I was born in Georgia, lived in Arizona, Washington State, Kansas City, Marquette, MI, and now Sussex. I went to Northern Michigan University in Marquette to train for the Olympics in Greco-Roman Wrestling while going to school. I have a bachelor’s degree in human biology, Doctor of Chiropractic from Cleveland Chiropractic College in Kansas City and a Nutritional counseling certification for Wisconsin.

I wanted to be a professional soccer player when I grew up, but excelled at wrestling, which took me a different course. I was able to wrestle at junior worlds in Istanbul, Turkey, trained in Varna Bulgaria and wrestled in a regional tournament in Bourdeax France when I was 20.  

My amazing wife Kristen is from Two Rivers, WI and now we have Alessandra and are enjoying every moment we can with her. I just read “The 4 Hour Work Week” by Timothy Ferriss and liked it so much I am reading it again. 

I love my job because of the results we see in our office and we just had a record week and month which included me spending a week in Florida. 

The most important lesson I have learned in business is sharing your goals with your employees, taking care of your employees so they take care of your customers/patients, but most important of all, let them shine without interfering every day.

My favorite words of wisdom would be “eagles fly with eagles and chickens scratch with chickens”

Instead of most memorable rotary moment, I would say the most important rotary moment of my life was Brian Monroe asking me to come to a meeting. Had that never happened, I would not be where I am today.

• Brian is collecting sunglasses for Guatemala.  A box will be at our meetings all month
• Jennifer made yet another pitch for the Family Promise Jingle Bell Bash on Saturday, December 16th. 
  • A link to the Gift Wish List is https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D44A8A628A1F85-45459592-jingle
• The Southern Ozaukee FD is hosting a pancake breakfast Sunday morning (12/3) at the Thiensville fire station from 8-noon.  Kurt will be serving!!
• The MT Historical Society will host a program about local industrial designer Brooks Stevens this Sunday afternoon at Mequon City Hall.  Doors open at one, short Annual Meeting at 1:30, and the program will run from 1:45-2:30

• My name in the from field is all upper case characters
• Email address is rotarydistrictss@gmail.com, with 2 S's
• The subject is "Greetings [First Name]" missing my usual "Rotary --" prefix
• The signature does not match anything that I have used

Join Us Today for an Insightful Session on ClubRunner with Jim DeLillo

The Rotary Club is excited to host Jim DeLillo, an accomplished IT manager with a rich website development and maintenance background.

Jim's extensive experience in the IT field makes him the perfect guide to explore the depths of ClubRunner, the Rotary Club's comprehensive social communication platform.

About Jim DeLillo:

• Renowned IT Manager.
• Expert in website development and maintenance.
• Proven track record of managing successful IT projects.

Discover the World of ClubRunner:

• Unified Platform: Learn how ClubRunner consolidates all essential services for effective club management.
• Enhanced Web Presence: Understand the tools to elevate your club's online visibility.
• Improved Communication: Explore features designed to streamline communication within the club.
• Member Engagement: Gain insights into engaging and retaining members effectively.
• Centralized Management: See how ClubRunner brings everything together for a seamless member experience.

This session is a must for all members who wish to leverage the full potential of ClubRunner in fostering a more connected and vibrant club community.

Don't Miss Out! Join us to benefit from Jim's expertise and to understand how ClubRunner can transform our club's operations.

Pukaite Woods at Rotary Park has been trimmed by an unlikely landscaping crew since 2020: a herd of goats! Now the Mequon-Thiensville (M-T) Sunrise Rotary Club is seeking public help to bring the goats back to continue the woodland restoration.

The future of Pukaite Woods is dependent on the reproduction of all the native trees that make it such a unique and enjoyable place for children and adults who walk the trails. Removing invasive species like buckthorn has been an uphill battle over the years.

The goats are kept in 1-acre to 2-acre paddocks enclosed with electrical mesh fencing to keep the goats in and to keep predators and people out. Once the goats eat all the leaves off the buckthorn and thistle plant in that area, they move on to the next paddock.

The leafless buckthorn plants will use the energy in their root system to grow back. Once the leaves grow back, the goats are brought back to graze again. Throughout the two grazing sessions, the energy in the buckthorn's root system is slowly depleted, starving the roots before they go into winter dormancy.

There are costs to rent the goats, fencing and transportation annually. The Rotary and OWLT have donated over $40,000 to the goat project since 2020. Please help the M-T Sunrise Rotary bring the goats back and keep the woodland restoration going for the benefit of current and future generations to come.

Questions? Please contact Matt Wolf at: mwolf@mtsd.k12.wi.us.

Donate today: https://gofund.me/9dd74a07

Let's Come Together!

Hear what we can do as individuals and with our communities to Reduce Divisiveness and Create Mutually Acceptable Solutions. Presentation by Lee Rasch, Executive Director.

Wednesday, February 22, 2023
7:45 - 9:00 AM - Room A289

MATC - Mequon Campus
5555 W Highland Road
Mequon, WI 53092

In Person or Virtual

Register Here

Top: Today's featured speaker was Adam Albrecht - Founder & CEO The Weaponry.

Middle: For the second week in a row we had a winner in our weekly drawing. The winner this week was John Cabaniss (center). Congratulations John!

Bottom: We welcome Matt Monaco as our newest member. From left: Don O'Connor, Connie Pukaite (Matt's sponsor), Matt Monaco and Cori Guerin club President. Photos by Dean Johnson.

Sunrisers,

If you are interested in joining your fellow Rotarians and their family members at The Rep's Christmas Carol, our club will serve as volunteer ushers on Thursday, December 15th.

Details to follow, but please let me know (email: rblazich@gmail.com) if you are available on the evening of the 15th and  interested in ushering.

Bob Blazich

Featuring the

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
December 15, 2022

7:00 PM
Cedarburg Performing Arts Center
W68 N611 Evergreen Blvd, Cedarburg, WI 53012

Presented by the Cedarburg-Grafton Rotary Club

One of our signature fundraising events is the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) Holiday Concert held at the Cedarburg Performing Arts Center in December.  The MSO is one of the premier orchestras in the country and we are proud to present them during the holidays to perform in front of a sold-out audience every year. 

The Cedarburg-Grafton Rotary provides a robust program book to every concert-goer featuring ads from local businesses, organizations, and individuals who support our cause. Over the years, ads in this program book have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund our technical scholarship program and provide grants for local charities and community projects.

Ticket sales have now closed. For waitlist information, please contact Michele at michele.kitson@stmarcus.org.

Virtual bidding for silent + super silent auction items is open to everyone and will open later this week. Visit our website as items become available to preview.

Happy bidding!

Rotary International District 6270 is pleased to announce the availability of a Global Grant Scholarship for matriculation in the fall of 2023 or spring of 2024.

The amount of the scholarship is USD $30,000 and must be used for graduate school studies outside the United States. NOTE: Applicant cannot be a Rotarian or be related to a Rotarian but can be a member of Rotaract. To be eligible, applicant must be a resident in the geographical area of District 6270, be a student at a college/university in the geographical area of District 6270, or have strong ties to Southeast Wisconsin (see District 6270 map). Experience (professional or volunteer) in the field of study is required. All fellowship/scholarship/stipend funding opportunities must relate to one of Rotary’s Seven Areas of Focus.

Deadlines are as follow:

• September 1, 2022 – Application form available
• January 13, 2023 – Complete Application Deadline (submit online only)
• February 4, 2023 - In-Person or Zoom Interviews scheduled. An in-person interview is preferred.
• February 13, 2023 – Successful Scholar Notified (for matriculation in 2023-2024 academic year.)

Click Here to access the “Scholarships” page on the RI D-6270 website for detailed information, the application form, and other supporting documents. Address any inquiries to Larry Myers, Chair of the D-6270 Scholarships Subcommittee (Email: scholarshipchair@rotary6270.org OR lwmyers2@att.net).

PRESENTED BY

Please join us on Thursday, October 20th, 2022
at the Watermark at Shully's

5:00 pm Passed Hors d’oeuvres & Cash Bar
6:00 pm Plated Dinner & Award Presentations

$85 per guest if reservations are made by October 7th
$100 per guest for reservations made after October 7th
Reservations and payment must be made by October 12th

Join us to recognize our 2022 "Celebrate Our Community" Award Recipients

Business of the Year
O'Leary-Guth Law Office, S.C.

Citizen of the Year
Ellen MacFarlane

Distinguished Service
John Wirth

Next Generation Leadership
Heather Mader

A year after some of its members participated in their municipality’s inaugural road rally, the Rotary Club of Campo Novo do Parecis ventured into a bigger role as a principal driver of the event. The Travessia do Parecis, held in April, followed a roughly 120-mile route in the west-central state of Mato Grosso, with 87 vehicles and 261 motorists participating.

“The setting for the event is full of natural beauty — spectacular waterfalls, rivers with crystal clear waters — and indigenous culture,” says Adriano Paz, a club member and organizer who, with his wife, Heloisa, finished second at the intermediate level. About 35 of the club’s 44 members handled food and beverage chores to help the club raise more than $4,200.

Top: Welcoming our newest member Ben Zang. (From left: Brian Monroe, Ben Zang, Cori Guerin - Club President and Matt Wolak - Ben's Sponsor)

Bottom left: And the weekly wine drawing winner for the second week in a row is Elisabeth Burschel a former Rotary exchange student from Bielefeld, Germany. (Pictured with Connie Pukaite)

Bottom right: Dave Schlageter leads a planning session for our upcoming AROUND THE WORLD WITH ROTARY fundraiser.

The following is from the nomination document submitted by Lynn Streeter.

This award was created to recognize those that provide significant support to our Club, often behind the scenes. In particular in the creation of this award, we thought of those family members of Rotarians that put forward significant effort on behalf of the Club and are our unseen, unsung heroes!

Well, I have found one of those heroes and she is Laura Schlageter. If you watch closely, you will notice Laura’s presence at so many of our Club activities. Let me give you a few examples: Laura participates in many of our work days at the park, she helps with the goats, she is with us from beginning to end on those cold days when we walk in the woods. Laura took the lead in decorating the River Club for our highly successful international fund-raising event. Some of you will remember our Club’s kayaking event that ended with a cook out in the Schlageter’s back yard. 

You may or may not notice that Laura is the “second car” for many of our events. She stays behind and waits for Dave’s call: “we need more clippers or loppers at the park” and most recently “we need a bucket and cleaning supplies for our alumni dinner”. Then Laura arrives in the “second car” with whatever we need.

Laura is the perfect example of why our Club selected this award. I hope that you share my thoughts and gratitude and will honor Laura with the Family and community Service award.

