Oz-Opoly Puts County Businesses on Board

Players don’t go to jail — instead they travel Ozaukee County in a new board game made up of familiar fixtures in the community.

Oz-Opoly allows players to set up inns and homes while traveling through local towns and stopping by area businesses. It’s fashioned off the iconic Hasbro game Monopoly, the popular board game that’s been around for 75 years.

"Something like this is a unique thing and hits home for a lot of people and it’s just a really fun thing to do with your family," said Tom Meaux, Ozaukee County Administrator. "I think they’re a bunch of folks that think games are obsolete, but just in my own family, we love playing games."

Oz-Opoly retails for $24.95 plus tax, with all of the proceeds going back to the community.

"All along we said that the funds from this were going to go to charities," Meaux said. "One charity is our courthouse restoration (project) and the other is the National Honor Flight, (in Washington D.C.)."

Over the years, original artwork in the former courthouse had been covered up with layers of paint. The murals in the courtroom have been restored, but there is much more throughout the building still in hiding, Meaux said.

"We have a great building," he said. "It’s not a museum; we use it every day, but it also has some wonderful history and some really cool artwork and we would like to showcase it as a legacy item for the county."

A Grafton business man presented the idea for the county-themed game to Meaux a few years ago after seeing a localized game in another city.

It took about three years for organizers to find enough businesses in the area to sponsor the game. No tax dollars went towards funding the project.

"It took us a while; the economy had an impact on it. There were a lot of companies that cut back on their advertising and marketing budgets, but over time we got it done,” Meaux said.

Dozens of businesses familiar to Ozaukee County came together to represent the community on the board. Sponsors can be seen as one of the properties or their logos displayed on the playing cards.

Familiar game pieces include the Wayne’s Drive-In building, the Port Washington lighthouse, an shoe, the lion, the Hobo’s Restaurant mascot and a suburban Harley-Davidson motorcycle. 

It’s an American made product, manufactured out of Cincinnati, OH. A few hundred games have been sold since its release a few weeks ago. The game is being sold in all 13 Harris Bank locations in Ozaukee County. As one of the major sponsors of the game, Ruth Lansing of Harris Bank said the company jumped on board because they liked the goal behind it.

“As a long-time supporter of the Ozaukee County community, Harris found the Oz-Opoly game to be a fun, educational way to celebrate Ozaukee's rich history and significant landmarks we've come to know so well," Lansing said. "With all proceeds going to the National Honor Flight as well as the restoration of our historical Ozaukee County Court House, Oz-Opoly gives back to the community in more ways than one, and being able to sell these games in our bank lobbies allows us to be a part of the whole movement."

The novelty of the game is meant to resonate with people who grew up, live in and have ties to the area, according to Meaux.

"That’s the whole idea, to highlight the county, raise money for charity, give people a chance to connect and I think at a very reasonable cost," he said. "We don’t want it sitting in a closet."