2011

Fourth of July in Review

It has not been a very good year for weather in Wisconsin, but we did okay for the Fourth of July weekend.

We sweated through the Village Dance of Friday evening, but had a beautiful day on July 4th.  All things considered, we came out pretty well.

It takes a cooperative effort on the part of many groups and individuals to make the Village’s annual Fourth of July celebration run smoothly.  The people on the front line are the folks at the Village Hall and the Fire Station. David Sykes coordinates all of the activities from preparation and set-up through clean-up so that nothing falls through the cracks.  Others involved include Fire Chief Keith Anderson and the Fire / EMS Interns, Police Chief Denny Pine and his officers, Karl Frantz and the Village office staff, Denny Lybeck and the Public Works crew, and the Shorewood Hills Community League.  The work on July 4th activities goes on for weeks before and after the actual celebration.  The Shorewood Hills League once again organized a very successful bake sale (thanks to whoever made those great chocolate chip cookies!) and arranged to provide frozen treats following the Parade. A number of Village artisans once again displayed their talents at the Art Fair coordinated by Bill Muehl & Peter Hans.  We certainly have some talented residents, and we encourage others out there to come and display their creative side.  The Board of Trustees chipped in again to man the grills for the Family Picnic. And, of course, the volunteers of our Fire Department and EMS provided the bodies necessary to “overwhelm” the day’s activities and make things run smoothly. We had a great turnout of volunteers both on the 4th and on the work days in the preceding weeks, so we were ahead of the game from the start. In addition to the folks that are here all year, we always see some former members of the Fire Department and EMS return for the day. We always tell our members that they can resign from the Fire Department or EMS, but they will always be members of the Association, and many of them return to participate in our Fourth of July celebration. This year’s list of returnees included John Schienle (Twin Cities), Sue Birren (Milwaukee), Jeff Stoltman (Middleton), Norm Arendt and his kids Jon and Loni (Middleton), and George Cutlip (Madison). Many thanks to all of our Village employees and volunteers who help to make the Fourth of July in the Village so special!

The Village Dance on the evening of July 1st was beastly hot! Attendance seemed down a bit (maybe from the holiday weekend), but we saw the usual mix of kids and adults. We were glad we didn’t have any accidents on the dance floor with condensation from the humidity in the air. The hula hoop contests seemed to be attracting professionals now––at least one contestant brought her own hula hoop.

The daytime activities on July 4th went well. We had no road construction around the school, so we were able to follow the usual route. The kids had fun after the Parade with the booth games for the younger ones and stage games for the rest. The ‘water weasel’ at the northeast corner of the Heiden Haus field got a good workout, and kept the kids (and some adults, as well) occupied while the other activities were being organized. The field games got under way with a huge group of kids and adults participating in the egg toss. It’s interesting to study the techniques of the pairs that go deep into the competition, and we had some youngsters that out performed many of the egg toss ‘veterans’. The field games concluded with some very competitive waterfights (17 teams this year) complete with expert play-by-play commentary by veteran Fire Department broadcasters Dave Ahmann and Jacob Johnson. Congratulations to the winners of the 17th Annual Adult Waterfight tournament Tim Rikkers, Dave DeVito, Bob Hurley, Pat Hurley and Jack Trask.

There was a good turnout for the Family Picnic with residents bringing a variety of dishes to share to accompany the burgers and brats prepared by the Village Board.

At Blackhawk Country Club before the fireworks the Chocolate House was selling ice cream and drinks (a portion of the proceeds being donated to the Fireworks Fund). Blackhawk provided free lemonade inside the Club House. We were also honored to have former Village Administrator Tom Popp lead the crowd in the singing of the national anthem.

There were a few glitches again with the fireworks this year (it seems like there is always something, grrrr!) and you may have noticed a few pregnant pauses. We were very pleased with the selection of shells we had this year and are always looking for ways to make the show better. We would like to thank everyone who helped make the show possible with their donations to the Fireworks Fund. The final tally is not yet complete (and you can still send in a contribution), but we should be able to direct in excess of $5,000 to the Village towards the cost of the fireworks themselves. Special thanks to Fireworks “Fan”-atics: Roma Lenehan, Harland Samson, Mildred Strother, Elizabeth Heiner, Daniel Van Eyck, Vernon Molbreak, Curt Hastings, Susan Lederer, Dorothy Logan, Connie Grogan, Carol Ann Schlatter, Nate Brand, Hilde Adler, Laila Robbins, Lynn Schreibman, Margaret Marriott, Ellie Munson, Patricia Lipton, Jeannie Roberts, Sally Bilder, Ariel Ford, Charlotte Miura, Fannie Hicklin, Joan Jennerjohn, John Young, Lisa Munro and Jill Cardwell. Their contributions before July Fourth got them a copy of the fireworks program with the shell(s) that they “sponsored” this year. An extra special thank you to Jim Berbee, W. Stuart Sykes, Charlie Palit and their families for the very significant donations they made to the Fireworks Fund.

We would also like to thank the Blackhawk Country Club for their financial support and cooperation with the use of the grounds for the Fireworks show. Donations to the Fireworks fund do not cover the entire cost of the show. Blackhawk and the Village split the remaining balance.

One final reminder on the fireworks…Each year there are larger and fancier fireworks for sale to the general public, and each year there are tragic accidents involving fireworks. Remember that, while bigger fireworks items are much more ‘awesome’, they are also more dangerous. Many of us on the Fire Department have 20 or more years of training and experience. We are very careful in what we do (much more so than the average person would be), but those years of experience just minimize the risk of an accident. There is always a potential for problems; and the bigger the fireworks, the bigger the potential danger. Please exercise great care with fireworks if you choose to use them.

All in all it was another very successful Fourth of July! Our review of the 4th began at the Fire Station at about 11:00 pm that same night, and the planning for next year has already started. As we usually say at each Fire Department meeting––“The 4th of July is right around the corner!”

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