By Patrick Lynn
STEVENS POINT — A one-man show about the conservationist who helped protect a 261-mile stretch of the Mississippi River will come to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Monday, Nov. 16.
Steven Marking will perform “A Visit from Will Dilg” from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Dreyfus University Center Theater, 1015 Reserve St.
Admission is $7 in advance or $10 at the door. Children younger than 18 and UW-Stevens Point students with a student ID attend free.
The Wisconsin Center for Wildlife is hosting the performance with support from the Izaak Walton League of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Chapter of the Wildlife Society.
Marking portrays Dilg, an avid bass fisherman and frequent Mississippi River visitor who fought plans to drain and clear-cut its backwaters for agriculture.
After his only son drowned in the early 1920s, Dilg helped form the Izaak Walton League and led a national conservation campaign. With support from the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of America, the effort helped establish the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.
The performance draws heavily on Dilg’s published words, with images of the refuge’s native plants and wildlife ...