News

Editor’s Note: This information was provided by Christine Hayes of the Whitewater Unified School District.

The Whitewater Unified School District string program is back and they’re excited to present a concert Thursday, Dec. 9, at 6:30 p.m. in the Whitewater High School Auditorium.  Students in grades 4-12 will be featured.  The concert is directed by Ms. Patricia Nielsen and the concert is free of charge. Pictured below are students in the Middle school and beginning orchestras.

Editor’s note: The following information was provided by Walworth County Public Health.

Walworth County Health Officials: Hospital Bed Availability at Critical Levels

An emergency operations work group comprised of officials from Walworth County Public Health, the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office, Mercyhealth, and Advocate Aurora Health is asking the public to take appropriate COVID-19 safety precautions as local hospitals report a surge in emergency department (ED) patients and critically low ICU bed availability.

Mercyhealth Vice President Jeni Hallatt issued the following statement:

“Our hospitals are experiencing a high volume of inpatients, limiting hospital beds and putting a strain on resources. Due to these high volumes, overall bed availability is at critical levels.

When feeling ill, patients should contact their primary care provider. The public is also encouraged to utilize telehealth options. Patients who need to visit the ED should be prepared to face extended wait times due to our critical capacity.

To help control this critical situation, we are asking the public to help with COVID-19 safety measures, which include getting vaccinated, wearing a mask and socially distancing when appropriate.”

According to Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) data, Walworth County saw a 20-percent increase in hospital bed occupancy between November and December.

“Our hospitals have been at peak census for hospital status, medical-surgical, and ICU status for most of the past month,” says Walworth County Public Health Epidemiologist Rebecca Kraetz.

“A large contributing factor to this low bed availability is a critical staffing shortage in our hospitals, particularly in nurses and other critical healthcare personnel. In a recent DHS COVID update, it was discussed that there are not enough critical care personnel to account for the surge of patients we are seeing statewide. A certain number of staff are needed per bed, and there is not sufficient human resources available to add more beds.”

In addition to staffing challenges, a recent uptick in COVID hospitalizations is further complicating the situation. Currently, about one-third of emergency department visits are COVID-related. As of Dec. 5, COVID patients occupy 58 percent of the county’s ICU beds and 42 percent of inpatient beds.

“Like other health care providers in Wisconsin and Illinois, we’re seeing COVID-19 hospitalizations rise steadily,” says Chief Medical Officer Tedmond O’Reilly, MD, FAAFP, CPE, Advocate Aurora Burlington-Walworth Patient Service Area. “Over the past month, our COVID-19 inpatient census has more than doubled. The best way to prevent COVID-19 is to get vaccinated, and if it’s been long enough since your first shot(s), to get boosted. The vaccines are the most effective tool we have to prevent serious illness, hospitalization and deaths.”

Public Health is also seeing an increase in reports of non-COVID respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses. “This time of year we tend to see more seasonal viruses, such as influenza and viral gastroenteritis,” says Public Health Officer Erica Bergstrom. “So while COVID cases are going up, these other illnesses will also begin placing a higher burden on our health care system. That’s why it is so important to get vaccinated for COVID and flu, wash your hands, and stay home when you are sick.” 

For COVID-19 testing and vaccine information, please contact Walworth County Public Health at (262) 741-3200, email walcoph@co.walworth.wi.us, follow us on Facebook or visit us online at www.co.walworth.wi.us.

Editor’s Note: The following information has been provided by Pat Chaput and Barbara Quast, Co-Managers of The Whitewater Community Food Pantry.

November 17th and 18th were very busy days at The Whitewater Community Food Pantry with patrons coming to pick up their Thanksgiving bag of fixings for a meal and the meat for the big day.

We wish to thank the Whitewater Lions Club Members, Steve and Judy Malone and Don McComb for their generous donation of turkeys which they purchased with the $1200 proceeds from their Pancake Breakfast. There was a turkey for anyone who wanted one, large ones and smaller ones. Our patrons also had a choice of ham, chicken or ground beef if they didn’t want a turkey.

Thank you to MacLean-Fogg for their donation of ten turkeys, a large box of food and a monetary donation.

We thank all the Whitewater churches for their donations of food and money as well. Monetary donations were used to purchase all the items needed for the Thanksgiving meal.

We also wish to extend our sincere appreciation to the 4-H Members who filled 86 bags in preparation for our busy week ahead. Leader Jennifer Lamb came with her two children, Mason and Kayleigh. Bodhi Erickson came with his father, Brett Erickson and grandmother Robin Raupp. They had the bags filled in no time at all.

The Whitewater University students had a Fall Food Drive in support of the pantry for which we were grateful to receive.

Thank you to Festival Foods for providing The Whitewater Community Food Pantry with a wonderful donation of laundry soap and toilet tissue.

Many donations have been made in memory of Lolita Kachel who passed away September 2, 2021. She and her late husband, David, were loyal supporters of The Whitewater Community Food Pantry. Blackhawk Manor collected food items for the pantry in memory of Lolita Kachel.

Elizabeth Katzman gave a large donation of chocolate milk and chocolate cake pops with the remainder of the money she received from her Support Dairy signs. The Whitewater Kiwanis Members donated all the chocolate milk left over from their Pancake Breakfast. Thank you both for your donations which the children and adults are pleased to get.

We thank you for your donations dropped off at the True Value store and to True Value for supporting the pantry.

Gardeners and farmers donated fresh produce from their gardens, always a special treat to receive.

In closing, the managers of The Whitewater Community Food Pantry wish to thank all the volunteers who worked to accommodate the patrons.

