(bright music) (slow upbeat music) - Hi, thanks for watching.

I'm Brian Ewig - And I'm Traci Neuman.

We are the producers of "My Wisconsin Backyard."

- That's right, this summer our cameras have been out capturing all sorts of "B" activities throughout the state of Wisconsin.

Balloons, bikes, boats, the beach.

What else?

- That's it.

- That's it.

- We begin this broadcast version on the Milwaukee River.

- Hey, begin, that's another "B."

- Yes, and I didn't even script that.

- We work with young people throughout the City of Milwaukee to inspire, educate, and mentor them, to find success in learning.

And the way we learn is through hands-on projects.

It can be for some people an almost transformative experience.

Plus, we're building something real and authentic, a form of transportation that's been around for thousands of years.

- It's a good way to stay out of trouble and have new hobbies that can benefit you further in life.

- A way to learn different things, a way to learn how to do different things.

Like before I came here, I wouldn't have known how to build a boat, put certain pieces of wood together.

It could help me if I wanted to make that a career and being a carpenter or something.

If I wanted to do, just build something one day.

- I'm not the best academically, but I do try my hardest.

I've really come to love this woodworking, and it's opened a lotta career paths for me.

(metal garage door clanking) - [Bill] This is it.

(bright music) - [Student] The (indistinct) we've been working on for give or take five, six years, and we are at a really good place with it right now.

- So we're very excited about the launch of our largest boat.

It's a 22-foot, four-person rowing gig that was built over the course of five years here as part of an afterschool teen mentoring program.

- [Student] I am so excited.

I remember when there were huge holes in the boats, so to see it not have huge holes in the boat and to actually be in the water is just really, really pleasing for me and really makes me happy.

- It is really cool to see, 'cause it's like seeing your own child grow up and it's like, you finally get to say that I did it.

I built this boat and show it off to different people.

- I'm getting older, I might go to college for it and be a carpenter, do something where I can build stuff and put stuff together or an engineering type of thing.

- I knew I wanted to do something with my hands, but I didn't know quite what.

I think I want to try my hand at furniture making.

I've managed to get the skills to create the things.

Now I want to create my own thing.

(bright music) (vegetables sizzling) (soft upbeat music) - My name's Thay Yang.

I'm a Hmong American here and living here in Milwaukee.

And today I'm gonna show you bamboo stir fry with ground beef.

Bamboo is really abundant in Southeast Asia and it's a staple meal because it's so easily to get.

I have a special friend that brought this all the way from North Carolina 'cause they harvest it down there.

So they package it up and they get 'em right when they start shooting off the ground.

Basically, we just take the bamboo, I blanch it first in boiling water, and then just take it out here and just start slicing it into dinner size, like this.

Bamboo is like one of nature's most useful plant.

'Cause you can eat it.

You can make shelters out of it.

Structures out of it.

Even the board that I'm cutting on here is made of bamboo.

Back in our country, we didn't have that much protein, such as beef or pork or chicken.

I mean, we use them sparingly.

So a lot of the vegetables kinda of takes place of, you know, filling your stomach.

Let me start up this wok.

And you know, a lot of Hmong families here in this country like to cook outside because it's, you know, first of all, it doesn't smell up your house.

And second of all, you know, we like the high heat stuff.

Adding the vegetable oil.

You can control your heat.

So this is why we like to cook outside.

And, you know, a lot of times we cook this, I usually start it pretty slow, let the meat cook slowly.

(meat sizzling) This is like a mushroom, a seasoning.

So it kind of acts like a blender, just a little bit of that and added some garlic.

(knife thwacking) Throw it in.

(food sizzling) Stir it around.

As you can see, it's pretty fast, so, you know, heats up pretty good.

Just kind of stir it around and then gonna start prepping some of my onions here that I'm gonna throw in there.

And these I'll usually like to chop up sideways, like this, so that it's easier to chew.

And we eat fresh onions like this kinda, you know, big.

So when it goes in the stir fry it shrinks up a little bit, and then this is oyster sauce.

Let's add a little tablespoon there.

