Good night, and good luck.
When I first started as a photojournalist I was looking for ways to come up with cool news story ideas, stuff off the beaten path. For those of you unaware, television news can rarely have beat reporters. Assignment editors rely heavily on local papers to let them know the local stories and then cover it. There’s just too wide an area to cover without enough man power to do it.
So I was looking for something non-traditional, and being the tech savvy kid I fancy myself, I turned to the net. It wasn’t long until I found The Wausau Blog. And while Wausau Blog has mostly fallen into sporadic at best updates and no longer has much of a community voice bend as it only had one author, Citizen Wausau popped up.
And while Citizen Wausau has rarely provided me with good news ideas, it gave me a whole hell of a lot more, a lot I never saw coming. It gave me a community in Wausau. Despite living downtown and going to everything from the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum to Chalk Fest and everything in between, I just never really fell in with the cool people in Wausau.
Thankfully, I found where they all hang out on-line.
Wausau is a town of Greeks and Visigoths (to reference the immortal Neil Postman) and the Greeks are horribly outnumbered. In way, its a microcosm (see what I did there) of America in general. I’ve tried to live like a Greek and enjoy their company a whole hell of a lot. Those that appreciate the value of education, art, current events and basic outside the box thinking. While the barbarian hordes in Wausau would love to drive the Women’s Community out of their neighborhood, keep Downtown from expanding and growing and continue to underfund our schools, there is some comfort that there are some kick ass Greeks in Wausau that are trying their best to responsibly grow Wausau in a center of culture and community.
And a good chunk of them hang out in Citizen Wausau.
You are the Greeks, the custodians of intellectual discourse, appreciators of more than corporate produced entertainment, the constant questioners… you have vision that goes beyond the tip of your nose. And I’ve hope that in the coming years you’ll make Wausau into the place I need it to be right now. Because I’m not alone. There is a small, but fierce, bohemian culture in Wausau that needs the old guard to warm up to them.
And there’s a lot that gives me hope all this will happen. The Fillmor can be so much more than it is, and it’s starting to finally live up to its potential to bring in the cutting edge music acts it’s suited house. The University if finally expanding, and finally giving the students a much needed true fine arts center. Downtown is gorgeous, I know many people don’t realize it because they see it every day, but be proud of that place. I can remember being a photographer at the Nuemann case and some reporters from Milwaukee commented on how nice it was. The Weston Skate Park is such a step in the right direction to accepting fringe cultures into the mainstream of Wausau. Downtown Grocery is so important in this world of global food spreading diseases like mad. I may be the first person to say this: but the Vertigo Gaming Center is a great resource for the next great art form: video games.
But the barbarian hordes are relentless. There’s still so much work to be done. Where can one see limited release films? What night life is there that doesn’t involve getting tanked? Where’s the Chipotle (seriously, it’s the best place in the world!)? What do high school students do after 9:00 PM? Why is free Wi-Fi a dirty word?
I admire just how much the folks in Citizen Wausau have taken on their plate by choosing to be Greeks. It’s tough, thankless and slow. But so necessary. Especially in Wausau.
I’m heading back over to my blogger blog and will stay there unless I find a Citizen Baltimore or something. I doubt I will. This is something special. Something that can mobilize.
And I’ll check back in on occasion, but I’ve got a new community that I’m responsible for plugging into and there’s only so many hours in the day. If you’re coming out my way, give a holler and I will met up for lunch or something.
And thanks for letting me spend some time with the Greeks.
ezineaerticles » Blog Archive » Good night, and good luck. said:
[…] Original erik […]
September 11th, 2008 at 3:11 pm #
Dino Corvino said:
With tears in my eyes…I love you Erik.
So, don’t go. Post to your other blog, but please post the same stuff here. PLEASE.
If you want to do something in Baltimore, let us know. I know a guy who knows some stuff.
September 11th, 2008 at 3:25 pm #
Jim Carlson said:
Erik. It was a pleasure meeting you and hanging out with you. Best of luck in Baltimore. Wausau has lost a Greek, Baltimore has gained.
September 12th, 2008 at 5:01 pm #
erik said:
Dino, you’ve got every right to take a lot of credit for what I’m talking about, my friend. I am checking back on occasion and maybe I will still post something. I appreciate you leaving the door open for me.
And Jim, you keep rocking Wausau. I’ve still got the CD and look forward to the next one. I’m looking forward to implementing some mad Carlson action in my next piece.
September 20th, 2008 at 12:01 pm #