Goodbye and Hello: Richard Cox, who led Neighborhood House of Milwaukee for the past six years, was honored with a retirement party at the Tripoli Shrine Center. Pat Dunn emceed the event, hosted by board president Joel Brennan from Discovery World. Mayor Tom Barrett proclaimed July 30 as Richard Cox Day and related his impressive civic career in law enforcement and social services.
A video about the Neighborhood House, The Jewel of the West Side, included reflections by Evan Blade, Dante Merriweather and Song Xiong. All were impacted by the institution, which celebrates 70 years in 2015.
Jeff Martinka, the new executive director, spoke about the organization’s bright future, while Holly McCoy, with her son David, gave a heartfelt thumbs-up to its positive impact. Cox gave a shout-out to his family and his wife, Terry, for their successful 41 years of marriage.
In the audience were incoming Board President Judy Shane, with her husband, Don. Martinka’s friends included Gary Peterson, now living in Shawano; Margaret Elsner; Ed Richardson, son of the late Ray Richardson, longtime head of Neighborhood House; Ann Dee Allen; Julie Swenson from Renaissance Theaterworks; and Danae Davis, executive director of Pearls for Teen Girls.
Also spotted were past executive directors Clarence Johnson and Peggy Kendrigan, Judge Carolina Stark, board member Don Wallace, Harry Drake, development director Tracy Kreuser, and Paul Cebar, with his partner, Cynthia Zarazua, who oversees Neighborhood House’s International Learning Center.
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Ride On: At least 700 cyclists signed up for the seventh annual zany and challenging Riverwest 24, a 24-hour bike race starting at Center and Pierce. Fanfare included a performance by Trio du Monde (aka “Trio de Tour”) with Tom Schwark, Lori Giese and Joe Magnino. Jeremy Prach, who co-founded the RW24 in 2008, was on hand to oversee. Grand winners of the B Team Division were “Pancakes,” with Jackson Lindsay II, Keith Stachowiak, Keith Tussey, Jeff Leonard, Kyle Thompson and Lindsey Kriete.
Nearby Centro Café was packed with diners, including Chief Judge Jeff Kremers and his wife, Ann Ranfranz, and Mary Beth and Dave Goelzer. Ruth Weill took off from her job as café manager to ride. At Riverwest Film and Video, owner Xav Leplae busily rented videos, while Charles Carmichael hosted his Riverwest Radio show “LIFE” with music by his brother, Grady Carmickel, in from California, and Mary Jo Walters, lieutenant governor candidate.
B&D then happened upon a block party on Booth where Team Monstr—Will and Julie Gealing, Steven Dube and Yves LaPierre—was headquartered with pals Larry Roffers and Dewayne Bishop cheering them on. Peddlers also included Nik Kovac and Grace Fuhr, Kate Hall and Stonefly brewmaster Jacob Suttrick.
On the Street: The Brady Street Festival attracted its usual eclectic horde of partiers with four stages of music, a Glorioso’s cheese tent, and even a pro wrestling ring. Circulating were activist Julilly Kohler, Leanne Freeman and MAMers Heidi Koester and Cathee Boeder; MIAD’s Dave O’Meara; and architect d’Andre Willis. Helping at the 88Nine Radio Milwaukee booth were Kevin Kuschel, Jeff Bentoff and Chris and Kelly Birmingham. One lucky winner of the station’s orange sunglasses was Cherrie Perushek, partying with pals Darren Schultz and Jane Wall. People lined up for delicious food truck fare at Simmer, whose owners Jennifer Block and Steve Perlstein plan to open Simmer Café at 720 N. Water this autumn.
Art World: On Gallery Night, RedLine Milwaukee displayed “TIMELINE,” art from the organization’s residency program. Board President Brian Kilb welcomed visitors and gave thanks to founders Lori Bauman and Steve Vande Zande. Describing the art group’s activities were new director Jeanne Jarecki and Cortney Stell of RedLine International. On hand were staffers Aryn Kresol, Sally Stanton, Brittany Kieler and Kim Weiss.
The show featured work by 10 RedLine resident artists, including Skully Gustafson’s whimsical paintings and photographs with Erik Moore and Lindsey Weigel’s water-influenced pieces. “Existentialism” was the theme for RedLine’s first teen residency program, featuring Jesus Hilario, Ellis Kalkoske, Aaron Musickant, Nadia Peppler, Lily Solheim and Nia Wilson. Beaming were board members Russ Jankowski and Fran Serlin and RedLine mentor artist Tori Tasch. Bottoms-Up Bartending’s Rick Cullen busily poured.
Sånghäfte Frivolity: Julia Taylor and Stig Östling hosted a Swedish midsummer’s bash, complete with Akvavit and lots of skoaling and singing. Imported crawfish and Scandinavian trimmings were done up with the help of Chef Brian Moran. Among the Swedish revelers were Alex and Louise Kempe, Håkan Thorell, Sylvia and Jonas Prising and Bengt and Susan Hagstrøm. Others joining in the fun were Harley-Davidson’s Tonit Calaway and her husband, Judge David Swanson; Stewart Dempsey and Gerry Coon; the Portrait Society’s Deb Brehmer; Joe Pabst; Steve Kohn and WISN 12’s Colleen Henry; neighbors Mario and Cathy Costantini; Earnell and Linda Lucas; and MillerCoors’ Lisa Quezada and radiologist Josh Smith.
Apologia: In the last column, B&D stated that Gail Kerr was owner of Fruit of the Bloom. Instead, it is Geri Nolan who started the business in 1988 with Bill Bradshaw.
If you have any tips for Boris and Doris, contact them at borisanddorisott@aol.com. Their next column will appear in the Aug. 21 issue of the Shepherd.
