Lake Country Weekend Post

2 • LAKE COUNTRY POST • APRIL 16, 2016 GMTODAY.COM HEALTH 21st Annual Rummage, Brat & Bake Sale, Emmanuel Community United Methodist Church, 7–2pm Sat., N84- W16707 Menomonee Ave. (three blocks west of Appleton Ave.), Menomonee Falls. More than 5,000 square feet of display in many church rooms. Bag sale from 1–2pm Silent auction. 262-251-3830, ec-umc.com Rummage Sale, 9–4pm April 22 & 9–noon April 23, Mt. Zion Lutheran Church, 3820 W Layton Ave., Greenfield. 21st Annual Spring River Cleanup, 9–noon April 23, more than 50 sites in the Mil- waukee River basin. Trash bags, gloves & free T-shirts provided to volunteers. Reg- ister at http://milwau- ke e r ive rke e p e r. o r g / 2 0 1 6 - spring-river-cleanup/. For more information, email r i v e r c l e a n u p @ m i l w a u - keeriverkeeper.org or call 414-431-0907. Rodney Atkins, 8pm April 22, Northern Lights Theater, 1721 W. Canal St., Milwaukee. $35–$45. 1-800-PAYSBIG, www.paysbig.com Matthew Logan Vasquez, 8pm April 22, The Back Room @ Colectivo (Prospect Cafe), 2211 N. Prospect Ave., Milwaukee. $13. www.pab- sttheater.org, 414-286-3663. Rachmanioff's Third Con- certo, Milwaukee Sympho- ny Orchestra, conducted by Francesco Ecce-Chong, 11:15am April 22 & 8pm April 23, Mar- cus Center for the Perform- ing Arts, 929 N. Water St., Milwaukee. $16.50 & up. 414- 291-7605, www.mso.org First Stage: "Ella Enchant- ed," select dates through May 1, Todd Wehr Theater, 929 N. Water St., Milwaukee. Age 6 & older. $12.50 & up. 414-267- 2961, www.firststage.org "Fallen Angels," by Sky- light Music Theatre, through May 1, Cabot Theatre, 158 N. Broadway, Milwaukee. $39.50 & up, student & senior dis- counts. www.skylightmu- sictheatre.org, 414-291-7800. "Platonic," presented by University of Wisconsin-Mil- waukee, through April 24, Keilworth Five-O-Eight, 1915 E. Kenilworth Ave., Milwau- kee. $9–$11. 414-229-4308, http://www4.uwm.edu/psoa /ticketing/ "ÀD—nde Est‡s?" ("Where Are You?"), bilingual play, 7pm April 22, 2pm April 23, Otteson Theatre at Carroll University, 238 N. East Ave., Waukesha. Presented by the Carroll Players in associa- tion with the Theatre & Arts Management & Spanish pro- grams. Based on the Judy Dworin Performance Project, it tells the story of the mothers of The Disappeared during Augusto Pinochet's dictator- ship in Chile & their courage & resistance. Free admis- sion. Reserve seats at tick- ets.carrollu.edu, 262-524-7633. "To Be! Shakespeare Here & Now," 2–3pm April 23, Mil- waukee Public Central Library, 814 W. Wisconsin Ave., Mil- waukee. Optimist Theatre presents a one-person inter- active presentation featuring actor Ron Fry. Free. "The Accidental Hero," 7:30pm April 23, Marcus Cen- ter's Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall, 929 N. Water St., Mil- waukee. $30. 414-273-7206, www.ticketmaster.com Bugs Bunny at the Sym- phony II, 8pm Fri. & Sat., 2:30pm Sun., Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, 929 N. Water St., Milwaukee. Looney Tunes characters Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Tweety Bird, Road Runner & more. Original Carl Stalling scores played live by the Milwaukee Sym- phony Orchestra. $26.50 & up. 414-291-7605, www.mso.org "Brooklyn" (PG-13), 6:15pm April 21, Menomonee Falls Public Library, W156-N8436 Pilgrim Rd., Menomonee Falls. Released last year; nominat- ed for 3 Oscars. 262-532-8920. "Concussion" (PG-13), 2:15pm April 21, Menomonee Falls Public Library, W156- N8436 Pilgrim Rd., Menomonee Falls. Starring Will Smith, Alec Baldwin & Eddie Mars- den. 262-532-8920. No-school Movie, "Norm of the North" (PG), 2pm April 25, Hales Corners Pub- lic Library's Hunt Room, 5885 S. 116th St., Hales Cor- ners. Bring a pillow & a blan- ket to sit on. Soda & snacks will be sold. Free admission. Monday Night Movies: "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," 6:30pm April 25, Waukesha Public Library, 321 Wiscon- sin Ave., Waukesha. 262-524- 3682 or www.waukeshapubli- clibrary.org "Being Mortal," 6–8pm April 26, Pewaukee Public Library, 210 Main St., Pewau- kee. Frontline film followed by discussion led by local physician Dr. Richard Hansen. Underground Film Festi- val, April 28–May 2, Helene Zelazo Center for the Per- forming Arts, 2419 E. Ken- wood Blvd., Milwaukee. Uni- versity of Wisconsin-Mil- waukee student-run interna- tional festival dedicated to showcasing contemporary, innovative & independent works. film-milwaukee.org Pix Flix: "The Harvey Girls," 6:30pm May 2, Waukesha Civic Theatre, 264 W. Main St., Waukesha. $5. 