It’s a Yard Knock Life

as spring arrives, frozen shame begins to thaw

Huzzah. Spring is all but here. The snow will soon be gone. And like most of you, I long for warmer weather. I can’t wait to slip on my very masculine sandals, and the prospect of busting ...

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On the Cover | April 4, 2018

learn more about Volume One's cover art from Jan Killian

“I love color and alcohol ink is color! I am having so much fun working with this fluid medium which is unpredictable and exciting. My painting style continues to grow as I create techniques for painting with ink and combining it with other mediums ..."

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Opening Shot | April 4, 2018

WINDOWS TO THE FUTURE. The floor-to-(almost)-ceiling windows in the main art gallery of the Pablo Center at the Confluence overlook the Chippewa River. The gallery is just one of the many airy spaces to be found within the new art center, which is slated to open September 22.

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Baseball Springs Eternal

season’s arrival a reminder of the sport’s history, and Eau Claire’s place in it

As I shoveled the ice off my driveway on a recent Sunday, I was listening to the Brewers and Indians spring training game taking place in hot Arizona. It reminded me that so often baseball ushers in ...

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For Brewers, the Future May Be Now

the Brew Crew’s rebuilding process is proceeding faster than anticipated

In sports, sometimes you have to bottom-out to top-off, though such a process does not guarantee that you will get back to the top. Lately, some teams in Major League Baseball have realized that their current ...

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Spring Time Is Jazz Time: City comes alive for 52nd annual festival

For more than half a century, Eau Claire has welcomed spring with big band standards and wandering improv riffs. This year, you’ll be able to enjoy the rhythm of 52nd Street as you wander South Barstow...

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Music Quick Hits | April 2018

Get set for some for some larger-than-life musical performances coming our way this spring. In the last couple weeks, a handful of notable concert announcements have made their way across the collective V1 desk ...

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Grammys and Curds: Elk Mound native sings in Grammy-winning opera

In the days following Sept. 11, 2001, members of Elk Mound’s high school choir were dining out. The restaurant was unusually quiet as patrons watched the news unfold on TV. A spur-of-the-moment decision led to ...

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6th Annual Improv Festival Gives Eau Claire a Taste of the Second City

The Eau Claire Improv Festival is back for its sixth year with a new location and a big headliner. For the first time, the festival will host Chicago-based Second City Improv, a world-renowned organization that comedians ...

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No Cuts: Expect bawdy fun at the Big Uncut Flick Episode 2

The Big Uncut Flick Episode 2: Murder On the Gay White Way, which opens April 11 at the Grand Theatre, is equal parts homage and parody of show business in the 1950s. The play depicts a husband-and-wife ...

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Will the Fake Paul Ryan Please Stand Up?

comedian to host town hall in EC as Paul Ryan

On Friday April 13 join Clear Water Comedy for a town hall assembly like none other. Internationally touring comedian Chris Fairbanks uses his quick wit and quirky improvisations to parody a town hall ...

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Don’t Forget Ta Keep ’Er Movin’

Manitowoc Minute star Berens returns to the Valley

Over the past few months, your social media feed may have been populated by what looks like a local news brief set in eastern Wisconsin. If you took the bait and clicked “play” you discovered the satiric genius ...

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Guild Offers Scholarships to Music, Theater Students

The Chippewa Valley Theatre Guild is offering as many as three scholarships to soon-to-be or current college students who plan to study music, theater, or dance ...

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Acclaimed Poet Leila Chatti to Read Prolific Work in EC

The L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library will host Leila Chatti, author and poet, on Thursday, April 12 at 6pm. At the gathering, Chatti will share selected pieces of her most recent writing. Born in California, Chatti ...

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Writer’s Guild Announces Summer Retreat Line-Up

Whether you’re an aspiring writer or a published author, a writer’s retreat this summer is just the thing to help you hone your craft and take your skills to the next level. Between June and August, the ...

