Villager Mall, on Madison’s south side, will be the place to be on Thursday night, August 30, as a community-wide celebration will mark the third anniversary of the UW South Madison Partnership group and celebrate all of the organizations that have made their initiative work.
There will be tailgating in the UW tradition with free hotdogs, burgers, veggie burgers and loads of other food, including ice cream from the UW Ice Cream truck and a visit from Bucky himself. There will also be games, activities and prize giveaways.
The UWSMP has focused on bringing organizations together in order to have more of a community presence, particularly on Madison’s south side. The UWSMP relies on partnerships with different community organizations to help reach members of the community who otherwise might face impossible economic barriers to education and resources.
The UWSMP also has programs, such as the UW Odyssey Project, which offers a free humanities course for adult students facing economic barriers to college. Recently, the Odyssey Project has expanded to Odyssey Junior, which will include the same programming for juveniles.
“I think my predecessor, Judge Everett Mitchell, felt like we needed the UW marquee in South Madison,” UW Director of Community Relations Leslie Orrantia told Madison365. “We wanted to have our emblem visible and eliminate some logistical issues for people from south Madison. We have a wide range of services. Education services, legal services, health services for people of all ages and demographics. Odyssey has grown to include Odyssey Junior. We’ve seen the Alhzeimers Disease Resource Center expand their progamming, and now they have a class specifically for African-American Men. We have wide ranging things.”
On Thursday, the Madison Police Department will be manning grills for a big barbecue at Villager Mall. There will be a DJ, as well as the aforementioned visit from Bucky.
“Honestly, everyone is welcome!” Orrantia said. “A number of organizations are helping spread the word and it is truly a free family event.”