262-547-0708, www.wauke- shacivictheatre.org Student Film & Video Fes- tival, 7–10pm May 13, UWM Union Cinema, 2400 E. Ken- wood Blvd., Milwaukee. 414- 229-4070, http://www.aux.uwm.- edu/union/union_theatre/ The Mads: Trace Beaulieu & Frank Coniff, Mystery Science Theater 3000, 8pm May 13, Turner Hall, 1040 N. 4th St., Milwaukee. Movie riffing with TV's mad scien- tists Frank & Dr. Forrester. $20. 414-286-3663, www.pab- sttheater.org "The Godfather" Live, Score Performed by the Milwau- kee Symphony Orchestra, 7pm May 20, Riverside The- ater, 116 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee. $45.50 & up. www.pabsttheater.org or 414- 286-3663. Pix Flix: "The Pink Pan- ther Strikes Again," 6:30pm June 6, Waukesha Civic The- atre, 264 W. Main St., Waukesha. $5. 262-547-0708, www.waukesha- civictheatre.org Monday Night Movies, 6:30pm 2nd & 4th Mon., Waukesha Public Library, 321 Wisconsin Ave. 262-524-3682. Movie Matinees, 1–3pm Tues., Elm Grove Public Library, 13600 Juneau Blvd., O'Neill Room. Free. www.elmgrov- elibrary.org, 262-782-6717. Metals! 16, Annual Uni- versity of Wisconsin-Mil- waukee Student Exhibition, through April 27, Kenilworth Square East, 1925 E. Kenil- worth Place, Milwaukee. Clos- ing reception 4:30–6:30pm April 22. Free. 414-229-4308. Richard Krug Foyer Exhi- bitions: "Ethos," the work of 9 emerging artists, through April 28, Charles Allis Art Museum, 1801 N. Prospect Ave., Milwaukee. UWM Spring Master of Arts/Master of Fine Arts Exhibition, through April 28, Arts Center Gallery, 2400 E. Kenwood Blvd., Milwau- kee. Free. 414-229-4308. Milwaukee Area Teach- ers of Art 75th Annual Members Showcase, through May 20, Milwaukee Public Central Library, 814 W. Wis- consin Ave. "Signs of Spring," Artists Michelle Freuck, Ann Windell & Connie Pelzek, through May 15, Almont Gallery, 342 W. Main St., Waukesha. 10–6pm Mon.–Fri., 10–4pm Sat., noon–4pm Sun. www.almontgallery.com 2016 MIAD Senior Exhi- bition, through May 14, Mil- waukee Institute of Art & Design, 273 E. Erie St., Mil- waukee. "Grow" Workshop with Yevgeniya Kaganovich, 1– 5pm April 24, Lynden Sculp- ture Garden, 2145 W. Brown Deer Rd., River Hills. Instal- lation includes fusing layers of plastic. Tasks include cut- ting sheets & strips, sewing bulb forms, crocheting, stuff- ing, & assembling. Free with admission to garden, $9, $7 students & seniors, free 6 & younger. 414-446-8794, lyn- densculpturegarden.org Women, Nature, Science: Kim Cridler, The Descrip- tive Line, through June 5, Lynden Sculpture Garden, 2145 W. Brown Deer Rd., River Hills. Cridler will have an artist talk at 1:30pm May 27. Lynden is closed on Thurs. $9 general admission, $7 for students, free for members & children under 6. www.lyndensculpture g ar- den.org, 414-446-8794. "Marble, Mirrors, Pic- tures & Darkness," artists Anya Kivarkis & Mike Bray, through June 25, INOVA, 2155 N. Prospect Ave., Mil- waukee. Representations of jewelry, luxury & glamour as depicted in cinema. Free. 414-229-5070. Art in the City: Milwau- kee Museum Mile Plein Air Competition, May 7–14, on Milwaukee's East Side. Participating museums: Charles Allis Art Museum, Jewish Museum Milwaukee, North Point Lighthouse & Museum, Museum of Wis- consin Art at Saint Johns On The Lake, & Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum. Up to 100 artists will participate. Michael Imes Exhibition, 9–5pm Mon.–Sat., Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, 19805 W. Capitol Dr., Brook- field. Free. www.wilson-cen- ter.com or 262-781-9470. "Fine Contemporary Art in a Landmark Setting," 11–4pm Tues.–Sat., Peltz Gallery, 1119 E. Knapp St., Milwaukee. 414-223-4278. Works by Amy Cropper, associate professor of art at Carroll University, ongoing, Waukesha Public Library, 321 Wisconsin Ave., Wauke- sha. 262-524-3680. Allison Art House, 10–5pm Wed.–Fri. & 10–4pm Sat., evening hours by appoint- ment, 234 Brook St., No. 5, Waukesha. 262-970-9570. Almont Gallery, 10–6pm Mon.–Thurs., 10–8pm Fri., 10–4pm Sat. & noon–3pm Sun., 342 W. Main St., Wauke- sha. 262-542-1522. St. Paul Gallery, 10–5pm Tues.–Sat., 136 E. St. Paul Ave., Waukesha. 262-253-4829. Lil Gabriel Boutique & Galleria, 9:30–5:30pm Mon.– Thurs., 10–5pm Fri. & Sat., 19035 W. Capitol Dr., No. 106, Brookfield. 262-781-5858. Mafu Jiang & Shauna Wang, paintings, ongoing, Lil Gabriel Boutique & Galle- ria, 19035 W. Capitol Dr., No. 106, Brookfield. 262-781-5858. Beverly Designs, Bou- tique & Gallery, 10–5:30pm Mon.–Thurs., 10–7pm Fri., 10–5pm Sat. & by appoint- ment, 149 E. Wisconsin Ave., Oconomowoc. 262-567-3650. Griffin Gallery, 10–6pm Wed., 10–8pm Fri., 10–5pm Sat. & noon–4pm Sun., 133 E. Wisconsin Ave., Oconomowoc. 