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Written in the Stars: EC native explores grief, astrology in debut memoir

The plan was to interview Courtney Kersten after her March “craft talk” hosted by the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild. The 30-year-old Eau Claire native was speaking to an overflowing crowd at ...

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Both Twig and Barstow & Grand Now Accepting Submissions

Twig, an independently published, Eau Claire-based art zine collective is now accepting poetry submissions for the fourth edition. Poets residing in the Midwest – Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...

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Madison’s Wisconsin Film Festival Starts Screening Dairyland Movies This Week

“Let’s face it, nobody reminisces about the couch they fell asleep on while streaming something alone,” the Wisconsin Film Festival website claims. For 20 years, the festival has been bringing movie lovers together ...

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Local Anime Con Steps Back in Time

annual con has something for every “nerd” culture lover

Bring an old polaroid camera and film for the treasure hunt and win a gold coin – technically a dollar coin – at the third annual Chippewa Valley Anime Con. The event, organized by Thomas Jannusch, takes ...

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Shifting Gears: New bike shop / coffee bar hits the “grounds” running

Coffee lovers and bike enthusiasts alike will be thrilled to hear that a new cyclery and coffee shop just opened in downtown Eau Claire! SHIFT Cyclery & Coffee Bar is located across the street from the Masonic ...

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Naturel Growth: Grants propel local skin care line in expansion

Melnaturel, a locally handmade, natural skin care line developed and marketed by founder Melissa Wilson, has grown substantially over the past year thanks in part to receiving a couple of grants to assist in ...

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Making a Big Racket

new Menard Tennis Center will help sport grow, Eau Claire YMCA says

Menard isn’t familiar to you, he should be: He’s the founder of the Eau Claire-based home improvement store chain that bears his name, a business that has made him Wisconsin’s wealthiest man. And while he’s well known for ...

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Panel to Explore Eau Claire Arts Revolution

How did Eau Claire became the cool arts, music, and cultural capital it is today? Where is it heading as it serves as a role model for other cities seeking to verve up? These will be topics of conversation at ...

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Family-Friendly Triple Play

Children’s Museum, Chippewa Valley Museum, and Beaver Creek team up with shared membership

A new collaboration among three Chippewa Valley destinations – The Children’s Museum of Eau Claire, Beaver Creek Reserve, and The Chippewa Valley Museum – will make it easier and more cost effective ...

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Women’s Giving Circle Opens 2018 Grant Applications

The Women’s Giving Circle, a fund of the Eau Claire Community Foundation, is accepting applications for its 2018 grant program until July 1. The Women’s Giving Circle will award grants of up to ...

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Miss United States Wisconsin Comes to Valley

Self-confidence, determination, resilience, compassion, hard work, good health, and education are the qualities that will be crowned in the Miss United States Wisconsin Pageant, scheduled for April 20-21 ...

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UW-Stout Game Design Program Ranks in Top 25

For the sixth straight year, the game design and development programs at UW-Stout have been ranked in the top 25 in the country. Princeton Review, an educational services company known for its annual ...

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Eau Claire Celebrates Haiti

authentic meal, coffee sales, Wyclef show raise awareness of the island

On January 11, Donald Trump made an unkind remark about Haiti. It was one day after the eighth anniversary of an earthquake that wreaked unimaginable devastation on that country’s capital ...

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The Sound Is Global, the Venue Is Metro

hip-hop legend Wyclef Jean brings Caribbean pulse to Eau Claire

We interrupt the steady drip of local music Eau Claire’s been listening to on repeat and present you with a mighty disruption: Wyclef Jean. Eau Claire, known for its great affection for all things local is ...

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Going Green for Earth Week

EC organizations host a world of Earth Week events

To celebrate Earth Day on April 22, Eau Claire is hosting events throughout the week to promote sustainability and encourage community members to go green all year. U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin ...

