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Vol. 22, No. 1
By Kathy Ponce, MAPS, BCC
The NACC national office staff and members of the Conference Planning Task Force have been busy since last summer arranging revitalizing professional and spiritual experiences for all members and guests at our May 19-22, 2012, NACC National Conference. Once again the site of our annual gathering will be the conveniently located Hilton Milwaukee Center. This issue of Vision provides news of the conference plenary speakers. Let us also provide some information on the social and sightseeing amenities of our conference site, since Milwaukee with its lakeside location is an ideal place for a spring get-away for you and your friends or family members.
Those of you who were fortunate enough to have attended last year’s NACC National Conference in Milwaukee may have had an opportunity to see and to partake of the city’s many charming venues. You probably have your favorite spots and are looking forward to revisiting them as well as further exploring the city’s iconic destinations and neighborhood gems. Those who will be visiting Milwaukee for the first time next May are in for a lovely experience, as the Hilton is a perfect base for visiting many of the area’s most popular attractions. With a rich ethnic heritage and cultural mix, some of the finest dining in the Midwest, and an amazing art museum, this city, nestled on the shore of Lake Michigan, is especially inviting as May flowers follow April showers to provide a lush atmosphere in Milwaukee’s many gardens and city parks.
Miller Park is home to the Milwaukee Brewers (Photo courtesy of VISIT Milwaukee).
Milwaukee’s RiverWalk, a delightful stroll ranked third in Travel and Leisure’s “top 10 coolest River Walks of 2010” and within one-half mile of our hotel, continues to grow as one of the most popular ways to see the city. The world’s only Harley-Davidson Museum and Milwaukee Brewers baseball home games from May 18-23 may appeal to the sportspersons among conference attendees. Speaking of the Brewers, Miller/Coors, the Lakefront Brewery and the Historic Pabst Brewery are among the most popular of Milwaukee’s brewery tours.
Milwaukee, which ranks 13th among the country’s most walkable cities, boasts an excellent and artsy amble through its converted warehouse arts district, the Historic Third Ward. Within several blocks of the Hilton is a three-block historic landmark called “Old World Third Street” with 19th-century European-style buildings including an opportunity for shopping, sipping and snacking at the Wisconsin Cheese Mart, Usinger’s Famous Sausage Company, the Old German Beer Hall, the Spice House, the Brat House and Mader’s, a restaurant that has served famous German comfort foods for more than 100 years. For a walk on the wild side, consider the Milwaukee County Zoo, considered among the finest zoos in the country, situated on 200 wooded acres, home to 2,500 animals, and reachable by a 15-minute car ride from our conference center.
Cathedral Square, a small urban park within a mile of the Hilton, and bordered by Milwaukee’s St. John the Evangelist Cathedral, several galleries, and a tea and gift shop, is an appealing option for a daytime stroll. En route to Cathedral Square is an indoor mall, the Shops at Grand Avenue, part of which is housed in the historic Plankinton Arcade. An extremely walkable distance (three blocks) from the Hilton is the Milwaukee Public Museum that houses permanent and seasonal exhibits as well as an IMAX dome theater.
This is an interior shot of one of the Mitchell Park Conservatory
all-weather domes (Photo courtesy of VISIT Milwaukee).
The Boerner Botanical Gardens, a 15-20 minute car ride from our conference site, include 10 gardens, many of which contain art and sculpture. Among the most interesting are an heirloom garden, an herb garden, a bog walk garden and several acres of experimental gardens. The history of the gardens, which were developed in the early 20th century, includes the post-Depression era work of members of the Civilian Conservation Corp, and the buildings developed during this time are currently horticultural education facilities. A five-minute drive from the conference location is the Mitchell Park Conservatory, made up of three all-weather, geodesic, glass domes in which can be found a tropical jungle, a desert oasis, and a seasonal floral garden (just in case a few of Milwaukee’s April showers persist into the merry month of May).
As you plan your trip to Milwaukee, we hope that you’ll also add a few days either before or following the conference to explore some of the unique neighborhoods of the city, both within walking distance and short car rides of the downtown area in which our conference will be held. More information on the attractions described above is available by browsing the web (also see related links below). Association members who live in the city that is the NACC’s headquarters encourage you to “come early and stay late” in this delightful town on the western shore of the southernmost of our nation’s Great Lakes.
Kathy Ponce, a chaplain at Resurrection Health Care in Chicago, IL, is chair for the 2012 NACC National Conference in Milwaukee.
Historic Third Ward
www.historicthirdward.org
Milwaukee’s RiverWalk
www.jsonline.com/business/130031773.html
Milwaukee Art Museum
www.mam.org
Milwaukee Public Museum
www.mpm.edu
Shops of Grand Avenue
www.grandavenueshops.com
Lakefront Brewery
www.lakefrontbrewery.com
Boerner Botanical Gardens
www.boernerbotanicalgardens.org
Milwaukee County Zoo
www.milwaukeezoo.org
Harley Davidson Museum
www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/HD_Museum/Museum.jsp
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