Thank you

for your interest and involvement in Humboldt Park.  2019 was a good year for Humboldt Park Friends, the year started with The Park People of Milwaukee naming Humboldt Park Friends, friends group of the year. We are honored by this recognition and owe it to our great working volunteers. 2019 was our 20th year of hosting and organizing Humboldt Park’s  Easter Egg Hunt that is enjoyed for free by many kids in our community. We established a partnership with the Wehr Nature Center where they attend some of our events and enhance the curriculum with show and tell and nature-based activities. Our Ranger program activity books are available for free for kids to enjoy Humboldt Park, and many books have been distributed this year. We continue to work closely with the Milwaukee County Park’s leadership to make the park better and more accessible to everyone.

Every year when gathering information for this annual report I am amazed at how many things this small group of volunteers gets accomplished and how proud I am to be a part of this group.

Below are some highlights of the work our board and volunteers have accomplished in 2019, and some information about upcoming events in the new year. Our member contributions are crucial to maintaining the events and activities HPF holds and support our mission of fostering park stewardship.

20TH Annual Easter Egg Hunt and Pancake Breakfast.

The Humboldt Park Friends’ annual Easter egg hunt continues to attract several hundred children and their families. The egg hunt has been a “go-to” spring event for 20 years. While other community egg hunts request a nominal participating fee, HPF, through our donors and sponsors, continues to offer this event free. HPF is grateful to Karen Block, who was our 2019 event sponsor.

“It takes a village”, certainly applies to the egg hunt. In addition to Karen Block‘s sponsorship, HPF is grateful for donations fromTarget, Walgreens, Bounce, Avalon Theater, Great Northern, Plastics Unlimited, First Federal Bank, and 360 Productions all helped sponsor the Egg Hunt.

Without the continued support of Milwaukee County Parks and the staff from Humboldt Park, the egg hunt would not be possible.

As a part of the egg hunt, HPF includes a food drive asking participants to donate non-perishable food items that were donated to the Bay View Community Center.

The Bay View Lions Club’s Pancake breakfast was back for a successful second year. We are lucky to have the Bay View Loins Club partner with us and offer a warm breakfast option for our participants. It was sure nice that once again, the Easter Bunny stopped in for a visit, kids and parents alike “loved” seeing him. New this year was the participation of the Wehr Nature Center with a show and tell table about all types of eggs. They were fascinating and kept kiddos entertained before and after the hunt.

Both the egg hunt & pancake breakfast rely on volunteers; if interested in helping with either event, please contact Humboldt Park Friends and the Bay View Lions Club at their websites and or facebook pages.

The next Easter Egg Hunt will be held Saturday, March 28^th

Bay View Ice Skaters

HPF continues to provide snow throwing equipment and continues to work with Greg Stilin and the Bay View Ice Skating group to prepare and maintain an area on our Lagoon where community members can skate. We will continue to  clear the expanded  skating area to include space for both Ice Hockey and recreational skating. HPF’s coordinates with the group and publishes ice conditions on our website and Facebook group.

Lagoon Restoration

The Humboldt Park Lagoon committee continued maintenance of the pilot sections to control cattails and invasive species. Vegetation in these areas were pruned and weeded in June. A major cattail cut was done in October. Roughly one ton of cattails and invasive plants were removed; all of which was composted by Compost Crusaders.

The next step for the lagoon restoration project is selecting an environmental engineering firm to assess and develop a formal plan. We are soliciting bids and anticipate selecting, jointly with the Milwaukee County Parks Department, a firm in early 2020. As a formal plan is developed, public listening sessions will be conducted.

100 for Humboldt is a new initiative for a problem that is quickly becoming worse for Humboldt Park. When we started the project, the efforts were to replace the trees that we had lost over the last 5 years, in five years. This year has demonstrated that that trajectory is not nearly enough.

In 2019 alone, Humboldt park lost nearly 100 trees, nearly twenty times the regular rate. Even trees that appear to be healthy became unstable as their core was completely deteriorated. Some, measuring feet in diameter, breaking off at the base without even a storm.

