Around the Corner with John McGivern

(light music) I am on Watertown Plank Road in the village of Elm Grove surrounded by Brookfield. This episode- Brookfield, Elm Grove. (light playful music) We are in downtown Elm Grove which is surrounded which is surrounded by Brookfield. So it makes sense to me that we're doing Elm Grove and Brookfield together. I think it's a great idea. (bell ring) Hey John. Hey John. Elm Grove Brookfield together. Together? Yeah. Why are we right here? Because we're on Watertown Plank Road which went through back in 1850. Right where it crosses a railroad line built back in 1851. So it's a really old crossing. It put Elm Grove on the map. Today you think of Elm Grove as kind of an upscale suburb but it began as a trading center for local farmers with it's own mill right across the street in the old town of Brookfield. The old town of Brookfield? The old town of Brookfield. Still here? It still is sort of, the township lines are still here. It includes what's now the city of Brookfield, Village of Elm Grove, and some town lands in the west. This was really good farmland and by the 1850s you have a lot of Germans moving here. And because you have the Plank Road and the railroad you had easy access to the Milwaukee market. So this was a very prosperous farm center with close ties to the city. -

John

So they went and sold in the city, did any of the city people come out here? -

John G

Just to visit. Until the 1920s and then you had a very select group who moved out here permanently. Yet go all the way to downtown Milwaukee. And there's a zone of affluence that begins down in Grand Avenue. Now West Wisconsin Avenue. And kind of moved out to the west in places we've been; Concordia neighborhoods, Washington Heights, Washington Highlands, along with Tulsa. And then in the 1920s that zone finally passed into the Waukesha county district on the other side of 124th Street. The very first upscale subdivisions began right here on Watertown Plank Road back in the mid 1920s. But the depression hits 1929 and things stayed really quiet after World War II. Then the lip just blew off. You have thousands of Milwaukeeans kinda coming out across 124th Street, truing the old Brookfield farms into subdivisions. The city of Brookfield incorporates back in 1954. The village of Elm Grove follows in 1955. And they both have zoning ordinances that require larger homes on larger lots. And some ways that was just kind of formalizing what was happening anyway. This was till part of the old zone of affluence from downtown Milwaukee. At one time Saint Mary's Parish here in Elm Grove had 110 doctors in it's metroship. -

John

That tells it all. So this area which they began to call Elm Brook, the whole area became the fastest growing section of the fastest growing county in the entire state. -

John

Then what happened? -

John G

In 1967 Brookfield Square opens as Wisconsin's first enclosed mall. Right next door, Bluemound Road becomes a commercial corridor for the entire region. So more mixed land uses today. Population? Little over 50,000 in Elm Brook altogether. And roughly half still claim at least some German background. Is that right? Boundaries? -

John G

The old 36 mile square box, goes from Springdale Road in the west, 124th on the east. From Greenfield Avenue in the south up to Lisbon Road or Hampton Avenue on the north. -

John

Did you know this area growing up? No, I'm from the south side. I knew nothing. So what's going on here? I'm glad to know it. And bike riding, doing okay? No bad, not bad. Small trails, not real hard. And you past the convent? I did. That's what I like. You'll see it again. -

John

Thanks, John. -

John G

See ya, John. -

John

I want to tell you the quick story, in 1855 Mother Superior of the School Sisters of Notre Dame made her way up Watertown Plank Road. Her horse stopped and the horse said I'm not going any further. She said it's a sign from God, we need to build here. And it was here long before Elm Grove. The School Sisters of Notre Dame were the last people I saw in my education from first to eighth grade. Yeah, it's a tough house this one is, trust me. Bluemound Road between Amoreland and Highway 18, you can find anything here. Anything and everything. It's Brookfield, that land of plenty and lots of travel. -

Prince

I'm going to give you a test and we're going to see how well you drive. -

John

So my mother didn't get her drivers license until she was 40. And when she was 40- Left turn signal. -

