News & Events

The Chili Cook-Off and Outdoor Movie Night at Cravath Lakefront Park provided attendees with an evening of culinary competition and festive entertainment in a wintry setting. Despite temperatures around 20°F, the Friday evening event was well-attended.

photos courtesy of Whitewater Parks and Recreation

For $5, attendees received a disposable bowl or, for $10, a reusable mug, granting them access to taste-test nine diverse chilis, each offering a unique blend of flavors and ingredients. Milk was provided for free by a generous donation from Katzman Family Farm.  Judges conducted blind tastings to determine first—and second-place winners, while attendees voted for the People’s Choice award. An additional prize was awarded for the best-decorated table, with the winners listed below.

Chili Cook-Off Winners:

• 1st Place: Pepper Pops – Mom’s Hot Dish by the Buckingham family
• 2nd Place: The Chili Beaners – Spicy Chorizo Chili by the Ayon family
• People’s Choice: Cheer for the Deer Chili by the Aquatic Center Coffee Lovers
• Best Decorated: White Hot Chicken Chili by Sam and Madison Schulz, featuring a Winter Wonderland-themed table

Moviegoers had the opportunity to enjoy a holiday classic in a cool (literally) new venue. Whitewater Parks and Recreation displayed a new blow-up screen for the debut of what we hope will be the first of many movie nights in the park.

 

Photos courtesy of Tom Ganser

Downtown Whitewater thanks the entire Whitewater Parks and Recreation team for bringing another fun holiday event to the downtown area during this Christmas season. The festive lights and displays of Christmas at Cravath at Cravath Lakefront Park will continue to be on view nightly from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM through January 6, 2025. Community members and visitors are encouraged to experience the holiday magic throughout the season and stay tuned for volunteer and sponsorship opportunities for next year’s installation!

Article Submitted by Downtown Whitewater, Inc
Photos courtesy of Whitewater Parks and Recreation Department and Tom Ganser

Popularity of Ice Age Trail Confirmed: 4.65 Million Users Annually
Volunteerism reaches record-high: 103,439 hours in 2024

Cross Plains, Wis. (December 19, 2024) – 2024 will go down as an impactful year in the history of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail and the Ice Age Trail Alliance. From Trail construction milestones to record-breaking volunteer efforts, and record-setting use, the Alliance continues to lead the way preserving and enhancing the Ice Age National Scenic Trail.

“2024 has been a stellar year for the Ice Age Trail Alliance,” says Luke Kloberdanz, Executive Director and CEO of the Ice Age Trail Alliance. “We are deeply grateful to our volunteers, supporters, and partners for their commitment to the Trail. Together, we’ve made incredible strides in protecting, creating, and celebrating this natural wonder.”

Expanding and Enhancing the Trail

The Ice Age National Scenic Trail now boasts 702.6 miles of blazed, hike-ready trail, an increase from 698 miles in 2023. This growth includes two new segments:

• Montello: a 2.0-mile path through the town, which replaces the connecting route that followed the busy, less scenic Highway 23 through the community.
• Algoma: 2.6-mile path through downtown and along Lake Michigan. 

Beyond adding new segments, the Alliance focused on improving existing segments to enhance the hiker experience:

• Greenbush Segment (Sheboygan County): A reroute off a bike path to a winding footpath closer to glacial geology.
• Blue Hills Segments (Rusk County): Began a transformative multi-year, 19-mile reroute, shifting the Trail from logging roads and snowmobile paths to a primitive Trail through forested landscapes, offering views of the surrounding topography.
• Plover River Segment (Marathon County): Volunteers installed more than 300 steppingstones to eliminate muddy conditions, creating a magical hiking path.
• Hemlock Creek Segment (Barron, Rusk, Washburn Counties): Replaced aging boardwalks with five new structures, improving access and safety.

The final Trailbuilding project of the year focused on the Alliance-owned Muir Preserve in Marquette County, where volunteers constructed 800 feet of boardwalk. While currently a standalone loop, this segment holds the promise of connecting to the official Trail in the future.

Protecting the Trail for Future Generations

In 2024, the Alliance and its partners completed 14 land transactions, protecting critical properties that will enable future Trail development. These acquisitions lay the groundwork for nearly four miles of future Trail.

