News

The Whitewater 4th of July Festival Committee and the Whitewater Lions Club welcome you to the 2019 Whitewater Area 4th of July Parade honoring our brave veterans and military service personnel.

Master Sergeant Jason Dean joined the Marine Corps in July of 1997 as a Ground Communications Technician. He deployed to Iraq in January of 2003 and again in January of 2006. He was wounded in action while serving with 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division in Al Karmah, Iraq in 2006 and received the Purple Heart Medal.

In 2014, MSgt Dean was selected to represent the Marine Corps on the highly competitive Wounded Warrior Congressional Fellowship Program where he served on the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans affairs under Senator Bernie Sanders. He also served in the Pentagon as the Special Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, advising senior Pentagon officials on issues pertaining to wounded, ill, and injured servicemembers. He retired in November of 2017.

Master Sergeant Dean is the Commander of the Whitewater Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Junior Vice Commander for the Wisconsin 1st District VFW, and Junior Vice Commander of the Walworth County Marine Corps League.

The Whitewater Community Foundation is pleased to welcome Elvia Meza Klosinski to the Foundation’s Board of Directors.  Elvia was born in Matamoros, Mexico, a small town sharing a border with Brownsville, Texas. Elvia received her Industrial Engineering Degree and moved from Mexico to Stevens Point in 2008 where she worked until 2013 when she accepted a position as Senior Industrial Engineer at Generac Power Systems.  Elvia, her husband Seth, and her three children live in Whitewater. Her daughter Marijose is a freshman at UW-Milwaukee, her son Juan is a junior at WHS, and her son Sebastian is in seventh grade. In addition to supporting her boys in soccer, track and wrestling, Elvia serves on the WHS Booster Club Board of Directors.

The Whitewater Community Foundation, founded in 1995, strives to enhance the quality of life in the Whitewater area through collaboration with its civic partners to create opportunities for youth and adults to achieve their educational and economic dreams, to create a vibrant city for the arts, and to celebrate and preserve the qualities that make Whitewater exceptional.  “We are grateful that Elvia has generously agreed to donate her time and expertise to serving our community through the mission of the Foundation,” stated Danielle Frawley, President of the Whitewater Community Foundation.

The Whitewater Arts Alliance, in partnership with Fairhaven Senior Services, First Citizens State Bank, Fort Community Credit Union, Olm & Associates, PremierBank, and John and Sandra Heyer will kick off their 2019 concert series Savory Sounds at the Cultural Arts Center, 402 West Main Street from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. on June 13, with the Mike Hackett Jazz Quartet. Attendees are invited to order food from Casual Joe’s at the event also.

Following is the Savory Sounds schedule, which runs 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. on the following dates at the Whitewater Arts Alliance’s Cultural Arts Center near the Birge Fountain at 402 West Main Street:

Whitewater Arts Alliance Board Member and Co-Chair of Savory Sounds Christine Hayes said, “”This is one of the most high quality and diverse series we have had for Savory Sounds.  From brass band to jazz to popular guitar, from Latino to blues, we have it all!  Come enjoy this music filled lunch time at the fountain in our own community!”

After enjoying the music and lunch, attendees are invited to explore the exhibits at the Cultural Arts Center. For June’s exhibit, the Wisconsin Regional Artists Association is sponsoring the WRAP exhibit that features the works of non-professional Wisconsin artists. July features photography by the community to honor the late Fran Achen with the Tenth Annual Fran Achen Photography Competition.

Thanks to the success of the “Making Magic with Mixed Media” exhibit in August of 2018, a second mixed media show, “Making Magic with Mixed Media” will be exhibited from Noon to 5 p.m., Thursdays through Sundays, August 1-25 at the Whitewater Arts Alliance’s Cultural Arts Center on 402 West Main Street in Whitewater.

The WAA is seeking mixed media pieces for the show. The magic is in the inspired combination of more than one medium (i.e., acrylic, oil, watercolor, pastel, charcoal, pen, pencil, etc.) and/or more than one material (i.e., cut-up paper, wire, beads, found objects, etc.) in a piece of 2D or 3D art.

