Who We Are

We are a group that  participates in various activities to maintain and improve  Estabrook Park.
We have cooperated with the Milwaukee County Parks Department  and the Milwaukee Historical Society in maintaining this historic park.   We have sponsored  nature walks for the community, have replanted several degraded areas and have constructed trails and repaired stairs, have participated in weedouts and river cleanups.  

We have been around since 2008 and have had a formal structure since 2012. The by-laws call for a board of directors and officers as well as members. We can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected] .

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Board of Directors in 2025:

Harold Schmidt, President
Donna Pollock, Vice President
​Andrew Dressel, Secretary
Greg Wyder
Carolyn Morse
Henry Tomasiewicz
​Andrew Larsen




                   FRIENDS OF ESTABROOK PARK BOARD MEETING MINUTES AUGUST 20th, 2025

Board Present - H Schmidt, C Morse, D Pollock, G. Wyder, H Tomasiewicz, A Larsen   Absent - A Dressel
Meeting called to order at 7:05p Board unanimously approved 05/21/25 Board Meeting Minutes

OLD BUSINESS

 FISCAL - No New Report from Park People. Approximately $19k in account.
MEMBERSHIP - Now that the Biergarten membership software issue is resolved will request a new report from their team. Park People have not sent any new members over. Manually added +4 Members, consistently seeing ~50-60% open rate on email communications
. FARMERS MARKET - We have two sets of supports for the EZUP : light and heavy duty. Will see if there is use for the heavier one. Final Market of the year is 10/26
BUTTERFLY HABITAT - Got the OK from Parks to do the area below the South Soccer Fields. We have enough seed. Lincoln Park took some donated germinated seed off our hands. Will need to send out a request for helpers to lay down fabric in the Fall (Mid Sept) to prepare for Spring planting. H Tomasiewicz will get pricing on fabrics and propose dates.
URBAN FORESTRY GRANT 2026 - Contract to be signed, we committed to 120 Volunteer hours (valued at $1800). Grant will provide 40 trees and bushes for Fall 2026 planting:
BENCHES - Ken completed 9 new benches which are ready for deployment pending branding.
KIOSK - Has been fixed up / reinforced by Parks, no further action needed for now
ESTABROOK FISH PASSAGE - Work was started. The flooding set work back a bit.
FALL TREE PLANTING - FOE to plant 40-50 trees/shrubs in natural areas in late October. Will need to reach out for Volunteers for planting.
MAINTENANCE BUILDING - Was used this summer and is due for further repairs per Peter Bratt. In addition to regular park staff the building might house Park Rangers and/or Forestry

NEW BUSINESS
FALL WEEDOUTS - Proposed Dates 9/27, 10/18, 11/1. Meet at maintenance parking lot at 9am.
CLEANUP PARTNERSHIP - 10/11 Kay Dunleavy, partner to cleanup on the South end of park on 10/11 at 9am. FOE would then sponsor a booth at Hubbard for 2025 Shorewood Fish & Feather Festival
NEW PARK SUPERVISOR - Jacob Liptack (414-356-8893)
SKATE PARK PROPOSAL - Ashok Menon was invited to present his ideas for improvement to the skatepark, he was not present at the meeting so we will wait and see if we hear anything from him

ANNOUNCEMENTS

BOARD MEETING - 11/12 Lincoln Park
NEWSLETTER - Submissions due 9/9

Meeting Adjourned 7:48p
                                                                           

                                                                                   For additional information you can visit our Facebook page