CITY BIRTHDAY PARTY

"The Legends of Milwaukee" was the theme of the party celebrating the 161st birthday of the City of Milwaukee. The gig was held on January 31st, 2007 at the Milwaukee Public Museum and was organized by the Milwaukee Press Club. The event drew what appeared to be over 400 people to the museum where they supped on Usinger sausage (but where were the crackers?) and drank a special birthday beer commissioned for the event from the Sprecher Brewery. Entertainment was by Paul Cebar & The Milwaukeeans, worth the $25 admission in its own right, but largely ignored by the crowd, due in part to the layout of the museum which placed the band in an out-of-the way spot.
Among the attendees were Mike Mervis of Zilber & Co., who has been in the news lately as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee contemplates a downtown expansion, perhaps in or near The Brewery, the former Pabst facility which Zilber is reinvigorating. He says talks also proceed with Johnson Controls to operate a training facility there. These things take time.
Kurt Chandler was there, solo, representing Milwaukee Magazine. Editor Bruce Murphy missed the event at the last moment, claiming a defective furnace at home. (Like he would know how to fix it!) Among other attendees were Anne E. Schwartz, the spokesperson for the Milwaukee Police Department, who proudly wore her badge on her bosom, where nobody would be likely to miss it. John Balcerzak of the Milwaukee Police Association was there doing his thing, as were such select aldermen as Michael Murphy, Willie Hines, Joe Dudzik and Bob Bauman, who spoke cordially to his predecessor, Paul Henningsen, smart in a double-breasted suit. Una VanDuvall, a potential aldermanic candidate if the McGee recall election ever takes place, was also there.
The mayor, of course, was there, but when it came time to sing "Happy Birthday," he declined the honor, passing those duties to President Hines, whose sister, the mayor said, is a professional singer, which the common council president certainly is not, judging from his rendition. Other faces in the crowd included Curt Gielow and Mary Gielow, (they are both always well dressed, which must be her doing), Wally Kunicki, Roz Rouse, Patrick Walsh, and an assortment of media characters including Greg Borowski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Jeff Sherman of onmilwaukee.com; Dan Meyer of the Small Business Times; Steve Jagler of the same paper; Candace Doyle, the editor of The Daily Reporter; Sonya Jongsma Knauss of MKE and Jon Anne Willow, the president of the press club and the editor of Vital, which is to celebrate its 5th year of publication this month. Debra Usinger was there as was her brother Fritz Usinger, (I didn't want to mention the crackers) and so was Beth Nicols of the downtown association. Don Smiley breezed through, planning another season at Summerfest.
A surprise out-of-town visitor was Peter Andrew Buffett, sans his wife Jennifer Heil Buffett, who remained in New York City tending to some "foundation business." Their NoVo Foundation gave away about $30,000 a day in the last year supporting a variety of causes, including a number right here in Milwaukee. Buffett said he was in town to deal with some issues surrounding the re-launch of WYMS-FM radio, which will be rebranded as "88Nine."
He and Jennifer are completely cleared out of Milwaukee, he said, adding that his wife said recently on a trip that she longed for home -- and by that she meant New York. The house on N. Stowell Ave. has been sold, he said, and the couple live in a one bedroom apartment near the Morgan Library on E. 38th St. or so in Manhattan. He says they might move to a slightly larger apartment, (two bedrooms!) since his studio is in the bedroom and is taking over the available space there. The place is expensive, he says, but hardly luxury by New York standards. Donald Trump would thumb his nose at it, and that's a good thing.
The evening's entertainments included a presentation by local historian John Gurda. After that it was time for bed. -- Michael Horne