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Joyce Westerman and the All American Girls Professional Baseball League: Play Ball!

When: Thursday, March 15 at 3:00 p.m.

Where: Irvin L. Young Memorial Library

Bob Kann, author and performer, will be presenting “Joyce Westerman and the All American Girls Professional Baseball League: Play Ball!”  This presentation is based on his book Joyce Westerman: Baseball Hero, the story of a young girl who grew up on a farm in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.

As a kid, Joyce cleaned the barn, picked vegetables, and helped her father cut down trees. But what she really loved to do was play baseball. She played at recess and with friends whenever she could, and she even joined her aunt’s softball team when she was just 12 years old.

When Joyce graduated from high school, she went to work at a factory in Kenosha. But then World War II broke out, and chewing-gum tycoon P. K. Wrigley started a women’s baseball league to replace men’s baseball while players were away fighting. Women from all over the country tried out for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Only a few were good enough to make the cut, and Joyce was one of them. For eight years, she traveled around the US playing ball, even winning the league championship in her last season.

This program is free and open to everyone.

Whitewater Elementary Schools Fine Arts Nights

Lakeview Elementary School – Friday, March 16, 2018, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. For more information, including a schedule of events, 

Washington Elementary School – Friday, March 16, 2018, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

Please note that this was posted in error.  There is no Fine Arts night at Washington Elementary School on Friday, March 16th.

Lincoln Elementary School – Tuesday, March 20, 2018,  from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. For more information including a schedule of events,

(English)

(Spanish)

Come See the Cat’s Pajamas Vocal Band in Whitewater on March 22

The Cat’s Pajamas Vocal Band is coming to Whitewater Middle School on Thursday, March 22 at 7 pm.  You are invited to bring your whole family to the Whitewater Middle School Gym to enjoy an evening of music and fun!

The Cat’s Pajamas Vocal Band is a five-person a cappella group that has been touring around the world since 2005 and has recently been featured on Next Great American Band, America’s Got Talent and season 3 of NBC’s The Sing-Off. Founded by Brian Skinner, The Cat’s Pajamas entered the national spotlight when they placed in the top 10 while performing their Oreo Cookie Jingle for Randy Jackson. After years of performing on Celebrity, Disney, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian cruise ships as guest entertainers, The Cat’s Pajamas have performed over 200 shows per year at the Andy Williams Moon River Theatre and Music City Centre Theatre in Branson, MO. They also perform corporate shows, private parties, Fairs & Festivals, Casinos, Colleges and High Schools across the Mid-West as part of their Music In Schools tour. To date, The Cat’s Pajamas have raised over $120,000 for music education programs across the country.

    It is sure to be an evening to remember!  If you would like to purchase tickets ahead of time, please contact the WMS office at 262-472-8300.

Whitewater HS Junior Morgan Radaj Chosen to Speak to Girl Scouts

WHS Junior Morgan Radaj with State Senator Jennifer Shilling

On March 7, 2018, Scouts gathered in Madison for Wisconsin Girl Scout Advocacy Day at the State Capitol. Whitewater HS Junior Morgan Radaj was one of four chosen out of 66,000+ Girl Scouts in Wisconsin to speak about the impact that GS has had on her life.

Seated next to Marci Henderson, CEO, Representative Joan Ballweg, and Senator Jennifer Shilling, Morgan spoke primarily about her GS Gold Award Project, called Sharing is Caring. She completed this project her freshman year of high school and is focused on helping with hunger both locally and internationally. Morgan’s goal was to find ways to share extra food with those who need it instead of letting food go to waste. Hoping to inspire younger girls, Morgan also talked about her latest mission trip to Haiti.
For her Gold Award project two years ago, on April 2, 2016, Morgan coordinated an international dry food packing event at the Whitewater HS, where nearly 500 volunteers packed 108,564 meals that were later sent to Kenya, Africa. It took almost one year to unite different civic, faith, school and community groups to fundraise for the $24,500 needed to bring that event to Whitewater. Locally, Morgan collected additional fresh produce for the Whitewater Food Pantry during the summer of 2016 by encouraging local backyard gardeners to share their extra produce and she built a drop box that was located at the weekly Tuesday City Market.
Following the introductions and speeches, the girl scouts in attendance were able to spend the day visiting some of the senators and getting a tour of the capitol.

Deborah Blackwell is awarded the Jefferson Award for Public Service

 

The WKOW camera crew films artist Laurie Narad (seated) and award recipient, Deborah Blackwell (standing).

Deborah Blackwell is a recent local winner of the Jefferson Award for public service for her work at Studio 84. Blackwell is founder and director of Studio 84, a non-profit art studio, gallery and gift shop that specializes in the creative and vocational development of people with disabilities. Studio 84 has a creative focus on the abilities through the arts. It is located at 121 W. Center St. in Whitewater, WI.

The Jefferson Award recognizes dedication and service of volunteers who transform lives and strengthen communities across the United States. WKOW is proud to bring the Jefferson Awards to Wisconsin. The mission of the Jefferson Awards Foundation is to power others to have maximum impact on the things they care about most. Their programs and partnerships drive Americans to change their communities and the world. The Foundation was founded in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Senator Robert Taft Jr., and Sam Beard.