This is one of our sauce that we use here that kind of gives a unique Asian or Southeast Asian taste to stir fry.

We kind of just stir around and this is what's so nice about what the wok is, you know, you can just cook it thoroughly.

Everything does, meat is all browned already.

So I'll just throw in the bamboo.

And one thing I like about this plant also is, you know, during the time of the Vietnam War, when Hmong refugees were persecuted for helping the United States, I think, you know, the bamboo, and they had to run into the forest and, you know, escape Laos to seek refuge in Thailand.

This is probably one of the plants that probably saved their life from starvation then when they can find it in the forest.

So it's a survival plan for a lot of our people too.

You know, as you can see, the liquid is starting to melt down a little bit.

Add a little bit of cooking wine here.

So the thing is, you know, cooking outside in the high heat like this, it gives you that nice charred flavor into your stir fries.

It's not like where you're cooking inside, electrical stove or anything like that.

So this is why we like to cook outside.

Is because of this high heat.

(soft bright music) And that's it, that's your bamboo stir fry with ground beef.

(soft bright music) (bicycle wheels whirring) - The basic premise is that it's like a library for bikes.

It's a chance for people who of all abilities, all ages, can come and ride a bike that's probably gonna look a little different than what they are used to seeing.

There was a family that heard about us and their son has seizures.

So he would ride in the front and there's straps that can hold, you know, the torso up.

We decided we wanted to do this because we have a daughter who's 13 and has autism.

She can't ride a bike by herself and has difficulty walking, doing other kinds of exercise.

So biking is the one thing that she gets excited about and that she can do.

(soft music) We do almost every day, a morning ride with Rose around the lake.

It's a great way to get outside and see nature, see the lakes.

It's the only real form of exercise that she gets.

She's very uneasy walking.

She has balance issues and things like that.

She can't communicate with us very well to tell us if she feels pain.

So we're not even sure if walking is something that is, how uncomfortable it is for her, if it causes her pain, but getting on the bike, she pedals.

In some ways she becomes, her behavior changes when she's on the bike.

We never really know what is going on in her head and what fears she might have and how uncomfortable she is with things.

So the fact that she's taking a risk, she's getting on this bike, this is one great way just to get her outside, getting some fresh air, using her muscles and just seeing other people.

(soft music) So the hope is people can come and they can take out a bike and they'll be able to take 'em on the bike paths and enjoy being in a group of other people who are doing the same thing.

(beach crowd chattering) (upbeat energetic music) - It's a great way to get outside.

It's beautiful scenery.

We're at Bradford Beach, obviously it's beautiful.

And we get to spend time with our friends and burn some calories.

Some people bring their kids, have a good time.

(upbeat energetic music) (speaking in foreign language) (upbeat energetic music) - To play volleyball indoors, you need like a big gym, of course, so it's just, it's a good sport to play in the sand.

- [Player] This is so much better than playing inside.

I mean, playing inside, I only did that in the winter time, obviously, because we can't play outside in Wisconsin during the winter time.

So that was a nice way to be able to stay active and be with my friends, but this is so much nicer, so much better to be able to play on the beach.

I love the feeling of sand in the summertime on my feet.

It's amazing, so much better than tennis shoes.

I like being barefoot.

(upbeat energetic music) - It takes like a lot of, you know, skill, and you know, practice, to become really good at this game, but yeah, honestly, I just kind of play it for fun.

- It's something people should absolutely look into trying to do, try to check out, see if you can do it.

Get a group of friends together, all you need is six people.

If you're not competitive, you can still just come out here and have fun with your friends and just play.

(upbeat energetic music) (Pogo springs clicking) - Pogo sticking is a stick that you stand on between your legs and there's some sort of spring mechanism in it where you bounce up and down repeatedly.

And most people kind of leave it at that and they just enjoy the bounce, which is still fun.

But there's about a hundred people out there in the world who take it way too seriously.

(Pogo stick clicking) So this is the big air Pogo stick.

So this Pogo stick has a steel spring in it like a classic-style Pogo stick does.

So it doesn't go that high in the air.

