The Mil

It was a fame-laden blast from the past, as well-known Shorewood High alums converged in July for a fundraiser reunion. Hollywood film director, producer and screenwriter David Zucker, Talking Heads keyboardist and guitarist Jerry Harrison and acclaimed blues guitarist Jon Paris put on a concert with fellow class of 1966-67 bandmates – Bliffert Lumber President Fred Bliffert and professional musicians Pete Leshin, Bob Schlaeger and Larry Theiss.“People danced like they were in high school – everybody in the gym dancing like maniacs, just having a ball,” Bliffert says. Band members rocked retro jams to raise money for the Shorewood School District, which lost $800,000 with state budget cuts.

Looking for a cellmate? Leon Cass Terry, former chairman of the Medical College of Wisconsin neurology department, could be yours. In June, he pleaded guilty to tax violations after prescribing human growth hormone as a consultant for Nexos Therapeuticals, according to the plea. Receiving 40 percent of the company’s profits, Terry made between $4,000 and $8,000 a month. Now he faces up to three years in the slammer.

Sprecher Brewing Company took eight medals – four gold, three silver, one bronze – at the 2010 Los Angeles International Commercial Beer Competition, leaving owner Randy Sprecher feeling oh-so-hoppy. Another award-winner was Keith Mardak,chairman and CEO of Milwaukee’s Hal Leonard Corp., who received the Abe Olman Publishers Award at the 41st-annual Songwriters Hall of Fame in June. Hal Leonard is the world’s largest sheet music publisher, representing greats such as The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. With some 200,000 song titles it sells in more than 65 countries, the company does more than any organization to keep the world singing.

He ran afoul of former Mayor John Norquist, who replaced him as head of the Department of City Development in the late 1980s, but William Ryan Drew keeps rolling on, like old man river. Now 74, the one-time city insider has become the go-to guy for suburban development, serving as chair of the Wisconsin State Fair board and its Expo Center, which took business away from the Downtown Midwest Express Center. Drew now serves as executive director of the Milwaukee County Research Park Corp., as a consultant at O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing S.C.,and on the boards of the Les Aspin Center for Government

and the National Center for Housing Management. In June, he was appointed to the board of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, which liberals complain helps foster urban sprawl with its studies.

The premiere episode of ABC’s “Boston Med” offered some interesting moments with Milwaukee native Dr. William “Will” Tollefsen. The eight-part, documentary-style series details the lives of doctors and nurses who work in three of the nation’s best hospitals, including the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where Tollefsen practices. Although not identified during the episode, he appears when a man comes in with a stab wound. Tollefsen grew up in Fox Point and graduated from the University School of Milwaukee in 1998. Now he’s a clinical fellow in medicine at Harvard and a senior resident in emergency medicine.

Congrats to Amy Roden of West Bend, this year’s American Honey Princess. Sponsored by the American Beekeeping Federation, she’ll serve as a saleswoman and public rep for the industry. So far, the UW-Green Bay senior has made trips to fairs, schools and other events to promote beekeeping and honey. A sweet gig.

Celebrity Sightings
Celebrating his June birthday in style, former “Project Runway” contestant and current Kohl’s designer Ra’mon-Lawrence Coleman sported his signature mohawk at the swanky Chic Lounge in the Third Ward. Menomonee Falls native Jessica Szohr, best known as “Gossip Girl” character Vanessa Abrams, dined at Carnevor in June. But where was on-again, off-again boy-toy Ed Westwick, Jess? Multitalented Pharrell Williams of N.E.R.D. stopped by FLOW Clothing Company on July 2, presumably to browse streetwear to add to his eclectic yet stylish wardrobe. Actors Shia LaBeouf, Patrick Dempsey, Rosie Huntington Whiteley and director Michael Bay were all seen on the set of Transformers 3 at the Milwaukee Art Museum in July.

Flash Back 25 Years
Judith P. Woodburn’s September 1985 feature, “Point Blank,” profiled a former Milwaukee-area policeman and ex-Marine Corps Reserve sergeant, James Fendry, a pro-gun activist and zealot who also led firearm training classes. Little has changed for Fendry: He is still the director of the Wisconsin Pro-Gun Movement, whose parent organization is the National Rifle Association, and virtually all of his hobbies involve shooting. And he’s welcomed seven grandchildren into the family and watched as his youngest daughter and a grandson followed his lead, entering the police force.