John

Hilda Wasalouski, the woman across the street Very good. -

John

Taught her how to drive. How did this happen? Let's pull out. Gosh, I started when I was about 20 years of age. My brother in law needed to learn how to drive so my brother came to me and he's like, hey I'm going to give you $100 if you teach em. And then slowly I said hey, you know what, maybe something could be done about this thing. So I little by little saved money. Opened up an LLC. Check your mirrors. 2007 got licensed to teach teenagers. Different laws for over 18 and under 18. And been here since. For under 18- Look at her. She already put her blinker on. -

Prince

You have to do to 30 hours of classroom. -

John

Okay. -

Prince

And you have to drive for six hours with a driving instructor. You have to also sit in the back for six hours and watch another student drive. We need both hands on the wheel, preferably. Did you go to high schools to do it? We go to the high school but we became one of the first driving schools in the state of Wisconsin to start offering online drivers ed. Now in classroom they do a thing called a hybrid. Learn exactly the same. We built the curriculum ground up. What does is costs somebody to get their license these days. -

Prince

So under 18, the average costs in this area is around $355. -

John

Student wise, how many do you have a year? -

Prince

1,000 to 1,400 a year. The ultimate goal is what? Ultimate goal is for them to not hit me. Because I'm driving around these cities as well. So we do our best in that. -

Jennifer

Our population is about 40,000 but in the daytime it comes to over 125,000 people in the city. I'm going to ask you guys just to stand back because I'm just going to put my weapon away. Okay. Stand back, stand back. How many on the force? 74. These are the admitting officers. Yes, for the handcuffs. Oh that's what it's for? It's not to hold on. Yes. (laughing) -

John

74, how many detectives? -

Jennifer

Ten. This is out evidence processing room. -

John

Ten, how many women detectives? We now have three. So they check it in with you? Mm hmm. Drugs, weapons. Sometimes we get cars. For a long time you were the only woman detective? Yes. What's it like working with all guys? Imma tell you, I love it. They're not male, they're not female, they're my partners. And we do our best. But we do it great because we have a great crew that always works together. Partners. Partners. That's really the thing. That is it. Yeah. Some of our squad cars are here. Obviously we have several on the road right now with patrol officers in them. We have a lot of crashes in the city of Brookfield. We have a lot of traffic. Cones, medical bags, accident reconstruction material, blankets. This is- This is our computer. The biggest tool. This is the biggest tool. This is where we run driver's licenses, criminal history, license plates. But it's also internet accessible. We take the photos of all of our suspects right here. We just do our best to be their for the victim, for the families, for the community. And hopefully get justice for them. Yeah. And how I'm scared, because you've done that properly. (laughs) I went to jail for four hours. I was driving with a suspended license that I didn't know was suspended. I was living in Georgia but it was suspend out of Florida where I lived before I went to Georgia. And I didn't know it was suspended and they picked me up and said, suspended license. And they took me in. Front first. And I called my brother, it was a Saturday morning. It says I can get you out on Monday. That's what he said, on Monday. I said I can't stay here. They've served bologna sandwiches that were terrible. (laughs) -

Jennifer

No, don't need that one. (laughs) John Gurda, you're going to be so proud of me. Guess what I found? I found the original Watertown Plank Road. This is the original. I am so excited. But like every other road in the this state in the middle of the summer, guess what, it's under construction. Road closed. I'm excited about this one. This is about home staging. Who's your client? When do you want them to call you? Do you want them before they're on the market? -

Mary

It's best if they do. Because you're not wasting time. And those people who come and see it, if they don't like it the first time they're not going to come back cause you fixed it up a little bit. -

John

Right. -

Mary

So it's best to plan ahead. One of the very first clients I had, they're house had been on the market for a year. We took it off the market, They changed the colors, they fixed it up, we rented furniture. They updated some things. Took a lot of stuff out. They had an open house Sunday. By Tuesday they had three offers over the asking price. -

John

Price, is it hourly? -

Mary

I do hourly. -

John

You do? -

Mary

And it can be two hours, it can be one, it can be 20. It just depends on how bad the situation is at the house. Start to finish, it can be three to five hours. -

John

Can I tell ya, that investment, that's a very small percentage of what's it's going to take for you to accomplish the goal of selling. Yes, the statistics are faster and for more money if you stage your house. -

