History, music and more in a close-knit college community

Your tour guide: Pamela Nelson-Icenogle, Green Lake Festival of Music

My family of four is one of Ripon's many transplants. Rare as it is, Ripon is the kind of town where you don't have to live in it for 25 years to feel at home. We love this little community, and I'd like to invite you to visit.

Come by early enough to pluck the crispest organic produce and perhaps a strip of bison jerky from summer's Saturday morning Farmer's Market on the Village Green. You'll be set for the day. Before you head off, ask one of the organic vendors about the local Choral Union. This community choir offers free performances some Sunday afternoons at Ripon College during the school year.

Consider a stroll, or if you feel up to it, bicycle our hilly residential streets set just a couple of miles north and east of ancient glacial gorges. Historic architecture abounds. Regard the mingled blend of Victorian painted ladies, Greek revival, Italianate homes and more, all affectionately maintained in two residential historic districts.

North on Watson Street brings you to our historic downtown, which boasts four art galleries: 1 IOTA, Eye of the Arts, Grace Gallery and Hopfinger's. Every other month, downtown shops and restaurants join the galleries to celebrate an Art Walk. Chat with some of the artists, watch weavers busily rattling their looms and the chalky fingers of a sketch artist fashioning a work. Folk and alternative musicians and gourmet hors d'oeuvres engage the senses. We extol the arts late into the evening, friendly folks on an old-fashioned street in a community that has kept an open mind for over 150 years.

The people of Ripon are a special breed. Volunteerism is high here. Even so, once they find a body that says "yes" to a committee or project, you're one of the family.

The spicy flavor of the community stems in part from its past. Ripon got its start in 1844 as Ceresco, an agricultural commune, or Phalanx, which functioned as an experiment in what would become socialism. One of the long houses in which the commune resided still exists, at the foot of a ridge, west of town. Call the Ripon Historical Society at 920-748-5354 for more information.

Human rights are an important theme running throughout Ripon's history. Rumors abound about this being a stop along the Underground Railroad. The fact that Ripon is acknowledged as the "Birthplace of the Republican Party" is due to activists who met at the Little White Schoolhouse in 1854. Many Riponites and like-thinking leaders were dismayed by the Whig and Democratic Parties of that time, accusing them of being "in the pocket of big business" and unopposed to slavery. The activists organized to create a "party of the people," one that was anti-slavery and acted on behalf of the workingman. These attitudes gave rise to the Republican Party at the Schoolhouse on March 20, 1854.

By the way, the Little White Schoolhouse is open most days in the summer and also by appointment. It's a National Historic Landmark and is looking for your help. Watch for special fundraising events that run each year from spring through fall.

Free summer music is a weekly affair each Friday evening on the Village Green, which is at the south end of the downtown. Organizers keep the lineup varied so that jazzers get the opportunity to kick up their heels one week, and an emo band might tout its angst the next.

With Ripon College, a private liberal arts school that has flourished since 1851, the population continues to shift with the influx of students and faculty from all over.

The college offers the community a great many events. From its own art gallery to theater productions by award-winning faculty and an intimate concert hall, the public is warmly invited. Its music department presents a chamber music series that brings international stars. There's often a reception afterwards where the audience members can chat with the artists.

For those who crave a personal, up-close chamber music experience outside the school year, the Green Lake Festival of Music presents professional concerts in both Green Lake and Ripon. The Festival has been prospering for over a quarter-century and, besides concerts, offers workshops for adults who enjoy choral singing and for talented teen-through-young-adult piano and strings students. We all benefit from their use of Ripon College for these nationally attended workshops as they offer free public performances. The musicianship has been incredible.

The sun has set and the stars are out by the time the concert is done. Look up at the sky. The heavens look so close here, more vast. I bet you can see the Milky Way.