262-567-1826. Current Gallery of Fine Art, 11–7pm Thurs. & Fri. & 10–2pm Sat. & by appoint- ment, N88-W16475 Main St., Menomonee Falls. 262-255-3588. The Painted Bean Coffee House & Art Gallery, 6:30am– 5:30pm Mon.–Fri., 8–2pm Sat., 1315 Wisconsin Ave., Grafton. 262-377-4374. "Man At Work," Art Col- lection, ongoing, Grohmann Museum, Milwaukee School of Engineering, 1000 N. Broadway, Milwaukee. 414- 277-2300 or visit www.msoe.edu "Shaping Creativity Out of Clay," presented by the Wauke- sha Clay Art Guild, 10–6pm Mon.–Fri., 10–4pm Sat., The Potter's Shop, 335 W. Main St., Waukesha. 262-547-1920. "Works On Paper & In Porcelain," presented by Paula Murray & Ludmila Armata, ongoing, Elaine Erickson Gallery, 207 E. Buffalo St., Milwaukee. 414-221-0613. Adult Pottery Classes & Individual Instruction, beginner & intermediate classes, The Potter's Shop, 335 W. Main St., Waukesha. Call to register. 262-547-1920 or visit www.clayartguild.com David Sedaris, humorist & author of "Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls," 8pm April 24, Riverside Theater, 116 W. Wisconsin Ave., Mil- waukee. $47, $57. www.pab- sttheater.org or 414-286-3663. CALENDAR By Eric Oliver Enterprise Staff OCONOMOWOC — Tom Demski never thought he'd round third base again. Demski was born with a virus that settled in his heart and made him violently ill when he was 2 years old. He was rushed to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin when he started having a severe seizure and running a 108 degree fever. The nurses put him into an ice bath and eventually the fever broke. He survived the experience, but his heart was slightly enlarged. Demski then lived a pretty normal life. He played foot- ball and basketball until his doctor told him he had to switch to a less physically demanding sport. He made his way to baseball, and he excelled. He played well enough through high school to earn a scholarship to play ball for the University of Wisconsin, but he took it to the extreme often playing seven days a week. His heart got bigger and that's "when I started on the road to transplant." Demski would frequently run out of breath. He'd even faint on the field. It got so bad that his friends wanted him to stop playing. They wanted him on the field or with a bat in his hand but they didn't want to see him faint. "I said 'I guess you're right. It's time to give it up,'" Dems- ki said. He reluctantly hung up the glove and then started getting sicker. He was told he was going on the transplant list. He waited at his house for a year and a half and then spent six months in the hos- pital. At the time all trans- plant patients had to stay in the hospital under the intense supervision of the doctors. "I never even thought I'd have a future, I was just hop- ing to wake up every morn- ing," Demski said. Demski and his fellow patients became a family. He said whenever anyone found out they were getting their transplant, everyone in the ward would pray for them. The person would come out and be on an incubator for a day. The next morning they'd be up and walking around, he said. After the six months of waiting, he had to step up to the plate. A woman died in an alcohol-related incident in Kenosha. She was flown to Froedtert Medical Hospital but was brain dead. Her fami- ly made the decision to donate her organs. "She saved my life and the lives of so many other recipi- ents too," Demski said. He received his new heart, and after a couple of weeks he went back home. Before he left he tried to thank as many people as he could, but found it was almost an impossible task. Demski went back home and started taking medicine that suppressed his immune system so his body wouldn't reject his heart. A school teacher at the time, the doc- tors told him to stay away from the school because of the increased risk of illness. So he started doing presenta- tions for the Heart Associa- tion, the donor network and the kidney foundation. That led to a job offer from the donor network working in the eye bank, which led to a job in organ recoveries and then to the organ preserva- tion team. After that he worked at the tissue bank for several years working in tis- sue recovery. Which ulti- mately took him to Children's Hospital where he managed the transplant program. That wouldn't be his last stop either. All that took him to his current job, a stay-at-home dad of a family of four, 18 years after his heart trans- plant. Demski met his wife at the hospital. She cared for him during the entire procedure and since then they had four