But this Pogo stick is filled with compressed air, which is about 80 times as efficient, to my understanding, as a steel spring.

(upbeat music) I just like Pogo sticking.

And I feel like everybody's got something that, you know, they do just because they like to do it.

I don't know if I am, like, inspiring the neighborhood kids to get really into Pogo sticking.

But I think if you're exposed to anything that shows you that you can take something to the next level, you don't have to figure that out for yourself.

No hands, you want to try no hands?

Oh, wait, high five.

Yeah!

- And we have a great sense of community on this block, but I just feel like it elevated it because he would come out to Pogo stick, you'd see the kids in the windows, they'd ask their parents if they could come out.

Then they'd line up on the curb, watch him Pogo stick.

You know, parents would come out with their kids in strollers, you know, to watch him.

So it was just fun.

And I think it just helped feed his interest.

- How long have you been Pogo sticking, man?

- Maybe a year, I'm not sure.

- Dude, you're doing a really good job.

I'm very impressed.

Do you have a favorite trick?

Do you have a trick you like to do most?

- Well, on the hands, where like I take both of my hands off.

- Nice, you're doing a great job, man, high five.

(hand slapping) Woo!

(Pogo springs click) (soft music) - [Traci] To see more of our short stories, please visit our website at milwaukeepbs.org, or check out our other social media platforms.

(soft music) (water rushing) (sail mechanism cranking) (wind blowing) - Mast race committee, mast race committee.

This is Antonia 1-5-2-1-4 checking in.

- Racing is where you're trying to get around the race course as efficiently as possible to beat the other competitors.

(upbeat music) The smaller boats start first.

And then the medium progress to the next start.

They're five minutes apart.

We're one of the last boats to start because we have a bigger boat.

In late air, sailing it's more relaxed.

You have more time to plan your moves.

It's less stressful, less equipment failure.

As you get into stronger winds, more things can go wrong.

Things happen faster.

Equipment can break, possibility of collisions when there's more boat speed.

(energetic music) It's a combination of tactics, luck, crew work, equipment, and the conditions.

(energetic music) (sail mechanism cranking) Nice job, John.

- [John] Yeah, you too.

(soft upbeat music) - [Dick] It's challenging.

There's always something different every time you come out.

It's beautiful to be out on the water, just looking back as the sun is getting lower in the sky.

I never get tired of it.

The water is relaxing.

- Jibe, jibe ho - The air is fresh out here.

I just enjoy it.

(sail mechanism clangs) The best thing I think is that you make great friendships with the people that you sail with.

You work as a team, you try to help each other and you get to know them.

And it's a great way to meet people.

(upbeat music) We are competitive, but we're here to have fun.

I'm in my seventies, I've been doing this since the early 1980s.

Let's get the jib down.

I believe anybody can do this with proper instruction, that you can start at a young age and you can sail all your life.

(upbeat music) (chainsaw whirrs) - [Announcer] One, two, go!

It is a lumberjack competition, seven different events, chopping, sawing, speed climbing, log rolling.

And then we have some chainsaw events as well.

All the events have all come about, they've been around for well over a hundred years, the old time lumberjacks in the woods in Northern Wisconsin, you know, a hundred years ago, back around the turn of the last century.

It was their day to day work.

Chopping the pine trees down, cutting 'em up at the lengths.

And of course, a little bit'a rivalry would start.

Who's it gonna be?

Trask Hill, gettin' up there!

I could chop faster than you or I can saw faster, and of course the only way to find out who was the fastest with was with a competition.

Okay, what we have here is the single buck cross cut event.

We are using M tooth saws made in Australia, pretty simple.

One lumberjack, one saw, one complete disc off the end of the log.

So I'll give 'em a countdown here and we'll get 'em going.

Sawyers ready.

One, two, go.

(saw blades screeching) The object is to use that entire saw, use every tooth on that saw, they're down through the top of that log.

They'll be in to the short one at the bottom.

The first guy with a cookie on the ground wins the point.

There it is.

(saw blades screeching) Trask just a couple of strokes behind.

- Yo oh.

- [Announcer] Go!

