Author: fernandt

Driftwood #13: Buy Local

February 12, 2021

COVID-19 and Local Restaurants

mickey lu bbq

We are now living through the tenth month of the COVID-19 pandemic, and many small businesses have gone under in that short, yet unnervingly long-time period. Most of those small businesses that are still afloat are struggling. So how can you help the small businesses in your area and online? While many restaurants may not be doing dine-in currently, or have a very limited amount of seating available, that does not mean they don’t offer food to go. Remember that Chinese restaurant you used to go to with your friends all the time before COVID-19 struck? Look them up and order take out! Instead of ordering from the Domino’s in your area, try out a local pizza place! Just remember to tip your delivery drivers. Those who work in the food industry often rely on their tips, whether they are waiting tables or delivering food, so it is even more important now to be tipping your server since they are seeing less business.

If you don’t see a delivery feature on a local restaurant’s site, check the many food-delivery platforms such as GrubHub, Eat Street, or DoorDash.

Three Local Favorites in Green Bay:

  • Glass Nickel Pizza (920) 490-1000: Pizza with an amazing hand-tossed, thicker crust. This beats any pizza chain I’ve ever had. If you’re gluten-free, I’ve heard from many people that they have the best gluten-free crust!
  • Taqueria El Local (Delivery via UberEats) (920) 455-1060: An incredibly large menu of authentic Mexican food! Their burritos are enormous and filled with amazing ingredients to give you the best experience while eating. Wash it all down with a large glass of their Horchata, and you’ll be more than satisfied!
  • Plia’s Kitchen (920) 437-3303: Order by phone and pick up an amazing and authentic dish of Southeast Asian cuisine. They have a small, but incredibly powerful, menu of different curry and noodle dishes. A personal favorite of mine is their Potato Curry: it’s the perfect comfort food and worth the trip out of the house.

Local Favorites in Marinette: 

  • Blue Bike Burrito (715)735-9889: Fresh, organic burritos, tacos, and quesadillas. They’re only open on weekdays, but it’s well worth rushing over in between classes for one of their enormous burritos and an organic soda. Alternately, they now deliver!
  • The Brothers Three (715) 735-9054: Pizza, burgers, fish fry, and more. The Brothers Three claims to make the best pizza in town, and many locals agree.
  • Mickey Lu B-B-Q (715) 735-7721: Hamburgers grilled on a wood-fire stove, hot dogs, brats, and shakes. This charming 1940s-style diner may not have a huge menu (Or fries. Or actual BBQ.), but it makes up for that fact with the best butterburgers in Wisconsin.
  • Real Pizza (715) 735-7121: Pizza and “comfort food.” Their French bread pizza is one of the most delicious and filling meals for one in the city.
—Kira Doman, Business Editor

Driftwood #13: Haunted Wisconsin

February 12, 2021

Shaker’s Cigar Bar

Shaker Cigar BarTrigger Warning! This piece mentions suicide.
If you and your friends are over the legal drinking age of 21, stop into Shaker’s Cigar Bar in Milwaukee, WI! Rich with a haunting history, Shaker’s Cigar Bar resides in a building from 1894 where they now provide quality drinks, cigars, and food. What makes this place so chillingly intriguing? What first opened as a cooperage house, a place that makes barrels and casks, for Schlitz Brewery, eventually made its way to operate as a speakeasy and brothel in the 1920’s up until 1946, run by notorious gangster Al Capone and his brother, Frank Capone. According to the current owner Bob Weiss, while it was being owned and operated by the Capone brothers, many prostitutes either committed suicide or were murdered on the second and third floor of the building, and guests still report hearing stilettos click up and down the halls through the night. Bob Weiss opened it as Shaker’s Cigar Bar in 1986, and he and his staff began offering three different haunted tours to the public soon after realizing they weren’t the only ones occupying the building. The three tours rotate seasonally and include The Whoring 20’s, The Milwauking Dead, and the Cream City Cannibal Tour, where they focus on serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and his victims. So, if you’re feeling brave, book a tour post-COVID and introduce yourself to a few transparent old-timers of Shaker’s Cigar Bar!

—Kira Doman

Sources: 

The Witches of Whitewater

Starin Park Water Tower
Starin Park water tower. Photo courtesy of Hannah J. Romero Photography.

