On Saturday, May 4, 2024, celebrate the centennial of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge with a screening of “A Visit from Will Dilg” at the Winona Arts Center, 228 East Fifth Street, in Winona. The screening begins at 7 p.m.; doors open at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $10, and the creator and actor in the film with be available for Q & A after the screening.
Steven Marking plays Will Dilg in an inspiring, one-man movie entitled “A Visit From Will Dilg.” Will Dilg and his wife spent their summers on a houseboat in Winona. After suffering from the drowning death of his son in the early 1920s, Dilg rose from the depths of depression to lead an extraordinary national crusade to form the Izaak Walton League, then with the support of the Women’s Clubs of America, they saved a 261-mile stretch of Mississippi River backwaters from drainage for agriculture. We now know this stretch of river as the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, and this year marks the centennial of that event.
In his production, Marking created a script that relies heavily on Dilg’s own published words. He plays the role of Will Dilg, telling the story of the founding of the Izaak Walton League and the battle against the reclamation menace that was stealing the Mississippi River’s precious backwater habitat from the Lower Mississippi on up. Ground zero for the battle was the Winneshiek Bottoms near Lansing, Iowa, which was already legally permitted to be drained, filled, and levied off to create protected farmlands. The beauty of the native flora and fauna are featured in this 50-minute film.
Steven Marking holds a master’s degree in vocal performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore and a bachelor’s degree from Viterbo University in his hometown of La Crosse, Wis. He brings more than three decades of professional production and performance experience to his latest creation, “A Visit From Will Dilg,” and his ongoing masterpiece, “Our Mighty Mississippi.”
More info on Steve can be found at stevenmarking.com.