Eagles Heart and Cancer Telethon pack 51st show
Emcee Dan Moris with Jared Mikkelson, who created a painting during the telethon's broadcast.
Moris receives a check from Janet Finn on behalf of the 20th Century Study Club.
The telethon got many organizations on stage during its six-hour broadcast, including local cub and boy scouts. (Photos by Steve Van Kooten)
By Steve Van Kooten
One year removed from the Eagles Heart and Cancer Telethon’s 50th year celebration, Prairie du Chien’s premier cavalcade returned to the airwaves.
The telethon, which took place this past Saturday from 5-11 p.m. at the Prairie du Chien Area Arts Center (PAAC), closed with $32,480 raised; however, that amount will likely increase as other donations are tabulated over the coming weeks.
Early on, Dan Moris, one of the event’s emcees along with Tom Stram and City of Prairie du Chien Mayor David Hemmer, made a callback to the 50th show. “A lot of alumni came back to join us for the show — it really was a special night one year ago… Now, we’re celebrating the start of a new chapter with year 51.”
Even though the telethon is moving forward, the talent that took the stage during the show was a mix of the new and the familiar. Musical acts included Dylan Harris, the Electric Fire Hydrant Blues Band, Ryan Fox, Huxley Whitt and Sophia Landis.
Jared Mikkelson returned to create another oil painting during the production, this time inspired by St. Feriole Island. Mikkelson is a Prairie du Chien native and graduated from PdC High in 2016. The painting was auctioned during the show.
“I was painting downtown for different events. I met Dan, and he was getting a bunch of acts together last year, and he said it’d be awesome if I came in,” he said.
Other familiar acts included the Prairie du Chien High School wrestling teams doing Push Ups for Pennies after traveling back from Richland Center and the Star Power Dance Team performing during the show.
The behind-the-scenes hands were a mix of seasoned veterans and new people. Randall Paske has worked on the telethon for approximately 10 years and now works with the event’s internet data.
“I make sure that all of the data is being sent in, totals are input correctly. I do all of the online forms and things like that,” he said.
Paske added that working on the show is about entertaining people and bringing the community together for a worthy cause.
“I like the community spirit,” he said. “This is one of the only things where you get to participate in and be part of a community thing. You leave here feeling good — there’s nobody nagging or carrying on. It’s just people saying, ‘That was fun.’”
In the audience, Tom and Kathy Nelson watched the show. Tom was a driving force in the telethon for 45 years, starting with its humble beginnings in a garage-sized studio.
“I had the opportunity to be directly involved with it, and it gave me the opportunity to perform on television. I wouldn’t have had the chance to do that if I lived in a larger city,” he said.
According to Nelson, the telethon first started at the Kickapoo Antennavision before moving to B.A. Kennedy, the Bluff View building and, finally, the PAAC at the high school, which Nelson said was a major upgrade to the production value of the broadcast.
“The initial format hasn’t changed; it’s a television show to bring people together and celebrate the community of Prairie du Chien. It’s to showcase its talent and, in the process, generate some money. And the money goes into research for major diseases that people in this world are struggling with,” said Nelson.
The production isn’t a simple one. Even with professionals in front and behind the camera, the broadcast experienced issues with the livestream to YouTube during the first hour of the show — live television ain’t ballet. Shortly after the problem was discovered, the behind-the-scenes team managed to resolve the issue and get the show running smoothly.
As in years past, the local Eagles Club #1502 held a watch party at their building on South Beaumont Road. The Eagles hosts the event each year and delivers the money to various research organizations later in the year. Past donations have been made to centers at the University of Wisconsin, Gundersen and Mayo Clinic.
Mediacom employees volunteer their time and equipment to get the show on the air each year. The telethon is shown on channel 6 as well as a livestream on YouTube.
Along with the telethon, auctions are held both on the show and online. Auction items from Pete’s Hamburgers (who also sponsored the telethon’s YouTube stream), the Prairie du Chien Country Club, Pizza Ranch, The Barn, Black Angus and other local businesses. Other items included signed jerseys, paradise pads, an airplane ride (with Noah White) and tickets to the Wisconsin Singers performance in Prairie du Chien.
Local organizations recognized during the event included Crossing Rivers Health, the Womens Civic Club and the 20th Century Study Club, among many others.
