How To Create A Custom Tile For Waukesha's Grede Park Parade Memorial

WAUKESHA, WI — As Waukesha prepares memorials around the city to honor those impacted by the 2021 Christmas Parade tragedy, community members are being invited to leave their mark by engraving a tile for Grebe Park.

Three events are scheduled between fall 2023 and summer 2024 for anyone to customize a 6-inch square tile, which will then be glazed blue, fired, and placed on a wall at the memorial in Grebe Park, according to a news release from the city. Each tile can be acquired with a minimum donation of $25 for memorial funds at the events, while groups are also invited to hold their own events, the city said.

Here are the details for community tile events:

• Nov. 21, 2023. The event is planned at the Clarke Hotel, 314 W. Main Street after the Main Street Parade Memorial is dedicated that afternoon.
• March 9, 2024, a tile event is planned at the Waukesha Public Library at 321 Wisconsin Avenue.
• Another tile event with details to be announced is set for summer 2024.

The tile wall efforts are for the larger of two memorials planned around Waukesha honoring people impacted by the 2021 parade. Prosecutors said a now-convicted man purposefully drove through the parade in an SUV, killing six and injuring dozens more. Hundreds more who witnessed the horror that unfolded were left with mental and emotional scars, the city notes on a parade memorial website.

The Main Street Memorial, marking the spot where tragedy happened, is set for dedication at 4:39 p.m. on the second anniversary of the parade, Nov. 21, 2023. The city said the larger memorial at Grede Park, which will feature more space for gathering and reflection plus the community tile wall, is planning for a dedication on the third anniversary of the tragedy in 2024.

More information about plans for the Waukesha parade memorial is available on the city's website.