All MHCA News Articles

Midvale Heights residents that walk their dogs, are being invited to participate in a research project by Dr. Jonathan Nelson and PhD student Alton Hipps from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Geography Department.

The “Our Neighborhood Walk” research study investigates the role of GPS-based personal data tracking technologies and interactive story maps in creating and understanding the co-constructed sense-of-place experienced between pet guardian and companion dog while walking together. Specifically, this research study employs a mixed methods approach to collecting, analyzing, and visualizing data collected by pet guardians and their companion dogs to unlock new insights into how humans and canines collectively and individually perceive the built and natural environment while walking together.

This research is being conducted by Dr. Jonathan Nelson and PhD student Alton Hipps from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Geography Department. To be eligible for the study, participants must be 18 years of age or older, speak fluent English, own a smartphone or tablet with a geo-enabled camera, and provide guardianship to at least one dog that they walk on a regular or semi-regular basis.

The study consists of three parts:

1. Onboarding Questionnaire in which participants are introduced to study aims/procedures and asked to share background information about themselves, their companion dogs, walking environments/routines, and experience using maps and personal tracking technologies (no more than 10 minutes to complete online).
2. Field Study in which participants collect a combination of qualitative (e.g., photographs and survey responses) and quantitative data (e.g., GPS traces and heart rate) during a typical dog walk to assess elements of the built and natural environment that they believe influence their personal wellbeing, may influence the well-being of their companion dogs, and make these public spaces more or less conducive for dog walking (no more than 1.5 hours to complete).
3. Concluding Questionnaire in which participants receive an interactive storymap recreating their neighborhood walking experience and are asked to: (a) draft a short reflective essay in response to a series of questions assessing the extent to which the map causes new insights into the places experienced by both pet guardians and their companion dogs while walking together and (b) rate how well twenty one indicators of map trust and design describe the resulting interactive storymap (no more than 30 minutes to complete online).

Participation in this study is voluntary.

If you have questions about the study, please email the Principal Investigator, Jonathan Nelson at and/or Co-Investigator Alton Hipps at .

If you agree to participate, please select the "I agree" button below to advance to the onboarding questionnaire. The first page of the questionnaire will be an information sheet where you can consent to participating in the study.

"I Agree" (links to consent and onboarding questionnaire)

A new version of the Midvale Heights website is in the works. It will be built with Wix. Lacinda Athen () will be the new Website Administrator. They are looking for pictures of the neighborhood to include on the new website. If you have any pictures you would like to give them, email her and she will send you a Dropbox link where you can upload the pictures.

The initial Midvale Heights website was created in March 2003, and was designed by George Merriman. I took over, and have been managing the website since early 2004 (I have been hosting it since it started in 2003).

In 2008 I rebuilt the Midvale Heights website using Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware (https://tiki.org).

I started using Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware in 2003 and have used it for several personal websites. There is a learning curve to using it, but I highly recommend it. I am currently working on installing Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware on a Synology NAS

Some Tiki History
Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware Features

Another fan of Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware

The 2027 Midvale Heights Community Association Membership drive will be delayed until the new website is completed.

All user accounts on the current website will be removed.

The City of Madison Parks Division is excited for the new partnership with Michael and Jocelyn Keiser and the Madison Parks Foundation. Through the Keisers’ philanthropic vision and generous donation, we have an opportunity to reimagine, redesign and reconstruct Odana Hills Golf Course. The baseline course improvements will address tee boxes, green complexes and surrounds, along with some potential for routing adjustments.

In addition to the golf course improvement project, the City is planning to leverage the private donation and take advantage of the temporary closure of the property in a way that allows for public infrastructure improvements to both Odana Hills Golf Course and Odana Hills East Park.

Get Involved!

• Attend the virtual public information meeting
  • Thursday, April 30, 2026, 6:00pm
  • Register to attend
• Provide input in the online survey
  • Open through Sunday, April 19, 2026
  • Take the Survey
• Check out the project page and following along
  • Odana Hills Golf Course and Park Reimagined Project Page

Let's Talk about Invasive Plants
Thursday, April 2, from 6 - 8pm,
in Meeting Rooms A and B Combined,
at the Sequoya Library.

For more information, see the link below:
https://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/spaces/events/lets-talk-about-invasive-plants-74741

Join Matt Wallrath of the Wisconsin First Detector Network to learn about reporting and managing invasive species in your yard and wild areas! Matt will cover what it means to be considered invasive in Wisconsin, resources about how to ID plants, ideas for native alternatives, and some sources for management options. Bring your questions about your favorite nemesis and join in for Q+A.

This talk is presented by the Midvale Heights Community Association's Green Team in association with Sequoya Library.

Sequoya Library

Meeting Rooms A and B Combined

Feb 12, 2026 | 12 - 5pm

Donate blood and help maintain a stable blood supply. Every day the Red Cross must collect more than 13,000 pints of blood for patients across the country. Encourage family and friends to join you in donating at Sequoya Library. A pint of blood from you could be a gift of life for someone in need.

Follow this link for more information

The Current, January-February 2026 Midvale Messenger 1.12 MB pdf file can be accessed by one of these links: download or display in browser.

In this issue, learn more about what Midvale Heights Community Association has planned for 2026 and what the MHCA Green Team is planning in February, get updates from Alder Bill Tishler, Dane County Board Representative Keith Furman, the Friends of Sequoya Library and the MHCA Baseball Association, and more.

You will not be included in the printed directory

If you do not want to be in the printed directory in the future, check the "I do not want to be in the printed directory" option (you will still get a copy of the printed directory).


If you want to be in the printed membership directory, please register by the end of today.
The Membership period will be from September 1, 2025 through August 31, 2026.


If you have not registered for the Midvale Heights Community Association 2026 membership period yet, please visit the MHCA Membership Page.

You can still join for 2026 after August 31th, but your information will not be in the printed directory. You will get a 2026 directory and the discount card when you join.

The MHCA, along with the Red Cross and Sequoya Library, are hosting a blood drive Thursday, August 14th. There are a lot of appointments available!

Drive Details:

• Site: Sequoya Library
• Address: 4340 Tokay Blvd, Madison, WI, 53711
• Room Name: Community Room
• Date: Thr Aug 14, 2025
• Time: 12:00 PM - 05:00 PM
• Blood Program Leader Name: Kathy Losby

Click here to make an appointment