Tuesday 7/7/26: ABC Academy, pets in heat, 'UECK', King's Chord

Rachel Owens: Support for WUWM podcasts comes from Bliffert Lumber, family owned and operated for over 120 years. Bliffert serves contractors and homeowners across Milwaukee and Southeastern Wisconsin. Learn more at bliffertlumber.com.

Audrey Nowakowski: From 89.7 WUWM Milwaukee's NPR, this is Lake Effect. I'm Audrey Nowakowski. Today, we'll learn about a library program working to help the community with early literacy skills. Then, the filmmakers of the documentary "Ueck" share what it was like to work with the local legend Bob Uecker.

Steve Farr: There was no negative. It was kind of what you hoped it would be, that he was gonna be this funny, bright, energetic guy somehow, at age 90, and he was that.

Audrey Nowakowski: Plus, we'll learn about King's Chord, Rufus King High School's a capella group.

Lee Stovall: I always want people to feel like the joy and passion in singing and that it's really about us breaking down barriers and building connections.

Audrey Nowakowski: All that's coming up on Lake Effect. This is Lake Effect from 89.7 WUWM, Milwaukee's NPR. I'm Audrey Nowakowski. Thanks for joining us today. The library is more than just books, and our Books and Beyond series with the Milwaukee Public Library showcases just that. We share resources, book recommendations, and some cool stuff you might not know about. Today we're learning about an early literacy program called ABC Academy offered at the central library branch. This program hopes to help fill Milwaukee's literacy gap. Since 2009, our public school literacy rates have fallen. And just this year, MPS launched a new plan to try to turn those rates around. The library's ABC Academy program is for young readers to help with kindergarten readiness. The program goes beyond your typical story time and focuses on different activities to help build on letter recognition. To share more, I'm joined by Central Library Children's Room Librarian, Erin Sloan, and Milwaukee artist, Wave Chappelle, who's here today as a dad helping his son learn to read. Sloan begins by explaining what ABC Academy is and how it was developed.

Erin Sloan: Yeah, so I used to work at the Wake County Public Libraries in North Carolina, and I was one of the library staff who sort of helped cultivate this program. It was designed by a different librarian, but then we were brought in to sort of help it grow. And when I came to Milwaukee, I knew I wanted to do something similar, make it a little more specific to here. And then there were some other small changes that I wanted make that I thought could work a little better. And so, over the course of seven years, we finally got it greenlit, and we started last summer. And it's a program that is an early literacy, kindergarten readiness program that focuses on letter recognition. So, every week, it's a new letter. We go in alphabetical order, and it's all the uppercase letters followed by all of the lowercase letters.

Audrey Nowakowski: Excellent. And I understand you incorporate something called the five practices. What are those and why is it key to help with this early stages of reading?

Erin Sloan: Yeah, so the five practices were developed by the American Library Association, and they are talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing. And those we talk about in all of our programs, especially for children, young children across the board. Those five things, again, talking, singing, writing and playing, if you incorporate those into your daily life, it's shown to really increase your child's early literacy rates. So this program specifically, I wanted to make sure that we kind of step on each one of those. And so there's a different section of the program that highly incorporates one of the five practices.

Audrey Nowakowski: So let's kind of walk through an example. Let's start with the beginning of the alphabet. We're going with the capital letter A. What kind of activities do you have to hit on those five practices for kids?

Erin Sloan: Yeah, so we open the program up where we are talking about the letter of the week. The person leading the program will give the children hints with other words that start with that letter. When the children guess, or even if they don't guess, we'll eventually reveal what the letter the week is, discuss the sounds it makes phonetically, and then what it looks like. When you see it on the page, we will have them use their fingers to make it in the air. Then we'll read a book that's a little longer that really highlights that one specific letter, and then we'll move the children from the reading area, the story time circle, to a different part of the room to kind of highlight, again, that kindergarten aspect of moving around the room. Then we'll go to a craft time. They'll have to write the letter on the page. Then they'll use scissors to cut the letter out. Then they will color the letter, do whatever they want to make it into, let's say, A is for apple. They will kind of turn the A somewhat into an apple, or something that Apple-esque. And then, when their product is finished, they'll go to the play area. So then there's movement again into a different part of the room. They're playing together. And then when that part is over, there's show and tell. And then we sing the alphabet song and we close the program out. So we're really, in about 45 minutes to an hour, able to incorporate all five of those practices.

Audrey Nowakowski: I love that. A lot of it sounds like repeating and reinforcing with different activities.

Erin Sloan: Repetition is one of the most important factors in early literacy. Singing the same songs or the same tunes with different words, all of that is really vital to helping kids learn to read.

Audrey Nowakowski: That's great to know. Now, Wave, you're here not as a musician and artist today. You're here as a dad.

Wave Chapelle: Absolutely.

Audrey Nowakowski: Can you share a bit about how you were first navigating these early stages of literacy when you're like, "I think it's time to get involved and show my son some things." What were you kind of thinking? Because it's a lot to take on.

