One-hundred and fifty years ago summer travelers from Chicago and Milwaukee were stepping off a train in a small city called the “Newport of the West,” Oconomowoc. The travelers were escaping their much bigger metro areas for a quaint summer getaway. They headed to their cottages on the lake, Oconomowoc was their treasured escape. 

While the historic depot still remains in downtown Oconomowoc, travel here has obviously changed. And the city has grown from its early population counts of less than 2,000 to 19,000 today. While the city has grown, its heartbeat has not changed. Oconomowoc’s rhythm is welcoming and vibrant.

Celebrating 150 Years

On July 4th and 5th after more than a year of organizing, Visit Oconomowoc and the Oconomowoc Area Chamber of Commerce will host Oconomowoc’s HOMETown Celebration marking its Sesquicentennial Year. The celebration ties Oconomowoc’s gilded past to its present popular festivities while raising a cheers to continued future success as a Midwestern city tucked between the two areas of Madison and Milwaukee.

 Mayor Robert Magnus has 150 years of thoughts, history, photos, videos and mementos carefully curated in a time capsule set to be buried at 11 a.m. Friday, July 4. This activity will begin the City’s HOMETown celebration. All are invited to the ceremony which is teamed with the dedication of John and Lavinia Rockwell Park where the capsule will be buried. The park is a permanent preservation of land for all of Oconomowoc to access and enjoy in the location where “the waters meet.” The phrase is the meaning behind the city’s name given to it by Native American tribes who inhabited the area first. 

Celebrations continue with an Independence Day Parade. The time-honored tradition presented by the Oconomowoc Rotary Club will feature all the bells and whistles a great star spangled parade offers including special guests such as the University of Wisconsin Badger Band. 

 As the sun sets on the city this Independence Day, gather on not one, but both of Oconomowoc’s downtown lakes – Fowler and Lac La Belle – as nationally renowned fireworks provider, Pyrotecnico will dazzle with a choreographed show off two floating barges.

“One of the things the choreographers like to talk about is the sky is their pallet and the fireworks are their paints. They refer to what they do as ‘painting the sky,’ ” said Jonathan Gesse of Pyrotecnico. 

“The neat thing about Oconomowoc is you have a very special show site where you have scenes that will match up perfectly together,” he said. 

Historic Streetdance Returns

Digging up history to prepare for the 150th, historians found photo prints of the infamous streetdances many longtime residents reminisce about. The streetdances disappeared in the early 2000s but the event is coming back for the July 5 festivities.

A giant semi-stage is wheeling into town at dawn that day for setup to begin. 

The streetdance begins at downtown’s famous “four corners” intersection. The stage will set up right in the crosshairs. Live music will begin at 1pm with a popular local lineup: Orange Whips, Failure to Launch and closing is Stetsin and Lace. 

Two beer tents will be set up. One at Village Green Park adjacent to the stage as well as one further east on Wisconsin Avenue.

“The road will be closed and dancing in the street is highly encouraged,” said Marketing and Communications Specialist, Paige Brunclik. “The setup will be very accommodating with stops for beverages, tables, seating and restrooms throughout.”

Wisconsin Avenue will be dotted with picnic tables and pub tables, a dozen food vendors will set up on the east end of the area and strategically situated between food and drink is a free kids area. Let the kids play on a bungee trampoline, get their face painted and have fun with a balloon animal artist. 

Community Champions

A soiree of this proportion is not possible without a vast amount of community support. The leader of the effort is Oconomowoc’s community bank, Bank Five Nine, the title sponsor of the HOMETown Celebration. 

Other long-standing local businesses joined the effort making sure every amenity was covered. A huge thank you goes out to stage sponsors: Bruno Independent Living Aids and Sentry Equipment. Oliver Construction stepped up as the bar sponsor. Making sure the kids area is special are Quality Tank Solutions and Moreland OBGYN Associates. Getting there is easier thanks to Harbor Homes – they have sponsored a free trolley service with two pickup locations that take you downtown. 

Visit our HOMETown Event page for more details on this celebration.