This Just In...
Kevin Fischer is an award-winning veteran broadcaster who has been seen and heard on Milwaukee TV and radio stations for nearly three decades.
Kevin, who is a legislative aide to state Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin), can be seen offering his views on the news on the public affairs program, “INTERchange,” on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, in Franklin.
The "Fonz" is bigger than a statue
By Kevin Fischer
Sunday, Sep 30 2007, 04:24 PM
Last week, the suggestion was made that Milwaukee find a location for a statue of the “Fonz.”
The “Fonz,” as in Arthur Fonzarelli, best friend of Ritchie, Potsie and Ralph Malph.Leather jacket, ducktail, motorcycle, Correctimundo. The suggestion spawned several news articles and columns. We talked about it on Channel 10’s InterCHANGE Friday night and Sunday morning. Sticks in the mud Joel McNally and Kathleen Dunn scoffed at the idea. Host Dan Jones called “Happy Days” a “stupid” show. (I guess all those millions of TV viewers were clueless).
The notion of a “Fonzie” statue had the snobs of Milwaukee scratching their noses against the ceiling. How gauche! After all, the “Fonz” in bronze would only perpetuate Milwaukee’s image of beer, brats, bowling, Laverne and Shirley, and people who walk on their knuckles.
It’s the kind of image we in Wisconsin wince at when we see it portrayed in movies like, “Home Alone.”
Like it or not, that’s us. But it’s not the total package.
Yes, we are brats.
And beer.
And “I don’t want her you can have her, she’s too fat for me….”
We are also art museums and great restaurants and theater and pro sports and Lake Michigan. The battle is to make sure people see the entire picture.
There’s also the larger issue of Milwaukee being behind the times.
As my farther used to say, “We’re always the last rose on the bush.”
Every time someone makes a suggestion that is even slightly out of the box, visionary, adventurous, risky, I dare say, “cool,” everyone else rejects the idea outright. They don’t just say no, they go out of their way to humiliate and embarrass the poor sap who would even propose such a preposterous thought as a …………..”Fonzie” statue.
The most glaring example is Miller Park. That plan was debated and debated and debated for over a decade. Never mind that all other professional sports cities were building new ballparks and reaping the benefits of economic development. Milwaukee had to talk the idea to death. Saturday my wife and I were at the ballpark to see the Brewers play the Padres as part of he largest crowd to ever see a game at Miller Park, a stadium that is one of the best projects Milwaukee has ever undertaken.
Another example doesn’t have the same happy ending. Back in the 70’s, plans were discussed to build a Liberace museum in West Allis where the great showman was born. The so-called “leaders” in West Allis wanted no part of it. Are you kidding? We don’t want all that traffic the tourist attraction would bring. Laugh if you will, but the Liberace museum in Las Vegas (that could have been ours) does better than an ok business. I
In my neighborhood, some people are just learning the Twist.
You get the point.
Innovators we are not.
Good ideas are put on hold. Great ideas sometimes never make it.
I say build that “Fonz” statue.
And I’ve got a great place for it.
Once we move the Di Suvero sculpture about a mile to the east, we’re in business.
