www.imperialgarden.com PRAIRIE DU SAC, WISCONSIN

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e ss ential dining

Tempest THE PEARL OF DOWNTOWN

By Jeanne Carpenter

“We use seasonal and local produce to accompany dishes, which results in some really unique plates.”

Oyster Bar

Madison has long been known as a foodie haven for local fare and farm to fork restaurants. But thanks to Tempest Oyster Bar on East Wilson Street, this capital city is also home to one of the best East Coast-style seafood restaurants in the Midwest.

Looking for a daily dinner menu of fresh, flown-in oysters from the East or West Coast? Check. How about a Blue Marlin steak that’s more satisfying than a T-bone? Check. Craft cocktails? Check.

Seasonal sides, famous hash browns, and local bands on the weekends?

Check, check, and check.

When it opened four years ago in what was once Restaurant Magnus, townies asked owner Henry Doane why on earth he was opening a seafood restaurant in a place that’s more than 1,000 miles from an ocean. His answer was simple, “All great cities have a good

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seafood restaurant. Madison has a few, but I thought there was room for one more—a really great seafood restaurant with a big, brash East Coast style.”

Whitefish Cakes

with roasted capers and watercress buttermilk creme

FRESH • SUSTAINABLE • DELICIOUS

• Live Maine Lobster • Marlin • Tuna • Salmon • Alaskan King Crab Legs • Friday Fish Fry featuring Blue Gill & Lake Perch • Saturday Prime Rib Join us for Oyster Happy Hour Featuring $2.00 Oysters & Smalls Menu Mon. – Fri. 4 pm – 7 pm Fine Oysters Fish • Steaks 120 East Wilson Madison, WI 608.258.1443 www.tempestoyster.com

And that’s certainly one thing Tempest Oyster Bar does not lack: style. Guests enter through an unassuming door off a busy city street, only to turn a corner and be immediately greeted by a remarkable 1948 wooden Chris Craft boat. A left turn flows into a long, welcoming room filled with a stunning backlit bar, built by Henry from stacked wine bottles. Along the back wall is an

Rainbow Trout

unexpected seating area enveloped by a colossal plaster clamshell bathed in blue light.

As is not always the case in one-ofa-kind restaurants, at the Tempest Oyster Bar the food equals, and often even outshines (if that’s possible), the ambiance. While the menu changes seasonally, three signature dishes keep customers coming back for more. First is the aforementioned Blue Marlin. Served with a broiled hazelnut, pesto crust, lime aioli, and crispy fried leeks, the fish is firm, similar to a steak, with white, succulent meat, prepared medium-rare.

It’s the perfect balance of flavors and textures, with lemon, salt, and butter often rendering customers speechless.

“The Blue Marlin is a dish I eat all the time, and I mean all the time,” Henry says. “It fills you up without feeling bloated—it’s the perfect alternative to a big steak.”

Speaking of steak, the Tempest offers a second signature dish: the Carpetbagger.

A tenderloin filet is marinated in dark beer, garlic, olive oil, Tabasco, brown

Famous for Steaks

Home of the 20 oz.

Bone-in Tenderloin • Friday Night—Fresh Pan-fried Lake Perch • Saturday Night—Prime Rib • Sunday—Chicken Dinner • Late Night Bar Menu & Happy Hour (Beginning at 10:00 p.m.)

• Seasonal Outdoor Dining in our Grotto • Corral Room Available for Private Parties OPEN DAILY

Mon-Fri Bar Opens at 4:30—Dinner at 5:00 Weekends Open at 5:00

For Reservations Call: 256-3570 Entrances at

116 S. Hamilton & 115 W. Main Street

with parsnip and delicata squash hash MadisonEssentialsMagazine.com

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Sea Scallops

with lardon, apple, brown sugar, and brandy

sugar, and lemon juice. Fresh oysters are stuffed, skewered, and grilled inside the meat, spilling out only when the steak is cut, like opening a birthday present. It’s the kind of dish your boyfriend orders only to have his girlfriend eat most of it off his plate.

pan-seared pork belly is accompanied by silky smooth parmesan grits, two scallops, and three shrimp, served with a slice of lemon, white wine, and butter sauce. The smokiness of the pork perfectly balances the seafood, all cooked medium rare.

Third up is the restaurant’s famous Shrimp, Scallop, and Grits, a take on the classic Southern dish. An ample piece of

In addition to a trio of signature dishes and impressive seasonal menu, customers will want to order hash

“...a really great seafood restaurant with a big, brash East Coast style.”

peppercorn crusted Yellowfin

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Tuna Nicoise

browns at Tempest. Henry considers himself something of a “hash brown aficionado.” Since first opening the Blue Marlin in 1990, Henry has been perfecting hash browns for decades, and it shows. Perfectly crisped on the outside while firm and fluffy on the inside, the hash browns can be a meal unto themselves.

Before being seated at a table to enjoy an impressive menu, patrons are encouraged to stop at the bar for an oyster appetizer. A changing oyster menu is printed daily, reflecting the types of raw oysters that have been flown in and prepared that day. Selections include both East and West Coast options.

Catering - Patio - Private Rooms - Online Ordering

www.sprecherspub.com Wisconsin's Family Brew Pub

MADISON

Bar is to present fresh seafood, both ocean and lake, in a simple manner that showcases the seafood without smothering it. “You’ll find us serving more unconventional dishes than most seafood restaurants, and that’s on purpose,” Henry says. “We use seasonal and local produce to accompany dishes, which results in some really unique plates.”

And what about the argument of serving seafood in a landlocked state?

1262 John Q Hammons Dr

Ph: 608.203.6545

Contrary to popular belief, just because a restaurant is on the coast doesn’t mean it is always serving fresh seafood from its adjacent water source. “Actually, you’re going to get the freshest seafood the closer you live to Chicago,” Henry says. “Most seafood is caught, shipped to Chicago, and distributed from there.

So here in Madison, we’re sitting pretty.”

Jeanne Carpenter is a cheese geek and food writer living in Oregon, Wisconsin.

Photographs by Eric Tadsen.

Henry says West Coast oysters tend to be more on the briny side, but often feature more exotic shells with diverse colors. East Coast oysters are what most people are used to, with a smoother shell and milder flavor. Every oyster on Tempest’s menu—some days as many as 10—is dramatically different.

“Oysters taste different depending on where and how they’re grown,” Henry says. “The salinity of the water and the food that they’re eating results in rarely finding two types of oysters that are the same.” For example, the Blue Point oyster from Long Island, New York, carries subtle pine and anise notes, while the Dabob Bay oyster from the Hood Canal in Washington is light, crisp, and salty. Customers can also order “oyster shots”—combining regional oysters with vodka, sake, tequila, and lime.

No matter the type of oyster or dinner one orders, the goal of Tempest Oyster MadisonEssentialsMagazine.com

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essential shopping

BOOK SHOPPING, PART I

I’ve done it, and you probably have, too. You walk into a bookstore for a gift and realize that, while you can almost remember the name of the recipient’s favorite author, you have little to go on.

“The first name is Italian, I think, and the last name begins with a T or D.”

and neither produced helpful responses.

Then the customer offered, “I can see the cover. I think it’s green.” This provided just enough of a clue, and after some false starts, they solved the mystery. The book, in case you are curious, is Heritage of Darkness by Kathleen Ernst, which is part of the Chloe Ellefson mystery

Or, on a search for the book that someone described so beautifully the previous night over a glass of wine, you stumble through the storyline: “It follows a young woman through a wrenching divorce. No, maybe her young child is missing.”

Joanne Berg, owner of Mystery to Me bookstore on Monroe Street in Madison, is comfortable with this type of challenge. On a busy day during her store’s first holiday season, a woman came in looking for a particular book to purchase as a gift for her husband. “I can’t remember the title,” the customer said.

Joanne asked her usual follow-up questions, “Do you know the author?

Can you tell me what the book is about?”

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series by the Middleton author. The book makes an excellent gift for anyone interested in mysteries and Norwegian heritage. It also made an excellent gift for the woman’s husband, and the next year, she returned with another similarly incomplete booklist, confident all would turn out well.

Joanne is new to the book business, having spent 26 years in administration in the student affairs office at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was thinking of retirement and what might come next when she saw an article about the imminent closing of Booked for Murder, a mystery bookshop at the corner of Farley Avenue and University Avenue in Madison. Joanne clipped the newspaper article and carried it in her pocket all day, wondering if this could be her next endeavor. That evening when she shared the article, her partner encouraged her to pursue the idea.

“Your role is always to start something new or to fix something that’s not quite working.”

The MBA Joanne earned several years earlier allowed her to create a business plan and shift careers rapidly. The newspaper article appeared in March 2013, and by June 15, Joanne purchased the inventory of Booked for Murder, augmented it with her selections, leased a storefront in her own neighborhood, and opened Mystery to Me.

Sandi started her store with four other women, all of whom were taking women’s studies classes through the UW-Extension before the founding of the UW-Madison department. They wanted to create a place for women to

be taken seriously and where women’s work would be valued and fairly compensated. This was during the second wave of feminism, and changes in the publishing industry meant that small presses were printing radical

Joanne gathered advice from other independent bookstore owners and began to make choices that would shape her bookstore. She extended beyond the mystery niche with children’s books, and earned a James Patterson grant that allowed her to start with a healthy inventory of children’s literature. Then she broadened her offerings to include new fiction and non-fiction releases likely to be interesting to her customer base, titling the section “Something Other than Mystery.” She created a store the Dudgeon Monroe Street neighborhood has adopted, and draws mystery readers from surrounding communities.

One of the bookstore owners who provided advice to Joanne was Sandi Torkildson, who has run A Room of One’s Own, just off State Street in downtown Madison, for 40 years.

