From Anna's Desk - March 2010 Enewsletter to Historic Milwaukee Members

Dear Members and Friends,

Last night Historic Milwaukee held its first-ever Milwaukee Trivia Night at Cafe Corazon in Riverwest. It was a blast! Over 70 people signed-up to test their knowledge of Milwaukee. Round 1 ended in a tie breaker between two teams: Team 1, including Carl and Ellen Baehr (of the book Milwaukee Streets: The Stories Behind Their Names), trumped Team 6, which included HMI Guide George Wagner and HMI Researcher Hugh Swafford.
Tie Breaking Question: In 1866 Anthony Kochanek, a homesick cobbler from Poland, offered his most valuable possession, a gold watch, to be raffled off for a nucleus fund to build St. Stanislaus Church, the first large parish for Americans of Polish ancestry in the United States, at the corner of what is now 5th and Mitchell. How much was raised from the raffling of his watch? Team 1 guessed closest to the correct answer, $250.
Thank you to FUEL Milwaukee's New Member Orientation Team, Adam Carr from 88Nine, and Cafe Corazon for helping to organize this event!
$20K Goal
This week we are mailing our Spring Appeal letter to follow-up on the letter I sent last December announcing Historic Milwaukee's goal to raise $20,000 through donations from Members and Friends.
Since that time 70 Members have contributed a total of $6,000. Please help us raise the remaining $14,000. You can donate right now by clicking here. All donors will be recognized in an upcoming issue of our print publication, Echo.
HMI deserves your financial investment. Our Members and Volunteers truly fuel and regenerate HMI year in and year out. For instance, I've been working with Guide George Wagner on building a business plan for Doors Open Milwaukee, an exiting project that will explore and celebrate Downtown Milwaukee for an entire weekend in the fall of 2011.
I'd also like to bring attention to one of our new young leaders, Brandon Tschacher, who is the Chair of our Communications & Marketing Committee. Brandon is leading a team of 8 new volunteers to help raise the visibility of HMI. Their work has surpassed expectation and truly exemplifies the spirit of team work and volunteerism.
Help to make sure the great work of George, Brandon, and all who volunteer for HMI, continues into the future.

Volunteer Spaces & Traces
You will also be receiving in the mail a form to sign-up as a volunteer guide for Spaces & Traces. It is easy, fun, and a great way to get more involved. You'll also learn quite a bit about Brewers' Hill & The Beerline. You can sign-up right now to become a volunteer guide by clicking here.

Panel Discussions
More good news, our February 25th Panel Discussion on Municipal Landmark Ordinances set record attendance! Thanks again to our panelists Paul Jakubovich, Alderman Bob Bauman, Mike D'Amato, and Jim Draeger.
Join us on March 25th for a discussion on Neighborhood Revitalization and Milwaukee's Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative. Sign-up here.
Hope to see you there!
Anna-Marie Opgenorth
Executive Director