It Takes Our Village: Fair Touts the Greening of Tosa

There is quite a bit of green in the Village lately, and not simply the freshly sprouted hues of summer flora.

As the city becomes awash in nature’s summer greenery, the city's central business district is prepping to showcase its eco-based green leanings Saturday with the second annual VillageGreen Street Fair.

Event organizers moved to the early June date in hopes of snagging some warmer weather at the start of the growing season, a time of year that better synchs with the event's "green" tag. The street fair made its debut last September, and drew about 1,000 more people than expected – or about 2,500 who weathered a chilly fall day to learn more about green living, shopping and other healthy, sustainable and eco-friendly practices.

If Saturday delivers good weather, event organizers hope to draw up to 3,000 people this year, if not more, said Lisa Allen, event co-chair for the second year, along with Patti Klainot.

Allen and Klainot are members of the Village Business Improvement District (BID) marketing committee, which always is on the lookout for new ways to draw more people into the Village to shop, dine or seek other retail and professional services. Tapping into the fact that village businesses skew environmentally green was a natural for the Village and fills a needed niche for the Milwaukee metropolitan area, the co-chairs said.

“It is the only event of its kind in the metro area combining education, music, fun, shopping, eating, all in one place, with a mission, and the mission being spreading the word on healthy living,” Allen said.

The VillageGreen Street Fair also is designed to showcase to newcomers and city residents that Wauwatosa is a small community with a global outlook that has a depth of business offerings within its historic center.

"We are really starting to emerge as a sustainable, live local, green community," Allen said. "We like the fact that we are a small community, but we are trying hard to introduce people from outside of the area to our community.

"My vision is that we put Wauwatosa on the map as a place to go where you get that welcome feeling, even if it is not your own community."

The Village BID, which sponsors the street fair, also has to market itself to city residents, Klainot said. The business district, which stretches from East 60th Street to the Harmonee Bridge, offers everything from specialty shops, boutiques and fine dining, to casual eateries, major grocers, a natural food store and hardware store. City residents, however, don't always head to the village to shop, thinking the grass is, well, greener somewhere else.

"It still amazes me to this day how many people live in Tosa and never go in the Village," Klainot said. "Educating people to live and shop locally ... is part of what we are doing. We have all these great businesses right here in our backyard."

Many of those businesses are eco-based or have eco-friendly practices, such as recycling or selling products made of recycled materials. Others feature fair trade products, natural foods or healthy living services, or sell products to support healthy lifestyles, such as Serenity Bikes.

The two greenest – in terms of newest – village businesses, , will hold their grand openings on the day of the street fair in newly renovated space in the former Drews Variety Store, where the eco-green touches abound. The building was renovated with conservation-based materials and energy efficient design by its owners, Karen Wilman and Curt Wiebelhaus of the development firm Sustainable Properties.

Besides sharing in common eco-friendly practices and products, the two new tenants will share with Wilman the same milestone marker for their launch date – the day of the VillageGreen fair. Wilman launched her business, , on the date of the first VillageGreen Street Fair in September.

The street fair date is set to coincide with the , held every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. through Oct. 15 in the city parking lot near The Little Red Store. Featured speakers will present in the open-air market area, with topics to include small space vegetable gardening and greening your home for summer.

The VillageGreen Street Fair “seemed a good fit of what our community was doing and it is grass roots,” said Kathy Ehley, Village BID executive director and a member of the six-person committee planning the event. “There are so many things Tosa businesses are doing to reduce their carbon footprint.”

Not all the vendors and businesses exhibiting at the street fair are based in Wauwatosa, as there are organizations that have sustainable issues and initiatives that extend beyond the city’s borders but affect the quality of life in Wauwatosa, Allen said. The VillageGreen Street Fair, she said, seeks to bring together in Wauwatosa people, businesses and non-profit organizations from throughout the metro who share common interests and goals in sustainable living.

Allen said the goal is to grow the event over the years so that it expands beyond the Village core and extends into Hart Park, and even springs new but related roots in neighboring communities.

“We would love to see ours turn into a large event ... and hope it expands into the metro area, not just Tosa,” Allen said. “It is not just a little tiny community event. It’s already bigger than that. People want to be involved.”

Allen said the $3,000 budget for this year will be offset by vendor fees from nearly 50 exhibitors. The street fair will include two music stages, one each on Harwood and Underwood streets, featuring bluegrass, classic rock, Irish and folk music. A children’s activity area will include craft-making use recyclable materials, a Hands of the Community Mural, sponsored by the YMCA, and the Rhythm for Unity Drum Circle.

Costs are contained by turning to “everyone we know” to donate tents, tables, chairs and other set-up needs, Klainot said. Friends, family and neighbors also donate the physical might for set up, and about 50 volunteers will work the day of the event.

“No one is paid to do this,” Klainot said. “We want to give back to the community that we all treasure very much.”

Any profit realized from the non-profit event will go toward the 2012 street fair, Allen said. As the event and its revenue grow, she said, funds could be used to attract and afford major speakers, including those in Tosa’s back yard, such as Will Allen of Growing Power in Milwaukee, who commands a $5,000 speaker's fee.

For now, event organizations are focused on the 2011 event to improve awareness of the Village BID and educate people about healthy, sustainable living options.

Ehley said drawing new people to the Village, including those from within the city’s borders, is a key reason for the fair, and is key to the business district’s viability.

“We all love that the village is there, but it won’t be there if you don’t shop it,” Ehley said. “It won’t be that quaint resource.”

“We have a gem in Wauwatosa,“ Klainot said. “It’s on the Menomonee River. It’s history, beautiful architecture, wonderful stores.

“Part of the VillageGreen is getting people to recognize that Wauwatosa has something unique to offer, and part of that is ... that we have a lot of businesses that have green practices.”

Event details:

Time and date: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday

Place: Wauwatosa’s Downtown Village

Web site: www.villagegreenstreetfair.com