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Mark your calendars and join Paul's friends and family for a day of food, beer, fundraising and music to celebrate Paul Natzke.

"You can check-out local food vendors, bid on raffle baskets, learn about adaptive sports, sip on tasty Wisconsin Brewing Company beverages, and relax while enjoying awesome live music," said Paul's Mom, Kathie Natzke. "All proceeds, that's 100%, from this event will benefit Paul's Party!"

Paul's Party started as a kindness campaign to celebrate Paul Natzke's birthday the year that he died at age 15. On the anniversary of his death, organizers had what was initially planned to be a small party and ended up raising more than $15,000 to support a few charities that were important to Paul.

"After that smashing success we decided to set up a 501(c )(3) non-profit to spend those funds properly, and Paul's Party was born," added Natzke.

New this year, PaulPalooza is at the Wisconsin Brewing Company, 1079 American Way, Verona.

"We outgrew our old venue, so we've had a few growing pains in the planning due to the change in location," explained Natzke. "We hope that Wisconsin Brewing Company will be our partner for many years to come."

Roll With It Red Ale, specially brewed by Wisconsin Brewing Company for PaulPalooza, is an easy-going red lager that's likable and everyone wants to hang out with all day long. Smooth, a little sweet, and not too bitter.

"Just like a certain red-head many of us knew and loved," added Natzke. "We haven't tried the beer yet as it's being released on Sunday, August 28, ONLY for PaulPalooza." You can pre-order a crowler if you want to be sure to get a souvenir of the day.

Music for PaulPalooza starts at 10:00 a.m., with Some Assembly Required, featuring Brandon Grotelueschen from Belleville; at 11:30 a.m., mtn air, which is technically a new band but features many of the members of Quick & Painless, which is a PaulPalooza staple; at 1:00 p.m., Alpha Romeos will make their PaulPalooza debut; at 2:30 p.m., Sweet Josephine takes the stage, featuring Sam Sardina and Connor B (of Bachelorette fame) - both have performed at PaulPalooza since the beginning; and at 4:00 p.m., Mark Croft will play, and this year, he is bringing the entire band.

PaulPalooza is known for a lot of really great things, and one of those is the awesome gift baskets that you can win through the purchase of raffle tickets.

"Each year our guests tell us how much they love the creative ideas and how nice the baskets are, always $100 plus in value," said Natzke. "The prizes range from hotel stays, firepits, Green Bay Packers and Milwaukee Brewers tickets, Green Bay Packers memorabilia, beer, wine, and cheese for a year, gift cards galore, and so much more."

PaulPalooza will provide lots of food options to keep your stomach full. North & South will be on-site with pulled pork and brisket sandwiches. Sugar River Pizza will have its awesome mac 'n cheese and pizza. The Roost will serve fried chicken sandwiches and chicken tenders. Las Milpas will have tacos, burritos, and quesadillas.

Plus there will be Lily's Sweet Treats cotton candy, Sugar River Kettle Corn, Sugar River Bakery baked goodies, coffee from Lingonberry Llama and Debi's famous glitter donuts.

"Yes, we said glitter," laughed Natzke.

PaulPalooza t-shirts were available for pre-order and can be picked up the day of the event.

"To celebrate five years, we chose a Paul favorite...tie dye," said Natzke. "The shirts are black and white shirts with a Badger red PaulPalooza logo. We love seeing PaulPalooza shirts walking around on game day."

The mission of Paul's Party is to fund FUN for kids with physical disabilities.

"Paul was a fun-seeker and we know how difficult it can be to provide recreational opportunities for kids who use wheelchairs, or even just can't participate in the same way as their peers," explained Natzke. "So we fund sled hockey equipment, track racing chairs and equipment, hand bikes, summer camp scholarships, pretty much anything recreational and fun, and probably expensive. As we've grown, we have also connected people and created a supportive community. We have provided these kids and their parents with a network of people who can understand what they are going through, which is absolutely priceless."

Natzke mentioned that the pandemic "slowed our roll a little, but this track season we were able to get our chairs in the hands of some amazing athletes. Currently, we have 14 track racing chairs and 12 shot put throwing stands in action with para-athletes around Wisconsin."

This year, four Team Paul athletes competed in the WIAA State track meet in La Crosse.

"Next year we're aiming for double digits, including a Sugar River Raider," added Natzke. "We've made a lot of connections with kids across the state, but also with organizations that coordinate programming for para-athletes. These partnerships will help us to provide equipment for even more kids moving forward."

PaulPalooza would not be possible without a dedicated crew of Friends of Paul and volunteers who never knew him.

If you can't attend PaulPalooza, but are interested in their work, please follow Paul's Party on Facebook and Instagram. You can donate at paulsparty.org/donate, on the Facebook donate button, via PayPal at paulspartyinc@gmail.com or send a check via snail mail.

"We pay no salaries and have very few expenses, so every penny of your donation will go towards helping a kid get equipped," said Natzke.