The Alice Aura
	From Blackboards to Backboards
	Editorial
	Wisconsin Favorites Maritime Museum Preserves the Tides of History

 

The Alice Aura

   The anticipated makeover may not be of the “extreme” variety popular television shows promote these days, but organizers of Wisconsin’s annual Alice in Dairyland competition hope a few changes will streamline the 57-year-old program’s selection process and modernize its image.

   This year’s selection finale, scheduled for May 20 in Medford, could be the last to feature an evening banquet, and it probably won’t include the sort of pageantry that has surrounded the contest since the first Alice—Margaret McGuire—donned the tiara and sash in 1948.

   “Having a pageant atmosphere in many ways does Alice a disservice,” said Jeanne Carpenter, marketing specialist with the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP). “The day after she’s selected, she shows up for work at DATCP and she’s a professional communicator in a business suit. She’s not wearing evening dresses at the office.”

   The young woman selected as Alice in Dairyland becomes an employee of the department for one year, helping to market and promote Wisconsin’s agricultural industry through a whirlwind of personal appearances and media contacts. The current Alice, Betsy Francoeur of Merrill, will log about 40,000 miles in travel throughout the state and deliver hundreds of speeches and presentations by the time her reign ends May 31. She is one of the most visible spokespersons for Wisconsin agriculture.

   Carpenter explained Alice’s job really hasn’t changed in 57 years. “She’s always been a professional, but we haven’t always done a good job of presenting that,” she said, explaining that during the past few years, several alterations have helped refine the Alice image.

Criteria, Cosmetics

   One change, according to Carpenter, was to clarify the qualifications for Alice candidates. “The criteria were unclear. We’ve taken the mystery out of it,” she said, noting the number of applications are half of what they used to be, and now 95 percent of those applying meet the standards specified by DATCP: at least 21 years of age; a Wisconsin resident; some years of experience, education, or training in communications, marketing, agriculture, or public relations; familiarity and understanding of the agriculture industry; and abilities to develop and publicly present agricultural information.

   Another change, made just a year ago, was a simple cosmetic option. Instead of wearing the traditional tiara, for many occasions Alice now will wear a jeweled broach. The pin goes well with the business suit and it’s more practical to transport and secure than a $10,000 tiara, Carpenter said, adding that sporting an elegant and ornate tiara does little to enhance Alice’s credibility as a professional spokesperson.

   Carpenter said the next step in modernizing the Alice program is expected to streamline events that are part of the selection process itself.

Applications, Interviews

   Currently, DATCP solicits applications each January, setting a February 1 deadline. By the end of February, DATCP staff and ag industry representatives review all applications and whittle them down to six finalists. A month later, the candidates are briefed for a day at the department on what will be expected of them, and then they travel to spend a day in the county that has been chosen to host the selection finals. On that trip, organizers and agency officials hold a press conference to announce the six Alice candidates.

   The finals—which will be held May 18–20 this year—include two and one-half days of tours, appearances, interviews, and presentations involving the Alice candidates, who are constantly being judged by a three-member panel consisting of DATCP and ag industry personnel. The judges’ decision is announced at an evening banquet the last day.

   “This is an elaborate interview process,” said Bill Weiland, who chairs the steering committee Taylor County assembled a year ago when it was tapped to host the 2005 finals. “In the tours, we try to cover the entire county to get a good cross section of our agribusinesses.” He said the budget for hosting the event is about $25,000, most of it secured from the county board and through fundraising among local businesses. Weiland credited Mike Schaefer, manager of Taylor Electric Cooperative, with being a key member of the subcommittee that coordinated financing for the event.

   Carpenter said more of the interviewing activities for future Alice competitions will likely be held at the DATCP office in Madison prior to the county showcase, pointing out that the current final days of the selection process can be exhausting for prospective Alices. Both Carpenter and Weiland observed it presently involves two and one–half days of what are essentially job interviews and scrutiny conducted in the most public venues.

   “I think the finalists will like a shortened county program more,” said Carpenter, also commenting that it makes sense to conduct more of the candidate evaluations in the agency offices where Alice will ultimately be working.

