Excited for New Neighbors

Here at Cream City Green, we're very excited about the new pub going in around the corner from us.  The Riverwest Public House will be Milwaukee's only cooperatively owned bar.  Slated to open in March, the Public House will occupy the former Sayleece's space at 815 E. Locust.  While we never had any problems with the patrons from Sayleece's, they did tend to make the neighborhood noisy and raucous when entering and leaving the bar.  We're hoping that the neighborhood clientele of the Public House will be a bit more conscientious of the neighborhood.

More importantly, though, we're excited about this concept, and about a new great neighborhood hangout and music venue.

The concept of the Public House is modeled after traditional English public houses - a place for the community to gather, share stories and gossip, laugh, and arrange mutual help within the community.  According to their website, the mission of the Riverwest Public House is "Building Community, one drink at a time!"  They'll be providing a "welcoming social meeting place", providing "a variety of affordable local, organic and/or delicious beers, ciders and spirits", and will "raise funds to propagate other cooperatives through the Riverwest Cooperative Alliance".

You can find out more about the Riverwest Public House on their website, including info about become a coop member and benefits thereof.

It's businesses like these that make me love living in the city... in THIS city!

Cheers!

Organization dichotomies

Over the last year or so, I've been trying to become a more involved member of the citizenry.  I was raised to know that giving your time and talents to others is important and good.  But as I've become more involved in the environmental community, I've realized something.  Organizations seem to come in one of two flavors:  button-down and businessy, or patchouli-loving hippie-dippie.

It's a frustrating divide, as I've always seen myself as being a bit of both.  It's also frustrating, because it leads to duplication of effort and missed opportunities for collaboration.  One group seems to have the lion's share of the money, and the other group seems to have the people-power.

I'm not taking sides, or advocating for one type of activism over another.  Both have their merits.  My point is simply this:  if these two types of environmental organizations could find more common ground, we'd all win.  More would get done.  ...and isn't that what everyone was after in the first place?

Admittedly, I don't have a solution here.  I wish I did.  The best I can say for now is that those of us who know how to walk with a foot on either side of the divide need to step it up.  It may be an uphill battle to get our voices and new ideas heard within an organization, but we are duty-bound to try.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.  Ready?  GO!

Welcome back to the New Year!

Sorry I've been so derelict in this blogging enterprise.  It's a new year now, and I'm resolving to write more. (Lucky you!)

The latter half of 2010 was a doozy for me, personally.  There were joyous moments, to be sure, but on the whole, I'm very happy for this fresh start.

As many of you are heading back to "real life" today, as the holidays come to a close.  I hope that they were a restful and joyous time for you and your loved ones.

To start our year on a courageous footing, I want to share a song that my friend Lori shared with me a few weeks ago, as certain things in my life were coming to a head.  It gave me courage and solace when I needed some.  So, if you need a little of those things in your life today, I hope this little song can provide.