Wave Chapelle: Absolutely. You know, just piggybacking off of what Erin was saying, just a lot of songs, a lot if singing. When my son, his name is Sol, when he was born, we would sing to him. And, you know, we would get books from like family and like gifts and things like that, and we would always get books. And initially, he was always drawn to like the colors and, of course, when he's able to kind of talk and mouth out the words a little bit. So, again, just singing, repetition, reading to him before bed or in the morning, things like that, and just kind of just diving right into it, you know?

Audrey Nowakowski: Yeah. And I understand you go to MLK branch pretty often and may have helped reinforce some of these practices. What kind of resources have you been using at the library?

Wave Chapelle: Mainly just honestly the books. He loves the books like, and he knows specifically... I love it so much because the library is just so resourceful, and you can find exactly what you're looking for. Like, when he goes, he's like, "I want Eric Carl," you know? And we can go and find like all these specific books that he loves. And I think that just raises the excitement of it and just keeps him wanting to continue to come, you know? Yeah. So I think it's awesome.

Audrey Nowakowski: You mentioned Eric Carle. What other favorite books or activities do you guys like to do together?

Wave Chapelle: I mean, he's definitely heavy on the puzzles as well. I like to do the... We have these like ABC puzzles, so it has the letters on them. But so you kind of like work in two things at once: the repetition of doing the ABCs and having the letters, but also using the tool, like piecing these puzzles together and just the activity of it. So, you know, just the puzzles and then, again, the books, the books all day. Eric Carle. He's really into Pete the Cat. Heavy on Pete the Cat.

Audrey Nowakowski: This is kind of a question for both of you, but as a parent, what kind of extra tools are you looking for to make sure you're continuing the right practices outside of library time? And then, Erin, what would you recommend or reinforce with that?

Wave Chapelle: I would just say just keeping it up at home, you know? The same things that you find that your kid likes to do at the library, go and find those things maybe at the store, or even get them from the library. Take them home and just kind of keep reinforcing those same things at the house, whether it's, again, doing the ABCs or doing certain activities, reading these same books, or even trying new books. One thing that me and my son are doing now, I have him for every day of the month. So this is February, so 28 books. I had him fill a crate of 28 books. We read two a day and add those books to an empty crate. And we just read, read, until those books are done. So just certain activities like that to keep them, you know, going.

Erin Sloan: Yeah, all of that is amazing. We, in our story time specifically, we do something called asides, which are kind of tips and tricks for parents to practice at home, and we do them in ABC Academy as well. Just kind of little reminders of how you can extend this, or maybe why we're speaking in a certain way, or why we've repeated a song so many times. So if you come to a library program, always keep your ears out for that, because they are very helpful tips about why we are doing what we're doing. And anything that you see at the library, like you're mentioning, trying to emulate that at home. We have a lot of like sensory bins and puzzles and things like that, which are always great for those things that maybe you don't recognize as early literacy, but in the long run, they actually are.

Audrey Nowakowski: Right, I think that's the key is like you might not know what you're practicing is going to help with literacy in the long run. So when parents are coming to ABC Academy, I understand you kind of structure it like a kindergarten class. So the parents are more hands off, right?

Erin Sloan: Yeah, we really emphasize that your child will, very soon, or maybe is already in school, where you're not there to kind of guide them. And when they're doing specifically the craft part, it can be hard for all of us, all the adults in the room to watch a child do with scissors what they're gonna do with a scissors. But the reality is that there's one or two teachers in the classroom who will not be able to give one-on-one care, and so it's a good practice for kids to learn that independence. And also, cutting is such a specific skill that they will need to learn in kindergarten, or K-4, K-5, and it's very fun to watch. And it's also a good reminder for parents that your kiddo is becoming a little more independent, and it's fun to watching them do that.

Audrey Nowakowski: Absolutely. And, as far as feedback, what has it been like? I mean, I know you mentioned you had launched this at a different state library and had adjusted some things for Milwaukee. So what have you been hearing, seeing, noticing?

Erin Sloan: Yeah, we've had really good feedback, really good turnouts every week. What we love about the program specifically is, on Saturdays, we're a little shorter staffed. And all the librarians and reference staff are trained to do the program, so we can kind of all jump in at a moment's notice, which makes it lovely for us. And then it's great because we all get to know all of the kids who keep coming back, because we've really built up a good group of regulars who are coming and are excited each week to see what the next letter is. We've had, I think, at least two or three kids who I think have been to almost every letter at this point, which is really exciting. And then, you know, every week building more and more of that base. And it's so fun to see and watch the program flourish as it has.

Audrey Nowakowski: How do you hope this program will set kind of a different precedent in helping to fill this literacy gap in Milwaukee specifically? You said that you adjusted some things to work better here. So what were some of those examples?