Record-Setting Volunteerism

Volunteers continue to be the backbone of the Alliance’s success. In Fiscal Year 2024, volunteers logged 103,439 service hours on Trail-related activities—a new record, surpassing last year’s high of 100,666 hours. These contributions, tracked by the National Park Service’s Volunteer-in-Parks program, position the Ice Age Trail among the nation’s top National Parks for volunteer engagement.

Growing Trail Use and Economic Impact

The Ice Age Trail’s popularity was confirmed. A study, released in 2024, from the Fiscal and Economic Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, revealed 4.65 million people use the Trail annually. This growing use generates $431 million in annual economic output, driving significant sales and services in communities across Wisconsin.

“The economic impact study confirmed what we anecdotally knew to be true,” says Kloberdanz. “More people than ever before are getting out on the Trail.”

“They’re attending group hikes. They’re becoming Thousand Milers (people who complete the entire Trail). They’re participating in the Mammoth Hike Challenge. And, they’re giving back by volunteering on the Trail,” he says. “The “Covid bump” in usership has not dwindled,” he says. “The Trail is now a part of people’s lives.”

“As we look to 2025, we’re excited to build on this year’s momentum. The Alliance will continue working to connect people to the glacial history and beauty of Wisconsin as well as its many unique communities,” Kloberdanz says.

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About the Ice Age Trail Alliance:
The Ice Age Trail Alliance is a nonprofit member- and volunteer-based organization that conserves, creates, maintains, and promotes the Ice Age National Scenic Trail. This thousand-mile footpath, entirely within Wisconsin, highlights the unique landscape and glacial heritage of the state while offering unparalleled opportunities for hiking, recreation, and connection to nature. To learn more, visit www.iceagetrail.org.

About the Ice Age National Scenic Trail:

The Ice Age National Scenic Trail is a 1,200-mile footpath contained entirely within Wisconsin. It traverses the state from St. Croix Falls in the west, to Sturgeon Bay in the east, going as far south as Janesville. One of 11 National Scenic Trails, the Ice Age Trail highlights the landscapes carved out by ancient glaciers, which happen to be some of the most beautiful areas in the state. Approximately 60% of Wisconsin residents live within 20 miles of the Ice Age Trail.

Working since 1958 to conserve, create, maintain, and promote the Ice Age National Scenic Trail.

Please join or renew today at www.iceagetrail.org

A total of 47 students were recognized in the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s December 2024 Hired Before Graduation campaign.

The following UW-Whitewater students who identify Whitewater as their hometown graduated on Saturday, Dec. 14, were hired, promoted, accepted to graduate school, or started their own business before graduation:

Whitewater, WI 53190 – Sydney Christianson, who will graduate with a M.S. in Social Work.

Whitewater, WI 53190 – Haley Lindquist, who will graduate with a B.S. in Geography.

Whitewater, WI 53190 – Thomas McCulloch, who will graduate with a B.S. in Cybersecurity.

Whitewater, WI 53190 – Trevor Spragg, who will graduate with a BBA in Marketing.

View the entire album, which includes future plans for all recognized, on UW-Whitewater’s Facebook page.

Every year, UW-Whitewater showcases the many students who have landed a job, earned a job promotion, been accepted to graduate school or started a company before commencement. These students are invited to take a professional photo and be recognized on the university’s social media channels.

As a result of a UW-Whitewater education, students gain valuable and transferrable skills, secure coveted internships and are often hired by employers before graduation. At UW-Whitewater, our faculty and staff have connections with employers across Wisconsin and the country. Each year, more than 600 employers come to campus for job fairs, giving students a chance to network and even apply for jobs and internships on the spot.

More than 98 percent of recent graduates report they are employed or enrolled in continuing education within one year of commencement.

To learn more about UW-Whitewater’s Hired Before Graduation, visit uww.edu/hired.

The public is invited to a reception recognizing Dr. Mabel Schumacher as a National Daughters of the American Revolution [DAR] Medal of Honor recipient.

The open house will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 29, at the American Legion Post 166 Dugout in Fort Atkinson. A ceremony will be held at 1:30 p.m.