Probably Sandi’s most important advice to anyone opening a bookstore is to learn about the financial aspects of running a business. She points out that it’s easy to be passionate about books, but the financial side is the hard work that keeps the doors open.

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feminist essays and literature, which the fledgling store stocked. Although the others left to pursue different professions, Sandi stayed with the store and maintained the vision.

Sandi says, “It is not just that we had the books, but that we had them on display proudly.” The staff labeled sections with explicit titles so that you didn’t have to ask about an uncomfortable topic, and you were more likely to come across the book you needed. In pre-internet days, this access was unavailable anywhere else.

Women used the store as a refuge and a resource, gaining the confidence to take their place in society. Posters

offered support groups and assistance for women discovering their sexuality, exploring careers, or dealing with difficult relationships. Even the bookmarks the store distributed listed community resources helpful to women. Years later, an older woman in law school recounted that a poster in the store offering help for battered women had provided the impetus she needed to leave an abusive relationship and build a new life.

Dorothy Allison, who visited the store while in town to do training at CUNA, says that it was while sitting in A Room of One’s Own that she realized she wanted to be a writer. Her acclaimed novels include Bastard out of Carolina and Cavedweller, both of which deal with mother-daughter issues, gender, and class and are set in small towns in the South.

A Room of One’s Own started as a women-centered store and expanded their fiction, history, and children’s sections when Borders closed in Madison. In 2011, Sandi welcomed the opportunity to take over the space first inhabited by Canterbury Booksellers, and folded the used book offerings of Avol’s and Bookworks in with the new books of A Room of One’s Own. She sells the used books on consignment for the other two shops, and she proudly notes that this allows three independent bookstores to thrive. Now her store offers a strong selection of new and used

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books in all categories and continues to lead the way in GLBTQ literature and women’s studies.

Working at the counter, Sandi notices many people coming in from surrounding communities where they don’t have a bookstore in their town. She notes that, while it is possible to order books online, shopping in a bookstore allows you to explore and discover gems you might not have realized you’d enjoy.

In her new store, she deliberately created smaller rooms that lend themselves to browsing, a rotating selection of books chosen to appear face out, and shelves peppered with recommendation slips from staff members. Sandi finds that regulars often find a particular staff

member whose taste they share and rely on those recommendations.

Hearing Joanne and Sandi talk about their experiences connecting customers to books and authors leaves little doubt there is a need for community bookstores. “Most authors, even big name authors, are very supportive of independent bookstores,” says Sandi. “We give input on advance reading copies, provide readings and recommendations, and can help a new author get noticed.”

And what would both store owners like you to know? “It’s ok to take the last book; we can always order more.”

Yvette Jones is the owner of designCraft Advertising, a Madison agency focused on local businesses and nonprofit organizations.

Photographs by Eric Tadsen.

A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN 315 W. Gorham Street Madison, WI 53703 (608) 257-7888 roomofonesown.com MYSTERY TO ME 1863 Monroe Street Madison, WI 53711 (608) 283-9332 mysterytomebooks.com

A Room of One’s Own suggests: Jane Smiley’s epic trilogy, which starts with Some Luck (now out in paperback), and continues with Early Warning. The trilogy spans a century through the lives of an Iowa family in 1920. The last volume is out in November.

The Republic of Imagination: A Life in Books, by Azar Nafisi (author of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books), is a part memoir, part literary essay about the importance of fiction to the American imagination and values. She will be at the Wisconsin Book Festival in October.

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander, is a book that will change the way you see the world as it helps to fuel a nationwide social movement.

Euphoria, by Lily King, is one of our “Something Other than Mystery” favorites (and a New York Times Best Seller) that is set between WWI and WWII. The story is inspired by the life of anthropologist Margaret Mead during her research in New Guinea.

Make Me, Lee Child’s book 20 in the Jack Reacher series. Reacher is a former major in the U.S. Army military police.

He now roams the United States taking on odd jobs and getting into dangerous situations. The first Reacher book is titled Killing Floor.

Old World Murder, by Kathleen Ernst, is the first novel in the award-winning Chloe Ellefson History Sites mystery series, set in 1982 at Old World Wisconsin and the nearby village of Eagle. The sixth book in the series, Death on the Prairie, will be released in October. This story takes place in May 1983 at Laura Ingalls Wilder historic sites in the Midwest.

Kitchens of the Great Midwest, by J. Ryan Stradal, is a novel about a Midwestern chef savant and the people and food in her life. The backdrop is the foodie revolution, but it deals with class, economics, and family.

Waiting, by Kevin Henkes, is a wonderful new picture book for younger audiences about the pleasure of waiting for both the expected and unexpected to happen.

Mystery to Me suggests: Death at La Fenice, by Donna Leon, lets you get away to Venice with Guido Brunetti (police commissario). There are more than 20 books in the series to keep you busy, and not to worry, it is not necessary to read her books in chronological order.

Zoo Station (a John Russell WWII spy thriller), by David Downing, is the first in a fast-paced historical mystery series. Each of the books take place in Berlin, Germany, and are named after Berlin train stations.

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essential shopping

FIND FASHION-FORWARD FOOTWEAR CLASSICS AT

CORNBLOOMS by yvette jones

Jeanette and Larry Riechers own a Madison legend. Their Hilldale store carries a smartly curated collection of men’s and women’s shoes, along with

handbags, jewelry, novelty socks, and other accessories. It’s the type of store people come back to visit when they’ve moved away, and lots of customers drive

a considerable distance to enjoy the Cornblooms shopping experience.

“Every woman has a shoe story,” Jeanette says, “and we want to create those stories for our customers.” One customer came in looking for shoes for her retirement party and chose a stylish statement shoe that left no doubt she had a bright future. Your shoe story might be a pair of boots that carried you through a career change or the shoes you bought for a wedding where you met your partner and danced all night. You know you’ve created your shoe story when you create outfits around your shoes.

Shoe shopping works best when you really explore options, and Cornblooms makes that happen. Alongside timeless favorites, you’ll discover styles and brands you’ve never worn, and you are likely to leave with shoes you love.

Brenda Baril, Cornblooms’ sophisticated

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A MIXTURE OF TEXTURES AND COLORS THAT PLAY OFF THE STYLISH MERCHANDISE AND PROMISE A SHOPPING ADVENTURE.

and knowledgeable buyer, encourages customers to trust their instincts. “If you see something that really tickles you, get it. Take a chance on a really fun shoe.

You’ll be surprised how versatile a fun, colored shoe can be.” The store features an ever-changing mix and is constantly bringing new shoes in. What you see one day might not be there the next, which is part of the thrill.

How does a shoe buyer decide what to buy for the store? Brenda says she plans the whole season in her head, picturing their core customers and the style they count on, then adding in sparkle and fun. For each selection, Brenda has an end use in mind, imagining who will wear the shoe, how the shoe will pair with clothing, and whether the shoes will perform well. She knows their customers are active and need shoes for work, play, and lots of travel, so she provides them with well-made, carefully selected brands.

purchases for the winter. Boots will continue trending up, as they have for the past 8–9 years, and at Cornblooms you’ll see a great selection of short and tall boots with fresh treatments. Look for shaft heel colors, ornamentation and detail, man-tailored looks, and a mixing of textures and colors on the same boot. You’ll see there are lots of options beyond black: luxurious luggage leather and saddle leather shades, and rich, tempting colors of red, olive, moss, khaki, and navy.

Brenda reminds us that not everything has to match. If your winter wardrobe

consists of lots of black, you can freshen your look with stylish footwear in luggage, saddle, or jewel tones.

Many of these leathers come from Spain and Portugal, where they use a natural vegetable tanning process for a more casual, supple shoe. Unlike commercial shoes which often have the finish painted on, this natural tanning permeates the leather, producing faint mottling and attractive character.

Brands using these techniques include Dromedaris, which offers the Kara, a short boot in twisted leather and suede with a burnished toe that works for

Even though Brenda’s already planning their spring collection, she shared a few insights to guide our shoewear

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any-aged woman. Tamaris makes a classic shoe in either a pump or oxford that is both attractive and practical. Features like a full-leather lining for breathability and a mini lug sole for traction make even the pump a shoe you will reach for again and again. And Pikolinos shoes are likely to make your day. As Brenda says, “They tell a story from all directions.”

A favorite boot of the buyer, and this author, is by Fluchos-Dorking. This tall wine-red boot is a new offering from the hard-to-get, German-made line. Cornblooms is one of a handful in the United States carrying the coveted brand. “Even for us, shoes continue to provide exciting discoveries,” says Brenda.

You’ll also find classic favorites in the store. Authentic brands Frye and Birkenstock were popular at Cornblooms

LEAVE WITH SHOES YOU LOVE in the 70s, and like Kork-Ease, they are back in vogue today. Regulars also count on Dansko clogs and Sperry boat shoes.

Sizzling Steaks Homemade Soups

A Family Business for over 50 years

3005 University Avenue •233-2120 Bar open 4pm • Dinner Served 5pm Closed Sundays & Holidays

www.smokysclub.com

From Steak & Hash Browns to Soups & Seafood, your hosts, Larry, Tom & Janet are committed to serving the finest quality, prepared to perfection. In addition to great food, Smoky’s is great fun. The atmosphere is delightfully tacky & cocktails, generous.

Smoky’s was voted #1 steakhouse in the Midwest by Midwest Living magazine.

All credit cards accepted. Call for reservations—608-233-2120.

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Seafood

Martini Bob’s Martini Club

BucketFeet is a popular new line from Chicago with offerings for women and men. These vulcanized tennis shoes provide comfort and an original look, with each of the canvas uppers designed by a different artist. The company collaborates with over 20,000 artists from 100 countries.

