Category: Community

The Great Pumpkin Festival, one of Whitefish Bay’s most beloved traditions, returns Wednesday, Oct. 28 through Saturday, Oct. 31. This year’s co-chairs are Matt DeLange and Stephanie Thompson-Gee. I caught up with Matt – while sporting my new Pumpkin Fest sweatshirt, naturally – to find out what’s new. The short answer: more room, a later night on Halloween, a chance to win some cash, and a potential contingency plan for the Brewers.

As recounted by the Whitefish Bay History Facebook Page, this year marks the 40th time the Great Pumpkin Festival has lit up Schoolhouse Park, though the tradition started earlier in someone’s front yard. In 1979, Gordy Falk, known locally as “the Pumpkin Man,” began carving pumpkins for his Fox Point yard. When his family moved to a Tudor on Carlisle Avenue in Whitefish Bay in 1981, he brought the hobby with him and carved more pumpkins every October. He lined them along the house and across the lawn, and the crowds that came to see them caused traffic problems on Carlisle and the surrounding streets. In 1987, the village asked Falk to move the display to Schoolhouse Park, and the Civic Foundation and the village have run it there ever since. The Civic Foundation has previously estimated as many as 20,000 visits are made to the festival in a single year.

The essentials

• Hours: 6–9 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and 6–10 p.m. on Halloween night. That last hour is new this year.
• Live music: Pat McCurdy (Wed.), Thursdays on Oakland (Thu.), The WhiskeyBelles (Fri.), Steve Beguhn (Sat.)
• Food trucks, all four nights: Pandl’s, La Empanada Truck, Milwaukee Pretzel Company and Flips Donuts
• Beer tent: new this year, hard cider for the non-beer drinkers

Get your free pumpkin

If you haven’t done this before, the Great Pumpkin Festival depends on YOUR participation! Here’s how it works: The event is held at Schoolhouse Park (across from the library). Pick up a free carving pumpkin starting Friday afternoon the 23rd (weather/farmer timing dependent), take it home, carve it and bring it back by Wednesday the 28th to display on the shelves for all to marvel at your artistry. No experience required! The Civic Foundation provides the lighting to turn your creation into a spooky (or silly) Jack-o’-lantern.

All of the pumpkins come from local farms, more than 1,000 in total. Volunteers, mostly board members and their families, unload them from a flatbed and set them up in the pumpkin patch. Village DPW crews bring in the big trucks to move the giant pumpkins, which the master carvers handle onsite. “The Civic Foundation is all volunteers, separate from the village,” DeLange said, “but we can’t do anything without the village’s cooperation and support.”

Trick-or-treating moves to Halloween this year

Village trick-or-treating is normally held the Sunday before Halloween, so it rarely conflicts with the festival. This year Halloween falls on a Saturday, and the village moved trick-or-treating to 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the 31st to match the rest of the North Shore. DeLange’s suggestion: “Go enjoy trick-or-treating, go home and rally, and come back out.” Expect more costumes than usual!

A bigger footprint

DeLange said the biggest change this year is space. “We know how busy and crowded it can get, particularly when it’s dark and a lot of little kids running around,” he said.

Fleetwood Place has always been closed to cars during the festival. The food trucks used to sit on the north side, though, so the street itself wasn’t much use to the crowd. This year the trucks move to the south side so their lines can spill into the street. The beer tent will move to the corner of Fleetwood and Idlewild. There will also be cocktail tables on the closed stretch of Idlewild for people who want somewhere to stand with a drink.

Sweatshirts: you can still get one

If you missed the September pre-order, you still have a chance. A merch tent will carry a limited supply of the Great Pumpkin Festival sweatshirts, along with beanies, necklaces and a few other items, while supplies last.

New: a 50/50 raffle on Halloween night

The Civic Foundation is running its first 50/50 raffle, on Saturday only. Tickets are $2 each, and they’ll accept both cash and card. To participate, you will have to buy your tickets that night, and you need to be present at the drawing to win, or have handed your ticket to someone who is. Sales close about 30 minutes before the drawing so volunteers can count the pot. Winners will be announced from the stage during Steve Beguhn’s break, some time between 8:30 and 9 p.m.

The Brewers factor

Yes, the Civic Foundation knows. If the World Series goes long, Game 5 falls on the festival’s opening Wednesday, and Games 6 and 7 fall on Friday and Halloween night.

