2009 South Shore Frolics schedule

The 2009 South Shore Frolics will be held July 10, 11, 12 at 2900 S. Shore Drive.

Friday

• 4pm-?          Fish Fry
• 4-9pm         Milwaukee Art Museum Presents Kohl’s Color Wheels For Children-A Mobile Art Experience
• 4-9pm         Saws for a Cause (chain saw artists, new location near pavilion)
• 5-9pm         Doo Wop Daddies With Sam McCue
• Dusk           Movie on the Beach: Hotel For Dogs (sponsored by Gruber Law Offices)
  Small Fireworks Display after movie

Saturday

• 11am          Parade (Sponsored by Todd Reardon of the Braeger Group)
• The University of Wisconsin Marching Band’s Fifth Quarter immediately following the parade, in
  front of the stage just east of the yacht club. (The band is also in the parade.)
• 9am-10pm   Saws for a Cause
• 2-4pm         NEW EVENT: South Shore Idol Karaoke Competition, hosted by Kim Marie
• 3-4pm         Free Kids Game (on the hill) (sponsored by Kathy Drexler & Wade Mueller)
• 6-10pm       Rhythm Method
• 10pm          Atomic Firework Display (sponsored by Jim Wing of WB Bottle)

Sunday

• 9am-3pm       Saws for a Cause
• 10am-3pm     11th Annual Classic Car Show (sponsored by LK Construction)
• 10am-5pm     Frolics Festival of Arts-70 local and regional artists (Sponsored by Bay View Arts Guild)
• Noon-3pm      Forge Fire
• 3-4pm            Free Kids Game (on the hill) (sponsored by Kathy Drexler & Wade Mueller)
• 4-6pm            Saws for a Cause
• 6-10pm          Mt. Olive
• 10pm              Atomic Firework Display (sponsored by Jim Wing of WB Bottle)

Frolics organizers ask that everyone please respect the neighbors and neighborhood when leaving the park.

Photos: Chillin’ on the Hill

Rain dampened the evening but didn’t stop the music at the June 16 installment of Bay View Neighborhood Association’s Chill on the Hill in Humboldt Park. Copper Box, a band from Oshkosh, includes vocalist Danny Jerabek (pictured with his squeezebox) on button box, keys, brass, sousaphone; his wife Michelle Jerabek, alson on vocals but also a mean saxophone, plus flute and guitar; Kevin Junemann on bass guitar, and Jason Van Ryzin on drums. Copper Box pleased the soggy crowd with their special “Pink Floyd Polka” to cap off the evening. More: copperboxsite.com. ~photos Ken Mobile

The following Tuesday, June 23, it was hot and muggy but hundreds congregated for what is evolving into a casual weekly neighborhood tradition. ~photo Michael Timm

Break-ins bother Bay View

Broken auto glass is not an uncommon sight in Bay View gutters. There were at least 113 locked vehicle entries reported in the Bay View area in 2009, as of June 18. While that number is not out of line with last year’s total for the same area (203), employees and patrons of Bay View businesses are complaining about recent car break-ins, some of which have happened in broad daylight.

Judy Randa has worked at G. Groppi Food Market since October 2007. On April 7 around 8pm, her car was broken into on the 2500 block of S. Wentworth Avenue. Someone broke her passenger side front window and stole her GPS unit, which Randa said was buried under a bunch of stuff and a casual observer would not have known was there. “I believe they were watching me,” Randa said.

Randa reported her break-in to police, but was not pleased that they did not investigate. “They were actually cold and pretty much didn’t care,” she said.  »Read more

Once Upon a Time

When Deinna Cervera was laid off as a physical therapy clinic manager after working in the health care industry for 17 years, she could have just blamed the economy and taken her lumps. Instead, she took her severance package as an opportunity to open her own business. In June Cervera opened Once Upon a Time at 3145 S. Howell Ave., formerly The Candy Shop.

Her 6-year-old daughter Kalina, who is into princesses, dressing up, and make-believe, was her inspiration. “I wanted to create a quaint shop where the girls can come and dress up and make believe for tea parties and birthdays,” said Cervera, a mother of three, who had tried to find a place to do a themed party for her youngest daughter but couldn’t.

“I wanted a place where little girls could come together and socialize,” Cervera said. “It’s so easy to take your kid to Chuck E. Cheese, give them tokens, and let them run wild.” She’d rather cater to children’s imaginations in a world increasingly dominated by video games, TV, and the internet.  »Read more

Development struggle at Hide House

An old Bay View tannery is the site of a battle between those who want to build the future and those who want to live alongside the past.

In fall 2006, Hide House 2007, LLC-an entity that includes several partners of General Capital Group and Robert Joseph-bought the Hide House complex at 2625 S. Greeley St. In June 2009, the owners obtained a city-issued building permit to erect a 60-unit apartment building, to be called Hide House Lofts. These apartments would replace the northern section of the former Greenebaum Tannery complex, built in 1945 and today vacant and dilapidated.

But June 15, acting on a nomination for historic designation from 14th District Alderman Tony Zielinski, the city’s Historic Preservation Commission designated the entire complex as historic, preventing demolition in the short term and tying the hands of the developers.