Thank you Whitewater for your generosity. Your continued support is appreciated.

The Food Pantry’s P.O. Box is #63.
Our location is 146 North Street, second floor of the Old Armory Building.

Senior Guin Yeager and Junior Brooke Bazeley were recently recognized by the Society of Women Engineers at Michigan Technological University for their passion for computer science.

Guin is currently studying Digital Electronics and is leading the Aerospace Jam Drone Team which will compete in April.

Brooke is currently studying Python programming and is a member of the Ferradermis Programming Team.

Both students were part of the Whippet Computer Programming Team at the MSOE Opportunity Conference in November.

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

Editor’s Note: This information was provided by Roberta’s Art Gallery.

Roberta’s Art Gallery is hosting Milwaukee based artist, Nina Ghanbarzadeh, in her exhibit, “For the Love of Alif Baa.” The exhibit will run through December 22, 2021, and features pieces of art that are drawn from her own cultural exploration created through drawing, painting, and mixed media.

Ghanbarzadeh is from Tehran, Iran, and moved to the United States in 2001. “My drawings exist at the intersection of modernist abstraction (of both Persian and Western influence) and contemporary conceptual art,” Ghanbarzadeh says.

She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee in 2013. Ghanbarzadeh completed a two-year artist in residency program with Redline Milwaukee in 2015. Additionally, she won the Best in Show award in Wisconsin Biennial in 2020.

“For the Love of Alif Baa” consists of a variety of Ghanbarzadeh’s work, with minimalist, modern, and abstract pieces, and is a strong representation of the evolution of her work. Her work is refined, precise, and clean. She recognizes that most of her work is devoid of color, done purposely in hopes that the viewer will interpret her art in their own unique way. She pulls inspiration from the “underlying beauty in the abstraction of language to explore the possibility of using universal marks to create art that bridges cultures, nationalities, or ethnicities – art that uncovers the commonalities we all share and respect –a reverence for life, time and peace.” Many of Ghanbarzadeh’s works utilize words and language, and feature hidden words in both Farsi and English.

Roberta’s Art Gallery will be holding a live artist interview featuring Ghanbarzadeh speaking on her work and her experiences as an artist on Wednesday, December 8 at 5 p.m. via the University Center’s Facebook Live. Afterwards, there will be an in-person reception at 5:30 p.m. in the gallery, where guests can meet the artist and enjoy light refreshments.

Roberta’s Art Gallery is located on the first floor of the James R. Connor University Center (UC)
at UW-Whitewater. The gallery hosts multiple exhibits each semester by collaborating with the
artists–both locally and regionally. Many of our events will be held virtually and/or in person
this semester. In semester, our hours are Monday – Thursday 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and Friday 10
a.m. – 2 p.m. Roberta’s Art Gallery will be open from December 20 – 22, 2021 from 10 a.m.
– 2 p.m. over winter break.

Roberta’s Art Gallery prides itself on all of their exhibits being free and open to the public. This
means anyone: whether you’re a student, a Whitewater community member, or someone wanting
to support the artist, please stop by. For questions or further information, contact Roberta’s Art
Gallery at (262) 472-3193 or ucart@uww.edu or visit our website.

All photos are courtesy of Tom Ganser, in no particular order. The Parade of Lights was powered by Generac.

It’s time once again for #FlashbackFriday with the Whitewater Historical Society.

During December we are featuring several photos taken in the mid-1990s by the late George Scharfenberg. They feature decorated Christmas windows of local businesses.

The first photo is of Reflections of the Past, a business that opened in 1991 and continues to this day. This storefront is in a building constructed in 1887 and was the home to equally long-term businesses the J. C. Cox Grocery Company (1895-1938), the A&P Grocery Store (1938-1958), and the Coast to Coast variety store (1959-1987).

Join us next week for another 1990’s photo from downtown Whitewater.

(George Scharfenberg Collection)

By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com

At a special meeting on December 6 the Whitewater Unified School Board interviewed three applicants for the vacant School Board position previously held by Jim Stewart, who passed away on November 26. Prior to the interviews District Superintendent Caroline Pate-Hefty provided a brief history of Stewart’s 27 years on the board and indicated that he would be greatly missed.

The candidates for the interim position, which will be filled until the April election, were Joseph “Joe” Kromholz, Zachary Popke, and Andrea Svec. Svec was one of four successful candidates for the board in the February, 2021 primary election; however, a few weeks before the April election she indicated that she was no longer actively pursuing a seat.

Per board policy, after the interviews which were limited to ten minutes each, the first step for the board members was to cast ballots that would identify the top two candidates. That ballot resulted in Kromholz and Svec being selected as finalists. In the second ballot, those candidates tied, with Thayer Coburn, Casey Judd, and Steve Ryan favoring Kromholz while Larry Kachel, Jennifer Kienbaum, and Maryann Zimmerman supported Svec. Three additional votes failed to resolve the tie, and consequently the flip of a coin by Pate-Hefty, who claimed she’d been practicing all day, landed on heads, which was designated as being for Kromholz.

Kromholz resides at 393 Eagle Court. He indicated that his family moved to Whitewater, his wife Marjorie Stoneman’s hometown, in 2003. The district’s schools, Kromholz stated, prepared their son well for his current university studies. A patent attorney, Kromholz stated that he doesn’t mind vigorous debate as long as it is conducted with courtesy. Major concerns for the district, he said, include attracting more students and maintaining adequate funding. Immediately following the coin flip victory Kromholz took the oath of office and joined the closed session.

Editor’s note: The initial post misstated the year in which Kromholz moved to Whitewater.