Fort Club’s Fall FACTalks begin Oct. 6

The author of a book on the state’s historic bars and breweries will kick off the Fort Atkinson Club’s four Fall 2021 FACTalks, according to information recently released by the club.

All programs begin at 7 p.m. In-person talks take place in the Fort Atkinson Club’s theater at 215 S. Water St., East, while Zoom talks may be viewed at https:www.fortatkinsonclub.org/FACTalks.

On Wednesday, Oct. 6, Jim Draeger will speak about his book, “Bottoms Up: A Toast to Wisconsin’s Historic Bars & Breweries.”

Draeger is an architectural historian and the former state historic preservation officer at the Wisconsin Historical Society.

His book celebrates Wisconsin’s taverns and the breweries that fueled them. Beginning with inns and saloons, the book explores the rise of taverns and breweries, the effects of temperance and prohibition, and attitudes about gender, ethnicity and morality. It traces the development of the megabreweries, dominance of the giants and the emergence of microbreweries, according to the release.  

Contemporary photographs of unusual and distinctive bars and breweries of all eras, historical photos, postcards, advertisements, and breweriana illustrate the story of how Wisconsin came to dominate brewing and the place that bars — and beer — hold in Wisconsin’s social and cultural history, the release continues. 

On Wednesday, Oct. 13, via Zoom, Mariette Nowak will speak on “Birdscaping in Wisconsin: Gardening to Attract Birds.”

Nowak is an active leader and volunteer for Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes and Lakeland Audubon Society. She also is a public speaker on landscaping, native plants and birding, and, before her retirement, was director of the Wehr Nature Center, a unit of the Milwaukee County Parks.

In addition, Nowak is the author of “Birdscaping in the Midwest,” a guide to gardening with native plants to attract birds.

The book shares how to create outstanding bird habitats in one’s own yard with native plants that offer food, cover, and nesting sites for birds. It features nine different habitat gardens for hummingbirds, bluebirds, wintering birds, migrant birds, and birds that frequent prairies, wetlands, lakes, shrublands, and woodlands, along with advice about maintaining plantings and augmenting them with nest boxes, birdbaths, misters and perches, the release notes.  

On Wednesday, Oct. 20, Joe Haverkamp, a physical therapist at Fort HealthCare, will speak on “Vertigo Mechanisms & Treatment.”

Haverkamp, who works at the Fort Atkinson Therapy & Sport Center, earned his doctor of physical therapy degree at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. He is certified as a direct-access provider and an orthopedic clinical specialist, and in dry needling.

His interest in the profession dates back to his days as a high school athlete when he required physical therapy. Through his enjoyable experience, he realized how much he could help other people in the same way. 

On Wednesday, Oct. 27, FACTalks will present “We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War.”

As described within the release, speaker Doug Bradley is a distinguished lecturer emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Letters & Science/\Integrated Liberal Studies.

“We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War” places popular music at the heart of the American experience in Vietnam. The presentation explores how and why U.S. troops turned to music as a way of connecting to each other and the world back home and of coping with the complexities of the war they had been sent to fight. 

It also demonstrates that music was important for every group of Vietnam veterans—black and white, Latino and Native American; men and women; officers and “grunts” — whose personal reflections drive the book’s narrative.

For questions on FACTalks or more information about the Fort Atkinson Club community center, call (920) 568-1720.