While it may seem hard to believe as the mercury flirts with zero degrees, it should be up into the 40s by the weekend and spring is on its way. That means we’re getting closer to the April opening of the South Shore Terrace Beer Garden and the return of the Traveling Beer Gardens.
This year’s beer on wheels – there are, in fact, two simultaneous touring beer gardens based around Sprecher fire trucks and Sprecher brews – kicks off at Juneau Park Downtown May 13-31.
(Sprecher Brewery recently announced it was being sold to a group of local investors. Read that story here.)
The traveling beer gardens operate from 5 until 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. on weekends (when there is also live music on tap). Last call is always at 9 p.m.
The two tours – the Roll Out the Barrel Tour and the Pass Me a Pint tour – each visit five locations (both hit Juneau Park) and remain at each site for three weeks:
Roll Out the Barrel Tour:
- Juneau Park: May 13-31
- Doctors Park, Fox Point: June 3-21
- Grant Park, South Milwaukee: June 24–July 12
- Lake Park, Milwaukee: July 15-Aug. 3
- Greenfield Park, West Allis: Aug. 5-23
Pass Me a Pint Tour:
- Wisconsin Avenue Park, Wauwatosa: May 20-June 7
- Froemming Park, Franklin: June 10-28
- Kletzsch Park, Glendale: July 1-19
- McCarty Park, West Allis: July 22-Aug. 9
- Juneau Park: Aug. 12-Sept. 7
Once again the Milwaukee County Parks hosts the Beer Garden 5k series of malt-fueled 5k Thursday evening runs at four locations – one each month between May and August: Juneau Park on May 14, Froemming Park on June 11, Lake Park on June 23 and Greenfield Park on Aug. 6.
Register for the 6 p.m. runs online. Each participant gets a T-shirt and a full pint glass of beer or root beer. You can register for single races or buy a four-pack to run in all of them. Kids race free.
According to Milwaukee County Parks Marketing & Communications Manager Ian Everett, opening dates for the county’s three permanent beer gardens should to be announced soon.
Over the past five years, the county says, the traveling beer gardens have brought more $2.5 million in revenue into the cash-strapped county, and brewery partner, Sprecher, has donated nearly $200,000 in trail improvements, pavilion renovations, tree plantings and bike rack installations.
414, let’s have one more!
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
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