More than 70 vendors selling arts, crafts, organics, baked goods and much, much more. Live, local entertainment, including two hours of performances by student musicians. And Gypsy Geoff.
That’s just some of what you can find at Saturday’s South Milwaukee Christmas Market at South Milwaukee High School. Hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Enter off Oak Creek Parkway, door nine.
Learn more here, and see you there!
Filed under Community, Schools, South Milwaukee PAC
This is really, really cool …
So, there are three new Aaron Rodgers-Ford television spots being released, and they have a distinctly local feel — as in, large parts of them were shot in South Milwaukee.
See the story and ads here.
And I’ll let Ante Udovicic, athletics and activities director for the South Milwaukee School District, take it from there …
“If you watch the commercial shown at the top and 2 others down below on the website page, you will see commercials featuring Aaron Rodgers. What is most interesting about these commercials is the location for parts of this shoot that was shot on a Sunday in July. If you look closely, you will see the following areas from the South Milwaukee 6-12 campus:
COMMERCIAL #1
COMMERCIAL #2 (labeled http://www.cutters.com/q?id=3940)
COMMERCIAL #3 (labeled http://www.cutters.com/q?id=3944)
COMMERCIAL #4 (labeled http://www.cutters.com/q?id=3952)
While it is not immediately obvious that these scenes from the 3 Ford commercials were shot on the SM 6-12 campus, this explanation hopefully will help you notice it next time you see one of these commercials on TV.”
I told you this was cool 🙂 Ante, thanks for sharing.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a story on the effort of former Alderwoman Mary Nelson — and many others — to “Restore the Magic” of South Milwaukee’s Oak Creek Mill Pond.
Check it out here. Among the new information in the article …
Cost of dredging the pond and disposing of the sediment starts at $830,400 and climbs as high as $1.5 million, according to preliminary estimates from the county’s Department of Administrative Services and released by Jursik. She represents the 8th supervisory district, encompassing St. Francis, South Milwaukee, Cudahy and a portion of Oak Creek.
State and federal grants could help pay part of the dredging costs, she said. …
The state Department of Natural Resources last week ordered Milwaukee County to complete some long-neglected dam maintenance and hire an engineer to evaluate the structure by June 2014.
The dam is made of dolomite stone blocks and it stands 18 feet tall in a ravine at Mill Road, according to DNR water management engineer Tanya Lourigan in Milwaukee. Water from the shallow pond spills over the top of the 35-foot-wide stone wall.
On Oct. 26 and Nov. 19, Lourigan inspected the dam and earthen embankments on each end.
An engineering analysis of the wall is needed since stones are missing on each end of the dam where it meets the embankment, Lourigan said in a Nov. 27 report to the county Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture.
Among the maintenance to be completed by June 2014: remove all trees and brush, including stumps, from the embankments and fill in holes; and repair an inoperable sluice gate needed to raise or lower water levels on the pond. A valve controlling the gate must be tested annually in the future to ensure it will work in an emergency, such as creek flooding, or for dam repairs, Lourigan says in the report.
She rated the condition of the dam as “conditionally fair” because of the extensive tree growth on the embankments, deterioration of the masonry wall and inoperable valve.
Where do I stand on this? My previous post on the petition effort sums up my position.
I feel strongly about this issue. I hate to see the Mill Pond and its surroundings in the state they are in. They could be so much more, and they have been so much more in the past.
We need a path to making the Mill Pond a recreational treasure for South Milwaukee once again, a community gathering place. That’s why I am 100% behind all of the work being done by Pat Jursik, Mary Nelson and others to find a solution here — one that involves the city, county, Friends groups and other parties. It’s complicated, and likely costly, but I think an investment in the Mill Pond is a good one — and one that is long overdue.
What do you think? Post your comments below!
Filed under Community, Milwaukee County, Parks
Next up on the list of recommended local shopping options this holiday season: the South Milwaukee Christmas Market.
The popular event is back for a third year – this time at a new location.
The indoor winter version of the farmers’ market is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8, at South Milwaukee High School. It will feature dozens of market vendors – and some new faces – selling arts, crafts, organics, baked goods and other specialty items.
Live Christmas music from local acts and students is also planned throughout the market, and the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center is presenting Gypsy Geoff, who will roam the crowd and do special performances at noon and 1 p.m.
Learn more in the press release, and merry Christmas from the South Milwaukee Downtown Market!
South Milwaukee Christmas Market
Plans for a new downtown apartment building were dealt a setback last week.
Horizon Development Group wants to build a three-story, 40-unit apartment building — with 85% of the units considered affordable housing — on the city-owned site at 11th and Madison Avenues, but the South Milwaukee Plan Commission voted against rezoning necessary for the project on Nov. 19.
