Martin Drive Oct. E-News

Martin Drive E-News - October 2008

Vliet Street Community Green Market is Extended

Sundays 11am to 3 pm -- Washington Park Senior Center
4420 W. Vliet Street

Please come to the market on Sundays. The market is being extended at the request of the request of the produce vendors. So help them with the harvest by coming out to purchase their wares.

Night Time Trick or Treat -- Friday October 31st

This year the ever-loved night time trick or treat falls on Halloween. Preparations and planning are taking place now. We will need help with registration, delivery to treating homes, and security monitors. Please contribute to this uniting event.

CELEBRATE FAIR TRADE MONTH ON WEST VLIET STREET
October 8, Fair Trade wine and chocolate tasting at Perpendicular Wine Bar, 5000 W. Vliet, at 7pm featuring a speaker from Divine Chocolate Company.

October 10, Free Poetry Reading and Entertainment by Jim Schley and Jesus Villa at 7:00pm at Art and Soul Gallery.

October 11, 1 to 2 pm, Free Story Time with Rainbow Booksellers at Art and Soul Gallery.

October 16, 7 pm: Rev. Vincent Busch will speak on the current "Culture Clash" or "Ways that money can enhance or hinder a Substance Economy". Rev. Busch works with the Subanen Tribe in the Philippines to design products that encourage the use of traditional skills in making jewelry in order to be economically sustainable. Event sponsored by Four Corners of the World at 5407 West Vliet Street.

October 17 and 18, City Wide Gallery Night and Day at Art and Soul.

October 23, 7-8:30 pm: Rishi Tea Tasting and presentation on Fair Trade Tea by Rishi Tea Company staff sponsored by Four Corners of the World at 5407 West Vliet Street. Please RSVP to 443-9606, if possible.

October 24 and 25: Celebration of Sustainable Art and Crafts from Wisconsin and numerous developing countries at the Four Corners of the World Fair Trade Store at 5401 West Vliet. Local artist Dara Chappie will exhibit art made by recycling. Go to www.milwfairtrade.org for Citywide events.

Got the Utility Bill Blues?

We energies can shut off your utilities if you have past due balances until Oct. 15. If you face having, utilities shut off here are some things you can do.

Contact the utility company immediately to make a payment plan. If you cannot reach a payment agreement, contact the Public Service Commission’s Consumer Affairs @ (800) 225-7729.

If you need help paying your utility bill, there is financial assistance available for income eligible households thru the Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP) at (866) 432-8947 or online at www.homeenergyplus.wi.gov

There is a comprehensive listing of the State’s energy assistance programs at (800) 522-3014 or online @ www.energyhelp.wi.gov.

Foreclosure Prevention & Assistance

Do not be afraid to reach out for help. There are more and more foreclosures coming up. If you need help, reach out and be persistent in requesting help.

Some resources for help with foreclosure are:

Homeowner Preservation Foundation Hotline 1-888-995-HOPE

Acorn Housing Corp. 414-444-6902

Housing Resources Inc. 414-461-6330

2007 Night Time Trick or Treat

A Howling Good Time For All!
The night was flawless, except for a few over generous people who ran out of candy early because they gave out handfuls! The setting for the 2007 Spooktacular was 44th Street from Martin Drive to Vliet Street. The weather was perfect. Earlier in the week 44th Street looked like any other street but Friday afternoon before the event, neighbors came together and decorated for an awesome event.

Thanks to the generosity of our many friends and neighbors, the annual Night Time Tick-Or-Treating event was another huge success! We would like to thank everyone in the Martin Drive Neighborhood who helped make our Halloween celebration fun and safe for the children who participated.

Thanks to the 38 families who were our Treating Homes. You have our most sincere thanks. And very special thanks to Naima Adedapo, Jennifer Visnaw and her daughter, Shannon Visnaw who went door to door convincing neighbors to be treating homes. We could not have done this without you.

Thank you, also, to all the families who donated candy for the Treating Homes. My office was over run by a mountain of candy and we were able to supplement the candy of the Treating Homes, provide candy to our volunteer porches and give candy to the teen volunteers.

We want to thank the following people for their help at registrations and in assembling and/or delivering registration packs and Treating Home bags:

Linda Devitt
Cindy Hartzheim
Katrina Knight (founder of this event)
Pat Mueller
Georgia Pagel
Ada Rouse
Betty Siemsen
Jennifer Visnaw
Shannon Visnaw


Seventeen teens volunteered that evening handing out candy at houses that requested volunteers and gathering up the luminary buckets for safe return. They all arrived on time and were a great help to the event.

Our safety monitors had one of the coldest jobs but they also have our warmest thanks. Thanks to you we were ready for anything. Thanks to:

Betty Siemsen
Bob Hirschi
Dan Larson
Georgann Perason
Joey Duncan
Katie Halopka
Mary Kreitlow
Matt Brengel
Mike Posnanski
Naimi Adedapo
Nick Peterson
Raymond Duncan
Rodd Washington
Terri Bartlett
Tom Blaha
Vicki Provencher
Al Siemsen


Many thanks to our Alderman Michael Murphy who made sure we received the proper permits to close the street and re-route the bus line and Community Liaison, Officer Robert King who arranged for the presence of the Auxiliary Police at our event. Because of their help our event was fun and safe.

The following people made generous monetary donations to our Night Time Trick-or-Treating Event and deserve our heartfelt thanks:

Dave Johnson

Frank Kopenski

Patricia Mundford

Debbie Pagel
Jeffrey Stroman

This year something new was added to the already Spooktacular event. Because of an extremely generous contribution of time, talent and money, a backdrop was set up to take free photos of the kids. Precious memories were captured in photos which will be made available framed and free of charge at our November monthly meeting. Halloween frames have been ordered to complete the very professional portraits.

Christina Head of Fox Six News covered the event. Martin Drive made it to the 9 & 10 pm news for a neighborhood Halloween event that was safe and well attended.

Thanks to Pat Mueller keeping up with the paperwork, use of her office for registrations and to house many pounds of Halloween candy, and materials needed for the event.

The Halloween Committee enjoyed meeting many new neighbors and catching up with those neighbors we already know. This event makes our neighborhood truly special and connects and bonds so many people. We enjoyed the comments from neighbors and participants about how nice the event was and we were grateful to see how many children and adults said “thank you” for the fun and memorable evening. We have enjoyed working with our neighbors and look forward to bigger and better Halloween celebrations each year.

Thank EVERYONE for so much enthusiastic support.