Lee Pulaski, lpulaski@wolfrivermedia.com
The Shawano County Board this week approved earmarking up to $10,000 from its general fund to go toward a two-year marketing promotion through Discover Wisconsin.
The Discover Wisconsin Media Network plans to put together a television piece about the Wolf River. Besides three showings on television, Discover Wisconsin also plans to use the piece for radio, website, trade shows and other venues.
Also investing $10,000 each in the documentary are the Menominee Nation, Langlade County and the village of Fremont. The total cost for the project is expected to be around $250,000, according to Supervisor Arlyn Tober, but sponsors are paying for most of it.
Tober said the piece is expected to include interviews with people who lived and grew up along the Wolf River.
There will also be segments on the different activities people can do along the river, including rafting and fishing, according to Dennis Heling, chief executive officer for Shawano County Economic Progress Inc., as well as the ski show performed each summer by the Shawano Ski Sharks.
Sturgeon will be a key factor of the promotion, as well. Every spring, the prehistoric fish make their way up the Wolf River to the Shawano dam to spawn. Historically, the sturgeon traveled up to the Menominee Reservation before the dam was built, and tribal members feasted on the fish as a cultural event.
“They have a network where it will be shown in North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois,” Tober said of Discover Wisconsin. “The Wolf River is so important for this area, especially for tourists and even the city of Shawano, which probably wouldn’t have been here if it wasn’t for the Wolf River.”
Heling said he had preliminary discussions with the city Wednesday to invest so the county was not on the hook for the full $10,000, and he planned to talk with representatives of other communities and civic organizations.
“The county has worked previously with Discover Wisconsin, at least twice,” Heling said. “It’s really going to be an impactful program.”
Calls to the Menominee tribal chairman’s office for comment were not returned by press time.