The biggest concern raised at the Plan Commission meeting: density. The proposed 40 units on 0.86-acre site are well above the guideline of 20 to 25 units per acre (maximum) called for in the 2003 comprehensive plan.
Learn more about the initial proposal at the end of this Business Journal article here. From it:
The developer plans to finance the project at 1028 Madison Ave. with affordable housing tax credits from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, said Scott Kwiecinski, development manager for Horizon. The project would have six market-rate units, and the remainder would be rent-controlled. Madison-based Movin’ Out Inc., which develops and provides housing for people with disabilities, would manage about 10 apartments in the building, Kwiecinski said. … Horizon also will seek city financial support in the form of low-interest loans or potentially tax-incremental financing, Kwiecinski said.
I’ll keep you posted on this project if it moves ahead.
Filed under Community, Construction
Urban Milwaukee has a great feature on Chad Piechocki, the West Point graduate turned Army veteran turned writer turned director of the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center.
See it here … and let’s be thankful we have people like Chad committed to making South Milwaukee a better place to live, work and play.
Filed under Community, South Milwaukee PAC
Barring some big breaking news, I’ll be taking a couple days off of blogging for the Thanksgiving holiday.
I hope it is a blessed day for you and your family. I know it will be for ours.
And I ask: What are you thankful for? Post your comments below!
Filed under Community
I love Christmas in South Milwaukee!
Here’s a lineup of some of the bigger events around town, starting this weekend. If I missed something, please let me know.
You can learn more about all of these events at City Clerk Jim Shelenske’s events website at http://www.southmilwaukee.org.
And don’t forget about a couple of holiday-themed concerts coming up at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center. There is more information on those in this post.
What’s your favorite South Milwaukee Christmas activity? Post your comments below!
Filed under Community
We should celebrate the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center. Few communities our size have a venue like this — and certainly don’t have the quality of performances it does.
That is certainly the case the next few weeks. Here’s what’s coming up:
Learn more at the SMPAC website, and please support this community treasure.
Filed under Community
This from the city website …
Residents are permitted to place leaves in the gutter for collection from October 1 to November 15.
Yard waste and plants must be taken to the Self-Deposit Station.
NO YARD WASTE OR PLANTS WILL BE COLLECTED.
Do not place leaves in the gutter after November 15 – they may not be picked up.
Filed under City Services, Community
The 49th annual Milwaukee Veterans Day Parade is Saturday, and the guest of honor is South Milwaukee veteran Ralph Windler.
Windler will receive France’s Knight of the Legion Honor for his service and heroics during World War II. Learn more about the honor here.
The parade starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday at 4th and Kilbourn. See the full route here.
Congratulations to Bill … and thanks to him and all our veterans and active duty military for their service to our country. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers this weekend.
Filed under Community
It’s been decades since South Milwaukee had trick-or-treating on Halloween night — until Wednesday.
So, what do you think? How did it go? Did you see more kids than usual? Less? Did you encounter any problems?
Police reported no incident calls related to trick-or-treating this evening, so that’s good.
My experience was great: There were lots of kids out and about, along with mine, in my neighborhood, and we had more than 70 people come by the house for candy (a record, my wife reports).
Everyone I spoke with tonight supported the move from weekend afternoon trick-or-treating to Halloween night.
But, what say you? Post your comments below!
Filed under City Council, Community
Official South Milwaukee trick-or-treating hours are 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Halloween evening.
If you plan on handing out candy — and my kids hope you do 🙂 — please leave your porch light on.
Please continue to help spread the word about the time change, especially with your older neighbors and family.
See my previous post for more details.
Filed under City Council, Community
I think South Milwaukee has a great array of restaurants for a city its size. See for yourself at first Taste of South Milwaukee on Thursday, Nov. 8.
City Clerk and Lions President Jim Shelenske has the details ….
I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to join us for the South Milwaukee Lions Club first annual “Taste of South Milwaukee.”
The event will be held on Thursday, November 8, at Salvatore’s from 4 to 8 p.m.
There will be 16 local restaurants participating and with unlimited tastings/samples to enjoy!
Advanced tickets are only $10, which includes coffee and cake. Other refreshments will be available for purchase at the event as well.
Children’s Tickets (ages 6-18) will be available at the door. Children under 6 are able to get in for free.
For more information or a flyer click on this link: http://www.smlions.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Flyer.pdf
Filed under Community
The South Milwaukee Health Department is holding another focus group aimed at “looking at ways we can support the parents and future parents in our South Milwaukee community.”
It’s from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 5, at the South Milwaukee Library. Learn more in this flyer.
South Milwaukee Blog 