I hope you all had a good summer. I have really been noticing lately that the days are getting shorter, and the nights cooler. As we slide into and through September, I learned that this is Basic Education and Literacy Month. Yay for all the Rotary projects that address this topic.
Speaking of Service Projects – the service committee is looking for new members. We meet on the fourth Tuesday of the month at 5:00. Join in when you can. The link is on the club website on the left, club website is here. Check out the website, it gets updated regularly. Browse the Member Spotlight (further down on the left) to learn about your fellow members.
We’re rolling out our new Happy Hour this month. It is going to be on the third Thursday of the month starting at 5:30. Petra and Karen will take turns hosting. Petra has a parlor game planned this month that will allow us the opportunity to get know each other a little better. As always, the link is on our website, September link is here.
October is World Polio Month, and Oct 24th is World Polio Day. In recognition, at our next club meeting on 10/6, we will learn a little bit about what Rotary is doing to end polio, and our 50/50 raffle will be 33/33/34, with the Polio foundation getting 34%.
As we ease into Fall, we need to keep an eye on next year. Before winter is done, we need a president-elect for the next Rotary year. The PETS – President Elects Training Seminar will be in-person only next March. Please think about serving this club through leadership.
District events are designed to make the Rotary experience more fun and more successful for the Rotary clubs and their members. Upcoming events in our district include:
Music in the Mills –September 23rd, Lake Mills - Click HERE for more and join us for some fun.
Mental Wellness/Leadership Series: October 5th See the September District Dispatch for more details.
Join our District 6250 Hope Squad for the annual NAMI (National Association for Mental Illness) Walk – Saturday, October 7, 2023, Madison WI. Click HERE to join our team
World Polio Day – October 24th - Don’t forget our 50/50 raffle change at our October meeting.
UPDATED Vibrant Club Workshop: November 4th – Virtual and in Tomah - Detail coming soon!
PETS: March 1-3, 2024 - Itasca, IL – For our new President Elect.
Tri-Con (our Multi-District Conference) - April 19-20, 2024, Green Bay
This August, our own LeRoy Kemnitz participated in RAGBRAI 2023 on the Rotary team.
He is a member of the Rotary Cycling Fellowship group. You can find out more about that group here.
RAGBRAI, Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, is more than just a bike ride, it is an epic eight-day rolling festival of bicycles, music, food, camaraderie, and community. It is the oldest, largest, and longest multi-day bicycle touring event in the world, covering 500 miles. Learn more about RAGBRAI here.
Ask LeRoy about the fun he had at RAGBRAI with the Rotary Cycling Fellowship group.
For those of you on vacation or otherwise unable to attend, here is a recap of our September club meeting.
We recited the four way test to remind us of our Rotary ethics of truth, fairness, goodwill, friendships and beneficial to all.
Our Happy Hour will resume in September. Petra will have a parlor game for us to play at 5:30 on Thursday, September 21. Watch for our club bulletin and Facebook page with more details.
Cathy Statz talked about her walking tour across England. Kudos to Cathy for completing the walk, and for the presentation.
As your club is active in service projects and activities, we wanted to send you a personal invitation to participate in this year’s Rotary-Peace Corps Week, 18-22 September. This week is an opportunity for members of both organizations to collaborate, share their resources, and co-create projects that will have an even greater impact. It is hosted by Partnering for Peace, a group of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who are also Rotary and Rotaract members and are passionate about the impact we can all make together through the official Rotary-Peace Corps partnership.
The week’s theme is Celebrating Our Connections and starts on Monday, 18 September with a panel webinar on Peace through Service, Action and Diversity, including:
Jody Olsen, Former Peace Corps Director
Pat Merryweather-Arges, Rotary International Vice President
The week’s other events include:
Tuesday, 19 September – How to Make the Rotary-Peace Corps Connection Work (Webinar | 20:00-21:00 EDT)
Wednesday, 20 September – Connecting in-country Rotary Clubs and Peace Corps Posts (Panel | 09:00-10:30 EDT)
Thursday, 21 September – Successful Examples of Joint Rotary Peace Corps Projects (Panel | 14:00-15:15 EDT)
Friday, 22 September – Rotary + Peace Corps: A Global Force for Peace (Discussion | 14:00-15:15 EDT)
How else can your Rotary community participate in this week-long grassroots initiative? Although opportunities vary by country and geographic region, consider the ideas below.