“We are fully aware and working with the village on how to make sure we can have something where people can watch it,” DeLange said. He has reached out to the village and expects to meet with village staff and the police department soon. There are no concrete plans yet. Watch the Foundation’s social media for updates, or hope the Brewers finish it in four!

Also new: the Historical Society is back

The Whitefish Bay Historical Society, which is restarting after over a decade of dormancy, will have a table near the beer and merch tents. Stop by to see what they’re working on and grab a cup of hot cocoa.

So grab your pumpkin, sharpen your carving skills and we’ll see you at the park. It’s going to be a gourd time.

While watching last week’s Packers-Jets game, I was curious whether former Blue Duke and ex-Jet Nick Bellore was still in the NFL. He’s been in the league so long that he’d become a kind of background fixture. Just a Whitefish Bay kid you’d spot on kick coverage in a Jets, 49ers, Lions, Seahawks and, finally, Commanders jersey. Surely, I thought, he’s still out there somewhere.

Turns out, for the first time in 15 years, he isn’t. Not on the football field, at least, as he stepped back in July of this year.

The Washington Commanders placed Bellore on the reserve/retired list in July, two days before the team’s first training camp practice (they signed former Packer Rasul Douglas to take his roster spot the same day). He had a year left on the two-year deal he signed with Washington in March 2025.

A resume nobody predicted

From his Pro Football Reference page, here are the numbers: 232 games, 17 starts at linebacker and fullback, 280 tackles, five tackles for loss, a sack, three forced fumbles, and six fumble recoveries. Two Pro Bowls, in 2020 and 2023, both earned on special teams. He logged 4,387 special teams snaps across his career, against 857 on defense and 235 on offense. Spotrac puts his career earnings a little north of $20 million. He never played fewer than 13 games in a season.

Bellore holds the record for most NFL seasons played by any Central Michigan Chippewa.

Now a quick rewind to April 2011.

“They don’t always get found”

Two weeks before that year’s draft, Journal Sentinel NFL writer Bob McGinn wrote a piece on Bellore under the headline “Whitefish Bay’s Bellore awaits the draft.” McGinn had polled eight NFL scouts on where the Central Michigan middle linebacker would go. Their guesses ranged from the third round to “seventh or free agent.” One AFC scouting director praised his production and toughness in the same breath as he flagged the problem: a 4.8-second forty. Smart, tough, always around the ball — but undrafted, when the weekend finally came.

Bellore told McGinn he’d be fine either way, and closed the interview with a line that reads differently now than it did then. He said there were plenty of good players in Wisconsin, but “they don’t always get found.”

It’s safe to say he went out there and made sure someone would find him. He signed with the Jets on July 26, 2011, and made the opening roster. He played in every game as a rookie and led the team with 31 special teams tackles. In 2012 he caught a pass off a Tim Tebow fake punt and gained 23 yards on it. By 2014, Pro Football Focus had named him an All-Pro special teamer.

Then he just kept going. Four years with the Jets, two with San Francisco, two in Detroit, five in Seattle, two in Washington — most of it on one-and-two-year deals, every one of which he had to earn again the following August. Fifteen years of being the guy the roster cuts were supposed to reach and never did.

Before all that: seven varsity letters and a Duke Pride Award

Whitefish Bay has sent a handful of athletes to the professional ranks. It has not sent many like Bellore, and the school’s hall of fame bio makes the case plainly: one of the most decorated players in Blue Dukes history.

He was a three-sport athlete — football, track and hockey — and collected seven varsity letters across the three. He started three years on the football team and captained it as both a junior and a senior. He won the Duke Pride Award in 2005 and again in 2006. He took first team All-Conference honors both of those seasons, and was named North Shore Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2006, a year in which the Blue Dukes football program credits him with 148 tackles, 20 tackles for loss and six sacks.

The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association named him honorable mention All-State as a junior and first team All-State as a senior.

He also, as McGinn noted, played that senior season hurt — he tore ligaments in his hand in the first game after committing to Central Michigan the previous July, and played through it. He graduated a semester early, enrolled at Central Michigan in January 2007 with a 15-credit load, and was starting at middle linebacker almost immediately.