The Medal of Honor is the most prestigious recognition given by the DAR. It is presented to a United States citizen by birth who has shown extraordinary qualities of leadership, trustworthiness, service and patriotism.

“The recipient must have made unusual and lasting contributions to our American heritage by truly giving of himself or herself to his or her community, state, country, and fellow man,” according to the Fort Atkinson-Eli Pierce Chapter of DAR, which is sponsoring Schumacher’s award.

The 1962 Whitewater High School co-valedictorian and a Fort Atkinson resident since 1993, Schumacher worked as director of instruction for the School District of Fort Atkinson. She has been active in the Kennel Club of Fort Atkinson, Tuesday Club, the Wisconsin School Public Relations Association and many other organizations.

During the past three decades, Schumacher has initiated a variety of community and statewide projects, most recently the new World War II memorial, titled “Worth Fighting For,” located in McCoy Park. She also spearheaded creation of the nearby K-9 War Dog Memorial that salutes Marine Corps Lance Corporal Terry Beck and his German Shepherd scout dog, “Seato,” both of whom were killed in action in 1967 during the Vietnam War.

Schumacher helped establish the endowed Terry Beck Protective Services Scholarship Fund at the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation and, in 2015, was the driving force for March 13 being commemorated as Wisconsin K-9 Veterans Day.

Through Schumacher’s efforts, the Kennel Club of Fort Atkinson placed a dog drinking fountain and dog sculpture on the 2.2-mile Glacial River Trail in Fort Atkinson in 2011, as well as the “Puppy Serenade” sculpture in Rock River Park in 2021. In addition, Schumacher has been a generous supporter of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and Fort Atkinson Police Department’s K-9 Units.

In 2023, the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation presented Schumacher with its Making Fort Special award. 

Organized in 1899, the Fort Atkinson Chapter of DAR was one of the earliest and largest chapters in Wisconsin for many years. In 1992, it merged with the Eli Pierce Chapter, which was founded in Whitewater in 1941.

Today, chapter members reside in Fort Atkinson, Watertown, Lake Mills, Jefferson, Whitewater, Milton, Janesville and surrounding communities, as well as in several other states.





Rebecca Fredericks shared the following perspective:

I spent a couple golden hours this past fall wandering around a dilapidated old farm house just outside Whitewater. The house was set for demolition, as it was plagued with asbestos and deteriorated beyond what could be overcome. But inside and outside, the house was still so beautiful, loaded with beadboard and ornate moldings, delicate spindles, and the lacey type of ornamental wooden millwork that simply doesn’t exist anymore. The entire place was peeling and faded, and the floors were uneven. The walls were leaning away in sickly angles, and those carved wood pieces I loved so much were now delicate and feather-light, having spent so long exposed to the elements. And still, in the waning afternoon sunlight, the house stood tall and stately, still so beautiful. With the tiniest bit of a squint, I could blur away a hundred years of wear and tear and see that spectacular place as it STILL WAS: a thing so valued and precious that someone toiled away on it day after day, adding value and meaning and beauty to something so functional: a building. I wish you could see what I saw that day, but you cannot; it doesn’t exist anymore. In many cases, when something is gone, it truly is gone forever.

The same will be the case for every lost acre of farmland if the Whitewater Solar project is successful in its mission to install solar panels and supporting structures and fences on over 2500 acres of prime farmland. The land is inherently valuable as it is, that is no question. But that may only be truly appreciated by many when it has been lost. This isn’t an argument about the lost views of rolling green fields, it’s about different values. This is about lost potential for growing our own food, and sustaining this country. It’s about not stripping away a valuable natural resource–the soil–and pouring concrete and driving stakes into drainage systems that permanently alter the functional use of the land. It will simply never be the same again. It will be stripped of its topsoil and baked for decades under solar panels. And then, when the solar farm is valueless, what then? Actually, who knows? No one has ever seen the way this ends. You’d have to believe that the Earth, invested in and worked on for years can simply be “returned to it’s previous state.”

I’m actually not against solar energy, on its face. Alternative fuels may in fact have their place. I can simply think of a million better places to put it than directly on something we can’t stand to lose.