ROTARY CAMP SIERRA DE GUADARRAMA (Madrid)
From July 30th to August 14th, 2022

Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Majadahonda in collaboration with the Rotary Clubs of Madrid and Castilla and Leon (SPAIN)

Download Program Details (PDF)

For more information contact John Cabaniss at 414-491-4019

Editor: I'd like to thank Jenne Hohn from the T-M Rotary Noon Club for extending an invitation for us to participate in this relief effort.

We are assisting in the collection of emergency medical supplies which will be shipped directly to Ukraine from Rotary International District 6450. We will have bins set out in the community the Frank L. Weyenberg Library and Fantasy Flowers.

The following items are needed:

• Bandages
• Gauze
• Neosporin or other topical creams
• Warm socks - both adult and children's sizes
• Female hygiene menstrual kits
• Slings
• Emergency kits
• Combat action tourniquets
• Israeli gauze compression bandages
• 14 gauze, at least 2 inch long 
• Angiocatheter needles
• Quickclot gauze
• Chlorine tablets for clean water
• Trauma clotting kits

Monetary donations can be made via the following links:

The Disaster Response Fund through The Rotary Foundation (Priority will be given to Ukraine and nearby countries receiving refugees), https://my.rotary.org/en/donate

GoFundMe for Ukrainian Rotaractors, Interactors, and their families, https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-the-youth-and-their-families-in-ukraine-war?member=17608211&sharetype=teams&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&utm_medium=social&utm_source=whatsapp

District 6450 Collection for Medical Supply Funds (Please put "Ukraine Medical Supplies" in the comment or memo section), https://rotary6450.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=305&club_id=931079&item_id=9520

“On behalf of the International Institute of Wisconsin we thank you and the students for the blanket’s donation. Enclosed please find a thank you letter and a picture of some of the refugee kids that were able to receive one of the blankets.”

Homestead High School Interact Club members showed their commitment to serve again. They made and donated 11 blankets to the International Institute of Wisconsin. The blankets were given to newly arrived refugees.

The International Institute of Wisconsin continues to provide all individuals with vital services that assist them in becoming self-sufficient and productive members of the community.

A heartwarming thank you note was received from the International Institute of Wisconsin and in the picture above are some of the refugee children who received blankets. 

Lead by co-presidents Josie Campbell and Kassidy Hill, the Interact student members have completed several projects to help our communities. In addition to making and donating these blankets, they collected food, collaborated with another group of student in another food drive, made and distributed Christmas cards, made pet toys and volunteered in events sponsored by the Mequon-Thiensville Sunrise Rotary Club.

Congratulations!

Mallory Cheng from WUWM 89.7 interviewed Christine Bohn and Connie Pukaite about the Sunrise Rotary/Ozaukee Washing Land Trust Goat Project for their Lake Effect segment. 

Listen to this segment: Click Here 

Homestead High School Interact Club made Christmas cards to be distributed to seniors who may need tender loving care and some warm wishes for the Holiday Season.

Some of the cards were written in Spanish and they all included warm wishes for the Holidays. The cards will be distributed to residents of Newcastle Place in Mequon and seniors who attend the United Community Senior Center in Milwaukee.

Top Photo: Jamie F. De Jesus Sr. and Natraj Shanker spoke to our club this morning on the Rotary Community Corp program on Formerly Incarcerated Individuals Rehabilitation Services. Pictured from left are Jamie F. De Jesus Sr., Natraj Shanker and club President Matt Wolf. Photo by Bob Blazich.

Bottom Photo: We also inducted our newest member Matthew Wolak during this morning's meeting. Pictured from left are Stacy Wolak, Matthew Wolak and Brian Monroe. Photo by Bob Blazich.

Family, Friends and Politics Workshop:
How to talk with loved ones when you don’t always agree.
Monday, November 8th, 2021
11am – 2:00pm at Cedarburg Cultural Center

Just in time for the holidays! If you want to preserve important relationships while still being true to your values and political beliefs, this workshop is for you. Although the focus is on family relationships, you can use strategies in this workshop with any loved one. You’ll laugh and have some fun—it won’t be all serious. After all, we all come from quirky families!

The workshop will be co-facilitated by Susan Vergeront and Cameron Swallow, from Braver Angels, a national nonprofit with a mission to depolarize America. Susan Vergeront is a retired Presbyterian minister and a former Wisconsin Republican Assemblywoman who represented Ozaukee and Sheboygan Counties for five terms. Cameron Swallow is a former teacher, bluegrass musician, and now Wisconsin state coordinator for Braver Angels.

The Ozaukee League of Women Voters endeavors to break down barriers and bring civility back to our community through open discussion and compassionate collaboration. In that spirit of cooperation, we are bringing Braver Angels to our community. Patriotic-empathy is our shared foundation--that our love for our country is shown by our concern for our fellow citizens.

Pre-registration is required. The $15 cost includes a box lunch. Masks are strongly encouraged, and tickets are limited due to COVID restrictions, so register early at www.lwvozaukee.org.

“If feelings about our political adversaries can be represented on a spectrum, our objective is to move Americans from hatred or disdain to respect and appreciation.” – Braver Angels

Our condolences to Terry Schacht whose father passed away this week.

Richard A. Schacht 1931 - 2021

Richard A. (“Dick”) Schacht of West Bend died on Monday, May 24, 2021 at the Froedtert West Bend Hospital in the Town of West Bend at the age of 89. He was born on December 25, 1931 to the late Alice (nee Machmueller) and Paul Schacht. On October 13, 1956, he was united in marriage to Dolores (“Dee Dee”) Tarrence at St. John’s Catholic Church in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

A gathering for family and friends will be held on Tuesday, June 1 from 9:00 until 11:00 a.m. at the Holy Angels Catholic Church in West Bend followed with a memorial Mass of Christian Burial at the Church at 11:00 a.m. with Rev. Patrick Heppe presiding. More information

Editor's Note: Our speaker Chris Stein referenced this article during his presentation on Friday (4/16).

Seventy-five percent of the world’s plant species are dependent on pollinators, such as the monarch, to survive

by Frank Bures in Rotarian Magazine - October 2020

Late last winter, just before the world shut down, my family flew from Minneapolis to Mexico City, then drove two hours west toward the city of Valle de Bravo. From there, we continued on to Santuario Piedra Herrada, a nature preserve situated in the forested mountains of central Mexico.

The next morning, as the sun rose behind the mountaintops, we began our hike up a mile-long trail. The air was cool, and the sky was obscured by patchy clouds. Higher up the path, we noticed the oyamel fir trees start to take on a different appearance. They looked solid. They looked so heavy that they might fall over. They looked like they had been colonized by some strange creature.

When we reached the top, we could see that in fact it wasn’t one creature that had colonized the trees, but many: Millions of orange-and-black monarch butterflies covered the branches and trunks of the now orange-tinged trees, huddling together for warmth as they have done every winter for thousands of years. When the sun emerged from behind the clouds, the insects, warmed by its rays, filled the air, and the beating of their wings sounded like a soft rain.

In a few weeks, those same butterflies would take off from these hills — Santuario Piedra Herrada is one of a handful of places where monarchs gather to spend the winter each year — and fly to Texas and other parts of the southern United States, where they would lay their eggs on milkweed plants. Those offspring would then fly north as far as Canada to lay their own eggs. After a third generation, at the end of the summer, a fourth, “super” generation, whose life span is as long as nine months (as opposed to its predecessors’ two to six weeks), would embark on a journey back to Mexico, following the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains until reaching the hills around Piedra Herrada.

pay it forward [pey it fawr-werd]: Pay it forward is an expression for when the recipient of an act of kindness does something kind for someone else rather than simply accepting or repaying the original good deed. - Pop Culture Dictionary

Following Albert Alcarraz's presentation, individuals in our club sent $1000 and a box of gifts to Albert and his family in Lima, Peru.

The money was wired to Albert at no cost thanks to our friends at Port Washington State Bank. Albert used part of the funds to buy food baskets for needy neighbors. The remainder was set aside for family expenses.

Club members also filled a box with family gifts including games, bilingual books, clothes, and puzzles. Scott Bern covered the costly international postage. After an anxious four-week wait, the package arrived today! (See top photo)

From an earlier article:

On Friday (2/19) our Rotary speaker was Albert Alcarraz who was kind enough to share a bit of his life and beautiful family with us. He also shared the not-so-beautiful situation that currently exists in Peru. On top of a corrupt and ineffective government, citizens of Peru are experiencing a hard lock-down with extreme limits on mobility, no opportunity for work or income, and no hope of receiving a covid vaccine.

After hearing Alberto's story our club wanted to do something to help. In addition to collecting needed items and shipping them to Albert we also raised $1,000.

Here are some photos from Albert about the 10 baskets he prepared for neighbors using part of the funds we sent. The rest will be used to cover family expenses.

Saturday, May 22, 2021
Cedarburg, Wisconsin
7 AM - 3 PM CST

The ROTARY RIDE  bicycling event will be held on Saturday, May 22, 2021, with the start and finish at Cedar Creek Park in Cedarburg WI.

The ride benefits the Cedarburg-Grafton Rotary Foundation's technical scholarship fund and is open to the public.

All riding abilities are encouraged to participate.  10, 25, 45, and 65-mile routes are being planned along with a virtual ride.

So tune up your bike and get your family and friends together for this fun-filled event!

25 volunteers! That’s great! Please be sure to pass on my thanks to everyone! Without volunteer’s such as yourselves, I would be hard pressed to put a timeline on when the pruning could have or would have been completed. And thanks for consolidating all the brush piles, too!

Our City guys were busy this morning picking up the brush.

Mike Gies
Parks and Forestry Superintendent
City of Mequon

Just a quick final update for the Sam Azinger Trophy:

In 2018-2019, the TM-Rotary Noon Club squeaked by in the inaugural year to take the Sam Azinger Trophy, in part because the Sunrise Club may or may not have been made aware that the competition had been created. With just 3 weeks left in the 2019-2020 Rotary year, we have seen the Noon Club take a substantial lead in the race for the Sam Azinger Trophy. We remind you that the Sam Azinger Trophy will be passed between the Noon Club and Sunrise Club to be held by the club that raised more money to the Rotary Foundation and Polio Plus the previous year.

Currently the Noon Club has raised a whopping $7,001.00, while the Sunrise Club is trailing with $3,570.50. We all know that the Sunrise Club has been waiting to make several last minute moves to try to catch the Noon Club sleeping. Meanwhile, the Noon Club has not let off the gas all year. Will we see a last minute surge from the Sunrise Club, or should Wayne Larrivee throw the dagger? We’ll see how these final weeks play out.

