Thank you to the Friends of the Lower Wisconsin Riverway for this post:
With the passing of Wisconsin documentary filmmaker Dave Erickson, Friends of the Lower Wisconsin Riverway is partnering with the Starlite 14 Outdoor Theater in Richland Center, Wis. to screen Erickson’s two-part documentary, Rhythm of the River on Thursday, October 22.
The Starlite 14, located on US Highway 14 in Richland Center, will open gates for the event at 6 p.m., and the concession stand will offer hot food. Attendees can relax on the grassy viewing area in lawn chairs, on blankets or in their vehicles and listen to the movie on FM radios.
Gates open at 6 p.m. and remarks from local dignitaries including Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board Director Mark Cupp will begin at 6:45 with the film starting at sundown, about 7 p.m. Adult admission is $10 and admission for children three years and up is $5. Proceeds from the event will go to Friends of the Lower Wisconsin Riverway.
The film takes a historical perspective on the free-flowing stretch of the Wisconsin that was designated 30 years the as the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway. In this work, Erickson examines the riverway’s role in Ho Chunk culture as well and how it could impact future preservation efforts of rivers throughout the world. The showing at the Starlite 14 will include the original HD documentary first seen on Wisconsin Public Television and an additional half-hour of edited segments that includes the story of the early days of American Players Theatre near the Lower Wisconsin, the cedar canoes built by one man to traverse it, the fish art the river inspires and the history of Tippesaukee, an early European settlement along the river that dates back to 1838.
Erickson, director, producer, editor and proprietor of Ootek Productions, paddled into the sunset August 24 of 2020. With Ootek, Erickson produced 40 documentaries that blended ecology, conservation, history and the human experience. Apart from Rhythm of the River, Erickson produced another documentary focused on the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway—Gather Like the Waters. He has also produced films focusing on the Wisconsin Dells, the history of polka in Wisconsin, endangered cranes, Sauk County native Aldo Leopold, and the 1820s lead mining in the Upper Mississippi region.
Information taken from Friends of the Lower Wisconsin Riverway email.