Category Archives: Willy Street

Gallery: Orton Park Fest – Saturday

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Photo by: Thomas Balistreri

Day three of the Orton Park Festival is underway and the park is filling up nicely. Kids games, vendors, bingo, artists, neighbors visiting, along with music on the stage are part of this warm and slightly muggy afternoon.

Madison legends Peter and Lou Berryman began the music lineup at noon and it was followed by other singer/songwriters like Tret Fure and Pieta Brown. The music will continue throughout the day with Canadian indie-rock band The Sadies taking the stage at 8:30 p.m. as the final act of the day.

Brand new Madison resident Thomas Balistreri spent his first Orton Park Festival volunteering at one of the beer stands, but took some time to pass along some photos from this afternoon.

All photos by: Thomas Balistreri

View the 2012 Orton Park Festival schedule here

Previous Orton Park Festival coverage:

Cycropia Dazzles Orton

Orton Park Ready to Celebrate

Mythical Tree Spirit to Fly at Orton Park Fest

Cycropia Dazzles Orton

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International music night with Cycropia’s “Kodama” at 8:15 p.m.

Cycropia peforms “Kodama” on Family Night of the Orton Park Festival, August 23, 2012. Photo by: D.M. Hughes

Crycropia’s performance of “Kodama” was an absolute stunner with throngs of people  attending on Family Night at the Orton Park Festival. Tonight is International Night featuring Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars at 6 p.m., with a break between music sets at 7 p.m. for the MNA Auction, followed by the final festival peformance of Cycropia’s Kodama.

“I went last night. It was breathtaking, beautiful, thrilling-at times, jawdropping. As we used to say, back in the day, ‘It blew me away’, said Atwood resident Dan Melton after viewing Kodama.  “When I shut my eyes to sleep last night, I had pictures of the performance swirling in my head. Still do, this morning.”  Continue reading →

Orton Park Ready to Celebrate

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47th Orton Fest is here despite lingering noise and crowd concerns

In 1975 the festival was known as the MNA picnic. Rented from the City was a trailer that transformed into a stage. Courtesy: Richard and Judith Guyot

The Orton Park Festival (August 23-26) is just days away in this year of the perpetual summer. After Orton there is just one last neighborhood gathering to go, the Willy Street Fair. The Fair, The Fest, La Fete and Waterfront have been fantastic neighborhood celebrations; but may be a victim of their own successes as they have grown exponentially in popularity, and for some, threaten the beauty of the neighborhood they celebrate.

As a kid over three decades ago, the Orton Park Festival was the last event of the summer since it always seemed to fall on the Sunday before the first day of school. That would be Monday, the very next day. So it was a bittersweet time, filled with games, food, music, and my friends, but the first day of school always loomed.

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Mythical Tree Spirit to Fly at Orton Park Fest

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Cycropia Aerial dance to perform “Kodama” in the Orton oak trees

Cycropia Aerial Dance performs at Orton Park in 2011. This year they can be seen on the evenings of August 23 and 24. Courtesy: Crycropia Aerial Dance

In Japan they call it “Kodama”, the mythical tree spirit that protects old trees. Cycropia Aerial Dance hopes to evoke that spirit in Orton Park, a former graveyard, as severe drought has plagued southern Wisconsin this year. The trees are also the center of a neighborhood debate over the effect of thousands of feet and infrastructure the Orton Park Festival (August 23-26) has each year on the park’s Burr oaks.

For the past 10 years Cycropia Aerial Dance, a local collective named for a silkworm moth that is native to Wisconsin, has electrified the first two evenings of the festival with aerial displays to entertain what last year was an estimated 4,000 people crammed into the park.

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Hudson Park Rehab Begins Sept. 3

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Project will bring better lake access for swimmers and light watercraft

Hudson Beach decades ago was a popular spot, and could be again with a construction project that will improve lake access for swimmers and light watercraft.

