Good morning, Whitewater

There’s a Birge Fountain Committee meeting at 2 p.m. today, at the White Memorial Building. That’s Whitewater’s only apparent public meeting. If we must have city government, then our municipality’s focus on the Birge Fountain’s better than most activities in which someone would otherwise meddle. If you’ve not already requested time off from work to attend the meeting, there’s still time. I’m sure your private sector employer will understand why you want to wander off attend a fountain meeting in the middle of the day.

Scheduling like this isn’t even a public meeting, for goodness’ sake — it’s like someone’s club, styled as a public activity. Sell the fountain to some rich person with poor taste in sculpture, and let him scrub it, or polish it, or whatever. It probably wouldn’t even go for that much, on the market, anyway. A few hundred bucks would probably get a buyer the fountain, filled with water, and even a few goldfish thrown in the deal. After the sale — one less item to schedule on the city’s calendar.

Well, if a fountain committee in a town with vacant storefronts (by Main & Elizabeth, Main & Tratt) isn’t enough, there’s more to lift your pride today — it’s Jerry Zucker’s birthday. The Wisconsin Historical Society marks the occasion —

On this date [in 1950] film producer Jerry Zucker was born in Milwaukee. With his brother David, he has written, produced, and directed a number of classic comedies including Naked Gun, Airplane!, Top Secret, Police Squad, and Rat Race. Zucker also produced My Best Friend’s Wedding, First Knight, A Walk In the Clouds, and My Life and gave the 2003 commencement address at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Be proud.

Good morning, Whitewater

There is one scheduled public meeting in Whitewater, at 4:30 p.m. today, about the reconstruction of Center Street. Here’s a description, from the City of Whitewater website:

The public is invited to a meeting to discuss the reconstruction of Center Street. Center Street will be reconstructed from Fourth Street to S. Franklin Street. The project includes the reconstruction of the street surface with new curb and gutter, complete replacement of water main, and spot repairs of the sanitary sewer. The street is being widened slightly to accommodate parking on the south side of the street in front of the Library. There will be no assessments to the adjacent property owners for this project. Mark Fisher, Strand Associates engineer and DPW staff will provide a brief presentation of the project then will listen to comments from the public. This project’s contract is scheduled to be awarded by the City Council on May 5 with construction to start in early June and completion in early September.

There’s one public meeting scheduled in Fort Atkinson, at 10 a.m., but I don’t cover Fort Atkinson (except by contrast), and anything involving stormwater is 23% less interesting that anything I would ever consider blogging about. (I seriously doubt that I have any readers who care about stormwater, but if I do, please stop reading. Go out to a bar, or take your girl to a movie, or something, anything, to balance an interest in ‘stormwater issues.’)

In American history today, it’s an anniversary of two technical accomplishments. If you thought that Jefferson and Lincoln were just political men, you’d be mistaken:

Wired reports that

It’s the anniversary of significant scientific and technical accomplishments by two of the greatest U.S. presidents. Thomas Jefferson read a scientific paper in 1797 that’s considered the first American contribution to vertebrate paleontology. Fifty-two years later, Abraham Lincoln filed for a patent, starting a process that would make him the only U.S. president to patent an invention.

The full story is available at Wired‘s website.

Good morning, Whitewater

Two public meetings are scheduled this afternoon in Whitewater. At 4:30 p.m., the CDA Business Park Marketing Committee meets, and at 6:30 p.m. the Irvin Young Memorial Library Board meets.

School’s also back in session, and so many young people are now safely back behind cinderblock walls. Breathe easy, municipal leaders. Conserve your strength until spring break.

It’s another unexpected celebrity birthday in Wisconsin history today, from the Wisconsin Historical Society: in 1959, Kato Kaelin was born on this day.

On this date Kato Kaelin was born in Milwaukee. He made a few appearances in film and TV, but is mainly known for his testimony in the O.J. Simpson trial. Kaelin lived on Simpson’s estate when O.J.’s wife was murdered.

Good morning, Whitewater

There’s still no school today, the second day of parent-teacher conferences. Looking out the window, I can see that the town is still standing. Either concerns about ‘juveniles’ in Whitewater are overblown, or someone managed to handle deftly this community concern.

You may have known about actress Amy Pietz, but carelessly, I didn’t. It’s her birthday. According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Milwaukee native was born in 1969. Here’s her bio:

On this date, TV actress Amy Pietz was born in Milwaukee. Pietz was raised in the suburb of Oak Creek and during her childhood trained as a ballet dancer. She was in the first graduating class of the Milwaukee High School of the Arts, and went on to received a B.F.A. degree in acting from DePaul University in 1991. Pietz’s first professional role was in “A View From the Bridge”, produced by Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

She is best known for her role as Caroline’s neighbor, Annie, in the TV sitcom “Caroline in the City,” which she played for the entire 4 seasons that the series aired. Pietz made her feature film debut in “Jingle All the Way,” with California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Somehow, inexplicably, I missed both Caroline in the City and Jingle All the Way, so the Wisconsin Historical Society’s post was particularly helpful.

Thanks so very much.

Good morning, Whitewater

There’s no school today, and tomorrow, in the district, to allow for parent-teacher conferences. Our town fathers will have to be on heightened alert for the presence of juveniles, loose in town. For the stodgiest of residents: lock your doors, take food and water into a small, secure room, and wait until Monday morning.

It’s a proud day in American history, a day harkening to America’s creative past — on this day in 1963, the Hula Hoop was patented. The History Channel’s website has offers detail:

On this day in 1963, the Hula-Hoop, a hip-swiveling toy that became a huge fad across America when it was first marketed by Wham-O in 1958, is patented by the company’s co-founder, Arthur “Spud” Melin. An estimated 25 million Hula-Hoops were sold in its first four months of production alone.

In 1948, friends Arthur Melin and Richard Knerr founded a company in California to sell a slingshot they created to shoot meat up to falcons they used for hunting. The company’s name, Wham-O, came from the sound the slingshots supposedly made. Wham-O eventually branched out from slingshots, selling boomerangs and other sporting goods. Its first hit toy, a flying plastic disc known as the Frisbee, debuted in 1957. The Frisbee was originally marketed under a different name, the Pluto Platter, in an effort to capitalize on America’s fascination with UFOs.

Melina and Knerr were inspired to develop the Hula-Hoop after they saw a wooden hoop that Australian children twirled around their waists during gym class. Wham-O began producing a plastic version of the hoop, dubbed “Hula” after the hip-gyrating Hawaiian dance of the same name, and demonstrating it on Southern California playgrounds. Hula-Hoop mania took off from there.

The under-rated, under-appreciated film The Hudsucker Proxy, starring Tim Robbins, Paul Newman, and Jennifer Jason Leigh, revolves around the efforts of the fictional Norville Barnes to market something that looks, well, much like a Hula Hoop.

You know, for kids.