County Focus Continues

   Carpenter added, however, that moving the finals around the state to allow different counties to highlight their agribusiness is an important focus of the Alice program that will continue.

   Shortening a county’s portion of the program by perhaps one day and changing the traditional evening banquet finale to an afternoon program that doesn’t involve a meal could lessen the financial burden on host counties, she continued. “It could also lower finale ticket prices and boost attendance.”

   Bill Weiland said for the finale at Medford—which could be the last of the traditional banquet affairs—his steering committee is planning on seating for 300, though attendance could go higher. With a ticket price of $15, the charge at Medford is $5 to $10 lower than what has been the going rate in recent years. “We’re basically trying to break even on the meal,” he said. “But showcasing what Taylor County has to offer is what’s exciting for us.”

   And, after all, spotlighting agriculture is what the Alice in Dairyland program was designed to accomplish. With more streamlined methods of attracting and assessing applicants, attention to Alice’s professional image, and commitment to promote agribusiness at the most local levels, the Alice program continues moving to strengthen Wisconsin’s largest industry.

 

From Blackboards to Backboards
Co-ops Honor Scholar Athletes

   Whether or not the Duke of Wellington ever really suggested the British Empire’s greatest victories were forged in the heat of school athletic competition, the idea does make some sense. And when students distinguish themselves both in their classrooms and on the playing fields, whether those of Eton or anyplace else—let’s say western Wisconsin—it makes sense to encourage more of the same by honoring their efforts.

   That’s just what four neighboring electric cooperatives have been doing with their sponsorship of the Coulee Conference Classic.

   Wisconsin’s Jackson Electric Cooperative, Riverland Energy Cooperative, and Vernon Electric Cooperative, along with southeast Minnesota’s Tri-County Electric Cooperative, have joined together in sponsoring the tournament to display the talents of the girls’ and boys’ basketball teams of the Coulee Conference.

Part of National Recognition

   In fact, the sponsorship is among the activities that earned Riverland one of two National Community Service Awards given by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) at the end of February. Presented by NRECA at its annual meeting in San Diego, California, the awards celebrate the varied projects and programs undertaken by individual cooperatives as expressions of their “commitment to community,” one of the co-ops’ governing principles. Riverland won for having the best youth programs among entries from across the nation.

   An NRECA camera crew visited Riverland Energy in January, filming many of the co-op’s varied youth activities in preparation for the program to be shown at the February 28 award presentation. A portion of the resulting video that was displayed to more than 1,500 electric co-op delegates and guests in San Diego included on-court action at the Coulee Classic and a series of interviews conducted with the basketball tourney as a backdrop.

Reaching Out

   The Coulee Classic helps generate funds needed each spring to support a conference-wide banquet where the achievements of student athletes are recognized. Those honored can include participants in any sport offered by conference schools, but they must also have performed with distinction in the classroom.

   Speaking of his cooperative’s efforts to reach out to young people, Riverland General Manager Dave Oelkers noted, “Programs like this don’t just happen.”

   “It takes a willingness on the part of the board of directors to support projects from a financial standpoint and dedicated employees who are willing to make a commitment of time to make them a success,” Oelkers said, adding that he considers himself “blessed to have a board of directors and staff who are not afraid to make a solid commitment to the youth in our service area.”

   This year’s Classic, the sixth annual, was held January 29 at the La Crosse Center. It featured high school teams from Arcadia, Black River Falls, Galesville-Ettrick-Trempealeau, Luther, Onalaska, Westby, West Salem, and La Crescent, Minnesota.

Editorial
by Perry Baird

 

Go Ask Alice

   In 1947—the year before Wisconsin’s Alice in Dairyland program was inaugurated—the 25-year-old Miss America pageant for the first time included the judging criteria “intellect and personality.” The record shows, however, Miss America that year still wore a swimsuit as she accepted her crown.

   Against that backdrop and the general popularity of beauty pageants in those years, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture probably knew selecting a young woman to carry the title of “Alice in Dairyland” would draw inevitable comparisons to the runway contests of the day. Our feature on page 10 describes modifications still being made to shed some lingering inaccuracies to the Alice image.