Hudson Park is an idyllic yet somewhat unknown part of the picturesque route along Lakeland avenue that skirts Lake Monona. Stretching for several blocks, it hugs the shoreline and provides a shortcut for exercise devotees; but has one treasured feature, the native american effigy mounds located in two separate sections of the park.

The park is also home to Hudson beach, except unless you walked right up to the water you would not have known it. The beach, located between Hudson and Miller Avenues, has some sand followed by an uneven stone wall that leads to maybe five feet of beach below at the waters edge.

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10 Things WI Voters Should Know for Primary Day

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GAB looks to cut confusion over changing voter rules

Voters cast their ballots in a recall election for the governor and lieutenant governor at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center June 5, 2012 in Madison, Wisconsin. Photo by Andy Manis/Getty Images

Tuesday (August 14) is Primary Day in Wisconsin, yes another election is here. Ever since Wisconsin Governor Scott Waker launched the state into political chaos, the result has been constant voting by residents due to the recalls and of course the normal election cycle. The Republican controlled legislature has been complicit in this chaos by passing or repealing laws that continue to inflame a sizable portion of the electorate.

One of these laws is Voter I.D., which the Republicans say roots out fraud. But many others say it attacks a problem that doesn’t exist and instead accomplishes another goal; to limit/prevent left-leaning voters access or at least the same ease of access to polling places that right-leaning voters tend to enjoy.  Continue reading →

Central Park Bike-Ped Rail Crossing Approved

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Crossing at Few Street should boost City’s plans for park

The $14 million Central Park will feature trails, structures and amenities designed with Madison’s cultural, natural, and industrial traditions in mind. It will now also include a Bike-Ped rail crossing at Few Street (Right).

While at least one street crossing over the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad tracks through the near-east rail corridor is likely to be closed; another is opening. The City of Madison has successfully petitioned the Wisconsin Railroad Commission to open a pedestrian and bike crossing at Few Street.

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Changes Made to Orton Park Festival

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MNA holds second meeting to address noise, environmental concerns

Residents are concerned about noise during the Orton Park Festival as well as the affect of thousands of feet on the turf and tree roots.

The success of neighborhood festivals in the Marquette Neighborhood is starting to show some strain on residents. Last week (July 31) the Marquette Neighborhood Association held a second meeting to address concerns regarding noise during the upcoming Orton Park Festival and wear and tear on the turf and the tree roots.

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Potential Union Corners Developers to Give Presentations

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Developers to take questions about proposals

Following a meeting on August 6 to score the five proposals for development of Union Corners, a second meeting will be held August 15. At this meeting the developers who have submitted proposals will be given 15 minutes each for a presentation and time will also be made for questions from the public.

The session will be held for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Goodman Community Center. The results of both meetings will be compiled and presented to the selection committee for consideration as the process moves forward.

Atwood-Fair Oaks Intersection to Open 3PM Today

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City hopes to open intersection just before afternoon rush

The detours will be over in a matter of hours as the City announced that the intersection will open at 3 p.m. today (July 26, 2012).

Yang Tao, of the City of Madison Traffic Engineering Division, sent out a letter Wednesday to city officials and neighborhood associations to announce that the Atwood-Fair Oaks intersection, that has been closed since June 18, will open at 3 p.m. today, six days ahead of schedule.
Tao writes:
We got quite a few emails/phone calls asking for the status of the project, and I thought giving everyone an update would be a good idea….
 
…We were able to work with our contractors to get the road work done ahead of schedule, and now City crews are doing their best installing above ground facilities, such as traffic signals, flashing beacons, streetlights, speed board, signing and pavement markings. It looks like they will finish early as well, and should be able to get everything done by early tomorrow afternoon. So instead of originally scheduled opening date of August 1, we are planning onopening the street around 3 PM tomorrow (July 26, Thursday) before peak afternoon traffic hours.
 
Thanks for everyone’s hard work on the project, and thanks to all residents for the involvement and inputs during the process. We appreciate your patience and sacrifice through the construction for the past few weeks.
 
Yang Tao, Ph.D., P.E.
City of Madison – Traffic Engineering Division