Small Street Journal: September 13, 2019

Dove Healthcare
South Eau Claire, 3656 Mall Drive, is celebrating 10 years of serving the Chippewa Valley with a 50s-60s rock n' roll themed party! You are invited to join them on Wednesday, September 18 from 3:30-5:30PM for great music by The Thundermen, a delicious pulled pork meal with ice cream sodas, and a car show by the Indianhead Old Car Club. You'll want to stop by the photo booth with your friends too for a special memento of your fun time. Rain or shine, join them on the tent covered grounds. Overflow parking at Concordia Lutheran next door; just look for the Dove Healthcare shuttle for easy door to door service. Learn more: https://bit.ly/2M4bVxs or call 715-552-1035.

---

L.E. Phillips Memorial Library
Library Starts a New Chapter in Story Builder Expansion Campaign
At the heart of any good story are great characters, and the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library in Eau Claire recently revealed three main characters in their Story Builder capital campaign. Long-time Eau Claire area literacy advocates Heidi Atkins and Carol Gabler, and library Board of Trustees President Bob Eierman, will co-chair the $7M campaign which aims to fund the first expansion of the library since the facility was built in 1976.
 
The current building is in need of a major renovation to replace crucial mechanical systems, and the City Council has approved $11.5M in capital improvement funds for that purpose. That commitment creates an opportunity to efficiently and affordably expand the overcrowded building to meet the community’s needs now and well into the future.
 
Expansion will add approximately 29,000 sq. ft. to the existing 61,000 sq. ft. facility, for a total size of 90,000 sq. ft. This will include a third story addition of roughly 25,000 sq. ft. as well as extending the first floor toward Eau Claire Street. Lower-level parking is expected to remain as it is.
Highlights of the expanded space include:

• Full ADA compliance, ensuring equal access for all
• More shelving space for books, movies, etc. with more display options and less reliance on difficult-to-reach lower and higher shelves
• A 200-seat community programming room (twice the size of the largest current room)
• An expanded front entrance atrium with signature artwork
• An expanded Youth Services programming room
• A variety of smaller rooms for individuals and groups to meet, study, and work

According to Carol Gabler, “It is a no brainer to complete this expansion now in tandem with the proposed renovation. The City of Eau Claire and the City Council are stepping up to take care of mechanical updates.” Gabler continues, “The staff and Board have done a great job of working in the confines of this aging building, but the needs are urgent now for the renovation to be completed. This expansion is a justified next step.”
 
Gabler has lived in Eau Claire for more than 40 years. She served as Executive Director of Literacy Chippewa Valley for 20 years and supervised student teachers at UW–Eau Claire from 2007 through 2019. She also volunteers with the Women's Giving Circle and serves as a volunteer chaplain at River Prairie Nursing home in Altoona.
 
Eierman, Board of Trustees President agrees. “With the City doing its part, it is up to us as private citizens to provide the funds to expand to accommodate the huge influx in usage and participation the library is experiencing.” Eierman has served five years on the library board. He recently retired after 32 years as a Chemistry professor at UW–Eau Claire.
 
According to Atkins, a retired attorney, “The Library’s history goes back more than 150 years in Eau Claire. History shows community members have helped fund needed expansion and improvements when they were warranted. Just as when past leaders took charge, it is our desire to provide the space necessary for the library to best serve the quality of life of the Eau Claire area,” she adds. Atkins has served as the president of the boards of directors for Literacy Volunteers, Feed my People Food bank, and the Eau Claire YMCA. She has also chaired the Empty Bowls fundraiser for Feed my People since 2007.
 
With over 1,200 visitors daily, the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library is the most visited destination in downtown Eau Claire.
 
“Today’s space needs aren’t as simple as crowding due to population growth,” says Library Director, Pamela Westby. “Library use per capita is way up! Each person in the library’s service area is actually using more library resources than they did in 1980.”
 
Atkins, Eierman, and Gabler have all served on one of three committees of more than 50 Eau Claire area residents that have been working on campaign planning. The committees’ work has included writing the rationale for the campaign, preparing communications materials, identifying those who may wish to give, and recruiting leaders to help make it happen.
 
Solicitation will begin in the fall of 2019 with a launch tentatively scheduled for next April 2020. The capital campaign is managed by Crescendo Fundraising Professionals, LLC, which has successfully helped communities raise goals in nearly 40 campaigns and nine library campaigns. The Eau Claire Community Foundation will support the philanthropic portion of the Story Builder capital campaign.
 
Campaign details can be found online at www.ecpubliclibrary.info/storybuilder. A media kit is also available at https://www.ecpubliclibrary.info/storybuildermedia/. For more information or to volunteer, please contact Assistant Library Director Kimberly Hennings at kimberlyh@eauclaire.lib.wi.us.
 
