became the city’ s largest employer and one of the world’ s leading producers of automobile tires. John Menard Jr., founder of Menard’ s Home Improvement Stores, was born and raised in Eau Claire and still resides there. Similar to Lowe’ s and Home Depot, Menard’ s stores are only found in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Kentucky, Kansas, Wyoming and West Virginia. Fun fact: Although John is the richest resident of Wisconsin, he still lives a humble life in the family home where he grew up.
Other notable Eau Claire residents include jazz pianist Geoffrey Keezer, blues guitarist Howard Luedtke and singer-songwriter Justin Vernon, founder of Bon Iver, an American Indie folk band.
Since Justin Vernon resides in Eau Claire and runs his recording studio there, he has been instrumental in Eau Claire’ s renaissance, with the construction of the Pablo Performing Arts Center, which offers an array of performances. The university theater department also uses it. With an international summer music festival and numerous other artist venues, Eau Claire remains a cultural center in the upper Midwest.
Along with the cultural arts, Eau Claire offers an amazing Farmers’ Market that spreads across Phoenix Park on the river. If you want it, you can find it there: homemade products, organic food, and music. Spend the day! Enjoy the view! Dance to the tunes! Sample the goodies! Something for everyone.
Eau Claire is located on the northern cusp of the Driftless Area, a region of the upper Midwest, primarily in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois,
never covered by glacial ice during the most recent ice age. It’ s called“ driftless” because receding glaciers left no glacial“ drift”( silt, sand, and rock debris). The un-glaciated landscape features deep river valleys, exposed bedrock, bluffs, caves, and sinkholes, creating a rugged, hilly topography carved by rivers and streams over millions of years.
To shake up my brother’ s quiet life, I suggested that we drive south through the Driftless Area. Surprisingly, he agreed. What a beautiful drive. Lush rolling hills, towering trees, and fields of corn greeted us along the way. It was a feast for the eyes!
We stopped in Viroqua, a hippy town replete with organic eateries, a Waldorf school, a historic bookstore, and more. The Driftless Book Store, housed in a historic tobacco warehouse, features room after room of books and music. This store sells more books than any other bookstore in Wisconsin. And it is not even open in the winter because it’ s unheated! A must-see. Back in Eau Claire, we strolled around the university grounds, downtown, and parks. It’ s a beautiful city with much to see. One of its jewels is Putnam Park, a 230-acre park featuring an array of wildlife. It’ s the best place to bird watch in Eau Claire. Owned by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, habitats range from prairie to old-growth pine to rocky cliffs, marshes, and floodplain forest. Densely forested with river birch, silver maple, hackberry, red maple, and paper birch, more than 400 species of plants, 100 species of birds, and 23 mammals have been recorded within the park.
Without a doubt, it’ s a popular hiking trail. The original owner stipulated that no trees( except invasive varieties) could be cut down. If violated, the property would return to the original family owners. Needless to say, the university minds its p’ s and q’ s!
Of course, I visited my high school friends. My family moved to Eau Claire in 1963, so my memories only go back to high school and college. All of these friends grew up in Eau Claire with childhood memories. Sometimes they forget that I arrived late to the party! Regardless, we enjoyed reminiscing. However, we all agreed that those teenage years were not the best years of our lives— so full of angst and insecurities. We prefer life on this side! Each of these sweet ladies has lived a fruitful life, and I’ m delighted that we stay in touch.
One day, we picnicked with 1966 graduates from all three high schools. There, others requested my book, which I happily shared. They all remembered me as a shy, reserved girl who served as a class officer and on the student council. To their surprise, I blossomed
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