What's New at OWW?

Welcome to our New Trustees!

At our annual meeting we welcomed 4 new trustees to our Board of Trustees. We are delighted to introduce Kurt Knoerl, Jamie Watkins, Jeri Strasser, and Ellen Hayward! Each trustee brings their unique perspective and insight to the team. In the next few months we'll be sharing more about each trustee in our Staff Spotlight section!

Discover Wisconsin with Us!

If you missed the live airing of last week's Discover Wisconsin, then we've got your back! Click the above video for access to the full episode! We were honored to sponsor this incredible and fun episode!

Generac presents The Sorghum Maze!

As part of Old World Wisconsin’s Halloween Legends & Lore, guests can walk, weave and find their way through the Generac Sorghum Maze. Much like a corn maze - the Sorghum Maze features a historically important crop as the walls of the maze. Sorghum, also known as millet and broomcorn, is an ancient grain that originally came from Africa. During the domestication process, multiple varieties of sorghum arose providing humans with a drought-tolerant staple crop.

Varieties of sorghum have been used globally for thousands of years in various culinary forms and as feed for livestock, particularly beef and poultry. Sorghum's earliest use in the U.S. can be traced back to 1757 and has remained a stable crop for farmers from Texas to South Dakota to this day. Tall varieties of sorghum, like the variety used for the maze, are known for their sweet taste and can even be distilled into a low-cost sugar substitute.

This year, we are so grateful to our friends at Generac for sponsoring the maze. With a manufacturing facility in Eagle, Generac is proud to sponsor events like this that enrich communities and support organizations where their employees live and work. Thanks to their generous contribution, the staff at Old World Wisconsin have been able to not only grow one of the coolest on-site activities at Legends and Lore, but preserve the story of this ancient and storied gluten-free grain.

Legends and Lore

Wisconsin's myths and legends are coming to life at Old World Wisconsin's annual spook-tacular, supernatural night of family fun at Legends and Lore!

This highly anticipated event features a wide variety of activities including:

• Performances by seasoned storytellers and eerie performers throughout the Crossroads Village
• Games and special activities, like the Generac Sorghum Maze (learn more in our Foundation Spotlight section).
• Specialty hot food, sweet treats, and drinks
• Mystical Merchandise at the Welcome Center Gift Shop for all your spooky season needs!

Tickets are on-sale NOW and often sell-out, so don't hesitate to get your tickets!

**Note - Guests may arrive as early as 4:00 p.m. to gain access to select concessions and gift shop

Meet McKenna Peternel!

Many of our friends have a long-held fondness for Old World Wisconsin's events and rentals and now we have a new face bringing new life to the program - the new Event Coordinator, McKenna Peternel!

McKenna comes to Old World Wisconsin most recently from the restaurant industry in Milwaukee! She's no stranger to hosting events of all kinds in historic spaces or museums and brings the professional know-how that will help every guest have the event of their dreams at Old World Wisconsin! As a Wisconsin native (UW-Madison alum), McKenna is excited to create more opportunites to make memories at Old World Wisconsin through weddings, birthday parties, and more.

Currently, she's most excited for Legends and Lore. You'll see her amid the mythical legends and spectacular haunts on Fridays and Saturdays starting October 9th and running through October 24th. (tickets available at the link above).

McKenna has an eye for design as she is a passionate student of Art History in her free time. Ask her about it the next time you see her! In the meantime, if you're interested in scheduling your own legendary event at Old World Wisconsin then reach out to McKenna!

Pleasant Ridge is "On the Road Again"

On Monday (9/21) and Tuesday (9/22), Old World Wisconsin moved the Pleasant Ridge. The Old World Foundation has been a part of the Pleasant Ridge exhibit since its creation nearly 30 years ago! This move is part of a significantly larger project that we are supporting Old World Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Historical Society in using funds raised at Sunset Soiree in 2024. The staff at Old World Wisconsin have been working tirelessly to coordinate with historic preservationists, construction companies, and the weather of Wisconsin itself to start this first phase of the project. Below we've included a video of footage collected by our Executive Director, Gwen Griffin, that provides a bit of context on the move and some behind the scenes photos provided by Gwen and Dan Hess, Old World Wisconsin's General Manager of Experiences and Events.