John

Yeah, and look at the change. It's really nice. -

Mary

It's homey, yet not expensive. It's called a home staging miracle, right here. This is a place called Water 2 Wine. This is such a great concept. Let's talk about it. -

Larry

All of the wines we have here are made from juices that come from around the world. All fermentation is done here. Is all low in sulfides, is all open and available for people to taste. -

Barbara

I'm going to stir it. -

John

And I'm going to pour it. Around the menu. Next thing we're going to put in here is grape juice. -

John

This is a wine they call raspberry splash. There's about 90. Yeah, there about. And they can make, with the exception of some of our limited additions, they can make any of the wines that are on that list. It's great because you just mix it up and you let them do all the work. And then you come back eight weeks later and you bottle it. This is our bottle of wine. We actually have our own label. We do custom labels for wines. People love that. Oh they do, and it makes a wonderful gift. It's very memorable. It's the kind of thing where you may open the bottle and drink it but that bottle's going to stay with you and it'll sit on your mantle and you'll say look what I got. Wine is something that is very complex. Because there is so much to learn about it. And it's a fun beverage to learn about. -

Larry

We promise to be a place where friends gather and strangers become new friends. And we see it happen every week. -

John

These people here are having a very good time. -

Barbara

I think they are. -

John

Just so you know. I'm looking up suburbia on Wikipedia and it's- oh here it is, yeah. Brookfield, Wisconsin. On a Friday night what would you do in Brookfield? -

Kathy

I would go to Dairy Queen in a convertible or I'd go to Cops in a convertible. -

John

If you don't have that one what do you drive? -

Kathy

2008 Charger with a hemi motor. (laughs) -

John

You scare me. (laughs) I just said a Catholic prayer that I learned very early in life. It wasn't that bad. So you put this in parades? Yeah, this one is in the Fourth of July Parade every year. We're the last car. Channel 12, channel six, channel four. Carl Zimmerman? Carl Zimmerman. Come on. Yup. -

John

You can tell a lot about a community on Fourth of July. -

Guy

We have a lot of fun. -

John

Can you talk about Brookfield as a community? Schools are great. Parks are what we take pride in. -

John

Well good. Worth Park, Mitchell Park- it's just a great family place to live. -

John

How many kids did you raise here? -

Kathy

Just two. -

Guy

This is our starter home. -

John

And finishing. -

Guy

It is. You've raised two kids, do they still live in Brookfield? One does. My daughter live a block and a half away. -

John

Do you know your neighbors pretty well? -

Guy

We've always had great neighbors. We're doing this Brookfield/Elm Grove episode. So do you have anything to say about Elm Grove? Well it's a beautiful village. Where as Brookfield is a city. You've got two separate governments. We share the school system. And it's a beautiful place to live. You would have had plenty for just Brookfield. Well there, we knew that was coming. (laughs) If I said the name Caroline Quiner would you know who I'm talking about? No, you would. It's Laura Ingalls' mother. She was born right here in 1839. One of the first known settlers in Brookfield. It's amazing. All I want to know is, where did she meet Michael Landon? I know you're dad. -

Sara

Yeah. -

John

He's around the corner from us. Whoa that one got past ya. -

John

Has he spent some time here? -

Sara

Yeah, a lot actually. It's great. -

John

It's so great. -

Sara

It is really nice for our kids to be able to have their grandfather so near. -

John

How long have you lived in this home? -

Craig

We've been here six years? Yeah six years. And you're a third generation resident? I am, yes. My father grew up here. I grew up less than a mile from here and happy to live here now today. It's amazing how many people I went to grade school, went to high school with and all of a sudden have shown up back in Elm Grove here in the last couple of years. -

John

Talk about growing up here. -

Craig

It's a classic case of mom let you go in the morning and say see you for dinner. We all just played all summer and hung out. -