Erin Sloan: Yeah, the biggest one for me was that, when we were doing it previously, the direction the letter went on the page kind of didn't matter as much. So like, A was for alligator, where we had to flip the A on its side to make the letter look like an alligator. And so I was really specific and intentional that we need to make sure that how this letter looks on the stage is exactly how they will see it in their craft. And then when they're reading, it needs to be exact. And that was something I was really vocal about there, and I'm so happy that we've been able to handle that here. And then also being really intentional about the books that we choose that correlate with the word or the letter of the week. And, I think, kind of focusing in on those two things have really helped us make the program stronger in my mind.

Audrey Nowakowski: Now, Wave, if I understand, outside of just being a patron for yourself and your son at the library, you're gonna be working with the library a bit to help with this program?

Wave Chapelle: Absolutely. Absolutely. Again, just bringing my son through and working on some content, you know what I mean? We want to put some content together and really just get the word out there that this is a thing and this is, you know, we want to encourage all the parents, not just the older parents, young parents, you know, bring your kids, because this is a very beneficial program. And I just think it's really great work. And so yeah, we're going to put our creative skills together, put some really cool content, videos together in promotion of this.

Audrey Nowakowski: Yeah, I'm excited to see it. So, Erin, we've been talking about this program for people listening who have young kiddos, who are wanting to get involved, to come to ABC Academy. How do they do that?

Erin Sloan: Yeah, so right now, the program is program is being offered at the Central Library. It's every Saturday. We almost run it entirely year-round. There are some, you know, bigger programs that take precedence, like our summer reading program kickoff, but for the most part, every Saturday, rain or shine, we will be there. It is at 10:30 in the morning and it runs for about 45 minutes to an hour. Right now it is only at the Central Library, but we are currently trying to figure out the best way to bring it to the branch library, so hopefully at least in the North Side of Milwaukee, Central, and then South Side of Milwaukee will be able to offer it. My hope is within this year, but that might be a little lofty, but we'll see. But yeah, Central Library at 10:30 every Saturday.

Audrey Nowakowski: And just in case there's conflicts in schedules, maybe Saturdays don't work for everyone, what other group activities are at the library that parents can attend?

Erin Sloan: Yeah, so all of our branch libraries have story time. And we have it for different ages. So we've got baby story time, we have sort of a toddler story time called play group with stories, which is a 25 minute story time and then there's play time with toys at the end. And then we also have family story time and there's variations within there. But each one is sort of created to target that specific age group. So the books that you read, the songs that you sing, the toys that you play with, will all be for those specific age groups. And again, those are at all of our libraries throughout the week. And most of them are in the morning during the weekday, but we do have a couple branch libraries who offer them in the evening as well.

Audrey Nowakowski: Great. And Wave, you've done a few storytimes?

Wave Chapelle: Yeah, absolutely. We've gone to a few story times, and he absolutely loves them, you know? And I think story time in general is just good for kids because, one, they get to sit with a bunch of other kids and just hear this cool story, and they get take away things, you know what I mean? You ask, "Hey, what was your favorite part of the book," or, "What was your favorite part of this story?" And I think that is another thing that just really excites kids, you know?

Audrey Nowakowski: And, Wave, for you working with your son, doing these activities, what's some of the most gratifying moments and takeaways you have?

Wave Chapelle: Just watching the excitement, honestly. Like, he just has so much fun with these different activities, and you truly, as a parent, just get to sit back and kind of watch them grow in front of you, from not being able to pronounce "apple" to knowing it off the bat when they see it, or just all these different words and letters that they're coming across. I think that's the most gratifying part is just watching the growth

Audrey Nowakowski: Well, I look forward to seeing this program grow as well. So, Erin and Wave, thank you so much for coming in today. I appreciate it.

Erin Sloan: Thank you.

Wave Chapelle: Thank you.

Audrey Nowakowski: Erin Sloan is a librarian at the Central Library Children's Room, and Wave Chappelle is a Milwaukee artist and dad, who will be working with MPL to spread the word about ABC Academy. Temperatures climbed into the '90s several days last week, and those hot summer days aren't just hard on people. It also presents dangers for our four-legged friends. Our pets are often not equipped to deal with the high heat and require special attention when the temperatures rise. Karen Sparapani is the executive director of the Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission, more commonly known as MADACC. She says that every summer, the commission hears from people who don't know how to properly help their pets deal with the heat. Sparapani joins Lake Effect's Joy Powers to share some tips on how to keep your pets cool, and how to know when they're in need of medical care.

Joy Powers: When you're talking to people about how to care for their pets, what are some of the first pieces of advice that you have for them?

Karen Sparapani: This goes for any temperature, too hot or too cold. If you are not comfortable in it, your pet's not gonna be. And humans can sweat in many more places and drink water at will and go into air conditioning, and dogs can only pant through their mouth and sweat through their feet. Most of our city animals are pitbulls, or a mix thereof, right? If you have a dog that's any kind of bully breed, those dogs are particularly vulnerable in this weather. People tend to worry about a dog in a hot car. People just think, "They're animals, they can be outside, they'll be okay." They will not be okay. And if they don't have any shade or access to water, and a lot of people think, oh, I'll just put a bowl out of water, many times that either is consumed immediately or knocked over. So one thing we always suggest to people is getting a plastic baby pool. They're really cheap. And you can fill it up and put it in the shady area, the shadiest area in your yard that the dog has access to. And now, this dog, if it's too hot, it can sit in the pool. It will never run out of drinking water. You must change that water every day, because some dogs like to urinate in it, but that's a way to ensure that you're keeping that dog cool. Like, that dog has a way too cool off.

