2025 was a year of growth for Humboldt Park and the Humboldt Park Friends Group.
With the grant we received from the Anthropocene Alliance, or A2, the nation’s largest coalition of frontline communities fighting for environmental protection we were able to do more community outreach and educational programs. Humboldt Park improves the air we breathe, provides a cooling effect in our neighborhood in the summer, provides beauty and recreation all year round, and deserves our attention and protection. To that end, we continued to add events and programming under our Humboldt In Harmony campaign. Humboldt in Harmony, Resilient Park, Resilient Community.
Humboldt in Harmony: Resilient Park, Resilient Community
Humboldt in Harmony: Resilient Park, Resilient Community is a community-driven initiative that includes sponsoring educational programs and activities around four pillars of park conservation that include: Wildlife, Water, Pollinators and Reforestation. In 2025 we planted our pollinator garden in front of the pavilion. This was a true community effort that brought together volunteers who turned over hardpack soil, no easy task, and then planted more than 1500 native pollinator plants. Volunteers watered the garden every day for the first few weeks to establish the plants and to pull weeds. The garden exceeded our wildest expectation and grew to one of the favorite areas of park. Bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects filled the garden and brought daily joy to park visitors. This initiative promotes local biodiversity and habitat restoration and demonstrates Humboldt Park Friends’ commitment to address and adapt the park for climate change.
The Humboldt in Harmony campaign will focus on fundraising in the interest of four main categories of park protection and improvements that include Wildlife, Reforestation, Pollinators, and Lagoon Improvements. If you are reading this and have not gotten involved, please join us, we need our community to come together.
Humboldt in Harmony Speaker Series
We also conducted our second year of the Humboldt in Harmony educational series. The series is free and open to the public to educate our community on environmental concerns and practical practices we can bring into our daily lives to help protect the health of our park and our community. The five educational events began in November with a Volunteer Appreciation event that included sharing the results of Walk Audits conducted in the summer.
In December, the event centered on a report from students in UMW’s Freshwater Science program, following a summer of studies on the Humboldt Park lagoon. The report included recommendations for our Friends group to improve water quality for our wildlife friends. January featured a pollinator and rain garden focus. We look forward to more educational events in February, March, and April.
Through these events and activities, Humboldt Park Friends – with support from A2 – is engaging community members in climate resilience, watershed protection, and environmental stewardship. Thanks to Gary Hollander, Ignacio Catral, Susan Catral, Lynn Goldstein, Kyle Arpke, Laureen Stirmel, Jane LeCapitaine, and Dani Graf for organizing and staffing the events.
New Pollinator Garden
New Educational Signage
We are very excited to have completed the installation of two new signs positioned along the north side of the lagoon. One sign features the wildlife that calls Humboldt Park home, and the other features information about pollinator gardens. Both signs will include QR codes that link to the Humboldt Park Friends website, where the community can learn more about our conservation efforts and contribute to funding our programs.
UWM Fresh Water Science Lagoon Water Quality Study
This year we worked with students at UMW’s Freshwater Science program and their professor Dr. Ryan Newton to conduct water quality studies of our lagoon. The students conducted water sampling and other measurements through summer and fall. A full report and presentation was delivered which included recommendations for our Friends group to improve water quality for our wildlife friends. A special thanks to Dr. Ryan Newton, Sean Jeffrey Gibbs, Jena Choi and Kelly Stoeckigt for their work.
Pavilion Improvements
This year, Milwaukee County Parks made many improvements to Humboldt Park. Many pathways that were in poor condition were widened and replaced with new paths. The pavilion’s exterior trim was freshly painted, and the interior of the pavilion got a fresh coat of paint as well. New blinds were installed in the meeting room to replace worn-out curtains. Several windows and doors were also replaced and repaired. New lighting was installed in the beer garden vendor area, and other beer garden updates were completed. Many thanks to Milwaukee County Parks for giving our park some love and attention!
Humboldt Park Landmarking Ceremony
On June 28th the Bay View Historical Society (BVHS) awarded their 2025 landmark plaque to Humboldt Park. The ceremony will took place on Saturday, June 28th at 1:00 pm at the Humboldt Park pavilion, home of “The Vine” beer garden. Attendees received a full color souvenir booklet. Thanks to the Bay View Historical Society and Ron Winkler for his presentation.
AARP Walk Audits
This year Gary Hollander organized and conducted 6 AARP Walk Audits from various locations that all ended at Humboldt Park. The process began by selecting various starting points and walking to the park as a group, noticing things along the way, such as attractive gardens, safe crossings, maintained sidewalks, and more. Discussions were lively, and walkers found the walks enjoyable and instructive. Take aways from the walks conclude the needs for more benches and the need for better sidewalk maintenance and more speed limit postings.
2025 Events:
Ice Skating on the Lagoon
January and February provided the weather we needed to prepare the lagoon for ice skating and hockey. Gregg Stillin and his team of volunteers use equipment of their own clever design to keep the ice in good shape for skating.
A portolet was provided by Humboldt Park Friends for January and February. Thanks to all the skaters who donated to take care of the equipment!
Easter Egg Hunt April 5th
Hundreds of kids swarmed Humboldt Park in Milwaukee for the 2025 Easter Egg Hunt – an annual event. Humboldt Park Friends organized the Bay View hunt. More than 5,000 candy-filled eggs were scattered in the snow for kids up to age 12 to find. The kids were divided into zones based on age, with at least one golden egg in each zone containing a special prize.
“We had hundreds of kids going after 5,000 eggs, and they were collected in a matter of minutes,” said Patrick McSweeney, a Humboldt Park Friends board member. “It’s what we look forward to all year, and it’s just organized pandemonium.”
Before the egg hunt began, kids could take photos with the Easter Bunny for free. The Bay View Lions Club also served a pancake breakfast.
While the event was free, families were asked to bring non-perishable food items for the Bay View Community Center’s food pantry.
Park Clean-up/Bird Walk April 26
This year’s park clean-up was well attended, and new volunteers joined the effort.
Board member and Naturalist Kyle Arpke guided the bird walk. Neighbors and families found bags of garbage in the park. Thanks to all the volunteers who participated in the past years clean up effort.
Thistle Pull and The Weed Ladies
Our very committed weed ladies, Laureen Stirmel, Jane LeCapitaine, and Dani Graf, have been working to remove the Canadian Thistles and other invasive species from the park. These ladies attend an annual invasive species educational event to stay current on which plants should be removed. We are very fortunate to have the volunteers in our group!
Jazz at the Vine: Every other Thursday, May through August
Humboldt Park’s beer garden provided the perfect backdrop for these musical summer evenings, where friends and families gathered to enjoy live jazz performances by many talented local artists.
The event continues to grow in popularity. We participated in Bay View Gallery Night and Bay View Jazz Fest. One evening featured student musicians from the Milwaukee Jazz Institute. The intimate setting drew rave reviews from our visitors.
A big thank you to our presenting sponsors, Lakefront Brewery, Beer Capitol and Gary Hollander, Peter Adams Realtor, Mindpool Live, Marina for Milwaukee, Jordanne Barber Golden Hare, UW Credit Union, Jack Eckblad, Frank Barry-Lenoch and Catral Doyle Creative co.
4th of July Parade
Humboldt Park Friends joined in the excitement of the 4th of July parade, bringing joy to the community by handing out candy along the route. Volunteers walked alongside Steve Blank’s vintage VW with bright smiles and patriotic spirit, engaging with spectators of all ages. Kids eagerly reached out for sweet treats as families lined the streets to celebrate Independence Day together. The group’s participation highlighted their commitment to community involvement, making the parade a celebration of freedom but also of togetherness and neighborhood pride.
Family Night at Chill on the Hill, August 5th
Our volunteers had a Humboldt Park Friends table at Family Night at Chill on the Hill. Teaching children about the importance of nature and conservation is critical to our mission. Volunteers guided children to do crayon rubbings of various leaves from trees in the park. Thanks to Laureen Stirmel, Jane LeCapitaine, and Dani Graf for their work on this event.
Corn Roast at Chill on the Hill August 29th
The popular Corn Roast at Chill on the Hill has become a great event. This popular event is a fund-raiser for the Humboldt Park Friends and helps create awareness for our organization and mission. Corn lovers enjoy the corn and frequently tip generously! A special thanks to Laureen Stirmel for all of her work on this event as well as all of the volunteers who worked on this event.
Yoga In The Park
This year the Humboldt Park Friends introduced yoga at Humboldt Park. Molly Dixon, an amazing yogi from Helium Yoga Studio, generously donated the proceeds of the monthly yoga classes to Humboldt Park. The classes will begin again in February 2026 on the first Thursday of the month at 5:30 at the Humboldt Park Pavilion. Many thanks to Helium and Molly for their generous donation!
Art In The Park: August 16th
This year the Humboldt Park Friends introduced and sponsored the Ice Cold Art event at Humboldt Park. With more than 50 art vendors displaying their work along the path between the pavilion and the band shell, the well-attended event was a great success. Food trucks provided tasty snacks for attendees. A special thanks to the Milwaukee Artists Group and Kayleigh Pallagi for organizing the event.
Cattail Pull: September 27th
A major effort in our continuing Lagoon Restoration Project was the Cattail Pull on September 27th. Our volunteers worked to cut several large areas of invasive cattails below the surface of the water, and we filled several dumpsters. Milwaukee County Parks assisted in the work before the 27th by cutting down trees and getting the area ready, and several County Parks employees joined the day’s efforts. Thanks to Patrick McSweeney for organizing the event and to all of the volunteers who helped make the cattail pull a success.
Tree Protection Program
Henry Szymanski worked with Eagle Scout Conner Cram to protect the many new trees planted in the park. Conner and his troop removed the grass around the new trees and mulched around the trees to keep them hydrated and protected from grass cutting bladed getting too close the base of the trees. Thanks to Henry, Conner and all of the scouts who made this effort a great success!
Tree Day, October 8th
The Humboldt Park Friends group celebrated another successful Tree Day on October 8th.
Tree Day has been an annual event at Humboldt Park since 1998. Each year, Humboldt Park Friends, the Milwaukee County Park Naturalist, and the City of Milwaukee Urban Forestry Department contribute their time and effort to this program.
Children from local schools are invited to participate by writing their names on a piece of paper that they each drop in the hole before the trees are planted. The paper will help nourish the tree and help connect the children and the tree.
The day’s festivities include a walking tour of the park, during which the kids identify the various tree species, leaf, seed, and bark types. They also enjoy story time, creating a craft, identifying leaves, and doing leaf rubbings in a booklet they take home to their families.
Thanks to Henry Szymanski, Laureen Stirmel, Jane LeCapitaine, Dani Graf and all of the volunteers for their work on this event.
Humboldt Park Junior and Senior Ranger Program
We continue to distribute park ranger activity books free of charge to the community through our website. We also have been putting them in the little free library on the corner of Pine St and Dakota st.
The Humboldt Park Ranger Program is a self-guided program for children ages 5 and up and their families. It is designed to teach children about Humboldt Park’s history, wildlife, geography, and celebrations. When kids complete enough of the book they receive a custom embroidered patch at one of our general meetings.
In closing
We cannot accomplish the many things we do without the support of our volunteer board:
President – Susan Catral
Vice-President – Garry Hollander
Secretary – Henry Szymanski
Treasurer – Laureen Stirmel
Ignacio Catral
Dani Graf
Patrick McSweeney
Kyle Arpke
Steven Lucia
Luke Salmon
Committees:
Lagoon Restoration chaired by Patrick McSweeney,
Reforestation chaired by Henry Szymanski,
Landscaping/Pollinator chaired by Lynn Goldstein and Linda Luebner,
Wildlife chaired by Kyle Arpke.
Easter Egg Hunt and Events- Chaired by Laureen Stirmel
Tree Day –Chaired by Laureen Stirmel
Jazz At The Vine chaired by Ignacio Catral