MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - The On the Road series heads to the Harry Whitehouse International Wood Carving Festival for the second week of June.

With perfect, sunny outdoor weather, WMTV’s Elizabeth Wadas and Mark McPherson were live at San Damiano Park.

Artists from all over the world gathered at the park to scalp pieces of wood into artwork.

Officials say the event is named after HoChunk Nation Sculptor Harry Whitehorse.

The Festival’s founder, Gene Delcourt says he wanted to do something to honor him, and he hopes people take one important thing with them.

“That Harry Whitehorse’s art is worth seeing, you know, we really want to promote him and his art and not be forgotten because he was a valuable, valuable member of the Monona community,” said Delcourt.” And all you have to do is see it to know wow, this is impressive stuff. And he’s got sculptures all over the county.”

The artists will be at this festival for a week, so feel free to come down anytime and see the process in action.

Monona mayor on the growing city

Driving into Monona, you will be mesmerized by murals painted on buildings. These works of art depict everything from animals, trains and life advice. It offers an opportunity for local artists to share their talents with the community.

Not only is Monona a beautiful city filled with artistic talent but is an area that is on the rise.

Monona Mayor Mary O’Connor says the city is landlocked which means there is no more sparce. She says that when the city does grow it will have to be up.

Several new apartment buildings are scheduled to be going up in the city.

Although redevelopment is a more complicated process than a new development on open land, O’Connor says the city is moving full speed ahead.

“The last few years that things are really changing here and it’s amazing when you talk to people who come back haven’t been here for a couple of years and they’re like, wow, I can’t believe how Monona’s changed,” O’Connor said.

O’Connor also says the city used to be a bit of a food desert, but in recent years they’ve added a variety of new restaurants along Monona Drive.

Monona Bait & Ice Cream Shop

With summer temperatures heating up, it is a great time for ice cream or fishing on the lake.

For over the last six decades, Monona Ice Cream and Bait shop has been a staple in the community.

Owner Dean Schroeder says the location right on the lake and bike path make it a perfect spot for both an ice cream and bait shop.

“Lines can go out the door sometimes, it’s very hectic for about four to six hours and a lot of people just coming off the lake and biking and driving and walking and coming to getting their ice cream,” said Schroeder.

The owner says they go through more than 34 barrels of ice cream on the weekend.

“The Voice of Monona”

Monona is the home of the local radio station, “The Voice of Monona.”

The station, 98.7 WVMO, first went on the air eight years ago with the help of radio personality, Lindsay Wood Davis. True to it’s name, “The Voice of Monona” highlights everything going on in the Monona community.

Despite the small city having a population of less than 10,000, the radio station has gained a loyal online following. They have won multiple awards, including four Station of the Year awards from the Wisconsin Broadcaster’s Association.

Davis, one of the station’s iconic personalities reflected on the reason for their success.

“We have what we call hyper-local programming. This is about Monona and Madison’s east side...” said Davis. “From the day we first turned it on the idea was, yea, this is a little radio station, but it’s always going to be a professional, real radio station.”

According to the station website, The goal of the station is to give Monona and other neighboring community members a place to share stories and interests while giving the City a way to reach its residents. WVMO has become the self proclaimed, “coolest little station in the nation”.

They provide broadcast space for diverse, creative, hyper-locally focused programming. Community members get actively involved, whether by volunteering or hosting their own show.

“The most important part is the volunteers. Many of them have been with us since the first week or month or year when we went on the air in 2015, that’s pretty amazing,” said David.

The station first hit the air in 2015, after an eight year effort by the City of Monona to create a low-power FM radio station.

Davis said the station prides themselves on only broadcasting locally-created content, and never airs shows from bigger stations around the country.

“It’s all about being very very local,” said Davis. “If you hear it, it’s being done by us.”