Karen Sparapani: People are, theoretically, supposed to have a doghouse that's raised with protection from the weather. But if it's hot, the dog's probably not going to go in there willingly anyway. So that's our biggest recommendation, or to have a timer on a sprinkler to go off like every hour, like for 10 minutes, just to allow the dog to have some coolness. But again, you know, you have to know your dog. The sprinkler and hose can be chewed up, whereas the baby pool survives typically. But snub-nosed dog breeds, we get them in daily this time of year. And a lot of people just then use home therapies, like, "Oh, if the dog's overheated, I'm just gonna put alcohol on its pads." That's not gonna save your dog. Likem we literally have to intubate these animals on oxygen and put them in cool water, not ice water, cool water, like a little tub to kind of start bringing that down. And if you go to a regular vet, they might not even be able to treat it. And we're not always able to get it in time. So the key is to not let them get there.

Joy Powers: So what are the signs, if you are with your pet, that are indicative of, you know, not just a dog that is hot, but a dog that is now in crisis?

Karen Sparapani: Your dog's lip, tongue, and gums are going to start turning dark blue. That's number one. They're going to have breathing that's kind of labored. They're sweating so much they'll start leaving paw prints of sweat. But anytime, like if you can't go running or shouldn't go running, your dog can't take a walk. And a lot of people do change their schedule and take them out before it gets hot. You can't your dog on a walk at 12 noon on a 90 degree day. Its feet will burn up. That animal needs you to protect it. It's never gonna tell you it's too hot.

Joy Powers: Now, if you are someone who has a cat, a lot of us are gonna keep our cats indoors, and so they won't necessarily feel the heat in quite the way that our outdoor dogs might. But some of us do have cats that are coming in and out of the house. We might be caring for cats that just live outside. How do we help ensure that cats are safe in the heat?

Karen Sparapani: There's also people that don't have air conditioning. And we see humans that pass from being kept, that have no place else to go. So it's really important, if you do have a pet that you have to leave indoors and there is no air conditioning available, to find a fan. Put a fan on, keep that air moving, make sure they have water. And cats are fortunate that they're usually not tethered or restrained in a way that they cannot seek a cooler place. You can leave a closet door open and put a cat bed in there. They'll go under a bed. They will seek the shade and the cooler temperature or they will lay in front of the fan. There's also cooling mats that you don't have to plug in. You can charge them and leave a cooling mat. So they're safe to leave, they're not plugged in. And they can go on the cooling mat. And don't even make it the coldest, because cats not gonna sit on that. Put a blanket or towel on it and they they can lay there to cool off.

Karen Sparapani: Even outdoors, you can use those same methods. There's people that have like a covered porch. They do put a fan on. You can do the same thing with the baby pool and leave water out, just because, likely, more cats will come for that more hydration. If you're feeding cats outside, it's expensive to do that and people rely mostly on kibble. We always tell them, in this kind of weather, to mix in canned food, even if it's, you know, the cheapest canned food possible. The moisture, it helps them stay hydrated. People will give cats shelter, like leave their garage door open a little bit. Make sure that there's a fan plugged in in there. Always let them have access to moving air, to cold surfaces. And you know, dogs also like ice cubes. So that's another thing you could throw outside, like for your dog to chew on. Like you can freeze a big like Tupperware and just plop out the ice. They'll play with that for a long time. Helps keep them hydrated, gives them moisture. But you have to be a little creative, and just understanding anybody's gonna suffer out there.

Joy Powers: Well, Karen, thank you so much for sharing your work with us.

Karen Sparapani: You are so welcome.

Audrey Nowakowski: Karen Sparrapani is the executive director of MADACC. She spoke with Lake Effect's Joy Powers last summer. Need some flexibility for when you listen to Lake Effect? You can hear us on demand. Find it as a podcast wherever you like to listen to download and enjoy on the go. In about 15 minutes, we'll learn about a local high school a capella club. But first, we'll tell you about a documentary based on the life of legendary baseball player and announcer, Bob Uecker. Keep listening to Lake Effect on WUWM.

You're listening to Lake Effect on 89.7 WUWM. I'm Audrey Nowakowski. Bob Uecker is a local legend who seemingly did it all. He was a professional baseball player, Hall of Fame sportscaster, comedian, and actor. For decades, he made us laugh and kept us company on the radio and at the ballpark. Uecker passed away at age 90 in January of 2025. A new documentary, aptly called "Ueck," is a testament to his continuing legacy. It gives audiences an intimate look into his life, work, family, friends, and what he's meant to all the generations of people who knew his voice. It's made by Milwaukee-based filmmakers, Michael Vollman and Steve Farr. They join me now to share more about the doc. Steve and Michael, welcome to Lake Effect.

