Sheboygan’s Uptown Social has seen its membership surge since opening in November. Plus, more news in weekly dose.
SHEBOYGAN - Since opening its doors on Nov. 15, 2022, Uptown Social, formerly the Senior Activity Center of Sheboygan, has experienced an overwhelming response from the community with record-breaking attendance and membership.
March 2, Mary Werner was celebrated as member No. 1,000 by Sheboygan Mayor Ryan Sorenson, Uptown Social staff, Friends of Uptown Social Board members and other Uptown Social members.
“Our original membership aim, as determined by our 2021 Strategic Plan, was to have 850 active members by the end of 2023,” said Emily Rendall-Araujo, City of Sheboygan’s director of senior services. “We got there before the end of January.
“Membership and daily attendance have continued to climb since our opening,” Rendall-Araujo added. “Our volunteers and team have worked tirelessly to welcome, tour and register more than 600 new members since we opened in November.”
The City of Sheboygan purchased the 30,000-square-foot Save A-Lot and Pet Supplies Store Plus at 1817 N. Eighth St. for the new center as a result of population trends through 2040, showing a substantial increase in the senior population of nearly 72%.
The Friends of Uptown Social is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that funds and supports the programming for Uptown Social. Currently, the Friends group is fundraising for the gymnasium to accommodate expanding fitness classes and new programming, such as indoor pickleball.
Uptown Social is an organization for active adults and is open to all ages. Programming is geared toward ages 55 and older. It partners with a diverse group of individuals and organizations to provide programs focused on fitness, recreation, creativity and travel. Members and guests determine their level of engagement, from attending as little as one event per year, to volunteering to lead a regular program. Membership is $30 for city and town of Sheboygan residents and $35 for other communities.
Membership is not required at Uptown Social, but member benefits include discounted prices and special events. More info is at uptownsocial.org.
Welcome to your weekly dose.
Here is more news from throughout Sheboygan County in your weekly dose.
▶ Sheboygan County Best Under 40 Awards nominees being accepted: Nominations of young professionals are being accepted for the Sheboygan County Best Under 40 Awards, which will be held May 4.
The public is invited to make nominations online through the Sheboygan County Chamber.
Nominations are due by 5 p.m. March 24.
Categories include 2023 Entrepreneur of the Year, 2023 Young Professional Community Volunteer of the Year and 2023 Top Young Professional of the Year.
Young professionals ages 21-40 (before Dec. 31, 2022) are eligible.
A panel of judges will include members of the Sheboygan County Chamber Board of Directors and past winners.
Nominees must reside or work in Sheboygan County.
▶ Seven Ages Theatricals to stage ‘Force of Nature’ March 24-26: Seven Ages Theatricals, Sheboygan’s local Indie theater company, has announced its spring production of “Force of Nature,” by Steven Dietz, will be performed at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. March 24-25 and 2 p.m. March 25-26.
A news release said: “‘Force of Nature’ is a powerful and intense play based on Goethe’s novella ‘Elective Affinities.’ Set in the German countryside in 1809, the piece examines the premise of two forces of nature joining until a third disrupts their union; then the introduction of a fourth causes a switching of pairs. The play enacts this concept through a raw and searing love story, with intimate moments of subtext delivered directly to the audience, so we know the characters’ inner desires and anguish, even when their fellow characters don’t.”
The show will star Trudy Berger as Charlotte, Lee Evans as her husband Edward, Christopher Lee Fontaine as the Captain, and Emily Sandoval as Ottilie, a mysterious young woman who has disrupted the tranquil life on Edward and Charlotte’s country estate.
Rounding out the cast is Jardin Fontaine, Tara Jackson, AJ McCord, Katie Kelly and David Neese.
The play will be directed by 7AT’s artistic director, Tom Berger.
The rest of the Seven Ages Theatricals season includes a May production of “Incorruptible,” by Michael Hollinger, and “Othello” at City Green in September, continuing 7AT’s tradition of free Shakespeare in the park for the Sheboygan community.
Ticket information and more details can be found on Seven Ages’ Facebook page or by emailing sevenagestheatricals@gmail.com.
▶ ELG High School Band and Choir to present ‘Decades Rewind’ pops concert: The Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah High School Band and Choir will present a “Decades Rewind” pops concert at 6:30 p.m. March 17 and 18 in the high school’s Mauk Auditorium.
The evening will include a host of popular songs from the 1950s through the 1990s by members of the band, choir and jazz band.
Tickets are $5 and are on sale through the high school office or at the door. Call 920-876-3381 for details.
▶ Ruth Arts announces Sites & Stewardship recipients: Ruth Foundation for the Arts, a grant-maker inspired by namesake and benefactor Ruth DeYoung Kohler II, has announced its newest program, Sites & Stewardship, a $1.5 million initiative to provide grants to 15 non-profit arts organizations whose missions support the aspects of an artist’s community, home, studio, archive, collection or built environment.
Thirteen organizations will receive one-year grants, with two organizations receiving multi-year support for major initiatives, a news release said.
Rooted in Ruth DeYoung Kohler II’s longstanding appreciation of artist-built environments, Sites & Stewardship was designed for a unique category of art organizations whose missions and artistic activities are rooted in a proximity to place.
The inaugural list is composed of artist-built environments, historic artist homes and studios, cultural sites, and organizations that intersect meaningfully with their physical location and the creative legacies they strive to uphold.
In developing this invitation-only program, Ruth Arts sought initiatives that connected location to creativity, artist to community, and histories to futures, reflecting both the tangible and ephemeral qualities of these spaces.
These 13 organizations are receiving one-year grants between $50,000 and $100,000: the Art Farm in Marquette, Nebraska; the Black Art Library in Detroit; the Corita Art Center in Los Angeles; the Dirt Palace in Providence, Rhode Island; The Dox Thrash Project in Philadelphia; the Kenkeleba House in New York; the L.V. Hull Legacy Center in Kosciusko, Mississippi; the Nancy Graves Foundation in Queens, New York; the Noah Purifoy Foundation in Joshua Tree, California; RAIR in Philadelphia; Sala Diaz in San Antonio, Texas; Self Help Graphics & Art in Los Angeles; and the Sky City Cultural Center and Acoma Pueblo in Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico.
The two multi-year grant recipients — the New York-based W.O.W Project and the Doll Museum Forward initiative (funded through fiscal sponsor The Social Good Fund) — will both receive $400,000 grants, which will be distributed over the course of two years, to embark on major initiatives.
Doll Museum Forward, based in Philadelphia, is a city-wide project honoring the impact of the closing Philadelphia Doll Museum, cataloging and circulating its collection, and initiating new art programs.
The New York City-based W.O.W. Project sustains ownership over Manhattan Chinatown’s future by growing, protecting and preserving Chinatown’s creative culture through arts, culture and activism. As a community-based initiative, W.O.W. envisions the future of Chinatown as one that centers women, non-binary, queer and trans people as leaders in building intergenerational bridges of understanding across Asian American communities and beyond.
What to expect in 2023
Streetwise reporter Alex Garner shares the big developments to expect on the Sheboygan County business scene in 2023 in her look ahead. Click here for the full article.
And local government/watchdog reporter Maya Hilty shares a roundup of public developments to expect in 2023. Click here to read that report.
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This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Sheboygan Uptown Social membership surges above 1,000 members
