News

By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
December 22, 2020

Recently the Wisconsin Department of Health Services has, for the first time, started providing COVID-19 data for each municipality and school district in the state. This is particularly helpful for Whitewater, as the previous information that was enumerated by census tract did not isolate the portion of the city that is located in Jefferson County. The statistics for the seven days ending December 21 reflect a significant reduction in new cases compared with the seven days ending December 12. Many parts of the state have also experienced a downward trend of new cases during this period.

The city’s rate per 100,000 population is now one of the lowest among the cities/counties shown on the chart below; however, it must be noted that with many of the UW-W students having returned home, Whitewater’s current population is overstated for this purpose. Even given that factor, the current 29.1 rate still slightly exceeds the Jefferson County Health Department’s recommendation that in-person instruction not occur when the rate exceeds 25. The Whitewater Unified School District initially used that measure, but no longer utilizes a rate based policy.

In response to a request for an update regarding COVID-19 testing and reporting at UW-W, Jeff Angileri, Director of Public Information, indicated that as of December 18 there had been 12,466 “surge” tests conducted. Further information will be forthcoming.

Eighteen deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported in the city, an increase of three from last week; twenty-one have been reported in the school district. It is believed that the majority of the deaths that have been reported in the city have taken place in senior residences.

New daily confirmed cases reported as an average over the last 7 days and rate per 100,000 population:

Rates per 100,000 population for selected municipalities as of 12/21

Article by Pamela Sonmor-Wintz
Whitewater High School National Honor Society Advisor
psonmorwintz@wwusd.org

Whitewater High School is proud to present the 2020 National Honor Society Virtual Induction Ceremony. Twelve juniors and seniors were chosen for membership to honor their outstanding qualities of leadership, character, scholarship & service to school and community.  These students have worked very hard to achieve at the highest level in school.  

Congratulations to the following new members:

• Alayna Alvarado
• Olive Coburn
• Arno Crowley
• Carter Friend
• Brock Grosinske
• Cooper Hammond
• Nikita Hartzheim
• Savannah Hill
• Avery Hintz
• Denver Isbell
• Audrey Mayer
• Sophia Walton

Congratulations to senior members who were inducted in December 2019:

• Reilly Aschenbrener
• Grace Black
• Lydia Bols
• Jenna Caldwell – Secretary
• Kacie Carollo – Treasurer
• David Cushman
• Carson Ellenwood – President
• Elizabeth Katzman
• Kiyla Kopecky 
• Leiha Kuhnke
• Cora Linos
• Hannah O’Brien
• Jazmine Peterson
• Catherine Skindingsrude – Vice President
• Ella Smith
• Amanda Tovar
• Diego Tovar
• Carter Waelchli
• Abigail Weeden
• Abigail Wildenberg
• Trenton Zahn
• Molly Zimmerman

(Whitewater Kiwanis Breakfast Club submission) The Whitewater Police Department is participating in a program, Kiwanis “Cops ‘N Kids,” that promotes literacy and community trust in law enforcement with the goal of getting free books into the hands and homes of children.  Whitewater police officers picked up the first donation of gently used books, from the Whitewater Unified School District Library Media, at Washington Elementary School.  Whitewater Kiwanis Breakfast Club is organizing the Cops ‘N Kids program, which was the brain-child of the WI-UW District Kiwanis Governor Jean Long Manteufel.

Deputy Chief Daniel Meyer, who was on-hand to pick up the books, said, “We would like to thank Kiwanis and the Whitewater Unified School District for their donation of books through the Cops ‘N Kids program. WPD is committed to serving our community, and these books will help our officers connect with some of our youngest residents. Thank you!”

Jean Bromley, President of the Whitewater Kiwanis Breakfast Club, said, “Our Kiwanis approached the Whitewater Chief of Police Aaron Raap, who immediately supported the program.  We are excited to see another opportunity where children can have direct contact with the police through books.”

The officers will keep the books in their vehicles and read to children they meet while out in the community.  The children will then be able to keep the book. 

Manteufel said, “As incoming governor of the Wisconsin-Upper Michigan Kiwanis, I was looking for ideas.  We needed a service project that we could do with ALL our Kiwanis clubs.”  She asked herself, “What if…it could be something we could do during COVID, what if…it would be low cost because we all lost our fundraisers this year, what if…it involved children (our mission is:  Serving the children of the world), and what if…we could help build community.”

Bromley said, “Clearly, we are all in.  This project is a wonderful collaboration of many groups and is a great community initiative.” 

The Kiwanis Whitewater Breakfast Club is made up of dedicated volunteers who help children in the Whitewater community and the world, all with 100 percent of funds raised going directly to projects and zero to administrative costs.  Each year, the club distributes approximately $20,000, with over half going to the Whitewater Unified School District, including scholarships.  Kiwanis helped to build and maintain the Flowing Well Shelter, the shelter and accessible playground at Starin Park and Treyton’s Field of Dreams, the WHS football field lights and press box, as well as adopting a highway to clean up.  In addition, the group donates to the Whitewater Youth Soccer Club, the Friends of the Whitewater Aquatic and Fitness Center Family Partnership Fund, the Whitewater Food Pantry, Bethel House and more. More information can be found on the Whitewater Kiwanis Breakfast Club Facebook page.