John

And is that how your kids are being raised? -

Sara

Absolutely. Our kids have a lot more freedom than our friends in other places. It's a safe community. Parents know each others kids. There's always on our children, which I like to tell them. (laughs) But they ride their bikes- They're watching you. They are. They ride their bikes to school, to the pool in the park, to RJ's Ice Cream in the village. It's a small town near a bigger city. We have a lot of the advantages of people who live in a small town. We know our neighbors, we have places that we go, we commune, we meet. We're close to all the excitement of Milwaukee. I can leave my house and be sitting in my desk downtown in under a half hour. There's not too many cities where you can do that. Yeah. So I knew that Elm Grove was a samll village, but this is ridiculous. I know all the times that I've been here. Never. Not once have I been here. Like I didn't even believe this was here. But you've been talking about it and I thought I want to make sure he's telling the truth. Exactly. Because you know me. It's really gorgeous. We bought this house in 2012. This was an accident. We were driving- We were looking for size. We were combining families so we were looking for room. And it was winter, so we didn't know the pool, we didn't know anything. We were just looking at the front of the house. The all of sudden spring came and you could see the top of the pool. Then all the sudden the hot tub. And a waterfall! Then we're just walkin over and we're like, there's a pond over here. Oh, it's beautiful. -

John

It's really beautiful. -

Bob

It's beautiful. -

John

Who had this place before? -

Bob

Al and Mary Ann Kessel. -

John

And Kessel did what for a living? -

Bob

He owned a pool company, how ironic. This was his display. -

John

It's outdoor living with a great outdoor kitchen and different levels to live on. From what I heard, they loved to entertain. -

John

Can you use this outdoor space a lot? -

Bob

We use it enough. Since 2012 have you done, what have you done to this property? I've swept. (laughs) I cut the grass. And, I've added. You've added. That is our addition. It's a three season- -

John

Aren't you glad you landed here though? -

Bob

Ah yeah, it's a piece of heaven. I am on the corner of Capital and Calhoun on a ridge. Yeah, do you know what this ridge is? It's the subcontinental divide. And did you know that all the water that flows east goes to Lake Michigan? All the water the flows west goes to the Mississippi. I bet you didn't know that. The subcontinental divide, right here. What makes a good hockey player? -

Jeff

You gotta be aggressive, you gotta be tough. You gotta wanna work hard. And you gotta wanna be around other girls. -

John

Girls are out there playing today? -

Jeff

Yes they are. -

John

This isn't a high school team? -

Jeff

This is a high school team, yes. -

John

Oh but it's not a specific high school team? It's like co-op, right? -

Jeff

It's like co-op between 13 high schools. There's not enough girls at any one school to put a team together, so you get a group of schools that join a co-op, and there's co-ops all over the state, that we play against. -

John

And the age of these girls? 14 to 18. 14 to 18. So they're 18 year olds who are playing with 14 year olds which is really neat for the 14 year olds. -

Jeff

It's awesome. And intimidating when they first come out here. -

John

Did you think you were this tough when you started playing hockey. Oh no. And aggressive. Don't you think you're aggressive? Yeah, you gotta develop that over time. -

John

It doesn't come right away? No it doesn't, you gotta work for it everyday. -

John

Is girls' hockey more popular today than it was let's say three, four, five years ago? Yeah, it gets more popular every year. Three years ago our team had 12 girls. That was painful. Cus you can't switch too often. This year we got 20 girls on the team. As we get better we're getting more girls interested and we're getting the word out. -

John

Do you want more girls on the team? -

Jeff

Absolutely we want more girls. So Mike, this episode is Brookfield and Elm Grove. Why are we at Brookfield East? John, we could be at Brook Central, or Brookfield Academy. We put out athletic programs. But in the state of Wisconsin when you talk about elite track and field programs, Brookfield East is in the conversation about being the best of the best. -

John

We're here, we're here. Because of that. -

Mike

We are. It is led by the 2013 national high school track and field coach of the year, Mike Steiner. -

