Bronze the Schfonz

AAAaaayyyy Milwaukee. After months of speculation, government approvals and fund raising, the City of Milwaukee now has all the pieces in place, and this summer will "Bronze the Fonz" and erect a life size statue of Fonzie in downtown Milwaukee. For anyone that knows Milwaukee, the statue will be erected on the corner of E. Wisconsin Ave. and N. Water St., near the Chase Plaza office tower. I'm guessing one of two buildings above 25 stories. I heard about this story from a Milwaukee resident recently, with glee, apparently one of the greatest things to happen to the city since Ray Allen.

Milwaukee will be the fourth city to do something of this sort. Minneapolis has a statue of Mary Richards, the main character from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", New York City erected a statue of Ralph Kramden, Jackie Gleason's character from "The Honeymooners", and Bob Hartley, from "The Bob Newhart Show," was erected near the entrance to Chicago's Navy Pier. Milwaukee decided against erecting statues of it's other famous residents, Luverne & Shirley, Chris Farley, Jeffrey Dahmer or Cryptosporidium because “The Fonz embodies fun and will generate additional foot traffic for the Riverwalk and throughout downtown,” said Stacie Callies, executive director, Westown Association. “The location will also provide an attractive photo opportunity that will showcase the city via countless posts on the web.” Countless Stacie. And what glorious photos they will be.

I of course googled the story after I heard about it, and the funniest part about the story was after the funds were raised Henry Winkler gave a press conference to thank the city. Held where? The site of the statue? City Hall?? Nope.. Culvers. Naturally. In fact I was expecting the camera to pan to the side and see an empty pulpit where the Chamber of Congress is held. Seriously Milwaukee. You like Culvers? Your butter burgers?

Erecting Fonzie is an important step in the movement to beautify our public areas, bring art into our daily activities, and remind us just how important television is in our daily lives. If this trend continues, cities will be erecting statues every day across the country. And if you were counting, I was able to use the word erect eight times in this.