The college career followed the same script. He started 51 of 52 games. He set the CMU freshman record for tackles with 102 and ranks among the top three tacklers in CMU history. He was the Chippewas’ Defensive Player of the Year in 2008 and 2009 and earned All-Conference honors from 2008 through 2010.

So: a Whitefish Bay kid who went undrafted, ended up playing 15 years in the NFL, and made two Pro Bowls.

Way to represent Whitefish Bay, Nick. Enjoy whatever adventures retirement has in store!

If you’ve bought a snow cone, a corn dog, or a funnel cake from the tents at Klode Park over the years, you likely got it from Randy or Roberta Ferrell — but you probably didn’t know their story goes back more than two decades, includes one very good friend and one very unlikely engagement.

I sat down with the pair, who run R&D Food Service, at Klode Park to find out how a couple from Conway, Florida (just outside Orlando) ended up as a decades-long fixture of Whitefish Bay’s summer season.

It started with Mike Enoch

Randy spent 15 years as the right-hand man to Mike Enoch, who ran Special Event Foods. Mike and his wife Lisa are the people who first brought their food vending service from Orlando to Whitefish Bay’s Fourth of July celebration, more than 20 years ago.

Enoch sadly passed away in 2014. Randy ran that entire summer’s shows — more than 30 of them — before Lisa agreed to sell him the business. Randy’s first year running the Whitefish Bay show under his and his wife’s name was 2015. It helps that Roberta has also worked as a professional chef for a number of years. The only year they’ve missed since that point is 2020, when COVID shut down the Fourth events.

R&D Food Service — the name comes from Randy and their son Dustin (and now grandchild Diana) — kept the same tents, the same banners and the same crew Enoch had built, “like no change ever happened,” Randy said.

If you take a look at the park bench near the toddler play structure at Klode Park, Randy and Roberta donated it and dedicated it to Mike Enoch when the village put out the call for bench sponsors.

They were saddened that the bench’s shade disappeared this year when the massive basswood tree in the park fell down weeks ago.

A family connection that turned into an engagement

And then there’s a story that has become tent lore. A few years back, on a night the fireworks got rained out and pushed to the next day, a friend brought her adult daughter Tyler up to visit from Chicago for a birthday celebration. Tyler and Dustin struck up a conversation and kept talking on the phone for the next year, until she moved from Chicago to Florida to be with him. They’re engaged now, and their daughter — Randy and Roberta’s granddaughter — has made the trip up to Whitefish Bay with them the last few summers. Who knew our very own Klode Park doubled as a matchmaking service!? 

Why they keep coming back

Roberta and Randy split their year around two seasons: lawn care business in Florida during the winter, feeding us Midwestern folks — Whitefish Bay, Ann Arbor, Toledo, Columbus, Chicago — through the summer. But Whitefish Bay is the one they talk about like family. “It’s become a family reunion when we come up,” Roberta said. 

Part of that is because they drive up, bringing much of their actual family with them from Florida, they said, but a big part is also the people who they have met and gotten to know year after year in Whitefish Bay. They are grateful (and all Villagers should be too!!) for the hard work of our Public Works employees, Civic Foundation members, public servants and all the volunteers that make the Village’s events happen. They specifically wanted to make sure credit was given to Ryan Sanchez, Pat McCarthy, Matt Collins, Lexi and Dave Deblitz (who built the wooden bar by hand that is used year after year in the beer tent), John, Kevin Buckley and Ray Sipek, to name just a few.

The two also had praise for the recent work at Klode Park itself — new landscaping, native plants replacing overgrowth, and a rebuilt playground. “The new park is just absolutely gorgeous,” Roberta said.

Catch them at Art Fest

Randy and Roberta will be back this weekend for the Whitefish Bay Art Fest on Silver Spring. You’ll have no trouble finding them – just follow the scent of good food in the air! Be sure to say hi and thank them for being an awesome part of this community and feeding the villagers of Whitefish Bay. After that, it’s back on the road toward Chicago for their next stop.

All photos in this post are courtesy of Roberta and Randy Farrell

A tip of the hat to a dedicated Villager who let me know about this story! Thank you! If you know of any other stories that need telling, please don’t hesitate to reach out – wfbwibuzz@gmail.com

The Fourth of July is days away, and Whitefish Bay’s annual celebration (this time for America’s 250th birthday!) is one of the best days in the village. The WFB Buzz spoke with Andrew Jetton, Head of the Civic Foundation’s Parade Committee, as well as a few village employees to get the full rundown — parade, live music, kids games, fireworks, and a few new wrinkles worth knowing about.

