Greenbush Day celebration set

In March 2007, more than 300 people turned out for a first-time event honoring one of Madison’s most culturally diverse and historic neighborhoods. The second Greenbush Day celebration will be held from 4–6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25, at the university’s Welcome Center, 21 N. Park St.

Current and former residents are invited to attend, as are members of the UW–Madison community and the general public. Parking will be available on the second level of Lot 29, and there is a Route 85 bus stop right in front of the Welcome Center.

The center is located on the north edge of the old neighborhood, where many Italian and Sicilian immigrants, Jews and African Americans resided until the early 1960s, when they were displaced to make way for the Triangle urban renewal project.

Today “the Bush” is home to many Hmong and other recent immigrants, elderly citizens and persons with disabilities.

This year’s celebration will emphasize the theme of “What Makes A Community?” Several volunteers who have enriched the quality of life in the neighborhood will be honored with Community Builder awards.

Among them will be Mai Kou Yang, a fourth-year student at UW–Madison and a first-year student in the School of Nursing. Yang, who is from Sheboygan, has been a volunteer in the Bayview after-school program and its reading and homework clubs for more than two years.

There will be music and dance performances by Blackstar Reggae founder Prince Mantee, the Italian Folk Dancers of Madison, and Viv Ncaus, a group of elementary school girls who perform traditional Hmong dances in traditional Hmong clothing.

The program also will include storytelling about life in Greenbush, along with several exhibits and light refreshments.