Pyle Center to welcome pediatrics patients for rooftop for fireworks show

The Pyle Center, part of the UW-Extension Conference Centers, hosts educational classes and events. Most of them take place during the work week – meaning its halls are typically quiet over holidays and weekends.  

This year, the weekend before July 4 will be anything but.

The Pyle Center, on the UW–Madison campus, is partnering with the American Family Children’s Hospital to make the upcoming Fourth of July more festive for pediatric patients and their families with the first “Rhythm & Booms on the Rooftop” on Saturday, June 30.

The event will welcome more than 400 special guests – patients at the hospital — to the Rooftop Terrace and lakeside Alumni Lounge for a front row view of Rhythm & Booms.

The children and their families have been invited to enjoy the fireworks from this lakeside location. Sunday, July 1, is set aside as a rain date in the event of inclement weather.

“We’re just delighted to open our doors to the kids and their families,” says Bill Mann, executive director of the UW-Extension Conference Centers. “We enjoy our beautiful location every day, and we know it’s a great place to watch the fireworks. We started with the hope of sharing it with the community, and we feel this is the perfect way to do so – and with a group who will really enjoy it.”

Mann says the Pyle Center is exceptionally accessible and well suited to individuals with mobility issues.

“As a conference facility that welcomes thousands of people each year, we work hard to ensure we’re as accessible and safe as possible,” Mann says. “I’m proud of that, and we thought it would be a good fit for children who might not otherwise be able to attend a fireworks show at a park.”  

To make the event an even bigger party, the Pyle Center received generous donations of treats from area businesses for guests to enjoy that night. Madison’s own Schoep’s donated ice cream novelties for the event, Oscar Mayer donated more than 600 hot dogs, Copps food stores of Madison donated bottled water and hot dog buns, and the University Club will bake and deliver 400 chocolate chip cookies.

Bucky Badger will make an appearance at 8 p.m.

Children and their families who are patients at the American Family Children’s Hospital coordinated involvement with Child Life Services Manager Julie Auenson.

“The families we work with expressed such excitement about this opportunity,” Auenson says. “I was so happy to be able to extend the invitation. We’re so thankful to receive offers from the community like this.”

For more information about this year’s event, contact Sheri Rice at 608-890-0392 or sheri.rice@ecc.uwex.edu, or visit www.conferencing.uwex.edu/RhythmBooms.cfm.