Annual Friends Social

Steve Marking was the featured speaker at the Friends’ annual social held February 25, 2018 at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Visitors’ Center. Marking, who grew up learning to hunt and fish on the banks of the Mississippi, works with his wife as entertainers on a Mississippi riverboat that carries passengers down the river on extended cruises. At the social, Markings showed and discussed portions of the Power Point presentation of the Mississippi that Marking shows on the riverboat. The Friends were treated to stunning footage and amazing photographs of the river’s natural beauty and the various wildlife found along its way as well as listen to several of Marking’s show tunes.

Educating others to appreciate the beauty and importance of the refuge has been a part of Marking’s life on and off the riverboat. He and his wife currently live on Lake Onalaska and Marking continually films what he sees out his front window as well as up and down the refuge. Marking incorporates these local images as part of his riverboat’s Mississippi River presentation which he punctuates with music and song. The Markings have donated CDs of their music for purchase in the Refuge’s Visitor Center’s bookstore.