This is exciting. I'm pleased to mention the all-are-invited, open party at the beach on Saturday!! The guest list isn't limited (which, as a Shorewood resident, is rare in that hoity wanna-be land of closed parties in shielded Lakefront yards that have "Our economy is not your economy" seemingly written all over them)... it's free, and it SEEMS to me to be a little ... dare I say... carefree and fun?
It also seems well planned. Well-timed. And well-executed!! The Friends of the Atwater Beach folks are throwing a party. Granted, it is a fundraiser to generate private funds to help make the beach nice. I don't share the rather shrill call to action I heard last night of "It's an EMBARRASSMENT to Shorewood! An EMBARRASSMENT! Have you SEEN it?!?!?! It's HORRIBLE!!" and maybe, if I lived across the street, I'd be excited to have the village rally round and fix up my front yard too...but, because I happen to feel the disappearance of Latin and German instruction from the high school curriculum (what is next) to be worse, we all have our "OH MY GOD" topics, don't we? BUT whatever the motivator, for now I'm pleased there's a fun party without a price per head. What they do with the money earned on bags and food and such, I hope there is as much taste in designing the village sandbox as there was in planning the vendors (Alterra and Lakefront Brewery - hear hear! Local Shorewood owned and wonderful!) and a sense, hopefully, that it is part of a shoreline that continues South and North, and that it doesn't naievely set up something requiring undoable maintenance or safety patrol (hello Extreme Makeover, Home Edition).
Anyway, back to the party. There are bands! And a real bonfire! And ... catered food? And alcoholic beverages? WOW!!! This will be fun, this will be community at the precipice, at the height of potential to see what will happen next. An exciting moment - and hopefully attended by all walks and not just the ones with the short walk from home to the beach. I mean, I'm planning on going, so the geek, not-measuring-self-worth-by-weightloss and looks factor will be represented!
And what blog of mine would be complete without a shout-out to SHS Alums! There are two reunions this weekend! Class of '83 and Class of '78! Welcome home! Hope to see YOU at the bonfire beach party on Saturday!!
One alum, Renee Herzing, Class of '86, will be performing with her band, Hell on Heels, from 5:30-7pm! There are other bands playing too - including Houndstooth - (in our vernacular, it's Grace's Dad, JD's band!). And who can forget for a second that Alterra was started by the brothers Fowler - a great Shorewood success story of two brothers from Shorewood who've moved back and a partner who is raising his kids here now, too. Though the brothers Fowler attended the M-word high school, perhaps they'll feel more community connection and let the kids be educated here in Shorewood. The district I'm sure would be happy to keep more kids enrolled, and such nice ones at that.
Then a big bonfire on the beach at night. I think it was a student council thing, a kind of warm-up-to-the-school-year. Or it was at the end. Or both. C'mon, I was only there 3 years. Anyway I have a vivid memory of Rebholz leading this team of kids dragging giant wood palettes to the bluff and hurling them off, wearing big gloves to avoid massive splinters, and building a giant a-frame fire for later that night.? Anybody? Some history? That was the 80's. I think life down there was more raucous earlier than that- I've heard tell high school bands used to play on the roof of the building that was there.
The group has a nice website: http://www.friendsatwaterbeach.org/
See you Saturday!!
