News

We Energies confirmed to the Banner that some local natural gas customers may receive an automated call indicating that a contractor will service their gas meter in the near future. Caller ID may identify this as a spam call. The utility has contracted with Southern Cross to change out a module on certain gas meters in the area. This work will take only a few minutes and will not require entry into a residence unless the gas meter is inside. Gas service will not be interrupted. Personnel will be driving company identified vehicles.

Editor’s note: The following announcement was provided by Suzanne Popke.

Spring Baha’is and Friends Artist Gathering

Saturday, April 1, 1 p.m. thru 5 p.m.

Historic Landmark Nelson Salisbury House, 404 W. North St., Whitewater

Open to all Whitewater Artists and Musicians and Crafters and Writers. Everyone will be asked to share and discuss their art and talent. Invite your friends and family. Let the host, Suzanne Popke know what special set up or arrangements you may need. There is limited parking on the street next to the house, and in the public parking lot right across the street from the house next to the Whitewater Cultural Arts Center. Snacks and beverages will be available. Come join the fun and community-building.

Suzanne Popke: intsim@idcnet.com or 262-490-6067

Baha’i philosopher `Abdu’l-Bahá said…: “All Art is a gift… When this Light shines through the mind of a musician, it manifests Itself in beautiful harmonies. Again, shining through the mind of a poet, it is seen in fine poetry and poetic prose. When the Light of the Sun of Truth inspires the mind of a painter, they produce marvelous pictures. These gifts are fulfilling their highest purpose…”

Michael Garcia wins at Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Awards

Michael Garcia from Whitewater, WI, who is studying Journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, was among the honorees at the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association 2023 Student Awards for Excellence. The event was held Feb. 23 at the Madison Marriott West in Middleton.

Garcia won Third Place in TV Writing for the project “Rising Star,” and Third Place in TV Photojournalism for the project “Rising Star.”

The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association (WBA) is a state broadcasters membership group that was established in 1951. Its main purpose is to promote the development of the arts of aural and visual broadcasting in all its forms, working closely with statewide educators and broadcast managers/directors to encourage and promote customs and practices that will strengthen and maintain the broadcast industry to best serve the public.

The WBA also recognizes state broadcasters, professionals, and student/amateur broadcasters with annual seminars and recognitions. Students in the media studies program at UW-Whitewater have the opportunity each spring to attend a number of networking break-out sessions during the annual Student Seminar, typically held in late February/early March.

“Attending the annual Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Student Seminar provides the opportunity to learn from those currently in the field who attend and donate their time to educate our UW-Whitewater communication students about all forms of the media business,” said Jim Mead, director of UWW-TV and lecturer. “It’s great to see relationships form between professionals and our students. The seminar is a true networking experience.”

Editor’s note: The above press release was received from UW-Whitewater.

Editor’s Note: The following was provided by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Updated 3/22/23 @ 8:50 a.m. to add the method to RSVP for the events.

Join UW-Whitewater faculty, staff and students for a talk on a timely topic. We’ll share information, then have a conversation with each other. All Warhawk Talks are followed by refreshments and open to the public. RSVPs requested. Update: To RSVP, click on the link below, and then click on the image for the program you wish to attend. There you will find further information about the event and have the opportunity to RSVP.

An Evening with Wisconsin’s Poet Laureate
Tuesday, April 4 at 6:00 p.m.
Nicholas Gulig, Associate Professor, Languages & Literatures

From Daniel Webster to William Jennings Bryan:
An Analysis of some of the Greatest American Speeches of the 19th Century
Tuesday, April 11 at 6:00 p.m.
Richard Haven, Professor Emeritus, Communication

https://www.uww.edu/ce/warhawk-talks

Poet Lorine Niedecker (1903-1970) lived in the Fort Atkinson area nearly all of her life, and some of her poems adorn walls of buildings in downtown Fort. From the Friends of Lorine Niedecker website: “During her lifetime, Lorine saw only four books of poetry published: New Goose, My Friend Tree, North Central and T&G, though she was published frequently in literary magazines, most significantly in Cid Corman’s Origin. Between the years 1963 and her death from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1970, she expanded as a poet, writing longer poems like “Wintergreen Ridge” and the haunting, autobiographical “Paean to Place.” Admired by her poetic peers, Lorine Niedecker’s reputation as a major twentieth-century poet has expanded since her death with the publication of her collected works and two editions of correspondence.”

