Portage Canal Society

03/23/2026

The Portage Canal Society meeting is tomorrow night at 5:30 at the Galley Studio downtown. If you're looking for a fun way to get involved in the community, please stop by and check us out.

07/28/2024

"Alfred Joyce Kilmer (December 6, 1886 – July 30, 1918) was an American writer and poet mainly remembered for a short poem titled "Trees" (1913), which was published in the collection Trees and Other Poems in 1914. Though a prolific poet whose works celebrated the common beauty of the natural world as well as his Catholic faith, Kilmer was also a journalist, literary critic, lecturer, and editor. At the time of his deployment to Europe during World War I, Kilmer was considered the leading American Catholic poet and lecturer of his generation, whom critics often compared to British contemporaries G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) and Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953). He enlisted in the New York National Guard and was deployed to France with the 69th Infantry Regiment (the famous "Fighting 69th") in 1917. He was killed by a sniper's bullet at the Second Battle of the Marne in 1918 at the age of 31. He was married to Aline Murray, also an accomplished poet and author, with whom he had five children.
While most of his works are largely unknown today, a select few of his poems remain popular and are published frequently in anthologies. Several critics—including both Kilmer's contemporaries and modern scholars—have dismissed Kilmer's work as being too simple and overly sentimental, and suggested that his style was far too traditional, even archaic. Many writers, including notably Ogden Nash, have parodied Kilmer's work and style—as attested by the many imitations of "Trees."

07/28/2024

07/25/2024

The 2024 Columbia County Fair Week
Is Upon Us !

Come On Down To Portage's Own
Veterans Memorial Field
Home of the Columbia County Fair
And Check Out Our Fair Booth

05/21/2024

It's just around the corner!
Our touring season opens next Wednesday, May 15.
https://www.agencyhouse.org/tours

Be sure to check out our season events, too.
https://www.agencyhouse.org/events

Families and educators: Pick up a full-color, printed and bound copy of this season’s “Trails” learning guide FREE (while supplies last) when you come for a tour or event. One per family or classroom. Funded by a grant from the Community Foundation of South Central Wisconsin.
https://www.agencyhouse.org/trails-curriculum

The 2024 season is dedicated in memory of Cissy Van D**e Scannell Bryson, Marilyn Grady, Nancy Kamlukin, Donna Macie, Carole Nye, Edward (Ted) Rebholz, Steven Sarbacker, and Polly Stone; and in honor of Bobbie Goodman, Dave & Sandy Gunderson, Parker & Peylen Littlegeorge Kowalke, Barbara J. Meyer, Judge Daniel O’Connor, Volunteers at HIAH, Dr. Anne Vravick, and Barbara Zaiser.

See you soon!

05/21/2024

Speaker Series 2024

Be sure to mark your calendar to join us for the fascinating talks in this year's lineup themed around the topic of "Trails."

Details at https://www.agencyhouse.org/events

05/15/2024

Don't Forget Free Canoeing on the Canal at Adams Street.

05/02/2024

Downtown Portage welcomes residents and visitors to our downtown to support our local shops, dine at our restaurants, use the professional services available and enjoy some entertainment in the downtown area of Portage, Wisconsin.

04/24/2024

The Dutch, famed for their pragmatic problem-solving, are at it again.

Walking through Amsterdam's Vondelpark, at first I didn't know what to make of this unusual garbage can — which appears to have a built-in beverage caddy.

But then, it dawned on me: This ingenious trashcan solves multiple problems at once.

The Netherlands has a new-ish deposit system for bottles and cans: €0.15 is added to the cost when you buy a drink, which you can reclaim later by returning the vessel. This system, in place in many European countries (and US states), is designed to reduce waste and encourage recycling.

The problem is, not everyone is willing to carry around an empty bottle until they reach a deposit-reclaim point. It seems wasteful to trash these, and doubly so when you're essentially throwing real cash into the garbage along with it.

These "donation rings" (doneerringen) make it much easier for people in need to gather these unwanted items and collect the deposit. You don't have to carry around an unwanted bottle; the bottle is more likely to actually get recycled; and someone who could really use the money gets to pocket it.

These days, societies struggle for a win. In Amsterdam, this simple invention has created a win-win-win. To me, this simple sight illustrates how, in a highly functioning society, a good idea, smartly executed, can creatively chip away at problems...both small and big.