Whitewater, Wisconsin is home to not only the Whitewater Warhawks, but to generations and generations of witches. Or so they say. In 1889, Morris Pratt, a practicing spiritualist, opened an institute to teach the art of spirituality, among other courses, to the community. The institute was functional until about 1902. After Pratt’s passing, in 1946, the school was moved to Milwaukee, where it is open to students curious about spirituality to this day.

Rumors about the “witches” who attended Morris Pratt’s school of spirituality were really the start of the curious goings on in Whitewater. There is a perfect triangle made up by Hillside Cemetery, Oak Grove Cemetery and Calvary Cemetery. The locals claim every building unfortunate enough to be in this triangle is haunted.

Not only are these cemeteries home to ax-wielding murderess Mary Worth (whose spirit supposedly still lurks amongst the tombstones) and Morris Pratt himself, but legend has it that they were built on ancient burial grounds. People describe seeing apparitions and clouds of fog, hearing noises, and feeling sudden cold drafts that disappear as quickly as they come on.

In 1981, the girls of the Alpha Sigma sorority reported hearing strange noises coming from the basement while they were eating dinner. They went to investigate and discovered bricks thrown all around the basement floor, revealing a hidden tunnel. Rumor has it that this was how the “witches” traveled around town without being seen by the townspeople.

In the middle of Starin Park, which, coincidentally enough, is in the haunted triangle, stands an old stone water tower. It is claimed that the local witches would go there to practice magic and rituals, including animal sacrifice. Surrounding the water tower stands a seven-foot-tall iron fence, with the spikes on top pointing inward rather than outward. Legend has it that this is not to keep curious students out, but to keep whatever evil that waits inside in. 

 —Aleida Toebe, Haunted WI editor

Editor’s note: The Driftwood thanks Hannah J. Romero Photography for permission to use her photo of the Starin Park water tower. 

Sources: 

Driftwood #13: Cooking at Home

From the Driftwood Kitchen

This semester, The Driftwood will bring you easy-peasy recipes for new cooks. We’re talking REALLY easy—and fast.

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Mac and Cheesemac and cheese

Chances are high that if you’re from Wisconsin, you probably love cheese; maybe mac & cheese is even one of your favorite meals! Let’s be real, though; a box of Kraft just doesn’t do the job, and unless you’re conveniently located near a Mac’s restaurant, you probably think getting your hands on some mac & cheese that tastes gourmet just isn’t possible, right? Wrong! This recipe is quick, easy, and best of all, it results in an oeey-gooey-super-cheesy bowl of total deliciousness. It’s one of my family’s staples, and is sure to become one of your favorites too!

Ingredients:

  • 1 ½ cups water
  • 1 cup milk
  • 8 ounces elbow macaroni
  • 1 cup American cheese, shredded
  • 1 cup extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
  • ⅓ cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1. In a saucepan, bring the water and milk to boil. Stir in the macaroni and decrease the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring often, until the macaroni is soft. (It’ll be around 6 to 8 minutes.) Add in the American cheese and cook, stirring constantly, until the cheese is completely melted. (It’ll be around 1 minute.) Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in the cheddar cheese until it is evenly distributed, but not completely melted. Cover the saucepan and let it sit for 5 minutes, still off-heat.

2. While the macaroni mixture sits, combine the panko bread crumbs, oil, and 1/8 teaspoon of salt and pepper salt in a nonstick skillet until the panko has completely absorbed the liquid. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the panko mixture is evenly browned. (It’ll be about 3 to 4 minutes.) Remove it from heat, sprinkle Parmesan cheese over panko mixture, and stir until combined. Transfer to a small bowl.

3. Stir the macaroni until the sauce is smooth. Season with salt and pepper to your liking. Transfer to a bowl and add the panko mixture over top. Serve immediately, and enjoy!

—Mallory Allen, Cooking Editor

Fettuccine Alfredo

This is a classic dish that can be eaten for lunch or dinner; take it on the go, or enjoy it over the table. I love this dish, and in fact, if you make enough, you’ll be able to feed just about anyone you know. It’s creamy, garlicky, and cheesy, and the best part, it’s not time consuming. Need I say more?

Ingredients:

  • 24 ounces dry fettuccine pasta (one box of noodles)
  • ½ stick of butter
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add fettuccine and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente and drain.

2. In a large saucepan, melt butter into cream over low heat. Add salt and pepper. Stir in cheese over medium heat until melted; this will thicken the sauce.

3. Add pasta to sauce. Use enough of the pasta so that all the sauce is used, and the pasta is thoroughly coated. Serve immediately. 

Yield: Serves 6 people. Time: 30 min.

