Snuggle up with some holiday cheer as OnMilwaukee shares stories of everything merry and bright in the spirit of the season.
The OnMilwaukee Ho Ho Holiday Guide is brought to you by Educators Credit Union, Harley-Davidson Museum and MolsonCoors.
Tough times appear to have hit the Milwaukee holiday signage fun, it seems, with a seasonal neon favorite absent this year.
For a number of years, Extra Space Storage, in the shadow of the Marquette Interchange at 999 W. Mt. Vernon Ave., in the Menomonee Valley, would turn off the initial “S” in its big red SELF STORAGE sign, to advertise ELF STORAGE for the season.
This year, some folks – like reader Amy Turim, who asked for more information – have noticed that tradition hasn’t been continued. This, to the disappointment, surely, of commuting drivers who could use a little smile.
"I’ve been waiting for the 'S' to go dark," says Corey Zetts, executive director of Menomonee Valley Partners, "and then time flew by.
"My daughter was sad it hasn’t changed yet, and I’m sure there are lots of others in her camp."
Unfortunately, trying to reach a human voice at the other end of the line when calling the storage business proved fruitless and a message was not returned, so we don’t know whether or not the lack of storage of elves was accidental or intentional, nor if it will return in the future.
But, thankfully, the The Iron Horse Hotel – also in the Valley – albeit right on the edge, at 500 W. Florida St. in Walker’s Point, continues its neon Natale.
There, the rooftop red neon sign has again been tinkered to read IRON HO HO.
Earlier in December, the boutique hotel had an Iron Ho Ho Holiday Lights Party with music, vendors and more, and donated the proceeds to the Hunger Task Force.
Now THAT’s the spirit!
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He can be heard weekly on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories.
