This just in from Skate Date coordinator Carol Cochran:
WFB Civic Foundation Skate Date 2010 is canceled due to slushiness. Check back for us next year, or watch for a spontaneous outbreak of Skate Date if there's a big cold spell next month...
Shazbot.
First up, the highlight of yesterday's Trustee meeting was that WFB participated in a sale of bonds. One was a re-funding of higher-rate bonds to lower, saving the Village $335k at a paltry 2.7% interest rate, near the 42-year low for rates. Amazing.
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The Civic Foundation is hosting a new event in 2010 .. the First Annual Skate Date at Cahill Ice Rink this Saturday, Jan. 23, starting at 4pm.
From 5-6pm, the First Annual WFB Broom Ball Bowl will commence. (Ok, I made that up. But there will be broom ball games at 5pm.)
The Civic Foundation will provide brooms & ball as well as hot water and hot chocolate mix. Bowls, spoons, and napkins will also be available for residents who bring their own pot of chili to eat. (Which reminds me, if you've ever wanted to make home-made "Real Chili" here's a link to a few recipes -- we've made #2 several times. It's not exactly Real Chili, but it's close enough.)
Hopefully, the ice rink will stay frozen for this new Civic Foundation event.
Here's the Facebook event link, and please join the Civic Foundation Group, if you're a Facebook fan.
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Do you use the Whitefish Bay Library?
The Library Board wants your input on their long-range plan. Click here to take a moment and fill their survey.
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Finally, Bay Ball is going to happen this year on Friday June 4th at the new Harley Museum.
Pulling off the Bay Ball takes a load of volunteers. If you could help out with publicity, raffles, logistics, baskets, reservations .. whatever, please drop an email to one of these co-chairs:
Joe &Lori Kampschroer: lkamp@att.net
Larry & Rega Plaster: regap@sbcglobal.net
Michael Pyter & Mary Beth Jacobs: mjacobs10@wi.rr.com
Breaking news .. Get your ice skates tuned up .. the WFB ice rinks at Klode and Cahill are now open.
Just thought you'd like to know.
Hello? Is this thing on? There hasn't been much to blog about since the holidays, so this is the first blog post of 2010 .. and it's a grab-bag.
Grab Bag Story Number 1: Trick or Treat
The JS has an interesting story about Milwaukee County municipalities discussing Trick-or-Treating times, with local City Mayors and Village Presidents at their monthly meeting .. some suburbs want a unified time, so that children from other cities stay in their own city to Trick or Treat.
Marauding, candy-hoarding kids descending on the suburbs by the vanload? For trick-or-treating? Where are all the mayors and the village presidents in the face of this debauchery?I will say .. of the 500-600 kids that come to my house, the number of non-residents is 50-60% .. while I see it as a moment of charity, there's a point it gets a bit ridiculous.
They plan to tackle the problem Monday - 9 1/2 months before Halloween.
On Monday .. the Milwaukee County mayors and village presidents will discuss trick-or-treating at their monthly meeting. At their last meeting, they discussed a proposal to have it on Oct. 31 every year from 2010 through 2020. This year, Oct. 31 is a Sunday.
The part-time position will be responsible for developing marketing and advertising initiatives, communicating with various community groups to establish partnerships, providing administrative support to the BID Board, organizing and developing special events...
The base contracted salary range is $20,000 to $25,000 with additional compensation possible through performance bonuses. Additional compensation potential from the Village of Whitefish Bay in connection with retail recruitment initiative.
Please send resume, cover letter, and references to Whitefish Bay BID Director Position, attention to Matt Schuenke, at 5300 N. Marlborough Drive, Whitefish Bay, WI 53217. The deadline for submitting this information is January 27, 2010. Please direct all questions to Matt Schuenke at (414) 962-6690 or m.schuenke@wfbvillage.org.
Top Five Whitefish Bay Stories of 2009:
#5 - ICE RINKS:
After a long break with tradition, two Ice Rinks were flooded at Klode and Cahill. The tradition will continue in 2010.
#4 - ARMORY PARK:
With sufficient funds raised, the Armory Park memorial began construction and had its first official flag raising on Veterans' Day. The project will be finished with landscaping in 2010.
#3 - ELECTIONS:
The Whitefish Bay Trustees had their regular meeting tonight, 12/21.
We quickly took care of some bond issue business .. then at the end of the meeting we voted on an item that I get the most emails on .. a topic I can rarely open my inbox without reading a question concerning the status of: CITY MARKET.
The Trustees voted, 7-0 to approve a TID financing agreement for City Market. Previously, the BID and CDA had voted to approve City Market's application for a Retail Incentive Program grant.
I won't speak out of turn with other details, but suffice it to say, the tea leaves look good for City Market opening in Whitefish Bay.
