Curt is Chicago native – but don’t hold that against him. After stops in Madison and California, he and his wife moved to Waukesha in 2004 to open their own downtown business.
It’s no big secret that Money Magazine has placed Waukesha as number 36 on the list of the top 100 best places to live in the United States.
However, I believe this weekend demonstrated to many that Waukesha is capable of much more. I feel good in saying we are on our way to number one.
Friday Night Live:
It all started Friday night. I have spoken in this blog before about how great Friday nights are downtown, with the fantastic live music and the people all around.
This Friday was no exception.
There were people everywhere, walking dogs, playing chess, enjoying coffee, and dancing in the streets. Live music saturated the downtown.
It was incredible.
Word on the street is many folks wish the bands could play a little longer. Maybe that can be considered for next year.
Art Crawl Saturday:
Saturday’s Art Crawl included some outstanding new additions to the usual list of good stuff the Crawl showcases.
For starters, the City finished installing the new “Welcome” banners along Main Street. They are an impressive sight and give the downtown streets a welcoming feel.
Other new accessories to the Art Crawl were the “Downtown Ambassadors”. This is a group of volunteers who stroll the streets in red vests during special events to assist the public with any general questions or concerns. The group includes our past mayor, Carol Lombardi (excellent choice) and these people were a first-class asset to the Crawl.
To top it all off, in addition to the usual merchant participants, there were a number of new galleries and shops open for the first time.
Some of the Highlights:
I bumped into Mayor Nelson leaving Martha Merrell’s Books with a beautiful painting in his hands. He had just purchased it at the “Wet Paint” auction held at the bookstore. It will be an exquisite addition to his office. The “Wet Paint” Auction was a stellar event. I’m looking forward to seeing it again next year.
The Fox Rivewalk Antique Mall was open for business- only 10 days after being hit by lightning and damaged by water. It could not have been an easy task for them to be open and operating in such a short amount of time. While most businesses are vacuuming and washing their windows in preparation for the Crawl, these people were fixing the roof and pumping floodwater out of their store. That’s remarkable!
In talking to people around town, I found an increased number of folks from places other than Waukesha. This included two first timers from as far away as Madison who had heard about the Crawl and were curious to experience it for themselves.
They said they weren’t disappointed. As a matter of fact, I think they were a little jealous.
All in all it was an impressive event. Downtown Waukesha was at it’s best and I really hope that kind of attitude continues.
Before I finish, I want to take a moment to extend an added thanks to a few people that made the event extra special:
-Terry and Kerry from the Steaming Cup- who stopped in to see our young artists at work in our studio. You guys made their day!
-The Lepeins for setting up their band and playing some excellent tunes on the far West end of Main. It brought a lot of people down our way and we really appreciated the crowd, as I am sure the Cork Art House and Waters Carpet did.
The next Art Crawl is scheduled for Saturday, October 7th, from 4PM to 10PM in downtown Waukesha. Mark it on your calendars folks, you shouldn’t miss it.