The expanded men’s offerings include fashionable work boots from Red Wing and The Wolverine 1000 Mile Collection, both of which work great with denim or slacks for a casual, hip look. Men also appreciate the Woolrich barefoot-friendly line and timeless styles from Frye. For outdoor enthusiasts, Cornblooms offers a full line of Keen

shoes. Also new for men are the ultracomfy Samuel Hubbard shoes and chukka boots. Created by the son of the original founders of Rockport, these Portugal-made shoes are produced with a construction technique that attaches soft glove leather to lightweight crepe soles for universally appealing comfort.

Like many of us, Jeanette discovered Cornblooms on State Street in the early 1970s, and found the iconic offerings and quirky name irresistible. Her first purchase was a pair of Frye boots, and she soon learned the original owners, inspired by the British invasion of the mid-1960s, used a London phone book as a source of possible store names. They got to “C” and discovered a haberdashery with a name so memorable and so pleasingly British that they made it their own.

By 1999, when Jeanette and Larry bought Cornblooms, the store was in Hilldale Shopping Center. They soon added more of the color and accessories we now associate with the Madison icon.

Since then, they’ve expanded twice, once in 2007 and again this year. Local architect and design firm Brownhouse Designs helped them with both moves, creating interiors that complement the merchandise and build on the quirky, comfortable pizazz we’ve always liked best about Cornblooms.

white paint. That original sign hangs on the back wall of the new store, reminding customers of the staying power of a Madison classic.

Yvette Jones is the owner of designCraft Advertising, a Madison agency focused on local businesses and nonprofit organizations.

Photographs by Eric Tadsen.

CORNBLOOMS 702 N. MIDVALE BOULEVARD MADISON, WI 53705 (608) 238-9282 FACEBOOK.COM /CORNBLOOMS

The delightful new store opened just this summer with a mixture of textures and colors that play off the stylish merchandise and promise a shopping adventure. The space is full of the same fascinating attention to detail you find in the footwear. Shoes are front and center, staged on tables and shelves that provide intimate shoe vignettes, but there’s plenty of room for bracelets and jewelry, handbags and belts, novelty socks for guys and gals, and even a hospitality counter in the back of the store for a bit of refreshment.

The mix of stately white columns, sparkling glass tiles, and hand-selected barn board matches the breadth of the store’s offerings. Jeanette finds the barn board especially fitting since the store’s first sign on State Street was barn board with “Cornblooms” handwritten in MadisonEssentialsMagazine.com

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es s en tial service

From Homeless

to Home

The Road Home Helps Homeless Families Find Long-Term Housing

By Cara Lombardo Dozens of homeless families call the Dane County Housing Crisis Hotline each night to find somewhere to sleep.

Many end up at the Salvation Army, a large room with mattresses lined up on the floor. There is no privacy, the lights stay on all night, and visitors must carry belongings with them and leave early the next day. But at least families can remain together. When warming houses like the Salvation Army fill up, parents must leave their kids at the Respite Center, which admits children only, and then find space at adult shelters on their own.

While temporary shelter is vital to the immediate well-being of families, The Road Home is also dedicated to getting them into housing arrangements that enable them to focus on longer-term goals, such as finding permanent employment or access to healthcare. “They come to the shelters in ‘crisis mode’ each time. It is not easy to solve other issues from this place,” says Kristin.

“Separating adds anxiety to an already stressful situation, but sometimes it is the best option a family can find,” says Kristin Rucinski, Executive Director of The Road Home, a Madison-based nonprofit focused on alleviating homelessness that also acts as an overflow shelter.

The Road Home operates eight separate programs, each offering different types of support, and several are partnerships with other organizations.

Over 50 congregations partner with The Road Home to create a network of shelters and 1,800 volunteers support the network’s operations each year.

• Other programs, such as Housing Stabilization, offer continuing support services to ensure families’ successes after they’ve moved into their own permanent housing.

In the past, homelessness alleviation efforts favored families who service providers believed had proved themselves to be responsible, but many

“It’s incredible when they come back to say ‘hi’ months later, and they walk in with a they didn’t have before."

confidence

• Rapid Rehousing, their fastest growing program, provides families with small rental subsidies and case management services for a year.

• Housing & Hope is a permanent housing program with affordable rent and on-site case management services.

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organizations now view reliable housing as a necessary foundation from which to address other problems and not as a reward for good behavior. “We are seeing a shift from ‘Housing Ready’ to ‘Housing First,’” says Kristin.

As a result, service providers now start with the families who need help most.

The Road Home, like many national programs, relies on a questionnaire called the Vulnerability Index-Service Prioritization Decision Assistance

Tool (VI-SPDAT), which helps identify the most vulnerable families based on medical and social risk factors.

Depending on the results, families could be eligible for one of The Road Home’s programs. But there are waiting lists.

After The Road Home accepts families into programs, the organization still must find affordable housing units and landlords willing to work with them.

Around 20 families are on the Rapid Rehousing waiting list at any given time.

There is a significant shortage of housing at all budget levels in the Madison area (the vacancy rate is 2 percent while around 7 percent is considered normal) but the shortage is especially significant in the lower price ranges. The average two-bedroom apartment in the area is now $1,000 and out of reach for the families The Road Home serves.

“Our families are working hourly jobs.

At the very most, some might make $1,400 a month. Many make around $600, and some make nothing. When you add in utilities, transportation, and food, their wages would not provide them their basic needs,” says Kristin.

The Road Home looks for units near a bus line or school and in places where families can get to a grocery store without having to take two or three different buses. But these ideals are rarely attainable in the current market.

Presumably, people who can afford higher rents will move from cheaper housing into the newest buildings, creating vacancies in more affordable units. But this will happen gradually, and the full impact won’t be seen for several years.

The Road Home owns the 30 units devoted to Housing & Hope, but given those placements are permanent by nature, there are usually no openings and, therefore, no waiting list. “If a unit does open up, we’d consider the families with the highest scores on the VI-SPDAT first,” says Kristin.

Finding vacant housing is often the biggest challenge. Once families are in housing, The Road Home has a network of support in place to keep them there. Case managers regularly meet with families to help with anything ranging from resumes and interview preparations to finding health services or setting educational goals.

The daughter of one Housing & Hope family recently celebrated her high school graduation. “I don’t think that would have been possible without the program,” says Kristin. Both parents had held the

same jobs for several years, but they had trouble managing their income because it varied seasonally. A case manager helped them set budgets and plan ahead for changes in income. They’ve been in the same home for four years.

“When families first arrive, their faces are full of stress and the kids are bouncing off the walls. It’s incredible when they come back to say ‘hi’ months later, and they walk in with a confidence they didn’t have before,” says Kristen.

Some families feel compelled to give to the organization that gave to them by serving on The Road Home’s Board of Directors or by volunteering.

In 2014, The Road Home served 162 families (including 377 children) with a staff of 14 full-time employees and 4 part-time employees. “The more housing we have, the more families we can help,” says Kristin. “More affordable housing is the real solution for creating lasting change in these families’ lives.”

Contact the Dane County Housing Crisis Hotline at (855) 510-2323. For more information on The Road Home’s programs, attend the 11th Annual Homes for Families Breakfast happening on November 5. For more information on how to donate, visit TRHome.org.

Cara Lombardo is a writer and a CPA. Photographs provided by The Road Home.

MadisonEssentialsMagazine.com

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essential dining

Plaza Burger

A Place to Call Home

By Jeanne Carpenter For as long as anyone can remember, The Plaza Tavern on North Henry Street in downtown Madison has been the place to be on a Thursday night. With its famous $2.50 Long Island iced tea special, perfect to wash down the bar’s signature Plaza Burger, the tavern is a mecca for college students, seasoned locals, and downtown waitstaff when they get off work.

As the Dick Clark of Madison establishments, The Plaza Tavern hasn’t aged a bit in the 35 years owner Dean Hetue has been behind the bar. The same booths, same long bar, and same large murals of Wisconsin scenery,

painted between 1949 and 1952 by a guy who needed to pay off his bar tab, still decorate the walls and its oldfashioned wooden paneling.

“About the only thing I’ve changed is that I added a few televisions,” Dean says. “The rest is the same as it’s always been.”

Legend has it is that the first beers were served in the Plaza during Prohibition as “Moon” Molinaro, a University of Wisconsin-Madison football player, ran a speakeasy next to the pool hall that occupied most of the building. In 1930, bowling lanes were added by Al

20 | m a d i s o n e s s e n t i a l s m a g a z i n e

Grebe, and the bar made history when Madison’s Jennie Hoverson Kelleher bowled the first 300 game by a woman in a sanctioned competition.

The bowling lanes are long gone, but the current look of The Plaza Tavern has been the same since 1963 when the Huss Family purchased the business and Mary Huss invented the now infamous “Plaza Sauce.” In 2003, Dean, who had worked at the bar for 23 years, took over

ownership from the Huss Family. He’s been at the helm ever since. He is also the sole keeper of the secret Plaza Sauce recipe. He makes 10 gallons every week from scratch and from memory. The recipe itself sits in a safe deposit box, and his wife has the only key.

“I make every single batch,” Dean says.

“It’s our signature item. Newcomers come in and ask for a side of ranch dressing with their fries or tarter sauce

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friends and family should go to The Plaza Tavern and eat a Plaza Burger.

The burger and the sauce hold a special place in a lot of folks’ hearts,” Dean says.

