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| December, 2003 | |
| President's
Letter Goings On In Damon Woods Our Neighbors in Damon Woods Tosa Goings On News in Lowell Damon Woods A Thrill of a Lifetime in Football |
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It seems hard to believe that Thanksgiving has already come and gone. Looking back on the fall, I'd like to thank Richard
Stollberg, Laurie Lehman, Meg Gintoft and Karen Roy and especially the
Kroner-Baker family for their contributions to our first ever Harvest Fest. Despite some cold and damp weather and a last minute switch from the Damon house to the
Kroner-Baker garage, about 40 people turned out for some great chili and other fall treats, as well as socializing and kids crafts. Overall, I'd say it was a success that we hope to build upon for next year. We'd love to hear your ideas to make this event even better! --Karen
McNeely |
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| Goings On In
Damon Woods
NEIGHBORHOOD
PLAYGROUP KEEP CONNECTED TO NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS AND INFORMATION LOWELL DAMON WOODS ASSOCIATION EVENTS 2003
TGIF PARTY |
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| Our Neighbors in Damon Woods
NEWS TO
SHARE? NEIGHBORHOOD BALLERINA TO PERFORM NEW
BABY |
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| Tosa Goings On GOLDEN ERA OF LIONEL TRAINS Decorated in its Christmas splendor, the Kneeland-Walker House will be the perfect backdrop for “The Golden Era of Lionel Trains” from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, Dec. 13 & 14, Dec. 20 & 21, and Jan. 3 & 4. The Lionel Train Club of Milwaukee will display and operate classic trains in this year’s “Very Merry Christmas House” presented by the Wauwatosa Historical Society. Thanks to the generosity of the Wauwatosa Savings Bank Foundation, admission to the Victorian mansion at 7406 Hillcrest Dr. is free of charge. For information, please call 774-8672. TOSA DAY WITH THE MILWAUKEE ADMIRALS |
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| News In Lowell Damon
Woods WINE TASTING CLUB FORMING Dean and Michelle Teofilo are forming a neighborhood wine tasting club. The plan is to hold a tasting every other month, with the hosting individual or couple providing the  meeting place, hors d’oeuvres and glassware, and choosing the type of wine and vintage for the tasting. Each individual/couple will be required to bring a wine for thetasting. Please contact Dean or Michelle for more information and a tentative schedule at info@damonwoods.org. NEW WALKWAYS AT THE DAMON HOUSE Thank you to neighbors who donated more than three Saturdays of labor in building flagstone walkways at the Damon House Museum this fall. Brian Bloczynski and Tom Krause, both of Church Street, and Dave Vogel of Pleasant Street, built the walkway into the gardens. They were joined on another Saturday by Art Steadman, the museum’s caretaker, and Dr. Robert Teske, executive director of the Milwaukee County Historical Society, in replacing a concrete walk to the side entrance of the house. The Historical Society, owner of the property, extensively repaired the rotting foundation under the caretaker’s portion of the house this fall. Some siding has been replaced and the side porch has been reopened, returning the house to its earlier appearance. A rain gutter and downspout also have been added to help protect the new foundation. The project also necessitated removal of the concrete sidewalk. The Damon Woods volunteers also removed several tree stumps. Flagstone for the two projects had been donated during the past several years by several neighbors, including Bloczynski and Krause as well as Gary and Cathy Kebbekus of Forest Street and Paul and Sophie Prange of Jackson Park Blvd. We’ll need volunteers for more landscaping and gardening next summer, as well as the annual spring clean-up. If you’re willing to donate a few Saturday morning hours of volunteering, please email Dave Vogel at info@damonwoods.org. BUILDING A PATH AT THE DAMON HOUSE Brian Bloczynski (left) and Tom Krause of Church Street were among volunteers who recently worked on extension of a garden path on the grounds of the Lowell Damon House Museum. While the neighborhood association continues its efforts to restore gardens surrounding the museum, the Milwaukee County Historical Society is making major repairs to the grounds. HELP NEEDED AT FIREFLY FLING GALA We are hoping to hand deliver invitations for the gala to all Wauwatosa homes between 12/26 and 1/9. Please let me know if we can count on your help to deliver your entire neighborhood or even a few streets. Other volunteer opportunities available are: Decorating/Supplies Committee - creating decorations, help putting them up night of the event. Also works on getting supplies for the auction, making up flyers for donated items, making up bidder registrations. Auction Volunteer - registering bidders, collecting raffle tickets, answering bidder questions. Reception Area - greet and check in those attending the gala event (1/2-1 hour shifts so you would have a chance to enjoy the event too). Coat Check - we are hoping the Boy Scouts will cover this. May need an adult to periodically check up on needs. Clean Up - Mayfair will cover the majority of this, but we do need to get trash into bags and a good big picture clean up. Please feel free to pass the word, and let me know if you can help with this great event in any way. Thank you, Karen McNeely NEWSLETTER AND FLYER DISTRIBUTION THANK YOU—to those who helped deliver both the October newsletters and the Christmas tree reminders! the Schoens, the Rockenbachs, Frank & Joanne Shansky, Linda & Erin Merklein, Ellie Bjorkman, Kathy Mannebach, Pam Christopherson, Trish Stone, and Sophie Prange. If you would like to help deliver, contact Karen McNeely at info@damonwoods.org. |