Sam Azinger
TM Rotary Noon Club

Pakistan and Rotary are cutting through a whirl of migrating families and cultural barriers to turn what was 'a badge of shame' into a model for disease eradication.

By Ryan Hyland Produced by Miriam Doan

At a busy toll plaza in Kohat, Pakistan, a three-member vaccination team is working fast. 

Outfitted in blue Rotary vests and flanked by armed military personnel, the vaccinators approach a white van as it pulls away from the scattered stream of traffic, cars rattling east toward Islamabad and west to the nearby border with Afghanistan. One worker leans toward the driver to ask a question as another reaches into a cooler to prepare the vaccine. Among the crush of passengers in the van, they identify one child who has not yet been vaccinated.

There is no time for second-guessing. 

There is not even enough room for the boy to crawl toward the front of the vehicle or through one of the doors; a relative must hand the young child to the vaccinators through one of the rear windows. He is quickly inoculated with two drops of oral polio vaccine, and his pinkie finger is stained with purple ink to indicate that he’s received his dose. He cries as the vaccinator hurriedly passes him back through the window. The van speeds off, fading back into the dizzying hum of traffic, as the vaccinators look for the next car and child.

This scene plays out thousands of times a day at transit posts like this one — makeshift vaccination clinics set up at bus stops, border crossings, army posts, and police checkpoints across the country in an effort to reach children who are on the move. 

Here in Pakistan, home to almost all of the world’s polio cases just a few years ago, these moving targets require a vaccination strategy as agile and stubborn as the virus itself. At hundreds of sites, teams of health workers verify that every child passing through receives the vaccine. 

The interaction is fleeting — faster than getting a meal at a drive-through restaurant — but the benefit is permanent. Another child, another family, another generation is protected, and Pakistan moves one step closer to having zero polio cases.

Editors Note: In this 24/7 environment of COVID-19 news, I thought I'd share an article now-and-then highlighting ordinary people reaching out to help others. Enjoy.

By Michael Hollan

A pizza place in New York City has dedicated itself to feeding health care and hospital workers who are struggling to keep up with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Now the restaurant's landlord is joining in to make sure that the food keeps coming out of the kitchen and into the hospitals.

Sauce Pizzeria owner, Adam Elzer, says his restaurant is making 400 pizzas per day and sending them all to the city's hospitals, NBC New York reports. He told the news outlet that he wanted to make sure that the workers were still able to get something to eat while dealing with the outbreak.

"They’re running around from room to room, the hospitals are packed, and if we’re not sending food, a lot of them are not eating," Elzer told NBC New York. "Basically anywhere that we get a note from a nurse or a doctor telling us that they’re in need, we figure out a way to get them on the schedule and then we deliver to that hospital."

Sauce Pizzeria has reportedly delivered pizzas to over 40 different hospitals across the city's five boroughs, all for free.

Ben Kraus of A&E Real Estate Management, Sauce's landlord, found out about the donations and decided to help out. The real estate company donated $20,000 to the pizzeria and froze rent payments for the next three months.

"It made it a lot easier for us to keep doing what we’re doing and to feel really good about that," Elzer said. “Pizza makes people happy. That’s what this started from, that we wanted to give them some reason to smile when it’s kinda hard to smile with what they’re currently doing."

"I saw what Adam was doing on social media honestly and when we noticed what he was doing it was very clear that we needed to help him," Krause told the outlet. "We set up Adam with logistics to be able to deliver en mass to hospitals all over New York City."

Editors Note: Our own Lance Parve and his wife Julie are featured in this WTMJ4 story on Hope Without Borders.

A local husband and wife who've devoted much of their lives to volunteer work overseas are gearing up for yet another trip to assist people living in severe poverty in the African country of Kenya.

Lance Parve, a Wisconsin DOT engineer, and Julie Parve, a nurse practitioner, started Hope Without Borders in 2007.

"We founded Hope Without Borders to do humanitarian, charitable, nonprofit work as volunteers," Lance Parve said.

The organization has put together roughly 30 trips to countries in Africa, Central America, and South America since its creation.

Lance and Julie Parve fundraise and apply for grants to fund their work and projects, but they don't ever get paid with the money raised, and neither do the volunteers they recruit.

In May, they'll take a group of 15 such volunteers, who all paid for their own airfare, to Kenya.

The group is monitoring the global COVID-19 pandemic, but currently still plans to make the trip. Hope Without Borders previously traveled to Africa during an ebola outbreak.

"It always amazes me how people are willing to give up their vacation time, and open up their wallets," Julie Parve said.

"Though the years we've probably raised, with people volunteering, and with money, over $3 million," Lance Parve added.

The trip to Kenya in May includes many volunteers who are students in nursing, or nurse practitioner students. The group will begin their volunteer work by assisting with poverty relief in the Nairobi slums.

"These slums are in conditions you can't even imagine," Lance Parve said. "There's human waste everywhere. There aren't enough toilets for million-person slums."

"The people there, maybe they only eat one meal a day," he added.

One of the biggest challenges the impoverished locals face: A lack of clean drinking water.

In light of recent Coronavirus news and in keeping the health and safety of our members, their families, program speakers and others in mind, MT Sunrise Rotary club meetings have been cancelled through March.

Club leadership will monitor the situation going forward and update members on a weekly basis.

Please be safe.

Dave Schlageter
Club President

Source: CDC, Drew Harris
Credit: Connie Hanzhang Jin/NPR

As the coronavirus continues to spread in the U.S., more and more businesses are sending employees off to work from home. Public schools are closing, universities are holding classes online, major events are getting canceled, and cultural institutions are shutting their doors. Even Disney World and Disneyland are set to close. The disruption of daily life for many Americans is real and significant — but so are the potential life-saving benefits.

It's all part of an effort to do what epidemiologists call flattening the curve of the pandemic. The idea is to increase social distancing in order to slow the spread of the virus, so that you don't get a huge spike in the number of people getting sick all at once. If that were to happen, there wouldn't be enough hospital beds or mechanical ventilators for everyone who needs them, and the U.S. hospital system would be overwhelmed. That's already happening in Italy.

"If you think of our health care system as a subway car and it's rush hour and everybody wants to get on the car once, they start piling up at the door," says Drew Harris, a population health researcher at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. "They pile up on the platform. There's just not enough room in the car to take care of everybody, to accommodate everybody. That's the system that is overwhelmed. It just can't handle it, and people wind up not getting services that they need."

Harris is the creator of a widely shared graphic visualizing just why it is so important to flatten the curve of a pandemic, including the current one — we've reproduced his graphic at the top of this page. The tan curve represents a scenario in which the U.S. hospital system becomes inundated with coronavirus patients.

However, Harris says, if we can delay the spread of the virus so that new cases aren't popping up all at once, but rather over the course of weeks or months, "then the system can adjust and accommodate all the people who are possibly going to get sick and possibly need hospital care." People would still get infected, he notes, but at a rate that the health care system could actually keep up with — a scenario represented by the more gently sloped blue curve on the graph.

Editor's Note: This is the fifth annual appearance of What It’s Like, a proven favorite with readers inside and outside Rotary. - The Rotarian

Linda Mulhern - Rotary Club of St. Paul, Minnesota

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1975. At the time, my doctor told me that I had 20 years to live and that if I didn’t take care of myself, I’d be six feet under. I was 12.

I remember the tears in my grandmother’s eyes when she came to see me at the hospital. She grew up before insulin treatments were developed in the 1920s, so she remembered the days when kids who were diagnosed with diabetes died. Doctors couldn’t do anything for them.

My mother was a nurse and was very matter-of-fact when it came to managing the disease. She made sure I knew it was my responsibility to take my insulin, watch my diet, and exercise. She was there if I needed her, but I was responsible for managing my health. She made that clear.

So I made a decision. I wouldn’t let diabetes stop me. If I really did only have 20 years to live, I wanted to make them count. I played soccer and other sports, I was in the school play, I joined the speech team. But I wanted a bigger adventure, so I applied to spend my junior year of high school abroad with an international student exchange organization. But when they learned I had diabetes, they rejected me. It was too much of a risk to send a student with a chronic condition abroad.

In light of the recent Coronavirus news and keeping the health and safety of the residents in mind, Newcastle Place is limiting visitation to their facility.

Therefore, beginning this week (3/13) and for the next 4 to 6 weeks our meetings will be held on the second floor of the Mequon Public Market. (map)

A special thank you to Cindy Shaffer for making this space available on such short notice.

Environmental facts we can change:

• When you throw plastic bags and other plastic materials in the ocean, it kills as many as 1 million sea creatures annually.
• Landfills are composed of 35% packaging materials

Sam Azinger
T-M Rotary Noon Club

Sam Azinger
T-M Rotary Noon Club

Pictured from left: Dave Schlageter (MT Sunrise Rotary Club President), Julie Hoover (Executive Director for Family Sharing Ozaukee County) and Cindy Shaffer (MT Sunrise Rotary Club Lobsterfest Fundraiser Chairperson).

A special thank you to everyone who supported our Lobsterfest fundraiser!

Photo by Bob Blazich.

Our guest speakers this morning were Dr. Azita G. Hamedani along with her son Zadan Mason who updated us on Project ADAM.

Dr. Hamedani is a practicing academic emergency physician and founding Chair of the BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine at University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health. 

Zadan Mason is a sophomore at University School of Milwaukee (USM), where he worked closely with the school nurse, Ms. Kathleen Roebber, to secure Heart Safe School designation from Project ADAM. 

Project ADAM was created in 1999 to help increase awareness of sudden cardiac arrest in students, as every three days a US high school student athlete dies of cardiac arrest which could be prevented through quick action of bystanders. Pictured above: Dr. Azita G. Hamedani and Dave Schlageter (club President). Photo by Bob Blazich.

I just wanted to provide an update regarding the competition between clubs.

Currently, the 2019-2020 contributions to date between the Noon and Sunrise Rotary Clubs is as follows:

• Noon Club: $3,374.00
• Sunrise Club: $805.00

Although it appears the Noon Club is running away with this, with no sign of letting up, this is all the more reason for a few Sunrise Club members to step in to close the gap. The Noon Club should be aware that the Sunrise Club may also be holding back for a last minute push for the title.

Sam Azinger
T-M Rotary Noon Club

Editors Note: My wife Doreen recently introduced me to the book Everybody Matters. Doreen along with the leadership team at Plymouth Foam are currently working to implement concepts mentioned in Bob's book into their company. My first thought after watching this video is how close these principles align with our Four-Way-Test. Take a peek and see if you agree.

