Chicago Sun Times reporter, Dave Hoekstra, did a nice piece on Milwaukee on Sunday. One line, at least for me, truly stood out.
In the middle of his report that highlighted our city's "new brew," Chinese import Yi Jianlian, the coming-soon International Trade Center inside the Pabst Brewery "The Brewery" project and other Milwaukee institutions like Mader's, Hoekstra wrote, "one of my favorite things about Milwaukee is its complete lack of pretense."
"Lack of pretense," now that's good. Marketable, too. I'm not a big fan of slogans for cities; most are lame. But, if you need a talking point or a simple way to explain Milwaukee to someone who knows little or nothing about our town, a growing city, with a complete lack of pretense" is pretty good.
We have a little pretense; everyone does. But, Milwaukee's is understated. We are true, grounded and challenged to evolve (while staying true to our past).
Hoekstra ends with a nod to our impending bronze Fonz. He writes, "After all, Chicago has a Bob Newhart statue on Navy Pier."
Milwaukee, home to NBA's second Chinese sensation and a bronzed Arthur Fonzerelli -- no insincerity or pretense there. Thanks, again Chicago for helping to keep us real.
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.
