Unique brunches highlight commonalities

FRIEND TO FRIEND brunches are a part of Jane’s unique approach to breaking down barriers and reducing superficial relationships in her life. In the modern era, where Facebook interactions can be the sum of social lives, getting face-to-face is a refreshing change.

JANE_030520 — FRIEND TO FRIEND brunches are a part of Jane’s unique approach to breaking down barriers and reducing superficial relationships in her life. In the modern era, where Facebook interactions can be the sum of social lives, getting face-to-face is a refreshing change.

JANE SCHMIDT

Published: Mar 11, 2020, 5:08 PM

VIOLA - A trip to the local grocery store is a great reminder of how many superficial friendships we have:

“Hi!”

“Hi, how are you?”

“Fine.”

And onward we stroll down the aisle.

Social media is yet another reminder, where we have ‘friends’ with whom we’ve never even had a full 15-minute conversation.

Discouraged by this superficiality, I wanted to do something about it. My dream was a huge get-together with lots of round tables where at least five people would sit and share their stories, one person at a time. After a few years of trying to work out the logistics of organizing over 200 people and the necessary food, I gave up.

Instead, I’ve created what I call Face to Face (F2F) brunches. Since December I’ve been randomly picking ‘friends’from my social media page and inviting them to an early Sunday brunch at the Rooted Spoon in Viroqua.

It’s taken a few tries to get it right! The first group met in December. Not having a clue how to mix up my ‘friends’for smaller groups, I decide to invite anyone living on the east side of Highway 56. It worked! Kinda...

Ten of us met at 9 a.m. and started by picking a name from a hat, then inviting that person to tell us any part of their story they’d like to share. Or they could pass. We set a timer for five minutes. The person talked, we listened, and afterward we allowed three minutes for questions.

Later, after a wonderful morning of learning more about ‘friends’ than just that they were fine, I discovered I’d neglected to invite six other people who live in that same area. Leaving people out was not part of the plan.

So for the next brunch, I randomly picked people from my list of ‘friends.’ I figured if I invited 25 people, about half would respond and show up. They did, and we had a big group of 12 that time. The restaurant was bustling, kids were kicking the back of booths, and we had to strain to hear each other. Worse, it seemed to take forever to get through that many stories.

Back to the drawing board.

We’re on our seventh Face to Face Brunch and the going is getting smooth. We’re sticking to about six people per brunch, enough to fill one table. We end each brunch with a poem written by one of the guests. The time passes too quickly, and we’ve all learned much about each other. New friendships have been made, tears and laughs have been shared, and old friendships rekindled.

I can’t think of a better way to start the week than being at a table with women sharing their stories plus the bounty of wholesome food. I’m hoping this idea catches on and that others start their own series of F2F brunches.

The best part of F2F brunches is realizing we all have more in common than we know. Joanne's poem captures the essence perfectly:

Brotherhood

No, we are not a brotherhood

though we are united,

tough, strong, and

solidly staunch,

loyal and at the ready.

No, we are not a brotherhood

though we stand

mightily together…

We are a force to be reckoned with.

We are not a brotherhood

though we steadfastly

defend what is right and good

and rise up in support

against age-old suppression…

knowing, yes knowing

despite our relegation

‘to the back’

that we…

we women are powerful

in ways of peace and of love…

We are a sisterhood.

-Joanne Adragna Shird

Mice paddling a canoe?

Random Thoughts, August 3

This is a reproduction of a Huppler card drawing, done with tiny black dots. He gave it to me in 1961 when he was living in Muscoda with his father.

Mice paddling a canoe — This is a reproduction of a Huppler card drawing, done with tiny black dots. He gave it to me in 1961 when he was living in Muscoda with his father.

Wendell Smith

Updated: Aug 10, 2023, 3:25 PM

Published: Aug 10, 2023, 3:24 PM

MUSCODA - Probably few folks in this village remember when mice in Muscoda paddled canoes and/or drove a Hudson roadster automobile. Don’t worry, the little rodents existed only in the mind of a Muscoda native and artist, Dudley Huppler.

Huppler was born in Muscoda August 8, 1917. He attended high school in Muscoda where he developed a life-long interest in reading. He then enrolled in the University of Wisconsin-Madison, receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

He first worked for the WPA, a make-work federal program during the Great Depression when jobs were scarce. He later returned to the U.W. as a teaching assistant.

Through the years he made frequent visits to Muscoda to visit his family who operated a meat market here. I interviewed Dudley in September, 1961. By then he was an international traveler with many connections throughout the art world. He also spent time teaching at the University of Minnesota and had studios in Santa Monica, California and New York City

As an artist Dudley developed a system of tiny black dots to portray mice and other characters. He used the method in children’s books and on sets of cards that he marketed in New York City and small places like Ed’s Store and Ruth’s Dress Shop in Muscoda.

One of his books has characters who lived in “Mouscoda” during the 1920s, including a young girl who is given a croquet set and struggles to learn the game. 00

His books for children are not among the collection at the Muscoda Public Library. However there is a book on local shelves that chronicles Huppler’s life and accomplishments.

His life ended in August, 1988 in Boulder, Colorado. By that time he estimated he had created more than 38,000 drawing and paintings.

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