“Bob Chapman, CEO of the $1.7 billion manufacturing company Barry-Wehmiller, is on a mission to change the way businesses treat their employees.” – Inc. Magazine

Starting in 1997, Bob Chapman and Barry-Wehmiller have pioneered a dramatically different approach to leadership that creates off-the-charts morale, loyalty, creativity, and business performance. The company utterly rejects the idea that employees are simply functions, to be moved around, "managed" with carrots and sticks, or discarded at will. Instead, Barry-Wehmiller manifests the reality that every single person matters, just like in a family. That’s not a cliché on a mission statement; it’s the bedrock of the company’s success.

During tough times a family pulls together, makes sacrifices together, and endures short-term pain together. If a parent loses his or her job, a family doesn’t lay off one of the kids. That’s the approach Barry-Wehmiller took when the Great Recession caused revenue to plunge for more than a year. Instead of mass layoffs, they found creative and caring ways to cut costs, such as asking team members to take a month of unpaid leave. As a result, Barry-Wehmiller emerged from the downturn with higher employee morale than ever before. 

Mike Kim's son is a member of Boy Scout Troop 815 and they are collecting items to assemble Chemo Comfort Packs for distribution to the Aurora facilities in both Grafton and West Allis.

Troop 815's project is in conjunction with Ovarian Cancer Awareness month (September) and Breast Cancer Awareness month (October).

Here is where we need your help. Please drop off your donated items (see the list below) at our club meeting on Friday (10/4).

Suggested Items:

• Personal sized hand sanitizers
• Personal sized hand lotions
• Lip Balm
• Hard candies or gum (preferably with Xylitol)
• Small tissue packs
• Fuzzy socks
• Adult coloring books
• Colored pencils
• Crossword puzzles
• Notebooks
• Pens
• Eye drops
• Inspirational or humorous books

Thanks you in advance for your support!!!

Lynn Streeter and Steve Lettau

Richard A. Larson

1930 - 2019

Richard A. Larson, 89, of Mequon, passed away on Monday, September 23, 2019 at Lawlis Family Hospice in Mequon.

Dick was born on June 18, 1930 in Stevens Point to the late Albert and Isabel (nee Cooper) Larson.  He moved to West Bend graduating from West Bend High School in 1948 as valedictorian of his class. 

Dick attended UW Madison graduating with a BBA in 1952.  He was a member of the varsity debate team which won the Big Ten Debate Championship two of his four years.  He was also a cadet colonel in the Air Force ROTC and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Force as a Distinguished Military Graduate beginning active duty on June 26, 1952.

Brian Monroe was presented the Service Above Self award at Friday's club meeting

The Service Above Self award recognizes Rotarians who have demonstrated exemplary humanitarian service, with an emphasis on personal volunteer efforts and active involvement in helping others through Rotary.

Pictured from left: Dave Schlageter (Club President), Brian Monroe and Dave Kliber.

Danila Danesi and Joe Gutsmiedl were inducted into the M-T Sunrise Rotary Club at Friday's club meeting.

Pictured from left: Maureen O’Leary, Danila Danesi, Joe Gutsmiedl, Seth Duhnke, Dave Schlageter (Club President), Brian Monroe and Doug Hansen.

Several weeks ago our Club welcomed a guest speaker from Kathy’s House. Kathy’s House is a non-profit Guest House providing lodging and a supportive environment to families who are experiencing one of life’s most stressful situations-personal illness or the serious illness of a loved one.

Throughout May we collected paper items and cleaning supplies to donate to Kathy's House and today was delivery day.

Ticket Donation :  $25 per person
All Proceeds go towards scholarships for High school youth in Mequon and Milwaukee areas. 
Thank you for  joining us in supporting our youth and their bright futures!  

Several weeks ago our Club welcomed a guest speaker from Kathy’s House. Kathy’s House is a non-profit Guest House providing lodging and a supportive environment to families who are experiencing one of life’s most stressful situations-personal illness or the serious illness of a loved one. It was founded by a Mequon family.

Our Club has a long history of supporting Kathy’s House and our Community Service Committee is interested in providing support once again. We know that Kathy’s House relies on donations to support its daily operations.

Throughout the month on May we will be collecting paper items (e.g. paper towels, toilet tissue, napkins) and cleaning supplies (e.g. household spray cleaners and wipes, laundry detergent). Items can be donated on Friday mornings or delivered to NewCastle at any time. Julie Irvine (our newest member!) has graciously offered to store the items at NewCastle. They will be delivered to Kathy’s House in early June.

The Community Service Committee is entertaining the idea of hosting a cookout at Kathy’s House this summer for their guests.

Thank you, in advance, for your generosity.

Lynn Streeter & Bruce Carter

Back Story:

Last year Lynn Streeter introduced us to an exceptional young man by the name of Matthew Ceelen. Matt's story began with a letter to our club requesting financial support for his Eagle Scout project of building two bat houses to be placed in the Mequon Nature Preserve. With the request approved, we heard what Paul Harvey used to call "The rest of the story".

Matthew was diagnosed with bone cancer just weeks shy of his 15th birthday. In medical terms it is a high grade sclerosing subtype of osteosarcoma. Approximately 450 children in North America are diagnosed with osteosarcoma each year. He is 1 of approximately 4 children who will be diagnosed with his subtype of osteosarcoma in 2017. 

Update:

Posted by Deb Lehman (1/11/2019)

Matthew was discharged yesterday and is doing well!

He was in the OR for a couple hours on Thursday. Everything looked really good! The drain will remain in his arm for a couple of weeks. They also took out the sutures in his leg. This is the area where the skin graft, from his left thigh, was placed in order to close the area where his fibula was removed. He enjoyed his traditional inpatient visit with John St. Peter and Bill Jarecki.

They have visited Matthew, barring illness, every time he has been admitted since his chemo journey began in September of 2017. He also had friends visit which he truly appreciates.

A PICC line (long term IV) was placed on Friday and he was told he may not be discharged until Monday. He was thrilled to be discharged on Saturday. Home Health delivered the supplies at 9 pm Saturday and his first home dose of IV antibiotics were given. He will receive those twice a day and an oral antibiotic once a day. Hopefully this will take care of the small amount of Staph that grew on the cultures and anything else that was shielded by the antibiotics he was already taking. 

He has follow-up appointments on Jan 14 (previously scheduled) and Jan 23. 

Thank you for all the shares of the GoFundMe and continued support of Matthew!

As part of National Preparedness, The Mequon Police Department is encouraging residents to register their mobile telephones to receive emergency alerts from the department.

The Mequon 911 Dispatch Center will use the “Hyper-Reach” emergency telephone notification system. “Hyper-Reach” allows the 911 Center to quickly send a recorded message to telephones in specific areas and alert residents to any emergency situations that may require immediate action.

The system is designed to deliver more than 5,000 calls per hour and has been successfully used on a number of occasions for incidents such as hazardous chemical releases, missing persons and severe weather alerts. The “Hyper-Reach” message delivers critical information to residents and provides guidance on what precautions need to be taken by residents during and after the incident.

Lee Marnett is ageless.

It’s not because he chose his own birthday. Or because at over 80 years old he’s still exercising daily. And it’s not because he can still recall events that happened nearly 75 years ago with remarkable detail.

Lee Marnett is ageless because he is eternally optimistic. It’s because he employed more resolve before he was 10 years old than some men do in their entire lifetime. And beyond all else, when you look into his eyes, you see the curiosity of a child and the wisdom of the eldest sage simultaneously looking back at you.

It’s painful to think that those eyes have seen the lightless depths of humanity’s most visceral forms of malice. But Lee’s story isn’t about pain and suffering. It’s about redemption. And for all the horrors that were cast on innocent people, Lee did his part to try to make up for it with good. And still is. (Photo by Bob Blazich)

Back Story:

Lynn Streeter introduced us to an exceptional young man by the name of Matthew Ceelen. Matt's story began with a letter to our club requesting financial support for his Eagle Scout project of building two bat houses to be placed in the Mequon Nature Preserve. With the request approved, we heard what Paul Harvey used to call "The rest of the story".

Matthew was diagnosed with bone cancer just weeks shy of his 15th birthday. In medical terms it is a high grade sclerosing subtype of osteosarcoma. Approximately 450 children in North America are diagnosed with osteosarcoma each year. He is 1 of approximately 4 children who will be diagnosed with his subtype of osteosarcoma in 2017. 

Update:

Matthew is celebrating his 16th birthday today. His birthday weekend started by watching the Badger Football team beat Western Kentucky. An early morning flight to Atlanta followed on Saturday. This trip was one thing Matthew had to look forward as he finished his freshman studies throughout the summer. The highlight of his trip was attending his first Boston Red Sox VICTORY over the Atlanta Braves with his parents and his friend Zach.

What a difference a year makes! He rang the bell on Aug 17 and celebrated the end of his treatment with all of you. He helped move Natalie to her dorm shortly before his school year started. The first week of his sophomore year ended with tests at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. There is no sign of cancer!

We are excited to announce that our district will be presenting One Rotary Summits again this fall!

One Rotary Summit is training for all Rotarians on the synergy among Membership, Public Image, and Humanitarian Service (The Rotary Foundation). Participants will exchange ideas and develop creative ways to achieve and sustain membership growth and retention, increase Rotary Foundation giving and project engagement, and gain enhanced public image in their communities. Rotarians are welcome to attend any session in the district.

Who? All Rotarians are invited and encouraged to attend

What? District 6270 One Rotary Summit (ORS) 2018

When? And Where?

• Thursday, August 9 | 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm | Milwaukee Area Technical College - Oak Creek
• Saturday, August 25 | 8:30 am – 12:00 pm |Location to be determined (Corrected)
• Thursday, September 13 | 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm | LaSure’s Banquet Hall, Oshkosh
• Saturday, September 22 | 8:30 am – 12:00 pm | Elkhorn High School (Corrected)
• Thursday, October 11 | 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm | Milwaukee Area Technical College - Mequon
• Saturday, October 27 | 8:30 am – 12:00 pm | Pine Hills Country Club, Sheboygan

Snacks and beverages will be provided.

Why? Return to your club with tools and ways to implement the "People of Action" public image campaign and this year's theme, "Be the Inspiration" while gaining a better understanding of how membership, public image, humanitarian service, and supporting your Rotary Foundation work together.

RSVP to Dana Kohlmeyer at dana.kohlmeyer@rotary6270.org. Please indicate your name, your club, which session you will attend, and if any special accommodations are needed.