Through the efforts of our board members and volunteers spearheaded by Mike Bubolz and Jeremy Fojut, we were able to come together to raise just over $7,500 for this initiative thanks to the community coming together for events like Bark in the Park, Open Tab @ 1840 Brewing Company, and the Bocce Benefit presented by Toni Spott.

The following events were held to raise funds for the 100 for Humboldt campaign:

• Open Tab @ 1840 Brewing Company
• Bark in the Park @ The Vine
• The Bocce Benefit presented by Toni Spott @ Humboldt Park

Bocce Benefit

The family-friendly tournament featured 16 teams in a double-elimination bracket vying for a chance to win their share of $900 in prizes.

Music was provided by Rushmor Records and drinks aplenty, with ultra-rare beer brewed by Bay View’s own 1840 Brewing Company. Thank you to our sponsors New Land Enterprises, Cafe Corazón, Lulu Cafe, Troubador Bakery, American Family’s Chris Letnz and In memory of Herm Buechel.

Press:

https://www.cbs58.com/news/100-for-humboldt-group-raising-money-to-replace-trees-in-bay-view-park

https://urbanmilwaukee.com/pressrelease/hundred-for-humboldt-launches-aims-to-plant-100-trees-at-humboldt-park/

https://bayviewcompass.com/new-trees-for-humboldt-park/

The next steps for this year are to utilize the funding generated to

1.) Choose a nursery

2.) Develop a Planting Plan

3.) Submit plan for county approval

4.) Schedule Planting Date

Jeremy Fojut addressing the crowd during the 100 for Humboldt mixer and fundraiser at 1840 Brewing Company

Corn Roast Benefit

Our annual Chill on the Hill Corn Roast was held this on Tuesday, August 13th and the weather was beautiful. Pick N’ Save and the Landmark Credit Union  again were generous supporters of the HPF’s Corn Roast. Pick N’ Save donated all the corn and Landmark made a monetary donation. We couldn’t have had a smoother running and more profitable event without our sponsor’s, our corn roasters, the Humboldt Park staff, all our many volunteers and everyone who purchased corn.

Thanks to everyone who helped make the Corn Roast a success. We sold over 500 ears of corn and sold out before the end of the night.

Humboldt Park Junior and Senior Ranger Program

Our new books are here! The Humboldt Park Junior and Senior Ranger Programs are self-guided programs for children ages 5 and up and their families. They are designed to teach children about Humboldt Park’s history, wildlife, geography, and celebrations. Requirements include completing an activity booklet and reciting the park pledge. Children who complete the program will be awarded a special patch to show off their stewardship.

We received the new and improved books and made them available to the community for free with a small donation encouraged for those who can afford to cover the cost of the book. We have distributed over 70 Junior and Senior Park Ranger activity books to the community.

Congratulations to Alex White for finishing the Junior Park Ranger book, reciting his oath and picking up his patch at our general meeting. Alex and his dad Matt rode with Humboldt Park Friends in the Fourth of July parade to complete that portion of the book.

Tree Day

Nearly 180 first graders from five Bay View schools participated in the 21st annual Tree Day celebration at Humboldt Park.

The students enjoyed walking tours of the park to learn to identify trees, birds, and animals and also worked together to build a “tree” in a craft workshop led by Wehr Nature Center staff.

Tree Day was founded in 1998 by the late Ruth Simos, a Bay View resident who was concerned children were not playing outdoors and spending too much time in front of TV and computer screens. Tree Day helps students learn about the importance of trees, parks, and nature. It is sponsored by the nonprofit Humboldt Park Friends in conjunction with the Milwaukee County Parks Department, City of Milwaukee Urban Forestry Department and Wehr Nature Center.  Special thanks to Jane LeCapitaine and Laureen Stirmel for leading the effort, organizing and working this event.

Below is some news coverage of the event: