John McGivern’s Main Streets

- The last decade, this area has been booming with businesses large and small that really want to call the valley home.

Like, take a look.

[upbeat music] - "John McGivern's Main Streets" thanks the following underwriters: - Remember when the American dream was being able to say, "I made that.

I built that."

Wouldn't it be great if your kids and grandkids chose a career that provides that kind of pride with good pay, but without a ton of student loan debt?

A four-year degree isn't the only path to success.

We need talented people to make and build on Main Streets everywhere.

Skilled work isn't a thing of the past.

It's a bright future.

- To the unknown I'm on my way Oh, it's time to hit the road I'm on my way This is the freedom I live for [bright music] [pleasant music] - In southeastern Wisconsin, there's a village... With something for everyone.

It's everywhere you look.

On every street, behind any door you open.

And we want to share it with you.

You just gotta see Greendale.

- Additional funding is provided by the Friends of Plum Media and the Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

Thanks, friends.

- 'Cause these are our main streets Something about a hometown speaks to me There's nowhere else I'd rather be The heart and soul of community's Right here On these main streets - I am in the Menomonee Valley in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

It's an unusual neighborhood seeing that nobody lives here, but it is the work home to over 10,000 people.

And there's a real sense of community-based on creativity and a passion--a passion for this part of town.

Near downtown Milwaukee, the four-mile-long Menomonee Valley is roughly bordered by Bruce and Pierce Streets on the south, Sixth Street on the east, I-94 on the north, and American Family Field on the west.

So, of course, I'm not the history person, but I can tell you how excited I am to be back with my coworker, Emmy Fink.

How are you, Emmy?

– Emmy Fink: Oh, good to see you.

- Good to see you.

How's your baby?

- The baby's great.

- Yeah.

I can't wait to meet your baby, Clarence.

- You are gonna love him.

- Soon?

- He's gonna love you.

Soon.

- Yes.

So we're talking about the history of the Menomonee Valley, and the Menomonee Valley sure looks great, doesn't it?

- It looks beautiful.

- Yeah.

- But it didn't quite look like this 175 years ago.

So, do me a favor: close those eyes.

- Okay.

- All right, imagine this.

All marshland.

- [laughing] Okay.

- Covered in beds of wild rice.

- Yeah.

- The word Menomonee actually comes from the Ojibwe word meaning wild rice.

So as Milwaukee grew and the river was developed, well, it became the perfect place for shipping.

So in 1862, Milwaukee was the largest shipper of wheat on the planet.

- Which is remarkable.

- It's amazing.

- But then, of course, they fell victim to the Rust Belt, which so many places and things did.

- 25 years later, though, a lot of elbow grease, a lot of grit, a lot of money, they brought this neighborhood right back.

- And I can't wait to see it.

What about you?

- Let's go see it.

- We're gonna go see it?

- Together again.

- [laughs] [bright organ music] That is the home of the Milwaukee Brewers.

It's called American Family Field, and part of it is in the Menomonee Valley.

And unlike most ballparks, people definitely tailgate before the game here in Milwaukee.

Yeah.

I know what you're thinking.

Are there Cubs fans there?

Milwaukee Brewers are playing the Cubs tonight, and the people from Illinois love coming to Milwaukee.

Why?

Because it's easier.

It's cheaper.

There's no tailgating at Wrigley Field.

And they love to come here and watch their Cubs lose to our Brewers.

Go, Brewers!

[upbeat rock music] We're at the Harley-Davidson Museum.

We're talking with Bill Davidson.

- My relatives, three Davidsons and a Harley.

- You know, I make a living telling my family stories, and as do you.

- [laughs] - It's so great that you stand here and talk to me about this.

– Bill Davidson: When they first launched that first motorcycle, they were actually in the early '20s.

- Yeah, they seemed to have some success with it, didn't they?

- Yes.

They were... [both laugh] At a very early stage, they recognized the importance of being close to our customers, so they would get out and ride with them and go to racing events with them.

- Visitor-wise, what do you have in here a year?

- Our average is about 140,000 to 150,000.

You gotta check this out.

It's really fun.

All the other galleries, you really can't touch or sit on, and then when we tell them, "You can sit on the bikes," they're like, "Oh, my gosh."

You know, you look right at home on that, and you're smiling.

I think, John... - Bill... - This might be in your future.

[both laugh] - Another three-wheeler.

I had one years ago.

- Did you really?

Oh, it's time.

- I was two!

- It's absolutely time.

[both laugh] You gotta hang on tight, though.

I like to drop the clutch and wheelie.

- Is my hair blowing?

- [laughs] We need a fan.

[both laugh] So, this is our new Harley-Davidson shop.

- It's beautiful.

- It's hard to work here and not come in here and buy something.

- Yeah.

- So my closets at home... [both laugh] - You need to take a week off so you can save some money.

- That's right.

[both laugh] There's something magical about a Harley-Davidson.

The places you see.

The people you meet.

We attract people from all walks of life from all over the world.

We often hear from our customers how much they love Milwaukee.

- Yeah.

- There's such a great culture here.

The people are so friendly, and they can't wait to come back.

Customers, dealers, our employees, we refer to it as a family, and it's wonderful.

- [chuckles] - This is Sobelman's.

They opened their doors in 1999 and soon became the neighborhood staple.

And they still are today.

Notice the Schlitz emblem at the top of the building.

Well, in the early 20th century, this was a "tied house."

What that meant is the bar was tied to Schlitz.

They could only serve their products.

Thankfully, Sobelman's has more than just one kind of beer these days, but their signature drink is this: a Bloody Mary with ten different, often deep-fried garnishes.

If you're hungry enough, you should get the one with the whole fried chicken on top.

Amazing, yum!

- On this one street, St. Paul, you can find custom lighting, stone, furniture, flooring--you can find it all.

I call this the street of dreams.

[upbeat music] You have no idea how much I love this place.

– Hank Albert: Well, I love it too, right, yes.

- How long have you been here?

- Since about 1980.

- And in 1980, what did this street look like?

- It was very rough.

And then, Sobelman took over, and he really-- and it was he and I... Oh, the street is great now.

- Yeah.

- And it's just growing with wonderful things happening.

- What does BBC stand for?

- Badger Bulb Company.

That's when I first started selling lightbulbs years ago.

And I think we have one of the largest lighting stores in the country.

- So, it wasn't always this big?

- Oh, well, my son keeps making it grow.

He tears down walls and brings in more merchandise.

- Your dad said he goes to Florida for a month, and when he comes back, things have changed.

[laughter] - David Albert: It's happened.

- Has it happened?

- This is all LED goods.

- Yeah.

- I think there's some next door at Bachman Furniture.

- Mm-hmm.

- Because we supply him with stuff there.

- Yeah, your stuff looks great in there.

- Oh, thank you.

- Doesn't it?

Yeah.

And what a great collaboration that is.

- Right.

- How do you get to those diamonds, Hank?

- Yeah, I took those out of my wife's drawer.

- Did you?

Out of her necklace.

- Right, right.

- [laughs] What do you have in your house?

- Nothing special.

- So I asked Hank what he has in his house as far as fixtures go.

[laughs] - Sandra Albert: Eventually, I get my way, though.

- It took me 80 years to learn that.

- Right.

- Just let her have her way.

[high-pitched chimes] The idea with all of this other things that we have here, the weird stuff, those are really just to entertain people when they come in.

- Glad she has a sweater on.

- Look at Grandma.

- She needs some teeth.

I don't know if I should stop or go.

- I don't care if this stuff sells or not.

I just like it here for the customers to enjoy.

- Oh, there you go.

- I am extremely proud of these two gentlemen.

- Oh, how nice.

This community is thankful that you're here.

- Well, that's very nice.

Thank you.

- That's what success is.

Oh, there you have it.

Did you start this?

– Reinhard Liebner: I did not start it.

I'm fourth generation, and I have my three boys here with me.

They're fifth generation.

So, like, pig's feet and pork hocks and pickled herring and sauerkraut and pickles.

All those things that people could have that are preserved when they didn't have a whole lot of refrigerator space.

- Are there still bars that have your product?

- When I started, I'd probably say we were 65% to 70% tavern and, like, 30% grocery.

And now that's probably 75/25 grocery to tavern business.

- It all comes right out of here?

- Yes.

- So Drew's your youngest boy?

- Yup, and favorite.

– Andrew Liebner: And favorite.

[laughter] How old were you when you first started working here?

– Andrew Liebner: Probably six or seven, we were down here.

We didn't get paid money.

We got paid in Polish sausage.

So we were happy to do it.

We'd keep coming back.

- The number one product overall is our pickled sausage, which we're doing today.

- This is my first day.

Don't get mad, okay?

- All right.

- Okay, thank you.

- We throw these in the bottom.

The small ones on the top.

And you take one of these, and you kind of lock them in.

- Okay, let's see that again.

- Another jar.

- So--Oh, my.

[laughs] It looks like I've been working here my whole life.

Watch.

Whoops.

Whoops.

[laughs] That's it?

- Yup.

- Okay, very good.

When's break time?

One more hour?

- Yeah.

- Crap.

[laughter] So these are the jars I made, just so you know.

Like, I filled these jars.

- Now we gotta watch these ones real close.

- [laughs] - It tops them off, and all the jars should be nice and full.

So the brine is everything.

It sets the cap on there.

- And tightening.

- And tightening it up.

The jar gets rinsed, and then we blow off that excess water.

- Oh, and it's dry here?

- Yup.

- And this is?

- That's jalapeo garlic.

- It's getting a little hotter, but it's great.

I love hot stuff.

- Good.

- And delicious.

You and your son should be really proud.

This is really great.

- Yup.

- I'll leave the plate at the door.

- Okay.

– All: Cheers.

- The first ballplayer to break Babe Ruth's all-time home run record played right here in Milwaukee, and he played for two different teams.

Who was that player, and what were the teams?

[quizzical music] - That would be the legendary Mr. Hank Aaron.

He played for both the Milwaukee Braves and he came back to play for the Brewers in 1975.

[crowd cheering] The Hank Aaron State Trail is 14 miles of paths that lead from Lake Michigan all the way to Brookfield, Wisconsin.

About two miles of it intersects with the valley right here at Three Bridges Park.

People can enjoy walking, biking, fishing, kayaking, and there's several community gardens.

- There is so much to do outdoors in the Menomonee Valley, and if you don't know what to do, this is a great place to start: the Urban Ecology Center.

They connect people to nature through classes and camps, and if you don't want to go to camp, stop here anyway.

They will lend you a kayak.

They'll lend you camping equipment and a fishing pole, and in the winter--yeah.

Snowshoes!

Winter's coming.

I'm ready.

- This is the Valley Passage, a former railroad underpass that once connected the neighborhood to the south to the factories in the north.

Today, it celebrates all that the Menomonee Valley has become.

- One of my favorite places right on Canal Street.

I didn't know there was a beach back here.

– Russell Davis: You know, I decided years ago-- I said, "Why not put a beach on the river and see how many people would show up?"

- Yeah, when did this happen?

- 2012, we opened up.

- Okay.

What was here before?

- It was a marina.

They had a bunch of boats here, a crane.

They put all the boats in the river.

They fixed vessels in this building here.

This is where you can come have drinks and enjoy it.

You can bring your boat up.

On a busy weekend, we'll fill every dock.

- And how great are these?

- A good friend of mine, he keeps finding these for me at rummage sales.

- Does he?

- I said, "Just keep grabbing them."

- Keep them coming.

- Yeah.

And when's kind of the last day that people are sitting out here?

- All winter long.

Yeah.

We have domes that we put up in the winter.

We have cabanas now that we have out here.

Yeah.

- It's like your own private dining room.

- We want to be a year-round place.

Not just the summer.

- Yeah.

Can we talk menu?

- We have everything from crab, tilapia sandwich.

I have burgers on, a steak on.

We have barbecued ribs.

We have some vegan items as well.

- Good.

- I want people to be able to come and have an affordable meal, and they still get some fresh seafood as well.

- Yeah.

You do it all, don't you?

- Why not?

- It's a great tilapia sandwich.

Blackened.

- It's wonderful.

- I love that it just does not fit the bun.

- This is our take on a Maryland crab cake, adjusted a little bit to kind of fit the Twisted standard.

- Wasn't that good?

- I should order one of those one of these days.

- Try it.

- That's our shrimp bisque.

- And the trick to a good bisque?

- Lots of cream.

If you'd like, I can get you a side of Lipitor with that.

- [John laughs] - This is a smoked trout chowder.

Instead of a clam chowder, we did a little twist on it and used smoked trout.

– Look at that: potatoes, corn.

- It's Wisconsin.

- [laughs] - Do you taste that smoke in there?

- I do, yeah.

This is what I call a really great afternoon.

[laughs] I am in Zimmerman Architectural Studios.

Talk about one of the coolest work / office spaces in the entire city of Milwaukee.

It's an incredible building.

In the early 1900s, they used to superheat coal here that produced gas, which lit up the entire city.

There's a rumor about this building as well-- that Green Bay Packers legend Paul Hornung used to practice field goals right in this building when the team was in town.

Today, this is home to 120 architects and engineers whose vision and mission is to respect the past as they create the future, which is an attitude you hear all over the Menomonee Valley.

[soft acoustic music] - Alexx Zawada: So Potawatomi called Menomonee Valley home hundreds of years ago.

It wasn't until the 1830s that they were forced off the land, and most of them retreated north to the reservation now, which is located in Forest County, Wisconsin.

- And they made their way back to the valley when?

- On March 7th of 1991, we opened up a 2,500-seat bingo hall.

We're actually the first off-reservation casino in the United States.

In 2000, they tore down the bingo hall, and they built their first full-fledged gaming area.

From there, in 2008, we tripled in size.

Our main purpose of being here is to support the tribe.

So the revenue that we make here supports a nation of people up in Forest County.

- It's a gorgeous hotel.

How many rooms altogether?

- 500 rooms total.

- This is the presidential suite?

- Yes, this is our presidential suite, and it's the biggest suite that you will find in the city.

3,000 square foot suite.

- That's enough room.

- Is it?

- That's bigger than most people's homes.

Don't you--isn't it?

[laughter] Does the head of marketing ever get an evening in here?

- I wish.

Can you tell our CEO that?

- Should I call somebody for you?

[upbeat music] How do you say this game?

– Antonia: Baccarat.

- Baccarat.

I can count to nine.

That's--somebody told me that's what I need to know.

- That's all you need to know.

- Is that it?

- That's it.

So we're gonna just pull cards.

One side player, one side banker.

And whichever side gets closest to nine wins.

- Okay, I'm gonna bet, player.

- Okay.

- And Alexx can't play 'cause she works here.

But that's okay.

I need support!

- So we have nothing and we have seven.

Banker would win: seven.

- The banker.

And you take my $25.

- Yep.

- Okay, we're gonna try again.

- Banker has three.

- Three.

- Card for player.

Banker wins: Four over three.

- Does the player ever win, Antonia?

- Sometimes.

[laughter] - See, do you know why I don't play table games?

Can I tell you?

Because I get nervous that I don't really know and that this person's gonna be mad at me.

- On this game, no one's gonna be mad at you for not knowing.

- Nobody will be mad if I sit down here.

- Nope, because you're not betting against anyone.

You're not affecting anyone's hand.

- You may have just created a monster just so you know.

In the mid-1800s, the clay that made the brick that built Milwaukee all came from the Menomonee Valley.

And the early brickmakers were surprised after firing the red clay from the valley produced a light yellow brick.

It became very popular in Milwaukee, and Milwaukee's most famous nickname happened because of this brick.

What's the nickname?

[quizzical music] - The use of the cream-colored bricks helped the town become known as 'Cream City.'

You can still see these bricks all over the area.

And in case you didn't know, the light color is due to the high amounts of lime and sulfur in the Menomonee Valley clay.

They're a thing of beauty.

[light acoustic music] - We are inside the Warehouse Art Museum.

– John Shannon: This particular exhibition, John, we have had people from all over the United States fly in to see it.

- Can we talk about how all this happened?

- Well, my wife and I have a large collection of artwork.

- Uh-huh.

- About 3,600 pieces.

- You do.

- And we dreamt to create a private museum open to the public for many years.

- It was time, John.

- We didn't-- we ran out of closets.

We couldn't tuck things under beds anymore.

And we were told, "Go to Chicago to store."

And at that point-- I'm an entrepreneur.

I said, "I think there's a better way to do this for Milwaukee and for the state of Wisconsin."

– Katie Steffan: What we do is we store, transport, pack, crate, ship-- pretty much anything that you might need done if you have an art collection, we do it for you.

- We are certified for storage and transportation, the only facility in Wisconsin to have that certification.

- Did they take your stuff out of Chicago and they put it-- they brought it closer to home?

- I can't reveal clients.

- I'm not asking.

You'd have to kill me.

[laughter] - It's pretty much anything that you can think of.

Sculptures, baseball cards.

- And it could be one historic musket.

- It sounds like a very large safe deposit box to me.

- It really-- that's exactly what it is.

- That's what it is, yes.

- Yup.

- What you're seeing here is our personal collection.

- Yours.

- We store art here, John, under the same conditions that the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., stores at.

- So, do you get to see all the pieces?

- I do, yeah.

- You do.

How great is that?

- It's really cool, but-- - Can I look at your phone for a minute?

- No.

- Come on.

- I can't talk about the things that I get to see.

- I bet you can't.

- But they're really cool, I promise.

- Aren't they?

- Yeah, yeah.

- We can imagine.

This is a family thing for you, isn't it?

– Nicholas Fallucca: Yeah, I'm third-generation in my family's business here at Palermo's Pizza.

- Can I thank you for really making my life better, Palermo's?

- Absolutely.

- I'm telling you the truth.

How did it start?

- My grandfather and grandmother came over from Sicily in the '50s.

And in 1964 is when they started their bakery.

In 1979, the story goes, someone brought my grandfather a frozen pizza and said, "Jack, you gotta try this."

He tries it and says, "Why you giving this to me?

This is garbage."

He's like, "That's the point.

You should go into frozen pizza."

And that's how the story starts.

- What names do people know your pizzas as?

- Yes, we have Palermo's, Screamin' Sicilian, Urban Pie, Connie's, and Surfer Boy Pizza.

- And why is it called Screamin' Sicilian?

- So it's an homage to my grandfather.

We'd be at dinner.

I would say, "Jack, why are you yelling?

Why are you screaming?"

He's like, "I'm not screamin'.

I'm just talking."

- A pizza-iolo.

- A pizzaiolo is one of our pizza makers.

These guys are our greatest assets.

- Pizzaiolo.

- There you go!

- Okay, very good.

- You'll be Italian soon enough.

They start like a real dough ball in a pizzeria.

They're getting slowly rolled out.

And so if a crust doesn't follow specification... - Yeah.

- You know, then we're not gonna use it.

So we make all of our sauce in-house.

- Nice.

- So, this is what we call a waterfall machine.

So essentially, it's a waterfall of cheese or sausage or different toppings.

- They are cutting pepperoni, and I want one of those at home.

What do you think?

- I think we can get you one.

Yeah, we'll get you one.

- These are flash-frozen right now.

- Completely frozen.

Yeah, and it locks in all that freshness.

- Wow.

- And this machine will automatically put the pizzas into the cartons.

- That's amazing.

- 500,000 pizzas per day.

About 400,000 crusts.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- That was cool.

Do you ever bring anyone in for consulting?

Because I'm a really good eater.

- Do you want to do some taste tests for us?

Cheers.

- Thank you, thanks so much.

- Absolutely.

- Appreciate all your help.

"Main Streets" pizza.

Yum.

- Take a look behind me.

I'm at Milwaukee's only indoor skate park, Four Seasons Skate Park.

It also happens to be the state's largest.

Now, if you're an amateur, no worries.

No pressure.

All skill levels are welcome here.

They've been giving lessons and holding summer camps for over 20 years.

Can you imagine seeing John McGivern and his bike in here?

He'd fit right in with these guys.

[upbeat music] - Andy Gehl: So I used to be an attorney.

So my longtime friend Kevin is the brewmaster here.

- Yeah.

- You know, called me up and said, "Hey, you want to never make as much money as you're making right now in your life?"

[laughter] All right, John, so showing you the tap lines.

We got 24 different beers on tap.

You know, I was shocked 'cause my dad was an attorney, and I thought he was gonna have this look of disappointment on his face, but he actually smiled.

And I think mostly 'cause he knew that I was gonna be happier doing this.

Our most popular beer was one of our first, a beer called Happy Place.

So, I mean, what better than finding your happy place over a cold one?

- Yeah.

How'd the name come about?

- So, Third Space is based on the idea that you have your home, you have your work, but everyone needs a third space.

It's that place you go to get away from it all and have a good time.

So that tank right there is actually about 10,000 cans of beer.

- Out of one... - Out of one tank.

Then we transfer it over here into the fermentation tanks.

That's where we add the yeast.

Two weeks for an ale.

- Two weeks.

- Four to six weeks for a lager.

- Oh, really?

- But we also do some barrel aging.

Don't pull that.

- I won't.

- [laughs] - I won't.

- This is one of our specialty beers.

It's our anniversary beer we do every year.

- Really?

So what if I had pulled that?

- Um, you know, we might have to kick you out.

[laughter] We're canning Happy Place today.

- Good.

- I'm gonna put that one back.

We gotta sell that one.

I gotta pay the bills.

[laughter] - Do they all go in the same direction?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- Try to get them to go upward.

- Okay, very good.

- You're a natural.

- Oh, I did it the wrong way.

Bend this.

- And then the last one.

Look, you got it.

- You'd be like, "The guy is slow!"

- [laughs] You want to lose weight?

Just come work in a brewery.

I tell ya.

- I do, but not here.

[laughter] - This is our beautiful beer garden.

- This is really cool.

- We can fit over 400 people out here.

- That's really cool.

- It's pretty amazing, yeah.

And we think now, we have the largest beer garden in the city of Milwaukee.

- How great is that?

- Maybe even the state.

- A lot of people don't realize how much is here in the Menomonee Valley, but there's a lot to do.

- It still is a neighborhood, even though people don't live here.

- Right.

- You know, there's a spirit here that's neighborhood-like.

- It really is.

- So, Emmy, what'd you think?

- I think it's great to be back at work, and I think there's a lot of creative people right here in the valley.

- And they've created quite the community.

- They sure have.

- Yeah, it was the best.

- It was the best.

Now we can go home.

- Come on.

- It's real close.

- There's nowhere else I'd rather be The heart and soul of community's right here - So, Emmy, what'd you think?

[both laugh] - I was waiting for Joe.

- I'm a flight attendant for TWA.

All came from the Menomonee Valley.

[laughs] I can't say it.

- Do you want me to look into the camera?

- Never!

- Never?

- Only I look at the camera.

[laughter] You guys, don't shoot this.

[laughs] - "John McGivern's Main Streets" thanks the following underwriters.

- Remember when the American dream was being able to say, "I made that.

I built that."

Wouldn't it be great if your kids and grandkids chose a career that provides that kind of pride with good pay, but without a ton of student loan debt?

A four-year degree isn't the only path to success.

We need talented people to make and build on Main Streets everywhere.

Skilled work isn't a thing of the past.

It's a bright future.

- To the unknown I'm on my way Oh, it's time to hit the road I'm on my way This is the freedom I live for [bright music] [soft acoustic music] - In southeastern Wisconsin, there's a village... With something for everyone.

It's everywhere you look.

On every street, behind any door you open.

And we want to share it with you.

You just gotta see Greendale.

- Additional funding is provided by the Friends of Plum Media and the Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

Thanks, friends.

- You never know who you'll run into.

I've missed you!

- I didn't know you were a fellow biker!

- [laughs]