Thoughts

Changing Seasons

Green Bay has been the cultural hub of the region all of my life. That’s not saying much but you make the best of the hand you are dealt. For a City with such a long history, there are unfortunately few examples left of the architecture from nostalgic and bygone eras. The Brown County Courthouse in downtown Green Bay is one of very few buildings around with that classically iconic looking architecture of the early United States, even if it was built in 1908. If it takes 150 years for architectural styles to find there way to Green Bay… there is a joke here somewhere. Cultural trends do seem to be coming to Green Bay a bit faster as of late. Few can deny the positive re-birth, or Renaissance if you will, of the downtown. I hope the powers that be take care of this little jewel and it’s nostalgic American style.

Philadelphia Masonic Temple

On a recent trip to Philly, I had two “must do” things on my list. One was to see the Marcel Duchamp magnum opus, Étant donnés, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The second was to tour the Masonic Temple. The temple is the headquarters of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania and Masonic Jurisdiction Thereunto Belonging. It is a spectacular sight to behold.

Egyptian Hall was finished in 1889. It is decorated in the style of the Nile Valley. Twelve huge columns stand on the four sides of the room, surmounted by capitals peculiar to the Temples of Luxor, Karnak, Philae and others.

The style of Norman Hall, finished in 1891, is Rhenish Romanesque.

The main window depicts Holy Ground and the Burning Bush when Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. At the top is a traditional rose window, with the many emblems of the Masonic Fraternity.

Renaissance Hall is decorated in the Italian Renaissance style, and was finished in 1908.

Corinthian Hall is decorated in strict conformity with the principles of Grecian classical architecture.

Gothic Hall has all the characteristics of the architectural style for which it is named.

Oriental Hall was decorated in 1896, in the Moorish, or Saracenic, style. The colors and decorations were copied from the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, a 13th Century castle.

Ionic Hall, decorated in 1890, takes its name from the style of architecture from Ionia, where King Ion reigned in Asia Minor.

Electric Skateboard

We had a chance to monkey around with the Fiik Electric Skateboard known as the Big Daddy. Off-roading anyone?

Skateboardcop Goes International

My long time friend came to me about his idea to connect with youth via patrolling on a skateboard. I wanted to do what I could for him so I got the Mayor’s buy in and had Skateboardcop introduced into the Mayor’s State of the City Address. It has recently garnered a lot of attention from news outlets around the world.

Whitefish Dunes State Park

We pulled out the old map and found Whitefish Dunes to be within acceptable boundaries for a geocaching day trip. This is a pretty amazing park that has a County Park within it’s bounds. Cave Point County Park is also an impressive site with it’s limestone cliff face and crystal clear waters.

18,000 of my close personal friends went for a run.

The 2014 Bellin Run was this past weekend and I decided to head out and do the run with my GoPro attached to an extendable painters pole to get some pics of the 18,000+ runners who came out for one of the largest 10K’s in the nation.