Steve Farr: Thanks for having us, Audrey.

Michael Vollmann: Thank you so much.

Audrey Nowakowski: So before we get into the documentary, I would love to know what your first memories of Ueck were. Just, as people living in the Milwaukee area, what about him stuck out to you and cemented him in your lives?

Steve Farr: Well, I think for me it was... I'm a little bit older than Michael, so I actually remember when he appeared on The Tonight Show in the early '70s. And I can remember my dad being aware that he'd be on, and I'd be able to stay up late and watch Johnny Carson and see Uecker on that. And I was already kind of a big baseball fan, and I think I already knew it was kind of weird that the baseball announcer was on The Tonight Show. But that's probably my earliest memory.

Audrey Nowakowski: How about for you, Michael?

Michael Vollmann: Yeah, for me, definitely through baseball, through the Brewers, growing up and really liking baseball. In 1987, you know, the Brewers went on some winning streaks, and I really got hooked. And when I was a kid, I would listen to every single radio broadcast, pretty much. And one thing I used to do is, I had a boombox with two tape cassette recorders in it, and I would try to record the ambient audio of the crowd, between Uecker's announcing, and then try to like tape it to the other tape, so there'd be like a string-out of ambient audio. And I would then play it back and try to impersonate Uecker.

Audrey Nowakowski: I love that. Now, this documentary, simply called "Ueck," and appropriately. It was filmed over what turned out to be the last three years of Bob Uecker's life. How did it first come about, and was Bob an automatic yes? Did it take convincing?

Steve Farr: Well, September Club is our company. And we had a development meeting, probably late 2022, and we were looking for some ideas for a local documentary, something that could be done here in Milwaukee. And I don't know if it was you, Michael, or someone brought up and said, you know, "What about Uecker?"

Michael Vollmann: Yeah, I think, you know, we had all talked about it at some point. I think our co-producer and editor, Matthew Prekop, you know, he's a big baseball fan as well. And I think I had mentioned it to him. And he was the one who actually brought it up. And, you know, I mean, I almost felt like it was almost something that was just a dream project. It almost seemed like an unattainable thing to do. And then when he brought it out up, the September Club, Barry Poulterman, producer, and Jeremy Kuhn, the producer, they were very much quickly on board.

Steve Farr: I had a connection with Bob Uecker, having done a PSA for ALS. I have a production company, Purple Onion, and we had done that during COVID, so I knew I could get through to him, or at least his people. And so he took the call pretty quickly. We arranged a meeting with him in Scottsdale in December of 2022. We flew down there. Four or five of us met with him. We thought it would be like an hour-long lunch, and I think it ended up being closer to four hours. And he had, at this point, he had kind of vetted us. And so I think he already had made the decision that, yeah, he wanted to work with us.

Michael Vollmann: It wasn't four hours because we had to convince him. It was four hours because we had a great time. He just kept telling us stories. And we were like, "Oh, try to save it for the documentary." We're gonna have to re-do all these stories again.

Audrey Nowakowski: Yeah, making notes as you're having lunch.

Steve Farr: But it was hilarious, and we almost missed our flight home.

Audrey Nowakowski: Sign of a good time.

Steve Farr: But yeah, that's where it started and, you know, shortly after that we started filming. And we ran a number of scenarios passed him and probably 10 or 12 things that we hoped to do over the next year or two, and he was on board with all of it. But unfortunately, fairly early on, he was also diagnosed. And he let us know that. There weren't many people that knew about it. And he just said he would continue to do what he could with us for the documentary and honor some of these things. But we weren't able to shoot everything that we wanted to, but that was fine. It was just amazing that he was still committed to doing it.

Audrey Nowakowski: Absolutely. And Uecker was diagnosed with lung cancer during the 2023 season. And as you mentioned, just a few people knew. Yelich and his coworkers in the booth knew, and you guys were part of this very small group that knew. So outside of the impact that the news of this diagnosis had on you as humans, how did it factor into the film? How did it change your original direction?

Steve Farr: Well, I think it was just that we couldn't shoot all the things that we wanted to film. You know, we had said, "Well, maybe we can go out fishing with you out on the lake." "Sure, yeah, we can do that," you know? Or we wanted to drive around Milwaukee. We wanted, like I said, there was a handful of things. And it just got to the point where we had to cherry pick a few of them and do them, squeeze them in when Bob was able to do it, because you know a lot of his spare time was having treatments or going to doctors or resting up. But again, he honored as many as he could, which was amazing.

Audrey Nowakowski: The two closest partners you worked with outside of Ueck himself was his family and the Brewers. What was it like to navigate those relationships?

