The Coffee House Equipment Fund

The Coffee House is in need of new sound equipment, as some of ours is over 25 years old. If you would like to make a small contribution to help us buy need equipment, please do so at our GoFundMe campaign at .
www.gofundme.com
Any help is appreciated.

Sad News

On February 10, The Coffee House lost one of it's dear friend's and supporter, Ralph Bronner. He will always be remembered for his kindness, generosity and for being a great humanitarian.

WELCOME TO THE COFFEE HOUSE'S 48th SEASON:

We are excited to welcome you to our 48th season. Although we still have a shortened schedule the entertainment lineup is much larger, as we are having two performances on each Saturday night

THE COFFEE HOUSE HAS A NEW LARGER LOCATION:
We will now be having all concerts and Open Stages in the second floor auditorium. Our new entrance is on Wisconsin Avenue, 1905 West Wisconsin Avenue. The circular driveway door. This door has a chair lift and a wheel chair ramp. This is also the handicapped parking area. You may also use the old, well lit church parking lot and street parking. There will be a sign on the old entrance door directing people to the new entrance. We will also have a sandwich board on Wisconsin Avenue pointing to the new entrance. Please come out and enjoy some great entertainment in our new location.

COFFEE HOUSE BOOKING FOR SEPTEMBER, 2014 TO MAY, 2015 SEASON:
Brett Kemnitz the new Coffee House Booker, is currently booking the next season of the Coffee House. Please contact him either via email, brettkemnitz@hotmail.com or phone (414) 871-7272 to get your performance date.

SHORTENED SCHEDULE
Coffee House closed on Friday.
The Coffee House will be Open on all Saturdays and the Second Sunday of the month for Living Activism and the fourth Sunday of the month for Open Stage. The Food Pantry Benefit is the first Saturday of the Month. The Coffee House had to shorten its schedule due to lack of volunteers.

NEW VOLUNTEERS
Do you enjoy The Coffee House and want to see it continue for another few decades If so, we need YOU on our volunteer team! Plan to attend our next monthly board meeting, or simply talk to the manager or contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Mary Gaar at wolflady7@gmail.com or at 414-628-6752

RETIREMENTS

JOE HOLLAND after many years of dedicated service as a manager and sound person, among other jobs has decided it was time to retire from the Coffee House. He is still going to continue helping us this season with the typing of the calendar, but felt it was time for him to move on to devote more time to his musical endeavors. We express our deepest appreciation to Joe for all his years of service and we know that he will be missed around the Coffee House. We hope to see Joe at some events in the near future.

DR. JEFF NESTA worked for many years behind the scenes doing our weekly voice mail and volunteering. Jeff's work schedule has made it difficult for him to continue the job, so regretfully he had to retire at the start of this season. We thank Jeff for all of his time and his faithfulness in getting the voice mail up every Wednesday of the Season.

CENTRAL CITY CHURCH'S FOOD PANTRY
Just a reminder that donations for the food pantry are now accepted at all Coffee House shows. Please consider bringing a non-perishable item if you are able. Times are tough. Help us fill the BIG barrel!

SPECIAL OFFER FOR STUDENTS:
Receive a free cup of coffee by showing your valid student ID. What a deal!
Reminder: kids 12 & under are always admitted free when accompanied by a responsible adult.

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We need YOU to keep The Coffee House going for another 40 years!

If you enjoy attending events at The Coffee House, or if you're a performer who appreciates having a great venue to perform at, consider joining our volunteer team. We always can use more volunteers to staff the door and set-up & tear-down the refreshments. Be creative!

If you are interested in volunteering please come to a board meeting, contact our volunteer coordinator or contact us via email on the website or call our hotline 414-534-4612 and leave a message.

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History

The Coffee House was founded in 1967 by the late Rev. Alan Davis of Lutheran Campus Ministry and Rev. Chuck Witt and Ms. Agnes Zeidler of Redeemer Lutheran Church as an outreach to the surrounding community including Marquette University. Over the years we have hosted a variety of programming including films, jazz, poetry, dances, a clown troupe and folk and acoustic music. We were the home of Theatre X until they acquired their own theater in 1972.

Open Hours

The Coffee House is open for performances from the first Saturday after Labor Day through the Saturday before Memorial Day every Saturday night and two Sundays a month.

Open Mics

Many performers have had their first experience in front of an audience on our stage at our fourth Sunday of the month open mic. The supportive atmosphere nurtures new performers. Now well-known performers such as Paul Cebar, Bill Camplin and Pamela Means performed on our stage at the start of their careers.

Food Pantry Benefits

Food pantry benefits are the first Saturday of the month. The entertainers donate their time for these events. Patrons are asked to bring two cans of food and $4.00 for admission. The food and half the money goes to the Central City Churches food pantry. The other half of the money goes to keep The Coffee House going.

Living Activism Program

In the late 1960s The Coffee House stressed its role as an open and friendly place for discussion on social issues. We saw a need for this again in today's world and in 2001 added a Living Activism night to our monthly schedule. Activist groups put on a program consisting of both a presentation about their organization or issues and entertainment. The second Sunday of the month has been reserved for Living Activism. A free-will donation is asked at the door with all the money going to the featured activist organization.

The mission of Living Activism is to aid groups in reaching a new audience and signing up new volunteers while raising awareness and money for their group. By taking care of the set-up needs of an event, we allow the groups to focus their energy on their issues. Featured groups have included Casa Maria, Hunger Task Force, Peace Action Center, Lutheran Volunteer Corp., Literacy Services, Urban Ecology Center, and W.A.V.E. (Wis. Anti-Violence Effort).

Staffing

The Coffee House has been run mainly by volunteers all these years. Volunteers do everything from greeting patrons at the door at each performance, making the coffee and tea, booking the entertainment, creating the printed calendar of events and preparing it for mailing, managing the mailing list, buying the supplies, sending out press releases to the media, creating posters and managing the treasury. Three paid managers have key-carry responsibility and set up and run the sound equipment.

Invitation

We are proud to be one of the longest running non-profit Coffee Houses in America. We hope you will stop in for an event. We would love to share The Coffee House with you!

Managers: Michael Nepper, John Webber, Sandy Weisto and Gordon Kirchoff
Telephone during open hours: (414) 534-4612
The Coffee House Information Line: (414) 534-4612

We serve coffee, herbal teas, soda, and baked goods. Free parking is available in our lighted lot. The Coffee House is wheelchair-accessible.