糖心Vlog传媒

Penny Hazeltine photo 

Hunter Olson serenades Addison Schuh during rehearsal for Parker High School鈥檚 upcoming production of 鈥楤rigadoon.鈥�

Penny Hazeltine photo 

Nolan Limones takes part in a dance number during rehearsal for Parker High School鈥檚 upcoming production of 鈥楤rigadoon.鈥�

Penny Hazeltine photo 

Michael Rick performs a dance number during rehearsal for Parker High School鈥檚 upcoming production of 鈥楤rigadoon.鈥�

ANESVILLE鈥擶e live in cynical times. Love doesn鈥檛 conquer all anymore. It hasn鈥檛 for decades.

Consider the J. Geils Band鈥檚 鈥淟ove Stinks鈥� came out in 1980.

But hold on. Pop songs are not the only measure of a society. Consider that musical theater has been burning the candle for true love through all the cynical decades.

And it appears some of today鈥檚 young people still believe.

Consider the Parker High students who are putting on the 72-year-old hit 鈥淏rigadoon,鈥� which opens Friday, March 29.

The show reflects the positive outlook of the World War II generation. Two Americans hunting in the Scottish highlands come across a village that is not on the map and is full of odd people. They find out the villagers live under a curse: The village appears for a single day once every 100 years, then disappears.

Sure enough, one of our hunters falls in love with a girl from the village. Does he stay in Brigadoon, losing touch with his own world, or does he abandon her? The clock is ticking.

All of the student actors interviewed had something positive to say about the show鈥檚 answer, the idea that love conquers all.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 true. I think that happens for everyone,鈥� said Hunter Olson, who plays the love-struck Tommy Albright.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a good way to think about love, that if you stay true to who and what you love, that it鈥檒l all be OK,鈥� said ensemble member Hayden Kedrowski.

Love is goodness and hope, said ensemble member Grace Heiss: 鈥淚t can conquer evil and can get you through anything.鈥�

鈥淚 think love is one of the most powerful forces in nature,鈥� said Michael Rick, a junior who plays Charlie Dalrymple, a romantic, tragic character. 鈥淢usical theater is a beautiful way to show people that love is there for everyone, and if you are not happy in your life, that eventually something is going to come along in an unexpected way.鈥�

鈥淚 still think it is the most powerful thing in the world,鈥� said Addison Schuh, who plays Fiona, one of the romantic leads.

鈥淲e do kind of need that idea in today鈥檚 society,鈥� said junior Sullivan Saliby, who plays cynical New Yorker Jeff Douglas.

With all the news of hate in the world and negativity against different people, the positivity of 鈥淏rigadoon鈥� might be just the thing we all need, Saliby added.

Olson said he knew only one of the songs in 鈥淏rigadoon鈥� before he began preparing for his role. 鈥淎s soon as I heard my songs and the ensemble songs, I fell in love with this show.鈥�

Junior Molly Skalecki, who plays Maggie, has been studying dance for 10 years, so the show鈥檚 dancing is her love. In her role, Skalecki performs a solo dance to express the musical鈥檚 saddest moment.

But the show also has energetic dances that old folks might remember, including a sword dance and the rousing 鈥淚鈥檒l Go Home with Bonnie Jean.鈥�

Parker has performed a lot of Disney musicals of late, so the students said 鈥淏rigadoon鈥� is a nice change.

鈥淚 love this kind of music,鈥� Schuh said. 鈥淭hese kinds of shows are my favorite.鈥�

Olson and others said few of their classmates had even heard of 鈥淏rigadoon.鈥�

鈥淏ut these stories are timeless, and the meaning behind it鈥攖his show will resonate with any generation,鈥� Rick said.

This will be the community鈥檚 last chance to see the Schuh, Olson, Kedrowski, Heiss and other seniors on stage for some time. It is their last musical before they head out into the world in search of their own loves.

Angela Major 

Bob Hiller

Editor鈥檚 Note: Kicks presents 20Q, a feature that introduces readers to people involved in the area鈥檚 arts and entertainment community. Compiled by kicks Editor Greg Little, each piece will include a short bio, photo and answers to questions that provide insight into not only that person鈥檚 artistic interests but also his or her unique personality.