Michael Vollmann: I mean it was a great experience. You know, one of the things that you think about when you do start a documentary is access. And you know, "How much access are we going to get to Bob?" And you know, obviously, we were going to be shooting at the stadium. And the Brewers will be involved and the family. I think, you know, when we started it was kind of the Uecker trademark handshake deal. And we kind of started that way, and we just kind of had that trust. And he trusted us throughout the process. And then I think, because he wanted to do it, you know, the Brewers were on board. And they kind of said, you know, "Hey if he wants to do this, we're definitely going to support you all the way." And then with the Uecker family after he passed, you know, that's that's been a unique experience as well, just navigating that. And it's definitely a difficult time for them to be having to watch cuts and sort of just think about, replay all that again. But they've really been supportive and encouraging, and we really appreciate it. We wouldn't have been able to make the film without all of their help.

Audrey Nowakowski: You know, Ueck was 90 when he passed. There's so much life that he lived and also so many careers. He had multiple careers that perhaps people know him for before associating him with baseball, especially if people are a little younger. And I think this kind of aligns with a quote you included from Bob where he said, "Games didn't mean anything to me. They really didn't. It was after the game that was much more important." So does the documentary kind of have that heart of it, where it's like who he is outside of baseball?

Steve Farr: Oh yeah. I mean you'll see pretty much all aspects of Bob, and throughout his life, you know? We kind of look at the film right now as... Kind of the backbone of the film is the 2023 season. And we just step away from that timeline periodically to talk about... And it ends up chronological, where it's basically childhood and minor leagues, major leagues, moving on to being a comedian and then a broadcaster and then, you know, the Hollywood Bob and... But that 2023 season is kind of what holds it all together. It's also one of the things, I think, when we went into this, we knew that there would be baseball in this, because how could there not be? But there's actually kind of a lot of baseball in this, and in a great baseball movie way. If you like baseball movies, you're gonna love this documentary, because the Brewers have been an excellent team over the last few years and exciting to watch. And I think there's been some disappointments, obviously, but I think people will enjoy reliving those highs and lows.

Michael Vollmann: I also want to say that baseball really was Uecker's first love. That was definitely what he always came back to. He said, of all the things he did, you know, "Everything else was for laughs." Being a comedian, being on Johnny Carson, doing Major League, all that stuff, but what he really loved doing was being in the booth, being around the baseball team and the community.

Audrey Nowakowski: And I imagine there was a treasure trove of archives to look through. Where did you start researching? Do you have any favorite gems that you came across, whether it's included in the doc or not?

Michael Vollmann: Yeah, you know, we really tried to dig deep. A few places we found were just local resources. I think that was one of the advantages of being a local filmmaking team was that there's a lot of things we could find here locally that maybe a remote team might not be able to find, and connections we have and people who can help us find stuff. It is definitely a lot to work with. There was tons of footage. Our editor, Matthew Prekop, you know, we would just keep sending him archival, anything we'd find online, old photos, audio recordings, you know? There's so many baseball games too. So we just sent it, sent it to him and, uh, continually boiling that down and trying to find the nuggets that were great for story, and things that people hadn't heard before.

Audrey Nowakowski: What first started as a four-hour lunch, I imagine, of course extended over the years of filming. What was it like to get to know Ueck on an intimate level like this? And is there something about him that you feel might surprise fans to learn about through this documentary?

Steve Farr: Well, I mean, it was an amazing experience to be kind of, you know... They always say you don't want to meet your idols, and in this case, I'm really glad I met him.

Michael Vollmann: Yeah, I mean.

Steve Farr: I'm sorry, I'm getting a little emotional, actually, but...

Michael Vollmann: Yeah. Yeah, no. I mean it's... He's someone that... It's interesting how radio can sort of create... You can create a relationship with a radio personality. And for me, for him being in the community, that's how I first originally got got to know him, through the radio. And just him always being there. People really find peace and respite from, you know, listening to baseball games, and also just listening to Uecker. I think it's not unusual to feel emotional. You know there's a lot of people who know him more intimately than us, but I think it's definitely emotional to just know that he's not going to be back. And yeah, he's been a part of our lives, you know? Since I was born, he's just been part of my life, basically.

Steve Farr: I mean, the access he gave us, even if it was just in the booth, was just amazing. To be around something like that, to see him do what he does so well from three feet away was something else. And it's just the way he treated the people he worked with, all his other broadcast partners and things like that where, you know, he clearly kind of ran that group, but they all had so much respect for him. And they had so much fun, too. So it's like, you know, it's like, there was no negative. It was kind of what you hoped it would be, that he was going to be this funny, bright, energetic guy, somehow at age 90. And he was that. And you really got an idea... I mean, early on, when we talked about doing the documentary, he was like, one of the questions was, you know, "Why do you keep doing this at age ninety?" We wanted to kind of get into that. And very quickly, he's like, well, this was his happy place. And like, what else would he be doing? I think he talks about it. And I think that's pretty apparent in the movie also.

Audrey Nowakowski: Yeah. A true example to follow, in who he was. And it's not surprising, your takeaways, but it's so nice to hear that he is what you think he is. And especially after we've been without Ueck, what do you hope people feel and take away from this documentary?

