A Christmas Carol 2024 VIP Walk-Ons
James Groh – Friday, December 6, 7:00pm
Some people call me James Groh, some people call me Shifty G, and some people call me that guy they see on the news. Before I became a reporter for TMJ4 News, I was a major theater kid doing plays, musical theater, and improv. Nowadays, I make music under the name Shifty G, skateboard, snowboard, and play soccer. I’ve actually performed at Summerfest for four years. I love live theater, and I love reading bios in playbills like the one you’re reading right now. Finally, a big THANK YOU to my parents and Nana for being my number one supporters whether it was sports, acting, music, or all the times I broke a bone (there were a lot).
Lindsey Slater – Saturday, December 7, 7:30pm
Lindsey joined the WISN 12 Weather Team in June of 2016.
She graduated from Carroll College (now Carroll University) in Waukesha, Wisconsin earning a B.S. in Environmental Science. She also earned her B.S. in Broadcast Meteorology from Mississippi State University while working at her first job in Jackson, Mississippi. Slater has always been fascinated by the weather, in all its forms. She first became interested in weather while living at home in Milwaukee. When bad storms were brewing, Slater hurriedly ran outside, taking snapshots of storms with her camera. She began her weather career in 2006, interning with none other than Chief Meteorologist Mark Baden right here at WISN 12. She also interned with WKOW in Madison along with the National Weather Service in Sullivan.
In 2009, she and her husband moved to Mississippi working mornings at Fox affiliate WDBD-TV. While there, she covered the historic tornado outbreak of April 27, 2011, major flooding along the Mississippi River and even a snowstorm (for Jackson, that's about 4 inches).
In 2012, they were off to Springfield, Missouri, one year after an EF-5 tornado struck Joplin. She covered everything from severe storms to snow and ice.
Finally, in 2016, she returned home Milwaukee, and coincidentally to WISN 12 News.
Slater is a member of the American Meteorological Society and has the National Weather Association TV Weathercaster Seal of Approval #1604075.
When she's not tracking the weather, Slater spends a lot of her time at the gym lifting weights, baking sweets with her mother and volunteering at the Wisconsin Humane Society. She loves going to Marcus Theaters as a certified movie buff with her husband Mark and dabble into car shows with him. Lindsey and Mark are cat parents to Ripley, Flynn, and Sway - all WHS Alums. Speaking of Alums, Lindsey also teaches as an adjunct professor at Carroll University in Waukesha.
You can see Slater on WISN 12 News on 12 News this Morning from 4:30 to 7 a.m. & on 12 News at 11, Monday through Friday.
Mike Curkov – Friday, December 13, 7:00pm
Mike has anchored the CBS 58 Morning News since 2016. Wake up with him and the morning team from 4:30-7:00 a.m. on CBS 58 and 7:00-8:00 a.m. on WMLW The M.
Mike is also known as "Iron Mike Curkov." Pro-wrestling (no joke!) with Great Lakes Championship Wrestling, SSW Entertainment and One Fall Entertainment with matches in Waukesha, Theinsville, Ashippun, Kenosha, Sheboygan Falls, Cedarburg, and Grafton. Iron Mike even won the GLCW tag team championship in 2022 with WWE legend Al Snow.
Since joining CBS 58, Mike has covered the Bucks Championship Parade, the Super Bowl, witnessed a total solar eclipse on the line of totality, flown in a fighter jet, kissed a sea lion, ridden the Giant Slide at the Wisconsin State Fair 58 times in a row, jumped the mail boat in Lake Geneva, and swam in Lake Michigan in February. He's also won eight Wisconsin Broadcasters Association awards and been nominated for five regional Emmys, including a 2023 Emmy win for a story about why we seem to be using subtitles more often.
He lives in Ozaukee County with his wife, Allison, two sons, and beagle, Fern.
Dan Jacobs – Tuesday, December 17, 7:00pm
Chef Dan Jacobs is the head chef and co-owner of acclaimed Milwaukee, WI restaurants EsterEv, a globally inspired tasting menu concept, and DanDan, a modern Chinese-American concept with Midwest sensibility. Jacobs and his business partner, Chef Dan Van Rite, are 5x James Beard Best Chef Midwest Semi-Finalists, and 2024 James Beard Best Chef Midwest Nominees, who extend their work far past the kitchen: Jacobs is an active member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC), was instrumental in the Restaurant Revitalization Fund’s $28.6B raise in 2021, and was one of four Americans to speak to President-Elect Biden on behalf of the independent restaurateurs. But his advocacy work doesn’t stop there – Dan is deeply involved in Main Street Alliance, World Central Kitchen, No Kid Hungry, and the James Beard Foundation’s Climate Solutions for Restaurant Survival Campaign.
The same year they opened DanDan and EsterEv, Jacobs was diagnosed with Kennedy’s Disease, a genetic neuromuscular ailment commonly mistaken for ALS. With a disease that often makes simple tasks like walking upstairs or chopping an onion feel like a massive undertaking, he is proud to run two standout restaurants and raise money for Kennedy’s Disease awareness ($90,000 and counting).
At EsterEv, guests can expect dishes that evoke nostalgia and joy like Ricotta Gnudi that reminds Jacobs of his Eastern European grandma's slow-cooked pork ragu; a Butter Popcorn Macaron that takes you to the movies; a Baked Alaska that tastes like Fruity Pebbles; and, as always, globally inspired Pierogies and Dumplings. This summer, Dan took runner-up on Season 21 of Top Chef, based in Wisconsin.