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359 Degrees

Scott has lived in Brookfield for over 20 years and has been 5th District alderman since 2000. This blog will try to round out the views on Brookfield presented by so many others.

July 2008 - Posts

Brookfield July 4 Photos & Video

By Scott Berg
Monday, Jul 14 2008, 03:09 PM

The City of Brookfield celebrated July 4 with the traditional parade in the morning and a public celebration and fireworks at Mitchell Park.  I see that BrookfieldNow has many photos of the parade, so I thought I'd show a few photos of mine from that evening.

So, did you go to the parade, park or fireworks?  Do you think it was worthwhile?


 Mitchell Park, facing north

The fire department display with the Pierce Manufacturing, Inc. of Appleton aerial platform truck, and other gear.  The Wilson Center for the Performing Arts is on the north edge of the park.

 


 Lady Liberty


 Fireworks

YouTube! video of Mitchell Park entertainment and fireworks.

Here's a YouTube video from a Brookfield block party of July 4, 1960   According to a message from the video owner, it was held on Spring Drive (one block east of Calhoun) between Gebhardt Road and Patricia Lane. 


 

 

 

 


Perhaps you've heard of the controversy about fireworks as a source of air pollution.  For example, the brilliant green sparks are usually created with a barium compound that is toxic and (slightly!) radioactive.

Do Fireworks Cause Air Pollution? Air quality on the Fourth of July

Declare Your Independence from Toxic Fireworks Pollution, Fireworks Litter the Ground, Pollute Water Supplies, and Damage Human Health

 DISNEY DEBUTS NEW SAFER, QUIETER AND MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY FIREWORKS TECHNOLOGY

My personal opinion is that first Brookfield should decide if burning leaves and other yard waste is unacceptable, then we can worry about once a year fireworks! 

 Here are a couple of examples that show the smoke from the carrier rocket and explosion.


 The party's over


 

Welcome Home, Guido! (With Video)

By Scott Berg
Friday, Jul 11 2008, 11:02 AM

The Brookfield Public Library's sculpture, "Unfolding Red", has returned.  It has been fully refurbished and was placed in front of the library this morning.  It's been a long road, but it's home for good. 

Its sculptor, Guido Brink, is a Milwaukee legend.  Guido Brink (1913-2002) was born in Germany, studied in Europe and moved to Milwaukee in 1953.  He was a cofounder of the Layton School of Art where he taught from 1955 to 1974.  That school is a precursor to the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD).  The Brookfield Library's sculpture, Unfolding Red, was a 1973 donation in honor of a former library board member.  It was located near the entrance of the library until 1990 when it was moved to the rear as part of the major library expansion. 

Unfolding Red by Guido Brink


This restoration required the efforts of a lot of people and organizations.  The Brookfield Friends of the Library arranged to refurbish the piece and move it at no cost to the city.  The money for the project was donated by a former student of Brink's and the Friends of the Library.  The restoration was performed by Milwaukee's own SuperSteel Corporation and match the original specifications.  Moving the sculpture between the library and SuperSteel was provided by Lemberg Electric, who recently moved to Brookfield.

Ald. Berg recognized the support during his presentation at the televised Common Council meeting of March 4, 2008.  In fact, his presentation included this slide.

Presentation (PDF file) to the Brookfield Common Council on March 4, 2008 seeking approval for the relocation

The Brookfield Friends of the Library sponsor the book sale at the Senior Center (east wing of City Hall) held every Saturday morning in August.  If you have some books to donate you may drop them off at the library anytime.

 

July 11, 2008 - Unfolding Red, Unfolded!

Trucks and manpower were donated by Lemberg Electric.   Two members of the city parks department set up boards for the truck to drive on to prevent lawn damage.  Brookfield Police shut down Calhoun Road for a short period to allow the truck to move into position.  The three people aligning the sculpture are (left to right) Library Trustee Norm Rose, Library President Dick Brandt (behind sculpture) and a Lemberg Electric employee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the following YouTube link to see the unloading of the sculpture.