General Capital said they’re appealing HPC’s designation to the Common Council, which may hear the appeal as early as this month.  »Read more

Gathering Waters Festival

People gather at the Gathering Waters Festival June 13 at Milwaukee’s Lakeshore State Park to enjoy food, music, activities, and displays on wellness and water. The free event was organized through the Friends of Lakeshore State Park. ~photo Jennifer Yauck

The 1912 bathhouse at South Shore Park

In the early 1900s, when South Shore Park was known as the 17th Ward Lake Shore Park, there was no permanent public bathhouse building where swimmers could change into their swimming suits, lock up their personal items, and take a shower. Rather, there were temporary bathhouses set up on the beach, like the ones run by a man known as Mr. Brown. Former Bay View resident Arthur Hickman, born in 1905, used Mr. Brown’s bathhouse as a small child. “It consisted of a number of dressing cubicles erected on a slightly elevated platform,” recalled Hickman in his book, Bay View As I Remember It. »Read more

Mystery Building—Sheridan Exchange

The red brick, two-story building at the corner of S. Logan and E. Oklahoma avenues (3044 S. Logan Ave.) was built “to fit in with the naturally beautiful surroundings of the neighborhood,” reported the Advance, a Bay View neighborhood newspaper, Aug. 14, 1930. Situated across from Humboldt Park, the park gave the building a setting “which will make it a credit to the community,” wrote the Advance.

This building, the Sheridan Exchange, was erected by the Wisconsin Telephone Company in 1931 and equipped with dial central office apparatus. An exchange is a central station to which telephone wires are brought from the various telephone subscribers in its neighborhood. Any two subscribers can then be put in telephonic communication with each other when the proper pairs of wires are joined together at the exchange building.

Originally named the “Empire,” some Bay View residents, along with the Bay View Advancement Association, rejected the name, reason unknown. Other names were proposed, such as names of pioneers of the community, but all were rejected. Sheridan Exchange was finally decided upon, “since Sheridan Road enters Milwaukee by way of Bay View,” reported the Advance. Established in 1837 and named for Civil War General Philip Henry Sheridan, Sheridan Road was originally a military road that ran along Lake Michigan, traveling north from Fort Dearborn in Chicago to Fort Howard in Green Bay. The former route of Sheridan Road, through southeastern Wisconsin, is now known as Hwy 32.

AT&T (formerly Wisconsin Telephone Company and Ameritech) owns the building today.

Budget priorities

As I write this column, the state Legislature continues to deliberate over the 2009-11 Wisconsin state budget. As the budget process moves forward, I assure you that I am continuing to work for the priorities of my constituents.

Since Governor Doyle introduced his budget in February, I have heard from constituents from every corner of the Seventh Senate District on a broad array of budgetary items. Wisconsin and the entire nation are facing an economic crisis, making these budget deliberations even more important than in years past. My colleagues and I are working diligently to formulate a budget for Wisconsin citizens that balances the wide range of priorities represented within our borders.  »Read more

County Executive Walker’s premature overreaction: A poor excuse to cut county services

Our country is still facing economic challenges and many are looking to the government for solutions. With an increased need to provide more services and a major decline in revenues, all local governments have to make budget adjustments. As you may have seen, employees are being asked to make concessions by implementing furloughs, layoffs, and even service cuts. It is important to be fiscally responsible at this critical point, but that doesn’t mean overreacting and making poor decisions.

Scott Walker used old numbers to come up with a $15 million projected deficit and is now abusing his authority to make drastic budget cuts without consulting with county residents or even county supervisors. Unfortunately, he is trying to use this “crisis” as an excuse to justify implementing layoffs, service cuts, and higher fees, without input from the public or the County Board. What Walker considers a budget nightmare is more like his dream come true. I hope you will take time to call his office at (414) 278-4211 to ask him to explain why he is unable to work with all of us to solve this issue.  »Read more

All Wisconsin schools need improvement

Many years ago I attended a rally at the state capitol in Madison. Teachers, parents, and school officials all clamored for changes in school funding. Everything went well until a Madison School Board member proclaimed, “Welcome to Madison, the home of Wisconsin’s best public school system.” He was soundly booed. Don’t tell people that your school system is better than theirs.

Nevertheless, Madison was portrayed as a premier Wisconsin school district. No more. This past month three of its four high schools made the Wisconsin’s list of “schools in need of improvement” due to poor test scores. For the first time, two Madison elementary schools face sanctions because they made the list two years in a row.

Our largest school district makes the newspaper front page more often, sometimes giving the impression the rest of the state is doing just fine. It isn’t. As the recession continues, the list of DPI’s failing school districts is likely to grow.  »Read more

In plane view

The Midwest Airlines Boeing 717 aircraft leaves its gate, turns, and awaits its signal for take-off from the air traffic control tower.

At the Airport Observation Area, a specially designated parking lot on the 1100 block of E. Layton Avenue, people of all ages relax in their cars or sit on their hoods, taking in the idling plane the way folks used to take in a drive-in movie.

They sit. They wait. Some eat. Others chat. They watch as the aircraft taxis down the runway. And suddenly, a deafening rumble erupts from the engines as the plane gains speed and ascends. Onlookers gaze up at the crisp blue sky as the plane disappears into a spec, making its way to its destination city.  »Read more

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