John

Really? -

Mike

He does a great job. -

John

Good. -

Mike

Took over, John, they had 50 kids in the track program. Out of a school of- 1,300-1,400. Yeah. Now they have 125 kids average per year and they've won eight conference championship in a row. And four state championships. And then the football coach that came in 2010 as well, Tom Swiddle, told his football boys, you're gonna run track. Because I want a fast football team. And it's really helped. And one of the state championship in football, 80% of all conference football players are track guys. I came to a JV meet and what I was most amazed about was there was one race that there was a Brookfield East kid that was gonna take last. It was a long race. There was four varsity track guys running alongside of him encouraging him. I haven't seen that before, and I talked with Mike Steiner about it, and he said that's just what we do. You can't come to Brookfield without visiting the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts. I opened this place, I did. I was the host and them emcee of the evening of the grand opening. It's a great place, great programing right here in Brookfield. Talk about a great community theater, this is it. It started in 1950, moved to this location in 1960. Every year it has eight main stage shows, six in a concert series, five in a cabaret series. Should I be in the auditorium productions or the musical main stage series? The side note cabaret series? After sunset studio series. You can go ahead hop on in. This I so different than anything you would experience at home- then I'm assuming you've driven a car before? Yes. Yes, okay. -

Tracy

It is, it absolutely is. And there's nothing like this in the Midwest and it's sort of a hard thing to even explain. Go, go, go. -

Tracy

That's what's so cool about is that you can come in here and you can walk a tight rope and you can bungee jump and you can fly and you can be underwater. You can come in here and in an hour you can do things that you'd have to schedule big trips to go do these things. -

John

And walk out of here completely safe from all of it. -

Tracy

Right. The VR City Zone is several virtual reality experiences. We wanted to use different manufacturer so that when people come in they have a really good idea of what is available in virtual reality right now. So we're hoping to maintain the cutting edge of virtual reality and always have the latest and greatest. So you should be able to come here and get a really good taste of what virtual reality has to offer right now. Today. Yes. -

John

Who's you customer? -

Tracy

Oh gosh, everybody from seven year old to 95 year olds. You know grandmas and grandpas come up and they've got kids and you think that they're going to put the kids on it. Then they don't, they say hang on a minute, we're going to do this and they do it. So I feel like everybody. I mean there's no one that- almost anybody should be able to come and find something that they would enjoy here. -

John

And is there another experience like this anywhere in Milwaukee? -

Tracy

No, not anywhere in Milwaukee. -

John

Right here. -

Tracy

This is it. Go? -

Mya

Go for it. Step one, distress. -

Mya

yes. (hammer banging) You want to use the meat tenderizer. That one's everyone's favorite. What we do next is sanding. -

John

What do you need skill wise to do this? You literally don't need to have any kind of art background. We walk you through all the steps individually. How are you doing? Good. -

Mya

And you'll still go home with a project that you really love. -

John

These would like perfect gifts. -

Mya

Alright, ready for the next step. -

John

The whole sort of creative studio can be intimidating. But so far it's not at all. -

Mya

It's a great family event. We've had people with Christmas parties come in. Their family. And it's always personalized, it's always personal what they're doing. This was your first air date. Well that kind of the nice thing about them is you can have the exact same project as your friend next to you but between the paint colors, the stain colors, how you distress the boards, they can look totally different. -

John

Was it somebody's idea that they used to do this at home or something? Our founder was actually in Heartland, Julie Shelby. This is the big reveal. See all of your hard work. She just had this awesome idea and ran with it. It just grew from there. Last and final step of the sign. -

John

And this is the second store that we're at? Yeah. How many stores are there now? Over 100. You're kidding. Yeah, throughout the whole United States. In three years? -

Mya

Yeah. -

John

And a woman out of Heartland thought of this? -

Mya

Yeah. -

John

It's a really great concept. And I'm not surprised that it's taken off. That's really cool. -

Mya

It is, yeah. -

John

So I wondered why we couldn't cover Fazio's Chocolate. And my producer said we're doing chocolate in other cities. Well she can't stop me eating Fazio's Chocolate. (Italian music) Everybody knows your place. And if they live in the Milwaukee area they now Jake's because it's been here for how long? -

Jack

Since 1967 here and 60 on North Avenue. -

Karen

People have been coming here forever for all of the passions. -

John

When did you take over? -

Jack

I came up in 2001 and took over for my dad. And then in 2005 with my wife Karen and bought the restaurants. -