This was quite a field day for the press.  BrookfieldNow will include photos and a video.  I heard MJS columnist Laurel Walker will mention the event in her column.  This just shows that real journalists (and bloggers!) are willing to put down the laptop and Oreos and do some old fashioned legwork for a story.  Note the blue and yellow spinner.  The original was lost decades ago.  This one was built to the original artist's specifications and adds a bit of whimsy as it spins in the wind.


 June, 2008 - Refurbished Sculpture at SuperSteel


 February, 2008 - Photo composite shown to Common Council on March 4, 2008

July 11, 2008 - Shortly after placement


 January, 2008 - Location of sculpture since 1990 on library east side


Official Record of City's Actions

Minutes of Plan Review Board meeting of August 23, 2007

Note the comment, "Mayor Speaker suggested that the sculpture be moved to the north side of the library, close to the entrance. Commissioner Donze agreed, adding that it will be more visible and there will be more interaction from patrons if it is located by the library entrance."

Minutes of Plan Review Board meeting of November 29, 2007

The heart of the resistance is on page 5, "Commissioner Wartman stressed that he is not comfortable with a sculpture that is not mainstream and placed in a very focal point in the city"

Minutes of the Common Council meeting of December 18, 2007

Final approval (or in this case, acceptance of the PRB rejection) always belongs to the Common Council.  Ald. Berg pointed out that the PRB rejected the idea and the Library Board had not had a chance to meet to take a position on the topic.  The item was tabled.

Thus, the three person PRB rejected the idea, the Plan Commission rubber stamped the item and the Council was about to do the same.  So much for a wide involvement of elected leadership!

Minutes of the Library Board meeting of January 9, 2008

"There was agreement following Ald. Berg’s comments that the relocation proposal for the Brink sculpture was an opportunity to begin to address these broader issues, including taking a leadership role in community involvement and public art."

Minutes of the Common Council meeting of March 4, 2008

"Alderman Berg moved to amend the motion to move the sculpture to the west side of the Library (Calhoun Road). The amendment was seconded by Alderman Carnell and carried unanimously.  The motion as amended carried unanimously."


Stories About the Relocation

Discussion on Ald. Berg's web site

MJS - March 5, 2008 - Sculpture gets prime spot  Brookfield library art to be restored

Brookfield News - February 20, 2008  - Council to decide placement of sculpture

MJS - January 22, 2008 - Laurel Walker - 'Unfolding Red' deserves a prominent place

MJS - January 18, 2008 - Panel wants sculpture less visible, Brookfield mayor thinks some would complain

Brookfield Now Public Forum on Sculpture Proposal - I think this had a lot of influence

Report from city of Rockford, Illinois on their public artwork (PDF)

Brookfield Friends of the Library


Web Sites on Guido Brink

Marquette University - Haggerty Museum - Guido Brink Fifty Years of Painting  (note the entry for 1972)

Artnet catalog listing for a Brink sculpture - note the $5,000 price tag for a much less prominent piece

City of Milwaukee Engine 29 Firehouse with Guido Brink sculpture in front

MJS Obituary for Guido Brink, April 8, 2002


 

Intewedm, Google and an Apology

By Scott Berg
Tuesday, Jul 1 2008, 11:41 PM

Yesterday there was a reply to my post on deer population control by frequent contributor Santa's Elf.  He included a link to an online discussion regarding a rifle he believes was written by Brookfield's own intewedm.  That got me wondering what else Mr. intewedm might have written.  After a little googling around, I found over 1,500 entries by a person or persons using the name "intewedm".

There was one rather curious entry.  You can find the entry by going to Google and entering the keywords "intewedm pillow".  When I tried, the only Google result is the following, dated August 15, 2007 at 9:08 p.m.  Warning: The web site may be offensive to some.  In fact the quote posted using the name intewedm said,

"What's with the [**] comments?  Get lost in the closet!  Angelina is homely.  Charlize is a doll!"

With that find, I posted the following reply to Santa's Elf comment.  Unfortunately, I used the quote from the next line on that page regarding pillow fights from someone using the name Lawrence.

"As for INTEWEDM, have you seen the comments on a web site dated August 15, 2007 by a person using that name regarding lesbian [will this get through the MJS word filters?] pillow fights?  Specifically, "the pillow fights will be awsome [sic]"  I'd post the link, but it would never get past the MJS editors. 

