Time goes quickly when you’re having fun… and our Bucyrus Campus just completed a whirlwind week of celeberating 10 years since it opened its doors to bring intergenerational care to Milwaukee’s near north side. Children, parents, adult clients, caregivers, staff, volunteers and even the community at large took part in marking this significant anniversary of the vibrant campus.
Parents and caregivers signed giant cards, and posed for pictures against Insta-worthy, elegant balloon-filled backdrops. Chris Pipkins played a soulful sax rendition of “Happy Birthday” at the Indaba Band Shell, before while the audience sang and ate mini-cupcakes. On Field Day, adult clients and children spooned up ice cream (thank you, Milwaukee Police Department!), enjoyed a cookout, participated in a variety of games, danced to tunes the DJ provided and cheered a speech by Founder Sr. Edna Lonergan. Staff members perused old photos and historical items on display indoors Tuesday and Wednesday.
Children were absent from the campus on Friday — it was a professional development day for childcare staff. But the teachers came out after their in-service sessions to participate with the adult clients, staff and volunteers for the first-ever Bucyrus Campus prom in the atrium. It was the first-ever prom for some of the clients, as well. Dressed to the nines, clients from all the care units came together to elect a prom king and queen (complete with crowns and sashes), dine on an elegant lunch of chicken and roasted vegetables, celebrate with festively decorated birthday cake, and then dance the day away to music the DJ provided.
Most weeks, the campus is quiet on Saturdays, except for the overnight respite care unit. But to cap off the anniversary celebration, St. Ann Center sponsored a giveaway of clothing, household goods, cleaning supplies and other essentials, for community members whose homes had suffered extensive damage from the extreme rains and flooding earlier in August. Several dozen community members turned out to choose items; cleaning supplies that remained after the event were donated to the MacCanon Brown Homeless Sanctuary.
The lively events of the week stood in sharp contrast to old photos of the brownfield at the 7.5-acre site for more than 50 years. Much of the neighborhood had been razed years ago for a freeway project that was never built, the leaking oil tanks and lead paint festering for decades and rendering it unsuitable for development.
When St. Ann Center bought the land from the city at a bargain price of $1/acre, intending to build a second campus there, they knew expensive soil remediation would be necessary to make the grounds safe. Environmental Protection Agency grants and others helped transform the space into one with landscaped grounds, blooming flowers, winding paved paths and raised garden beds, not to mention a playgarden, several age-specific playgrounds and even a Little Free Library. The transformation won the campus a Phoenix Award in 2022.
It was a once-in-a-decade week to remember for the Bucyrus Campus, celebrating 10 years of building a caring community, both within its walls and beyond. Many happy returns, Bucyrus!
