WAUPACA COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A drive from the Valley to the Chain O’ Lakes, or from Milwaukee, or Chicago is one many take as Wisconsin warms up.
“I’ve been here now almost 22 years. All year long. I’ll be here in the winter time off and on, and I try to be here all summer also,” Bill Haider from Downers Grove, Ill. said.
Haider lives about 30 minutes away from Chicago, and three hours from Waupaca.
“Nobody stops me at the border saying ‘hey go home,’ so it’s all good.”
Governor Tony Evers’ “Safer at Home” order encourages people stay away from second homes or cottages. Some rural areas, like Waupaca County, don’t have the hospital infrastructure to handle a COVID-19 outbreak.
“I think it’s kind of overkill to be truthful with you. I’m hoping things get lifted pretty soon here because it doesn’t seem as bad as they projected it to be,” Haider said about Wisconsin and Illinois’ safer at home orders.
At The Minnow Bucket in Waupaca, a fishing and archery shop, owner Lisa Minton tells FOX 11 she hasn’t seen as many out-of-towners as she normally does.
“A lot of them seemed like they were already here and in their cottages when the order went in place. We have had a few that have come up since but most of them are very aware of the social distancing.”
But The Minnow Bucket expects that to change.
“I think once it gets warmer and the holiday approaches more people will be coming up around the lakes,” Tory Deuman, a Minnow Bucket employee, said.
Some permanent residents who live in Waupaca didn’t want to go on camera, but told FOX 11 they’re concerned about people from COVID-19 hotspots, like Milwaukee and Chicago, bringing it here.
Haider tells FOX 11 he’s being safe.
“I think if you keep your distance and you’re conscious of what’s going on around you, I think you’re okay unless you already have an immune deficiency of some sort.”
And this is home.
“In some ways, this is just as much their home as it is ours,” Minton said.
Wisconsin’s “Safer at Home” order is now set to expire May 26th.
