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Mar 17 2007, 10:06 AM EDT (current) Anonymous
Mar 15 2007, 1:00 AM EDT whitewateradmin

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The storysite is our gift to each other and to the future

In 1907, a big part of the Home-Coming celebration and in fact its enduring symbol involved President Salisbury's call for pioneer artifacts to be donated in honor of the 70th anniversary of Whitewater's first settlement. The symbol is of course the old log cabin: moved onto the Normal School campus in the fall of 1907 and later renovated in the early 1960s, it is a powerful and poetic reminder of our humble beginnings and, just as importantly, the sentimental feelings that the citizens of Whitewater already had for that past in 1907. It was, as Whitewater Historical Society Director Ellen Penwell so eloquently put it, Whitewater's first looking back with nostalgia.
It is time for all of us to look back in nostalgia with an eye to what we will give to future generations, to the Whitewater of the future.

One wonderful gift will be the Old Stone Stable, a fitting echo of the log cabin in the sense that it, too, is a humble structure from our very beginnings, having been constructed in the 1840s. It, too, has been removed from its original location behind the First English Lutheran Church and will be rebuilt in a wonderful place: adjacent to the Whitewater Train Depot in the Cravath Lakefront Park. We will be rededicating the stable on July 1, 2007, the Opening Day of our Home-Coming celebration.

Equally important is a gift that is perhaps less tangible: our memories. In 1907 we told our collective story in letters to the Whitewater Register: letters from those who could come home and those who could not. Over the months hundreds sent in their thoughts and remembrances and poems and they were published for all to see, enjoy, and share. In 2007 we have a new, exciting tool, one that will allow all of us - from far-flung friends to your friend across town - to join together and build the full, detailed, rich, and compelling story of Whitewater's past, present, and future.

The tool we have is not a traditional website but rather a storysite (a Wiki if you want to be technical); a place where anyone who is comfortable writing a Word document can make changes, add text and photos, and add whole new pages. It means that each of us can have a say in how the story of Whitewater is told. It also means that each of us MUST take part so that the story becomes as varied, idiosyncratic, compelling, and complicated as the real Whitewater is.

This is what we would like YOU to do:

1. Select a subject under Whitewater History and add what you know. It can be a building, an event, a business, a person... whatever you feel you can add to. If there needs to be a page added, go ahead and do so or let us know at info@whitewaterhomecoming.com and we'll do it for you.

2. Tell a few friends about the site: pass on the URL and ask them to visit and add their own information.

3. Watch for opportunities to learn more about this Wiki and how to use it; email us at info@whitewaterhomecoming.com if you are stuck!!

4. Give us feedback.

Thank you for being a valuable part of this effort: in the end it will be a gift we give to each other, along with the festivities and the fireworks, and one we extend to the generations to come.

The 2007 Home-Coming Team