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| A Thrill of a Lifetime in Football - by Erik Kopperud  When I started playing Junior Raider football in sixth grade I played out of admiration. I played so I could someday be a star like Jake Wolter or Andy Lester and be a Wauwatosa East football player. Our sixth grade football team ended up going a lousy 0-7 our first year. Definitely nothing to be excited about. This may have driven a couple people away from the sport, but not the people who really loved the game.After that season we had high hopes of being a great team the next year. That year we did a little better at 2-6. Still nothing to get too excited over. In eighth grade, our Junior Raider team was starting to become a little more popular. New kids starting coming out for football with good potential. Enough potential that our team finished the regular season undefeated. We lost in the game right before the championship. So close, yet so far. We had a great turnaround in that one year process. We were also the first Junior Raider team to ever go undefeated in the regular season (Since then it has been done a couple of times). Our Junior Raider career had ended, we were off to high school. Our team had stayed rather consistent around 30 kids all the while. Our freshman year of football we were amazed with some new teams we played. We were still a good team finishing 4-2-1 overall, but we realized that to be the best we had to do a lot of work. We were weaker, slower, and much smaller than other teams. That year we had 28 kids out for freshman football. Everyone makes the team, there is no room for cuts. Tosa East cannot enjoy the luxury of 100+ kids trying out for freshman football every year like Marquette or other big schools. My freshman year we experienced a weaker Varsity team ahead of us that finished 0-9. But Varsity players did set good examples for us freshman in the weight room. I noticed a lot of my teammates going and lifting weights and running after school. These trends caught on and more guys starting going. Not nearly enough guys, but more. This would later be essential to any success we would have on the Varsity level. My sophomore year we had a strong group of seniors for leadership. We had solid seniors who showed us what hard work and determination could do for you. That year we turned Tosa East football for the better, and finished 5-4, missing the playoffs by one game. We went into that last game of the year still having a chance at playoffs with a win. That was a year that had a great mixture of solid senior leadership, injuries, and we sophomores trying to fill the holes and voids. I can recall one game against West Allis Central where there were 8 sophomores starting on offense, defense, or both (which, by the way, was a game we won 14-7 at Hart Park). That year had a great impact on the returning kids of that 2001 Varsity Team. Weightlifting sessions started becoming more filled with football players and the football team was now a good thing to be on. I only wish my junior year had gone as well as my sophomore year. In my junior year we were left without many solid players, some being three year varsity starters. That year the effort seemed to go down, the team chemistry was non-existent and the fun was not there. Coincidentally, we were not winning as much either. We finished a disappointing 45, but never seemed to get on track. This was my worst experience of football that I can remember. I had gone from a great year of great older role models to a year when it seemed like we were divided into groups and never actually worked as one team. This junior year of mine was not as good as hoped to be but did leave the returning football players at Tosa East with much hope and talent. That brings us to this year. We had a decent group of seniors coming up and a very talented group of juniors coming in as well. Fortunately, most of the junior football players were as nice as they were talented. The senior and junior class meshed very well and I felt as if I was actually playing on a team again. I enjoyed every day of practice and just being with the team. I developed friendships with guys that I will always remember. Our team started off a hot 2-0 after two easy games. We then hit a good Marquette team and, after a hard battle, we lost a game to remember. After that we played the next best team in our league and by far the most physical team in our conference, Brookfield East. We figured those two losses were against the best teams in the conference, but now they were over and it was time to start winning again. |
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The next week we went out to West Allis to play a Central team that was getting much publicity. We lost in the last minute of the game, 14-13, after playing badly the entire first half. This loss is still stuck in my head as maybe the hardest loss to ever swallow. Suddenly, we were 23 with three losses in a row. We needed to win four straight games to make it to the playoffs, a season-long goal of our team. The next week was our homecoming and we took care of Sussex High School, beating them 19-0 and shutting them out for the second year in a row. Then we rolled onto West Allis Hale, the bottom dwellers of our conference. We survived a scary 14-13 win on the same field that we had lost with that score just two weeks earlier. |
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Due to construction at the Damon Woods House, the First Annual Harvest Fest was held in September at the
Kroners. It was a success even though the weather brought a little rain. Everyone sampled a wonderful assortment of chili and baked goods made by neighbors. About twenty adults enjoyed conversation and relaxation as the kids painted gourds and drew with chalk. After dinner, everyone gathered around a fire pit for warmth, drinks (apple cider & cocoa) and of course,
s’mores! All had a fun evening and are looking forward to Harvest Fest 2004. 
