Goodwill Recycles Christmas Lights

Media Alert

December 8, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jill Carlson
Communications Coordinator
Goodwill of South Central Wisconsin
jcarlson@goodwillscwi.org
Office phone: 608 246-3140 x 1120
Cell phone: 608 228-3047

Goodwill SCWI Recycles Christmas String Lights

It happens every year, those darn strings of Christmas lights won’t light! They worked when you put them away last year!!

Now what do you do with them? You can’t put them in your trash or recycle bin and community recycling centers are open limited hours or don’t accept lights at all.

Goodwill SCWI offers an easy way to recycle strings of Christmas lights – just take them to the donation center at any of the 13 Goodwill SCWI locations (goodwillscwi.org/locations). We take it from there to ensure the lights are recycled.

“Goodwill responsibly recycles the strings of lights and keeps them out of the landfill,” Jill Carlson Goodwill SCWI Communications Coordinator, said. “Plus, we recycle the lights year-round.”

Oh, and since you’re going to Goodwill, bring along any gently used items that you no longer need or want to donate to our retail store. That will free up space in your closet for all the Christmas gifts you’ll receive!

Proceeds from the sale of donated items in our stores support job skills training and gives people right here in our own community confidence and independence through the Power of Work.

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Casetta After Dark

On Saturday nights at Casetta Kitchen, employees Seanna Whalen and Nick Larke transform the bustling, subway-tiled lunchtime sandwich spot into Lady Bird, their recurring pop-up dinner. These ephemeral candlelit parties offer a five-course prix fixe menu for $50, a reasonably priced and interesting selection of wines, and one of the most exciting dining experiences in Madison.

The Lady Bird concept was born in Chicago, where Whalen and Larke were laid off from their restaurant jobs at the start of the pandemic. Looking for a sense of community in the isolation of lockdown, they hosted dinner parties in their apartment building’s backyard. After the city’s lockdown ended, they both worked to open Rose Mary restaurant in the West Loop, but still longed for the sense of connection that their backyard dinners provided.

In July 2021, they sat in the same backyard and wondered, in Whalen’s words, “Why are we working so hard for someone else when we used to do these dinners that brought us so much joy?” Like many in the restaurant industry during the pandemic, they were asking themselves what mattered most. Larke said he wanted time to be creative and Whalen realized she wanted “community.”

Read more at Isthmus

Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Eric Quigley saluted for Operation Fan Mail

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
DeAnne Boegli
Vice President of Communications
608-512-5754
deanne.boegli@wpsic.com

Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Eric Quigley saluted for Operation Fan Mail
Program is sponsored by WPS Health Solutions and the Green Bay Packers

MADISON, Wis.—Nov. 29, 2021—The Green Bay Packers and WPS Health Solutions paid special tribute this week to Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Eric Quigley and his family in conjunction with the Nov. 28 game against Los Angeles. Operation Fan Mail, the program that recognizes military families and veterans at each Packers home game, marks its 15th season in 2021.

Quigley, who was born and raised in Green Bay, decided he wanted to join the Coast Guard when he was a freshman at Pulaski High School. As a young man, he served in the Coast Guard auxiliary in Green Bay, and he graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 2006. He has served in Texas, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Washington, D.C., and he has worked on ships operating in the Western Pacific, Eastern Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Coast, and the Great Lakes.

He currently is the Commanding Officer of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mobile Bay stationed in Sturgeon Bay, where he is responsible for maintaining aids to navigation of Green Bay and northern Lake Michigan. His duties also include ice breaking to keep commercial navigation open for some of the winter months. Quigley is living out his dream as captain of the cutter in his hometown waters where he boated throughout his life. He plans to serve with the U.S. Coast Guard until he reaches retirement.

Quigley, a lifelong Packers fan, attended Sunday’s game with his father, Ken, his mother, Barb, and his sister, Kristin.

As the honorees for Operation Fan Mail this week, the Quigley family also received four tickets to the game and a $150 Packers Pro Shop gift card, courtesy of WPS.

The program, which debuted in 2007, is designed to honor families with a member who is on active duty, or a member who is a veteran. The Packers and WPS Health Solutions will host a family at each 2021 home game and recognize the members on the video boards during pregame activities. A total of 143 individuals, families, or groups have been recognized through the program since it began.

The Packers and WPS Health Solutions invite interested families, or friends of eligible families, to submit an essay, 500 words or less, on why a particular family should be saluted this year. Families intended for recognition are those that have a member serving on active duty, or a member who is a veteran. The family member can be a spouse, mother, father, son, daughter, or sibling.

Essays can be sent to Operation Fan Mail, P.O. Box 10628, Green Bay, WI, 54307-0628 or online at packers.com/lambeau-field/operation-fan-mail.

