Stevens Point News

Main Menu

  • Covid 19
  • Sports
    • Sports News
    • High School Sports Scores
    • Wisconsin Rapids Rafters
  • Crime
  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Obits
  • Contact
    • Subscribe
  • Classifieds
    • View Ads
    • Place Ads
  • Legal Ads
    • Our Legals
    • Statewide
  • E-Edition
    • Stevens Point City Times

logo

Stevens Point News

  • Covid 19
  • Sports
    • Sports News
    • High School Sports Scores
    • Wisconsin Rapids Rafters
  • Crime
  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Obits
  • Contact
    • Subscribe
  • Classifieds
    • View Ads
    • Place Ads
  • Legal Ads
    • Our Legals
    • Statewide
  • E-Edition
    • Stevens Point City Times
Arts & EntertainmentCommunity NewsTop Feature
Home›Arts & Entertainment›PBS shows history of Stevens Point

PBS shows history of Stevens Point

By Taylor Hale
October 21, 2021
1343
0
Share:

By Gene Kemmeter
STEVENS POINT – Wisconsin PBS will present a history of Stevens Point at 8 p.m. Oct. 25, in the newest installment of its continuing local history project, “Wisconsin Hometown Stories: Stevens Point.”

The show can be viewed on WHRM, Channel 20, in Wausau. It will also be available for free-on-demand viewing at wisconsinhometownstories.org and one the free PBS App on streaming services and Smart TVs.

The program tells the story of a city shaped by its distinctive geography and natural resources in central Wisconsin. The documentary will also be available for free on-demand streaming online at WisconsinHometownStories.org and on the free PBS App on streaming devices and Smart TVs.

The program starts with the Menominee people who collected resources in the “Tension Zone,” an S-shaped area that stretches across Wisconsin from northwest to southeast. That transitional zone divides the state between two ecological regions, the Northern Mixed Forest and the Southern Broadleaf Forest.

The northern region is closely related to the forests of northeastern Minnesota, northern Michigan, southern Ontario and New England, while the southern region is like forests in Ohio and Indiana. The Tension Zone contains plants and animals found in both of those regions.

Stevens Point’s history relates stories of diversified industries, innovation and cultural history by focusing on sections titled “Early History,” “Little Poland,” “Brewed to Perfection,” “Reinvention,” “Fly-Tying Capital,” “Irrigation Revolution” and “Green Circle City.”

Holly De Ruyter, producer of the program, said Stevens Point’s location in the center of the state makes it unique, providing access to all of the state’s resources. “It’s really a diverse area with a lot going on,” she said. “You’ve got farming, you have woods, and you have the river. Being in the heart of Wisconsin, you kind of get the best of all worlds in that area.”

De Ruyter said she was also surprised by the diverse economy in Stevens Point throughout its history, starting off as a lumber town and then switching to other industries once the bulk of timber in the area was cut. The city has book publishing, insurance firms, a university, paper making and other businesses, she said.

The program doesn’t include the total history of the city and surrounding area, she said, acknowledging she learned about other stories but just couldn’t work them into the program.

The “Hometown Stories” series attempts to give people a sense of each city or county and what it’s like to live there and what the community is like, De Ruyter said.

The chapter about the Green Circle tells the story about people coming together and wanting to work on something to better their community and make it a better place to live says a lot, she said.

“People look to give their time and talent to better the city and it shows, and you feel it, too,” she said.

TagshistoryHometown storiesPBSStevens Point
Previous Article

Panther football bests Marshfield

Next Article

UW-Stevens Point offering free mathematics program for ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Related articles More from author

  • Commentary

    Animal antics make co-habitation interesting

    September 19, 2017
    By STEVENS POINT NEWS
  • News

    Well-balanced Well Agreement: Stevens Point, Hull join on residential water reduction issue

    November 17, 2017
    By STEVENS POINT NEWS
  • News

    City denies appeals of costs for sidewalk snow removal

    February 16, 2018
    By STEVENS POINT NEWS
  • NewsTop Feature

    Neighbors’ petition doesn’t sway housing plan

    February 16, 2018
    By STEVENS POINT NEWS
  • News

    Committee says ‘no’ to keeping monkey

    February 24, 2018
    By STEVENS POINT NEWS
  • News

    Council retains existing marijuana possession forfeiture

    February 24, 2018
    By STEVENS POINT NEWS

Leave a reply Cancel reply

High School Sports

Go to High School Sports

Free SP Newsletter

  • Sports

  • Commentary

  • SPASH names new head football coach

    By Taylor Hale
    May 4, 2022
  • Nelson’s walk-off sparks series win with three victories

    By Taylor Hale
    April 13, 2022
  • UWSP women’s basketball coach announces retirement

    By Taylor Hale
    April 9, 2022
  • Pitching dominates with pair of one-hitters as Pointers finish sweep

    By Taylor Hale
    April 5, 2022
  • SPASH trap shooting club hosts fundraiser

    By Taylor Hale
    March 16, 2022
  • Ice fishing contest Reels in $1,500 for Portage County Literacy Council

    By Taylor Hale
    March 17, 2022
  • Kemmeter Column: County celebrates year after quarantine

    By Taylor Hale
    July 12, 2021
  • Isherwood Column: Great engineering projects two

    By Taylor Hale
    July 11, 2021
  • Shoes News Graphic

    Show Column: Odd Jobs

    By Taylor Hale
    July 9, 2021
  • Looking ahead with Larry: July 2

    By Taylor Hale
    July 5, 2021

About Us


The Portage County Gazette is published every Friday by Multi Media Channels. It is locally-owned, locally-operated and locally-written. Subscriptions are $59 annually, delivered via the U.S. Postal Service.


To subscribe, go www.shopmmclocal.com/product/portage-county-gazette or call 715-258-4360

  • 2619 Post Road, Stevens Point, WI 54481
  • (715) 343-8045
  • News editor: [email protected]
Copyright © 2022 Multi Media Channels LLC.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted without the prior written consent of Multi Media Channels LLC.
×