News & Events

Editor’s note: The following information was provided by Janesville Little Theatre.

Season Opener

First Live Show Since Theatre Productions Halted Due to COVID-19

It’s ‘lights up’ once again for the Janesville Little Theatre (JLT) as the cast and crew of
Steel Magnolias debut their first show of the 2021-22 season, and the first live show
since theatre productions were halted due to the COVID pandemic. Show dates are
October 29, 30 and 31 and November 5, 6 and 7, 2021 at the Janesville Performing
Arts Center.

Steel Magnolias, written by Robert Harling and directed by JLT’s Steve Shaw, features
an all-female cast set in a popular Chinquapin, Louisiana beauty salon, where ladies
from an upper-crust social scene come to have their hair done.

The play is plentiful with wise-cracks and colorful characters, hilarious repartee and a
few sharp-tongued but humorously revealing verbal collisions. As the plot moves
towards tragedy and a realization of one’s mortality, it also draws on strength and love,
which give the play and its characters company in a truly touching, funny and
marvelously amiable way — in good times and bad.

The cast includes Candace Griffin as Annelle; Mary Beth Klietz as Truvy; Melissa
Defebaugh as Claree; Saralyn Duncan as Shelby; Stephanie Boettcher as M’Lynn;
and Whitewater Resident Laura Johnson as Ouiser.

“We are so looking forward to entertaining our patrons again after a too-long hiatus. I
have an excellent cast and we are very excited to be presenting Steel Magnolias, a
wonderful play with a great heart,” Shaw says.

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at www.janesvillepac.org. Purchase your tickets online or by phone at 608-758-0297. There are no walk-up sales for the time being. All tickets must be purchased in advance. If a wheelchair or aisle seat is needed because of a physical issue please let the box office know in advance.

Masks must be worn by every person entering JPAC. Masks are required to be worn at all times.

There are no paper tickets or will call. Prior to the performance, JPAC staff will make a seating chart with the pre-purchased tickets. An usher will greet you and take you to your socially distanced seat. At the conclusion of the event, the seats will be released from the back of the theatre first. We encourage you to exit directly to the parking lot.

Janesville Little Theatre (JLT) is Wisconsin’s oldest community theatre group, and one of the three oldest
in the United States. Founded in 1929, the group staged its first major play in 1930 and has produced a
series of plays each season, without interruption, ever since. JLT membership is open to anyone who is
a lover of theatre and supporter of the arts. JLT is staffed by community volunteers and governed by
a Board of Directors elected by its members.

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

This week’s image shows Howard Winn (1888-1974) at his desk in the Railway Express Office in Whitewater along with customers or employees. The Railway Express was similar to today’s FedEx or UPS, arranging with the railroads to transport freight and packages. This image was probably taken around 1920 when the Express Office was located across from the Whitewater Depot on Whitewater Street. By the late 1940s, the Express Office had moved into the old freight depot (demolished 1990). Howard Winn worked for the Express company for 48 years (1911-1959) until the office closed. Jeff and Harvey Winn (grandsons) recently donated the desk to the museum.

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

(photo donated by Jeff & Harvey Winn, Whitewater Historical Society)

You know it’s October in Whitewater when the members of the Whitewater Lions Club are fixin’ and mixin’ their famous pancake batter.  Sadly, with another increase in cases of the COVID-19 Virus, we will again have to forego our beautiful in-clubhouse settings.  This year, on Sunday October 31^th  the Lions will be hosting another Drive Thru Pancake Breakfast.  As always, the profits will be donated to the Whitewater Food Pantry.  The golden-brown pancakes, delightful fluffy scrambled eggs and delicious sausages will be prepared, packaged and handed to you as you drive through the Lions parking lot at N7462 Kettle Moraine Drive.

The Drive Thru will be open for business from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM.

THANK YOU for your generous free-will donations. 

Make checks payable to the Whitewater Lions Club.  We will also be accepting non-perishable food items for the Whitewater Food Pantry. 

In conjunction with the Lions Club Drive Thru Breakfast, the Whitewater Lions are conducting a 50/50 Raffle that includes a bonus prize. The winner of the second drawing will win an intimate Barrel-Celler Wine Tasting for two at the Staller Estate Winery, Delavan. (A $100 Value!) Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20. Tickets are available at the breakfast or contact any Whitewater Lion or Lion Larry Runoe at (262) 473-3076.

Drawing will occur at the Lions Meeting to be held on November 9, 2021.

Our thanks to Carol McCormick for sharing this interesting photo. Carol writes, “Photographed through a patio screen, it appears that bird baths are community property! Thank goodness she didn’t decide to take a bath!”

— Our Readers Share: We hope that you might have something that you’d be willing to share.  Anything that’s been created by someone else should, of course, be credited, and you should ask their permission if you’re able. We cannot post copyrighted material without permission. We can’t guarantee that we’ll have space for all submissions, and contributions will be subject to editorial board approval. The one definite exclusion is anything politically oriented. We will assume that you’re willing for us to include your name as the submitter unless you indicate that you prefer to remain anonymous. Send to whitewaterbanner@gmail.com or click on “submit a story” near the top right of our homepage.  Thanks for thinking about this!

Our thanks to Tom Ganser for sharing these photos of the fun Homecoming activities on October 1 and the dance on October 2.

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

According to an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (MJS), Stephanie Goettl Vander Pas, a UW-W graduate and former Whitewater Common Council member, filed a complaint on October 5 in U.S. District Court alleging that university officials were aware of Pete Hill’s sexually abusive behavior and failed to take timely action to stop it. Hill was the husband of former Chancellor Beverly Kopper, and he was banned from campus in 2018 after an investigation into sexual harassment of students and staff members.

MJS indicated that Jeffrey Angileri, UW-W Executive Director of University Marketing and Communication, referred questions to the UW System. UW System spokesman Mark Pitsch said Wednesday: “We just received this, and do not comment on pending litigation.”

Click here for an article in the LaCrosse Tribune.

Click here for an article in the Lake Geneva Regional News.