About WPS Health Solutions

Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation (WPS Health Solutions), founded in 1946, is a nationally regarded benefits administrator for a variety of U.S. government programs and a leading not-for-profit health insurer in Wisconsin. WPS Health Solutions serves active-duty and retired military personnel, seniors, individuals, and families in Wisconsin, across the U.S., and around the world. WPS Health Solutions, headquartered in Madison, Wis., has more than 3,100 employees. Within the enterprise, there are three divisions: WPS Government Health Administrators, WPS Military and Veterans Health, and WPS Health Insurance/WPS Health Plan/EPIC Specialty Benefits. For more information, please visit wpshealthsolutions.com.

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Note for media representatives: WPS can help facilitate interviews with Operation Fan Mail honorees. Please contact us if you are interested.

Madison Ballet’s Brand-New Nutcracker Lights Up the Overture Stage

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 24, 2021

Madison Ballet’s Brand-New Nutcracker Lights Up the Overture Stage
Madison’s favorite holiday show celebrates 40 years with all-new choreography 

Madison, WI – The Nutcracker returns to Overture Hall this December with a holiday performance that will dazzle like no other. In celebration of Madison Ballet’s 40th Anniversary Season, this production brings all-new choreography to Tchaikovsky’s famous score to tell the timeless tale of Clara and her Nutcracker Prince.

Artistic Director Sara Stewart Schumann leads the company in the monumental task of reimagining this classic holiday story for a modern audience. The result will be a truly collaborative production: Schumann and Ballet Master Thomas Mattingly are choreographing the majority of the production, and additional artists from both inside and outside the organization are providing an authentic voice for many sections of the ballet.

“With this opportunity to create new choreography, we sought to engage artists in our community who can help us respectfully portray and celebrate the different cultures represented throughout the story,” says Schumann.

The new Chinese divertissement is choreographed by Madison Ballet soloist Yu-Jhe Sun in consultation with Yaqi Wu, a Madison-based traditional Chinese dancer of incredible artistry, who added her experience and insight to this creative process at Schumann’s invitation. The Spanish divertissement is produced in collaboration with Madison Ballet soloist Michelle Ramos. 

Several sections of the performance are inspired by Ruth Page’s choreography for her Chicago Tribune Charities Nutcracker, a production in which Schumann herself danced the role of the American Beauty Rose.

Audiences will be treated to new costumes, new characters, and more of Tchaikovsky’s delightful score, played live by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. “It’s going to add a whole new energy for the dancers and audiences alike, with the wonderful holiday spirit we all look forward to each year,” says Schumann.

The Nutcracker is a staple holiday tradition for families in the Madison community. Until last winter, Madison Ballet had performed the Nutcracker every year since 1981. “After 18 months away from the stage, we are overjoyed to return to our home in the Overture Center, and to give children and adults in our community the bright, beautiful gift of a brand-new Nutcracker,” says CEO Jonathan Solari.

PERFORMANCE & TICKET INFORMATION

Dates & Times

Friday, December 17 – 7:00pm

Saturday, December 18 – 1:00pm & 6:00pm

Sunday, December 19 – 1:00pm & 6:00pm

Thursday, December 23 – 6:00pm

Friday, December 24 – 1:00pm

Sunday, December 26 – 1:00pm & 6:00pm

Ticket Information

Single Tickets: $16 – $65

Group Tickets: 20% discount on select seating for groups of 10 or more.

Tickets can be purchased online at MADISONBALLET.ORG or by calling The Overture Center Box Office at 608.258.4141. 

Overture Hall Location 

201 State Street, Madison, WI 53703

For more details and directions visit OVERTURE.ORG/ABOUT/VISIT.

For 40 years, Madison Ballet has been an integral part of the vibrant Dane County arts community. Full-scale productions of inspiring traditional ballets, innovative contemporary performances, and the timeless holiday tradition of “The Nutcracker” reach more than 13,000 people each year. The School of Madison Ballet empowers students of all ages and skill levels with the poise, confidence, discipline, and fundamental life skills intrinsic to the study of dance. Outreach programming, presented in partnership with dozens of local school and community groups, enriches thousands of young people’s lives by introducing them to the joy of dance.

Contact: Lexi Janssen, Marketing Manager

Phone: 262-402-2358

Email: lexi@madisonballet.org

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Portillo’s to Offer Sneak Peek Nov. 22-23 at New West Madison Location

Option 1: Cruise through Portillo’s double lane drive-thru and enjoy a free meal from a limited menu! You will help them as their team is training to prepare Chicago-style menu items for you when they open. Please arrive in the drive-thru at your selected time.

Reserve your drive-thru spot here.

Option 2: Grab a friend and enjoy a free Portillo’s meal from a limited menu inside the restaurant. You will help them as their team is training to prepare Chicago-style menu items for you when they open.

Reserve your dine-in spot here.