Friends of Lorine Niedecker (FoLN) presents the first in a biannual series of North Central virtual readings on Sunday, March 26, 2023 at 5 p.m. CDT. Our inaugural readers will be Shannon Tharp (Denver, CO) and Noah Zanella (Chicago, IL). 

Shannon Tharp is the author of The Cost of Walking (Skysill Press, 2011) and Vertigo in Spring (The Cultural Society, 2013). She’s also co-editor with Sommer Browning of Poet-Librarians in the Library of Babel: Innovative Meditations on Librarianship (Library Juice Press, 2018). Her poems and essays have appeared in Blazing Stadium, The Brooklyn Rail, Coldfront Magazine, The RS 500, SALT, Typo, and The Volta, among others. She lives in Denver, where she’s a librarian at the University of Denver.

Noah Zanella is a Chicago based writer and musician. He works as a professor at Carthage College, an editor at MASKS literary magazine, and a teaching artist at Hugo House. He’s also a cofounder of Gourd magazine, which will be releasing its first issue in the fall. He credits Lorine Niedecker‘s writing with teaching him how to write poems, and he reads her collected work every summer.

This event will be recorded.

North Central: A Virtual Reading Series presented by Friends of Lorine Niedecker

Meeting ID: 959 5698 4069

Passcode: 607922

One tap mobile

+16469313860,,95956984069#,,,,*607922# US

+13017158592,,95956984069#,,,,*607922# US (Washington DC)

For more information: write Chuck Stebelton <cstebelton@gmail.com> or Richard Meier <rmeier@carthage.edu>

Editor’s Note: The following was provided by the Whitewater Unified School District.

The spring session of the Citizenship Class, sponsored by the Whitewater Unified School District, begins Thursday April 6, 6:30-7:30 p.m., at the Whitewater High School. The 8-week session will end on May 25. The class is free and open to all.

The IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program at UW-Whitewater provides free tax preparation and free electronic filing of 2022 federal and state income tax returns for low and moderate-income taxpayers.

The VITA clinic is staffed by certified student preparers and supervised by faculty in the College of Business and Economics Department of Accounting. In addition to providing hands-on experience for graduate and undergraduate accounting students, the free VITA clinic helps residents of Whitewater and surrounding communities. “We have many long-time clients who return for assistance each spring,” said Robert Meyers, accounting department lecturer and VITA program co-director. “The opportunity to apply training while working with real people is an invaluable experience for our students.” The UW-Whitewater VITA program will be open the following remaining Wednesdays from 3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.: March 22 and 29, April 5 and 12. Clients will be served on a first-come, first-served basis and should arrive at least one hour before closing. No appointments are needed. Tax preparation help will be located at the UW-Whitewater Community Engagement Center, 1260 W. Main Street, Whitewater, WI 53190 (next to Walmart). There is free parking in front of the UW-W Community Engagement Center for VITA participants. Important information, including a location map, program limitations and required supporting documentation, can be found at https://tinyurl.com/yn7rpjzp. For additional information, email the VITA Site Coordinator at vita@uww.edu.

Editor’s Note: The following was provided by Whitewater Kiwanis Breakfast Club.

The Whitewater Kiwanis Breakfast Club recently donated $1,400 to the Family Partnership program at the Whitewater Aquatic and Fitness Center. The Family Partnership offers reduced membership rates for low-income families and individuals. 

Patrick Taylor, President of the Whitewater Kiwanis Breakfast Club, said, “Kiwanis is very happy to contribute to help ensure that low-income families have access to the center.  Wellness is so important, and a membership at the Whitewater Aquatic and Fitness Center will help people achieve their personal wellness goals.”

Whitewater Kiwanis is a group of dedicated volunteers who help both children of the Whitewater community and the world. Over the past five years the club raised funds to make possible the recent installation of the city’s first piece of inclusive playground equipment, a We-Go-Round, in Starin Park.  Annual donations are also made to provide shoes and winter clothes for students, as well as support for organizations such as the Whitewater Food Pantry, Bethel House, The Community Space, and the Whitewater Youth Soccer Club.

