Friends of County Grounds Park April Update |
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(5) Weed Outs - Park Safety (2) Trash Outs - Birding Tour History Tour- Storybook Hike Photo of the Month |
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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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Park Safety Please review the County Grounds Park rules enforced by the Sheriff. If you see something, say something. Please be part of the solution and directly report any violating or suspicious activity: Sheriff non-emergency line: 414-278-4788 County Park Rangers: 414-257-7777 Fire or medical emergency: 911
Thanks for helping take clear ownership for our shared space. |
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Restoration - 2025 Trash-Out Saturday April 12th at 9am 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 in next article)
Got questions? Send email to friendsofcountygroundspark@gmail.com |
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Restoration - 2025 Milwaukee Riverkeeper® Spring Cleanup Saturday April 26th at 9am Are you passionate about our environment? Join the Annual Milwaukee Riverkeeper Spring Cleanup! Help remove trash from around the multiple ponds within County Grounds Park. Perfect activity for individuals or families. Milwaukee Riverkeeper will provide gloves, trash bags, and a FREE t-shirt to every volunteer! All interested participants must register in advance which includes a sign digital waiver. Volunteers can stay as long as desired until noon. Please join us! Registration and more details available at this link Thanks to Freddy Hoppe 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 (sign up in previous article) Saturday April 26, 9-12: Milwaukee Riverkeeper - Waterway Trash Pickup (this event)
Got questions? Send email to friendsofcountygroundspark@gmail.com |
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Wauwatosa Bird City - 2025 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 June 14th 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 These history tours fill very quickly, don't delay |
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Storybook Hike The Whole Month of May Take the family for walk through the woods and read a fun picture book along the way - “If You Give a Pig a Pancake”. This is a great opportunity for families to get outdoors 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. There will be two additional book hikes in July, and September. |
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Photo of the Month Our friends group benefits from nature photography submissions from several local photographers and a webcam. We post those photos nearly every week on our Facebook page, and are re-posting the most popular March photo here of a Peregrine Falcon (3/11). Thanks to the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center who hosts this nest atop the thermal plant adjacent to the park. This photo is taken via their webcam which can be viewed live at the bottom of this page. As of April 1st, this falcon is nesting with a mate and has 4 eggs which should hatch in May! 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 you see any birds in distress, please see the contact info below. |
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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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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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