The Friends of Lakeshore State Park is an all-volunteer organization, with one part-time administrative assistant; we are a small yet strong team! Volunteers are key to our success, and we are excited to recognize our 2023 Volunteer of the Year, Allison Driskill. Allison helps tremendously through her management of our social media, help with the newsletter and planning and participating in park events. Thank you Allison!

Learn more about Allison as we discuss her experience volunteering with FLSP.

What is your favorite season to visit the park?

Spring, when the Baptisia alba is blooming!

Why did you start volunteering with Friends of Lakeshore State Park?

I used to take my dog, Jackson, on walks around the park which he and I really enjoyed. When he died, I decided to see if the park needed volunteers to honor his memory and give back to a place that brought us joy when he was alive. I get to make a big impact with this park in particular due to the small nature of the volunteer group and how publicly accessible this park is to both visitors and city-dwellers alike!

What is your favorite thing to do in the park?

I really like walking around and seeing all the different native plants that I can identify. Seeing the succession of species blooming throughout the season is always amazing!

What is your favorite plant or animal that is in the park?

Obviously I really like the showy Baptisia alba (Wild White Indigo), but I also love running my fingers through Panicum virgatum (Switchgrass).

Why are accessible spaces in nature important to you?

When I first started coming to the park, I didn’t have a car so this was the first state park I had visited in Wisconsin. I know that I can take anyone to the park, no matter their athletic ability or the vehicle access. The paved paths allow anyone to view a slice of nature.

Why are public parks important to you?

Patches of greenery in public spaces are not only important slivers of habitat for native animals who have been displaced by human populations, but it is also a benefit for us as well. Going out in nature is calming and good for people. Access to nature should be a right available to anyone, even if they live in the city.

Do you want to volunteer with the Friends?

We could use your help! Please complete a volunteer interest form.

The Friends of Lakeshore State Park are grateful for the generosity of individuals and organizations in support of our mission. Over the past two years, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation (GMF) has funded a park educator and diversity intern who deliver impactful educational programs at the park for so many. We are thrilled to let you know that for the third year in a row, we have been awarded a grant from the GMF towards a park educator and diversity intern at Lakeshore State Park! 

About the Greater Milwaukee Community Foundation: they work to inspire philanthropy, serve donors, and strengthen communities now and for future generations. The foundation strives to help the greater Milwaukee area become a vibrant, economically thriving region comprised of welcoming and inclusive communities that provide opportunity, prosperity and a high quality of life for all. With nearly a century of experience, the foundation has vast knowledge and expertise surrounding community needs and challenges and what resources and partners it takes to meet them.

Membership Matters

We value our members and believe you share our vision of maintaining and improving this remarkable natural gem for generations to come, and we continue to extend our warm invitation to join the Lakeshore State Park Friends.  

Membership plays a pivotal role in ensuring the continued growth and protection of the Park; it helps us maintain trails, enhance wildlife habitats, and promote environmental education programs that inspire visitors of all ages.

Through Dec 15th, new and renewing members of Friends of Lakeshore State Park are eligible through a random drawing to win one of the thank-you gifts below:

As a member, you will contribute directly to vital conservation initiatives and ongoing improvement projects. Your support is essential to the continues success of the Park. Please consider making a donation below today!

Park Pal Memberships
Individual: $25

Family: $50

Prairie Patron Memberships
Rock Prairie: $100
Fox Prairie: $250
Kid’s Prairie: $500
Big Prairie: $1,000
 

Thank you! to the following members who joined or renewed in October:

Laura Herzog
Bob & Carol Diggelman
Angie Mack
Andrea Van Sumeren
Naveen Lalit Kankate

UPCOMING EVENTS

Friday, November 10^th: Veterans Hike, 12:00pm-1:00pm
Wednesday, November 15^th: “Rock your Mocs” Hike, 5:30pm-6:30pm
Friday, November 24^th: #OptOutside Hike, 11:00am-12:00pm

Our park educators offer a wide variety of programs for both kids and adults, such as fishing clinics (no license required for children 15 and under) and events that focus on nature education and exploration, all designed to be hands-on and family-friendly.

For details on events, please visit the FLSP Events Page.

SAVE THE DATE

Christmas in the Ward!

The tradition continues! Friday December 1^st Friends volunteers and the DNR will be making s’mores at Christmas in the Ward. Please stop by, say hello and get warm by four fire pits while making these tasty treats. Donations using Square or cash will be gratefully accepted. The event starts at 5:30pm with fireworks at 7:25pm.

Want to help with events, programs or otherwise?
Please complete a volunteer interest form.

