News

Whitewater Grocery Co continues to THANK the many volunteers of both the Whitewater Food Pantry and The Community Space.  Both food pantries are important during normal times but even more important during the Pandemic.   Whitewater Grocery Co thanks them for being a Whitewater Food Warrior during these unprecedented times.   Topper’s Pizza also presented each person with a free pizza or Topperstiks.  We thank them for their time and dedication to helping feed all Whitewater area residents.

(Left to Right) Barb Quast – Co-Director of the Whitewater Food Pantry    Carlene Wood, Pete Bolchen, and Pat Chaput, Co-Director of the Whitewater Food Pantry.

(Left to Right) Dogan Satir, Kay Robers – Director of The Whitewater Community Space, and Mary Heather Robeson.

(Dwight Foster Library press release) The Dwight Foster Public Library, in partnership with the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Jefferson County, will now have available at the library, Dementia Busy Bags. These bags will be specific for individuals experiencing memory loss and their care partners to pick up. A library card is not needed to pick up a bag. The bags include items for all ages to engage your loved one with dementia in a variety of activities. Each month will feature different crafts and resources for both the person living with dementia and the person providing care.

Pick up bags at the Main Service Desk. This is an ongoing project to connect with our community. Feel free to contact the library at (920) 563-7790 or stop in to pick one up. For more information about other Dementia materials at the library, go on to the library website at fortlibrary.org and click on the Adult tab at the top of the page to find Caregiver Kits. Dwight Foster Public Library is open to the public and is open Mondays through Thursdays from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m., Fridays from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Banner note: The library indicates that Whitewater residents are welcome to obtain these kits. Here is more information about the kits:

Memory loss can lead to empty, idle hours if one becomes unable to participate in their favorite past-times. Filling a bit of the spare time with something meaningful or engaging can be a struggle for caregivers.

The Dwight Foster Library has developed 5 Caregiver Kits for individuals who provide care to someone with memory loss. These kits contain a variety of materials and activities to stimulate the mind, body and spirit of individuals with memory loss.

Items in the kits include puzzles, art materials, music, video, books and photographs. Each kit also contains a copy of the book “The Caregiver’s Guide to Dementia: Using Activities and Other Strategies to Prevent, Reduce and Manage Behavioral Symptoms by Laura N. Gitlin and Catherine Verrier Piersol.”

• Checkout period is 8 weeks
• Please return Caregiver Kits to the 1st floor desk at the Dwight Foster Public Library in Fort Atkinson
• Please inform the library if anything in this kit is not working.

(Whitewater Public Library submission) The Irvin L. Young Memorial Library invites interested people to register for a Reliable Health Information Workshop to take place on Saturday, April 10th at 10:30 a.m. This virtual workshop will be available at whitewaterlibrary.org.

This is a free, 90-minute educational program developed by Wisconsin Health Literacy. The program helps adults use the internet to find reliable health information. Participants will learn how to tell which websites are good and practice searching different health topics.

Program includes:
•       Searching for health information that can be trusted
•       How to read a webpage – finding quick facts and key points
•       How to tell if the information you found is from a good source
•       Finding sites in other languages
•       Differences between using a computer or mobile device
•       Local places to use the internet 
•       Using other online resources for your health

“Happy Easter!” by swisscan is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Banner note: Though this photo of a massive boiler is obviously not from UW-W nor from the current day, we thought it was interesting. The photo was taken at General Electric Station E in Portland, Oregon in 1905.

Boilers at Station EPortland General Electric Photograph CollectionORG lot 151 PGE 5-29, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

(UW-W press release) As part of a maintenance project, the University Heat Plant at UW-Whitewater will be conducting a test of its boilers on April 5-6 and April 12-13. This test will require the plant to release steam outside of the building. During this time, the campus community may hear sound and notice a white cloud that is associated with the venting of steam.

This week’s image features an unidentified dirt road near Whitewater. Before roads were paved, especially in rural areas, late winter and early spring often brought muddy and rutted roads. Sometimes, farmers that still had horse teams were called to pull cars out of ditches and some roads became pretty much completely impassable for days. The Good Roads Movement in Wisconsin in the 1920s brought pavement to many state and national highways, but it took until after WWII for many local roads to be paved.

Join us next week for more from the Whitewater Historical Society collections!

(0389P edited, Whitewater Historical Society)

The Whitewater Historical Society collects, preserves, and interprets the history of Whitewater and the surrounding area. Be sure to join us next week for more from the Society’s collections. Please “like” us on Facebook, and check out our website at whitewaterhistoricalsociety.org!​ 

Beginning on April 1, overnight parking is allowed on city streets unless otherwise prohibited.

The flower image on the homepage, “spring,” by promanex is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Demolition of the former Veterans Memorial (American Legion) Building at 292 S. Wisconsin Street has nearly been completed in order to begin construction by DLK Remodeling of a ten apartment residence for people age 55+. The building will include an attached parking garage. Architectural drawings and other details about the project may be found in the agenda of the Plan & Architectural Review Commission meeting of March 9, 2020.

On Memorial Day in 2019, as part of his comments at the Veterans Memorial Building, American Legion Adjutant Steve Smith announced that a dwindling active membership, a lack of resources to maintain the building, and a refocusing on serving verterans led to the decision by the William Graham Post 173 of the American Legion to sell its building, which was 50 years old. “To be clear, we are not going away,” Smith stated. “We are downsizing to better focus on our mission, and we will continue to meet and function as we have in the past.”

The tank which had been displayed at the front of the property was relocated to Elkhorn Memorial Park.

[Whitewater, WI, March 2021] If you’ve hesitated to join the Whitewater Grocery Co., a
cooperatively-owned grocery store start-up, because of cost, there is a donor-funded
opportunity for you to become a full member for just $25.

In February, an anonymous owner generously donated $500 — raising the balance of the
sponsorship fund and making it possible for eight individuals and 10 students to become full
owners. This new ownership option includes all the same rights and responsibilities as any other
membership.

“This is a powerful opportunity to bring new members into our community to support a
locally-owned grocery store in Whitewater. This also demonstrates that the GroCo is an
inclusive organization. While there are a number of ways for people to join the GroCo, this
option may be more viable for some. We are also excited to make this offer to students, who are
an important part of the Whitewater community,” board president Katy Wimer said.

“It is our hope that other donors will help support this effort so that we can make this offer to
even more new owners. It’s easy to do by just going to our website.”
Whitewater Grocery Co. has 723 member-owners and is preparing for the next stages of
development which include a capital campaign and leasing a location.

“We’re excited that we’re getting closer all the time to launching our capital campaign and
finalizing decisions about the best location for the GroCo,” Wimer said.

Anyone can sign up to be an owner, a special access owner, or a special access sponsor on the
Whitewater Grocery Co. website at www.whitewatergrocery.co/ownership