Dr. Molly Hinshaw (’94 BS EDU, ’00 MD), on the medical school scholarship established with husband Dr. Louis Hinshaw (’94 BS L&S, ’00 MD)

The Land Remembers

Friday, October 13, 1972 was a sunny 65 degrees; perfect for a stroll to Picnic Point and a wedding. Thirty friends and family of Terry (’71 BS) and Mary (’76 BS EDU) Kelly walked through the stone fence, up the leaf-cluttered path to the old apple orchard.

As a flutist played classical music, they watched Terry and Mary exchange vows they had written themselves in what Terry calls a typical “hippie wedding.” The group then gathered at Porta Bella, where the wedding feast—costing a staggering $4.95 per person—featured, according to Mary, “really bad pink champagne.”

Thirty-four years later, Picnic Point and indeed, the entire Lakeshore Nature Preserve, remain important in the lives of the Kellys. “When we were students we would pack a picnic lunch and sit in the apple orchard,” said Terry. “Generations of students like us met there and contemplated their futures. I suppose we thought it was always there and always the same.”

The future the Kellys began that day now includes three accomplished sons and several successful businesses. Terry, a former Madison TV weathercaster, is president of Weather Central Inc. and president and founder of Rhythm & Booms, Madison’s famous July 4th event. The Kellys also are key investors in progressive talk radio’s “Air America.”

A family friendship with William Cronon (’76 BA L&S), professor of history, College of Letters and Science and chair of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve Committee, and the Kellys’ own intellectual curiosity and commitment to the environment has changed their appreciation for the natural areas around Madison and Wisconsin.



Terry and Mary Kelly follow the same path to the apple orchard at Picnic Point where they were married in 1972.

“I used to think care meant benign neglect,” said Mary. “Now I realize this is not a good thing. We were pretty unaware until we learned from Bill and sat in on some of his classes in environmental history.”

Explaining that two major threats to the Lakeshore Nature Preserve are water runoff into University Bay and urban development, Terry added, “It is rare to have such a place on this or any urban campus. We need to make it [the Lakeshore Nature Preserve] the maximum jewel it can be.”

“Picnic Point says ‘this is the University of Wisconsin,’” added Mary. Terry agrees that it is one of the University’s major identifying places and deserves to be treated as such. “It’s astonishing to look at some of the photos over time,” observed Terry. “This area is like a beautiful old house that you need to preserve by removing the junk so you can see it and the views from it.”

Through their Kelly Family Foundation, the Kellys are making a lead gift for educational outreach efforts that will teach people of all ages about the history, importance and endangered future of the natural areas on campus.

Terry and Mary have witnessed in their own family how education can raise awareness and interest in places like Picnic Point. “After our son saw Professor Cronon’s slide presentation in class, he and some friends went to explore out there,” recalled Mary.

Like many people actively involved with the Lakeshore Nature Preserve, the Kellys want to preserve these areas so the next generations can experience the excitement of exploration and discovery. Maybe, like their son, they will create memories of their own in these special places.

The Kellys take environmental education seriously. Terry served on the board of the Aldo Leopold Society and believes our schools have abdicated their responsibility to teach children about the environment. “Fewer than one-third of Madison school children get any kind of exposure to nature. Kids feel disconnected from the outside world because there is an emphasis on indoor activities and little chance to get outdoors. We have all these gems in Wisconsin but much of the United States is doing a better job than Wisconsin. We focus on environmentally sensitive adults but there is a need for cooperative programming for students.”

Leopold himself expressed a wish that the Kellys are working to fulfill: “When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”