We Grow Our Deer Hardy Here in Wauwatosa

Agile and resilient animal does not give in after a mere glancing blow from one vehicle and goes on to get the better of another.

Maybe it's because nobody hunts them. Maybe it's because they eat a healthy diet in the meadows and community gardens of the County Grounds. But whatever it is, our white-tail deer are apparently of strong stock. At 7 p.m. Thursday, police were dispatched to the 1400 block of Swan Boulevard on a report of a disabled vehicle. Officers found a man waiting, forlorn and perplexed, alongside his damaged 2007 Mercedes Benz SL55 roadster, about 500 feet south of Underwood Parkway. The driver, whose address was not given, said he had been travelling south in the right lane when a driver in the center lane ahead of him hit a deer that had leaped into the road. The deer, he said, bounced off the other vehicle and struck his car front and center, …

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Monarch Enthusiasts Celebrate 'Once in a Blue Moon'

County Grounds celebration of astronomical rarity also calls attention to biological phenomenon of migrating monarchs.

It happens once every two or three years, or, to be more precise, seven times every 19 years. A blue moon. That's when, according to modern reckoning, you have two full moons in the same month. That will happen Friday evening, and the Friends of the Monarch Trail invite you to celebrate the celestial event with an earthly one, a Blue Moon Party beginning at 5:30 p.m. on the County Grounds. The party will feature kite flying (wind permitting) and Irish music presented by Ceol Cairde. Other activities may include scientific tagging of any early migrating monarch butterflies that may be wafting through the County Grounds. Guests are encouraged and permited to park at the Milwaukee County Parks Department Headquarters Building lot, 9480 …

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Flying Free on the County Grounds

Butterfly release is a hit with young and old at fundraiser for the Monarch Trail.

Red admirals, buckeyes, commas, mourning cloaks and, of course, monarchs – all types of native Wisconsin butterflies – went fluttering off Sunday across the County Grounds. Raised from eggs collected by Barb Agnew, the colorful insects were released to the cheers of a small crowd of well-wishers at a fundraiser for the Monarch Trail on the grounds. Agnew keeps her butterfly rearing operation in her floral shop, Barb & Dick's Wildflower, 12326 Watertown Plank Rd., and is the founder of the Monarch Trail and Friends of the Monarch Trail. Agnew also grows milkweed seedlings at the shop, many of which she handed out Sunday in exchange for donations to supports the trail. Milkweeds are the only plants on which monarch butterflies will lay their…

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Developer Proposes Demolishing 4 of 5 Eschweiler Buildings – or Giving Them Away

Only the largest of the buildings would be preserved, as Mandel Group says buildings are too costly to reconfigure as apartments. But they are free too anyone else who wants to take on those costs.

Saying that the historic Eschweiler Buildings on the County Grounds have proved too costly to rehabilitate as apartments, developer Barry Mandel proposed Tuesday night a plan to tear down four of the five structures. Under his proposal to the Wauwatosa Historic Preservation Commission, only the largest, known as the Administration Building, would be preserved as a centerpiece to the development. However, he also said that rather than tear the others down, he would happily give them away – free to anyone who could demonstrate an ability to restore and maintain them for a compatible use. Mandel, CEO of the Mandel Group, cited offices for non-profit organizations as a preferred use but indicated he was willing to entertain any reasonable …

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Developer Questions Whether Eschweiler Buildings Can Be Saved

Negotiations continue, but parties hint that historic designation may not preserve County Grounds landmarks if redevelopment is not fiscally feasible

Wild Wauwatosa

Season’s Greetings from Wild Wauwatosa

The County Grounds bring joy to many even as a little snow flies.

Maybe this happened to you, too: Saturday morning, after long anticipation, I was surprised when I woke up to find snow covering the yard and street outside my windows. Suddenly the holiday season felt real. Finally! I hurried outside, only to find that the “season” was barely an inch deep. It wasn’t enough to visibly affect the “wilderness,” but pent up enthusiasm kept me going, across Hoyt Park and the Menomonee River, into the wide-open spaces of the County Grounds. I had an ulterior motive. I’m working on a book of photographs about the fragile beauty that I see on the County Grounds, and I’m short on winter scenery. When I got there, though, I found I’d been right: as I topped the detention basin berm I looked out over forty or so …

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Wild Wauwatosa

Where My Front Yard Meets Our Big Back Yard

A bit about butterflies and marital bliss, and an invitation to learn more tonight with the Friends of the Monarch Trail.

My wife, Kathy, and I some years ago hit upon a happy coincidence. She loves raising butterflies, and I love raising plants. More specifically, even though Kathy loves raising any butterflies, she is particularly fond of working with everybody's favorite, the monarch. And I, much more specifically, am passionate about raising not just any plants but rare native plants. Since monarch butterflies lay their eggs only on plants of the milkweed family, and since several Wisconsin milkweeds are among our rarest and most beautiful plant species, this amounted to an invitation to me to fill our front yard with my favorites, in order to attract hers. And so to the point. This column, Wild Wauwatosa, is intended to remind readers that our community …

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