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The City of Whitewater Office of Emergency Management is adding three new outdoor warning sirens during the week this week. The city’s provider, Emergency Communication Services, will be installing the new sirens. One siren will be located on Coburn Hill, the second will be located near the corner of Florence Street and Tratt Street and the third is scheduled to be installed on Burr Oak Trail near Fremont Road. During the installation process, each of the sirens will be tested with about a 10-15 second sounding of the siren. The sirens are designed to provide overlap coverage to the city’s existing, aging siren system. The goal is to replace the existing system with the newer system without losing coverage. The new sirens will have battery back-up for times when and if the city loses power. The current sirens will remain in place and functional until they are no longer economical to maintain.

“Outdoor warning systems such as these sirens are designed only to alert those who are outside that something dangerous is approaching; they are not intended to provide coverage inside buildings,” says Todd Lindert, Whitewater Emergency Management Coordinator. “When a siren is sounded it means that something lifethreatening is happening and you should go indoors and get more information.” Whitewater’s Office of Emergency Management and the National Weather Service recommends a National Oceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA) Emergency Weather Alert Radio for use indoors. A NOAA Weather Radio is like a smoke detector for severe weather; it will wake a person up when a warning is issued for their area to take appropriate action. Contact Todd Lindert at 262-473-0570 or TLindert@whitewater-wi.gov for questions.

The City of Whitewater would like to share the Diggers Hotline information with you in order to properly locate underground lines prior to work on your land. This is crucial to protecting the safety of family, neighbors and the general public. Skipping this step is dangerous and costly. The Diggers Hotline service is Wisconsin’s statewide one-call notification system that was developed in order to provide excavators and the general public the ability to inform multiple owners of underground facilities of excavation with a single call. Wisconsin Statute 182.0175 requires residents to notify Diggers Hotline before beginning excavation, grading, trenching, digging, drilling, use of an augur, tunneling, scraping, plowing cable or piping on your land. Excavation, according to law, classifies anything that moves, removes or displaces earth, rock, or other material in or on the ground. To contact Diggers Hotline dial 811 or 1-800-242-8511, or visit their website at http://diggershotline.com/.

September 4, 7:00 pm on The Barnett Theatre Stage

The Department of Theatre/Dance at UW-Whitewater is excited to host the Br!NK New Play Festival reading of Wisconsin female playwright Karen Saari’s ‘RAIN ON FIRE, 2019’. The performance is a staged reading on Wednesday, September 4, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. on The Barnett Theatre Stage in the Greenhill Center of the Arts, 950 West Main Street, Whitewater, WI 53190. No tickets are necessary but donations will be accepted at the door. Following the staged reading there will be a question and answer session and an opportunity to talk with the playwright, dramaturge, director, artistic director and helpers.  A moderator will accept questions and critique about the performance; this is one of the most important aspects of the event.

Playwright Bio: Karen Saari’s IN A CLEARING premiered at Magnetic Theatre Company (Asheville, NC) in 2018 following development via Last Frontier Theatre Conference and Wisconsin Wrights New Play Festival and was an O’Neill Conference semi-finalist. Her one-acts have been performed across the country. Her comedy, BAD IN BED (A Fairy Tale), premiered with Acadiana Rep (Lafayette, LA) in 2018. She is a member of Dramatists Guild and Playwrights Center.

‘RAIN ON FIRE Synopsis: Marie, a failed musician, returns home to plan her pill addict mother Lorraine’s funeral. She discovers “Rain,” a closet poet, left a surprising final request for Marie to carry out with her cousin Caleb. Caleb is a meth user that cared for ‘Rain in her final months. They must compose a song out of one of Lorraine’s poems to perform at her funeral in this sometimes funny, sometimes painful look at the opiate crisis in Michigan’s north woods.

Directed by: Libby Amato

Cast: Maddie Wakely, Carrie Hitchcock, Shayne Steliga, Jim Gallagher, among others TBA

The Br!NK New Play Festival is an engaging theater-going experience suitable for anyone who loves live theater, supports women, and is interested in new works. Audiences are encouraged to give feedback and mix and mingle with the cast and playwright following the reading. These are new plays in various stages of development presented as staged readings. This is to allow the play to stand on its own without the added production elements of a set, costumes, lights, etc.