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

(Lima 4-H submission) One of the four H’s in 4-H stands for “Hands” for a larger service.  In November at the Rock County 4-H Awards night, Lima 4-H received a Silver Award for Outstanding Commitment to Serving the Community.  In a time where we cannot come together in person for meetings and other club activities due to COVID-19, Lima 4-H has continued to find ways to serve the community safely. 

This past month has been a busy month for Lima 4-H.  In November, a small number of club members helped to assemble the Thanksgiving meals baskets at the Whitewater Food Pantry.  In December the club members made fleece tie blankets at their homes which were all gathered up and delivered to the House of Mercy homeless shelter in Janesville.  The club also “adopted a family” for the holiday through Rock County Human Services.  The gifts were a combination of new gifts, homemade gifts (4-H projects) and gift cards for food for the family.  Finally the club members wrote out over 250 Christmas Cards for the residents at Fairhaven in Whitewater.  All of these community service projects would have been completed together as a group but our club members have found ways to come together as a group to serve the community without physically being together! 

Lima 4-H continues to meet monthly via Zoom.  If you are interested in joining Lima 4-H, please reach out to lima4h1@yahoo.com for the meeting times and to get the Zoom link!

(Whitewater Lions Club press release) – We Got Your Hide and we truly appreciate it. The Whitewater Lions Club has received over 150 deer hides this season! Congratulations to the successful hunters and thank you for giving us your hides. The Wisconsin Lions Clubs collect the hides to help support the Wisconsin Lions Camp in Rosholt, Wisconsin. The last day of hide collection is December 26.

This quality camping experience is provided free-of-charge to eligible children and adults with disabilities from Wisconsin. We serve children and adults who are blind or visually impaired, Deaf or Hard of Hearing, children with intellectual disabilities or autism, children with diabetes, and children with epilepsy. A chance remark, “Blind kids can’t go to outdoor camps and stuff like that…” started it all in 1955 and in 1956, the Lions Clubs of the State of Wisconsin founded the Wisconsin Lions Camp and the Wisconsin Lions Foundation, Inc. to administer the Camp program. From that humble beginning with 26 campers, we are proud to serve 1,200 campers a summer.

(Whitewater Arts Alliance submission) On January 1^st, 2021, the Whitewater Arts Alliance will be launching a virtual exhibition on the WAA website, whitewaterarts.org, of work created by Nicole Holder of Harta Art. This virtual exhibition will be on display through January 31^st.

This exhibition helps to introduce Nicole as the new gallery manager for Whitewater Arts Alliance (WAA) to the community. The previous gallery manager, Taylor McDarison, has stepped down to dedicate more time and energy to her art business, Arttaysia, LLC, though she will still participate in WAA as a member.

Nicole has recently moved to the Whitewater area. As a former member of Geneva Lakes Art Foundation, she stated, “I am really looking forward to being part of an artist community again.” She is a UW-Whitewater student studying for her master’s in Counseling with an emphasis in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She is also an artist; she is the founder and sole proprietor of Harta Art, a business creating custom art. She most recently has worked with New Generation RV, an RV dealership in Burlington, WI, which commissioned 12 murals of landscapes and destinations across America. Though graphite and charcoal pencil are her preferred medium, Nicole has experimented and crafted with many mediums, including acrylic painting, wood burning, ink, and photography.

A quote from Nicole Holder: “I enjoy bringing people’s ideas to life through art, though my absolute passion is capturing life’s beauty in my art. I started my relationship with art for this very reason, and I think I will predominantly be an observational artist for the rest of my life to continue that. I love memorializing beloved pets, noting nature’s gorgeous designs, and representing the emotions of a relationship or event through my art. It enhances my gratitude for life, allowing me to focus for long periods of time on the moments that make life beautiful.”

By Al Stanek
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
December 19, 2020

Whitewater City Manager Cameron Clapper has chosen to withdraw from consideration for a similar position in Fort Atkinson.

“I have decided that the time is not right for me to be leaving Whitewater,” said Clapper.  “I believe that there is still work for me to do here.”

Clapper told ‘The Banner’ on Saturday that after having completed the first stage of interviews for the Fort Atkinson position he has decided that he has work to finish here and that he was happy here. “I was very impressed with what I saw and heard of the (Fort Atkinson) community but have decided to stay in Whitewater,” he added. Fort Atkinson has yet to make any formal announcement of their preferred candidate.

Clapper has served as Whitewater’s city manager since 2012. Prior to that he served as interim city manager for four months upon the resignation of city manager Kevin Brunner. Before that Clapper had worked as Whitewater’s Assistant City Manager for two years.

The City of Fort Atkinson announced on December 11 the names of finalists for their City Manager position. Clapper was one of the four that had moved to the top of the City’s list of candidates. Fort Atkinson’s population is 12,368, compared with Whitewater’s 15,035 but has more full-year residents because of UW-Whitewater’s effect on population totals. Fort Atkinson’s operating budget for 2021 is approximately $11,063,000 while Whitewater’s is approximately $9,641,000. The key factors in determining compensation for a city manager are generally the size of the budget to be managed and the number of employees.