Besides, it couldn't have been posted by OUR intewedm who wears his faith on his sleeve and berates others for poor spelling. THAT would make him a hypocrite and I would never suggest such a thing!"

I sincerely apologize to Mr. Intewedm, whomever he is, for confusing Lawrence's comment on pillow fights with his [intewedm's] comment on closets. 

Of course, I have no way of knowing whether the intewedm from the web site is Brookfield's own, which is exactly why I used the phrase "by a person using that name [intewedm]".


I want to thank Brookfield resident Cindy Kilkenny for bringing the error to my attention.  She is only too familiar with how easy it is to fall prey to a misinterpretation of web pages.  Back in the fall of 2006 election cycle for state assembly, Mrs. Kilkenny wrote the following BrookfieldNow blog entry.  I'd provide a link to it, but the blog was erased when Mrs. Kilkenny stopped writing.  Not that I mean to imply the change was so that evidence of poor journalism would be covered up or anything.

[NOTE: I editted this after its original posting to make it less wordy.  I believe the gist of the post is unchanged.]

"FRIDAY, Sept. 1, 2006, 9:32 a.m.

Here's hoping Mike Maxwell can find his way home (UPDATE)

Help me, I can't stop blogging. There's a post from yesterday you may have missed, but you'll have to click the red "Aug" below to see it.

The real problem is that politicians can't stop lying. Mike Maxwell gave his home as "Town of Brookfield" in today's bio information for the Journal Sentinel article. Earlier he told fellow blogger Richard Cieslak that that he lives in Brookfield.

Mike Maxwell lives in Waukesha. His county GIS information (as well as his candidate registration) shows his home as Waukesha.

[deleted comments about Maxwell trying to "manipulate my (Kilkenny's) perception".]


UPDATE - 12:30pm

I apologize to Mike Maxwell. He does live in the TOWN of Brookfield. His mailing address is Waukesha, the school district is Waukesha, and his candidate registrition [sic] uses the Waukesha mailing address, but he pays TOWN of Brookfield taxes. Again I apologize: I implied he was lying when I said, "politicians can't stop lying" and then I said he lived in Waukesha. And this time the paper was right, he lives in the TOWN, not the City of Brookfield.

[Deleted comments about town and city of Brookfield relations.  Deleted comment about how it's all due to a poor Waukesha County supplied map.]


 By the way, the discussion on rifles by intewedm noted earlier included this comment,

"21st Aug 2004

I was on vacation and got the rifle a few days after I returned. It came with a tin of Beeman Silver Bear pellets. The pellets are so much better than the Chinese "junk" I was using. The first shot was at a bird on my suet feeder, 10 meters away, and the bird is now in "bird heaven". I couldn't be more pleased. I am not missing any varmints that are raiding our bird feeders. The rifle is quieter too, so I won't be tipping of [sic] the neighbours that I am shooting. The only "problem" is that it's pretty long and it's hard to sneak it around my blind without the varmints seeing it. Slow and easy does it though."

I thought the use of meters instead of yards was out of character for Brookfield's intewedm.   If this comment was written by a City of Brookfield resident, it would be a confession of breaking the following city ordinance:

9.28.010 Discharge of firearms prohibited.   

A. Except as provided in subsection B of this section, no person shall fire, discharge or use any firearm, air rifle, spring or air gun of any description, or any instrument which impels a missile or pellet by compressed air, spring or other means within the city nor shall any person have any firearm, air rifle, spring or air gun of any description, or any instrument which impels a missile or pellet by compressed air, spring or other means in his possession or under his control unless it is unloaded and knocked down or enclosed within a carrying case or other suitable container. The discharge or use of any bow and arrow is prohibited in the city, except in designated areas in city parks.  

B. Exceptions. Subsection A of this section shall not apply to any of the following:  

1. Any duly authorized law officer in the performance of his duties;  

2. Any supervised rifle or pistol range or shooting gallery authorized by the council;  

3. Any deer or animal control program duly authorized by the common council. (Ord. 1891 sections 1 and 2, 2002; Ord. 1843 section 1, 2001; Prior code section 9.01)

It's a good thing that none of these comments were made by OUR intewedm, right?


 
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