The Rosary Makers

(Editor's note: Bumping this multimedia project to the top of the blog... last time I posted it, I didn't embed the slideshow... and I just really like the story.)

Originally posted 4/17/09: Somebody has to make all of those inexpensive plastic rosaries used by missions in the Third World and elementary schools here in the U.S. Those craftspeople happen to be here in Wisconsin. They're called the Rosary Makers of the Queen of the Rosary Club (can you say that in one breath?).

Earlier this month I spent a day with the group during one of their meetings. Watch the slideshow below. Here is one of my favorite photos of the day.

Children play in the rural yard of the Ullmer residence during a meeting of the Rosary Makers of the Queen of the Rosary Club in Pulaski, Wis., Saturday, April 4, 2009.

Pulaski Polka Days

A few frames from this year's Pulaski Polka Days festival, which has been going more than 30 years... what a blast...

Dick and Irene Higgins of Medford, Wis., dance together at the Pulaski Polka Days festival at the Pulaski Polka Days Grounds in Pulaski, Wis., Saturday, July 25, 2009. The couple says they have been to the festival every year except 2008.

The hands of Stephanie Pietrzak work her accordion during her set at the Pulaski Polka Days festival at the Pulaski Polka Days Grounds in Pulaski, Wis., Saturday, July 25, 2009. Pietrzak is the most recent International Polka Association's Female Vocalist of the Year

Don Heeren of Schofield gives a kick while dancing with Kathy Cisewski of Antigo at Pulaski Polka Days.

It wouldn't be a Polka band without matching shirts.

2009 Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame inductions

Had the opportunity to cover the 2009 inductions for the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. On the way in I saw something you don't see everyday: three Vince Lombardi trophies guarded by Marines... shot it from the escalator.

I'm not a lifelong Packers fan, nor am I a huge NFL guy (I prefer college and preps). I'm an Ohio transplant who is, by default of living in Wisconsin, happily a Packers fan. So I'm not up to snuff with the trivia. Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong: I'm assuming that the three trophies represent the Packers' three Super Bowl victories: 1966, 1967, and 1996. But, to be nit-picky... from what I've read, prior to 1970 it was technically the World Championship Game Trophy.

Dorsey Levens, left, and Antonio Freeman, right, share a laugh while appearing for a press conference at Lambeau Field before the two became the newest members of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, at the Lambeau Field Atrium in Green Bay, Wis., Saturday, July 18, 2009.

Marines stand guard around Vince Lombardi trophies in the Lambeau Field Atrium before a dinner inducting Antonio Freeman and Dorsey Levens into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in Green Bay, Wis., Saturday, July 18, 2009.

Etter-Markins Ride

The Etter-Markins Ride honors the memory of Hobart/Lawrence police officers Robert Etter and Stephanie Markins who were killed in the line of duty on July 22, 2002 near Wisconsin 54 and Bay Ridge Court. Motorcycles pass by the crash/memorial site where the two officers' families and colleagues gather.

The top photo below ran, along with a separate photo of the motorcycles on the highway. The second photo was an attempt at telling the story in just one photo... trying to get the bikes and the memorial site in the same photo. I'm not quite sure it does the job... I think it's on the borderline of being a difficult read. What do you think?

Officers representing the Hobart/Lawrence Police and Brillion Police, and families of Robert Etter and Stephanie Markins watch the annual Etter-Markins Memorial Ride pass by near Wisconsin 54 and Bay Ridge Court in Hobart, Wis., Saturday, July 18, 2009. The ride honors the memory of Etter and Markins, Hobart/Lawrence police officers who were killed in the line of duty on July 22, 2002, at this site.

Blizzard tops Milwaukee in af2 home closer

Green Bay Blizzard's Larry Williams (3) breaks up a pass intended for Milwaukee Iron's Antoine Burns (4) in the first quarter of an af2 league arena football game at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon, Wis., Friday evening, July 17, 2009.

Bay Beach Amusement Park

Lucas Popp, 2, of Ashwaubenon takes a ride on Bay Beach Amusement Park's new ride, a 1936 Smith & Smith Chairplane, in Green Bay, Wis., Thursday, July 9, 2009.

Andrea Benslimane of Brookfield, Wis., takes photos of her kids as they ride the Chairplane, Thursday.

Rollover crash

Personal effects litter the sidewalk around the scene of a rollover crash at East Walnut Street and Webster Avenue in Green Bay, Wis., Thursday afternoon, July 9, 2009. Police say a 13-year-old girl was ejected from the pictured vehicle and transported to a local hospital with injuries that are not being considered life-threatening.

Sidewalk chalk

Vinny VandenAvond, 8, and other children from KinderCare create sidewalk chalk art in a garden area at Aurora BayCare Medical Center in Green Bay, Wis., Wednesday, July 8, 2009.

Remembering Pvt. Steven Drees

Pvt. Steven Drees, 19, of Peshtigo, Wis., died from injuries sustained from an ambush on his unit in Afghanistan the other week.

A few days after he died at a military hospital in Germany, Drees' family and friends gathered at his home in Peshtigo to remember him. They patriotically decorated the home and invited the community to line the street in vigil to welcome back his mother, father and brother from Germany.