Michael Vollmann: You know, the interesting thing about Ueck is that he plays everything as a joke, but he actually had a lot of perseverance. He maybe wasn't the best baseball player, but he persevered. He kept going for it. Maybe that sounds like a platitude or something, like that's what you might take away from it. But actually, stepping away, I've heard that note from a few people who've seen the film, and interesting how he just kind of keeps going forward, moving forward, and doesn't fall into things as much as he just works hard. He's a hard worker and disciplined, and I think we could all take something from that.

Steve Farr: I would agree with that.

Audrey Nowakowski: Well, for today, Michael and Steve, thank you both so much for joining me today to talk about Ueck.

Steve Farr: Thank you, Audrey, for having us.

Audrey Nowakowski: Michael Vollman and Steve Farr are the co-directors of the documentary, Ueck. The film opens at Marcus Theaters on July 24th, and tickets are available now. We'll take one more break, and when we return, we'll meet the members of Rufus King High School's a capella group. Keep listening to Lake Effect on Milwaukee's NPR. This is Lake Effect on WUWM. I'm Audrey Nowakowski. In case you were wondering, the a capella scene in the Milwaukee area is thriving. One example of that is King's Chord, Rufus King High School's a capella group. They're also the first Milwaukee public school to compete in the international championship of high school a capella, also known as the ICHSA. It's the global tournament that inspired the hit movie, "Pitch Perfect." King's Chord placed fourth in the competition's Great Lakes Quarterfinal earlier this year. To learn more about the team, Lake Effect's Xcaret Nuñez spoke with Rufus King Choir teacher, Lee Stovall, and King's Chord members, Ruth Ohlendorf and Breyana Meeks.

Xcaret Nuñez: Lee introduced our listeners to the group. Who is King's Chord?

Lee Stovall: King's Chord is an a capella group at Rufus King High School. It's made up of members from the Rufus King High School Advanced Choir. And we first competed last year in the 2025 International Championship for High School A Capella or ICHSA. And we competed again this year for the second time.

Xcaret Nuñez: So King's Chord has been a group since 2024. Why did you decide to start the group?

Lee Stovall: I've been a part of the a capella world for a while, and I had coach groups at the high school level and the college level. I've done a lot of judging and arranging, and it's something I've always enjoyed being part of. And once I had the infrastructure and the students that were really motivated and wanting to do it, we started kinda getting ready. We went through the application process, and then we competed last year. And for a lot students, it was their first time doing anything like it. So I think this year we came in. And the people that came back from last year really had more of a sense of what we were doing, and that really kind of helped build the foundation for this year.

Xcaret Nuñez: And could you describe the sound or the style of the group?

Lee Stovall: I think I really appreciate that we have a very diverse group of students, both from just their perspectives on music and their own cultural backgrounds. We also have featured student original compositions in our performances, which is really great. I think, generally, we're strong in a lot of different genres, but I think we're especially excellent compared to some other groups in our confidence in genres like R&B and soul. We also are able to do some pop and rock music. We have students that have a lot of different interests, which I really enjoy.

Xcaret Nuñez: I really love that, and I want to ask you guys, Ruth and Breyana, why did you decide to join King's Chord, or how did you become interested in a capella?

Ruth Ohlendorf: My first two years of high school, We had been talking about trying to do like a show choir group. And we never like got around to that because that's that's a lot. But since Mr. Stovall had like experience in the a capella world, he helped start the group, and that was really cool.

Xcaret Nuñez: And Breyana, what about you?

Breyana Meeks: So for me, this year's actually my first time doing a capella. I first heard of a capella from Stovall. And I just, I did it. I was interested. I didn't really know what to expect, but I don't regret it, and I love it.

Xcaret Nuñez: I really love that. Well, I'm a fellow Gleek. That's the way I found out about a cappella music, not even through Pitch Perfect. But, for our listeners, how would you describe the difference between choir and a capella?

Ruth Ohlendorf: For me, I think I would just say that you kind of have to be more like in tune with each other like, both literally and figuratively. Like you really have to like work as a group to have like a definite sound. It's all about technique, really. And it kind of depends on what you're trying to do. Like, if you're trying to sound like a guitar or something like that, then you're going to do like lip things and like tongue things. But like, yeah, so it kind of depends on what you're trying to emulate. In a couple of our songs, we do this thing called "bell tones," where different people sing one note to make the melody. And that is just so cool. It's like dum, dum, dum, but it's different people singing each note. That's probably one of my favorite things to do.

Xcaret Nuñez: Yeah, it's really a team effort. So King's Chord actually made history last year as the first group from Milwaukee Public Schools to ever compete in the International Championship of High School A Capella, and you competed again earlier this year. Lee, can you tell me more about this competition and why you signed the group up for it?

Lee Stovall: Yeah, this competition has been around for quite some time. And it's something that is really great, and you get to see different forms of artistry. There's no restrictions on what songs you can sing, and so, groups can come in with completely different repertoires and styles and visual elements in their choreography. And you really kind of get to a sense of who the students are, based off of what they chose and how they're performing on stage. And I really think it's a great way for us kind of showcase who we are at King. And we actually, there's a lot of extra pressure, a lot extra excitement having to represent Milwaukee Public Schools as well.