Colder weather doesn’t mean all activity at Lakeshore State Park has slowed.

Spawning trout and salmon can be seen leaping from the water as they make their way to the shallow waters and gravel beds best for laying eggs. Bluestem grasses have turned an autumn orange, the flowers have all gone to seed, and you can practically smell the pies in the oven.

This month is one of the last times to soak up fall, and when we start to feel grateful for our families, our friends, and our planet. As we relish the last moments of flowering plant life for the year, we can feel grateful for organizations which help keep our parks functioning at their best. We can help these organizations in several ways, such as giving our time to weed out invasive plants, donating to fund more educational opportunities at the parks, promoting organizations that help facilitate both, and more. Giving to organizations that matter to the planet during this season can provide a feeling of warmth that helps stave away the chill as winter starts to wrap its icy grip around our city. 

Donating to the Friends of Lakeshore State Park helps fund things like educational collaborations with the Friends of Wisconsin State Parks and Audubon Society, new equipment for the staff and park rangers, and free events for the public. As Milwaukee’s only urban state park, your support can help make nature accessible for anyone, regardless of their ability, language, or access to transportation.

Someone without a car can access this park, and it may be the only state park they have had a chance to visit. Anyone who visits here can see birds, butterflies, bees, foxes, and fish all within this urban patch of prairie by the lake – just by taking the Gold line bus to the lakefront! Your donation to the Friends of Lakeshore State Park helps support the DNR to keep this park accessible, educational, and an island of natural habitat right in the heart of Milwaukee.

Catherine Piotrowski appreciates Lakeshore State Park in many ways. As a Prairie Pal, she enjoys planting, weeding and culling the short-grass prairie along with the other members of the Garden Club of Greater Milwaukee. As a long-time Milwaukeean, Catherine likes the beauty of the lakefront. And most of all, she loves the clean wind that happens at Lakeshore State Park.

A wind that blows predictably with no obstacles like trees or tall buildings to go around is a clean wind and it’s a gift to kite-flying. Catherine has been kite-flying since retiring from teaching Spanish in Milwaukee Public Schools over a decade ago. She enjoys single-line flying of delta kites and dual-line flying for larger kites and inflatables, such as her 21-foot tall skeleton kite, but she really lights up when describing quad-line flying.

Quad-lines are for making stunt kites dance. With skill, four lines and the right wind, she can make stunt kites pivot, hover, spin, swoop and loop. Catherine choreographs routines to music and performs them at kite festivals around the country. She enjoys the challenge of adapting to the wind conditions of the day, as Catherine says wind- “shift happens”

She, her husband and their 100 kites can be found at Milwaukee kite festivals as well as ones in Washington, Florida, Oklahoma and Montana. They travel to find good wind and meet up with kite-flying friends. They particularly enjoy mentoring those new to kiting. While in Washington state they spend a day teaching children aged 3-12 how to fly a kite and coach them through kite skills games.  

To learn more about kiting, go to one of Milwaukee’s three annual kite festivals at Veteran’s Park: Cool Fool Kite Festival on New Year’s Day, Memorial Day weekend and the first weekend in September for the Frank Mots International Festival. Or look for Catherine at Lakeshore State Park. After a morning of volunteering in the prairie, she can be found with her kite catching some clean wind. The Friends of Lakeshore State Park will be hosting events with kites at the park; look for more info in a future newsletter 

Beauty can be found at the park in all seasons, in many ways. As days shorten, prairie plants go to seed, turning gold, purple and brown. You may see a number of migratory bird species such as Double-Breasted Cormorants, American Coots, American Pelicans, Common Yellowthroat Warblers and Black Bellied Plovers visiting the park before flying south for warmer weather. And look for our resident red foxes, one recently seen on Sep 21st!

Wildflower on the Water, a Friends Gathering

September 9th was a beautiful day at the park for the 1st annual Wildflower on the Water, a Friends Gathering. Many adults and children celebrated nature, music and art, and enjoyed a variety of free, family-fun activities. 

We are very grateful for the generous support of sponsors, the talented artists and dedicated volunteers who all made this event possible – thank you!

