Update: An earlier version of this post had the wrong starting point listed for the Heritage Days parade. It will start where it always does, around Eighth and Milwaukee Avenues. Sorry for the error. Getting my parades mixed up 🙂
Heritage Week is the best week to be in South Milwaukee … and it’s coming up soon. The schedule is much the same as previous years, including …
- Monday, July 22: South Milwaukee Police Department Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Golf Outing, 8 a.m., Oakwood Golf Course. $75 per person, which includes 18 holes of golf, lunch, beverages and fun. Spots are still available. Register by contacting Officer Tim Lewiston (midnight to 8 a.m.) or Officer Nate Siefert (4 p.m. to midnight) at 768-8060.
- Tuesday, July 23: St. Luke’s United Church of Christ Ice Cream Social and Raffle, 4-8 p.m., 2200 18th Ave. Learn more here.
- Wednesday, July 24: South Milwaukee Fire Department Spaghetti Dinner, 4:30-8 p.m. at the fire station. Trattoria di Carlo is again bringing the spaghetti, so it should be a great meal.
- Thursday, July 25: Evening on the Avenue (4-9 p.m.) and South Milwaukee Downtown Market (3-7 p.m.), downtown. Celebrate our city center with two first-class events!
- Friday, July 25-Sunday, July 27: Lionsfest, 16th and Rawson Avenues. That includes the car cruise Friday and family day on Sunday. Always a great time. See a full schedule here.
- Saturday, July 26: Heritage Days parade, 11 a.m. starting at around Eighth and Milwaukee Avenues downtown and ending at Lionsfest. Our city’s annual summer parade never disappoints.
- Saturday, July 26: Great Duck Race, presented by the Friends of Mill Pond and Oak Creek Watercourse. The race starts at 2 p.m., after the parade, at 15th and Milwaukee Avenues. Ducks are $3 each or two for $5 and can be purchased on the parade route, at the race or at Parkway Floral. Prizes are $500, $250, $150 and $25.
If I missed anything, please let me know. See you at Heritage Week!
South Milwaukee Blog 
Why, if this is SOUTH MILWAUKEE Heritage Days, is the golf outing not at Grant Park and the Firehouse Spaghetti Dinner not being catered by Paisano’s? Just saying.
Very good and valid point Randy! That’s a good question….Any answers???
I don’t know the answer, and I don’t have a problem with it. These are South Shore businesses/entities. That’s “local” to me. And I’m fine if the money stays local. In the end, it’s about the quality of the event — and these are terrific events that benefit good causes.
I couldn’t disagree with your comments more on this one Erik. There’s no excuse for the golf outing not being at Grant Park. Regarding the spaghetti dinner, we have four Italian restaurants in this city (Paisano’s, Derango’s, Papa Luigi’s and Barbiere’s) by my count. If they were all asked to cater the event and were unable or unwilling to do it, then there’s nothing wrong with going outside the city. It would be interesting to know if that happened. If not, the South Milwaukee restaurants should be given first choice. Heritage Days may be a south shore event but it SHOULD be showcasing South Milwaukee businesses. Otherwise what’s the point.
You may also want to clarify your statement above. The first time I read it, your “quality of the event” statement read like you were implying that the South Milwaukee businesses are incapable of pulling off such an event. I’m sure that was not your intent but first impressions are a big deal and if I interpreted it that way the first time, some business owners may do the same. The last thing anyone wants to do is alienate businesses that are already here. It also does nothing to encourage new businesses to locate here. Again, I’m sure you did not mean it to sound that way.
In the end, Heritage Days should be about promoting the city, its businesses and residents. Having two of its major events either held at locations or run by businesses in Oak Creek and Franklin doesn’t do anything to help that.
Chris: To even insinuate I have negative feelings toward local businesses is, putting it mildly, disappointing. I have written dozens and dozens of times on this blog supporting our local retailers — see my “12 Days of South Milwaukee Christmas” series, for example — and continue to believe in them more than ever. The fact that this post about our city’s Heritage Days even took this turn in the comments section is surprising. While I understand the concern, let’s enjoy these quality events, have a fun week and celebrate our community … and not worry about whether the spaghetti came from South Milwaukee or Oak Creek.
And I did check into the specifics on your questions …
As to the golf outing, the event organizers need a course that has a big-enough banquet facility to handle the lunch and awards program after the round. Oakwood has that facility. Grant doesn’t. They actually tried Grant once and had to ask everyone to drive to a separate facility for the post-round events – not at all ideal logistically.
Checking with the fire department on the answer to the spaghetti dinner question …
Erik, I’ve read your blog long enough to know that’s not what you meant. I just wanted to point out to you that the way you wrote your reply could be taken the wrong way. Like I stated earlier, that’s how it sounded to me the first time I read it. I’m familiar enough with your blog to know that wasn’t your intent, however someone reading this who isn’t familiar with you and your blog could also take it the wrong way which could lead to unintended negative consequences.
Good point. I overreacted, which I’ve been known to do at times in defense of South Milwaukee businesses. 🙂
And here is the answer from South Milwaukee Fire Chief Joe Knitter on the spaghetti dinner question …
“I looked into the reasoning behind having DiCarlo’s cater the spaghetti dinner and have learned the following. The spaghetti dinner, which is in it’s 21st year, has been catered by an outside source for it’s entire run. Over the years, this event has grown to the point where we expect upwards of one-thousand attendees or more. It is my understanding that local (South Milwaukee) restaurants have been contacted through the years and because of the sheer volume of food that is necessary and the absolute importance of complying with State and local health regulations, they simply did not have the equipment or expertise to do so. While I do not believe this contact is made each and every year, the relationship we have established with DiCarlos has been very positive and they provide a great product with reliable service. This event is much different than catering a reception or party due to the volume and we cannot risk providing a less-than-desirable experience for our attendees, especially when it comes to the health-related aspect of the food being served. In addition, our reputation of providing a good dinner for a reasonable cost is well-known and a lesser experience may very well impact attendance in the future and our reputation.”
Thanks Erik for looking into this. I’m glad that SM businesses are considered when making these decisions.
Excellent comments Chris. Isn’t the name of the event “South Milwaukee Heritage Days”? Are businesses not willing to participate? If so, why not – unless they’re not being asked? We’ve got enough empty buildings that were former businesses in this city. We don’t need more.
Also, The Little Mermaid is playing at the PAC. July 26-28 Friday @ 7:00p.m. Saturday @ 6:00p.m. and Sunday @ 2:00pm.m
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