Invite a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) to speak about their service at your club meeting. Find a speaker here.
Promote the Rotary-Peace Corps partnership by sharing successful partnership projects with the Partnership Manager (contact information below), district newsletters or local media.
Attend the Rotary-Peace Corps Week events.Register for them here.
We encourage you to consider participating in this week of events and to extend this invitation to your club members.
Best wishes,
Carrie Golden Partnership Manager Programs and Services | Service and Engagement rotary.service@rotary.org
On behalf of Partnering for Peace, an affiliate group in support of the Rotary-Peace Corps partnership: Partnering for Peace 7970 South Vincennes Way Centennial CO 80112 United States https://www.partneringforpeace.org
At this summer’s Rotary International Conference, John Hewko, Rotary International General Secretary and CEO, reported the following accomplishments by The Rotary Foundation.
Polio
We extended our fundraising partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation toward ending polio and committed to raising US$50 million per year over the next three years, with each Rotary dollar matched by two additional dollars from the Gates Foundation. Global support for polio eradication reached new heights at the World Health Summit in October, when Rotary, international partners, and donors pledged a combined US$2.6 billion towards polio eradication.
On World Polio Day (24 October), Rotary clubs in 118 countries hosted an event in their community and members donated US$750,000 to PolioPlus. Members also helped raise awareness about polio eradication on social media, with our content on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter reaching more than 31 million people.
During World Immunization Week, 24-30 April, we used our global platforms to highlight the importance of vaccines. Vaccinations have made it possible for polio cases to decline by 99.9% worldwide and to save an estimated 20 million children from becoming paralyzed by polio.
The Rotary Foundation continually demonstrates our members' commitment to making a difference in local and global communities. We've raised US$262.2 million as of 1 February and are well on our way to meeting this year's goal of US$430 million.
Among our successes in fundraising: Donors gave more than US$1.1 million to The Rotary Foundation on Giving Tuesday (29 November).
Gifts to Rotary's Endowment continue to ensure that future members will have the resources they need to design and implement sustainable projects year after year. The fund has currently raised US$1.544 billion, and we're on target to reach our goal of raising US$2.025 billion by 2025.
Disaster Response Fund
Due to the unprecedented flooding in Pakistan and the ongoing war in Ukraine, we established the Pakistan Flood Response Fund and the Ukraine Response Fund. Donors can give directly to relief efforts led by Rotary members through 31 December.
When Turkey and Syria were struck by devastating earthquakes earlier this year, all donations to the Disaster Response Fund between 6 February and 31 March were used to aid earthquake relief projects.
As of 1 March, US$2.4 million had been donated this year to The Rotary Foundation's Disaster Response Fund. The fund has distributed more than US$11.4 million in 2023, supporting over 230 disaster response grants that provided humanitarian aid and helped communities around the world.
When we work together, our ability to make long-lasting, positive change has no limits. As we approach a new Rotary year, we look forward to continuing to increase our impact, enhance the participant experience, increase our ability to adapt, and expand our reach.
Thank you to each of our Changemaker Rotarians for supporting “Our” Rotary Foundation. Every dollar you give for any Rotary purpose makes a significant and lasting difference in the lives of people around the world!
This August, our own LeRoy Kemnitz participated in RAGBRAI 2023 on the Rotary team. 
Our Happy Hour will resume in September. Petra will have a parlor game for us to play at 5:30 on Thursday, September 21. Watch for our club bulletin and Facebook page with more details.
ROTARY SERVICE AND ENGAGEMENT
At this summer’s Rotary International Conference, John Hewko, Rotary International General Secretary and CEO, reported the following accomplishments by The Rotary Foundation. 
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