News

A workshop titled “Introduction to Making Handmade Books” will take place Tuesday, Dec. 2, at Wisconsin Makers, 200 E. Clay Street in Whitewater. The two-hour class begins at 7 p.m.

Attendees will learn how to make their own blank notebook using historic bookbinding techniques.

They will make two blank books: a very simple folded booklet with hand sewn signature binding and a casebound blank notebook of one or two signatures, as time permits.

Participants will learn basic paper folding and assembly of signatures into a codex, longstitch binding using needle and waxed linen thread, using bookbinding glue to make a casebound book cover, and using bookcloth to create a sewn longstitch spine binding for their casebound notebook.

All materials will be provided. Attendees may bring their own decorative paper if they want to use it for the notebooks; otherwise, decorative paper samples will be on hand.

Class will begin with a short overview of handmade books, the history of bookbinding and looking at samples of various types of books.

The fee for the class is $20, payable to the instructor, Arthur Durkee.

Durkee is an interdisciplinary artist whose work ranges across book arts, photography, music, poetry, letterpress, printmaking, video, installation, and teaching. He makes artist’s books using all these and more.

To sign up for the bookbinding class, please confirm either Durkee via phone or text at (608) 332-3653 (preferred) or Al Jewer via phone or text at (630) 430-9498.

Attendance is limited to 10 students.

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Felting Workshop

A felting workshop will take place Monday, Dec. 1, in
Whitewater. It is set for 5 to 8 p.m. at Wisconsin Makers, 200 E. Clay St.

Attendees — beginners to advanced felters — may work on
needle or wet felting or both.

The fee is $20, materials included. Payment may be made at
the class.

Register by calling instructor Leani Schoor at (608) 421-4078 or
emailing her at leanischoor@gmail.com.

Having earned her Bachelor of Science degree in art education
and master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Schoor taught art at
Jefferson High School for 38 years. The owner of Studio 2154 in Madison, she teaches wet and needle felting, beadwork, glass fusing, cement yard art, ceramics, copper enameling, metal work and quilting.

Located at the corner of East Clay and Wisconsin streets in
Whitewater, Wisconsin Makers is a makerspace or community
workshop. For more information, contact Chris Spangler at
(920) 728-2960.

Editor’s note: We are grateful for you, our reader, and wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. We’d also like to express our appreciation to the many individuals and organizations that provide event announcements, Readers Share submissions, obituaries, etc. for us to share with the greater Whitewater community.

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Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Liberia. It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessings of the harvest and of the preceding year. Similarly named festival holidays occur in Germany and Japan. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and around the same part of the year in other places. Although Thanksgiving has historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, it has long been celebrated as a secular holiday as well.

Prayers of thanks and special thanksgiving ceremonies are common among most religions after harvests and at other times of the year. The Thanksgiving holiday’s history in North America is rooted in English traditions dating from the Protestant Reformation. It also has aspects of a harvest festival, even though the harvest in New England occurs well before the late-November date on which the modern Thanksgiving holiday is celebrated.

[The above information is from Wikipedia.]

The Whitewater Arts Alliance (WAA) is excited to announce a Call for Art for the 3rd Annual Artrageous Birds Juried Exhibition, a celebration of creativity inspired by the beauty and spirit of birds. This juried exhibition welcomes artists from the local and regional community to submit original work in both traditional and digital mediums. The exhibition will run from Thursday, March 5 through Sunday, March 29, 2026 at the WAA Cultural Arts Center Gallery 402 W. Main St., Whitewater. All accepted works will also be displayed online, offering artists the opportunity to reach a wide audience. As a juried exhibition, all entries will be reviewed by a panel of judges, and accepted works will be eligible for cash awards. A Best of Show award of $250 will be presented, along with first, second, and third place prizes in both the Traditional and Digital Salons. Additional honors such as Viewer’s Choice, Public’s Choice, and Honorable Mentions will also be awarded. Artists may submit work in the following categories: Traditional Salon: Painting, drawing, illustration, mixed media, sculpture, ceramics, 3D art, and photography. Digital Salon: Digital painting, drawing, illustration, mixed media, and photography. Submissions are now open and close on Sunday, January 18, 2026. Notifications of acceptance will be sent on Monday, February 9, 2026. Accepted works for the Traditional Salon must be delivered to the gallery on Tuesday, March 3 (4 pm-6 pm) or Wednesday, March 4 (12 pm-4 pm). Artwork pick-up will take place on Monday, March 30 (4 pm-6 pm). Artists can submit entries through ArtCall, accessible via the WAA website at whitewaterarts.org/artrageous-birds-2026-call. Discounts for WAA members and students are available. “This exhibition is a wonderful opportunity for artists to share their creativity and connect with audiences both in Whitewater and beyond,” said Exhibit Co-Chair Emily Painter. Exhibit Chair, Jeff McDonald added, “By expanding the mediums, welcoming regional artists, and offering cash awards, we are creating a vibrant showcase that reflects the diversity of artistic expression in our community.” For more information, please contact Exhibit Co-Chairs Jeff McDonald at waa.franachen@gmail.com or Emily Painter at wwartsalliance@gmail.com, or Gallery Director Kim Adams at wwartsalliance@gmail.com or 608-201-2151.