a member of our neighborhood news list at
Pat and Anne Fee
are hosting the next neighborhood party. Here is a great opportunity to enjoy yourself with new and old neighbors. The fun starts at 7:00 p.m. Please bring an hors d’oeuvres to share.
Email 
The next Book Club Meeting will be on January 19, 2004, at 7:30 p.m., at Rachel
VerDuin's home.
Please email 
Hopefully you ordered a tree to put out on your front lawn from the
neighborhood association. Pickup is being held in conjunction with the cookie exchange on December 6th
at the Lowell Damon House. We did order several extra trees, so you may be able to still
get one. Call Richard 
Stollberg if you forgot to get your order in. Stop by the cookie
exchange with your cookies to share and to hear the UW Alumni Band, have the kids see
Santa, and get some hot cider. While you are at it, save time and bring your membership
renewal for 2004. You can also take a look at the great restoration of the foundation under
the Damon house.
This December will not only bring to Milwaukee the world premiere production of Michael Pink's “The Nutcracker”, it will also bring the debut of the young, talented ballerina, Miss
Julia Prange, age 7 of Jackson Park Blvd. Julia will be an angel in six of the Milwaukee Ballet’s performances. And if the sound of the cello in the orchestra is familiar, it may just be that
Mr. Smith, a first grade teacher at Lincoln, is playing. Tickets for “The Nutcracker” may be ordered at
414-643-7677 or online at 
that is walking
distance to schools and Baskin Robbins, and were delighted to find this one. We love the
neighborhood, and the high point to date was trick or treating. What fun, and what beautiful
homes and decorations there were! (See picture at left of Malcolm and a kind neighbor).
We look forward to getting involved in the playgroup and other activities. Chris owns a small
business in Menomonee Falls called Terra Nova, which specializes in custom electronics for
homes and businesses. I work part time there as well as do some freelance arts
administration work, which was my career pre-children. We hope to meet many of our
Damon Woods neighbors soon.
Just a note to let you know that
Michele courageously delivered our identical twins on Monday, November 10th. I am proud to introduce:
Aidan John and Grant Maximilian (formerly known as "Baby A") (formerly known as "Baby B"), 5:17 p.m., 5:18 p.m., 6 lbs. 10 oz., 6 lbs. 2.5 oz., 20.0 inches, 19.0 inches.
Please
join us for Tosa Day with the Milwaukee Admirals, Saturday January 10th, 2004 at 1:30. Tickets are only $15 each for great seats! $4.00 per ticket ($5.00 if 750 are sold) will go to reducing the Wauwatosa School District deficit. Can't make it on the 10th? That's ok, you can also purchase a voucher good for any Admiral's home game. To order tickets or for more information please e-mail Paul Foley at
In this game our defense came out flat and never got any better than that. We lost our final game ever at Hart Park, finishing our break out season 7-4 and matching the furthest any Tosa East team had ever done in the history of the school. Our team got much praise and Tosa East football has been restored on the map. This year was a year of renewed pride by our community in our football team. There was a renewed excitement in the stands with more people cheering all the way.