SPRING 2013 APRIL MAY JUNE

WE ARE MILWAUKEE COUNTY PARKS

MOTHERS DAY WEEKEND NATIVE PLANT SALE

Saturday and Sunday, May 11 & 12, 9 am3:30 pm

Sunday, April 21 Noon 4 pm$2 per person $1 for FOW members $3 per car parking feeCelebrate spring and the wonders of our Earth at Wehr! There will be activities for all ages that help you connect to nature and teach you how to live more lightly on the Earth. Special features are: Participate in a family friendly, interactive performance by Kohls Wild Theater of two short plays The Strange Case of the Alien Invasion and the Legend of the Hiberacula. This 40-minute performance is presented by Kohls Cares and the Zoological Society of Milwaukee Show starts at 1:30 pm and is free with your event admission

Feel the press of keys and hear the click-clack of vintage Manual Typewriters as you create your own Earth Day message at our 1st Annual Type-In Learn how to live more sustainably Make recycled paper and other Earth friendly crafts

Wehr Nature Center is happy to present our new look for the newsletter! We have been working hard to produce an online, downloadable version as well as a fresh new look for the print version. We hope you will enjoy the special fea-tures of the online version such as the Owl Button which will link you to web pages that correspond to the page you are viewing. There are also traditional underlined links to more information about particular events, clubs, etc. And maybe even a surprise or two!

Beautify your yard with native plants from Wehrs annual sale, suitable for sun or shade and wet or dry. This is a very

popular sale so come early for the best selections. Pick up an Early Order Form from the Nature Center or download it at: www.friendsofwehr.org/fow-plantsale.htmlThis will help assure (but not guarantee) your selections ahead of time.

Pre-order forms are due by April 25.

Sunday, June 9 1- 4 pm$2 per person $1 for FOW members

$3 per car parking feeDiscover the world of Reptiles and

Amphibians! Meet live snakes, turtles, and lizards from Wisconsin and around the world.

Learn how to live with our misunderstood and scaly wild neighbors. Enjoy kids crafts. Refreshments are available for purchase.

Kohls Wild Theater performs at Earth Day 2012

http://county.milwaukee.gov/InCelebrationofTrees24982.htmhttp://county.milwaukee.gov/MothersDayPlantSale10353.htmhttp://county.milwaukee.gov/MothersDayPlantSale10353.htmhttp://county.milwaukee.gov/InCelebrationofTrees24982.htmhttp://www.friendsofwehr.org/fow-plantsale.htmlhttp://www.friendsofwehr.org/fow-plantsale.htmlhttp://county.milwaukee.gov/ReptileDay10348.htm

Meet Wehrs New Naturalist, Emily BrownMy first memory of Wehr Nature Center was the famous Starlab Astronomy Program. I still have the sun and moon t-shirt speckled with blue and yellow puffy paint I made that summer. This celestial work of art holds its place in a special keep-sake box of items that mark my introduction to nature and the wonders of earth and sky. Thinking back to my childhood, the County Parks bring about endless memories of family picnics & gatherings, laying under the shade of big old trees, and exploring the endless insects, birds, and other critters with my brother. When the opportunity to work as a Naturalist at Wehr Nature Center came about, it was a welcome sign for me to bring my park connection full circle.

I have had some exciting developments inthe past few months that allow me to further my academic and professional development.In January, I began the Online Masters Program in Environmental Education & Interpretation with UW-Stevens Point. This unique program will allow meto maintain full-time employment while advancing my academic career. I have also been given the honor to serve on the WAEE Board of Directors (WI Assoc. for EE) for a 3 year term. These new challenges will give me theopportunity to advanceenvironmental education throughout the state and better serve the community and our environment. I am thrilled to join the talented and dedicated Wehr Nature Center team. It is an honor to work along such amazing staff and volunteers. I look forward to experiencing the seasons and the amazing variety of programs for young and old. I hope to pass on the love of nature and the outdoors that was ignited in me as a child through my experiences at the Milwaukee County Parks.