Bob Hiller

Bob Hiller is a sweet man. Literally.

Known by many as the owner of 糖心Vlog传媒鈥檚 Rollin Pin Bakery, 鈥淢r. Cream Puff鈥� has spent most of his 89 years (including a birthday Wednesday) providing decadent treats to satisfy every sweet tooth within a cookie toss of Rock County.

A 糖心Vlog传媒 native, Hiller鈥檚 first taste of the baking biz came at age 12, when he was a pan cleaner at Cunningham鈥檚 Bakery on Milwaukee Street. After he was kicked out of school in 10th grade, he decided to make the culinary career his primary source of dough.

After serving three years of military duty in Korea, Hiller returned home and saw his stock in the baking industry began to rise. Today, he is recognized worldwide as an authority on the industry, and he remains a trustee for the Wisconsin Bakers Association (he joined the WBA Hall of Fame in 2000). In addition, he remains a member of the Valley Cooperative Association and is past president of the Retail Bakers of America.

Hiller and his wife, Sandy, operated Rollin Pin Bakery out of a storefront on Arch Street in 糖心Vlog传媒 for 52 years. After entering semi-retirement, Hiller downsized to his current location (1060 Harmony Plaza, 糖心Vlog传媒), where he still sells cookies five times each year on weekends preceding Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Fourth of July and Valentine鈥檚 Day. (Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays).

Aside from Sandy, who died in 2007, Hiller鈥檚 family includes son Bobby, daughters Cathy and Sheila, and his ever-present sidekick, Bailey the dog.

To learn more about Hiller and Rollin Pin Bakery, search for 鈥� on Facebook.

1. How did you first get into baking? I started out washing pans at Cunningham鈥檚 Bakery when I was 12 years old. Mostly, I was just looking for something to do, but I always wanted to become a baker. The sweets probably had a lot to do with that.

2. At 89 years old, what drives you to continue baking? One of the big things is that since my wife passed away, I just hate sitting around that house. So I鈥檝e got something to do. I鈥檝e got this.

3. In 1986, you created a full-size mother and baby elephant, two penguins and a clown for the Retail Bakers Association convention. Once you started the project, did you ever feel like you鈥檇 gotten in over your head? It took a lot of wood and paper mache, and more than 1,800 pounds of buttercream frosting. I never really felt like I was in over my head, but it was a couple of months of work. That elephant was 18 feet tall.

4. Can you describe one of your worst baking disasters? There were two. Way back, we used to roast turkeys for $2 a bird. We had a revolving oven, and people would bring the turkeys in. We put 40 of them in the oven to cook, and suddenly we heard the damndest noise. Come to find out, as the turkeys baked, their legs lift up, and they got stuck on top of the oven. That tipped over the top shelf, which tipped every other shelf, and the turkeys all ended up on the bottom of the oven. I had a young guy working for me, so we got rakes and started raking the birds out of the oven. At that time, we also made a lot of banana bread using cornmeal, and after baking it, we would brush off the cornmeal, which would fall to the bottom of the oven. It was blacker than pepper. Well, the birds were just damp enough that all this black stuff stuck to them. We tried washing off the black stuff, but the skin was coming off, too. We didn鈥檛 know what to do. The young guy suggested going to the store and getting black pepper, so I bought a bunch of it and we peppered the birds. I thought, 鈥淥h my God, I鈥檓 going to lose my business. People are going to be so upset.鈥� But would you believe that, after Thanksgiving, all these people came in and said, 鈥淥h, that was the best-tasting turkey I ever ate in my life?鈥� But that was the end of that. It was such a mess.

Another time, (First Lutheran Church in 糖心Vlog传媒) ordered 75 9-inch lemon pies. I had an old Chevrolet truck with back doors that wouldn鈥檛 stay closed, and I had trays in the back of the truck. In those days, Court Street would go up, and then there would be another grade in the road where you had to shift into second gear. The church wanted the pies by 5 p.m., so I headed up Court Street with these pies on the racks in the back of the truck. Well, I had to shift into second and, when I did, the back doors came open and the pies went all over the street. Parker Pen was just letting out of work at 4 p.m., and workers were all standing around, laughing like hell. Tires on automobiles in those days were real thin, and cars trying to get up that hill kept getting stuck in the lemon meringue. The city had to come out and sand the street. What a mess.