    
Come Home to Hogwarts at the Library
Wizards and muggles alike are invited to a magical, grown-up celebration of all things Harry Potter at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library in Eau Claire. “Hogwarts Homecoming,” a special 21-plus after-hours event, will take place from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, September 28. Advance tickets cost $12 and are available now through September 26 at ecpubliclibrary.info/hogwarts. Tickets will also be available for $15 at the door; cash only.

Last year, almost 300 Potterheads gathered together to indulge in revelry unseen since Voldemort’s defeat. This year, get in the fall spirit with a homecoming-themed evening. Show your house pride while you participate in spirit week activities, but be on your best behavior because professors will be on hand to award house points! Enjoy bewitching brews from the Three Broomsticks, meet house “mascots” from the Eau Claire County Humane Association, shop for wares from local artisans in the School “Spirit” Store, take part in the Horcrux Scavenger Hunt, learn your future with Diva Divination featuring local drag performers, and make themed crafts in the Dabble Box. 

Proceeds from this fundraising event will benefit the Friends of the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library. Many thanks to event sponsors Clear Water Comedy, the Eau Claire County Humane Association, the Friends of the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, Park Ridge Distributing, Inc., and the UWEC Players. For more information, call the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library at 715-839-5004, or visit ecpubliclibrary.info/hogwarts.

---

University of Eau Claire
UW-Eau Claire moves up in U.S. News 2020 Best Colleges ranking
The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire ranks fourth among the top 33 public regional universities in the Midwest, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2020 Best Colleges listing released today. It is the 25th consecutive year that U.S. News has named UW-Eau Claire a top Midwestern public university.
 
The Forum opens season with first Latina U.S. military pilot
Olga Custodio, the first Latina to complete U.S. Air Force pilot training and serve as a military fighter pilot and commercial pilot, will speak at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 19 in UW-Eau Claire's Schofield Auditorium. Full story.
 
Researchers create tools to test hearing in people who speak Hmong
Speech-language pathologists will eventually have a better option for testing the hearing of their patients who speak Hmong thanks to the work of a UW-Eau Claire faculty-student research team. Full story.
 
nternational student is making basketball dreams come true thanks to UW-Eau Claire
Zixuan (Jason) Jiang was a basketball loving teen in China when he decided to plan his future career around his favorite sport. First stop on his way to making his basketball dreams come true? UW-Eau Claire, of course. Full story.
 
New grant to support Blugold Beginnings youth programs
UW-Eau Claire’s Blugold Beginnings program has received a nearly $200,000 grant from Service Wisconsin to support its 2019-20 programming. Full story.

---

HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph's Hospitals
HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital offers session on understanding adverse childhood experiences and brain development 
CHIPPEWA FALLS – HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital is offering a session on adverse childhood experiences – also known as “ACEs” – and brain development. 

The session will take place Tuesday, September 17, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the hospital in McDonald Hall, 2661 Co Hwy I. This session will raise awareness and build understanding of how to identify and respond to the toxic stress of childhood adversity, and to inspire a new approach to building healthy and resilient communities. The session is free, but registration is required by calling 715-717-7479 or online at www.stjoeschipfalls.org/Events-Classes.
 
HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals host caregiver event September 25
EAU CLAIRE – Being a caregiver to a family member is as overwhelming as it is rewarding. Join HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals’ 3D Community Health, in collaboration with The Aging & Disability Resource Center of Eau Claire County, for a presentation on “Maintaining Your Mindset: Obligation or Opportunity.” Transform your thoughts from, “I have to,” to “I get to,” on Wednesday, September 25 at 5 p.m. at 29 Pines/Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center (5872 33rd Avenue, Eau Claire).

Learn about effective communication, compassion fatigue, self-care skills and maintaining your sense of humor with Jean Jirovec, Marriage and Family Therapist. A light dinner will be served at 5 p.m. with resource booths open, and the program begins at 6 p.m. The event is free, but registration is required by calling 715-717-6565 or online at https://www.sacredhearteauclaire.org/Events-Classes. Please bring a non-perishable food item to donate for local food pantries.
 
HSHS hospitals to host event with songwriter and humorist Jana Stanfield October 2
EAU CLAIRE – Join HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals’ 3D Community Health Body.Mind.Spirit. for an uplifting, refreshing event to help your retune, recalibrate and optimize your optimism. The event will take place Wednesday, October 2, at Pablo Center at the Confluence, 128 Graham Ave, Eau Claire, in the RCU Theatre. “Happiness” hour with appetizers and resource booths begins at 5:30 p.m. and the program begins at 6:30 p.m. 

Jana Stanfield, award-winning songwriter and international humorist, will help you reveal the power of positivity in your life. Her compositions have been featured on television and radio programs around the world. Stanfield’s performances have been described as “psychotherapy you can dance to.”  The cost is $10 per person, and can be purchased by calling 715-832-ARTS (2787) or https://www.pablocenter.org/all-events/.