Help Us Repair The View The view from inside Wehrs Visitor Center is breathtaking. Our floor to ceiling windows allow visitors to sit in the comfort of the indoors and watch the geese splash down on the lake or catch a close-up look at a woodpecker on the suet feeders. But anyone who has come to Wehr recently knows the view of the Visitor Center from the outside is any-thing but breathtaking. Years of deferred maintenance have allowed nature to get too close, rotting the cedar siding and window jams. Woodpeckers have opened up holes in the Gardner Room walls, and the squirrels, mice and bluebirds have moved in. We love animals, but they dont need to be nesting in our siding! Thankfully, help is on the way. The Parks Department has allocated funds for building repair in 2013. County funding will be used to

Center News

replace the rotted siding with a cement board composite material that will look like our wood siding but wont be susceptible to woodpecker holes. This is a little more costly but the savings in maintenance will more than make up for the cost. Before we can move forward with the siding work, however, new windows must be installed. Dry rot has destroyed the frames of most of the windows in the building and many are so old they are inefficient single pane glass. As we started to figure out how much it will cost to replace windows we were amazed to learn we have over 106 windows in our building! This is where the Friends of Wehr are coming in to help the Center. To replace them all at once would be very cost prohibitive. The windows have been priced out, numbered, labeled with stickers and prioritized so that individuals, local businesses, or service groups can help the Center by funding a window. Each window donor will get a plaque listing their name on the window they donate. The goal is to have all of the priority 1 and 2 windows donated and installed by the end of August 2013. This would give the County enough time to get the new siding on the building before winter. Please help us with this extremely important project. Donate a window or provide us with a local business contact that we could contact about sponsoring a window. Please contact Deb McRae 414-425-8550 to donate or provide a business contact suggestion.

The Gardner Room siding and windows have become an eyesore

Friends Of Wehr

Thank You!Your contributions to the Friends of Wehr are appreciated and always used with careful consideration.

DonationsAnonymousEvelyn Brandt David FlessnerIronwood FoundationMary Ann KniepCarole WetchKaren HuthLara SteinbachMichael GoodmanGary SmiejaJudith Brooks-LevarKatherine SmithRaymond ScolavinoRachel FingerColleen ResendizKen and Sally WaraczynskiDouglas KowalskiAudrey ReineckJohn and Mary Donovan

Betty and Albert SiemsenNorm GunderJames and Barbara TatnallHelen FlynnAnonymousDebra McRaePaula Johnson-MarsolekCorinne and Mark BeineJohn KreznerMary BardLynn KaishianMemorialsMartha RonsmanDavid and Mariette NowakLee and Pauline RadenMary Ann Van EsInger AstrinGloria SchnollInger Astrin

Herron Ike EcksteinTerry and Sheila HallCity of Milwaukee Assessors Office Sunshine FundMary Beth Lueck and Daniel KinjerskiKaren LiskaSusan LongleyIn-Kind DonationsSheila HallElizabeth SandersBarbara WallnerJim WroblewskiREIAnonymousCarol BlockBruce SchultzCorporate/Business DonationsKohlsPyramax Bank

Thank you to Jackie Crivellos Wild Birds Unlimited for their

continuing support in keeping our feeders full

and our birds happy. Please support their business located at

4454 S. 108th Street in Greenfield.

Thank you to the following cooks, donors, and helpers:Paul and Pat Brings, Pat Chung, Mary Cywinski, Sharon Fliess, Sue Gordon, Greg Joers, Kathy Kadolf, Kathy LeMaster, Diane Lembck, Judy MacMiller, Tom and Deb McRae, Betty Mielcarek, Jo Anne Mudry and family, Barb Nellen, Georgiana Orthaus, Dean and Mary Rockstad, Marilyn Runge, Betty and Al Siemsen, Pat Szmurlo, Karen Szews, Maureen Vanderhoof, Mark Verhagen, Deb Wiedmeyer, Kathy Wroblewski. A special thanks to Barb Nellen for being not only the event planner but a winning chili cook.

The Friends of Wehr Ground Hog Day Chili-Cook Off was a resounding suc-cess. Over 75 people participated in the deliciously fun event raising over $1500.00 for Wehrs accessibility project. The Friends of Wehr would like to thank the eight chili cooks and all the people who made deserts, veggie trays, cheese plates, and corn bread. Donations of wine, beer, and silent auctions items added to the revenue and fun.The chilies were delicious and all the cooks did an outstanding job. The First Place chili went to Wehrs own Mark Verhagen with his Venison Chili. Second pl