5. How difficult was the decision to close your longtime bakery on Arch Street? After 52 years, I kind of wanted to semi-retire and just do what we鈥檙e doing now (with a smaller place and fewer hours). My bookkeeper said,鈥� You should have done this 70 years ago,鈥� and he was right. Not near the problems as with the bigger building.

6. If you鈥檙e looking to sneak one of your own treats, which one do you tend to go for? The chocolate chip cookies. They鈥檙e small, and I can eat about six or eight before I get full. The problem is, if I start eating them and then go down to the restaurant for lunch, I鈥檓 too full to eat.

7. It must be difficult to not gain weight when you鈥檙e constantly surrounded by sugary delights. How do you keep the pounds at bay? I just keep on moving. You鈥檙e taste-testing all the time, but I move around a lot and don鈥檛 sit down too much.

8. How important is social media to the continued success of your business? That鈥檚 been very helpful. I just can鈥檛 believe the people that keep coming out. I鈥檓 always hearing, 鈥淚 saw you on Facebook. That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 here.鈥�

9. In the number of years you鈥檝e been in business, I鈥檓 sure you鈥檝e had your share of rude customers. How do you deal with them? We don鈥檛 get too many. After we talk, we give them a treat. That usually works.

10. You鈥檝e stopped making your famous eclairs and cream puffs. Why? The federal government took all of the trans fat out of shortening, and there鈥檚 nothing we can do. I鈥檝e gone through four different companies鈥� boxes of shortening, and they鈥檙e all the same. We just can鈥檛 make them anymore because they don鈥檛 turn out. On a Saturday, we used to take in more than $20,000 just in cream puffs and eclairs. Now it鈥檚 just gone. We tried everything. I鈥檝e had different bakers call and ask me what to use, but nothing works. None of us know what we鈥檙e going to do.

11. What is the hardest thing about being a baker? The long hours. We usually worked midnight until whenever we were done. I don鈥檛 work those hours now, but I did for many years.

12. What is your favorite cake flavor? Chocolate with chocolate buttercream icing.

13. Is Rollin Pin Bakery simply named after the baking utensil, or is there a deeper meaning behind it? It鈥檚 just named after the rolling pin. We were using them all the time, so it just came to me.

14. Away from food-related activities, do you have any hobbies? I like to draw. That鈥檚 how I got kicked out of school. Being a cake decorator, you have to have some art ability.

15. Your career in the baking industry presented you with many opportunities to travel. Was there any particular trip you enjoyed most? I was putting on a show in California and this Australian baker asked if I would like to come to Australia, all expense paid, to put on a program. So the wife and I went to Australia for two weeks. I was also over in France, and in Mexico a couple of different times. I don鈥檛 know how I had the time to do it, traveling all over the damn country.

16. Aside from the eclairs and cream puffs, was there any other particular item that really took off in popularity? We made this one cake called a sh_t cake. This girl who worked at Montgomery Ward鈥檚 came in and said she needed a cake for her boss I said, 鈥淲hat kind?鈥� and she said, 鈥淛ust a pile of sh_t. That鈥檚 all he鈥檚 worth,鈥� and out the door she went. A couple days later she called and said, 鈥淒id you figure out that sh_t cake?鈥� I said, 鈥淣o,鈥� and she said, 鈥淲ell, get busy.鈥� So I took two 8-inch layers of chocolate and a 7-inch and shaved them down, iced it with chocolate and took a big white tube of chocolate and swirled it all around. Then I got some peanuts, took the shells off and threw them in the chocolate. I put some toilet paper on it, and I found some fake black blowflies to put on it. That really took off. You couldn鈥檛 believe the people who came in for those. It was the biggest-selling cake we made. We made hundreds of them for graduations, and I even had one guy order one for his daughter鈥檚 wedding. I would have never thought something like that would take off the way it did.

17. Are you self-taught, or did someone teach you how to bake? I鈥檓 pretty much self-taught. I started out at Cunningham鈥檚 Bakery making about 26 cents an hour, and I picked up a lot of things from Dave Cunningham. But I learned a lot of it on my own.

