Second Gentleman Pool Reports of January 24, 2022

Second Gentleman WI pool report #1

Hello, here's the first report from Milwaukee as we await Emhoff's arrival.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff was due to arrive shortly after 1 p.m. at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center on a snowy afternoon.

Emhoff is scheduled to tour the building, view a performance and speak with community members, along with Eric Ness, the U.S. Small Business Administration's Wisconsin District Director.

Emhoff's visit to the center is meant to highlight two organizations in the building that received Shuttered Venue Operators Grants through the American Rescue Plan. First Stage theater group received $1.02 million and the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra received $395,000 to fund ongoing operations during the pandemic.

In addition to hosting First Stage and MYSO, the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center houses several community organizations that provide music, theater and dance instruction to young people in southeastern Wisconsin. The facility, newly renovated last year after opening in 2005, includes rehearsal halls, studios and classrooms.

Emhoff's visit comes as his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, is visiting Milwaukee to promote the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package and the push to replace lead pipes.

Second Gentleman WI Pool Report #2

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff arrived at 1:30 at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center and was greeted by the center's executive director, Del Wilson and others.

He and Eric Ness, the U.S. Small Business Administration's Wisconsin District Director, met first with Wilson, along with First Stage Managing Director Betsy Corry and Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra CEO Linda Edelstein.

The group stood on taped "X" marks in the building's commons area, distanced, as Emhoff joked, "This isn't awkward at all." They discussed the programs that run in the building, though it was hard to hear details.

Emhoff then moved on in the tour to go hear from students.

First Stage and MYSO, both tenants of the center, both received Shuttered Venue Operators Grants.

The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant has provided funding to concert halls, movie theaters, stages, museums and other venues. As of Jan. 21, 236 recipients in Wisconsin were awarded a total of $229 million, according to a White House spokesperson.

Second Gentleman WI pool report #3

Soon after his arrival at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff spoke with theater students in a room where First Stage operates.

Emhoff told them his own children were involved in theater for many years.

"I've been to many rehearsals and many shows, and we have boxes full of pictures and videos," he said, noting his children made lifelong friends through theater.

He then watched a piano performance by Lucas LaBeau, a jazz pianist with the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra (MYSO), and took time to chat with him and other students. The students said it was important to them to continue meeting in the space even while school and other activities were not operating in-person during parts of the pandemic.

LaBeau said he saw many musicians skip lessons during the pandemic and he was grateful to continue participating in MYSO.

"MYSO kept me involved… and I think that really helped me kindle my joy for music," he said.

Emhoff, who'd come from California to a snowy Wisconsin, said the students "brightened" his day. The students asked him for advice.

"Find something you love to do," he said, also encouraging the students to find balance.

The tour ended around 2:30, when Emhoff went to meet with leaders of the local Jewish community in the same building. Press were not invited to that meeting but he took questions briefly beforehand.

"There's a real epidemic of hate going on in our country, if not our world right now," Emhoff said. "And antisemitism is a part of that."