Xcaret Nuñez: And I am assuming there's also a lot of experiences that students get from performing with different high schoolers or different high schools.

Lee Stovall: Yeah, definitely being able to perform on a big stage, which we don't typically get to do in our normal routines, is great for us. I think, for some people, the first time they ever sang a capella into a microphone was like at an event a week before our competition.

Xcaret Nuñez: Wow.

Lee Stovall: And so, giving the chance to like have a full audience and a full sound system and people that care about a capella to hear you, but also being able to see all the other groups. And it was really exciting: one of the groups that we competed against in our quarterfinal actually finished third in like the world championships this past weekend. So not only do we get to see other groups, but we get you see some of the best groups in the world.

Xcaret Nuñez: That's incredible. And what does it take to prepare for a competition like that?

Breyana Meeks: It takes hours, and hours, and hours of repeating the same songs. It just, it takes a lot of dedication. I will say that. It just takes a lotta time, dedication. But if you like what you're doing, it's not that bad.

Xcaret Nuñez: And with the people that you're doing it with.

Breyana Meeks: Yeah, with the people, it just makes it so much better. This is a pretty funny group. They are pretty funny. So it just make it so better.

Lee Stovall: Yeah, there's no shortage of personality. I think specifically we took some of our, so this is my advanced choir, so we used some of the curricular time on being able to do that. So I built some of that into our daily schedule that I see them during the school day. That was not enough time. So we also, during our exam week, actually had students come in the afternoon and we had a mini bootcamp. And that's where we actually learned a lot of the choreography.

Xcaret Nuñez: Wow. So yeah, what's something that you feel like, looking back at now that you've competed, what's something you want to focus on for next year?

Lee Stovall: I really want to lean more into who's the personality we are in the group, and what can that group say? When I'm trying to craft sets, I try to collaborate with the students and have their voice be heard. And I think a lot of it, for me, is I try look at the lyrics. And I want to make sure that, whether we're choosing to do one consistent message for the whole ten minute set, or if we want each individual song to have separate messages, that we're all committed to saying what we want to say, as artists on stage. That's, I think, my goal for next year as I'm starting to think about what already, next year, what we wanna do.

Xcaret Nuñez: And Breyana, I wanna ask you, since you weren't really familiar with a capella, what interested you about it or the thing that you're like, "Okay, I'll try this out."

Breyana Meeks: The way it turns heads. Not a lot of people hear a capella on a day-to-day basis. I didn't hear the word a capella until I was in high school, so that when you get to hear that, you're just like, "Wait, it's just their mouths doing that, or it's just their bodies? Like what the heck?" It's just so cool, and it's like, "I wanna do that. I wanna be a part of something like that."

Xcaret Nuñez: Before I let you guys go, what's something you hope people take away from seeing or hearing the King's Chord a capella team perform today?

Ruth Ohlendorf: I think my big thing is always just you can do anything you put your mind to. You know, we're a school in a district that has never competed in this type of competition before. And we we made it work. And we're just really having fun with it. So just ,if you really want to do something, go out and try your best to make it happen.

Xcaret Nuñez: And what about you Brianna?

Breyana Meeks: Try new things. Don't be afraid to try new things. The worst response you can get is "no." And if one person don't like it, a hundred other people may love it. So just try new thing and do the best you can.

Xcaret Nuñez: Thank you. And what about you, Lee? What would you hope people take away from hearing the students perform?

Lee Stovall: I feel like I always want people to feel the joy and passion in singing, and that it's really about us breaking down barriers and building connections. I really hope that it is harder, I think, in an audio-only performance to portray that, but especially in a visual audio performance, like a live performance, being able to connect with an audience. And it really just builds humanity and empathy. And that's why I do what I do with music.

Xcaret Nuñez: Well, thank you all so much for telling me more about King's Chord. I'm really excited to hear you all perform.

Breyana Meeks: Thank you.

Audrey Nowakowski: Lee Stovall is the choir and music technology teacher at Rufus King High School. Ruth Ohlendorf and Breyana Meeks attend Rufus King and are members of the King's Chord a capella group. They all spoke with leg effects, Xcaret Nuñez. And now we'll hear King's Chord singing "Killing Me Softly" by Roberta Flack in the WUWM studio. It's one of the songs they performed at the ICHSA this past year.

King's Chord: [Singing]

Audrey Nowakowski: And that wraps up Lake Effect for today. I'm Audrey Nowakowski. If you've missed any of Lake Effect this week, you can find all of our conversations at wuwm.com. If you'd like to take the show on the go, you can download the Lake Effect podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Tomorrow on Lake Effect, we'll learn the difference between a sea shanty and maritime music with the founder of the International Maritime Music Directory, based here in Racine. Thank you so much for joining us today, right here on listener-supported 89.7 WUWM Milwaukee's NPR.