Since its inception, nearly 3 million Plaza Burgers have been sold. Dean knows this because the previous owners kept meticulous records of every pound of hamburger they bought. He’s tried to do the same. Every one of those nearly 3 million burgers has been cooked on a small grill behind the bar, which can hold 20 burgers at a time. On average, between 500 and 1,000 burgers are sold every week. That’s a lot of flipping burgers over 50 years.

with their fish sandwich. We don’t have ranch dressing or tarter sauce. We have Plaza Sauce. Period.”

The recipe for Plaza Sauce—white and creamy with just the right amount of zip—has been debated for decades.

Some swear the base is mayo, others say sour cream. No one knows for sure except Dean, and he’s not saying—just smiling and serving up more sauce.

“We’ve had folks come in here and order a Plaza Burger as their last meal before going into hospice care. We’ve had folks come in and order a dozen Plaza Burgers to take to a relative who’s battling cancer six hours away. One customer wrote in her obituary that in lieu of flowers, 22 | m a d i s o n e s s e n t i a l s m a g a z i n e

When asked what other items are popular on the menu, Dean squints his eyes and blinks. “People don’t even know we have a menu,” he says. “They just come in and order a Plaza Burger.”

This is immediately confirmed by a bar patron, who is enjoying a draft beer, watching golf on television, and listening to a conversation between the owner and a writer. “You have a menu?” he asks. Dean tries hard to not roll his eyes, grabs a menu from behind the bar, and shows it to the customer, whose name is Robert. “Huh, who knew?”

Robert says, looking it over.

Dean does confirm that several years ago he added one item to the menu: a roast beef sandwich. It is the same recipe that a tavern in Rosendale, Wisconsin, served before it closed. Dean used to

stop there on the way to watch Green Bay Packers games, and when the bar closed, the owner gave Dean the recipe.

“It’s the best roast beef sandwich you’ve ever had, and no one knows about it. I maybe sell one a day,” he laments.

And while on Thursdays the place may be packed with college students, during the rest of the week, a solid group of locals, government officials, and other bar owners and workers call The Plaza

Tavern home. With a solid clientele, Dean says the tavern’s not going anywhere. “We’re going to keep making Plaza Burgers for a long time to come.”

Jeanne Carpenter is a cheese geek and food writer living in Oregon, Wisconsin.

Photographs by Eric Tadsen.

While the menu and ambiance haven’t changed much at The Plaza in 50 years, Dean has instituted several eco-friendly changes during his tenure. The tavern is part of the city’s pilot composting program, and he buys as much food as he can every week from local purveyors. “We’re trying to reduce our environmental footprint,” he says.

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e s s ential art

Philip SALAMONE Painting His Own Path

BY KAY MYERS Drawing and painting the human figure is one of the most difficult skills to master, and it is a fundamental necessity in art school to learn to correctly represent the human figure in proportion, light, muscle tone, etc. It is an exercise that requires developed eyehand coordination and an awareness of space, depth, and perception. It is not for everyone, but some artists are able to conquer this time-honored tradition and draw and paint the human figure with not only acute attention to proportion, color, and likeness of the subject, but also with emotion, creating a story about the time in which that portrait

“I love drawing and painting and teaching and feel most at ease and while doing so.”

most alive

was created—a conversation between the model and the artist. One such artist is Philip Salamone.

I recently met with Phil at his studio, the Atwood Atelier, located inside Winnebago Street Studios in Madison.

It is a space where Phil displays and creates his beautiful work, teaches classes, and regularly participates in Madison’s Gallery Night. The room is

24 | m a d i s o n e s s e n t i a l s m a g a z i n e

often full of people, coming together to paint, draw, create, and commiserate.

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with an art degree, Philip went on to attend the Grand Central Academy of Art in New York City. “Well, I graduated with an art degree, but I was really frustrated because I just wanted to learn how to draw and paint, and it didn’t

seem like I really learned this during undergraduate,” Phil says pensively. “So I went to the Grand Central Academy where the focus was drawing and painting very realistically. The focus was on understanding light and anatomy and perspective—the craft of drawing and painting and the techniques that are pre-impressionistic, more classical.

I feel like a lot of universities are more focused on the concept behind the work and the statement you’re trying to make.

You can’t just paint a bowl of apples and talk about that at a critique and say, ‘I’m just trying to paint something skillfully and beautifully.’ They look at you like you’re 100 years old or something.

“And I guess that’s okay. I know my path is not for everyone, and not everyone wants to do an 80-hour drawing or even a five-hour drawing or painting, but I thought I could go to school and get a degree for doing that and found out it didn’t work that way. The schools offering the degrees weren’t really teaching craft, and if I wanted to acquire these skills I would need to find a master or an institution devoted to this type of understanding and sensibilities. I knew then, and I definitely know now, that it takes years to learn the language of this craft—to be proficient. The approach in college is that they want you to be creative and different, so they don’t teach a lot of rules because they can be confining and fetter the ‘artistic spirit.’

I think if you really want to be creative then you have to learn the fundamentals, so you can use those to really express yourself. I can express myself in English better than I can in Spanish. I don’t need to slow down and think about grammar and verb tenses because I have a command of the language.

“I’ve done enough bad drawings to know what not to do, so now I can focus on nuance and delicacy in the same way I can speak with sensitivity and subtlety and have a wider use of vocab,” laughs Phil. “In the same way, I can employ these more subtle aspects to the craft of drawing. I have the foundation. To me, this encourages self expression, and not having the skills to express yourself only stifles creativity. I think to do anything really well you need to have a solid command of your craft. It takes a MadisonEssentialsMagazine.com

| 25

true artist to pave their own path and find their voice. I enjoy a lot of modern and postmodern work, but my favorite work, the stuff I really love that arrests me, it involves that understanding of the medium. I love technical proficiency. It’s not why I’m drawn to it, but it’s what I go back to over and over again.”

Whether a figure, still life, or landscape, you can plainly see the effects of Phil’s love of craft and proficiency when viewing his paintings and drawings.

His works are accurate likenesses of the models he records. There is a sense of time and place in his landscapes.

His still lifes are classical, simple, and beautiful.

After New York, Phil decided to return to Madison and create a place where others like him could congregate, paint, learn, and talk about art. His goal was simple: to organize a space to inspire, create, and start discussions. “I was grateful to go to school in New York and have those experiences and meet those friends.” Phil smiles. “Art friends are special. It’s important to know that you kind of belong somewhere—that you have a tribe—because it takes time to build it and figure out how you’re going to make things work. This is not an easy thing to do and to have other people say ‘this can be really hard and discouraging’ and ‘I’ve been there’ can help you push through.

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a story

Creating about the time in which that portrait was created—a conversation.

“I think it’s so important as an artist to really remember who you are and why you showed up in the first place and what type of work you want to make. I think you have to be strong-willed and have a strong vision. I believe art is important and that it can be taught and should be taught. I see my role here as an artist and as a teacher. I love drawing and painting and teaching and feel most at ease and most alive while doing so. It’s a need, you know? Cats wanna chase mice.”

I ask Phil to tell me about his teaching.

I ask if he teaches what he wishes he had learned in his classes. “Well, yeah, I try to be the best teacher I can be,” Phil answers. “I have a pedagogy that there are no wrong answers, though there are certainly conventions and traditions. I am very focused on craft

26 | m a d i s o n e s s e n t i a l s m a g a z i n e

and technique, but also focus on what the student’s vision and interest is, especially with Continuing Studies. You have people interested in all kinds of things: animation, Manga, artists who are in other mediums but want to learn to draw their ideas before they make their own thing.

“Ideally, students come to you enthusiastic and ready to work, but that’s not always the case, so I try to do my best to try to instill enthusiasm and to make my passion for what I’m teaching contagious. It’s fun to see students break through self-imposed boundaries. People think, ‘Oh, he’s so talented.’ But anyone can do this if they want to. It’s not talent any more than if you can write or speak a language.

I’ve struggled with a lot of aspects of

painting for a long time—color, form, proportions—and eventually the pieces come together, more or less. Classical drawing and painting is very difficult, and takes years and years to master.

This isn’t checkers, it’s chess.

“Thomas Hart Benton said that the only way to personally fail in art is to quit, and I like that. There are so many things that might be difficult to grasp, but every artist struggles with something.

Learning the theory is easy, but it takes years of practice to embed that into your brain, your muscle memory, and your subconscious to the point where it is effortless and fluent. As a teacher, all I can do is give students the tools and show them the door, but they have to walk through it. A map is not the same as the path, and you have to take your own journey to really understand it and become a master. What I am pursuing is not a 21st century American ideal; the results are not immediate. I am pursuing something that takes a lifetime to achieve, and I’m here for the people that are like me.”

You can contact Phil and view his work at philipsalamone.com. He teaches classes at the University of WisconsinMadison and at his studio, the Atwood Atelier, in Madison. More information

regarding studio classes is available at atwoodatelier.com. Phil’s work is also available for purchase at his studio or through dailypaintworks.com.

Kay Myers is a local artist and freelance writer.

Photographs provided by Philip Salamone.

MadisonEssentialsMagazine.com

| 27

e ssential shopping

Jazzman

By Lauren Smith

On the 300 block of State Street, Jazzman has been a men’s clothing institution in Madison since its 1980 debut. And when it comes to the fashion found

inside the brick and mortar walls, you’ll notice it is fun to be a little different.

That’s the philosophy Jazzman owners Craig Butenhoff and Paul Strong run their store by, and that sartorial credo is apparent the minute you walk through the door.

More casual than dress, Jazzman offers pieces that have been kicked up a notch.