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Shifting Gears: New bike shop / coffee bar hits the “grounds” running

Coffee lovers and bike enthusiasts alike will be thrilled to hear that a new cyclery and coffee shop just opened in downtown Eau Claire! SHIFT Cyclery & Coffee Bar is located across the street from the Masonic ...

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Keystone Crossing’s New Beer-Focused Eatery, Northern Tap House

On Saturday, March 3, Roblé Tacos + Tequila closed its doors. When they re-opened on Monday, March 5, it was to welcome guests to Northern Tap House, a new venue for beer enthusiasts and lovers of pizza, burgers ...

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The Finest on the Vine

the top three local wineries from our 2018 Best of the Chippewa Valley Reader Poll

Whether you’re a wine expert or more of a novice, each of these winemakers are sure to have something you’ll be interested in. These wineries were voted the Best of the Chippewa Valley in Volume One’s 2018 ...

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Six Savory Wisco Wine & Cheese Pairings

“Eau Claire Wine Guy” William Bernier suggests these combinations of Wisconsin-made cheeses and wines from the award-winning Wollersheim Winery of Prairie du Sac ...

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Putting Down Roots: How discoveries and accidents led to winemaking in Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s wine industry is modest in scale, but has roots as old as the state itself. A Hungarian immigrant named Agoston Haraszthy planted the state’s first vineyard in 1846 on the east bank of the Wisconsin River ...

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Latest Draganowski Venture Is River Prairie Pizza Spot Za 51

Pizza can be more than just cheese, sausage, or pepperoni. Altoona’s newest pizza restaurant, Za 51, serves up 10-inch, thin-crust pizzas topped with artichokes, prosciutto, chicken, onions, or even ...

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Farm-Fresh Food Truck on the Road

former Informalist chef has plans for Locavore mobile kitchen

Local chef Amy Huo, formerly of The Informalist, is rolling into the food truck scene this summer to celebrate Chippewa Valley farmers and foragers with The Locavore Mobile Kitchen. Huo said she plans to develop ...

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Five Guys Burgers & Fries Set to Launch EC Location

Five Guys, the nationally renowned burger chain, is coming to the Oakwood Mall in Eau Claire in mid-April. The burger joint will offer a large variety of burgers, fries, soda, and hot dogs, sandwiches including ...

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Brewing up a Good Time With the Midwest’s Best

The fourth annual Midwest Craft Brewers Conference, hosted by UW-Stout, will be held April 12-13 at Wilson Park in Menomonie – but this year, there’s a twist. For the first time since the original conference ...

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Father-Daughter Team Follow Dream to Open Thai Restaurant in Banbury Place

When customers walk into Lor Diner, they should be hungry, prepared to try new food and eager to meet new people. The owner of Lor Diner, Mai Vang Lor, said she loves customer service and meeting the ...

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You Can Now Register for Softball, Pickleball, and Even Cornhole Leagues

Ready for some friendly competition this sunny season? It’s time to register for Eau Claire Parks and Recreation spring and summer adult leagues! Through the Parks and Recreation Department ...

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Hiking Beyond the Valley

grab your boots and bug spray, then hit the road to find these fabulous hiking spots

Last year, I wrote an article for Volume One titled 25 Hiking Trails in the Chippewa Valley, which you can read online at volumeone.org/hiking. For hiking enthusiasts willing to drive a bit outside of the area ...

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Wisconsin Vacation Bucket List: 13 Spots Around the State

from Harleys to LEGOs to Bucky Badgers, 2018 offers plenty of travel surprises

The list of new attractions, major anniversaries, and travel trends in Wisconsin for 2018 lives up to the state’s penchant for fun in the most original, quirky, classy, and carefree ways ...

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Drive to Create: Take a tour of self-taught art on Wisconsin’s backroads

Folk art. Self-taught art. Outsider art. Pop art. Whatever you choose to call it, Wisconsin has long been famous for the unique creations of self-taught artists. Throughout the state, the final creative ...

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