Discover Janesville at UW Rock County

Adventure continues...

Join me at www.TuesdaysWithYuri.blogspot.com as the adventure of getting to know our community continues with episodes of my new program "Tuesdays with Yuri", broadcast live at www.LocalVisionTV.com every Tuesday at 8 pm and then reposted online for anytime viewing.  I am excited about this opportunity to continue the important conversations in real time, with your phone calls and emails.  So please join me, won't you?

Discover Janesville at Local Vision TV

This episode focused on the finalists and the winner of the business plan contest organized earlier last year by Rock County 5.0. First interview is with Adam Baumel and Chuck Pennell of Tailgate Tasters. Adam and Chuck were one of the finalists



Mary Rajack was the person involved in organizing of the contest and she shared some important details on how the contest was conducted and the goals and mission of the contest.

Heidi McLain has since developed her own program with Local Vision TV

Local Vision was the winner of the contest and so it was particularly interesting for me to speak to the visionary - Tony Huml - and learn about what it was that in his opinion put Local Vision at the top.

Discover Janesville at Janesville Academy for International Studies

For a while I have wanted to do an episode of Discover Janesville which would showcase the charter schools in Janesville. Designed to help students who either struggle at traditional schools or need something that public schools may not necessarily offer, Janesville charter schools have grown over the years and feature a number of dedicated educators. My goal for this particular program was as always to highlight the people involved, but also to provide some information for students and parents considering whether these would be helpful to their situation.

First interview is with Carrie Kulinski, ATODA and CRES Academy coordinator. CRES Academy was started for youth who completed alcohol and/or drug treatment programs but for whom returning back to regular classes is only likely to return them to behavior patterns that got them in to trouble in the first place.

Next interview is with Dr. David Parr, mentor and on-line teacher for the Virtual Academy. Besides his involvement with the Virtual Academy, Dr. Parr also serves as the president of the Janesville Education Assocation.

Next, please take a look at this interview with Jane Thompson, lead teacher at the Janesville Academy for International Studies. International Academy's goal is to provide extra educational opportunities for students who want to learn more about international relations. Students spend part of their day at regular high school - Parker or Craig - and spend the second part of their day at the Academy. Besides being a teacher, Jane Thompson also serves as Rock county Supervisor.

Next, please take a look at the interview with Jon Simon, at-risk teacher at TATE Center. TATE is a place for students who were expelled from the Janesville School District.

Next, take a look at this interview with Mary Hathaway. Mary is at-risk teacher and Dean of Students at Rock River Charter School, the original charter school of the Janesville School District.

Finally, here is my interview with the Superintendent of the Janesville School District and current principal of TAGOS Leadership Academy, Dr. Karen Schulte.

Discover Janesville at Woman's Club

This episode was a culmination of several ideas: one is that I am always on the look out for a good theme for a show. The next was that I am interested in history and the historic building at 108 S Jackson in Janesville has attracted my attention for a while. It is a regal building in its appearance yet it is hidden so unless you know it's there or remember to turn your head while driving down the street, you may never notice it. Thanks to a suggestion by my friend Meredith Helgerson and with help from JATV and Julie Richardson, I was able to put together an episode highlighting the 108 S Jackson Street building housing several women organizations in Janesville. Thanks also to Vivian Creekmore who helped me with research as I prepared for the taping of this episode.

First interview is with Julie Richardson. Julie is the past president of the Woman's Club and is the current president of the Foundation for the Preservation of 108 S Jackson.

Next is the interview with Wendy Facinger, co-president of the AAUW (American Association of University Women). I originally got to know Wendy through the Janesville Noon Lions and thanks to Discover Janesville, I learned of Wendy's involvement with AAUW.

Doing this program gave me a wonderful opportunity to sit down for a taped conversation with someone who deserves the name of Janesville Institution as much as anyone, namely Jackie Wood. It is hard to imagine all the things that Jackie has done in Janesville from working endlessly to help the downtown to having served as a County Supervisor and on and on and on, suffices to say that her small stature can't hide her energy or track record of getting things done in Janesville for very long. Jackie is also a past president of the Woman's Club and is a wealth of information on history of the building.

Next, please take a look at this interview with Anne Wanke who represents Daughters of American Revolution in her position as Regent. Anne provided an absolute wealth of knowledge about this organization and should inspire anyone who thinks they may be related to anyone involved in the Revolution to research and certify their family roots.

Next, please take a look at this interview with Claudiadair Fitzgerald. A woman who has done so much to shape our community, Claudiadair has been involved with the visual arts for many years and while she is technically credited on the show as being the 2nd VP of the Arts League, in the past she has been the President and practically everything else that the Arts League needed over the years. Claudidair has also been inducted in the United Arts Alliance Rock county Arts Hall of Fame.

Finally, here is the interview with Frieda Lubkeman, treasurer for the MacDowell Music Club. The club is an organization that supports music and has been part of Janesville for many decades.

United Arts Alliance presents: Summer Acoustic Series

During the summer of 2010, Discover Janesville took a vacation and instead, I worked with Teresa Nguyen and Judith Detert-Moriarty to produce United Arts Alliance: Summer Acoustic Series. Jointly with JATV we put together 3 concerts, featuring 8 local performers performing mostly acoustic, mostly original pieces. Designed to showcase local talent, these 3 tapings resulted in 8 shows, which air for 8 consecutive weeks on Saturday and Sunday at 10 am, 4 pm and 10 pm on JATV 98. Once the shows air on JATV, they are uploaded on YouTube and are available for viewing to those who do not have access to the station, which is currently available only to Charter subscribers.

To those who may not be familiar with the United Arts Alliance, the organization started in 1996 with the original goal of creating a performing arts center in Janesville. Clearly that mission was a success and these days UAA continues to work to bring local performers together in order to bring the arts to Rock county residents. Members of UAA include many local theaters and performing organizations, but we are also looking for more local individual artists to become members. Learn more about the United Arts Alliance and upcoming events at www.RockCountyArts.com

Important note: While the tapings were free to the invited audience, we did ask for donations, which went in their entirety to support United Arts Alliance Scholarship Fund. From this fund, UAA gives scholarships every year to local students. Donations for UAA Scholarship Fund are still being accepted. Please send your contributions to PO Box 8132, Janesville, WI 53547-8132. We appreciate your support.

Check out this performance by Teresa & Anthony Nguyen!.

Second program featured Yuri Rashkin & Theresa Carroll

Check out United Arts Alliance Summer Acoustic Series concert featuring Greg Winkler and Bill Hatfield!

Here is the performance by Gaia Galvan and Friends!



Here is the performance by Al Hulick!



Here is the performance by Claire Olsen, JP Merz and Brandon Stottler!



Here is the performance by Bethany Conway and Michael Bachmeyer!



Here is the performance by Chris Kohn!

Discover Janesville at Rotary Gardens

John McCally
General Manager of Janesville Jets





Meredith Helgerson and Brad Cantrell

Tallman House committee








Christine Rebout
Executive Director of Janesville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau







Mark Dwyer
Director of Horticulture
Rotary Botanical Gardens