From paisley and floral blazers and slimcut denim to uniquely patterned socks and a decorative array of bowties and pocket squares, Jazzman offers classic basics with a contemporary twist. You’ll find amped-up pieces from brands like Ben Sherman, Scotch and Soda, Original Penguin, Michael Kors, and Joe’s Jeans, to name just a few. And while some brand names register immediately with customers, others, such as Scotch and Soda out of Amsterdam, bring a little bit of something new and unexpected to Madison.

28 | m a d i s o n e s s e n t i a l s m a g a z i n e

Being in such a diverse city, the Jazzman customer ranges from 18 to 75 years old.

The goal is then to offer timeless style and fashion that can carry a man from season to season with the occasional statement piece thrown in for good measure.

“As a major university town, we’re afforded a fresh audience of people every year,” says Paul. “You get the student, the brother, the father; you get visiting teams and their fans; and the musicians that play at the local venues. The common denominators between them

are that they all partake in shopping, and they want to shop at a store they can’t back home.”

In order to keep that momentum going, the self-described small boutique keeps the in-stock quantities of each piece limited. Possessing a small inventory allows Paul and Craig to keep bringing fresh, timely options into the store.

Unlike bigger department stores where stock is plentiful and turnover is slow, Jazzman provides new choices a couple times a month.

“Lines can change and go away quickly, and new trends can appear at any time,” notes Craig. “We have to be nimble to accommodate those fashion and business changes, and keeping smaller quantities allows us to react to the market and the feedback from our shoppers.”

experience. It’s this element of being in the retail business they truly enjoy.

when asked. We want them to leave happy and pleased with their purchase.”

Because of the regular stream of fresh merchandise, customers are prompted to stop in often. This allows Paul and Craig to get to know their customers, lending a personal feel to the shopping

“Each customer is important, and we help him feel that way whether he buys one shirt or five,” says Paul. Adds Craig, “There’s no pressure to buy. The customer takes the lead and we assist

In addition to enjoying the developing customer rapports, Craig and Paul extend the same care and concern towards their employees. Over the years they say they have been blessed

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| 29

to have employed individuals who have been equally as passionate about men’s fashion and the business. Not only does it make for a sense of stability within the store, but those individuals ultimately become part of the Jazzman family.

“We don’t have ‘employees,’” asserts Paul. “We have sons and daughters whom we get to know. As our extended family, we encourage them to prioritize family, school, extracurricular activities, and then work. The respect is such that even after their college days are behind them, they still keep in touch.”

If it seems like fostering relationships is a priority to Paul and Craig, you’re right. That’s because the two go way back and appreciate their longstanding friendship. While Jazzman has been

around for 35 years in Madison, the store has technically been around for 40 years.

“I opened the ‘original’ Jazzman in Wausau with my then-business partner

Jazzman opened. It was during the Golden Hanger years that Paul initially met Craig and Gary, and that friendship flourished at Jazzman. Paul began to work at Jazzman during sidewalk sales and was eventually promoted to help run the shop when Craig and Gary went to buying shows. When Paul left

“Each customer is important, and

we help him feel that way whether he buys one shirt or five.” and friend Gary Straub,” says Craig.

“We worked together at a store called the Golden Hanger for several years and then decided it was time to open our own store.”

Paul, who was in high school at that time, was a regular customer when

Wausau to study fashion merchandising in college, he made sure to keep in touch.

After several years of success in Wausau, Craig and Gary were ready to expand the store, and they knew Madison would be a great fit with their vision and aesthetic due to the cosmopolitan nature of the city. While Jazzman Madison flourished, Jazzman Wausau was beginning to fade.

Faced with a tough decision, Craig and Gary closed the Wausau store in 1981 and focused all their energy on their newest locale.

In 1988, Paul got a call from Craig saying that they needed some help in Madison. Paul left his job and began work at Jazzman full time. Several years later, Gary decided he wanted a new career. The three men met, and Paul was offered the opportunity to buy Gary’s

30 | m a d i s o n e s s e n t i a l s m a g a z i n e

half of the business. Craig and Paul officially became business partners in 1992 and have been dedicating their time to offering Madison timeless style ever since.

After 23 years as official business partners and many more as friends, when asked what makes them excited to come to work every day, they enthusiastically said each other. But all joking aside, it’s the laid back atmosphere, the clothing, and the people that keep the passion burning.

“Being on State Street, you never know who’s going to walk through the door, and that’s half the fun,” says Paul. The next time you’re downtown, stop in, shop, and make their day.

Lauren Smith is a freelance writer.

Photographs by Eric Tadsen.

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e ss ential service

Keep Calm and Celebrate On

By Cara Lombardo

How to Control the Holiday Stress that Dampens Your Cheer

We feel it, but we don’t want to admit it. A tiny, creeping dread lingers somewhere in the background of all the things we love this time of year: candied yams, a few days off work, winning an intergenerational Scrabble game, and watching an animated three-yearold tear into a wrapped gift. Holidays should perk us up during an otherwise drab season, yet the pressures they bring often have the opposite effect.

Just making plans begins the string of stressors. Elizabeth H. Winston, PhD, is a psychologist in Madison and says no one is immune. “Couples I see often need to figure out who to spend time with for which holidays. Single people might be anxious about whether or not 32 | m a d i s o n e s s e n t i a l s m a g a z i n e

they have somewhere to go,” she says.

“Older generations tend to be worried they won’t be able to see their grandkids or children as much as they’d hoped.”

Elizabeth emphasizes the importance of clarifying your goals and setting expectations to avoid drawn out anxiety. “Family members all bring different expectations to the holidays,” she says. Couples or close family members should speak to each other and be on the same page before starting conversations with extended family. Think carefully about which festivities you want to attend and don’t feel obligated to accept every invitation. If your family knows you’ll be late for Thanksgiving dinner because

you fit in two meals, but that you’ll arrive in time for pie, no one will be disappointed.

Of course, not everyone enjoys planning ahead. “Some people are planners, and some are not. Neither is correct, they are just different,” Elizabeth says. She suggests trying to view differences in a neutral way and says both types need to accommodate each other—planners can offer non-planners flexibility within parameters and then in turn go with the flow. For example, if a planner wants to know that while his non-planner children

themselves as they are now. But family members or friends may still know them as younger versions of themselves and treat them that way. Impressions are not always caught up to how we are now, and it can be distressing,” says Elizabeth.

Make it a point to spend time with people whose company you enjoy, seek out the people you want to get to know, and give yourself mental breaks if you feel overstimulated or misunderstood.

If you’re at a large dinner, Elizabeth suggests you go into a different room.

Ask yourself what the most important things are to you this time of year are and plan to experience them. are home he can take them cross-country skiing, he could ask them to agree to ski either on Monday or Tuesday.

With relatives and friends you don’t see often, you might have only two or three interactions each year in which to represent an entire relationship.

“Families feel pressure to act as intimately connected as they wish they were,” says Elizabeth. You might not know faraway relatives as well as you’d like (outside of their Facebook pages), so interacting with them requires more energy because you’re trying to get acquainted and update each other simultaneously.

Similarly, parents and grown children who don’t see each other regularly might feel disconnected at first. “When people go home as adults, they know

Wash dishes in the kitchen, take the dog for a walk, or offer to give parents a break by playing with the younger kids. Run an errand with someone you’re close to or call a friend to remember who you are today. All of these activities add variety and give you a chance to recharge.

Clashes between family styles (for example, yours and your partner’s) are another common stressor. Some families freely express emotion and some are stoic. An expressive person might feel judged as overly sensitive or dramatic by a family of stoics, and a reserved person might not know how to react around expression. Neither type will feel like themselves in those situations.

Especially in the beginning, in-laws and partners don’t know each other very well. In this situation, children need to

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educate their parents about their partner and demonstrate their allegiance to him or her. If the conversation tends to be fast-paced and your partner can’t get a word in, create opportunities for smaller discussions where fewer people compete for airtime. If your partner thrives on competition but your family doesn’t, low-stakes table tennis could bridge the gap.

Over the years, everyone experiences life changes that garner joy and concern from loved ones. Those who didn’t witness what went into decisions to move overseas, end a relationship, or accept a new job will want to process the change and show their concern or happiness by asking questions or offering input. Most people are wellmeaning, yet their comments might feel unhelpful.

to hear what she has to say. “You don’t need to reject the entire message. Look for useful pieces,” says Elizabeth. Ask your aunt about the path she did take and get her tips for starting somewhere new. Remember that ultimately your choices are your own.

Before each holiday or gathering, take time to reflect on what you’ve learned from previous years and apply it. “If last year you tried to bake 12 dozen cookies or make hundreds of potato latkes and didn’t sleep for three nights, consider making fewer,” Elizabeth says. “Or start earlier and freeze them.”

Ask yourself what the most important things are to you this time of year and plan to experience them. It may feel counterintuitive to think about your own needs during the giving season, but it’s important to consider. If you value social justice, block off time to volunteer and only attend social events that fit around it. If you’re cutting back on alcohol, make it clear to those around you that you’re not secretly hoping someone will sneak more wine into your glass. Tell others your plans, then relax.

If you find yourself getting worked up in the moment, Elizabeth suggests simply thinking, “This is time-limited.

34 | m a d i s o n e s s e n t i a l s m a g a z i n e

This will have an end.” It also serves as a reminder to savor the togetherness while you can. “Our culture puts a lot of expectations on us for the holidays,” says Elizabeth. “The holidays will hopefully be positive and fun, but they will not be a Hallmark commercial.

They will be real life.” And isn’t that better?

Photograph by Maison Meredith Photography

Perhaps you’ve made the decision to quit your job, and your aunt tells you that her biggest regret was not sticking with her first job out of college where the people she started with are now in charge. If she’s someone you respect, try

“Family members all bring different expectations to the holidays.”

Elizabeth H. Winston, PhD

Learn more about Elizabeth ElizabethWinston.com.