The Basics

Some Villagers will be getting the day started off bright and early with block parties. The parade kicks off at 11:30 am at the corner of Silver Spring and Kent Avenue, heads east on Silver Spring, then turns north on Lake Drive to Klode Park. The events at Klode begin at 1pm, with kids games running from 1–4 pm, live music throughout the afternoon and evening, and the fireworks finale at 9:30 pm.

One Ask Before Anything Else: The Kids Games Need You!

Here’s the thing about the kids games at Klode Park — they don’t happen without volunteers. If the slots don’t fill, the booths don’t open, and the games that are a highlight of the day for many Whitefish Bay kids just won’t be there.

The ask is small: shifts run 90 minutes, no experience necessary. You show up, someone tells you what to do, and the games themselves are about as self-explanatory as it gets. Tents will be set up at every station, so you’ll have shade. And yes, there’s a drink coupon in it for you!

Jetton himself is doing a full day of it — parade in the morning, a game shift, then the beer tent — and says it’s genuinely one of the more fun ways to spend part of your Fourth. This is your invitation to be part of that! We are a community blessed with volunteers, so if you haven’t before, here is your chance to join that tradition!

Sign up for a 90-minute shift here — even one slot helps.

What’s New This Year

Veterans as Grand Marshals. In recognition of America’s 250th anniversary and the sacrifices many of our bravest have made, the Civic Foundation is inviting every Whitefish Bay veteran who wishes to participate to march alongside other veterans as a group of Grand Marshals. More than 15 have registered so far, and there will be a vehicle available for those who can’t walk the full route. If you’re a veteran and haven’t registered yet, feel free to register here.

In addition to the veterans, the local Daughters of the American Revolution chapter will join this year’s parade, a fitting nod to the country’s founding on its 250th birthday.

Six state championship teams in the parade. Whitefish Bay High School had an exceptional year athletically, claiming six WIAA state team championships and tying a record for most WIAA team championships in a school year. All six teams are expected to march.

The Diamond Dancers are back, as are many familiar faces who join the parade each year. Be on the look out for a new one: Bernie and Barrel Man, the Brewers mascots, will make an appearance alongside the returning Roscoe (Admirals) and Iggy the Marquette Golden Eagle.

The Bike Brigade Is Back

Another new addition: the Kids’ Bike Brigade is being revived after a hiatus. A generation ago, decorating bikes in red, white, and blue and riding up to Klode Park behind the parade was an annual Whitefish Bay tradition, though there hasn’t been one in a number of years. I’ve asked around and I couldn’t quite pin down how long it’s been since the last one – I’m curious if anyone out there remembers!

Children 12 and under are invited to join. They can start at the staging area with the parade (SS & Kent) or simply fall in as the Brigade passes their spot along the route. The bike group follows the Badger Band as the final entry in the parade. About 50 kids are already registered, ranging from age 2 to 12. Parents of younger children are welcome to ride or walk alongside.

A panel of judges — elementary school teachers from the village — will pick the best-decorated ride. The Grand Prize is a $500 gift certificate to Wheel & Sprocket. Other finishers will receive a gift certificate to Dairy Queen, Winkie’s, or Burke’s Candy (while supplies last).

Register here. No e-bikes, and helmets are required. 

Live Music Lineup

• Myles Hayes — National Anthem at 1 p.m.
• Tavern Pedalers — 1–3 p.m.
• Bigger Boat — 4–6 p.m.
• ReillyRocks Irish — 7–9 p.m.

A Note on Construction and Parade Viewing

The Sendik’s construction at Silver Spring and Lake Dr is ongoing and will affect where you can stand to watch the parade.

The parade route is not changing. But viewing will be restricted in the construction zone.

Beaumont Ave remains fully closed between Lake Dr and Consaul Pl.

The Village shared that the Sendik’s construction area should remain clear and will not be open to viewers. That means the north side of Silver Spring approaching Lake Dr and around the corner on the west side of Lake Dr from Silver Spring up towards Lake View will not be available for parade watchers. 

Jetton reiterated that standing in the street, including outside the construction fencing at Sendik’s is not advisable. The parade has a lot of vehicles making that turn onto Lake Dr, it’s a tight space, kids dart into the street for candy, and it would simply be unsafe. 

