It all started while on vacation in Arizona at an earring-making workshop with a friend. Four hours of playing with beads and earrings blossomed into 15 years of jewelry making for her little business Jewels by Jules. Julie Bischoff's goal behind her jewelry, and you could say her life, is to make people happy. A social worker by day and a jewelry maker by night, she balances the stress of social work with the relaxation that jewelry making brings her. “This is my part-time relaxation creative outlet,” Bischoff said. Jewels by Jules specializes in wire wrapped and hand stamped jewelry, …

As part of Shorewood Patch's recurring Faces of Shorewood series featuring the people that make Shorewood special, we caught up Connie Levings, who has been working in what is now the Connie Sunshine Learning Center in North Shore Presbyterian Church for 30 years, and her teacher Meagan Johnson. How did you come to open the preschool? When I started 31 years ago, it was the Fishing Pond Learning Center and then in 1994, Sharon (the owner) left and turned it over to me. But it wasn't that simple, it was really starting over, basically. She took the name with her. I was walking through the …

Sept. 4 will mark the first day of school in Shorewood, but also new Superintendent Martin Lexmond’s first year in the district. Shorewood Patch sat down with Lexmond for a Q&A on how he’s preparing for his new role and the year ahead. Why Shorewood? I’ve watched Shorewood from a distance for a longtime. I’ve worked in Milwaukee Public Schools and had the opportunity to become a high school principal, and because of another opportunity decided to stay in Milwaukee doing really interesting work and so Shorewood has always been on my radar. I spent two years in Kohler. If it had not been for …

As part of Shorewood Patch's recurring Faces of Shorewood series featuring the people that make Shorewood special, we caught up with Rev. James Bender of North Shore Presbyterian Church, which recently celebrated 90 years in Shorewood. Are you from Shorewood? If so, what is your favorite thing about the village? My family and I lived in Shorewood for about 10 years before moving to Wauwatosa to be closer to my wife’s work. My son went through four years of Shorewood High School; our daughter was in the Shorewood School system from second grade through high school graduation. My favorite thing…

The story of the avid surfer, and his wife the major motion picture consultant, sounds like one straight out of Hollywood. Only, this story starts in the Golden State, and culminates in Shorewood. Kenneth Cole, now a clinical psychologist and director of a practice in Mequon, and his wife Silke, a consultant for Warner Bros. Pictures, moved from Los Angeles to Shorewood about a year ago to get away from the hustle and bustle of the West Coast but not relinquish its benefits. They liked what the school district had to offer with their daughter Lena set to soon start school and Shorewood's …

May Klisch is the operations manager of the North Point Lighthouse at Lake Park. The Singapore native has reinvented herself several times during her professional life, with stints in the semiconductor, hotel and public relations fields. Nineteen years ago, Klisch arrived in Milwaukee, where she was expected to stay only for one year, during a orientation program with a cable company she was working for at the time. But, she met Russ, a local beer brewer, fell in love, bought a house and the rest, as they say, is history.  What is your favorite thing about Shorewood?I grew up in an …

Walking or running, Abbey Algiers tries to make it to Shorewood’s Lake Michigan shoreline as often as possible. She hits the ground running year round, taking to the streets of Shorewood to indulge in her passion for running and training for various marathons. "Part of the reason I love living here is because running on the lake or even north is just, it's a great place to run," she said. The avid marathon runner has participated in World Marathon Majors like the Boston Marathon, and notable road races, including San Francisco, San Diego and Phoenix marathons and the Milwaukee Lakefront …

For many that come to America, it was the land of opportunity. For Anna Zuckerman, it was the land of bubblegum and glitter stickers. In the early 1990s, Anna and her Jewish family fled Minsk, Belarus, part of the then Soviet Union empire, escaping Anti-Semitism and persecution. Entrepreneuristic at heart, it was highly illegal for Anna's family to own their own business during that time. But Anna’s father Sam persisted and opened a store in the basement of his in-law’s home while Anna stayed with her grandparents. However, once the government discovered their basement operation, her house …

It came to her in a dream. People don’t share stories like they used to, Leah Dobkin says. The type of stories that infuse wisdom, history and emotion into its audience; the type of stories that pass along values and a family's cardinal virtue. She wants to teach families how to start telling stories again and how to harvest them — with pen and paper — in legacy letters. “It helps pass on your values and your ethics and your history and what has shaped you,” she said. “It seems like people are so plugged in … and people aren't passing on their wisdom, which is a real shame.” “Hopefully, …

Despite the tanking economy, Shorewood’s business potential is unusually good, Jim Plaisted, executive director of the Shorewood Business Improvement District, says. “The way Shorewood has positioned itself, there aren’t many examples like that (in the city),” he said. “There’s a lot of people jealous of our resources, especially since the economy tanked. Shorewood hasn’t shied away from its goals.” And, Plaisted, director since 2006 and executive director of the East Side BID since 1999, hasn't shied away from working toward a thriving business district in Shorewood. Like it says on Plaisted…

One Shorewood resident is being recognized for being at the forefront of violent crime prevention for half a decade. A beacon of dedication and tireless effort, Mallory O'Brien has headed up the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission as its director since 2004, and is being recognized for her work. She is the newest recipient of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Director’s Community Leadership Award (DCLA). “I’m really excited about the award,” O’Brien said. “I really don’t know who nominated me as I work with so many community groups.” The award was created in 1990 as a way to honor …

“It’s a story about a friendship… living with hope and strength during a very challenging time,” Lisa Paul said. Paul is referring to her new book, "Swimming in the Daylight: An American Student, A Soviet Jewish Dissident, and the Gift of Hope," released this month. It's the true story of her battle against the Soviet Union government, in the early 1980s, in a effort to help her friend fighting cancer. She will speak at a book launch event at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Shorewood Public Library, 3920 N. Murray Ave. Paul, a Shorewood resident for nearly 15 years, lived in the Soviet Union for …

When you find yourself in the right place at the right time, good things can happen. Or, at least that is true for Tim Kenney, Atwater Elementary School second-year principal in Shorewood, and by all accounts he’s found a new home. Kenney has more than 14 years of experience in the Shorewood School District and and started by teaching mathematics for 10 years before becoming the assistant principal at Shorewood High School. Originally from Wisconsin Rapids, Kenney attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with the idea of studying engineering, changed to mathematics and ultimately to the…

Shorewood native David Banaszynski has been helping keep Shorewood safe for nearly three decades, most recently as its police chief. Banaszynski, who first served the Shorewood Police Department as a volunteer auxiliary officer, joined the force as a patrol officer in 1981. He made his way up the ranks during the first 24 years and, in 2005,  became Shorewood's eighth police chief. As Banaszynski tells it, the people and the profession meld to suit him well. "I grew up here," Banaszynski said. "I really enjoy the people here, and I really enjoy helping people. This is a great profession to do…

Shorewood Village Manager Chris Swartz has had his hand in small local government for nearly three decades. He first gained an insider's view of village government while a summer intern with Elm Grove in the early 1980s. That small taste, however, was enough to set him on a path to make government work a career—specifically, small government. "When I was in Elm Grove as an intern, I became very interested in working in smaller government," Swartz said. The experience, he said, revealed that working for a small village is an opportunity to "make a positive impact on a community and a region…