For anyone interested in sharing their thoughts, the Wisconsin PSC invites public comments THROUGH 12/23 ONLY at the following link: https://apps.psc.wi.gov/ERF/ERF/comment/filecomment.aspx?util=9828&case=CE&num=100

Editor’s note: The Whitewater Banner does not have a position on this proposed project. We provided an overview with various perspectives in this article that we published on December 21.

Are you struggling through the holidays as a caregiver?
Understand the grief, loss and mourning associated with caring for someone with dementia.

Join us for Moving Forward: Grief and Ambiguous Loss Associated with Dementia Caregiving

The Aging & Disability Resource Centers of Rock and Marquette Counties are offering the 16-week grief and bereavement educational support group on Monday afternoons from 2-4 pm beginning January 13 and running through April 28, 2024. This is a virtual group. There is no cost to attend. Registration and screening are required.

Who is this group for? The group is for anyone who is or has cared for someone with dementia. Caring for someone with dementia presents a constant series of losses and not just those related to death. Each session will cover a grief, loss and mourning topic followed by about 60 minutes of conventional support group discussion. Registration is open and we are completing registrant screenings now.  This class is open to any caregiver of someone with dementia, present or past, throughout the state.

For more information or to register, please contact
Rock County Dementia Care Specialist, Karen Tennyson at 608/921-7165 or
karen.tennyson@co.rock.wi.us
Marquette County Dementia Care Specialist, Janet Wiegel at 608/297-3148 or
jwiegel@co.marquette.wi.us

Municipal Building Closures

According to a press release from the City of Whitewater, the Municipal Building and all other city buildings, including the library, will be closed on Tuesday, December 24; Wednesday, December 25; Tuesday, December 31; and Wednesday, January 1. Additionally, “City Hall will have limited staff availability on other days. We highly recommend calling ahead before visiting to ensure we can assist you promptly Thank you for your patience and understanding as we celebrate the holiday season Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday!”

John’s Disposal Delays

City of Whitewater trash collection will be delayed by a day for the next two weeks. Collection will take place on Friday rather than Thursday in both the weeks of December 22 and December 29.

Editor’s note: The Banner appreciates having permission to use the image on the homepage by Bianca Van Dijk from Pixabay.

AVISO: John’s Disposal estará cerrado el:

Día de Navidad – Miércoles 25 de Diciembre de 2024 – La recogida se retrasará un día.
Día de Año Nuevo – Miércoles 1 de Enero de 2025 – La recogida se retrasará un día.

Update 12/22/24 @ 12:55 p.m. – We have no idea why this article was indicating that readers did not have permission to open it. Our apologies for this inconvenience. Hopefully this is resolved now.

Four City of Whitewater Common Council seats are up for election on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. If necessary, a primary will be held on February 18 to narrow down each race to two candidates. The two-year term for council member begins on Tuesday, April 18, 2025. The Council regularly meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. Members are expected to review the agenda packet prior to the meetings. They also serve on one or more committees, many of which meet on a monthly basis. The salary is $300 per month.

Council member AD 1
The incumbent, Patrick Singer, has filed a notice of noncandidacy.
According to the city clerk’s office, no one had filed for candidacy as of December 20.

Council member AD 3
The incumbent, Brienne Brown, told The Whitewater Banner that she intends to file a notice of noncandidacy on December 23.
Steven Sahyun, 250 N. Franklin Street, has submitted his nomination papers.

Council member AD 5
The incumbent, Neil Hicks, has taken out nomination papers.

Council member at Large
The incumbent, Lisa Dawsey Smith, has filed a notice of noncandidacy.
Patrick Singer, 263 Amber Drive, has taken out nomination papers.

Information concerning aldermanic (council) district boundaries may be obtained from City Clerk Heather Boehm, 312 W. Whitewater St., 262-473-0102, hboehm@whitewater-wi.gov. There is also a map on the city website that shows the districts; however, it is a bit difficult to decipher. Choose “VotingWardsAldDist-Aldermanic Districts,” and the districts will be shown in the large numbers.

The first day to circulate nomination papers was December 1, 2024, and the deadline for filing nomination papers and required documents is 5:00 p.m., on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, in the office of the city clerk. Candidates for an at-large seat must collect a minimum of 50 signatures on nomination papers; a candidate wishing to represent a district must obtain a minimum of 20 signatures.

Photo on homepage and text by Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com