Community enjoys ripple effect of Lindberg's work

She championed neighborhoods, then Hoyt Pool

March 27, 2012

Denise Lindberg has spent the past two decades bringing Wauwatosa residents together.

First, it was through establishing and presiding over the city's neighborhood associations. More recently, is was as board president of the Friends of Hoyt Park & Pool, which helped raise $8.4 million to refurbish and reopen the pool.

Through her work of building a strong community, Lindberg was recently named Wauwatosa's Distinguished Citizen of 2011 by the Wauwatosa Distinguished Citizen Award Council.

Before she began her service with the city, and before she had children, Lindberg was spending 30 weeks out of the year traveling for work.

"It really made me so aware of how I wanted to get involved in my community," she said.

This awareness led her to the grassroots Neighborhood Association Project founded by Wauwatosa Tomorrow. Since joining in 1993, she has helped establish 27 associations through the city and the Neighborhood Association Council. The council's initial focus was to provide neighbors a way to communicate with each other on a regular basis.

"It creates the framework for people to get to know each other," said Lindberg , who was the first NAC president.

In the late 1990s, the mayor appointed Lindberg to a citizens group tasked with doing strategic planning from a resident's point of view. She was also chair of the strategic planning subcommittee, which brought to the forefront issues facing park and recreational opportunities in the city.

After taking a brief hiatus as president of NAC, she returned to the role from 2005 to 2007. In 2003, the council tackled the 2003 closure of the Hoyt Park & Pool. As board president of the Friends of Hoyt Park & Pool, she helped raise money to excavate the old pool and upgrade the utilities. The pool opened in 2011.

"One thing leads to another sometimes and it takes on a life of its own," Lindberg said.

Just the facts

NAME: Denise Lindberg

AGE: 59

NOTED FOR: former board president, Friends of Hoyt Park & Pool; former president, Neighborhood Association Council; former chair, Wauwatosa Strategic Planning Committee Parks and Recreation subcommittee

ONLINE: www.friendsofhoytpark.org

LINDBERG'S WORDS OF WISDOM: "It's all about community."

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