OnMilwaukee.com wants you to not only "sit on it," but "click on it" as we have partnered with Visit Milwaukee and other groups to create the mini Web site bronzethefonz.com.
OnMilwaukee.com also will help promote the effort to build a Fonzie statute Downtown, because it's a cool, eclectic part of our city's history.
In addition, Brew City Promotions has designed the official "Bronze the Fonz" T-shirts which are available through the site for $22, with $10 helping fund the project. The shirts are also available at the Brew City retail store in the Shops of Grand Avenue.
Nearly $57,000 of the estimated project cost of $85,000 has been raised.
Gerald Sawyer has been commissioned to design the piece. Sawyer is a Lake Mills artist involved in bronze sculpture for 40 years. He has designed, sculpted and installed several pieces in the Milwaukee area, including the sculpture "Rendezvous" for the Milwaukee County Zoo and numerous sculptures of Frederick Miller for Miller Brewing Company.
Other notable projects include: the life-size bronze Native Americans in downtown Fort Atkinson on the Main Street bridge and "Fireflies," life-size bronzes of three local children releasing fireflies from a fishbowl. He has also created significant commissioned work for private collectors.
Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli, the "Happy Days" character portrayed by Henry Winkler, was recently ranked No. 32 on Entertainment Weekly and TV Land's list of the top TV icons of all time.
Read a 2004 OnMilwaukee.com interview with Winkler here, and watch our daily magazine for regular updates on this initiative.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
