GIVING IT ZING! Eau Claire Jeff DeGrave just published "Horseradish!" It's billed as a comedic yearbook of the Chippewa Valley. (Submitted photos)

Jeff DeGrave is just horsing around with his new project, a satirical book he describes as “The Official 2025 Comedy Yearbook of the Chippewa Valley.”

DeGrave recently published the first (but hopefully not the last) installment of Horseradish!, an 81-page satirical spoof of the Valley and its residents, from their obsession with roundabouts to their inability to take the last slice of pizza.

Like horseradish the root vegetable, Horseradish! the book is homegrown, perhaps a little spicy, and bears a passing resemblance to another Wisconsin-born humor publication named after a vegetable. (We’ll let you guess which one.)

“It’s just meant to make you take a moment to laugh at what’s gone on in town in the last year or two,” explained DeGrave, who began penning humorous stories about Eau Claire for fun a few years ago. He credits his friend B.J. Hollars – a UW-Eau Claire English professor and prolific author – for motivating his efforts and inspiring him to finally unearth Horseradish! from the comedically fertile soil of the Chippewa Valley.

“B.J. is relentless at getting people to write,” DeGrave said. This wasn’t, however, his first foray into humor publishing: Back in the 1990s, he and a friend produced a monthly magazined in the Twin Cities called The Citizen Harold.

Fast forward more than 20 years, and the current era – filled with uncertainty and angst – seemed like a good time to create something light and funny, DeGrave explained. And that’s exactly what he’s done. As he writes in the self-deprecating “Opening Opener”: “I’m sure you’re wondering how one becomes inspired to produce ‘this’ – what many great local writers have called a ‘hopefully once-in-a-lifetime’ minimus opus. Though surely not my first kick at the old can of ‘being the bard,’ the depth of support I have received to complete this project has been truly amazing. From former friends to legal counsel to the incredibly forthright ‘cease and desist’ community that I have recently come to know, I have found myself simply overwhelmed.”

In the course of the next few pages of Horseradish!, you’ll find articles about Eau Claire’s rejected “traffic trapezoid”; the Chippewa River Trolley Co. filling the gap in local air travel with 14-hour rides to Chicago (complete with a complementary stroopwafel); and local excitement about the opening a children’s museum which exhibits actual children (including “toddlers playing in virtual dirt and eating [plant-based] bugs”). Amid all this foolishness, you may notice a few design choices that echo those of a much-loved Chippewa Valley magazine. (Hint: You’re reading it right now.)

DeGrave – whose day job is intercultural immersions coordinator at UW-Eau Claire – is responsible (or to blame?) for virtually the entire contents of the publication, save for the graphic design, layout, and artwork by Aubre Walther and a “Crazy Krossword” by James Reilly. So far, he said, feedback on his creation has been generally positive, and he sold numerous copies at UWEC’s GEEKcon in early December.

Considering that Horseradish! Is billed as a yearbook, can we expect it to be a recurring publication?

“We’ll see how it goes, and if it’s a one-time deal, that’s OK,” he said. “If it becomes a repeat thing, that’s OK too. We’ll see what Eau Claire wants.”

Horseradish! Is available in Eau Claire at Dotters Books, 307 S. Barstow St., and The Local Store, 205 N. Dewey St., as well as on eBay.

Here’s a taste of some ‘Horseradish!’ articles: