Lynn Binnie 
The following photos of the 10:00 a.m. UW-Whitewater Commencement on May 11, 2024 are courtesy of Tom Ganser. The morning ceremony recognized 613 undergraduate and 151 graduate students from the College of Arts and Communication, the College of Business and Economics and the School of Graduate Studies. An announcement regarding the commencements, including the afternoon event, may be found here.
Whitewater YES for Education formed back in 2004 to help support the passage of school district referendums. The group is intentionally and necessarily nonpartisan and not political. Whitewater YES works to keep folks aware of all the positive things happening in our school district. For example, the group maintains a Whitewater YES Facebook Page.
As part of this effort to continue a drumbeat of positivity, this weekend Whitewater YES is putting up bilingual “We Love Whitewater Public Schools” yard signs around the community to celebrate graduation and show support for our teachers, staff, and students. The signs will stay up until Saturday, June 8. The response to this effort by the community has been really positive!
In a time of real division and polarization, we are hoping this effort brings people together and shows hardworking district staff and proud students that the community cares and supports them.
If you would like to request a yard sign, please complete this form: https://forms.gle/ZqM 5uj ECnCR juNe 9. (There are limited quantities available).
Whitewater YES is happy to accept donations for the cost of the signs. If you would like to support that effort, simply send a check to: Whitewater YES via Ron Binning, W8645 Glacial Drive, Whitewater, WI 53190.
Ethel M. Herold, age 81, of Beaver Dam, died Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at Beaver Dam Health Care Center.
Visitation for Ethel will be at Koepsell-Murray Funeral Home in Beaver Dam on Thursday, May 23, 2024 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:50 p.m. Funeral services will follow at 7:00 p.m. with Deacon Ed Cody officiating. Burial will be at St. Michael Cemetery in Beaver Dam.
Ethel was born on January 24, 1943, at home, in the Town of Westford, Dodge County, Wisconsin to Louis and Sarah (Hepp) Dronek. She graduated from Randolph High School in 1961. On September 16, 1967, she was united in marriage with Ronald Herold at St. Michael Catholic Church in Beaver Dam. Ethel enjoyed dancing in her younger years, especially the Polka. She enjoyed her flower gardens and particularly enjoyed her favorite flower, the calla lilies. Ethel was a faithful listener of both WBEV and WXRO through the years; she always enjoyed John and Bill when they were on the radio. Ethel was a member of St. Katharine Drexel Parish and had been active in serving funeral luncheons at St. Michael Church.
Survivors include her husband, Ronald Herold; two sons, Robert (Carol) Herold and Roger Herold (Loukia Alafogianis), both of Whitewater; two grandchildren, Amanda Herold (Jeff Hessburg) of Idaho and Kelsey Herold (fiancé Jordan Reilly) of Whitewater; her sister, Virginia Niehoff of Randolph; nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Ethel was preceded in death by her parents; three brothers, Howard Drzonek, Earl Drzonek, and Raymond Drzonek; and three sisters, Beatrice Hanson, Ella Baerwolf, and Agnes Derrick.
The Koepsell-Murray Funeral Home in Beaver Dam is serving the family. www.KoepsellFH.com
William Graham Post 173 of the American Legion in Whitewater is sponsoring the Memorial Day activities in the city.
On Thursday, May 23rd at 6:00 PM members of American Legion Post 173 will gather in the center of Hillside Cemetery to decorate the veterans’ graves at the cemetery. Girls Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4-H clubs and all other community members are invited to participate. Post 173 will provide the flags.
Plans for the parade and ceremonies at the Whitewater Armory are well underway. The parade will form in the Hearthstone Memory Care Residence by Fairhaven parking lot at 10:00 AM on Memorial Day, Monday, May 27th. Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts and other interested groups are encouraged to participate in the parade.
More information will be published later.
Editor’s note: This announcement was submitted by Steven Smith.
By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information
Pella, Iowa – The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team capped the 2024 campaign in the third game of NCAA Regional action Friday in Pella, Iowa. The Warhawks fell to Bethel University 3-1 to close 2024 with a 33-10 overall record.
UW-Whitewater opened the scoring in the top of the second. Taylor Koehler blasted her second four-bagger of the season with a deep drive over the wall in center. The Warhawks held the lead and the momentum until Bethel responded with a solo shot of their own in the bottom of the fourth.
The bottom of the fifth saw the winning runs come across the plate as the Royals used four hits to score two more to take the 3-1 lead.
UW-Whitewater had some hard shots off the bat late in the game but couldn’t find any green to get runners on.
Maggie Ward led UWW with a 2-3 game at the plate. Koehler and Meghan Dunning had the other base knocks for the Warhawks in the game.
Maddy Anderson registered the start and went four innings allowing a single run on five hits while fanning three. Brooke Hock suffered the loss to move to 6-3 on the season. Kate Cleveland closed the game allowing just one hit in the final 1.2 innings of work.
The 2024 Warhawks saw the season open with a 13-game win streak. UWW rode a nine-game streak into the NCAA Tournament bolstered by a 4-0 weekend that culminated in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament title and automatic bid into NCAA play.
By Broderick P. Frye
Asst. Sports Information Director
Thies with Two Homers as Warhawks open Regionals with a Win
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team opened up the 2024 NCAA DIII Regional with a 9-2 win over Crown College (MN). The Warhawks will advance to play California Lutheran tomorrow at 2:30 PM.
The Warhawks offense got going right away, with a five-run first inning. Eli Frank (Bayport, Wis./Bay Port) batted in the first one to open up the score for UWW. Adam Cootway (DePere, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran) followed it up with a ground-rule double to send in two more. The impressive inning was capped off with a 2-run home for Andy Thies (Tallahassee, Fla./Lawton Chiles).
The Polars from Crown scored their first run in the top of the third, with a sacrifice fly to center field. Thies answered back with another 2-run homer, putting the Warhawks up 7-1 only three innings in. Thies hit back-to-back home runs in his first two at bats, setting the tone early for the Warhawks.
Crown would go on to score a run in the fifth frame on another sacrifice fly, but once again the Warhawks had another quick response, with Sam Paden (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) hitting in two more runs in the bottom of the fifth.
The Warhawk defense closed out the game, with only three Polars making it on base in the final four innings.
Offensively, Thies tallied four RBIs with his two home runs, Cootway and Paden had two RBIs each with Frank recording one.
Defensively, Max Huseboe (Ripon, Wis./Ripon) picked up the win, his fifth of the season. Huseboe only had six hits in his 7.0 innings on the mound, fanning 9 batters total with no walks.
Logan Kottmeyer (North Aurora, Ill./Kaneland) and Sava Dupor (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) split the final two innings, with neither allowing a hit. Dupor only needed 5 pitches in the top of the ninth to close out the game.
The Warhawks will now prepare to play California Lutheran with a chance for the Regional Championship on the line. The game is set to start at 2:30 PM.
How much do you know about how Whitewater came to be the town we know and love today? Come to the Whitewater Historical Society’s annual meeting and find out!
The Society will hold its annual meeting, together with this entertaining and educational program, on Sunday, May 19, 2024, at 1:00 PM at the Cravath Lakefront Community Center, located at 341 S. Fremont Street in Whitewater. This event is free and open to the public.
The program will be “The History of Whitewater,” a presentation with vintage photographs, given by local historian Carol Cartwright. The photographs are part of the Society’s extensive historical photograph collection. Come hear the story of Whitewater!
For more information, please contact Carol Cartwright at ccart626@gmail.com .
Electronics Recycling Event
Saturday, May 18, 2024
9:00 am to 1:00 pm
LOT B (Across from Train Depot and Cravath Lakefront)
All TV’s – $20
Old tube CRT computer monitors – $10
Microwaves – $5
Exercise equipment – $5
Other items accepted: computers, laptops, monitors, printers, circuit boards, servers, modems, scanners, hard
drives, cables, keyboards, mice, UPS backup batteries, cell phone batteries, power cords/wires, metal, and
much more….
All electronics, TV’s, stereos, VCR’s, DVD’s, power tools, gaming systems, cameras, telephones and much
more…
All appliances (with or without freon)
(Items not accepted: household batteries, light bulbs)
Cash and checks Only…NO credit cards will be accepted!!
Brad Marquardt
Director of Public Works
(262) 473-0139
bmarquardt@whitewater-wi.gov
Editor’s note: The Banner appreciates having permission to use the image on the homepage by Freepik.
It’s time once again for #FlashbackFriday with the Whitewater Historical Society.
We have been waiting for a long time to show this wonderful image of a turn-of-the-20th-century woman and her flock of chickens. It is part of the Scholl glass plate images in the society’s collections. Many farm women were proud of their fine flock of chickens but how many posed sitting among them? The photo is also picturesque for its setting of large trees.
Join us next week for another image from the historic Scholl collection.
(2793GP, Whitewater Historical Society)
By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information
Pella, Iowa – The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team opened NCAA Division III Regional action with a 2-0 win over Bethel University Thursday. The regional is hosted by Central College in Pella, Iowa. The Warhawks advance to play the host institution Friday at 11 a.m.
Two is still the lucky number for UWW – the Warhawks have now won five straight with two runs in their scoring column. Thursday, those two runs came in the bottom of the first frame. After a quick top of the first, the UW-Whitewater offense got right to it. Kaitlyn Weidemann drew a leadoff walk. Bella Eggert showcased her speed by laying down a perfect bunt and cruising to first without a throw made for the infield single. Weidemann moved up 60 feet on Kiarra Kostroski’s long fly ball to left field to put runners on the corners. Eggert got into a pickle between first and second on the next pitch. The Royal opted to hone in on Weidemann at third allowing Eggert to scamper to second.
Bella Eggert evades Bethel’s diving catcher to score UWW’s second run of the game (credit: Angela Kelm)
With two outs, Taylor Koehler put the ball in play and forced a Bethel error that allowed Weidemann to score easily. Eggert came motoring around third and continued home as the throw home came way up the line. Eggert avoided the diving catcher and slid into home for the 2-0 lead.
The Royals had a single runner on base each of the next three innings, but Maddy Anderson and the Warhawk defense held BU at bay. The best scoring opportunity for Bethel came in the fifth. Three consecutive base knocks loaded the bases with no outs. After a pair of changes in the circle, Brooke Hock took over and got out of the jam with a strike out, fly out and groundout to keep the shutout alive.
Hock and UWW defense went on the retire the next six batters in order to seal the win.
Eggert paced the Warhawk offense with a 2-3 game at the plate.
Anderson improved to 12-3 after scattering five hits across four innings of work. Hock registered her 12th save of the season, no-hitting the Royals in the final three innings of the game.