News & Events

Valentine’s Day, also called Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine,^[1] is celebrated annually on February 14.^[2] It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, through later folk traditions, has become a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world.^[3]

There are a number of martyrdom stories associated with various Valentines connected to February 14,^[4] including an account of the imprisonment of Saint Valentine of Rome for ministering to Christians persecuted under the Roman Empire in the third century.^[5][6] According to an early tradition, Saint Valentine restored sight to the blind daughter of his jailer.^[7] Numerous later additions to the legend have better related it to the theme of love: an 18th-century embellishment to the legend claims he wrote the jailer’s daughter a letter signed “Your Valentine” as a farewell before his execution;^[8] another tradition posits that Saint Valentine performed weddings for Christian soldiers who were forbidden to marry.^[6]

There is a tradition that the Feast of Saint Valentine was established by Pope Gelasius I in AD 496 to be celebrated on February 14 in honour of Saint Valentine of Rome, who died on that date in AD 269.^[9][10] The feast is found in the Gelasian Sacramentary (which was compiled after Gelasius), meaning that is has been observed since at least the eighth century.^[11] The day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries when notions of courtly love flourished, apparently by association with the “lovebirds” of early spring. In 18th-century England, it grew into an occasion in which couples expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as “valentines”). Valentine’s Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.^[12] In Italy, Saint Valentine’s Keys are given to lovers “as a romantic symbol and an invitation to unlock the giver’s heart”, as well as to children to ward off epilepsy (called Saint Valentine’s Malady).^[13]

Saint Valentine’s Day is not a public holiday in any country, although it is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion^[14] and the Lutheran Church.^[15] Many parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrate Saint Valentine’s Day on July 6 in honor of Roman presbyter Saint Valentine, and on July 30 in honor of Hieromartyr Valentine, the Bishop of Interamna (modern Terni).^[16]

(From Wikipedia)

All are welcome to this service, which will include Holy Communion.

Editor’s note: This announcement was provided by First United Methodist Church, 145 S. Prairie Street, Whitewater.

Thank you to the classes of 1960, 1961, 1962, and 1963 for the new benches that were donated for the WHS lobby area.

Demolition on the Hawk Bowl and Apartments has begun. A 20,000 square foot Aldi grocery store will be constructed on one of two developable pads. Previous Banner posts regarding plans for the Aldi construction may be found here and here.

Photos courtesy of Tom Ganser

In December, Whitewater High School’s new Esports Team started their Winter season through the WIHSEA (Wisconsin High School Esports Association). Coach Justin Buntrock created 3 teams, a Varsity Rocket League team and 2 Varsity Fortnite teams. One Fortnite team played on Tuesday nights and one played on Wednesday nights.

Fortnite is an FPS Battle Royale, survival style game, where you and your teammates drop into a large map along with several other players. As time progresses in the game, the storm (large circle) continues to get smaller and smaller. This forces the players to move closer to the center of the map as they continue to battle and fight to be the last survivor.

This season, there were over 30 teams from schools across the state. WHS played in “Trios” or teams of three. Points were tallied up after every game based on placement each week and kills per team per game each week.

Whitewater’s Wednesday night team placed 5th out of over 200 teams across the state of Wisconsin, thus qualifying for State, which will be held at 4:00 p.m. on February 21st. This will be round one of potentially three to find the best team in the state!

Article Submitted by Justin Buntrock
Whitewater High School Head Esports Coach
jbuntrock@wwusd.org

The following joint statement was released on February 12 by the Rock County Sheriff’s Office and Rock County Emergency Management regarding the tornado that affected the Evansville to Lake Koshkonong areas on February 8.

Rock County Emergency Management continues to conduct damage assessments using the FEMA Damage Assessment Criteria. The most current information we have follows.
Total Number of Residences Impacted: 31
▪ Destroyed: 3
▪ Major: 10
▪ Minor: 11
▪ Affected: 7

The National Weather Service surveyed the affected area on February 9, 2024, and summarized
their findings on their website at https://www.weather.gov/mkx/FebruarySevereWeather.