John

How great that you name is Jake. Can you talk about this business? -

Karen

It was a supper club and as time has passed there's more of like a vintage feel. So people, they're looking for something a little more traditional with a twist. -

Jake

One of the things that we always do at the restaurants is we always like to change things. -

John

So glad we came tonight. -

Jake

So am I. -

Karen

Try the corn, this is our favorite. -

Jake

Without ever losing our identity. Can I have a - (laughs) Whatever we change the one thing we never change is the integrity of the product. Part of the menu we've kept from day one. The filet, and people know the onion rings here. -

John

How many onions do you go through a week? -

Chef

Probably 600 to 1,000. -

John

1,000 pounds a week of onions? -

Chef

Yes. -

Jake

I'd say two thirds of the menu is permanent. The other third, switching based on seasonality. This is the time of the year we'll run the corn and the tomatoes as a side dish now. We have to take, just take a moment, you made the plate? I made the plate. Literally you made the plate? The plate, yes. I dabble in pottery. -

John

They're nice. -

Karen

Thank you. -

John

So this was built 136 years ago. -

Jamie

Plus 15, so 150 years, 151 years. -

John

That's amazing, isn't it? -

Jamie

Yeah, it's great. -

John

Have you been to Ireland? -

Jamie

Many times. -

John

May times. And does this feel like that to you? Definitely. I mean it's definitely got the feel. The look is there, the feel is there. It's all about the people. That's what the pub business is. It's about how you treat and making them feel welcome. And some people really call it the cheers of Elm Grove. -

John

We've heard it. -

Jamie

We know everybody that comes in. If we don't we'll get to know them pretty soon. -

John

You will. So it's an Irish bar tavern that serves food? -

Jamie

It is, we serve pub fare mainly. -

John

Like what? -

Jamie

Rubens, burgers, quesadillas. How do you describe these? I would describe them as kind of like a barbecue Cajun mix. All fresh, good quality. And we do quite well with the food side of things as well as the beer. It's got a little bite. Talk about your client, who's here? Is it the big Irish following? -

Jamie

We do, we have sessions of Irish musicians that come in and jam on Sunday afternoons. Wednesday nights we have Irish step dancers that come in. We have the back room where we have meetings of anything from funerals and rehearsal dinners to birthday parties and live music and dancing. So there's always something going on here. That's a community room? It's a great community room. Yeah. -

Jamie

Sunday nights we have a sing along. -

John

Like a Mitch Miller thing goin on? Oh yes, sing along with Mitch. (laughs) Some people remember Mitch Miller. No they know, our audience will know that. Right after Lawrence. I love that. Yeah. I loved this week just west of Milwaukee there's some great suburban living. Brookfield and Elm Grove. We are in Brookfiled with the mayor, Steve Ponto. I am here with Elm Grove's Village President Neil Palmer. You have 30 seconds to tell why Brookfield, Wisconsin- Elm Grove, Wisconsin is the best place in the world to live, work and play. You can start now. It all starts with education. We've long time had one of the best public school districts in the state. We also have excellent private schools. This is a community of beautiful trees and gardens and homes. We have a great public library. We have the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts. We are a community of volunteers. People volunteer for everything in the schools, at the village and community groups. We have an efficient and competent city government with a police and fire department that keep us safe. That's why we have wonderful high class recreation programs. It is the premier commercial corridor in Wisconsin. With anything you want you can get full amount of growth. -

John

And that's it. After sunset, I'm going to tell all my dirty jokes. They're going to love it at Elm Grove. (laughs) Oh she just gave you the finger. (laughs) She didn't, she didn't. This episode of Around the Corner with John McGivern would not be possible without the generous financial support of the following underwriters. -

Narrator

The Greater Milwaukee Foundation's Ernest C. And Florence M. Schocke Fund. And by the David A. And Nancy E. Putz Fund. The Greater Milwaukee Foundation, inspiring philanthropy, serving donors and strengthening communities. Now and for the future. And by- (lively music) -

Narrator 2

What Goodwill can do with your donations is pretty amazing. -

Narrator 1

And by- -

Narrator 3

The We Energies Foundation is proud to support Milwaukee PBS. Together we create a brighter future for the communities we serve.