Wintry Fun at Kosciuszko Park

Ice skating on the Kozy Park lagoon was back this January for its second year after a decades-long hiatus. Urban Anthropology and the City of Milwaukee's Neighborhood Improvement Development Corporation (NIDC) partnered to have the frozen lagoon landscaped and provided free skate rental and free hot chocolate to the public for four straight weeks, Monday and Tuesday evenings.

 

Bayview Compass "Ice Skating Returns to Kosciuszko Park" Jan 12, 2010 

...Urban Anthropology, Inc., which spearheads Healthy Neighborhood program activities in the neighborhood, is a community-based membership association dedicated to the celebration of cultural diversity and a holistic approach to urban problem-solving.  The re-opening of the ice rink is part of the group’s “Beautiful Blocks” program, which also includes activities such as creating an idea book and holding workshops to help property owners improve the curb appeal of their homes. Urban Anthropology also is sponsoring a five-week Winter Wonderland after-school program that teaches youth about the history and cultural origins of winter sports, including ice-skating at the Kosciuszko lagoon rink. Read the full article here.

Skating's over 'til next year, and according to Wynter, Milwaukee's own weather predicting groundhog, winter will be over sooner rather than later, too. Wynter did NOT see her shadow on February 2nd, and neither did Jimmy, the Sun Prairie groundhog.

A brief introduction to Lincoln Village

 Lincoln Village is a diverse neighborhood on Milwaukee's near south side. The neighborhood - officially bound by Becher Street to the north, Cleveland Avenue to the south, 5th Place to the east, and 16th street to the west - was first settled by Polish immigrants in the late 19th century.

There are many remnants of those early "Polonia" days. St. Josaphat's Basilica, funded and built by faithful Polish residents, was the second church in the entire country to become a basilica. A monument to General Thadeus Kosciuszko, a Polish hero who fought against the British in the American Revolutionary War, proudly faces Lincoln Avenue from his pedestal in Kosciuszko Park. Residents can thank the Poles for the area's solid and attractive housing stock, too. The neighborhood has always been one of the most densely populated in the city, and the old Polish flats - two story frame houses raised half a story to create a ground-level dwelling space for more tenants - speak to the immigrant history of the area. Lincoln Villagers have always been hard workers, and long-time residents pride their community on its blue collar roots.

Lincoln Village today is a much more diverse community. In 1910, the neighborhood was virtually 100% Polish Catholic. In 2010, the neighborhood - as surveyed thus far - includes representatives from over 108 nations, including the many Indian nations of Wisconsin and other states. While many Polish families have remained here through the generations, Mexican Americans make up over half of the population. The six largest ethnic groups in the neighborhood today are Mexican, Polish, Puerto Rican, African American, German, and native, with Lincoln Village having perhaps the largest concentration of urban Indians in the city of Milwaukee. Other residents hail from South and Southeastern Asia, North and East Africa, Eastern Europe (particularly the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia), and of course, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

The experience of several Lincoln Village cultural groups are documented in the rooms of the Old South Side Settlement Museum at 707 W Lincoln Avenue. Mexican, Peruvian, Salvadoran, and Serbian restaurants, Mexican bakeries and supermarkets, a Mexican butcher and old-time A & J Polish Deli serve residents and visitors to Lincoln Village today.