Hanging with Jungle Jack

By David Horst   sandhill7@gmail.com

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Jack Hanna thrilled a crowd of 700 people of all ages Oct. 16 at Kimberly High School with a blend of his stories, videos of some of his best adventures and cute, exotic animals from snow leopard to otter.

It all benefitted Mosquito Hill Mature Center and was sponsored by the Charlotte Bates Fenlon Memorial Fund at the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region. That's the official story. My day was more about hanging out with Jungle Jack.

Jack Hanna is the definition of personable. He is interested in what people have to say and what they care about. He is funny and irreverent, and genuine.

Master canoe restorer's work will help people experience the Fox River

By David Horst  sandhill7@gmail.com

Master canoe builder Jim Suffield.

I’m standing in the pouring rain in the parking lot of the Waupaca Fleet Farm with two buddies from my Fox River adventures, when the one with the ponytail lights up a smudge pot and starts waving the sweet, aromatic smoke it is emitting under two 25-foot wooden canoes we’ve hauled back from the Rhinelander area.

It’s times like these that I realize I have amassed a pretty novel collection of friends.

The guy with the smudge pot is Glen Gorsuch of Neshkoro. He is part-owner of a voyageur canoe larger than either of these and a French fur trader in his re-enactor character. He wants to bless the canoes as they enter their new life, in the traditions of Native Americans.

The guy who provided the boat trailer and cobbled together a way to carry the two big canoes is Dave Peck of Appleton, an enthusiast of wooden boats of any kind.