Now in its sixth season, Br!NK is Renaissance Theaterworks New Play Development Series designed to advance the works of Midwestern women playwrights.

Each year, Renaissance Theaterworks puts a call out for Midwestern women playwrights to submit their work. Two playwrights are selected to receive the Br!NK Residency Award to develop and advance their scripts. The Br!NK Resident Playwrights spend a week with a professional director, cast, and dramaturg workshopping their play. Following the workshop week, the plays are presented as staged-readings for the public at the week-long Br!NK New Play Festival (Touring September 3-6 and at NŌ Studios September 7-8, 2019).

More information about Br!NK can be found at http://r-t-w.com/br!nk-festival.html

The Whitewater Dementia Friendly Community Initiative (WDFCI) is excited to announce the awarding of the Purple Angel recognition to Studio 84 and Seniors in the Park.

Studio 84 is a nonprofit art studio that supports the creative development of people with disabilities. Some students come for the day programing and others come to create a business selling their art. Artistic mentors assist them with it all and look at their abilities to help them be successful with their art. They opened doors in July of 2009.

The Seniors in the Park program has been in existence for 38 years. Its mission is to promote and enhance a vital aging community by providing programming and services that enrich the lives of older adults.

The Purple Angel is an international symbol recognized around the world, which says employees have received dementia awareness training and are sensitive to customers and care partners who are affected by dementia or Alzheimer’s. An engaged community seeks to honor, value and include all of its members. Look for the Purple Angel award wherever you go.  If you don’t see it, ask “Why not?” 

A Dementia Friendly Community is one that engages people with dementia, making them feel welcome, respected and improving their quality of life, while also supporting their unique interests and those of care partners and family members. This enables those with dementia to safely find their way around town, access local facilities, and maintain their social connections.  This sense of belonging eases the fear and isolation associated with dementia and increases access to the resources people need to live well with dementia. By helping everyone in a community understand what dementia is and how it affects families, each of us can make a difference for the people touched by dementia.

The number of businesses taking the steps necessary to be designated as dementia friendly is continuing to grow.  One of the principal purposes for the WDFCI is providing free training programs to those who live and work in Whitewater, as well as businesses, faith communities and organizations serving area residents.

The WDFCI mission is to create a Dementia Friendly Community that features effective, ongoing programs to include and support individuals with dementia and their care partners. To-date the WDFCI has offered memory screens; published an informational brochure; started a memory café, a twice monthly respite site; has provided, in partnership with Mulberry Glen, Dementia Live, a virtual dementia experience; and is working with the Irvin L. Young Memorial Library to provide distraction boxes for checkout. The Whitewater Community Foundation has given the group two grants to assist with startup costs.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, the estimated number of people in Walworth County with Alzheimer’s/dementia in 2020 is 2,132 of which approximately 200 live in Whitewater. By 2040, the county estimate will have grown to 4,432. It is important to know that Alzheimer’s is not a normal part of aging, however aging is a risk factor

For more information, to become Purple Angel recognized or to join the WDFCI, please contact Deb Weberpal at 262-473-0535 or email dweberpal@whitewater-wi.gov or check out our Facebook page Whitewater Dementia Friendly Community Initiative. The WDFCI is assisted and supported by the Alzheimer’s Association of Southeast Wisconsin and the Dementia Friendly Community Initiative, Inc – Walworth County.

The City of Whitewater provides efficient and high quality services which support living, learning, playing and working in an exceptional community. Visit www.whitewater-wi.gov for community information and updates.

YOUTH LEAGUE BOWLERS 2019/2020
FALL SIGN UP AT HAWK BOWL

1328 W. Main St., Whitewater
262-473-9980

Sign up – Saturday, September 14, 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. – $10.00 Yearly paid sanction, earns 2 free games.

League Start and additional Sign up – Saturday, September 21, 9:00 A.M. Yearly sanction $10.00 plus Weekly Fees $5.00 includes shoes.

Certified/Registered Coaches Provided – Please call Judy Rauls – 262-594-2780

All ages welcome, 5-8, 9-12, 13 and up.