Officials have released all the "cool" details regarding the big Bronze the Fonz Day on Aug. 19. Highlights include a public event Downtown, a Fonzie baseball card give away at Miller Park, appearances by many of the "Happy Days" cast members and a parade on Wisconsin Avenue.
OnMilwaukee.com is an official sponsor and created bronzethefonz.com.
Bronze the Fonz activities planned for Aug. 19:
Public Celebration: Autographs to Benefit Boys & Girls Club Literacy Program
The Fonz will be officially bronzed on the RiverWalk on Tuesday, Aug. 19 when Henry Winkler and his cast mates from "Happy Days" and "Laverne & Shirley" return to Milwaukee for the day-long series of festivities.
The statue will reside on the east side of the Riverwalk on the south side of Wells Street.
From 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Culver's Frozen Custard will host a free public frozen custard social at the Peck Pavilion at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts downtown. There, Winkler and the other guests are scheduled to make an appearance.
Starting at 9 a.m., 100 limited edition bronze the Fonz commemorative posters will go on sale at $50 each at the Peck Pavilion with proceeds going to SPARK (Spheres of Proud Achievement in Reading for Kids). SPARK is a program coordinated by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Because of time limitations, the cast will only be signing the first 100 posters sold. Additional posters at $20 each will be sold with proceeds going to SPARK.
Guests expected to attend the celebration include: Winkler, Marion Ross, Tom Bosley, Anson Williams, Erin Moran, Don Most, Cindy Williams, Penny Marshall, "Happy Days" creator Garry Marshall and producer Bob Boyett.
Joey Sorge, the new "Fonzie" and the star of the new "Happy Days" stage musical, will also perform a few numbers from the show at the public party. Performing with Sorge are Felicia Finley, Matt Merchant and Matt Walker. All fans attending the party will also receive a free bronze the Fonz baseball card compliments of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. "Happy Days: A New Musical" comes to the Marcus Center Jan. 6-11, 2009.
Homecoming Parade
At 5:45 p.m. the entire cast, in vintage convertibles, will drive down Wisconsin Avenue (starting at Water Street) to Blue Mound Road and into Miller Park. The public is invited to line Wisconsin Avenue for the homecoming parade.
Play Ball!
The day-long celebration will conclude when Henry and his cast colleagues are honored at a pre-game ceremony at Miller Park prior to the Brewers-Astros game. The cast will throw out the first ball and Anson Williams, who portrayed "Potsie" on the show, will sing the National Anthem. A video tribute will be played on the scoreboard video screen.
A commemorative bronze the Fonz baseball card compliments of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts will be given to every fan that attends the game.
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.
