Name the cheese that was invented in Wisconsin but sounds like a European country? (It’s very holey. Swiss!)
In what Wisconsin city was splinter-free toilet paper first made? (Green Bay... Our thanks to the inventors!)
These dolls became collectibles... and have nothing to do with cabbage patches... (American Girl Dolls)
“I thought they came from Midtown Manhattan,” Dot joked to Rose.
And the final question—name the circus that launched in the Badger State? (No, Ted, it wasn’t the Democratic primary... it was Ringling Brothers!)
The riders loved it. Kitty noted the smiling, engaged passengers in the large rearview mirror and turned around to where Dot was sitting and said, “This is so great.”
Dot beamed. She loved to be complimented on her ideas.
Remembering Harper, she glanced back to check on her. She’d moved to sit with Ted Jankowski and his friend Fred Harkin. The two men had been high school teachers together; Ted had taught English and ran the speech and debate club, while Fred was a biology teacher and coached the football team. They were arguing about the Bucks’ terrible season and their hope for the Brewers that spring.
Harper was leaning in, listening to the older men tell her stories. Her eyes sparkled. She caught Dot’s eye and smiled. “They’re so cute!” she mouthed. Then she reached for Ted’s hand and clasped it. He beamed.
Dot could relax a little—everything was going well. So far.
MARY HAD WANTEDto volunteer at the debate, so she’d worked overnight to finish the legal work assigned to her by the partners working on a big corporate merger. Dot had asked Mary to travel earlier in the day with Fletcher and their team of volunteers in a separate sprinter van.
“All good?” Dot texted.
“I saw a cow!” She added a cow emoji.
“Yeah. It’s Wisconsin.”
“CA gov team here. He looks like an actor.”
“Heisan actor,” Dot typed. “Like he’d rather win an Oscar than an election. Keep me posted? Kitty’s hounding me for info.”
“Will do. Fletch is funny. Might run away with him.”
“Wait until after the debate?” Dot had to hand it to that guy—even Mary was charmed by him.
“Here, show Kitty these.” Mary then sent a series of photos and a video of the site showing the camera crews setting up on a platform in front of the stage decorated in red, white, and blue. The nine podiums were in position, spaced two feet apart.
“And here’s a video of the greenroom. Then the last one is the spin room.” She’d kept the videos short. “Oh, and here’s one of Fletcher fooling around.” She’d taken a photo of him pretending to be a candidate on center stage.
“Those are great. Any reporters there yet?”
“Yes—they’re walking around. I even saw Bill Hemmer from Fox. He’s my mom’s favorite.”
“Your parents still watch Fox?”
“24/7.”
“Wow. It’s a miracle you turned out the way you did.”
“They think it’s more of a tragedy than a miracle.”
Dot sent a laughing emoji and said she’d see her soon. They had about ten minutes left in their journey.
With the time remaining, Dot nodded to Kitty that it was time for her to say a few words. Dot took the comedian’s mic and got everyone’s attention.
“Hi. I’m so glad you’re having a good time. I want to introduce Kitty Bell. She runs For the Win, which is the Super PAC that organized our excursion today. She’s got some key insight into tonight’s debate and agreed to say a few words. Kitty?” Dot knew to keep intros short. A round of applause greeted Kitty’s mic takeover.
“Well, thank you all. And thank you, Dot. This has been a terrific prelude to tonight’s big event. I thought I’d give you a little scoop about the state of the race.” She had their attention now. Everyone loves to feel like they know something more than their friends and neighbors.