The Brookfield Scene

There was comparatively little development in Brookfield west of Highland Drive.  Local grocery stores included Grasch Foods, Food Farm (in Elm Grove and at Ruby Isle).  Neither Elmbrook Memorial nor Brookfield Square had been built.

Brookfield has grown by leaps and bounds since then. Bluemound Road exploded with business, complete with sidewalks and street lights.   In recent years, homes have become bigger and lots have become smaller. The “Brookfield Concept” described on the city’s website seems to emphasize open, green space.  Check it out at http://www.cityofbrookfield.com/index.asp?nid=66.  It doesn’t seem to correlate with today’s development.

As you speed down Bluemound Road, you may notice a large white barn and small two story home on a patch of green.  You'll find this gem on the north side of the road just east of Janacek Road (about 192^nd Street).  If you are more familiar with Best Buy and Menards, Eble Park is just across the street.

This 40 acre patch of green is courtesy of Florence Eble.  At one time, her family farm extended across Bluemound Road, and a barn was on the south side of the road.  Eble donated her forty acres to Waukesha County as a permanent green space.

Florence's Garden provides a welcome respite for drivers speeding past. Passers-by are enthralled by the flower, herb and vegetable gardens at Eble Park.  Some are stopped in their tracks by the season-long beauty in Florence's Garden.  Produce harvested from the vegetable garden is donated to a Waukesha County food bank.

The gardens are cared for by a dedicated group of Master Gardener Volunteers.  In case you haven't heard of "Master Gardeners," each person takes (and pays for) horticultural training by UW-Extension Agents.  In return, they collectively dedicate thousands of hours to gardens in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties each year.

This Saturday, you may see dozens of master gardeners working at Eble.  If weather permits, they will be taking perennial plants from the vegetable garden and potting them.  The plants were donated by master gardeners last fall and grew in the unused garden until now.  In the next few weeks, similar "digs" are scheduled at many, many homes. Thousands of perennials will be sold on May 17, 2008 at State Fair Park DNR area as part of the 13^th Annual Perennial Plant Sale.

Master gardeners volunteer at the Milwaukee County Zoo, State Fair Park, Havenwoods State Park (Milwaukee County) and also at Eble Gardens, Old World Wisconsin and Ten Chimneys (Waukesha County).  They also tend gardens at many other locations and care facilities throughout the metropolitan area.

Brookfield has a few hidden delights right in its own backyard.  One is the "Nature Center" just west of Brookfield East High School's soccer field.  The Nature Center includes 17 acres of land and two ponds.  The school district maintains trails around the ponds, through the mesic prairie, open dry prairie and woodlands with a wooden bridge across a marsh. Volunteers from the Elmbrook Garden Club have planted and maintained plantings of native plants around the visitor center/classroom for over twenty years.

Why would a local garden club get involved in this project?  Well, the 35-member group supports community service projects and outreach programs for youth. As an affiliate of the National Garden Clubs, Inc., it aids in the protection and conservation of natural resources, promotes civic beautification and encourages the improvement of roadsides and parks.  Then again it may be the children's delight when they visit.

A visit to the Nature Center is part of the field trip curriculum for all Kindergarten through 6^th grade classes.  Activities are led by a naturalist/Brookfield East High School Biology Teacher, Greg Wolfe.  Children and the parents who accompany them thoroughly enjoy their visits.  The students study trees; insects; bones, skulls and skeletons; birds, seeds and pods, the pond community, and satellites in the environment.

Brookfield Park & Recreation also holds its fishing classes at the Nature Center's ponds.  High school classes and Scout troops use the center as an outdoor classroom as well.                                              

After nurturing native plants for so many years, garden club members were dismayed when school district construction damaged a prairie planting - not once, but twice.  The first time, the district installed a water line to the visitor center; the second time was during the construction of a concession stand near the soccer fields.  The work was done without any warning to rescue the plants.

In the fall of 2007, the Elmbrook School District provided $900 for the purchase of native plants to restore the damaged plantings.  The Elmbrook Garden Club also applied for and received a $300 grant from the Principal Financial Group Civic Development Grant Program, "Lets Go Native."  This grant money is to be matched by the garden club and other community contributions.  The $600 will be used to purchase additional plants, labels and for split rail fencing to protect the plants.  It is the only garden club in Wisconsin that received a grant.

The National Garden Clubs, Inc. (NGC) established the grant program under the sponsorship of the Principal Financial Group Foundation Inc. to boost civic development across the nation by planting natives.  NGC is a not-for profit organization composed of 50 State Garden Clubs and the National Capital Area, 7,183 member garden clubs and 221,943 members as well as International Affiliates from Canada to Mexico and South America.

The goal of this project is to restore the plantings around the visitor center, to increase the diversity of plants at the nature center and to educate visitors -- young and old.  For more information about joining the Elmbrook Garden Club, touring and/or working in the nature center contact Judy Newman, newman9641@aol.com Community Coordinator.

Over the next two weekends, you'll have a chance to enjoy the 23rd Annual Original One-Act Festival" staged by the Brookfield Players and Village Playhouse of Wauwatosa.  It all takes place at our beautiful Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts (Brookfield).

 It's a must-see event which feature's Wisconsin's most talented playwrights, award-winning directors and phenomonal casts.  The five one-act plays are:

 Six Characters in Search of An Audience by Matthew Lovison; directed by Tom Zuehlke

The Difference Dies by Mary K. Ryan; directed by Laura Kohn-LaPinske

Strangers in The Afternoon by Marion H. Youngquist; directed by Robert Lee

A Negotiable Position by Daniel Loebl; directed by Pat Hitt

The Pick Up by Ken Drzakowski; directed by Mark Wyss

The dates to remember are April 5 & 6 and April 11 & 12.  8 pm. Fridays; 2:30 and 8 pm. Saturdays.

Adults $15; Seniors & Students $13.  Group rates are available.  Tickets are available at the box office or online www.wilson-center.com.