You’ll be all a-grin when you hear the news: the Smiley Barn that long stood waving (not literally, of course) at passing cars on I-94 near Delafield is coming back, according to a Facebook post from the folks who plan to revive it.
The goal is to revive the yellow paint job and the east-facing smiley face on the barn and turn it into a store selling candy and toys.
For more than 15 years, the barn, at 2420 Milwaukee St., has worn a red exterior and has been home to Amish Barn (aka The Montage), which sold furniture and gifts, and Dick Smith’s Live Bait and Tackle.
On Wednesday, Delafield’s Plan Commission OK’d the plan to bring the smirk back to the barn, allowing the owners to change the building’s color and permanent signage.
"We're thrilled. the entire community was behind this. There wasn't one negative comment about bringing back the smiley. And over a thousand people signed the petition. So it’s really a win for the entire community," owner Maria Luther, of Summerville Toys, LLC, told Today’s TMJ4.
While the new shop would replace the Amish Barn, the news station reports that the bait and tackle shop will remain.
It’s about time that Delafield stands up and claims its place as an early adopter of emojis.
You can stay up to date on Smiley Barn news (sure, that’s a phrase I never expected to type) via this Facebook page.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