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One other quick note .. I'd also like to express my appreciation to the families who answered the appeal for the Whitefish Bay Civic Foundation. THANK YOU!
So .. you've bought a present for your kid's teacher .. and tipped the post man or newspaper guy. Some of you have put out a present for the Whitefish Bay garbage collectors.
So how about a little gift for your Whitefish Bay Civic Foundation? The Civic Foundation already got gifts for everyone:
Think back 18 months. Silver Spring had bottomed out. The road and sidewalks were cracked and vacant storefronts were common. Now the Drive looks awesome, and a flock of new merchants have moved in. -- They need your support, especially in this economy.
Take the Village Spillage Pledge: I (insert your name here) promise to buy some holiday gifts from Merchants on Silver Spring.
Here are some ideas:
I'll bet 1,000 new laptops and cell phones are going to be under trees in Whitefish Bay. Buy them from Mobility, right next to the Fox Bay. Yes, they are a small shop, but they will order and price match just about any item you want, from Best Buy to Amazon. You'll help out a small merchant, and in return, they'll give you some tech support. They carry Verizon phones. You're going to get the same deal there than at any other store. The bonus? These guys will sit down with you and help you figure out your phone.
Got a pet, or need a gift for someone with one? Treat Fido to something from Hounds Around Town.
Gift for a skier, or tennis player? Boom, Les Moise. Naturally, they sell Gift Certificates, so you don't have to know what your snowboarder wants.
Luggage, bags, or travel stuff? Red Cap Luggage.
Does mom knit? Ruhama's Yarn.
How about something from the newest merchant: Oro di Olivia for your Oil and Vinegar guzzling friends. $35 buys you a gift set.
Dad needs a family photo on his desk. Get it framed at the Great Frame Up.
Don't know what to get your kid's teacher or the postman? They like Mexican food. El Guapo's has Gift Certificates.
Your kid wants something from Cavalry Games .. X-Box stuff, RC controlled cars .. rockets. Who wouldn't like a rocket?
Here's a never-fail gift for your wife: Massage gift certificate from Elements.
Then there's Giraffe, Simon Oliver, Winkies, Schwanke-Kasten, Thiet, Fox-Bay Theater, What's Poppin, and 20 other stores.
Seriously people. There are 14,000+ people in Whitefish Bay. Let's guess 40,000 holiday presents. Imagine if we bought half of them on Silver Spring instead of Best Buy (Mobility), Toys R Us (Winkies or Cavalry Games), Zales, Kay, Shaw's Jewelers (Schwanke-Kasten or Thiet.)
Shop local. Really. Please.
Yesterday, the WFB Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Rickabaugh announced he planned to retire on July 30th of 2010.
The WFB School Board will start the process to find his replacement.
I'd like to direct your attention to a new blog in Whitefish Bay, formed from the remnants of the YesYes group, who wanted to stay in touch with the residents to cover the ongoing referendum and construction plans .. but it'll also be a good place to find out other School District happenings.
Give their blog a look: http://yesyesprogress.com/blog as they have some more details about Dr. Rickabaugh's retirement.
A few bullet points from the Dec. 7th Whitefish Bay Trustee meeting:
* We recommended approval of floating $5.7m in sewerage system bonds, and $5.6m in general bonds. From memory, the rates were around 2.9%.
* We were presented with a report on various possibilities for changes to WFB's garbage collection. We examined some analysis on the possibility of discontinuing "walk up" collection to each home, and possibly change and require all garbage be placed on the sidewalk for curb-side pickup.
Potentially, this would save collection time and possibly create a route consolidation and a savings of $60,000/year. That savings figure might have been high, due to the fact that somewhere between 20-50% of all residents already place their garbage on the sidewalk.
About half the folks on my block put their garbage out on the sidewalk for pickup. Just an FYI, that's not required. The collectors will retrieve your trash up at your house. The same thing goes for recycling, a fact I did not know. We've forgotten to roll our carts out before, were skipped, and mistakenly thought we'd have to suffer for a month with an overflowing cart of recycling. If you don't pull your recycling to the sidewalk, and they miss you, call up the DPW and tell them they missed your house.
In a straw poll, most Trustees didn't think this service reduction should be pursued for a variety of reasons, from the math not working, to continuing a service that many find valuable. As I wrote last month, Trustees dismissed my attempt to snip the budget of $77k that wouldn't have cut any service to Villagers. Cutting an actual service would be quite odd indeed.
* Finally, a resident delivered a presentation concerning prohibiting early-morning snow-plowing on parking lots, as the plowing of the Holy Family lots disturbed his family's sleep. While all were sympathetic to this issue, the broader impact to the many schools and businesses in WFB was a serious concern. As a side note, the DPW currently plows regular streets in the Village at any time they deem necessary.