—Bruce Kong

The Driftwood #12: Holiday 2020

The Driftwood is our student-centered e-newsletter for the Marinette campus. We’ll bring you tips for navigating life as a masked-and-distanced or online student, as well as suggestions for entertaining yourself while you’re social distancing.

In this issue: 

 

The Driftwood #12: Christmas by the Bay

Holiday 2020

Christmas by the Bay Goes Virtual

Christmas by the Bay logo

Our theater program’s annual holiday music performance, Christmas by the Bay, is going virtual this year. Our talented children’s and adult theater singers will be performing a selection of holiday carols, available to stream Dec. 17-20. After you register, you’ll receive a link for your day’s performance with a limited window in which to view it. Tickets cost $7.50 per person or $25 for three to five viewers. Or you can buy an unlimited pass for the full weekend for $40. Directed by Brittany Welch.

The Driftwood #12: Da Yooper Winterfest Plunge

Holiday 2020

Take Da Yooper WinterFest Plunge at the Fieldhouse Pool! 

Da Yooper plungeTragically, our community’s traditional WinterFest chili cookoff and outhouse race have been cancelled due to COVID. (And yes, the latter is as ridiculous as it sounds.) However, you can still take part in a socially distanced version of our polar bear plunge event!

The Fieldhouse Pool (a.k.a. the River Cities Community Pool) will hold our annual Da Yooper WinterFest Plunge on Jan. 1, 2021. The plunge has traditionally taken place in the icy waters of Green Bay in downtown Menominee. (Last year’s plunge pictured right.) However, this year, you can choose to plunge in the warm water of the Fieldhouse pool, or video yourself plunging into the frigid body of water of your choice.

If you go with the pool option, your team will be assigned a time to stop by and plunge.

If you choose to video your group taking a dip in Green Bay or another near-frozen lake or river, please make sure you don’t linger in the icy water. We don’t want anyone going hypothermic on our account!

Plunge coordinators will broadcast each plunge on Facebook Live. They will also be handing out awards for most money raised by group/individual, best remote plunge, and best costume.

How it works: Gather a team and pledge to raise money from friends and family, which benefits the pool and the DAR Boys and Girls Club of Marinette/Menominee. Register your team online and start fundraising. On Jan. 1, 2021, complete your plunge and turn in your pledge funds in person by check or online.

The Driftwood #12: UWGB Pop-Up Bookstore

Holiday 2020

Return or Sell Back Textbooks at Our Pop-Up Bookstore

The UW-Green Bay Phoenix Bookstore will be holding a pop-up bookstore textbook event on the Marinette campus from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 18.

Students will be able to return rented textbooks or sell back your fall textbooks during these hours. This pop-up bookstore will be located in the lobby of the Library building.

You may also ship your rented textbooks back to the bookstore. Check out this website to learn about shipping back textbook rentals. The deadline for returning rented textbooks is Dec. 29.

Please note that you will not be able to purchase textbooks for Spring 2021 through the pop-up bookstore. 

The Driftwood #12: Sheepshead Review

Holiday 2020

Sheepshead Review: Fall 2020 Digital Edition

Sheepshead coverThe UWGB English department is proud to announce the launch of our main campus literary magazine, Sheepshead Review. Published twice a year, Sheepshead contains creative writing and visual art from students, faculty, and staff from all four UWGB campuses. This year, for the first time, the online version of the journal will also contain digital fiction.

Visit the Sheepshead website to read the Fall 2020 digital edition.

Limited print copies will be available soon. Watch this space for details.

The Driftwood #12: Northern Lights

Holiday 2020

Northern Lights Cover2020 Northern Lights: Available in the Library

Ask a Marinette campus librarian for your free copy of this year’s Northern Lights Literary and Arts Journal, which features art, photography, poetry, nonfiction, and fiction by Marinette campus students and faculty members, as well as four students and alumni from the main campus.

Interested in submitting to the 2021 Northern Lights? Our submission window will officially open in the spring semester, though you may submit through our website at any time.

To join the editorial staff, sign up for the ENG 224: Practicum in Literary Publishing class for the upcoming spring semester. The students in this class also write and produce The Driftwood e-newsletter in the spring. The class does offer gen. ed. credits.

If you have questions, e-mail Tracy Fernandez Rysavy, Northern Lights advisor, and English literature and creative writing lecturer on the Marinette campus.

Northern Lights on Social Media

The Northern Lights is on Facebook and Instagram! Please follow us to stay connected to the journal.