Wonderful Wisconsin Week
An annual observance beginning on the third Sunday
in September
by Art Pahr
Wonderful
Wisconsin Week began in the 1960s as a non-statutory observance during the
administration of Governor Warren Knowles.
The week-long event served as a means of promoting the assets of the
state of Wisconsin.
Wisconsin
residents observed the week in many and varied ways. One such observance was initiated by the West Allis Amateur Radio
Club wherein the amateur radio operators of the state were encouraged to
contact other amateur operators throughout the world. A handsome certificate was offered to those amateurs who provided
evidence of having contacted a prescribed number of Wisconsin amateurs during
the week. A second group of amateur
radio operators in Sheboygan County carried this effort to another level in 1975
when the Federal Communications Commission began authorizing the use of “special event” callsigns.
However,
the FCC required that special events carry a certain degree of “official sanction” in order to qualify for
a special event callsign. Since WWW was
a non-statutory observance it was necessary for the Sheboygan County amateur
operators to gain some degree of
“official status” to submit with their callsign application.
As the
secretary of the Sheboygan County DX Association, I corresponded with
Representative (later State Senator) Calvin Potter and outlined the desire of
our group to promote WWW via the airwaves.
Rep. Potter obliged by providing the radio operators with a resolution
from the state legislature recognizing WWW.
This approach was used for two or three years after which I suggested to
Rep. Potter that getting WWW “on the books” as an annual observance might be a
good idea for the state in general.
Rep. Potter
pursued the idea and the result was the following piece of legislation.
_____________________
STATE OF WISCONSIN
1979 Assembly Bill 31 Date
published*: July 17, 1979
CHAPTER 23, LAWS OF 1979
AN
ACT to create 14.16 (8) of
the statutes, relating to
designating the 3rd week in September as
“Wonderful
Wisconsin Week” and directing the governor to issue a suitable proclamation.
The people of the state of
Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
SECTION
1. 14.16 (8) of the statutes is created
to read:
14.16 (8) WONDERFUL WISCONSIN WEEK. To emphasize this state’s great assets which
make it such a desirable place to live and work, to give all citizens a greater
knowledge and appreciation of this state and to salute every important activity
of the state, from agriculture to industry to tourism, from business to labor
to recreation and from education to good government to the state’s varied
products, the 3rd week in September of each year is designated
“Wonderful Wisconsin Week”. The
governor shall issue annually a suitable proclamation for the observance of
“Wonderful Wisconsin Week”.
_____________________
* Section 990.05, 1977 Wisconsin
Statutes: Laws and acts; time of going
into force. “Every law or act which
does not expressly prescribe the time it takes effect shall take effect on the
day after its publication.”
_____________________
With
Rep. Potter present, my son Cameron and I watched Governor Lee Sherman Dreyfus
sign the bill into law on July 18,1979.
The
observance of WWW is now directed by state statute. Wisconsin residents are encouraged to make every effort to
recognize and promote the Badger State as they deem appropriate. The law does state that “the 3rd
week in September of each year” is to be observed. Twice in the past some confusion arose as to what constituted the
3rd week of the month. As a
result the dates of the observance began and ended in mid-week. When I made my initial proposal to Rep.
Potter my intent was that the third week would begin on the 3rd
Sunday of the month. Thus, the earliest
WWW can begin is September 15 and the latest date it can begin is September
21. While the statute lacks specific
language in this regard I would encourage those wishing to observe WWW to
follow my original intent as to a starting date.
Some
of the original ideas used to promote WWW include:
SUNDAY Heritage
Day
MONDAY Young Wisconsin Day
TUESDAY Public
Service Day
WEDNESDAY Wisconsin
Women’s Day (legislated in 1994 as “Wisconsin Day”)
THURSDAY Wisconsin
at Work Day
FRIDAY Community
Commitment Day
SATURDAY Homecoming
Day (no reference to football homecomings intended.)
The
motto of WWW is “We Like It Here”
On March
17, 1993, Assembly Bill 218 was introduced by Representatives Swoboda, Ryba,
Boyle, Lehman, Hahn, Silbaugh and Rosenzweig, cosponsored by Senator Petak, by
the request of Eric Bush and students at Hillcrest and Marquette Schools in
Kewaunee, Wisconsin, who sought a “Wisconsin Day” to be observed annually in
May. On March 23, 1994, (now) Senator
Potter, recalling the 1979 law, offered Senate Amendment 1, to 1993 Assembly
Bill 218. 1993 Wisconsin Act 333 reads,
in part,
“AN ACT to amend 118.02 of
the statutes, relating to the observance of Wisconsin Day in
schools. The people of the state of
Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. 118.02 of the
statutes is amended to read:
118.02 Special observance
days. ;…and Wednesday of the 3rd
week in September, as part of Wonderful Wisconsin Week, under s. 14.16 (8),
Wisconsin Day.
While
the original intent of the WWW legislation was not aimed specifically at
schools, but at the populace as a whole, the schools of our state are a logical
place to initiate the effort to observe this week.
Since
the WWW effort has no formal financial foundation it is evident that any
observance will be at the expense of those wishing to join in such
activities. I, likewise, do not have
the financial resources to offer to this observance, but I will encourage all
Wisconsinites, and especially my fellow educators, to use their imaginations to
make Wonderful Wisconsin Week more than a piece of legislation that gathers
dust on a shelf with each passing year.
For many years I have wondered how to “get the word out” about WWW. The Internet has given me the opportunity to do just that through this web page. Over the years I gathered quite a few pages of information and ideas about promoting WWW. In 1995 I sent copies of all those materials to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. In turn, the SHS made copies of those materials and forwarded them to the Department of Public Instruction for their files. I’m sure individuals wishing to obtain copies of any information relating to ideas for celebrating Wonderful Wisconsin Week can contact either of these two agencies in Madison.
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