Gallery: Orton Park Fest – Sunday

Posted on August 27, 2012 by TheEastSider

Festival ends with smooth, heavy chords and sunshine

Wendell Holmes of The Holmes Brothers gets into a jam early during their Sunday afternoon set at the 47th Orton Park Festival, August 26, 2012.

The final day of the 47th Orton Park Festival began with light drizzle but ended with sunshine and dry ground, and the smooth, heavy chords of Anders Osborne. The rain never got above mildly annoying and eventually faded to local showers under specific trees when there was a gust of wind.

As the sun rose, so did the audience in front of the main stage. Food and drink vendors did a brisk business as the neighborhood gathered one last day to enjoy a late summer party which is a fundraiser for the Marquette Neighborhood Association. Proceeds raised through the auction, cake walk, along with food and drink sales supports Wil-Mar Center programs including after school programs, food pantry, health classes, and educational programs. Continue reading →

Gallery: Orton Park Fest – Saturday

Posted on August 25, 2012 by TheEastSider

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

Posted on August 24, 2012 by TheEastSider

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

Posted on August 21, 2012 by TheEastSider

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.

Continue reading →

Mythical Tree Spirit to Fly at Orton Park Fest

Posted on August 20, 2012 by TheEastSider

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.

Continue reading →

Hudson Park Rehab Begins Sept. 3

Posted on August 20, 2012 by TheEastSider

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

Posted on August 13, 2012 by TheEastSider

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

Posted on August 8, 2012 by TheEastSider

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

Posted on August 7, 2012 by TheEastSider

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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‘So Easy A Woman Could Fly It’

Posted on August 5, 2012 by TheEastSider

Women pilots in WW II helped men conquer fears of flying the B-29

Former B-29 Pilot Dora Dougherty (left) and Lt. Col. George Hardy ret. a Tuskegee Airman flew the B-29 in Korea. Photo by: Steve Schapiro

In World War Two women were not allowed to fly in combat, and African-Americans were only begrudgingly permitted toward the end of the conflict. But women did perform an incredible amount of military flying as Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs).

The Boeing B-29 “Superfortress” was the best bomber of the war, but it had some serious teething problems that made male pilots reluctant to fly it. Enter two WASPs who were plucked by Colonel Paul Tibbets to demonstrate that the plane was safe. Tibbets took this extraordinary step because he had a big mission to accomplish; train a bomber group to drop atomic weapons, which at that moment was still a big “if”.

Continue reading →