Each year WKOW selects a monthly winner from nominations submitted. Anybody can nominate someone on the Jefferson Awards Foundation website. At the end of their yearly cycle, which is the end of March, WKOW selects one of the twelve monthly winners to go to the national awards ceremony in New York.  From there, several national winners are selected from the many local and regional winners.  The selection committee at the national level includes numerous public figures such as Michael Douglas, Neil Simon, and Whoopi Goldberg.

Amber Noggle, anchor at WKOW, interviewed Blackwell and several artists at Studio 84 and the program will be aired on Sunday, March 18th at 10 pm. WKOW is ABC Channel 27.

You can learn more about Studio 84 at www.studio84inc.org or follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/studio84inc.

2018 Whitewater Area 4th of July Parade & Festival Dates – June 29th through July 4th

Whitewater Area 4th of July Parade

July 4th @ 10:00 a.m.

Organized by the Whitewater Lions Club

THEME: Freedom in the Heartland

2018 Grand Marshal

Sgt. Michael Davenport U.S. Army

Michael (Mike) enlisted in the Army in 1976 at the young age of 17. He spent 27 months in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea as part of U.S. Military Intelligence. He was honorably discharged in 1982. He and his wife Pok Ye settled in the Whitewater area 27 years ago. Mike is well known and respected as the Commander of the Whitewater VFW Post.

For more information on how to be a part of the 2018 4th of July Parade, 

To download the parade registration form, 

Update from the 4th of July Committee

While the weather certainly may not feel anything like summer, the Whitewater Area 4th of July Festival planning is underway.  For the 2018 season, the committee has some fresh faces and is in the process of a facelift for our website.

The committee would like to thank Jean Mills and Blake Scharine for their commitment to this community and their leadership as co-chairs of the 4th of July committee.  In 2017 Jean celebrated her retirement from the committee with a spectacular festival.  Blake continues to be part of the committee and helps steer us all in the right direction.
We would also like to thank Jim, Dick, Tom, Dale, and Chuck for all of their hard work and dedication to the success and continuity of the 4th of July Festival through the years.
New faces this year include Rob who is assisting with entertainment; Jon who is not only a previous participant in the car show but will be helping to organize it; Katie, Garrett, and Lisa who are working with Blake on the overall event planning.
Returning and continuing to be part of the committee are Bruce who will assist in the planning for the car show, Bob and Don from the Lions Club for the parade, Elizabeth our pageant superstar, Mark as organizer of the Whippet City Mile, Adam and Kim who very generously lend their assistance to many different parts of the festival.
The festival will run from June 29th through July 4th and we will be releasing additional times, performances, and more in the coming weeks.  All of this information will be added both to our soon to be refreshed website and the festival’s Facebook account.

WhitewaterBanner.com joins with the Whitewater Community Foundation

Dear Whitewater Community,

Today, we are announcing that the Whitewater Banner has become a part of the Whitewater Community Foundation.  At the Banner, our goal has not and will not change.  We will continue to strive to objectively share local news, events, photos, and enrichment with the community of Whitewater. By joining the Whitewater Community Foundation, we simply can be assured that the Banner will remain a true community asset and receive the support necessary to continually improve its ability to deliver news and engagement for the community of Whitewater.

Additionally, the Banner will continue to provide advertising/sponsorship space for local businesses and will be reaching out soon to continue these efforts. A portion of the funds from advertising and sponsorship will be earmarked for a Whitewater Banner Scholarship in honor of Jim Stewart, the founder of the Banner. The remainder of the funds will be utilized for the maintenance of the Banner website, and the continued efforts in achieving the Whitewater Community Foundation’s mission work.

As always, we will look to continue our efforts to make sure the Banner is meeting our community needs.  Please do not hesitate to reach out to whitewaterbanner@gmail.com with news, events, photos, or suggestions on how we can better serve our community.

Thank you for your support.

Regards,

Dustin Reichwald

Editor, WhitewaterBanner.com

About the Whitewater Community Foundation

The Whitewater Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in 1995 to enhance the quality of life in the Whitewater area via educational, cultural, charitable or benevolent expenditures. Recently, the foundation has funded many other programs through Community Action Grants, providing money to Whitewater area organizations supporting a wide variety of cultural, civic, and wellness initiatives.

The Whitewater Community Foundation invites community members and businesses to join them by investing in Whitewater. Current board members include Danielle Frawley, president, Kevin Brunner, past-president, Mark Dorn, vice president, David Yochum, secretary, Geoff Hale, treasurer, Julie Caldwell, Thayer Coburn, Mark Elworthy, Rick Fassl, Ron Jongetes, Therese Kennedy, Sonia Sotos, Hector Villareal, and Kristine Zaballos.

’Fake News!’: Conjecture, Conspiracy and Consequences for American Democracy – Presented by the League of Women Voters of the Whitewater Area

Professor Corey Davis of the University of Wisconsin—Whitewater Department of Communication discusses “’Fake News!’: Conjecture, Conspiracy and Consequences for American Democracy”.  It has long been a truism that journalists are in the business of selling newspapers with the result that skeptical readers may underrate the seriousness of some headlines.  The use of social media for communication, however, has altered the need for skepticism considerably.  Whatever the standards for authentication of stories may have been in the age of paper journalism, there is now considerable reason to doubt whatever is coming in electronically without a well-defined source.

When: Thursday, March 15, 2018, at 7:00 PM

Where: Council Chambers of City Hall