kids. He made his way back to the diamond too; not only does he still play at 45 years old, he coaches too. The transplant has changed his outlook on life. He takes the time to thank everybody and he enjoys every day, he said. "(The transplant) just makes things have a whole different meaning," Demski said. "You live every day like it's your last." Demski had the opportuni- ty to meet his donor family six months after the trans- plant. He said it was "the most emotional day of my life." He stays in contact with them, and frequently emails to see how everybody is doing. During Christmas the families exchange gift bas- kets with each other. And when he sees another family making the decision to donate organs, he tries his best to thank every one of them. "I just want to hug them all and say 'thank you for your decision,'" Demski said. "Anybody who donates, it's something that saves so many lives and makes so many lives better." Through Demski's career change he has seen nearly every part of the field. He's even watched a heart trans- plant take place and saw a donor's heart placed into a patient, the exact same proce- dure he had 18 years ago. "With a heart transplant they put the organ into the recipient and a lot of them just start beating on their own," Demski said. "It's an amazing thing to watch." Demski encourages every- body to have the conversation and to take the steps to be a donor. "I know it's hard for recipi- ents and donors but the end result is just an amazing thing; it's living." Being a living donor Susan Grzeskowiak is healthy. She ran a half Iron- man triathlon and several marathons and half- marathons. Looking at her, you wouldn't know she has done it all with a single kid- ney. While at work, a reception- ist in Grzeskowiak's office had a sister who received a kidney transplant but it began to fail. None of the women's relatives was match- es, but Grzeskowiak was. She was tested and was moving forward with the procedure when the sister had some health complications and needed a blood transfusion rendering Grzeskowiak incompatible. That's when they heard about a paired match donation. She would give her kidney to someone else who was a match and she would receive a kidney for her friend. Grzeskowiak and the sister were starting the process of paired matching when "miraculously she was able to get a kidney from a cadaver donor in New York." That didn't stop Grzeskowiak, she decided to move forward with the paired donation. Grzeskowiak's kidney went to San Francisco and the wife of her kidney's recipient donated a kidney that made its way back to Wisconsin. Her doctor put more restric- tions on her because of fear that she would push too hard and cause post surgical com- plications, but as soon as she started "moving again" her friend came to her and asked her to do a race. One race led to another which led to anoth- er which led to Grzeskowiak "living a perfectly normal life again." "My biggest goal since donating is to spread the word that it doesn't really affect you, but you're saving someone's life," Grzeskowiak said. "It doesn't change your life at all." Email: eoliver@conleynet.com 10 percent mind, 90 percent heart Organ recipient and donor share stories to advocate for Donate Life month Submitted photo Tom Demski takes the mound once again, this time as a coach for his son's baseball team. Submitted photo From left, Jill Demski, Arianna Demski, Tom Demski, Nolan Demski, Sam Demski and Sutton Demski in a family photo. Want to be a donor? In Wisconsin there are 2,474 people waiting for an organ trans- plant, according to www.donatelifewisconsin.com. Kidney trans- plants are the most common organ transplants with just under 2,000 people needing a kidney. Livers are second. Sign up through the Department of Motor Vehicles or sign up to be a donor at www.donatelifewisconsin.com. Fish said there are many myths and stigmas surrounding organ donation. For example, some people don't sign up for organ donation because they think they are too old, Fish said that's not the case. Just because a person may be too old for tradi- tional organ transplant doesn't mean they can't donate. Tissue and cornea donations are on the rise. "Think of what (a cornea) donation does for a person's life," Fish said. "If they can't see they can't work, they can't drive, they can't see their grandkids' faces." For more information on how to be a donor or for any questions concerning organ donation go to www.donatelifewisconsin.com. — Joycelyn Fish, Events Coordinator at the National Kidney Foundation of Wisconsin

• Cover