Greetings! We hope your summer is going well–and if you have a garden, we hope those little spring sprouts are bursting forth in full July glory. Here at Crosscurrents Heritage Center we’re reflecting on our Spring 2026 events, both the scheduled events that came to fruition more or less as expected, on time in their neat and ordered rows, as well as the many surprises from seeds scattered long ago that had been slowly working their magic underground.
Just as you prepare the soil and plant the seeds in a garden, we have been reaching out to local schools and the Ho-Chunk Nation, seeking partnerships and collaborations. And just as gardeners are often amazed at what comes out of the ground, we have been astonished by a bumper crop of new initiatives and connections.
Our education program suddenly flowered this spring with visits by six teachers and administrators from two local school districts, plus our first school field trip in many years! And these appear to be perennials: plans are being laid for regular collaborations with teachers each fall and field trips for students each spring.
We’re not sure Mary Moffat would approve of how her son Ben capitalized on the outhouse and chamber pot humor with the high school seniors who visited, but we are sure that the education program growing today would not be possible without the work she accomplished during her lifetime. Ben’s tour with students this spring grows in the rich soil Mary prepared back in 2003 when she started hosting students.
Another seed that reached fruition this season came in an invitation by Bill Quackenbush of the Ho-Chunk Nation to join their historic voyage down the Lower Wisconsin River in their dugout canoe. Bill visited Tippesaukee for the first time in 2022 to meet with Ben and Bruce–and we are so pleased that he returned several years later with a group of paddlers.
Ben and Janine were able join the dugout and a flotilla of canoes and kayaks that traveled from Muscoda to Port Andrew on the third day of their five-day journey. Janine and Ben each had a turn paddling in the dugout! The entire group of paddlers then came up to Tippesaukee to learn more about Crosscurrents. In this exchange with both indigenous and Euro-American visitors, we felt more seeds settling into the dirt. We’ll see what surprises come from this remarkable experience.
As if those unexpected opportunities weren’t enough, Quercus Land Stewardship and the Natural Resources Foundation brought a field trip of landowners to Crosscurrents to tour the work we’re doing to restore our west woodlot. Bruce hosted an enthusiastic group to view the effects of our prescribed burn last year, at the same time Ben and Janine were paddling the Wisconsin River. That was a truly exciting and abundant day–better than any zucchini harvest.
Back to our regularly scheduled seeds…
Our events with Dr. Eric Carson on the geology of the Driftless, and with Casey Brown and Julia Pello on their film-in-progress “Indian Mounds in a Year” both drew full and enthusiastic houses.
Eric Carson’s third visit to Crosscurrents was another hit. Eric himself said that our audience was the most engaged that he has seen; the Q & A went on for 45 minutes and people clearly enjoyed hanging out at Tippesaukee. You’ll be able to enjoy highlights of the lively Q & A on our YouTube channel later this fall.
Speaking of our YouTube channel, we were surprised and thrilled that a group of filmmakers from Belgium who had stumbled upon our highlights of Casey Brown’s 2025 talk showed up to Casey and Julia’s presentation on “Indian Mounds in a Year.” The Belgian filmmakers happened to be in Wisconsin shooting their own documentary near Baraboo and ventured out to meet Casey.
Casey and Julia shared the progress they’re making as they document the mounds. And we considered time, history, and memory as Julia spoke to us about her feature length documentary on the Wisconsin poet Lorine Niedecker. You can learn more about “Indian Mounds in a Year” by clicking here.
After a stimulating presentation, the audience had a chance to keep talking with Casey and Julia. Folks lingered for an hour on the lawn appreciating the view of the Wisconsin River Valley, Janine’s chocolate chip cookies, and each other’s company.
We will announce our next season of events in just a few weeks. Stretching from late August to the middle of October, our presentations will include a roundtable of indigenous artists hosted by Casey Brown, Fall foraging with Abbie Lehman, storytelling about growing up on a farm in the 1940s and 50s with Jim May and Cecilia Farran, tours of the Old Coumbe House and grounds, PLUS a fundraising party to celebrate all we’ve accomplished in the last three years.
What surprises will the Autumn bring? Stay tuned! If we’ve learned anything this spring, it’s to trust in the seeds underground and prepare for a bounty to share.
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