Look at the stars. Look how they shine for you. (A Re-cap of Paxton's Pablove Fest)

Previous attempts to share all the wonderful things about the First Annual Paxton’s Pablove Fest fell short for me. Much typing and deleting occurred. Now, eight days later, I will try describe how incredible the day was, but I know that it will still fall short. You have to experience it to really appreciate the day we spent celebrating and honoring Paxton’s spirit, and the night we will never forget. I’m going to give it shot.

On an unseasonably cold, wet, and blustery day, the morning began with the best volunteers I have ever worked with. They were huddling in the cold and rain when we pulled up to the site. They got to work immediately.

Within a couple hours, we had constructed festival grounds. Multicolored tents and Maxie’s “house” were ready to rock, beer taps were flowing, the stage quickly filled up with instruments, speakers and equipment, our beautiful banners were hung, DJ Paul H. had the music pumping to keep us all movin’ and shakin’. We were ready.

As Majestic Mudd took to the stage, many brave souls began to arrive with jackets and blankets and smiles on their faces. In between running around like a maniac and saying wildly inappropriate thing over the two-way radio, I’d look around to see all the cool stuff going on. In the kid’s tents: face painting, jugglers, clowns, arts & crafts, balloon animals, temporary tattoos, and just all around fun! The apparel booths both had beautiful stuff. Pablove gear, Paxton gear, and a few out of the ordinary items too!

Maxie’s and Blue’s Egg set up shop, and it was awesome: two tents serving up different menus (one of them dedicated to the kids), and larger structure they call “the house”. I cannot adequately express the generosity of Maxie’s and Blues Egg. At every turn they were offering to do more, asking how else they could help. Businesses like these make our communities better, and these are the businesses you should all want to patronize. Maxie’s, Blue’s Egg, and every business that sponsored our event were generous and extremely kind.

The Sprecher beer and soda was not only delicious, but they surprised us with a special pilsner called “Paxton’s Pils”, complete with custom designed tap handles! Everywhere I looked there were kids playing, people laughing, dancing, and having a good time. I couldn’t have been happier.

And then there was the music. It must have been the day, or maybe it was Paxton’s spirit that energized all 6 bands. They all sounded INCREDIBLE. Majestic Mudd, SlimRox, The LoveMonkeys, Rectifier, Fever Marlene, and Maritime. Every set blew me away. It was one hell of a concert! Beyond the performances, most of the musicians stayed all day and into the evening.

Not because we asked them to, but because they wanted to. I adore every single one of them. That’s one of the things I dig about the Milwaukee music scene. Not only do we have incredible talent, but our local bands have huge hearts. Thank you isn’t even close to adequate.

Our fest was beautiful, and there are so many behind-the-scenes volunteers and businesses that made it possible. Those people make me proud to be a ‘Sconnie. We are happ to report that the Fest raised more than $12,000.00 for Pablove. We are honored and grateful to everyone that came. And we are so happy that the very talented James Conway captured the event in photographs, and the brilliant crew at FlipEleven captured the day on film.

For all of you that couldn’t join us, I’m so glad that you will get a glimpse into the great day we had, complete with a FULL DOUBLE RAINBOW! (That was the moment I suddenly didn’t care about the crappy weather.)

Of all the moments that I will forever cherish, the one that stands out among the rest, the one that I will never forget, was the children creating Paxton’s heart with tea lights during the candlelight vigil. After a beautiful video tribute to our Peaceful Warrior and a special performance by members of four bands and a few team captains, we turned to see that the kids had been collecting tea lights from the adults and were building a heart on the concrete next to the stage. It may be the single most beautiful act of love I have ever witnessed, and it will live in my heart forever.

I told you this would fall short. There just aren’t enough words to describe it. So much laughter, music and dancing, kids smiling and climbing and playing together all around us, great food and libations, all wrapped up in our community’s love for one another. On September 22nd we turned Hart Park into Heart Park. Our cup runneth over.

We are already planning for next year’s Paxton’s Pablove Fest. Next year’s will be bigger and better, as it surely will for years to come. We’ll spend the next year planning and plotting and, with the help of this wickedawesome community, we’ll once again put together something amazing. We’ll be announcing a date soon, so you’ll have plenty of time to mark your calendars

To all who shared news of our fest, played music that helped to heal hearts and get our feet moving, volunteered, sponsored, attended, bought silent auction items, and supported us in countless ways, thank you.