News

Article by Jeanine Fassl of the UWW/Community Optimist Club

For over 25 years, December has always been a very busy month for the UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club. The members of this community service group love to spread Christmas cheer throughout the Holidays with their involvement in Whitewater’s Annual Holiday Parade, the club’s annual Breakfast with Santa, Toys for Kids toy drive, and Mitten Tree events!

Again this year, Frosty the snowman got a first class ride in the city’s Christmas Parade on Dec. 7th. He was also present for our Annual Breakfast with Santa the following day.

On December 8th, Breakfast with Santa served a total of 671 people this year; 365 adults and 306 children. Over 50 volunteers of the UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club, UW-Whitewater Student Optimist Club, and Whitewater High School Octagon Club helped run this event where families could enjoy breakfast, meet and take pictures with Santa and Frosty, listen to Christmas carolers, and the music of the brass duet of Dr. Don Deal, retired Band Director of Whitewater High School, and Griffin James, who is the current band director at Baraboo High School and a WHS grad.

This year, the Toys for Kids drive helped families in the Whitewater area. Children’s names were distributed to area churches and businesses for community members to pick up and buy gifts for. A special thanks is given to the First Congregational United Church of Christ, First English Lutheran Church, First United Methodist Church, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, for hosting the Toys for Kids drive in their facilities. The UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club would also like to thank the UW-Whitewater Student Optimists, who helped our members sort and wrap more than 300 presents on Monday, December 17. The gifts were distributed through the Whitewater Food Pantry.

On Sunday, January 27 at 2:30 p.m. the Whitewater Arts Alliance will kick-off its 2019 Public Art Project- Portals to the Past: Portals to the Future of Our Community, with a special presentation by Carol Cartwright, at the Cultural Arts Center, 402 West Main Street. Cartwright is a local historian and president of Whitewater Historical Society. Cartwright will inform and inspire prospective public artists with an interesting look back at Whitewater’s history.

The portals are to be painted on plywood boards measuring 24 x 42 inches. The plywood for the boards will be provided free of charge to anyone who wishes to participate in this annual project.

The art will hang during the summer from the light poles in the downtown area. Each artist can include a story of his/her vision, and it will be included on the Whitewater Strive On app. Strive On utilizes the GPS on smartphones and will take individuals on a walking tour of the portals.

The annual public art project aims to provide a fun way for businesses, individuals, families and friends to participate in a fun and educational experience. Artists are encouraged to make their portals creative, whimsical, colorful, and fun!

The Whitewater Arts Alliance will have materials and instructions ready for pickup on January 27 at 2:30 p.m. If an artist would like to participate but can’t transport the boards, an Arts Alliance member will deliver them. Opportunities to sponsor a portal will also be available. This is one of the major fund-raisers for the WAA each year.

The boards will also be available at the Cultural Arts Center during gallery hours, Thursdays through Sundays from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. beginning February 1 during the Quilt Show.

The groups would like to thank First Citizens State Bank, American Legion, Lion’s Club, Whitewater Park & Rec, Whitewater Police Department, Casey’s General Store, SweetSpot, Walmart, Culver’s, True Value, Triebold’s, Uncle Bucks Gas Station, Dalee Water, Home Lumber and First English Lutheran Church for their support.

CHRISTMAS TREE COLLECTION SCHEDULE

The City of Whitewater Department of Public Works will collect Christmas trees the week of January 14, 2019. Please place your tree on the terrace by 7:00 a.m., Monday, January 14.

If you want your tree picked up before or after that week, you must call the Streets Department at 473-0560 before 5 a.m. on Tuesday that week to schedule a brush pick up.

Trees that have been flocked or contain wire will not be collected. Please place these trees for collection by John’s Disposal on the second Thursday of the month, your bulk pick up day.

SAND DELIVERY

The City’s street crew will deliver sand on Monday, January 14, 2019, according to Street Superintendent, Kelly Freeman.

Residents who wish to receive a quantity of sand for placement on sidewalks during the winter months are asked to have sturdy containers at the curbside by 7:00 a.m. on that Monday. City officials stress that cardboard boxes are not considered sturdy containers.

If there is a snowstorm or some other unpredictable occurrence that prevents delivery on Monday, the sand will be delivered as soon as weather permits.

Through the recent Whitewater Unified School District capital referendum, Lakeview Elementary School was incredibly fortunate to repurpose some old locker room space into an incredible new STEAM Center. STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. In this space, we are working hard to create meaningful hands-on learning that develops problem solving and critical thinking skills for each and every student in our building. We can extend learning and blend our content areas to have the students brainstorm, plan, create, and revise their plans to find unique ways to be successful. As the STEAM Center continues to grow, we wanted to share some photos of our 1st graders utilizing the space along with their top 10 reasons why they love the STEAM center.

Top 10 reasons why first graders love the STEAM Center:

1. We get to play Robot Turtles (a beginning coding game).
2. We get put on the green screen and we show up in the pictures with our gingerbread men.
3. We get to make ornaments on a plastic machine and use a drill press.
4. We built our own Mayflower boats that could float!
5. We had to create chairs out of recycled materials that supported Goldilocks.
6. We built the three houses that had to stay up when the wolf blew on them.
7. We had to find a way to get Rapunzel off her tower.
8. We get to make things to show our parents.
9. We love the Lego wall.
10. It’s fun to do stuff in there!

Last year, the Whitewater Polar Plunge raised over $59,000 for Special Olympics Wisconsin athletes in the Southeastern Region.