If you have an interest in helping youth in Whitewater, you can check out Whitewater Kiwanis on Facebook and join our Club by contacting Patrick Taylor at Petaylor.law@gmail.com.

Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time.

Editor’s Note: The following information was provided by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Seven business students from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater traveled more than 7,000 miles to New Delhi, India in February 2023; deepening their organization’s commitment to a project impacting 400,000+ lives. A video of their experience will premier, along with a student discussion panel, on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. The event begins at 5 p.m. and is open to the public: Hyland Hall, room 2307, on the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus in Whitewater WI.

The student group is from the College of Business and Economics chapter of Enactus. Enactus is devoted to creating socially conscious CEOs. There are more than 1,700 chapters in thirty-six countries using the positive power of business to improve the quality of life and standard of living for people in need. The UW-Whitewater Enactus chapter earned a National Championship for their program called Project Aadya in 2021.

Project Aadya focuses on training young women in the poorest communities of northern India to perform free, in-home vision screenings in an area with one of the highest rates of preventable blindness and visual impairment in the world. The women are trained by Dr. Shroffs Charity Eye Hospital in Delhi. The project is funded by Combat Blindness International, Madison. And the strategy and process are refined by the UW-Whitewater student team.

Dr. Choton Basu, a professor at UW-Whitewater’s College of Business and Economics and the faculty advisor for the Enactus group, said, “Project Aadya is important because it provides free and low-cost eye care to hundreds of thousands of people. More, the program provides a living wage to impoverished young women whose future prospects would have otherwise been very limited. The women become vision screeners as well as leaders in their villages. It provides them with job skills and a clear career pathway, but it also changes their communities. When you educate and empower a woman, she is able to financially support her family, demonstrate the power of education, recruit more women, and have compounded direct impact on her village. These are areas where the average income for women hovers around $2 a day. Project Aadya helps to change that—and provides the health benefit.”

“It is not only the Indian screeners who are impacted,” continues Basu. “The Whitewater Enactus students were also affected. They had the opportunity to travel to Delhi, India’s capital. But they also visited rural villages witnessing first-hand how plans made on Whitewater’s campus are literally changing lives. They learn that their college education, their career choices, can change lives around the world. At UWW we take pride in having our students apply their learning. It is about “doing” and having an impact on the world.”

High-impact practices are stressed at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Dean Paul Ambrose says, “A business degree is a milestone and is certainly something to celebrate. But an enhanced college experience elevates the power of owning and applying knowledge. Students who participate in co-curricular activities outside the classroom while at the College of Business and Economics (CoBE) or in internships or travel study programs graduate with a different outlook. They demonstrate a superior mastery of knowledge and skills and are more valuable to their future employers. That is why all classes at CoBE are taught by our faculty and staff—not teaching assistants or other cost-saving resources.” Ambrose continues, “We are Wisconsin’s largest business school for a reason. We have specialized faculty and staff with real-world experience to make classes engaging, dozens of championship-winning student organizations, and ample opportunity to foster relationships between students and our business partners. At CoBE, we offer more than a degree. We offer students the opportunity to have experiences that permanently impact their lives.”

About:

Combat Blindness International is a non-profit organization in Madison, Wisconsin. Their mission is to eliminate preventable blindness worldwide by providing sustainable, equitable solutions for sight through partnerships and innovation. Learn more at combatblindness.org.

Dr. Shroff Charity Eye Hospital was established in 1914 and is one of the oldest and largest eye care institutions in India. Learn more at www.sceh.net/

Enactus is a network of leaders committed to using business as a catalyst for positive social and environmental impact. They educate, inspire, and support young people to use innovation and entrepreneurship to solve the world’s biggest problems. Learn more at enactus.org

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater College of Business and Economics (CoBE) is Wisconsin’s largest business college. It is home to the top-ranked, single-school, online Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program in the state, graduate and undergraduate business programs, and business programs for military and veterans. It is also the only college in Wisconsin that offers an AACSB-accredited Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) degree program.  CoBE is in the top 2% of the world’s business schools having earned both AACSB and AACSB Accounting Accreditation. For more information on the College of Business and Economics, visit uww.edu/cobe or email cobe@uww.edu.

Article and photos courtesy of Tom Ganser.

Looking for a no-fail way to escape the late winter blahs?  Just take in a performance of Whitewater Middle School’s production of “Seussical JR” Mar. 22, 23, and 24 at 7:00 p.m. in the Whitewater High School Auditorium. 

Admission for the Mar. 22 performance is “Pay what you can,” and tickets for the Mar. 23 and 24 performances are $5 for adults, $3 for students and senior adults, and free for children 5 years old and under.

Horton the Elephant, the Cat in the Hat, and all your favorite Dr. Seuss characters spring to life onstage in this, a fantastical musical extravaganza from Tony-winners Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty.

Transporting audiences from the Jungle of Nool to the Circus McGurkus, the Cat in the Hat narrates the story of Horton the Elephant, who discovers a speck of dust containing tiny people called the Whos. Horton must protect the Whos from a world of naysayers and dangers, and he must also guard an abandoned egg that’s been left in his care by the irresponsible Mayzie La Bird.  Although Horton faces ridicule, danger, and a trial, the intrepid Gertrude McFuzz never loses faith in him.  Ultimately, the powers of friendship, loyalty, family, and community are challenged and emerge triumphant.

“Seussical JR” teaches us the power of being unique, and the importance of fighting for your beliefs.

Under the direction of Liz Elliott, 46 students display their talents as actors or crew members, with the assistance of 4 adults and 8 Whitewater High School students.

Jim McCulloch and Alyssa Orlowski serve as Assistant Directors, with Jim also working Costume and Light Designer.   Kerry Ramsden is Scenic Designer and Head of Stage Crew, and Kat Dunham is Set Designer.

6th Graders include Cam Avila, Tybalt Barbosa, Storm DePorter, Tyrelle Griswold, Rayne Levasseur, Emma Maas, Yanet Palomec-Garcia, Cora Schimming, Emma Schultz-Majkrzak, Melody Smith, and Talon Wildermuth.

7th Graders include Ian Agen, Jocelyn Alcala, Caitlin Alford, Henry Brockwell, Anna Coleman, Peyton Comfort, Maya Davis, Kora Davis, Laken DePorter, Vivian Harris, Morgan LaHaie, Izzy Lawton, Ame Lin, Ruth Lopez, Jacob McLaughlin, Genevieve Miranda, Virginia Nelson, Sophia Noonan, Alistair Ophime, Teegan Patterson, Lia Ramirez, Kendra Serrano, Letty Trautman, Jaylynn Traxler, and Sophia Walenton.

8th Graders include Esteban Diaz-Gallegos, Jimmy Kinson, Maggie Maas, Josh Nygren, Payton Peacock, Kai Peterson, Hayleigh Pond, Josie Selby, Ava Van Daele, and Zoe Zei.

The Whitewater High School students serving in the production include Anderson Waelchli (High School Assistant Director); Matt Zingsheim (High School Assistant Director/Sound); Anders Clarksen and Ayden Clark (Choreographer); Alexa Cansina-Pena, Alejandra Diaz-Gallegos, Betzy Polomac, and Claire Tourdot (Costuming)

“What a spectacular cast and crew we are lucky to have for “Seussical JR,” reported Alyssa Orlowski.  “Our students are beyond talented. Many of them are new to the stage, and have worked so hard!”

Tyrelle Griswold is a 6th grader cast in three roles, including camera man and circus animal.  Griswold said, “My favorite part of the musical is being a fish for one of the songs.”

7th grader Ian Agen plays one of the leading roles as Horton The Elephant.  Agen shared enjoying “Working on the set with all of my friends and even with the people I wasn’t familiar with who have quickly become close friends. The musical has also quickly become my favorite part of the day. Playing the role of Horton has been extremely fun and fulfilling.  I love getting to sing solos in front of people and getting to increase my confidence as a person. I’ll see you from the stage!”

Kai Peterson, an 8th grader cast as a Wikersham in “Seussical JR,” said, “Working on the show has been really fun.  The work can be tiring, but the payout is worth it.  Personally, I like learning the dances the most, and singing – when you put a lot of emotion into it – can be really fun as well!”