Artists submitting entry forms must fully complete, sign, and mail their forms with a $20 fee to the Whitewater Arts Alliance (P.O. Box 311, Whitewater, WI 53190), postmarked on or before Wednesday, July 17.  This entry fee includes four pieces of art for Whitewater Arts Alliance members, and three for non-members.  All artwork must be dropped off at the Cultural Arts Center on Monday, July 29, between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m.  The Closing Reception, held from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, August 25^th will include an awards ceremony at 3:30 p.m. at which time prizes will be awarded as follows:  1^st place (2D & 3D) $100 each; 2^nd Place (2D & 3D) $75 each; Viewer’s Choice $50; and certificates for Honorable Mentions.  Artwork that is entered must be original, completed within the last two years, and not previously exhibited at the Cultural Arts Center.  More information, including an entry form that can be printed off the website, is available at www.whitewaterarts.org/mixed-media-august-2019.  Entry forms may also be available for pickup at the CAC.

Speaking on behalf of the planning committee, Kathy Gibbs says, “We hope that this offering will be greeted with an equally enthusiastic response from area artists and from their friends, family members and the general public.  Through your attendance at exhibits like this, we will continue to keep the arts alive at the Cultural Arts Center in Whitewater. Please join us and be prepared to be amazed by the diversity of the artwork on display.  Artists, professional and non-professional alike, enjoy stretching the boundaries of their imagination as they immerse themselves in the process of creating their mixed media art pieces.” 

As an added bonus, three free mixed media demonstrations will be offered at the CAC from 1-3 p.m. on Fridays, August 2, 9, and 16, as follows:

August 2^nd, “Pour And More” by Nancy McKinnon

August 9^th, “Making Cards with Mixed Media Scraps” by Dawn Hunter

August 16^th, “Recycling to Create Art” by Louise Fuerstenberg

No reservations are required to attend the demonstrations; however, for planning purposes, attendees are asked to RSVP by emailing Dawn Hunter at hunterdawn@charter.net, or by stopping in at the CAC or calling 262-472-0204 during scheduled hours to express their interest.

Whitewater’s Cultural Arts Center is located on 402 West Main Street in the historic White building near the Birge Fountain.  Parking is behind the building, with an elevator available from the parking lot entrance.  

Jefferson County Economic Development Consortium (JCEDC) in Jefferson Wisconsin will be offering a class to assist local residents to understand and master the home-buying process and possibly locate down payment assistance funding to help with the process.  Whether they are a first time home buyer or looking to move into a bigger home or looking to downsize to a smaller home, this assistance to purchase a home for qualified buyers in Jefferson/Dodge/Walworth/Washington/Ozaukee/Waukesha Counties can be up to $11,000 in forgivable loans. This course will teach potential/existing homebuyers how to become successful homeowners and is open to anyone who is considering buying a home. The class is scheduled for June 12, 2019 at the UW Extension/Workforce Development Building, 864 Collins Road, Rm 8-9, Jefferson, 5:30 – 9:30 p.m.

This program will assess participants’ readiness to buy a home, assist them with money management and credit issues, give them options for financing a home and what grant options may be available to them, help them select a home, and most importantly, provide them with critical knowledge for maintaining their new home along with options for those needed repairs. The course is tailored to meet the participant’s needs, no matter what phase of home buying process they are in or how long it will take for them to be ready to buy a home.

“Our goal is to help local families to buy homes and be successful homeowners” said RoxAnne Witte of JCEDC. “The complexity of the home buying process should not be a barrier to families.  Our homebuyer education program is the first step and maybe the most important step which a family can take to achieve the dream of home ownership.”

Jefferson County Economic Development Consortium’s homebuyer education program is designed to be results oriented.  Participants will gain a thorough knowledge of the home buying process while at the same time finding local resources to help them achieve their goal.

Buying a home can be a difficult and stressful process and NeighborWorks® American recognizes that a high-quality and standardized education program is the best way to prepare consumers to buy and own a home.  As proof of that, trainers who have been certified through NeighborWorks® American have helped thousands of families to purchase a home. 

Interested people should go online at www.jeffersoncountyhomebuyer.com to register for the next seminar.

For more information on this program please contact RoxAnne at 920-674-8711 or email roxannew@jeffersoncountywi.gov

An update from Co-Managers Pat Chaput and Barbara Quast:

May was a very eventful month for the Whitewater Community Food Pantry.

Saturday, May 11th was the National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive to stamp out hunger. Laurie Giorno organized the postal food drive with the assistance of Bob and Diane Schwab.  Linda Giorno Bradley, general leader of the 4-H Group for Whitewater, LaGrange and Richmond also was a big help with her group bringing up the food and organizing it into categories.  About 4500 pounds was collected.

We were also blessed May 23, with a large Spring 2019 food drive donation organized and collected by the UW-Whitewater Chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha PhiDelta Theta and Alpha Gamma Delta.

We are so grateful to all the citizens and friends of the Whitewater Community for their continued support. 

Thank you!