Website: whitewaterarts.org Facebook: facebook.com/wwartsalliance Gallery Hours: Thursdays-Sundays, 12 pm-4 pm Please Note: The gallery is closed outside of Gallery Exhibit Hours except for special events and is also closed when no show is currently running. “20 Years Of Celebrating The Arts And Creating Community!”

It’s time once again for #FlashbackFriday with the Whitewater Historical Society, this week on a Thursday, so we can wish you all “Thanksgiving Greetings.” This early 20th century post card is another in our collection of holiday cards from this era. Once again, it features a turkey, a holiday tradition dating back over 100 years. We wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Join us next week for more from the Whitewater Historical Society.

The National Weather Service Milwaukee/Sullivan Weather Forecast Office has issued a Winter Storm Watch for all of Southern Wisconsin, effective in our area from 3 a.m. Saturday until 6 a.m. on Sunday. Total accumulation of 6-11′ appears possible. It is advised to avoid travel on Saturday if possible.

John’s Disposal will be closed on Thursday, November 27, 2025, in observance of Thanksgiving Day.
Please note the following route change:

• Thursday’s city route is delayed to Friday
  
• Residents with questions may contact John’s Disposal at (262) 473-4700 or by email at
  office@johnsdisposal.com. Additional information is available at www.johnsdisposal.com.

Model UN members competed at the MADMUN conference at McFarland High School on Saturday, November 8th.They did great work! For many, this was their first time competing.

Model UN (Model United Nations) is a high school club where students act as delegates from different countries and simulate real UN meetings. Members research global issues, learn their assigned country’s viewpoints, and work with students from other schools to debate, negotiate, and create solutions. It’s a fun and engaging way to build public speaking, writing, and leadership skills while learning how international problems are solved.

Article and Photos Submitted by Greg Stewart and Liberty Cunningham
Whitewater High School Model UN Advisors
gstewart@wwusd.org

The Whitewater High School Computer Programming Team competed at the annual Milwaukee School of Engineering Opportunity Conference on Friday, November 21. The competition hosted 43 teams of up to 4 students each from 12 high schools across Wisconsin and Illinois: Menomonee Falls, Jacobs, Glenbrook North, Janesville Parker, Crystal Lake, Janesville Craig, Homestead, Cedarburg, Whitnall, Oak Creek, Brookfield East, and Whitewater. Students could choose to code in either Python or Java during the 2.5 hour competition. WHS fielded two teams.

Teams could use two laptops and choose to divide their time between solving a series of 10 coding challenges written by professors at MSOE. The problems were divided into 4 levels of difficulty – one 5-point problem, three 10-point problems, three 20-point problems, and three 40-point problems. A team from Menomonee Falls was the only group to correctly solve a 40-point problem, and placed first, scoring 83 out of the possible 215 points.

The team of Ace Hudec, Margaret Brown, Rae Breisath, and Emilie Bruns placed 16th out of 43, scoring 32 points. The team of Carson Miller, Silas Long, and Jayden Kehrer placed 21st out of 43, scoring 25 points. Scoring problems involves negative points, with teams losing 3 points each time they submit an incorrect solution. Final scores at the event ranged from the high of 83 to a low of negative 7.

Following the competition, students took part in a presentation by an MSOE professor titled, “Teaching AIs Teamwork.”

Article and Photos Submitted by Laura Masbruch
Whitewater High School Computer Science Teacher
lmasbruch@wwusd.org