A Wisconsin COVID Solution: Ice Shanties

Above: Marie and the kids in the doorway of one of our “deluxe” ice shanties at Brix

Few reasonable people want to sit inside a bar or restaurant in Wisconsin right now, sharing air space with others, potentially for an extended period of time with masks off since you’re putting stuff in your mouth. It’s simply not a good idea right now to hang out maskless in the same space as others. At the same time, no one wants to see local small businesses like bars and restaurants go under. We’ve seen too many businesses go under already, and for most of us small business owners, the prospect of winter is daunting.

We’ve decided to think outside the box, and we’re offering the humble ice shanty as a solution.

When I was a kid, my dad used to take us ice fishing. As we drove our car out on lake Winnebago or Cranberry Lake, I was always a little afraid that we’d fall through the ice, but we never did. After finding a good spot, my dad would auger some holes and set up our shanty, and we’d sit inside on plastic buckets, listening to the sound of a little sterno heater while we watched for our bobber to dip under whenever a fish would bite.

Above: Matt’s parents family car and shanty out on the ice sometime in the 80’s

We’d also set up a few tip ups in the area around our car and shanty. From time to time we would peek outside, and if we saw one of the flags of the tip ups pointing up, someone would yell “tip up,” and we’d all run towards it, tromping across the snow covered ice to the “whoosh whoosh whoosh” sound of our snow pants rubbing together. With any luck, there would still be a fish on the end of the line.

Of course my favorite part of ice fishing was a thermos full of hot cocoa. The thermos top doubled as a plastic cup, and the hot cocoa inside never failed to warm our bellies and give us the energy to keep fishing, or playing around on the ice.

Above: Ice fishing as kids, from left to right: Matt, friend of Dave’s (Ryan I think), brother Dave, sister Beth, and brother Joe

I haven’t thought much about shanties or ice fishing in recent years, until the other day when something triggered my memory. We had just bought a couple plastic covered domes for outside of our tasting room and restaurant as a way of extending the season for outdoor seating. These plastic covered domes are nice, but they’re annoyingly expensive, too fragile for Wisconsin weather, and like toilet paper a few months ago, these plastic domes are now all but unavailable from people buying them all up.

After setting the domes up, I sat inside one to do some work and test it out. It was in the moment of turning on the little space heater that I thought, “hmm, this is kind of like an ice shanty.” Then a lightbulb came on. Why don’t we get some ice shanties too? They’re a lot cheaper than domes, and to me at least, they are a symbol of embracing winter in Wisconsin. Sitting in your own ice shanty with your family or your pod or your partner, you don’t have to worry about sharing air space with strangers, and your risk of getting sick is therefore significantly reduced.

Getting through a COVID winter in Wisconsin sounds daunting. As a parent, I fear the possibility of going stir crazy in the house with my children. As a restaurant and craft beverage business owner I fear the prospect of scant customers and several successive months of losing money. As crazy as it sounds, perhaps ice shanties offers a solution.

We bought 5 ice shanties, 3 new ones and 2 classic ice shanties off of Craigslist. As a business, this gives us five more tables where we stand a chance of seating some customers and bringing in a little revenue. We’re leaving the shanties unoccupied for 15 minutes with doors and windows open between customers so that the shanties can air out, get cleaned, and feel safe for the next customers to enter.

Above: Ice shanties set up at Brix Cider (pop up shanties on the right and the “deluxe” shanty on the left with lit up domes in the background)

A space heater in each ice shanty can keep everyone warm. The kids can run around outside while the adults enjoy a drink. When the kids get cold, they can come in for some hot cocoa (or hot cider). Folks without kids could make the ice shanty a date night destination (because nothing says true love in Wisconsin like dinner in an ice shanty). We hope our little domes and shanty land offer a fun and festive way to get through the winter months safely.

Wisconsin has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately. We’re fighting each other instead of finding solutions. Perhaps we can embrace the better parts of our culture to help us all get through these hard times. Perhaps we can still have a sense of humor. Perhaps we can embrace things like the ice shanty.

For people who want to try it out, your best bet is to call us in advance to book a shanty. We’ll also offer them first come first serve if there are openings, but we’re hoping that they fill up!