   Unlike the obvious “spin” that 1947 Miss America handlers tried to put on their program, the modernizing efforts of Alice in Dairyland organizers have not been just window dressing. They are designed to reflect qualities demanded consistently since 1948 for the Alice position, even though impressions left by the selection process may have not always tracked accordingly.

On the Road

   On the Ag Department web site, http://datcp.state.wi.us/mktg/business/marketing/alice/, you can scan the travel journal archives of the current Alice, Betsy Francoeur, to get a flavor of the feverish pace she keeps: an estimated 370 events, 40,000 miles, hundreds of media interviews, and 100 schools visited by the time she turns over duties to a new Alice on June 1.

   Illustrating that Alice has always been a post for over-achievers, Wisconsin REA News, predecessor of this magazine, in July 1954 carried a profile of the 1953 Alice’s year. As she perused one of her scrapbooks, Mary Ellen Jenks told publication editors she had averaged more than one personal appearance each day, working a seven-day week. She visited 13 states, attended 20 fairs, rode in 18 parades, participated in 30 radio shows, made TV tapes and appearances, and even sold a ton of cheese one weekend at a store in Michigan.

Participation, Politics Swell

   That same edition of REA News also spotlighted the sheer size of the Alice competition in those days, as businesses and whole communities got behind hundreds of Alice candidates each year. It was noted that Mary Ellen Jenks, for instance, had been picked from a field of 537 contestants spread out among a dozen regional eliminations.

   In 1954, Chippewa Valley and Eau Claire Electric Cooperatives each sponsored a candidate: Katharine Paulsen of Holcombe and Joan Bauch of Augusta. They were among 24 prospective Alices who took part in a regional competition held in Eau Claire—an event to which Chippewa Valley Electric brought the entire Holcombe High School Band. Bauch was one of two winners in that contest, the other being Mary McCabe of Ladysmith, who went on to win the finals.

   As this month’s feature notes, Alice program officials regard today’s selection process as essentially an involved—though public—job interview. The pageantry, the politics that went along with candidate “sponsorship,” and the festival atmosphere that made up early Alice competitions have diminished to the point that the modern selection process already stands out as businesslike and professional by comparison.

 

   Maritime Museum Preserves Tides of History

   Much of Wisconsin’s early history was forged on the waters and shores of the Great Lakes, and Manitowoc’s Wisconsin Maritime Museum presents many aspects of our maritime history in exhibits that are both educational and entertaining.

   The main gallery of the museum lets you step back into the 1840s, where you’ll be introduced to shipbuilding and shipping—some of the first industries in Wisconsin during our early statehood. Some of the exhibits here feature the streets of old Manitowoc, a replica cross-section of the schooner Clipper City, and the ways in which Wisconsin contributed to our nation’s growth and its defense during World War II by building ships and submarines.

   Other galleries highlight model ships and car ferries; the engine room of an ice-breaking ferry built in 1911 to transport passengers and vehicles across the Straits of Mackinac; and close-up views of actual Wisconsin-built boats. The younger mates in your party will enjoy the Little Lakefarer’s Room and the Children’s Waterways Room. In the latter, kids of all ages can sail their boats onto a miniature Lake Superior, sail it to the locks of Sault Ste. Marie, and continue on to Lake Michigan and Green Bay. From Labor Day through Memorial Day, the Children’s Waterways Room is only open on weekends.

   The centerpiece of the museum, according to many, is actually not within the walls of the museum at all, but moored nearby in the waters of the Manitowoc River. It’s the submarine USS Cobia, which you may tour, weather permitting, to get a look at life in the “silent service” during World War II. The Cobia is similar to the 28 subs built in Manitowoc during World War II.

Welcome aboard!—Linda Hilton

   The Wisconsin Maritime Museum is located at 75 Maritime Drive on Manitowoc’s Lake Michigan shore. It is open year-round, with winter hours daily from 9–5 through Memorial Day weekend. In summer, the museum stays open until 6 p.m. For further information, call 866-724-2356 (toll free) or visit www.wimaritimemuseum.org.