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Cara Lombardo is a writer and a CPA.

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es s en tial shopping

Zero in on Vinyl at MadCity

By Chelsey Dequaine

Music Exchange

Sturgill Simpson soothes with his new-age lyrics over a classic country sound as shoppers tab through an organized, yet seemingly endless collection of vinyl records. I study the walls, posters, stickers, and sea of music that stretches across the interior of MadCity Music Exchange. Madison is home to many treasures, and this local music store is a glimmering one. Owner Dave Zero stands at the counter, his hands filled with records.

I wonder how and why his path brought him to Madison. His relaxed reasoning mimics the atmosphere, “It’s my home.”

Dave began working for MadCity Music Exchange as a part-time employee. The Sun Prairie native moved to Madison when he was 17 years old. Instead of attending high school, Dave preferred walking State Street with his friends.

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While his friends entered Flying Fish Boardsports, Dave entered the record store next door. “I always wanted to work here. I was a music person. I needed to be surrounded by it.”

MadCity opened on Regent Street in 1980. Prior to Dave Zero, Dave Benton was the owner. He bought MadCity in 1986 and relocated it to 600 Williamson Street in 1989. Dave Benton played in bands throughout his ownership, particularly Spooner, which became the Grammy-nominated alternative rock band Garbage. “From what I know of Dave [Benton], he’s always been THE rock music guy,” Dave Zero says. “An intelligent and ahead-of-the-curve music fan who was always humble and sharing with his knowledge. It makes sense a guy that devoted to the music would buy a record store and pursue a music career seriously.”

When Dave Benton decided to sell, Dave Zero was given first chance at ownership. With help from family and friends, he purchased MadCity Music Exchange in December 2007.

Since then, the store continues to sell similar types of merchandise, but how it is sold is different. Dave explains the old sales model for record stores is ordering a 30-count box of new release CDs and selling a dollar over cost, hoping people purchase other records with it. “That model doesn’t really exist anymore. We have more diversity in our selection. We are buying less of a particular artist, but more artists. Knowing who is coming into the store for what is the trick.”

The better sound is a result of being recorded on analog equipment, meaning no digital is involved in the recording or transferring process. Dave explains digital does not have the same frequency range as analog, so if the music is transferred to digital, some of

the recorded sound is lost. “It sounds cliché, but there is a warmer sound to it if it’s done right. Now that vinyl is popular again there are a lot of people who don’t understand the process of it.

The album still has to be recorded and transferred right.”

Dave saw the demand for vinyl increase in 2005. “MadCity is different because the store never stopped carrying vinyl.

We always had new releases, used vinyl, seven inches—that’s just what we did.”

Why the increased interest? “That’s something 10 different people will give you 10 different answers on,” Dave says laughing.

Dave’s relationship with vinyl began in high school. Searching for music while on a budget, he found albums from Elvis Costello and The Ramones for a dollar at Goodwill. After an $80 turntable investment, he saved on vinyl turned away by those replacing their collections with CDs. “The music was still there,” Dave justifies. “I learned by chance vinyl does sound better.”

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"I learned by chance vinyl does sound better."

Fidelity. That movie is a tombstone for an era that doesn’t exist anymore.”

Dave says vinyl’s growth is a good reaction to downloading and streaming.

With music becoming more accessible, consumers have nothing to show for their purchase but a confirmation code. “You don’t possess the art,” Dave says. “Downloading at its best is like a mixtape version of songs for someone.

The quality is not great, but it’s a great copy of the music.”

However, Dave sees the positives behind streaming music. He sometimes streams songs as a way to sample or research an artist. When he hears an artist he likes, he will purchase the vinyl or CD. “The broader public will want to hear a few songs and call it a day,” Dave says.

“That’s fine. We aren’t selling to them.

We are selling to music fans who want to participate with it. They aren’t going to want it floating in a cloud somewhere.”

When given enough time to dig through MadCity’s records, CDs, cassettes, used DVDs, and occasional musicbased book, Dave assures you will be surprised. “This is not the cliché record store. People have the idea of the snooty clerk behind the register judging you on your purchase and still bring up High

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With his business located one block from Lake Monona and a few blocks east of the State Capitol, Dave gives credit to the area’s efforts to shop local first. “They think to try us first. We are ingrained in this part of town.”

MadCity gives back by donating to and supporting local festivals, neighborhood newsletters, food pantries, and sponsoring concerts for venues such as High Noon Saloon. As for the future of the store, Dave hopes to expand space by renovating, and credits his staff with giving him the time to plan the process.

The staff even includes a few local musicians: Bobby Hussy of The Hussy, Vincent Presley of Zebras and Those Poor Bastards, Chris Lay, and Richard Skeat.

On his off days, you might find Dave removing stumps in the yard of his east Madison home with his wife of three years, Lauren, while their rescue

Clumber Spaniel, Fancy, is nearby. His personal vinyl collection contains his first vinyl by Paul Black and the Flip Kings, along with favorites by The Velvet Underground and The Replacements.

Chelsey Dequaine is a freelance writer.

Photographs by Eric Tadsen.

MadCity Music Exchange

Gateway Mall, 600 Williamson Street Madison, WI 53703 (608) 251-8558

As for me, I left MadCity Music Exchange that day with my first vinyl: Rolling Stones’ Still Life American Concert 1981 ($4) and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts’ I love Rock n Roll ($7). I also left with the feeling of a new world discovered, which is priceless.

madcitymusic.net

Great seats for as little as $25!

by Giacomo Puccini November 13 & 15, 2015 Over ture Hal l

Sung in Italian with projected English translations

by Mark Adamo Febr uar y 5 & 7, 2016 Capitol Theater

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madisonopera.org | tickets: 608.258.4141 | MadisonEssentialsMagazine.com

| 41

es s ential home

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Home

By Yvette Jones

Unless you plan to take up winter sports inside your home, you’ve probably given a thought or two to drafts, ice dams, and heating bills. This is the time of year you remember your home could benefit from a few updates in the comfort department, and the right professionals can help you sort through your options to make the wisest choices.

are often able to work in improvements during construction, and you could end up with more living space and a lower heating bill. Chad Speight of Chads Design Build studied nine remodeling projects in which they incorporated efficiency improvements and found energy savings of 22–53 percent per home even when living space increased.

Many remodeling contractors offer home performance services. This is becoming increasingly common among remodelers because is it very easy to make improvements to your home’s outer envelope while remodeling is underway. By evaluating your home prior to the start of construction, they

Chad routinely asks if there is interest in a home performance evaluation. When he recently met with a homeowner to talk about a kitchen update, he explained that since they would be adding a beam in the attic to facilitate a change in the kitchen layout, it would be an ideal time to make simple attic

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improvements to increase comfort throughout the house. These are the type of improvements those in the field refer to as “low-hanging fruit.”

When asked about replacing windows and doors, Chad explains that although there are many good reasons to update a window or door, the energy savings gained is usually longer term (which would seem to imply this is highhanging fruit). He suggests you replace windows and doors because new ones are easier to operate and keep clean, have better sound insulation, and provide improved aesthetics. If these issues aren’t concerns, you can sometimes improve the efficiency of older windows and doors with air seals around the operating components.

Even though most homeowners’ first thoughts are more insulation, air sealing is a critical first step. Many times homes have gaps and cracks that allow air to flow in, and you need to seal these properly before adding insulation. In the kitchen project we were following, it turned out the attic was in need of air sealing.

Your home’s age is likely to predetermine the issues a home performance consultant might find. Chad points out that each decade has its own issues as building practices change, improve, and even suffer temporary setbacks.

Homes 80 years and older were built with hollow walls sometimes filled with a bit of insulation material that settled to the bottom over time. Air sealing offers big improvements for these homes, and a contractor can blow insulation into the walls through small holes. Avoid insulating around knob and tube wiring because of safety concerns.

Ironically, homes 40 years old or newer often suffer from lack of airflow. During the energy crisis of the 1970s, new insulation and air sealing guidance recommended an overzealous approach that prevents any outside air from entering the home. This can cause problems with indoor air quality and

You are likely to notice a difference in both comfort and energy savings the very first winter. mold and mildew, but proper venting will correct the issue.

You will want to use a qualified home performance consultant to assess your home. Focus on Energy provides standards for evaluating your home through the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® program, and their Trade Ally contractors are Building Performance Institute (BPI) certified.

These contractors are trained to find ways to improve comfort, ensure healthy indoor air quality, and help you save energy.

Some remodelers have a home performance consultant on staff, and some, like Chads, regularly work with independent consultants or insulation contractors. If you are not remodeling and plan only home performance improvements, you might contact an insulation contractor who has an evaluator on staff, such as Duerst Insulation Technicians.

You might also choose to contact an independent consultant, then handle the improvements yourself.

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This is the time of year you remember your home could benefit from a few updates in the comfort department, and the right professionals can help you sort through your options to make the wisest choices.

The evaluation cost ranges from $400 to $600 depending on the home’s size and characteristics, but remodelers and insulation contractors may discount the fee when you choose to work with them on improvements. Duerst, for example, charges $200 for the assessment when you use their insulation services, which means you have more money to put toward beneficial improvements.

Todd Steege, a BPI Building Analyst Professional at Duerst, normally spends about two hours at a home and another two to three hours preparing a complete report. The evaluation will include a blower door test and the use of infrared imaging to detect cold air leaks and insulation gaps. The consultant tests all exhaust fans for proper airflow, checks on the hot water heater to be sure it is venting correctly, and tests the indoor air quality for carbon monoxide.

When the evaluation is complete, you receive a detailed list of possible improvements with the cost listed for improvements Duerst is able to perform.

