Friends of County Grounds Park March Update |
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StoryBook Hike - Trash-Out Birding Tour - History Tour Photo of the Month - Park Swag |
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Why is this newsletter so long? Well, social media hasn’t been showing us as much love lately—our posts (and many others) aren’t getting as much attention. So, we’ve packed more into this newsletter! If Facebook and Instagram aren’t your thing, this is the perfect way to stay in the loop.
Give it a read—we promise it’s worth it! |
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Storybook Hike Through Saturday, March 29th 2025 Take the family for walk through the woods and read a fun picture book along the way - “Ursula Upside-Down” one of the books from the Tosa All City Read. This is a great opportunity for families to get outdoors in the warmer weather, and visit a local old-growth forest. To find the beginning of the hike: From 87th and Watertown Plank Road go north, then west 0.5 miles on 87th Street and park at the turnabout. Follow the signs to walk to the beginning of the trail. This book hike is sponsored by the Tosa Youth Commission. More information at this link There will be three additional book hikes in May, July, and September. |
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Restoration - 2025 Trash-Out Saturday April 12th Join other volunteers for 1, 2 or 3 hours of removing trash at County Grounds Park. Enjoy a beautiful walk with a trash bag to help remove the spring trash and debris build up. Together we can beautify the park by removing winter trash accumulation and prepare for all our spring visitors - people and animals! This is an easy activity for all ages and ideal for families with small children! No experience is needed, trash bags, training, and location assignments will be provided. Registration is requested for coordination purposes. Please join us! Thanks to Mark McNally for again leading this event! County Grounds Park has two trash pickup events in Spring 2025: Saturday April 12, 9-12: Trash-Out - General trash pickup on the grounds (this event) Saturday April 26, 9-12: Milwaukee Riverkeeper - Waterway Trash Pickup (sign-up pending)
Got questions? Send email to friendsofcountygroundspark@gmail.com |
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Wauwatosa Bird City - Birding Tour Saturday May 10th at 7:30am Join birding enthusiast Mark McNally for a ~90 minute spring migration hike in County Grounds Park. Mark will lead a tour to likely locations for bird sighting, identify the birds and share a little bit about them. Mark also helped build and install the park's bluebird trail! Together we will be hoping to catch views of colorful spring warblers, Scarlet Tanagers and Baltimore Orioles, along with many year-round residents. Tour size is limited and may fill up quickly. This tour honors Wauwatosa, a Bird City Wisconsin-designated "High Flyer" city! Each tour is limited to just 15 people Registration at this link |
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History Tour Saturday May 10th at 10am Jonathan Piel has extensively researched and documented the history of the relics in County Grounds Park. As tour guide, he includes photos, maps, stories that bring over a century of park history alive including visiting many of the remaining remnants. The ~1-mile guided hike includes several pre-designated stops: 120-year old field-stone stairs, split-boulder pavilion, 110-year-old 6' stone dolphin vase, former waterfalls, 300 year old trees, former sunken gardens, and extensive onsite mental health hospital history. Additionally, Nancy Mitchell will join this tour as co-guide. Nancy will share her personal stories of growing up with these grounds as her "backyard" in the 1940s and 1950s because her parents worked in the Tuberculosis Hospital on Watertown Plank Road. The Tour also includes 1950s video in addition to historic photos Registration at this link |
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Photo of the Month Our friends group benefits from nature photography submissions from several local photographers. We post those photos nearly every week on our Facebook page, and are re-posting the most popular photo here of an American Kestrel (2/27). Thanks to Dawl Birds for this photo! More park wildlife photos are also available on our webpage. Also in recent news: Unfortunately, avians with the bird flu have been found in and around County Grounds Park. If see any birds in distress, please see the contact info below. |
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Park Friends Spirit Wear Want to show your pride in County Grounds Park, and help support our Friends Group? Consider purchasing shirts, hats, or mugs at this link: focgp.printify.me These are ideal gifts. Get it for the person you think could love the park too! These items can also be navigated to from our website. |
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Friends of County Grounds Park Monthly Meeting Consider joining our friends group Zoom meeting the 2nd Monday of each month. For those interested in joining our monthly meetings and contributing time, talents, or treasure to co-managing the park - please email friendsofcountygroundspark@gmail.com |
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Reporting Suspicious Activity See something, say something (feeding wild animals, cutting trees, etc.) to: Please be part of the solution and directly report any suspicious activity: Thanks for helping take clear ownership for our shared space
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To ensure you continue receiving these updates, please add tosahistory13@pb03.wixemails.com to your safe sender list or address book |
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Sincere appreciation for a community that has been such good stewards for this precious space. We have a lot to be proud of, the ability to make a difference, and hope for the future. Thank you!! |
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