And the giving continues, as Sarah is donating a portion of sales of her song “Wildflowers” and merchandise to support our mission. Please check out her song and more here:  https://sarahfierek.com/ 

October Park Events

Oct. 9^th: Indigenous People’s Day Hike—1:00pm-2:00pm and 6:30pm-7:30pm
Oct. 14^th: Fall Bird Hike—1:00pm-2:00pm
Oct. 18^th: Spider Hike—5:30pm-6:30pm
Oct. 18^th: Halloween Beach Bonfire—6:00pm-8:00pm
Oct. 21^st: Wisconsin Science Festival BioBlitz —10:00am-12:00pm
Oct. 27^th: Hunter’s Moon Hike—5:30pm-6:30pm
Oct. 29^th: Decorate a Pumpkin! —1:00pm-3:00pm 

Our park educators offer a wide variety of programs for both kids and adults, such as fishing clinics (no license required for children 15 and under) and events that focus on nature education and exploration, all designed to be hands-on and family-friendly.

For details on events, please visit the FLSP Events Page

Want to help with events, programs or otherwise?
Please complete a volunteer interest form

As you walk around Lakeshore State Park you may notice the park is in a time of transition. While some plants are vibrantly in bloom, others are fading. Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) and Common Milkweed (Asclepias syrianca) are beginning to drop their flowers and go to seed. False White Indigo (Baptisia lacteal), seen primarily in the north Demonstration Gardens, are dropping their flowers, and creating pods. As tempting as it may be to pop these pods, please resist as they help create the seed bank necessary for next year’s growth!

While we have many beautiful, native plants to enjoy, this is also the time of growth for some invasive plants. The DNR staff is currently tackling Queen Anne’s Lace or Wild Carrot (Daucus carota), first introduced from Europe. With its tall, flat topped white flowers, this plant may be visually appealing, but has a large tap root that makes it hardy in many environments, crowding out native plants. To help maintain and create better biodiversity for native plant species, DNR staff pull the Queen Anne’s Lace from the tap root or dead head the flowers to keep them from going to seed. If you’d like to join our removal efforts, we are offering Stewardship Thursdays every Thursday in the month of August from 1:00pm-3:00pm! We will meet at the south entrance park sign and tools will be provided—we hope to see you there!

On July 9th, over 400 people visited the park during our second annual Brunch By the Beach. Many thanks to David HB Drake, Tots on the Street, Sweetly Baked, Plastic Free MKE, volunteers and everyone who helped make for a family-fun event. Below is a collage of some photos from that beautiful day – we’ll be hosting more events like this, please look for more info in our newsletter.

August Park Events

• Stewardship Thursdays from 1:00pm-3:00pm (South Entrance), Aug 3^rd, Aug 10^th Aug 17^th Aug 24^th Aug 31^st
• Friday, August 4^th: Sunrise Hike, 5:30AM-6:30AM (North Entrance)
• Sunday, August 6^th: Track Tales, 11:00AM-12:00PM (North Entrance)
• Wednesday, August 9^th: Pollinator Hike, 2:00PM-3:00PM (North Entrance)
• Thursday, August 10^th / Jueves, 10 de agosto: Medicinal & Edibles Hike/Caminata de Plantas Medicinales y Comestibles (Bilingual), 6:30PM-7:30PM (North Entrance/Entrada Norte)
• Friday, August 11^th: Prairie Hike, 6:00PM-7:00PM (North Entrance)
• Saturday, August 12^th: Edibles Drop In, 9:00AM-10:00AM (North Entrance)
• Sunday, August 13^th: Fishing Clinic, 9:00AM-12:00PM (Fishing Pier along western path)
• Wednesday, August 16^th: Dragonfly Hike, 6:00PM-7:00PM (North Entrance)
• Thursday, August 17^th / Jueves, 17 de agosto: Sunset Hike/Caminata al Puesto del Sol (Bilingual), 7:00PM-8:30PM (North Entrance/Entrada Norte)
• Friday, August 18^th: Mammal Hike, 2:00PM-3:00PM (North Entrance)
• Saturday, August 19^th: Story Time: Grouchy Lady Bug, 2:00PM-3:00PM (North Entrance)
• Sunday, August 20^{th /} Domingo, 20 de agosto: Pollinator Hike / Caminata de polinizadores (Bilingual), 6:30PM-7:30PM (North Entrance/Entrada Norte)
• Friday, August 25^th: Urban Critters: Rabbits, 1:00PM-3:00PM (North Entrance)
• Saturday, August 26^th / Sábado, 26 de agosto : International Bat Night Hike/Noche Internacional del Murcielago (Bilingual), 7:30PM-9:00PM (North Entrance/Entrada Norte)

Our park educators offer a wide variety of programs for both kids and adults, such as fishing clinics (no license required for children 15 and under) and events that focus on nature education and exploration, all designed to be hands-on and family-friendly.

For details on events, please visit the FLSP Events Page
Want to help with events and programs? Please complete a volunteer interest form