(Editor's note. Cindy is just finishing her term as President of the MT Sunrise Rotary Club. Congratulations Cindy!)

By Rebecca Konya - Special to The Milwaukee Business Journal 

Jun 22, 2018, 1:00am

If you ask Cindy Shaffer, she’ll tell you she’s not in the real estate business – she’s in the people business.

“I’m creating places with meaning,” explains Shaffer, owner of Shaffer Development LLC.

One of the few female developers in the metropolitan Milwaukee area, and among the few large-scale developers active in Ozaukee County, Shaffer began construction on Spur 16, a 14-acre town center development in Mequon, in April. 

Named for the railroad spur originally on the site, Spur 16 is the next phase of the Mequon Town Center, a $15 million mixed-use development with restaurants, retail space and apartments at Mequon and Cedarburg Roads completed in 2015.

Shaffer, who spent her early career running a chain of Molly Maid franchises, said she has always loved real estate.

A princess, 3 prime ministers, and a former first lady join 25,000 in Toronto to celebrate Rotary’s good work and plan more of it

By Arnold R. Grahl and Geoff Johnson Photos by Alyce Henson

Toronto, the Capital of Nice, opened its arms this week to welcome 25,652 Rotarians from around the world, who came to Rotary’s annual convention looking for inspiration — and finding it.

Whether it was by seeing old friends in the hallways, making new connections in the House of Friendship, or listening to eloquent speakers at general sessions, attendees found plenty at the 109th Rotary International Convention to remind them of the fellowship that binds them and the diversity that Rotary embodies.

“Now, we are sisters forever,” said Rhonda Panczyk, of the Rotary Club of Rochester, Michigan, USA, after spotting and embracing Ijeoma Pearl Okoro, past governor of District 9141 (Nigeria). The two women had met at the West African Project Fair last year, partnered on an immunization drive, and kept in touch on Facebook.

Designed to ease capacity constraints at Froedtert Hospital

By Lauren Anderson - BizTimes

The Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network is planning a new small-scale “neighborhood hospital” across the street from its recently-opened health center on North Port Washington Road in Mequon.

The 17,000-square-foot hospital will include a seven-bed emergency department and eight inpatient beds. It’s planned for a parcel of vacant land on North Port Washington Road, directly across the street from the Froedtert & MCW Mequon Health Center at 11430 N. Port Washington Road.

By Ryan Stillwater, a member of the Visalia County Center Rotary, California, USA

On my walk to work on a recent morning, air crisp and clear after an overnight rainstorm, I walk past a man sitting on the street corner. I immediately recognize him as a former resident in our Life Change Academy, who left early on in the program. I nicknamed him Logan, due to his striking resemblance to one of my favorite X-Men comic book characters — with his muscular frame and prominent dark sideburns and stubble. This morning, he is angry and making loud threats against a man (not present) who had very personally wronged him. “Are you ok?” I ask. “No!” he screams, eyes fixed on an invisible enemy. I am standing with Wolverine – the enraged persona of the gentle man I had known.

I became a Christian at the age of 15 and was baptized in the Pacific Ocean a year later with blue-dyed hair and a head full of ambition to do great things. In the years that followed, I would travel to Vancouver, San Francisco, and what is now South Sudan. I saw remarkable (and terrible) things – hopeless drug addicts, prostitutes of all ages, and a desperate mother holding a sick infant miles from medical aid. I imagine these experiences contributed to my becoming a Rotarian at the age of 31.

The Police and Fire Commission (PFC) invites members of the community to assist in planning for the City’s public safety future, by attending a community listening session at 6:00 P.M. on June 14, 2018 in City Hall.  The PFC is committed to hiring a new Police Chief to lead the City’s  Police Department, an agency built on service, respect, trust, and transparency, and certainly one that is responsive to the community it is privileged to serve.

The goal of the listening session is to provide the community with a public forum to ask questions or otherwise provide guidance directly to the City of Mequon PFC Commissioners, concerning the new Police Chief’s recruitment.  The PFC needs the community to provide feedback to assist and guide the Commission prior to beginning formal assessment of candidates for the Chief of Police position.

This public session will be open to community members to ask questions, share concerns and engage with Police and Fire Commissioners, the present Police Chief and other City Officials concerning the type of Police Chief and ultimately Police Department you want to see in Mequon’s future.

Claire is the Director of Individual Giving for Special Olympics Wisconsin.

Special Olympics Wisconsin (SOWI) provides year-round sports training and competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage and experience joy while participating in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, Special Olympics athletes and the community.

Dear Rotary Friends,

I'd like to invite you to a vocal recital our daughter, Cecilia, will be performing in support of the scholars at St. Marcus School, whereshe work on the Mission Advancement Team. The recital is on Sunday, June 24, 2:00 at St. Marcus church in Milwaukee. She’ll be singing an eclectic mix of songs, arias and spirituals, with a special guest appearance by one superstar singin' scholars. :)  she will be joined by spectacular artists Amanda Draheim, piano; Dr. Wallace Cheatham, piano; and Jeff Krumbein, organ.  She promises a charming, joyful, accessible, friendly and warm hour of music to lift you! 

For this recital, there will be a suggested donation of $10, or any amount of your choosing if you might be inclined! There will be an opportunity for a free will offering at the recital, or you can follow this link to make a contribution online: Melodies for a Mission. If you're unable to join her at the recital, She humbly invites you to consider a contribution in lieu of attending. 

I hope you can join us!

Thank You

Lucia Francis

Thanks to our club members and friends who made this possible.

Saturday 19 May was a wild success! We really promoted this event and we generated 115 volunteers, put a total of 628 plants in the ground and mulched them all ... 450 native trees and 178 native shrubs. Besides Rotarians volunteers were from, Homestead HS Football, Baseball & Interact,(thanks to Matt Wolf) community volunteers, Boy Scouts and Ozaukee Land Trust.

The Rotarians who participated registered on Saturday are: Bob Blazich, Beth Bauer, Lucia Francis, Tim Hamilton, Mike Kim, Dave Kliber, Brian Monroe, Dan O'Connor, Connie Pukaite, Diana Raasch, Dave Schlageter, Alice Sedgwick, Cindy Shaffer, Elizabeth Suran, Jennifer Sutherland, Ryan Walsh, Bill Wandsnider, Matt Wolf, Sandy Custer, Stan Smith (TM Noon), Daniele Calasanzio (Amigos).

Tim, Mike, Dan, Dave, Elizabeth, Ryan and Bill made the day a family affair by bringing along significant others and children.

The City of Mequon has committed to plant an additional 5 or 6 balled & burlapped much larger trees sometime in the Fall. That's more than 10 times the challenge from our Rotary International President to plant a tree for each of our Rotary Club members. Hooray for the air quality of our community & globe!

Most of the planting was done before noon, and mulching was done by 1:30. Amazing! Please check out our MT Sunrise home page for some additional images.

Thanks,

Brian - D6270 Tree Planting Coordinator

By James Petersen

“When was the last time you did something for the first time? When was the first time you did something for the last time?” Those questions are tacked to the wall of my office. I have, at certain times in my life, received odd bits of wisdom; they all end up on the wall. A cartoon acquired at my first job depicts a sign on a muddy road warning: “Choose your rut carefully. You’ll be in it for the next 18 miles.” My editor had given it to me. When I would complain about a certain task, he would say: “How you deal with boredom may be the most defining of character traits.”

That became one of my core principles: One should always be on a learning curve. It helped that my job demanded discovery. As a writer, I explored new topics every month. The rut I chose lasted 40 years.

And then it disappeared.

By Chris Offer, Rotary Club of Ladner, Delta, British Columbia, Canada (District 5040)

I was recently at a Rotary conference in Karachi, Pakistan. One session was a series of short presentations on club service projects. Most of the presentations were in Urdu, which I don’t speak. Fortunately, several speakers had very good slide presentations. I could understand the presentations. Photos of children at computer terminals with smiles or women at a clinic told me about the projects. I missed details but not the main ideas.

When photographs are used, they tell better Rotary stories. More photographs are being taken today than at any other time. Photos can show the impact of your club’s work, reach a wide audience outside of Rotary, and describe the lives we change.

Do

When telling a Rotary story, you can express more with a photo that shows action. Show the children and people who benefit from Rotary service. Make photos of them involved in the project. Avoid photos that present a stereotype of Rotary or of people. Your photos should show the diversity of your club and your community.

Don’t

A common Rotary photo is the “big check” presentation. I am sure every week in my local newspaper there is a charity big check photo. It is good to tell the community about the funds Rotary donates to other groups. But I think we can do it in a more exciting way.

Pictures on social media and the newspaper need to tell a story and be appealing to make you stop and read more. Posed people shaking hands over a big check presentation, smiling in front of a Rotary banner isn’t enough. The big check is focused on dollars, not on what those dollars do.

Step away from the oversize check photo and make your fundraising story more interesting. As the donor of money, Rotary can say thank you and recognise the effort made in more creative ways. If children are involved, present the check to them. Have people hold up the numbers to show the donation and involve the recipients of the funds not just the managers of the organization. Children holding a sign saying thank you or hanging upside down from a playground swing is more appealing than the cliché big check shot.

Be creative in the photos you use to show Rotary as People of Action.

Emerging cancer therapy shows promise at Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin

By Lauren Anderson - BizTimes

The symptoms started out as mild stomach issues for Appleton resident Bret Carroll.

But when Carroll, a healthy and active 45-year-old professional pilot, found a lump on his abdomen in 2011, it signaled an enlarged spleen.

“They went through a process of doing CAT scans and blood work,” Carroll said. “They started narrowing a diagnosis down, and they kept eliminating the more benign options.”

Then all options were eliminated but one: mantle cell lymphoma, a rare cancer of the immune system. Carroll reported immediately to his first chemotherapy treatment and was given a prognosis of about two years.

“There was a pamphlet they gave us and it specifically mentioned that mantle cell was incurable,” Carroll said. “So it struck even harder than a diagnosis of cancer.”

A father of three high school students, Carroll considered what he wouldn’t live to see.

“It seemed like there were a lot of things we were going to miss out on that we still wanted to do,” he said. “The thought of not being able to see them graduate, it was very tough.”

Because he was in otherwise good health, doctors advised Carroll to pursue the most aggressive treatments available, with the promise that others would become available over time.

The next few years brought the highs and lows of treatment – the hopes and letdown of chemotherapy, stem cell transplants, radiation therapy and a clinical trial of a new drug that ended up producing extremely negative side effects, including severe weight loss.