The skills involved in lumberjack events are quite specific, actually.

You can't just sort of go to the gym and be stronger and automatically be good at it.

It's one of them things you have to do repetitively over and over.

And many of the events are brute strength focused and some events like the axe row or the log rolling are a little more finesse.

We're gonna be doing a little axe throwing, where they are throwing double-bit axes.

They have two cutting faces, they're a pretty common axe used in the woods years ago.

So they're throwing this double-bit axe at this target from a distance of 20 feet.

The center of the bullseye is five feet off the ground.

A little bit high.

Now this is how we score it.

If they hit the green, that'd be one point.

If they touch the yellow paint, that's three points.

Red bulleyes' worth five.

So Trask would'a got one point there, Chester's into that yellow just a little bit, but that still counts.

So that's a three-point throw.

(axe thuds) There it is, that's the bullseye he was looking for.

When they release the axe it will make one full revolution and then stick with the leading edge in the target.

These axes weigh between two and three pounds and they cannot have a handle shorter than 24 inches.

And that's that elusive bullseye.

The sport is sort of growing in popularity.

A lot of universities have timber sports teams.

So people get involved that way at a young age and many go on to become professional competitors.

(crowd chattering) - [Organizer] Jason, Mark.

Ron, Darren.

John Rucker.

Is everybody set on crew that hasn't, I mean, I've talked to some people and so I know where I need, but does anybody else have needs that hasn't talked to me?

Okay.

What we're looking at doing this morning is we're gonna do a mass ascension from the field here, that really works the easiest.

We did note that on the map south of here for the airport, if you do get there, it's the runway numbers 1, 8, 3, 6, star.

So questions, anything?

All right, let's go ahead and go out and we'll put up a pie-ball here in a little bit.

And if you need a marker, just let me know.

(pack thuds) (machinery whirrs) - Actually those two cross this one, doesn't.

(flame roars) (air whooshes) All right.

My name is Sonja Belgarde, I'm a private balloon pilot.

I live in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, grew up in North Dakota, been around ballooning most of my life.

my dad was a balloon pilot.

So it just kinda came natural that I wanted to eventually.

(machinery sputters) We start, we fill it up with cold air first.

We'll fill it up probably 80% of the balloon.

And then once we turn the burners on, it actually warms the air inside of the balloon.

Warm air rises.

So that's how we get it to stand up.

(flame whooshes) All right, hands off.

Clear above me, we're good, we're good.

And we're off.

Thank you.

(upbeat music) We're climbing 300 feet a minute right now.

(upbeat music) It's so peaceful and so calm up in the air.

I don't know, it's like you leave all of your worries behind and you're just there to fly.

(flame roars) I don't get nervous very often.

I mean, there's been a few times where, you know, you're looking for that landing spot and you really have to test your skills sometimes to be able to drop it in.

That's what you're trained for too, though.

So, is to be able to find those spots and, you know, get into 'em if you need to.

And ballooning definitely brings some great experiences.

You get to know all of the pilots, they become like family.

You see the same ones quite a bit, especially when you go to.

when you're in the same area.

Not a lot of women in the sport.

There's getting to be more than when I first started, it seems.

And definitely more than when my dad was flying.

I had only heard of one other woman pilot when my dad was a pilot.

So it's definitely taken off.

(upbeat music) I think everybody should try it at least once.

Yeah, you'd be surprised.

I have a lot of people that say they wouldn't want to do it because they're scared of heights, but it's a completely different feeling when you're up there.

It's not like standing on a ladder.

It's not like standing on a roof and you're going with the air.

So, like, with the wind.

So you don't really get that sensation that you're really moving.

It's, you're floating.

(upbeat music) - And I used the excuse that I had to get video from the ground, but you actually went up.

- I did, it was a lot of fun.

Sonja and her crew were great, and we had a blast up there.

Plus the basket was probably too small for you.

So you can add that to your excuse list.

- I'll take that.

We both did stick around for the hot air balloon glow afterwards, and we'll leave you with that.

- Thanks for watching "My Wisconsin Backyard."

(soft music)