April showers bring May flowers! While that is definitely true, literal even in Monroe — our joint effort with GWFC Monroe Woman’s Club to plant flowers in our 42 downtown flowerpots will be happening Saturday, May 21st — May will also be the stage for our entire summer calendar of events! The outdoor farmers market, sponsored by SSM Health Monroe Clinic, officially opened for the season on Wednesday, May 4th. A variety of new vendors have started this season with longtime vendors.
On Thursday, we unveiled our 23 pieces for this year’s summer theme — Cheese, Glorious Cheese. In addition to Zoli’s take on roadside attractions across the state, we also have 5’ tall fiberglass pieces in the shape of cheese wedges. You will find a variety of art styles celebrating all things Wisconsin now through September. In between the two, we hosted our first First Thursday Shopping Night of the year. Stores were open until 7pm and will be the first Thursday of every month through the end of the year. In June, our First Thursday Shopping Night will be our first wine walk of the year.
It will feature two ticket options this year — one where the event will be open from 5-8 p.m. and feature a gift bag, which we introduced last year, and a commemorative glass along with some other goodies. The second ticket option, which is new this year, will be an early bird special. The event will start at 4 p.m. and conclude at Minhas Kitchen which will be open for early bird wine walk participants only. A specialty cocktail will be included.
The following night will be Cars on the Square. Like previous years, we expect we will be welcoming over 300 classic cars on all four sides of the square. On Saturday, June 4th we will have our first Yoga on the Lawn class with Cathy Hauck from The Infinity Studio.
Then, the second weekend in June will host our first concert of the year. It will start early (6 p.m.!) with the UW 5th Quarter Marching Band before The Boy Band Night takes the stage. The following morning, we will have our Summer Kickoff Family Event. From pony rides to food vendors and Monroe’s own Dotty the Clown, I am especially excited that we will be bringing back all the things that help signify the start of summer. Like always, and every event except for the wine walk, it will be free to attend and enjoy.
If it sounds like a lot, it is! But in the absolute best way possible. We are so excited to be providing a full summer calendar of events for the first time in three years. It is our hope that you will find multiple things you want to check out, take advantage of, show off to friends and family near and far. The concert mentioned above will be one of six. We will have one on a Thursday at the end of June, two in July, a Saturday night concert in mid-August with two bands. Each will have its own dynamic; variety of music, but also intermissions and general vibes.
There is more, of course, but we will be kicking off summer with can’t miss events and can hardly wait for it. You can find out more by visiting our Facebook page, website, or giving us a call at 608.328.4023.
— Jordan Nordby is the executive director for Main Street Monroe. He can be reached at MonroeMainStreet@tds.net. complete details on Main Street Monroe and its efforts can be found at
mainstreetmonroe.org.