With each roadblock, Carroll held out hope for what doctors initially told him – that new treatment options were coming.

“With the ups and downs over the years, it was disappointing to have setbacks, but it wasn’t like the initial shock of being diagnosed,” he said. “Even though the treatments themselves were a hardship, there was something to keep me going.”

By By Joe Queenan

A few years ago, when I was suffering from severe back pain, I consulted a local chiropractor, a practitioner of a medical technique I do not actually believe in. After several predictably fruitless visits, she asked me to lie on a long, vibrating bed that would help me relax by putting my body in harmony with the vibrations of the planet.

“That won’t work with me,” I told her, gathering up my things. “I’m from Philadelphia.”

As an alumnus of the Quaker City working class, I held on to my disdain for all things esoteric and mystical and Eastern – yoga, tai chi, transcendental meditation, chutney – for many years until my back pain got so severe that I finally broke down and saw an acupuncturist. I would never have dreamed of doing this were it not for the intervention of a friend, a man as conservative and straitlaced as they come, who handed me Dr. Lee’s card, recommending him most highly.

“Wait a minute,” I objected. “Guys like you don’t believe in stuff like acupuncture.”

“If your back hurts enough, you’ll believe in anything,” he replied.

The treatment worked; for me, it was a miraculous cure. I am not exaggerating by saying that acupuncture saved my life. This got me to thinking about how hard it is to get a person to change his mind about something unless some sort of personal crisis erupts. 

By Yannis Comino

Over my summer break at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, I decided to trade in the warmer weather of Australia for an English winter. Why, you might ask, would I do such a thing? Well, the only way I can explain it is — I was presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. During my New Generations Service Exchange at the headquarters of ShelterBox International in Truro, Cornwall, I gained priceless insight and first-hand experience in disaster relief management.

Both my mother and father are members of the Rotary Club of Morisset, and their club’s constant promotion of ShelterBox gave me the idea to seek the exchange. I am currently working on a bachelor’s in Development Studies with the hope of pursuing a career in the aid sector through either community development or disaster management, so I was thrilled when my exchange was approved.

Where were you born, education/degrees or associations/board seats? I was born in Chicago, but moved to Wisconsin when I was two- so I am a Packers fan, but have a soft spot for the Bears. I earned a BA in Biological Psychology from CU-Boulder and an MBA in Product and Brand Management from UWM.

What did you want to be when you grew up? Sports Medicine physician.

Name of company & position, or your very first job: Advanced Ear, Nose & Throat Specialists (ADVENT), Provider & Community Outreach Coordinator.

Family: My husband, Mike, owns his own electrical contracting business. My son, Harrison, is 11, has developed a fantastic appreciation of sarcasm, and loves playing just about any and every sport, but is most passionate about soccer- he wants to be the next Lionel Messi. My daughter, Emme, is 9.5 and the sweetest, smartest, sparkle and tutu-loving old soul you’ll ever meet- she’s informed NASA that she will be working there as an astrogeologist. My daughter, McKenna (known as Smoosh to most), is 8, impossibly loving, and easily the funniest person I’ve ever met- she’s still planning to be a “hair doer,” but I can only see her on Second City.

Interests/hobbies/last book read/favorite movie/what’s playing in on your car’s stereo/pastimes: Event planning is part of my role within ADVENT and last night was our second annual State of the Union meeting. One item I was tasked with for the event was creating an upbeat playlist which turned out really well and is presently being played in my car. And may lead to some dancing while driving…

Biggest career accomplishment/highlight to date, or what do you like best about your job? The biggest career highlight for me was last summer when ADVENT was recognized as the second fastest growing business in Milwaukee by the Milwaukee Business Journal and I was asked to not only accept the award on ADVENT’s behalf, but also represent ADVENT in the brief interview they do with the top two businesses.

Rotarians & Community Leaders Program: Peacebuilding Through Education & Literacy

Rotary International President Ian Riseley is hosting six Presidential Peacebuilding Conferences around the world in 2018.  Chicago is the only site for the U.S. based Peacebuilding Conference focused on Peace through Education and Literacy.  The Peacebuilding Conference in Chicago will highlight the many opportunities we all have to build peace through education and literacy locally and globally.

Attend to BE INSPIRED - FORM PARTNERSHIPS - AND TAKE ACTION!

Plenary and breakout session speakers include Ian Riseley, President, Rotary International, Robert Knuepfer, Rotary International Director, Mary Beth Growney Selene, Rotary Foundation Trustee and Past Rotary International Director, plus several Rotary Peace Fellows, Civil Rights and State Department representatives, and NGO leaders.

Cost for Rotarians and guests is $175 (until May 7); $195 (May 8 or later) and includes breakfast, lunch, and breaks.

If you would be interested in busing down with other District 6270 Rotarians, please contact Nancy Rhodes before May 1st at nancyrhodes1@outlook.com . (Cost for bus will depend on number of participants.)

​Or, make it a Rotary Weekend! On Friday, Chicago  Rotarians will host visits to RI Headquarters, the Paul Harris home, and other historic Rotary sites. For overnight guests, the Hilton Orrington Hotel is offering rooms at the reduced rate of $189 plus tax plus $13 for parking.

By by Corrinne Hess (BizTimes)

Last summer, Bartolotta Restaurant Group LLC wanted to add a sign on the north side of its Mr. B’s-A Bartolotta Steakhouse in Mequon.

Doing so would have given the restaurant, at 11120 N. Cedarburg Road, more visibility and, according to Bartolotta, a level playing field with Café Hollander, located kitty-corner at Mequon Town Center.

However, the application did not meet the requirements of Mequon’s multiple-page signage ordinance and was denied by the city’s plan commission. So was the appeal that followed in the fall.

Instead, Bartolotta was allowed to put the “Mr. B’s” name on the sign for Riversite shopping center, where the restaurant is located.

Mequon has long been known for its strict development rules (like its signage ordinance), large homes and modest-sized commercial buildings. But now, the city has slowly begun to embrace the concept of mixed-use developments. 

The city’s first mixed-use, urban-style development, Mequon Town Center, was completed about two years ago in a district, also called Mequon Town Center, that city officials had planned for several years. Now, two more projects are planned to complete the town center district: Spur 16 and Foxtown.

Mequon offers unique challenges and opportunities for real estate developers. Maintaining some of the strictest design and development rules in the region, Mequon has earned a reputation as one of the most difficult places in the area to do business. But at the same time, Mequon is also one of the most affluent communities in the state, making it a desirable location for both residential and commercial developers.

February 3 - April 8, 2018

Every two years the Museum of Wisconsin Art is privileged to showcase the most compelling, engaging, inventive, and unique art from a state rich in creative capital. The 2018 Wisconsin Artists Biennial features 53 works by 46 artists hailing from throughout the state, representing a wide spectrum of media and creative perspectives.

Venue: Museum of Wisconsin Art, 205 Veterans Ave., West Bend, WI 53095. 262-334-9638 (Phone)

By Gabriel de Jesus Abade, former Rotary Youth Exchange Student

When I was 16, like most teenagers, I was focused on my own life. I hadn’t really thought about joining a service club or dedicating myself to helping others. But that changed when a high school friend began talking to me about Rotary, and its local and global actions. I was captivated and wanted to learn more. So I took my first steps in Rotary as a member of the Interact Club of Lauro de Freitas. Through the club, I was able to contribute in small ways to changing my community for the better.

It was also there that I first came into contact with the Rotary Youth Exchange program through exchange students who lived in my district. It aroused something inside of me, and I felt an urge to also go away and experience something new. I took part in a youth exchange to Freeport, Bahamas, in District 6990 and it changed my life in so many ways I can’t explain. It is still shaping many of my current decisions. A lot of what I do today is related to the change I went through nine years ago. The exchange opened my eyes to a world bigger than my own neighborhood, city, state, and country. And there was no turning back.

By Tom Daykin, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Locally owned Purple Door Ice Cream is expanding with a store at the new Mequon Public Market, it was announced Friday.

The store will be Purple Door's second retail location.

The Milwaukee company got started in 2011, making ice cream for such wholesale accounts as Sendik's Markets and Metro Market. It's owned by Lauren and Steve Schultz.

Purple Door opened a retail counter in 2012 in the Walker's Point neighborhood, at Clock Shadow Creamery, 138 W. Bruce St. It moved the retail operation just four blocks away, to 205 S. 2nd St., in 2014.

As part of National Preparedness, The Mequon Police Department is encouraging residents to register their mobile telephones to receive emergency alerts from the department.

The Mequon 911 Dispatch Center will use the “Hyper-Reach” emergency telephone notification system. “Hyper-Reach” allows the 911 Center to quickly send a recorded message to telephones in specific areas and alert residents to any emergency situations that may require immediate action. The system is designed to deliver more than 5,000 calls per hour and has been successfully used on a number of occasions for incidents such as hazardous chemical releases, missing persons and severe weather alerts. The “Hyper-Reach” message delivers critical information to residents and provides guidance on what precautions need to be taken by residents during and after the incident.

ByBrett Morey, chair of Surfers Unite Rotarian Fellowship and past president of the Rotary Club of La Jolla Golden Triangle, California, USA

Have you ever thought of turning a hobby or passion into something even more beneficial through Rotary? I am a third generation Californian and grew up bodyboarding at Huntington Beach and Del Mar, before starting to surf 34 years ago. Back in May, I got this crazy idea to do something with my interest in surfing.

For years, we’ve all heard Rotary leaders talk about making Rotary fun, bringing youth into Rotary, and pushing our membership beyond 1.2 million members worldwide. It struck me, why not create a Rotary Fellowship that generates exciting activities and involves those we mentor through Youth Service programs? If there’s one thing I’ve learned as a member of Rotary, it’s that anything is possible.

April 11, 2018 and April 12, 2018

Milwaukee Area Technical College - Downtown Campus
700 W. State St.
Milwaukee, WI 53233

The 15th Annual Sustainability Summit & Exposition will highlight economic trends and business opportunities in energy, water, infrastructure, transportation and workforce development. We encompass a broad range of systems and practices that will sustain the Earth’s resources for future generations. Our goal is to raise awareness of the historic opportunities propelled by the new economic wave of sustainability systems and practices—for investment, development, education and employment. A special emphasis will be placed on examples of successful programs and initiatives.

How can you help?