18. How has the baking industry changed since you got started all those years ago? The equipment is one of the biggest things. Also, it鈥檚 hard to find real bakers. People don鈥檛 want to work anymore. That鈥檚 one of the biggest changes: A lot of bakeries are going out of business.

19. You鈥檝e held countless fundraisers and made donations to charities and special events in an effort to give back to the community. Why do you consider this such an important endeavor? It鈥檚 the best advertising there is. We donate 7,000 cookies to Rotary Gardens each year just for the holiday light show. I like to help out.

20. How many cookies would you estimate you pump out in a year鈥檚 time? A million? When we have a sale coming up, we鈥檒l have more than 2,000 bags of chocolate chip cookies, and there are two dozen to a bag. Plus, we sometimes have sugar cookies, peanut butter cookies ... usually about 500 dozen each. We are almost always baking.

Jerry Averill photo 

Tim Roberts of 糖心Vlog传媒, left, performs 鈥業t鈥檚 a Long Way to the Top鈥� as part of a performance with The Jailbreakers during a tribute show for former AC/DC singer Bon Scott at the Yost Theater in Santa Ana, Calif.

JANESVILLE鈥擳im Roberts has known for some time that he sounds a lot like former AC/DC frontman Bon Scott.

Thanks to an international singing competition, the rest of the world knows it, too.

In January, the 52-year-old 糖心Vlog传媒 man鈥檚 video submission was chosen from a field of 鈥渓ess than 1 million,鈥� earning him the chance to perform at a Bon Scott tribute event, 鈥淚f You Want Bon, You Got It,鈥� in Santa Ana, California.

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 my best performance ever,鈥� Roberts said. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 so much nervousness but all the extrasensory issues. The music was super loud, and I couldn鈥檛 hear myself in the song at some point. The sound reverberates off the back wall, so you hear yourself a few seconds after singing. It was different doing it live like that.鈥�

This wasn鈥檛 the first time Roberts has displayed his musical chops on stage. In 2016, he won WSJY radio鈥檚 鈥淭he Voice鈥� competition by performing AC/DC鈥檚 鈥淒irty Deeds,鈥� and in 2017, he appeared as Tommy Murray of the rock band Tommy and the Tremors in Dan Fredricks鈥� original play 鈥淣ever Too Old鈥� at the 糖心Vlog传媒 Performing Arts Center. He also has appeared in several other Stage One productions since 2015.

On stage at the Yost Theater in Santa Ana, Roberts belted out 鈥淚t鈥檚 a Long Way to the Top鈥� backed by The Jailbreakers, an all-star collective featuring guitarists Bruce Watson (Foreigner) and Damon Johnson (Thin Lizzy, Alice Cooper, Black Star Riders), bassist Robbie Crane (Ratt, Black Star Riders) and drummer Brian Tichy (Whitesnake, Foreigner, Billy Idol and Ozzy Osbourne).

The Parker High grad first heard about the contest through an AC/DC fan page he follows on Facebook. He created his video on a Thursday, submitted it the next day and found out he had won Saturday.

鈥淢y wife (Dawn) and I were at a birthday party at Bogey鈥檚 (in 糖心Vlog传媒), and around 8 o鈥檆lock I got a text that I had won,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 told my wife, and she asked, 鈥榃hat contest?鈥� Then I asked, 'What are you doing this week? Because we are heading to L.A.'鈥�

Roberts鈥� musical odyssey began when he got off the plane, as he was whisked away to Mates recording studio in West Hollywood for rehearsals.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the same studio used by KISS and some other groups,鈥� Roberts said. 鈥淚 was treated as an equal from the moment I stepped in the door.鈥�

Two days later, Roberts found himself on stage with The Jailbreakers in front of a live audience. He called the entire experience a 鈥渨hirlwind鈥� and said the best part of the show was being welcomed backstage by other musicians attending the show.

鈥淭hese guys have earned legendary status, but they are all just people,鈥� Roberts said. 鈥淭hey came up to me after the show and were congratulating me on winning and on my performance. They were just handing me their phones and putting their numbers in mine. I鈥檝e kept in contact with several of them already.鈥