The east side of Lake Dr will be open and (mostly) clear of construction for the parade including the crosswalk at Beaumont Ave.

We’ll see you out on one of the best days of the year in the village!

Few things say “summer in Whitefish Bay” quite like a block party. Closed-off streets, folding chairs, kids on bikes and scooters weaving between card tables. It’s one of the more charming features of life in a village where most people actually know and interact with their neighbors.

How Popular Are Block Parties Here?

Very. Village Hall has issued between 127 and 138 block party permits annually over the past several years:

• 2021: 138
• 2022: 131
• 2023: 134
• 2024: 128
• 2025: 127
• 2026: 58 (and counting)

With 58 permits already issued so far in 2026 and peak season still ahead, the summer is just getting started. While summer dominates the calendar, a handful of requests come through in spring and fall each year — proof that Whitefish Bay residents don’t always let a little cool weather get between them and a good excuse to throw a party.

Klode Park: The Surprisingly Controversial Origins of Whitefish Bay’s Beloved Lakefront Park and its Warming House

The Village’s Biggest Block Party

It’s worth acknowledging the largest block party that I can think of: Sounds of Summer, put on annually by the Whitefish Bay Civic Foundation on Silver Spring. The 4th of July and the Great Pumpkin Festival feel more like “Fests” to me than block parties, so I’ll give Sounds of Summer the nod, and each of these fabulous events are put on thanks to our Civic Foundation.

Typically, Silver Spring is closed from Hollywood Avenue to Santa Monica Boulevard. Live music fills the street, a food tent is set up, and the Civic Foundation handles the drinks.

Sounds of Summer is a good reminder of what a closed street and a little organization can do for a community. Your block party probably won’t draw as many people, but the spirit is the same. This year it will be held on August 15th from 6 to 10pm.

A Block Party Tradition Worth Knowing

While Sounds of Summer may be the village’s biggest, it isn’t the most storied. That distinction likely belongs to the Sheffield Block Party, an annual Fourth of July tradition on the 4800 block of Sheffield Avenue now in its 73rd year. What started years ago when a few friends decided they wanted to celebrate Independence Day together has grown into a multi-generational neighborhood institution.

There used to be a baseball game that has been replaced with a kickball game, but otherwise the party still flows similarly in the 2020s to how things were in the 1950s when it was started. The day is meticulously scheduled and includes a parade, plenty of food and drinks and an egg-throwing contest.

Even Johnsonville Brats has taken note of the party and last year sent 250 (or was it 249 for the 249th birthday of the US?) brats to the Sheffield crew. We were told there were many left over!

COVID wasn’t able to stop at least some of the festivities of this block party. A modified version was held including masks. Bessie joined in on the safe theme.

How Do You Get a Permit?

The village makes it relatively easy. You can submit a Block Party Request online here. Make sure your request is submitted 30 days before the scheduled date. 

The Rules

Some streets are off-limits. The village does not allow neighborhood block parties on its busier thoroughfares, including: Silver Spring, Santa Monica, Hampton, Oakland Ave south of Hampton, Lake Drive, and Lydell Avenue south of the cemetery.

The whole block or nothing. The Police Department requires full block closures — no partial closures. This is the nudge you need to finally introduce yourself to the neighbors at the far end of the street!

One block party request per household per year.

Village Trick-or-Treat night. No block parties allowed that evening. The Village Board voted back in 2015 to end Trick-or-Treat block parties at the recommendation of the then Police Chief Michael Young for safety reasons. In 2014, there had been 19 permits for Trick-or-Treat block parties.

Fourth of July. Parties are allowed, though you will have to supply your own barricades.

A Note on Being a Good Neighbor

As a PSA, our Police Department requests that block party hosts be considerate of neighbors when it comes to music volume. Not everyone on the block is necessarily a willing participant in your six-hour playlist. They also ask that the street be fully reopened and all items removed from the roadway by the time stated on the permit.

So, What Are You Waiting For?

With dozens of block parties already on the calendar and the heart of summer still ahead, Whitefish Bay’s streets are going to be busy in the best possible way. If your block hasn’t had one in a while, or ever, this might be the year to change that. Submit your request here.

Any other cool block party related traditions? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!