1. Assist with Exhibit Table focusing on Rotary and its support for Sustainability.   Contact:  DG Jeff Reed, 920.517.1250  or  jreed6270@gmail.com
2. Attend the Sustainability Summit.  Register at:  https://sustainabilitysummit.us/   Encourage peers (business leaders, organization leaders, Rotarians) and students to attend. 
3. Become a Rotary Club Sponsor of the Sustainability Summit.  https://sustainabilitysummit.us/sponsor/

I have been working to ensure that Rotary will be involved in at least two breakout sessions –

1. Environmental Sustainability Rotarian Action Group (ESRAG).  Discussion of ways in which Rotarians work to support sustainability.  (Contact:  D6270 DG Tina Hall)
2. Grant Guidelines.  Rotary global projects must ensure sustainability.  The new RI needs assessment strengthens the approach and assurance of long-term progress.   (Contact: DGN Steen Sanderhoff)

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Yours in Rotary Service,

Jeff

Jeffrey G. Reed
District Governor

By Albert Essien, Rotary Club of Tema Meridian, Ghana

Fante Mayera is a medium-size rural community of about 800 people in the greater Accra region of Ghana. In August, I visited the community with the manager of the Rotary-USAID partnership in Ghana and other officials to meet with villagers and check on the progress of a borehole and latrine. I had been part of an initial visit with my Rotary club in 2016 to assess conditions there, and it was exciting to return and see the difference this important collaboration is making.

The main occupation of the people in Fante Mayera is farming. The community is connected to the National Electricity Grid so inhabitants have access to a power supply. The community had an existing hand-dug well, which was installed a decade ago. But over time, the quality of the water had become very bad. When we arrived at the well site, the apron was hanging off from erosion and the hand pump was not working. To fetch water, villagers had to use a bucket and rope. The color of the water resembled tea.

By Fred Mesquita, Rotary Club of São Paulo-Jardim das Bandeiras, São Paulo, Brazil

Two brothers, a car, one important social cause, a lot of courage, and many adventures along the way. That’s how our Expedition “Me Leva Junto” (Take me with you) began in October 2015, now more commonly known as the “Hepatitis Zero Expedition.”

My brother José Eduardo and I completed the first stage of our expedition, the Americas, in December, traveling through 20 countries and visiting 274 cities on the American continent. All our efforts are volunteer; there is no sponsorship from any company or organization.

On Sunday, March 4th, COA Youth & Family Centers will roll out the red carpet for their 20th Annual Hollywood Gala. This "Oscars" event takes place downtown Milwaukee at the Hilton, and includes a formal dinner, one-of-a-kind silent auction and a live screening of the Academy Awards.

The event begins at 5:00 pm and ends at approximately 10:00 pm. Last year COA welcomed over 350 guests and raised $160,000 for their programs.

But such a large fundraising event wouldn't be possible without volunteers. 

Saturday, March 3rd, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm: Help load up items and boxes at COA's Administrative Office (909 E. North Ave) and then unload everything at Milwaukee Hilton City Center (509 W. Wisconsin Ave).

Sunday, March 4th, 9:00 am - 1:00 pm: Help set up the silent auction and dining rooms at the Milwaukee Hilton City Center (509 W. Wisconsin Ave).

Sunday, March 4th, 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm: Help greet guests, monitor the auction, sell raffle tickets, assist with registration and check-out etc.

If you can help at any of the times and places listed above please contact Jeff Kim at jtkim052810@gmail.com.

Do you feel a calling to serve others, but also lead through compassion and wisdom? Do you want to enrich lives, develop better organizations, and create a more positive world? You may be a servant-leader!

Join us to learn about and share your experiences servant leadership. Each month, in conjunction with Servant-Leader Milwaukee, Concordia University’s Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) and the Office of Alumni Relations host the Concordia Servant Leader Roundtable. The meetings are held the second Thursday of the month,  from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. in the Lakeshore Room at the Mequon Campus. While the topic changes each month, the enduring theme of the roundtable is "the wisdom is in the room."

By Bob Wallace, Rotary Coordinator for Zone 24 East and a member of the Rotary Club of Port Hope, Ontario, Canada

At our zone institute in Winnipeg, I saw a presentation about Rotary’s membership leads program and how districts are receiving many requests from the program but not following up on the leads.

Later, I was at Rotary headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, USA, for training as a Rotary Coordinator, and Brian King, RI Director of Membership Development, pointed out to us how failing to follow up on these leads represented a major public image failure. Think about it. A person makes contact with you, and you totally ignore them? What does that say about your organization?  In the business world, companies often make cold calls to generate business, sometimes with no results. In this case, people are coming to us asking to join.

In 1978, with the ink barely dry on his college diploma, Wally Sommer began working at his father's side in the family dealership, Sommer's Buick-Pontiac in Mequon. One of the early tasks handed to him by his dad was to call customers to check the status of outstanding accounts. Wally completed the job with one exception. The elder Mr. Sommer, Wally Sr., took the account back and said he would look into it himself. Later, Wally asked his father if he had reached a resolution regarding the customer.“Well, yes,” his father replied, it turns out the family doesn’t have any money to pay. In fact, they don’t even have money to fill their tank with heating oil this winter.” “What did you do?” asked his son. “Why I called the fuel company and ordered them to go to their home and fill the tank,” replied Wally Sr. The answer was not at all what young Wally expected to hear. But it established for him, at that early date, the foundation of care and respect the elder Mr. Sommer expected regarding the people with whom they did business. It’s a bar that Wally, his family and employees still hold as high today.

Customer care is but one of the reasons Wally Sommer of Sommer’s Subaru Buick GMC has been chosen as your 2018 Wisconsin Dealer of the Year and the 2018 Time Quality Dealer of the Year nominee.

Sommer’s Subaru, the store Wally is representing as your TIME Quality Dealer nominee, is operating at record levels. A beautiful new facility and a growing staff have allowed the dealership to maintain their #1 Rank in the Minneapolis zone of 44 dealers and #2 ranking in the Central Region of Subaru consist- ing of 163 retailers. For four consecutive years the dealership has been recognized as a member of the Subaru Chairman’s Roundtable consisting of the top 25 of 630 national dealers. The award is not based simply on sales volume but on facility requirements and customer satisfaction. In addition, the Buick- GMC franchises have earned GM’s Mark of Excellence from 2013 to the present. Those, however, are only numbers. The real story lies in the atmosphere of the Sommers dealership.

By Jeff Rumage, Now News Group

MEQUON - An interdisciplinary building at Concordia University Wisconsin has been downsized to 40,000 square feet, less than half the size proposed when the building was originally presented to city officials in October 2016.

The building is named the Robert W. Plaster Free Enterprise Center, in recognition of a gift made by the Robert W. Plaster Foundation intended to support Concordia's vision of promoting "free market principles across the disciplines of healthcare, education, science, technology and the arts."

The once-four-story building has been scaled down to a three-story, 46-foot-tall building. Cliff Mayer, principal of Mayer Helminiak Architects, told the Mequon Plan Commission on Jan. 15 that the building was scaled down to lower the cost of the project.

The commission unanimously approved the university's building and site plans at the meeting.

The building will still feature large glass windows overlooking Lake Michigan. The building will also have a two-story connection to Luther Hall on its north side. 

Concordia expects to begin construction in March and have the building ready for occupancy by January 2019.

The new facility will house classrooms, lecture halls and faculty offices for schools of business, education, hospitality, event management and health professions.

Concordia's top degree-seeking programs of study are in health care and business, so the university has needed space for those fields for some years, said Concordia University Wisconsin spokeswoman Kali Thiel. 

The building will also provide a physical space to build upon the collaboration that already exists between the health care and business schools, Thiel said.

Will open to patients on Jan. 18

By Lauren Anderson - BizTimes

Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin officials unveiled the health network’s new Drexel Town Square Health Center in Oak Creek on Wednesday evening.

The three-story, 109,000-square-foot health center at the corner of West Drexel Avenue and South Sixth Street includes primary care and urgent care services, an outpatient surgery center and a cancer center. It will begin seeing patients Jan. 18.

The Drexel Town Square Health Center marks an expansion of the health network’s presence south of Milwaukee.

Chase your baseball dream

George “the Waterman” Lewis, Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch, Fla. (Published in The Rotarian - January 2018)

When I was growing up, not many people thought about going to college. So in 1952, when I graduated from Rahway High School in New Jersey, I knew what I was going to do: sign a contract to play baseball. I had made the varsity team for the Rahway Indians my freshman year, and in my sophomore year we won three major New Jersey championships. I was All State my junior and senior year, and team captain in my senior year. I was feeling pretty good.

In those days there were no drafts, but scouts for the major league teams were going around and looking at high school players. I had become friendly with a scout for the Boston Red Sox, and I ended up signing with them. They sent me to upstate New York to play in the All Star College League. It was my first time ever on an airplane, and I found myself sitting next to another young guy. Like me, he was a catcher, and he had some impressive credentials. This worried me. He might get the starting job ahead of me. I thought, “How can I be on the bench? I’m the best baseball player in the world.” 

Things turned out differently than expected. In my first at-bat, I struck out on three pitches, and they sent me back home. I thought, “My life has ended.” I was practically crying.

By Don Behm - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The last unprotected reach of Trinity Creek close to its headwater springs in Mequon will be relieved of a recurring burden of soil and agricultural pollutants now that it has been acquired by the Mequon Nature Preserve.

To ensure the 6.38-acre property west of busy Wauwatosa Road is not developed in the future, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District has proposed paying $50,000 to the nature preserve to create a permanent conservation easement on the property deed that prohibits subdivision and building construction.

Not to stop there, the easement would require restoration of native grasses and trees on the land.

The easement would allow one change to the landscape. The Mequon Nature Preserve could shift the flow of the creek through the roadside property out of a straightened agricultural drainage ditch and into a more natural, meandering channel, said David Grusznski, Milwaukee program manager for The Conservation Fund.

Break the sound barrier (as a teacher for the deaf)

Jean Irwin Hatfield, Rotary Club of Folsom, CA (Published in The Rotarian - January 2018)

When I decided to become a teacher for the deaf, I enrolled in a program at Fresno State. We started with 80 candidates, but by graduation we were down to 13. That’s how intense the program was.

People don’t realize the linguistic challenges of deaf students, especially the trouble they have learning to read. Why is that? Because reading is a sound/symbol system. You don’t read with your eyes but with your ears. This is why blind students, for instance, read at the same level as their sighted peers, while deaf students might graduate from high school reading at a fourth-grade level.

When I started out, 38 years ago, teachers dealt with this problem using workarounds, trying to figure out how to get information to deaf students in ways that didn’t involve reading. Then I heard about a professor in England, David Wood, who was doing groundbreaking work with the deaf.

