2008 Woodie Awards
City scene of centennial celebration
Charry Doffek
Issue date: 7/4/07 Section: News
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The centennial event will bring former Whitewater residents back to the area for four days of games, tours, art, music and more. Fireworks are set to light the sky June 29-30 and July 3-4.
More than 2,500 people came to the festival in 1907. The Home-Coming 1907 celebration was organized by Albert Salisbury, the former president of the Normal school, which is now known as the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
"We sent over 4,000 invitations out," said Kristine Zaballos, Home-Coming co-chair about the projected turnout for 2007. "This is a chance to hit it out of the park again."
"This is a one-time only event," said Zaballos.
The festival is free and open to the public. Limited parking will be available downtown.
To cover the expense of the Home-Coming, the city of Whitewater has given a $20,000 grant, private lenders have donated $61,000 and the rest will be covered by sales, which is projected to be $28,000, Zaballos said.
The main goal of the festival is to "get a fuller and more nuanced view of what Whitewater is and has been," Zaballos said.
In 1907, the celebration included rebuilding the Log Cabin at UW-Whitewater. The celebration in 2007 includes rebuilding the Stone Stable in downtown Whitewater.
A time capsule will be placed inside a wall of the Stone Stable. ?Letters to the future will be placed inside awaiting the opening in 2107.
"There wasn't a lot of looking forward to the future," Zaballos said of the Home-Coming in 1907. "There was a lot of nostalgia, but no link to the future."
The celebration kicks off Friday with the opening of the Crossman Gallery exhibit at the university.
The exhibit, titled "Coming Home to Whitewater: Looking Back, Going Forward," will be open from 5-8 p.m.
Performances of "The Music Man" will be held at the Whitewater High School Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.
Tickets for the play are $4 for adults, $3 for seniors and $2 for students.
Bucky Badger and Willie the Warhawk will be visiting Cravath Park on Monday from 6-7 p.m. Members of the Badger and Warhawk marching bands will also be present.
Wednesday, the last day of the Home-Coming celebration, includes a parade beginning at 10 a.m. at Lincoln Elementary School on South Prince Street. It will turn right on to Main Street and ends at Cravath Park.
Lee Allenstein, a local veterinarian, will guest as Grand Marshall. He will ride in a special horse-drawn show carriage provided by Lemke Farms in Milton, according to the Home-Coming Web site.
Whitewater City Council Member-at-Large Marilyn Kienbaum ad local historian Fred Kraege are the HomeComing 2007 King and Queen.
"Many people wanted Marilyn Kienbaum and Fred G. Kraege involved," said Zaballos, "so they get to be crowned Queen and King."
Closing ceremonies will include Whitewater's 170th birthday celebration and a cake measuring 59 inches by 18 inches with a fountain in the center.
Fremont Street construction will continue but the Fremont and Center street intersection and the Fremont and Main street intersection will be finished for the event.
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