Among the next cohort of Milwaukee Public Schools partnering with Reflo, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and the City of Milwaukee on green schoolyard makeovers is Riverwest Elementary (formerly Franklin Pierce), 2765 N. Fratney St.
Helping to raise funds for the effort – which creates environmentally friendly, as well as kid-friendly green spaces on asphalt schoolyards – is Lakefront Brewery, via its Ripple Effect donation program.
Earlier this month, the Commerce Street brewery began selling specially designed “Fund the Fun” 32-ounce crowlers and will match an added $5 cost to make a $10 total donation for each crowler sold.
The crowlers, which can be filled with any beer on tap in the Beer Hall, 1872 N. Commerce St., can be purchased in person or by ordering online for pickup.
On Thursday, Sept. 19, the Beer Hall will host an Adult Spelling Bee fundraiser, too, at 6:30 p.m.
Teams of up to six people can purchase a table and participate in a bar trivia-style spelling bee during which they will work together to properly spell each challenging word. The top three bee teams will earn Lakefront gift cards as prizes.
Tables are $120 (plus fees) and all the money raised will go to the schoolyard project. Lakefront will also donate $1 from every beer purchased that day. Plus, a silent auction will offer a variety of donated items, including a signed Damian Lillard jersey and basketball, to benefit the school.
Then, during the month of September, Lakefront patrons can choose to round up their bill to donate to the cause, which will remove 27,200 square feet of asphalt and replace it with new green space and mixed-use recreation and educational areas to help manage about 137,615 gallons of stormwater per rain event and provide safer play areas for the school's students and for the Riverwest neighborhood.
The work is expected to cost more than $200,000, so every penny counts. You can donate directly to the project online, too, at this link. Be sure to select "Greener, Healthier Schools" in the drop down menu and then type "Riverwest Elementary" in the notes box to ensure the funds are directed toward that project.
Learn more about the project at refloh2o.com/riverwest-elementary.
“We want to help the youth in our community feel valued and worthy of a proper place outside of their school to partake in activities that nurture their full potential,” says Liz Mauritz, Lakefront’s donation program coordinator.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