On behalf of the Mission Advancement Team and St. Marcus School, I'm writing to thank your AMAZING Interact Team at Homestead for the book donation and the food & recipe package for one of our families!!

It was such a pleasure to meet David and the students last week. Our scholars had a BLAST opening the books in the library, and it was so delightful to watch their reactions as they unwrapped.

Later that week, we delivered gifts to the "Patricia P." family, one of the recipients in our Christmas Angels program. The Interact students' food and recipe package was a PERFECT match for Patricia!! She was absolutely overcome with gratitude.

We are so blessed to have connected with you this holiday season, and I hope it's just the beginning of an exciting partnership! I wish you and the Interact students blessings galore in the new year to come. THANK YOU and God bless!!

With much gratitude,

Cecilia Davis
Executive Assistant to the Director of Mission Advancement
St. Marcus Lutheran School

Editor's Note: View photos from this event at MTSunriseRotary.org.

By Joe Williams, Rotary Club of Durango Daybreak, Colorado, USA

Most people in the United States take electricity for granted. Only if a powerful storm hits and it is taken away do we get an understanding of what it is like to depend entirely on the sun for our light.

There is, however, a significant population in the heart of the United States that lives their lives with only the sun to light the way.

The Navajo Nation is large. Our club is located slightly north of the Nation. And so our project began.

By Joe Williams, Rotary Club of Durango Daybreak, Colorado, USA

Most people in the United States take electricity for granted. Only if a powerful storm hits and it is taken away do we get an understanding of what it is like to depend entirely on the sun for our light.

There is, however, a significant population in the heart of the United States that lives their lives with only the sun to light the way.

The Navajo Nation is large. Our club is located slightly north of the Nation. And so our project began.

Money Magazine identified 100 spots that offer a healthy economy, affordable homes, and a high quality of life. Mequon was named the 41st best place to live! Money Magazine Wrote:

"The community contains more than two dozen community parks, with hundreds of acres that are operated by the city or county. Early this year, Mequon opted to become a Bee City USA, and the city has partnered with the Mequon Nature Preserve to host events and underline the importance of bees. Mequon residents also enjoy access to five golf courses, the winding Milwaukee River, and a convenient commute to Milwaukee.

The local school system is ranked as one of the best in Wisconsin, with ultrahigh graduation rates. Mequon is also home to a number of higher education institutes, including Concordia University Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, and the northern campus for the Milwaukee Area Technical College."

The holiday season brings with it a special opportunity to serve our community as opportunities become available that might not necessarily be around the rest of the year.

Our Rotary club has volunteered to spread some holiday cheer to a St. Marcus School family this year. All needs and wishes listed by the family have been divided up among our club and the interact club. Thank you to those of you who have already generously donated money, gifts, and other household items.

UPDATE: Gifts are now due by the morning of Friday, December 15th. Danielle Deller will be collecting items on Friday, December 8th and Friday December 15th. Gifts should be wrapped and labeled with the family member’s name. 

If you selected a specific gift from the basket that went around but are unable to obtain it by the deadline, please let Danielle (danielle.deller@gmail.com) know what it was and who it was for so she can ensure all members of the family are accounted for equally.

Happy Holidays!

Danielle
danielle.deller@gmail.com

By José Lucas Rodríguez, governor of Rotary District 7000 (Puerto Rico)

Puerto Rico is an island in the Caribbean, the smallest of the Greater Antilles, which is distinguished by its natural beauties, the talent of Puerto Ricans in music, arts, and sports, and above all for the warmth of its people.

But the so-called island of Enchantment was transformed by what already has been classified as the most catastrophic event in the history not only of Puerto Rico, but of the United States. More than a month after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, our people are still struggling to recover from the impact of this natural phenomenon, which left so much desolation in its wake.

By Magdalena Zurita with Phill Gittins, Rotary Peace Fellows

My interest in promoting peace brought me to Bolivia, where I am doing my applied field study while earning a master’s degree at the Rotary Peace Center at International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. I am passionate about the reduction of poverty and inequality, and efforts to address these challenges in ways that promote working together and embracing difference. In May, a Skype call and email exchange connected me to Phill Gittins, a fellow Rotary Peace Fellow, who has been working in Bolivia for many years. Through Rotary two strangers, working on peace separately, are now working on peace together.

Earthquakes and emigration are draining the life out of rural communities. Rotarians are giving young people a reason to come back.

By Diana Schoberg Photos by Gianluca Cecere

Arquata del Tronto was never an easy place to live. Picturesque, yes: The snowcapped peak of Monte Vettore forms the backdrop to this collection of medieval villages sandwiched between two national parks in central Italy’s Appenine Mountains. Tiny chapels line the local trails, and one village is known as the land of the fairies, a mythological place where shepherds were lured in by beautiful fairies with goat feet. But the municipality, which includes 15 villages, had a population of 1,200, and the nearest city is 15 miles away along the narrow, winding mountain roads. For a young person, for a young family, there was not much reason to stay. And that was before the earthquakes hit.

Maurizio Paci explains all of this after he escorts us through an army checkpoint to view this community where he and his family have lived for generations, which  was reduced to rubble after three major  earthquakes hit central Italy in 2016. He experienced the tragedy up close: Here in Arquata, he has been on the municipal council for 11 years, while in nearby Amatrice, which was also pummeled during the disasters, he is a police officer. “I was hit on all sides,” he says.

By Jeff Rumage

MEQUON - A fire ravaged the Charter Manufacturing building on Glen Oak Lane, leaving the building with "very extensive damage," according to Mequon Fire Chief David Bialk.

“Early indications are that it is a total loss and that repair is not an option” said Charter Manufacturing spokesman Evan Zeppos.

The building houses administrative offices for nine employees, who have been relocated to neighboring Charter Manufacturing facilities within the business park.

The Mequon Fire Department received a fire alarm alert from the building at 9:12 p.m. Oct. 30, and the first truck was on the scene in 10 minutes. Firefighters attempted to enter the building, but due to the intensity of the fire, they switched to a defensive firefighting strategy on the outside of the building, Bialk said.

About 40 people responded to the scene from the Mequon, Thiensville, Grafton, Cedarburg and North Shore fire departments.

High winds fanned the flames, hampering firefighting efforts, Bialk said. Crews didn't leave the scene until 12:30 a.m., more than three hours after receiving the fire alarm call.

No one was in the building at the time of the fire, and no firefighters were injured. Bialk said the cause of the fire is under investigation, but nothing suspicious was found at the scene. Based on the fire damage to the roof, Bialk thinks the fire started above the first floor.

By Andrew Gruman, Now News Group

For the past two seasons, the Homestead girls tennis team has not been stopped. 

The Highlanders capped their second consecutive WIAA Division 1 state team championship with a 5-2 victory over Neenah in the championship match Oct. 21 at Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison.

Homestead has now won seven team state girls tennis championships and have won in consecutive seasons for the first time since winning five straight from 2008-12. 

The win over Neenah (15-2) capped the Highlanders team record at 26-0, leaving Homestead at a perfect 53-0 over the past two seasons.

Thanks goes out to Milwaukee North Shore Rotarian Jerry Gold who coordinated this opportunity for three Rotary Clubs to come together and plant 107 trees and 96 shrubs in the Mequon Nature Preserve. We had  30 Rotarian volunteers representing 7 countries from 3 continents making this an international project. There were  6 were from Amigos de Milwaukee, 14 from MliwNS and our 10 included; John H, Tim H, Andrea J, Dave K, Kay N, Connie P, Dave S, Terry S, JoAnn V and myself.

The trees and shrubs were supplied moved into place by staff at Mequon Nature Preserve and some of the larger holes were pre-drilled for us. After we received planting instructions and equipment we were set loose to walk to the multiple planting sites and get planting. The Mequon Nature Preserve staff never thought that we’d get all of the trees and shrubs planted and mulching completed in one work day. The planting and mulching teams along with BBQ lunch provided the opportunity for members from the different clubs to get to know each other by working shoulder to shoulder and breaking bread together.

The three clubs have met their respective goals of one tree per member (49 for MT), but we’ll have multiple opportunities to exceed that goal. Mequon Nature Preserve will have 2,000 whips that will need to go in spring and another 800 trees and shrubs again next fall. Connie is also working on another tree planting project for this spring (details to follow).

Thanks, Brian
D6270 Tree Planting Coordinator 

Photo: Pre-planting group from L-R Brian M.(MT), Frey F.(A), Edwin N.(A), Jerry G.(NS), John H.(MT), Fessahaye  M.(A), Natraj S.(NS) Dave S.(MT)

September 30, 2017

A message to Rotarians in District 6270

The Rotary Foundation and Rotary clubs are helping communities battered by severe weather and earthquakes.  These disasters have caused major damage in the Golf Coast, southeast USA, the Caribbean and Mexico.  As you have heard on the news, Puerto Rico has been devastated. 

These disasters have resulted in loss of life, injury, and damage to homes, businesses, and the infrastructure needed for communities to operate. Many people have lost everything – shelter, clothing, food, even transportation.  In some communities there is no electricity, no water, and no fuel. Many organizations are mobilizing to assist. ShelterBox, our Rotary Partner, has been actively assisting. The Red Cross is responding. Some clubs in our district have already responded with contributions of money and tangible goods – thank you.

Rotary now has four donor advised funds to assist victims. We invite you to consider a donation to help neighbors as they rebuild their lives. As a Rotarian or a Rotary Club your donation can help. Recovery will be an ongoing effort for years. Here are several Rotary Foundation donor advised funds to which you can make your contribution:

• Puerto Rico.  Puerto Rico Recovery.  Account # 614
• Earthquake.  Mexico Earthquake Recovery Fund.  Account # 613
• Hurricanes Irma and Maria.  Hurricane Emergency Relief Fund.  Account # 296
• Hurricane Harvey.  Gulf Coast Disaster Relief Fund.  Account # 608

You can donate by check, credit card or wire transfer.

For more information, click here.

Thank you for your generosity.

Jeffrey G. Reed
District Governor 2017-18, District 6270, Rotary International

Three local printmakers are sharing the Cedarburg Cultural Center's artist-in-residency in October. 

Jack Pachuta, Jewell Riano Bradley and Susan Steinhafel are all studio artists at Paul Yank’s Ozaukee Art Center. 

The three will join Yank in a monoprint/collagraph exhibit Oct. 19-Nov. 26. The opening reception is planned for Monday, Oct. 23. 

Pachuta takes a nontraditional approach. Combining printmaking techniques with craftsmanship of pencil and ink renderings, his works are known for their vibrant colors and unique textures.