The recommendations will specify the right insulation for the job. Lee Duerst offers several insulating materials

and techniques and stresses that the fiberglass batting we all think of when we think “insulation� is not universally effective. Other products, including spray foams, blown-in cellulose, loose cellulose, injection foams, and coatings, all have advantages that make them more suitable for certain situations. In fact, in some homes fiberglass insulation needs to be removed either because it was too densely packed, contaminated, or not the right product for the space.

Do yourself and your home a favor this year by scheduling a home performance evaluation and planning a couple of improvements. Often the lowest of the low-hanging fruit turns out to be, well, low. Foaming the sills above the foundation walls in the basement can cost $800 to $1,500

44 | m a d i s o n e s s e n t i a l s m a g a z i n e

for a home with a footprint of 1,500 square feet, and you are likely to notice a difference in both comfort and energy savings the very first winter.

As winter sets in, decreased heating

Trust a NARI Professional.

These NARI members appeared in this article.

costs and warm toes sound well worth the investment.

Yvette Jones is President of designCraft Advertising and serves on the board of NARI Madison.

Photographs provided by NARI.

Tadsen Photography

Chads Design Build (608) 221-1799 chadscarpentry.com

Drone/Aerial Imagery

Duerst Insulation Technicians (800) 924-6121 insulationtechnicians.com The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) represents people who work in and with the remodeling industry.

NARI professionals are expected to be licensed and insured, educated about current industry standards, ethical, and dedicated to excellent customer service. Contact the NARI Madison office at (608) 222-0670 or at narimadison.org.

Fully licensed - FAA part 333 Waiver Stunning stills and 4k video

tadphoto.com - etadsen@icloud.com - 608-469-2255 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF THE REMODELING INDUSTRY

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MadisonEssentialsMagazine.com

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Spotlight

One-of-a-Kind Finds from very near…and very far Shop the new and improved Stone Fence for Holiday Gifts to please all sorts.

From very near: Handmade Earth Bowls weave natural elements and artistic design. Fiber Art Handbags are beautiful AND practical.

From very far: Adorable & festive Christian Ulbricht figurines from Germany.

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46 | m a d i s o n e s s e n t i a l s m a g a z i n e

Function and Art at Pieces Unimagined!

Things large & small, from Industrial Modern furniture and accents to steam punk jewelry and watches. Something for everyone, with an edge!

Tue.-Sat. 11AM-5PM, Sun. 12PM-4PM Across the street from the Co-op.

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Badger Styles for Fall

Gear up for fall with our super soft Badger clothing. We have tons of styles and sizes from infant to 3X. University Book Store: 711 State St., Hilldale, HSLC, Janesville Mall, Opening October 2015 - Brookfield Sq. uwbookstore.com

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Each extra gifty, ultra thrifty tin is filled with 20 coaster gift cards worth $10 off your tab at 20 iconic Madison-area hotspots. A $200 value inside every clever little tin for only $30. It pays for itself in just three uses. Valid all of 2016. Choose from original Restaurant Edition and New! Bar & Lounge Edition! Available online and at local retailers.

Visit www.CityTins.com for details.

MadisonEssentialsMagazine.com

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Wisconsin State Capitol

es s ential travel

A Getaway to

MADISON’S CAPITOL SQUARE

By Liz Wessel

When I plan a getaway, I want wonderful accommodations, eateries of all types, and a wide range of activities that will entertain and engage me. Madison’s Capitol Square has all of this and more, luring both Wisconsin residents and visitors. It was not always that way.

In 1837, when state leaders decided to build the Capitol in Madison, Madison

was more of an idea than a city. The village of Madison “contained only two stores, three public houses, three groceries, one steam mill for cutting lumber, and a couple dozen houses” in 1840.1 But by 1885, the Capitol Square had 125 stores and was a lively gathering and shopping district. Today it combines with surrounding areas to make a multiple-day adventure.

and furnishings, historic collections and artifacts, and works of art that lie within the granite walls.

For insight into the state’s history, cross the street to the Wisconsin Historical Museum. Housed on multiple floors,

To stay close by, Hotel Ruby Marie is a restored 1873 building with a classic central staircase. The Mansion Hill Inn is a wonderful Bed & Breakfast option, sitting atop the hill just north of the Capitol. Another is The Livingston Inn, a 160-year-old Gothic revival mansion. For a larger hotel experience, The Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor’s Club, which abuts the Capitol Square, cannot be beat. A bit farther out, HotelRED is a hip boutique hotel near the University of WisconsinMadison’s Camp Randall.

Start your adventure at the Wisconsin State Capitol, which can be explored on your own or through a tour. If you choose the latter, tour guides provide details on history, interior decorations, 48 | m a d i s o n e s s e n t i a l s m a g a z i n e

Madison Children’s Museum

Hotel Ruby Marie the collections look into indigenous culture and life, the settlers and waves of immigrants that arrived in this part of the country, and the progression from settlement and development to industrialization.

Next door, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum honors the service of Wisconsin citizens in wars of the last two centuries.

Exhibits start with the Civil War and continue to recent conflicts. Particularly moving is the special art exhibit, WAR : RAW Healing Military Trauma Through Expressive Art. Nearly 60 works of art in different media serve as an outlet for veterans and convey to visitors the sacrifice these veterans have made physically and emotionally.

Wisconsin Historical Museum You can spend an entire day viewing art exhibits at Chazen Museum of Art, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA), and James Watrous Gallery.

Chazen has extraordinary collections, such as the Van Vleck collection of Japanese woodblock prints. The collection has more than 3,700 prints, including prints that Frank Lloyd Wright collected in the 1920s.

If you have children, unleash them at the Madison Children’s Museum. Open daily, the museum has two floors and a three-season rooftop garden filled with interactive exhibits. Additional things to do include Saturday mornings at Kids in the Rotunda at the Overture Center for the Arts, which offers free

shows featuring performers, science programs, dance, and storytelling. On select Sundays at MMoCA, Kids’ Art Adventures uses current exhibits to serve as inspiration for early afternoon workshops. After an introduction to the topic, work of art, or artist, kids create a fun object or artwork to be taken home.

Plan ahead for evenings of music, live comedy, or theater, all within walking distance of the Capitol Square. The Overture Center for the Arts has larger

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sharing stations within a three-block radius of the Capitol. You can also walk.

And then there is food. The Capitol Square area is a hot spot for exceptional dining, snack, and beverage choices to cover all your needs. So numerous I can’t possibly list them all here.

I recommend perusing this issue and view our archived issues at madisonessentialsmagazine.com for suggestions. And if you are visiting in the summer, be sure to visit the Dane County Farmers’ Market on the Capitol Square on Saturday mornings. It is the largest producer-only farmers’ market in the United States!

1

Wisconsin Historical Society. wisconsinhistory.org.

Liz Wessel is the owner of Green Concierge Travel, which has information for honeymoons and other ecotravel at greenconciergetravel.com.

Photographs provided by Green Concierge Travel.

Concerts on the Square and smaller scale theatre, music, and dance productions. The Bartell is a collaboration of five community theatre companies. The Orpheum Theatre and Majestic are live performance and music venues, and there are weekly acts at The Comedy Club on State.

I would also suggest a stop at Square Wine Co., which specializes in small batch wines. They offer wine tastings on Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons. Perfect since you can do this and all of the above without a car! There is ample alternative transportation:

Bike Rentals Metro Transit bus service, taxi service, and bike rental options, including Madison B-Cycle, which has seven bike-

Choose

LOCAL AND INDEPENDENT

this Holiday Season

SHIFT YOUR SHOPPING

50 | m a d i s o n e s s e n t i a l s m a g a z i n e

THE BARTELL 113 E. Mifflin Street • (608) 661-9696 bartelltheatre.com CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART 750 University Avenue • (608) 263-2246 chazen.wisc.edu THE COMEDY CLUB ON STATE 202 State Street • (608) 256-0099 madisoncomedy.com HOTELRED 1501 Monroe Street • (608) 819-8228 hotelred.com HOTEL RUBY MARIE 524 E. Wilson Street • (608) 327-7829 rubymarie.com

JAMES WATROUS GALLERY 201 State Street • (608) 265-2500 wisconsinacademy.org/gallery /james-watrous-gallery THE LIVINGSTON INN 752 E. Gorham Street • (608) 238-6317 livingstoninnmadison.com MADISON B-CYCLE madison.bcycle.com THE MADISON CONCOURSE HOTEL AND GOVERNOR’S CLUB 1 W. Dayton Street • (608) 257-6000 concoursehotel.com MADISON MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART 227 State Street • (608) 257-0158 mmoca.org MADISON TAXI (608) 255-8294 madtaxi.com MAJESTIC THEATRE 115 King Street • (608) 255-1901 majesticmadison.com MANSION HILL INN 424 N. Pinckney Street • (608) 255-0172 mansionhillinn.com METRO TRANSIT (608) 266-4466 cityofmadison.com/metro THE ORPHEUM THEATRE 216 State Street • (608) 250-2600 madisonorpheum.com OVERTURE CENTER FOR THE ARTS 201 State Street • (608) 258-4141 overturecenter.org SQUARE WINE COMPANY 5 N. Pinckney Street • (608) 819-6191 squarewineco.com WISCONSIN HISTORICAL MUSEUM 30 N. Carroll Street • (608) 264-6555 historicalmuseum.wisconsinhistory.org WISCONSIN VETERANS MUSEUM 30 W. Mifflin Street • (608) 267-1799 wisvetsmuseum.com WISCONSIN STATE CAPITOL 2 E. Main Street • (608) 266-0382 tours.wisconsin.gov

MadisonEssentialsMagazine.com

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essential home

BEFORE: A vigorously growing weeping crabapple obscures view, shades out perennials, and overtakes the patio and garden.