Over the past week, the blog has received a ton of search-engine hits all seeking information about the same topic: EL GUAPO'S. Everyone wants to know more about Berkeley's makeover.
El Guapo's is a significant change from Berkeley's. The interior is vastly different, more masculine .. a much better place for drinks. The price point is lower, and the food is more family friendly.
And take-out friendly .. my wife and I never did take-out from Berkeley's because some places, the food and presentation are too good to mess up with styrofoam boxes. We'll definitely hit EG's for fresh take-out Mexican, though. $25 will go pretty far, when many plates are $6-9.
I emailed some questions to the owners .. their answers are below:
Why Mexican: Originally when we decided on this location, we contemplated a Mexican concept vs. a neighborhood cafe. Turns out the former may have been the better choice. El Guapo's menu is approachable & affordable. The taco entree, for example, starts at $6.50.
Describe the changes to the interior: We made it warm & cozy. Berkeley's lacked warmth, and had terrible acoustics. We have addressed those issues by using warm colors (the green is gone!), constructing partitions between tables, and adding sound absorbing ceiling tiles and a warm wood floor.
Community reaction thus far: Community reaction has been very very favorable! For every one guest we have upset about Berkeley's closing (namely they would like the crunch salad back!), we have 9 guests excited about the change of both atmosphere and menu. Opening El Guapo's is a fresh start. We listened to the community for the past year and believe we have created an offering and an environment that will be well received.
Where did El Guapo come from? Answer: After a long search, we decided on El Guapo. It means "Handsome Man."
Hah. I think they stole it from the awesome 90's movie, The Three Amigos:
Some day the people of this Village will have to face El Guapo!
(Click link to see El Guapo reference.)
Here EG's menu:
El Guapo's Menu - Whitefish Bay
Interior:
And now for something completely different..
This is a re-run from 2007, back when I had about 12 readers. It's only relevant to WFB because one thing that everyone has in common is a 70-100 year old home .. and December means heating season has begun.
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Ever thought about cleaning your Heating/AC ducts? I'm certain my 80 year old house has never had it done.
There are some fly-by-night companies out there, offering sub-$100 cleaning specials, then hit you with fees .. no thanks. I found a duct cleaner from Angie's List called "Air Quality Controllers". I was happy with their service, so I'm giving them a little plug here. At the time (in 2007), they had a flat rate of $287/house, no extra fees.
They bring in this gigantic box that houses a super-powerful vacuum, cut a hole in a duct in the basement, and attach the hose to your ductwork. (Don't worry, they patch it up nicely afterwards). This creates a super vacuum that sucks everything in vents down, into the box. They then go around to each register, supply and return, with a compressed air hose that flutters and spins, knocking crap into the vent, down into their vacuum. -- That way, they don't create a mess around the house.
When it was all done in 90 minutes, the amount of crap they took out of my vents was absolutely disgusting. They filled an entire garbage bag with lint and fluffy crap. Not a small garbage bag, mind you, a giant outdoor garbage bag. I was only angry at myself for not doing it sooner.
So .. as you're sitting in your 70+ year old home right now .. let's face it, if you haven't done it in the past 5-10 years, your house probably has NEVER had it done. No one was performing duct-cleaning 10 years ago. -- Do a little test .. go to one of the return ducts in your house and unscrew the vent and reach in there.
The picture at the right is the crap that was in one of my 80 year old vents. Once it was cleaned out, you could actually "hear" the difference, as air flow was increased a ton without all that fluff in there.
I know, it's gross. Go check a few of your return vents.
First off, the Whitefish Bay Holiday Stroll 2009 was a giant success. Credit goes to the WFB BID, who did a great job running the show.
I was surprised by the size of the crowd for the parade and festivities .. I think Silver Spring's renewal .. and the good weather had something to do with the great turnout.
I galactically miscalculated the candy requirements for the parade. Sorry, pint sized people.
Villagers in attendance would have seen three "new" businesses that opened their doors just in time for the Stroll.
Berkeley's closed on Sunday, and re-opened as El Guapo's on Friday. Same owners, new fresh Mexican menu, and interior. I checked in today, and they said business was great this weekend, with crowds big enough to generate 5-10 minute waits for tables.
It's amazing they did so well their first weekend with zero advertising. Shows the power of word of mouth. Will write more details about El Guapo's later.
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I wrote "Silver Spring Strikes Oil" a few months ago, and I like the line so much, I'm using it again. Oro di Olivia also opened on Friday, selling oil and vinegar. The store was packed on Friday night after the Stroll, and they said they did good business on Saturday as well.
Here's a picture of their store:
