Posted inNeighborhood News

Green Holidays 2009

Green Holidays

by Tess Reiss

 

Commerce in Riverwest has been surprisingly robust despite the economic dump of the past year. Bliffert’s opened a brand new hardware store last spring. ReThreads recycled clothing popped up on Humboldt. The incredible Centro Café, Planet Scooter, and Jazz Gallery are drawing folks to Center Street. Diners are exploring Latino cuisine at Nina’s Restaurant and Café Corazon.

Posted inNeighbor Spotlight

Flora Coker

Photo by Rebecca Vinz
Flora Coker was a founding member of Theater X. For 35 years she kept company with the likes of actors John Schneider, Willem Dafoe, Deborah Clifton, Victor DeLorenzo, John Kishline, Marcy Hoffman and Rick Graham. She has played in nearly 200 productions over the course of her acting career, but Coker describes herself as a quiet person.
 

Posted inNeighborhood News

Christmas in the Red

by Lawerence Dugan Nichols
Together we make up a consumer culture, and everywhere you look there are nonessential commodities for sale. Each Christmas, Americans purchase billions of dollars worth of these for gift-giving. Meanwhile, stores pump out carols over the loudspeakers, adorn the walls with wreaths, and hold special sales the day after Thanksgiving. 

Posted inNeighborhood News

In Search of a Riverwest Christmas

By Julie Strand 

Ah, Christmas… ugly pipe cleaner ornaments you made when you were six hanging on the tree, listening to Jingle Bell Rock on 99.1, hanging mistletoe on your front door so that you can kiss whomever walks in…. well maybe that doesn’t happen as much. It is that time of year again Riverwest, and don’t try and deny the fact that everyone has a secret desire to jump on Santa’s lap in the mall. A holiday that centers on celebration is always a big hit – who doesn’t like a good party? The twinkle lights, the wreaths, the search through every toy store in Milwaukee for this year’s new cool toy for your second cousin’s kid, it is all done in celebration. For Christians who observe the holiday, the celebration is for the birth of Jesus – you know, God’s son.