The party's over. The biggest blowout Wisconsin ever has thrown, a yearlong observance of the sesquicentennial of statehood, wound up on New Year's Eve.
People love history.
Dean Amhaus quit as executive director of the state Arts Board to run the Sesquicentennial Commission office. He wrote recently for the Wisconsin Newspaper Association what went on during the 150th year since Wisconsin became a state. Nobody ever will know how many separate events and projects were carried out or how many people participated and observed them, from dramas to craft demonstrations to schoolroom displays. Indisputably, everyone in the state and countless visitors had a sesquicentennial experience of some sort or had the opportunity. And the party may be over, but after-effects continue.