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Interesting Facts
- What do Rick Springfield, The Guess Who, STYX, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Peter Frampton, Huey Lewis and the News, and the B-52s all have in common well, aside from rock music? They've all performed at Rock Fest, a musical festival held each July on a 160-acre farm in nearby Cadot. The first such festival took place in 1994 as part of the annual Country Fest celebrations (the festivals now operate under one title: "Chippewa Valley Music Festivals." Every summer, more than 100,000 people flock to Cadot to see their favorite bands perform over the course of this fun, four-day weekend.
- The Chippewa River and Red Cedar River Trails offer outdoor enthusiasts unique opportunities to experience the area's natural beauty as they follow the courses of the region's two main rivers, connecting Eau Claire to Menonomie. Plans are now under away to link the Chippewa River Trail with the Old Abe State Trail, an old railway bed that runs from Chippewa Falls to Cornell a project that would give the Chippewa Valley Trail System some 70-plus miles of paved, scenic pathways.
- The Chippewa Valley, River, and County are named in honor of the people who once inhabited this part of Wisconsin. In truth, "Chippewa" is the Anglicized spelling of the tribe's real name, "Ojibwa." Members of the Sioux Nation also lived in the area, competing with the Ojibwa for hunting land, a struggle that eventually led to a 250-year war that did not conclude 1862, when the U.S. Army put down a Sioux uprising in Minnesota and, in effect, forever crippled the Sioux Nation.
- Want milk? How about cheese? Wisconsin may be the Badger State, but everybody knows that it's really "America's Dairyland." In fact, a TV show of that name even airs in the Eau Claire area on WQOW TV. Not a believer? Tune in to the Channel 18 on Saturdays at 6pm.
- Famous sons and daughters? Eau Claire's got them. Try John Menard, founder of a home-improvement empire that boasts some 180 stores in the Upper Midwest. There's also former Green Bay Packer great Fred "Fuzzy" Thurston, whose superior blocking skills made him an integral part of the Packers' championship teams in the 1960s. In addition, the famous advice columnists (and twin sisters) Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren lived in Eau Claire for over a decade while growing up.
- Weekend dinnertimes at most Chippewa Valley (and Wisconsin, for that matter) restaurants are distinguished thusly: fish fries are on the slate each Friday, and Saturday is "Prime Rib Night." If you plan on participating in one of these statewide rituals, be sure to bring the heartiest appetite you can muster that's right, they're usually of the all-you-can-eat variety.
- This just in: Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox sighted in the Chippewa Valley! Actually, that'd be Carson Park if you want to get technical. And, no, they're not living and breathing; they're statues that mark the entrance to the Paul Bunyan Logging Camp and, over the years, the statues have become one of Eau Claire's most recognizable landmarks, appearing on everything from travel brochures to postcards.
- The historic Leinenkugel Brewery, located in Chippewa falls, is the seventh-oldest continuously -running brewery in the United States, having been founded in Jacob Leinenkugel way back in 1867. Tours of the brewery are available year around, and area stores proudly carry bottles bearing the tell-tale Leinenkugel label.
- When you're driving around the scenic Chippewa Valley be sure to share the road with bikers, cyclists and, of course, the occasional horse-drawn wagon. Indeed, Wisconsin boasts a healthy Amish population, as evidenced by the many Amish furniture stores that checker the state's major highways and interstates.
- Back in the "good old days," the neighborhood barbershop served as a social outlet of sorts providing men with a place to gather, argue about politics, complain about their jobs and wives, and discuss the latest sporting events. Since 1947, Roy's Barber Shop in the Water Street Historic District has filled this niche for Eau Claire residents. Over the years, things have managed to change very little here, from the classic leather barber's chairs to the tell-tale red to the white pole visible from the street to the men chatting it up inside. Oh, and you can get your hair cut here, too!
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