AFTER: One quarter to a third of the tree is removed during summer pruning to maintain its form and place in the garden.

THE ART OF

Aesthetic Pruning

By Joan W. Ziegler and Lily Mank

can overtake spaces, crowd walkways, and become an unsightly feature in the landscape. A new awareness of the importance of aesthetic pruning calls for the retirement of electric pruning shears and instead marries the science of horticulture with artful interpretation of plant forms.

PRUNING DIAGRAM “To cut or not to cut?” is not the question, but when and how to prune is.

The long-term health and beauty of your landscape depends on properly pruning trees and shrubs. Plants left to grow freely

AESTHETIC PRINCIPLES AESTHETIC PRINCIPLES

The main principle in aesthetic pruning is that plants must be pruned to fit within the context of their environment to cultivate the plant’s essence. The

essence of most species can be found in nature. Take time to observe mature plants and you will begin to notice how the trunks of trees are rarely perfectly straight as they have bent and twisted over time to seek sunlight. In a forest, the layers of vegetation exist in harmonious balance such that each plant receives the necessary nutrients and sunlight it requires. Shrubs, too, have natural forms, be it creeping, vase

site planners landscape architects garden designers 831.5098 zdainc.com

OUTDOOR CREATIVE 52 | m a d i s o n e s s e n t i a l s m a g a z i n e

POST PRUNING SKETCH: Proper renewal pruning and thinning increases plant health and enhances natural form.

principals of light, shade, and health, but also design principles of scale, texture, and form.

NATURAL DOGWOOD: Planted with room to reach its mature size and form, dogwoods attract birds with their abundant flowers and berries.

THINNING SKETCH: Thinning detail shows removing smaller twigs back to the larger branch. shape, cascading, or mounding. With that in mind, consider how you might replicate the patterns of nature in your garden.

Before you pick up clippers or a saw, it is important to think of pruning on a timeline that extends years into the future. What can you begin to remove today that will help change the form of the plant over time? The same is true for young, small plants. If you begin to develop their form at this stage, the mature plant will be a beautiful part of the landscape.

HORTICULTURAL PRINCIPLES HORTICULTURAL PRINCIPLES From a horticultural perspective, pruning is quintessential to plant health, flowering, and fruiting. Spring flowering shrubs, such as lilacs, dogwoods, and viburnums, are pruned in late spring because they set their flower buds for the following year just after blooming. Most other deciduous trees can be pruned from mid-February until early May. Evergreens, with the exception of pines, can be pruned either prior to spring growth or during their dormant period in mid-summer.

Pines should be pruned as new growth (candles) emerges in the spring.

PLANTHEALTH HEALTH PLANT Pruning is an important way to promote plant health. With all species, remove

dead, diseased, and damaged branches.

To ensure a healthy cut, remove branches as close to the base of a larger branch as possible. Doing so allows the plant to callus over the wounds and prevents the appearance of stumps.

Renewal pruning is important for multistem species to eliminate old, declining branches, and can be done at any time of year by removing one third of the oldest stems to ground level.

SHAPING AND THINNING SHAPING AND THINNING

All plants have a natural form and mature size. Shaping and thinning can enhance these natural forms, but it is important to choose plants appropriate for the environment. Environment, in this sense, includes horticultural

Shearing is appropriate for formal plantings; otherwise, plants should be shaped and thinned to display their natural form. When shearing evergreens, it is easy to create heavy mats of needles at the ends of branches or to take branches back to the inner “dead-zone� from which nothing will grow. Shearing deciduous species causes unnaturally dense growth at the ends of branches.

Ideally, plants should be thinned by removing small, individual twigs back to the larger stem. In this way, thinning allows plants to display their natural essence without appearing pruned.

With its origins in Japanese gardening, aesthetic pruning allows plants to be shaped over time to enhance their natural form while creating harmony and unity in the landscape. The challenge to this type of pruning is that every plant is different and must be approached as an individual. Properly done, pruning will invigorate your plants and enhance the aesthetics and health of your landscape.

A garden is not stagnant, but constantly developing, and so, too, must pruning.

Joan W. Ziegler is a horticulturist and garden designer and winner of the 2015 Perennial Plant Association Merit Award for Residential Landscape Design, and Lily Mank is an intern landscape architect for ZDA, Inc. Landscape Architecture, 4797 Capitol View Road, Middleton.

Call (608) 831-5098 or visit zdainc.com.

Photographs provided by ZDA, Inc.

DOGWOOD MEATBALL: Shearing this dogwood shrub caused unsightly twigs and removed blossoms and berries.

MadisonEssentialsMagazine.com

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advertiser index We encourage you to visit our sponsors! association

Dane Buy Local.........................................50 Madison Originals.......................................2

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Holiday Fantasy in Lights..........................55 Madison Opera.........................................41 Olbrich Botanical Gardens......................34 WORT...........................................................51

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Chads Design Build...................................43 ZDA, Inc.......................................................52

dining & food

Banzo...........................................................49 Bavaria Sausage.......................................38 Bistro 101..................................................... 31 Bonfyre American Grille...........................17 Calliope Ice Cream..................................26 The Chocolate Caper..............................36 Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream...............21 CityTins...............................................47 & 56 Delaney’s....................................................40 Double S BBQ...............................................8 Fraboni’s Italian Specialties & Delicatessen..........................................42 Hilldale........................................................33 Hop Haus Brewing Co...............................15 Hop’s House Eatery & Pub....................... 31 Imperial Garden West................................5 Jordandal Cookhouse.............................22 Lombardino’s Italian Restaurant & Bar.....................................9 Manna Cafe & Bakery..............................19 Mount Horeb Chamber of Commerce... 31 Nitty Gritty..................................................39 The Old Feed Mill Restaurant..................12 Pizza Brutta.................................................41 Quivey’s Grove.......................................... 11 Sa-Bai Thong..............................................45 Smoky’s.......................................................16 Sprecher’s Restaurant & Pub.....................9 Tempest Oyster Bar.....................................7 Tornado Steak House..................................7 The University Club....................................21 Villa Dolce..................................................48 Vintage Brewing Co..................................36 Wonder Bar Steakhouse...........................28

services

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Win a $50 Madison Originals® Gift Certificate!

Farley’s House of Pianos...........................37 Madison Taxi..............................................44 Tadsen Photography................................45 American Provenance.............................33 Anthology...................................................36 Artisan Gallery...........................................25 Artisan Woods Gallery.............................. 31 Bergey Jewelry.......................................... 31 Cambridge Winery...................................27 The Cat and Crow..................................... 31 The Chocolate Caper..............................36 CityTins...............................................47 & 56 Clasen’s Bakery.........................................37 Cluck the Chicken Store..........................25 Cornblooms...............................................37 Cupcakes-A-Go-Go.................................36 Dykman’s Time Shop.................................37 Farley’s House of Pianos...........................37 Fisher King Winery..................................... 31 Higher Fire Clay Studio.............................35 Hilldale........................................................33 The Hop Garden........................................25 Jazzman......................................................29 John Christine Designs.............................25 Karen & Co./Sassafras................................5 Lidtke Motors..............................................30 Little Luxuries..............................................36 Madison Sole.............................................36 Moonhill Mercantile.................................. 31 Momentum Floral......................................46 Mount Horeb Chamber of Commerce... 31 Mystery To Me............................................13 Old Sugar Distillery....................................23 Open House Imports................................. 31 Pegasus Games........................................35 Pieces Unimagined...................................47 Playthings...................................................32 The Regal Find...........................................23 Stone Fence...............................................46 University Book Store.................................47 Velvet Button Boutique............................37 The Vinery...................................................35 Wine & Hop Shop......................................35 Wollersheim Winery & Distillery.................5 Z. Bella Boutique........................................35 Zazen Gallery.............................................25 Zip~Dang....................................................46

Question: What Madison business can be found in the previous Restaurant Magnus location?

Enter by submitting your answer to the above question online at MadisonEssentialsMagazine.com, or by mail with your name, mailing address, phone number, and email to: Madison Essentials Magazine, c/o Towns & Associates, Inc. 126 Water Street Baraboo, WI 53913 All entries with the correct answer will be entered into a drawing for one of two $50 gift certificates. Contest deadline is December 11, 2015. Gift certificates will be honored at all current Madison Originals® member restaurants (see madisonoriginals.com—subject to change).

Good Luck!

Winners Thank You to Everyone Who Entered Our Previous Contest.

The answer to the question, “Which featured business owner served three terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly?” is Fred Clark of Baraboo Woodworks. A $50 Madison Originals® Gift Certificate was sent to each of our winners, Antoinette Murphy of Waunakee and Lynn Tobias of Spring Green.

CONGRATULATIONS! 54 | m a d i s o n e s s e n t i a l s m a g a z i n e

Fantasy in Lights

’s Fantasy in Lights www.fantasyinlights.com November 14, 2015 to January 4, 2016

Dusk till Dawn • Olin Park • Free Admission Celebrating 27 years in 2015

5K Run starts after sunset in the lower part of Olin Park, in sync with the official Holiday Lighting Ceremony (live on local television) and through the maze of holiday lights before exiting the park.

NOVEMBER 14, 2015

All-Channel Electronics

Capital City Electric

The Candlelight Walk will follow past the holiday lights.

There will be directional signs and candles on the ground along the entire course. Christmas Caroling is encouraged. Pets and strollers with off-road tires are welcome.

Born’s Electric, Inc.

Control Works, Inc.

www.theelectricgroup.net

Wiersma Electric

Amp Electric, Inc.