Changemakers Rotary Club

For a recording of the March monthly meeting, click here.

 

This was our final club meeting as Changemakers Rotary, and we reflected what we had done as a club.

 

We recited the Four Way Test.  Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned?  Will it build goodwill and better friendship?  Will it be beneficial to all concerned?  And Number five, will it be fun?

 

Changemakers Rotary was founded on July 2, 2022, and will disband March 31, 2026.  Charter members who are still with us include LeRoy Kemnitz, Peter Groth, Cathy Statz, Valerie Wachuta, and Kwasi Obeng.  

 

 

We won three big awards in our short time period, a Club Excellence award in 24-25, a Rotary Citation in 23-24, and a Foundation award in 22-23.

 

 

Rotary is a Service organization.  Our first service project was Family Health La Clinica.  We collected $11,000 including a district grant for a diabetes project of glucose monitors and test strips for workers in central Wisconsin. 

 

 

We had a table at TriCon in 2023 promoting the La Clinica project, and later we got together to hand out the Paul Harris awards that members received.

 

 

Another service project was the Ukrainian Refugee School in Hungary.  The project was started in Budapest, and three clubs in District 6250, including Changemakers, were collecting donations for the school and supplies.  Sharon spoke at several clubs promoting the project.

 

Operation Pollination is a nationwide project with Rotary District 6250 as a contributing member.  Our club signed the pledge to protect and promote pollinator habitat.  Val created a pollinator garden in her back yard with native perennial plants.  We were updated monthly on plants and habitat.  

 

 

That project inspired Julie, another member to start a Peace Pollinator Garden at the school where she is a third grade teacher.  Changemakers received a grant and purchased a Rotary Peace Pole for this garden, engraved with peace sayings in several languages.  The installation ceremony for the peace pole at the garden will be later this spring when the weather is nicer.

 

 

Another aspect of Rotary is the Friendship Exchanges.  Sharon and Cathy have been active in the Exchanges, as was Cheryl. 

 

 

Sharon, Cathy and Cheryl were on the Exchange to Budapest, Hungary in 2023.  

 

 

Cathy went to the Philippines early in 2024.

 

 

And Rotarians from the Philippines came here in September.  Sharon was a host and they all had a wonderful time.

 

 

Cathy and Sharon both went to Sweden in June on another exchange.  

 

 

And Rotarians from Sweden came here in September.  

 

 

Our club was represented at Tri-Con every year.  2023 in La Crosse, was our biggest participation, with five members attending.  (Photos above)

 

Tri-Con 2024 was in Green Bay, Sharon had a table promoting the Ukrainian Refugee school.

 

 

Tri-Con 2025 our club was represented by Sharon and Cathy.

 

 

LeRoy participated in the Rotary team RAGBRAI across Iowa in 2023.

 

 

 

LeRoy also bicycled from Rotary International Headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, to the International Convention in Calgary, Canada in 2025.

 

Cathy also attended more than one Rotary International Convention, including at Calgary.  

 

 

Changemakers sponsored the Interact Club of Sun Prairie East High School, and sponsored a student to the Rotary Youth Leadership Award camp every year.  Sharon kept us abreast of their activities.

 

Monthly speakers are also a part of Changemakers.  Thank you to everyone who spoke at a meeting, and thank you to everyone who lined speakers up for us, especially to Rita for speakers in 2026.

 

Several members have expressed an interest in remaining in Rotary, joining another club in the district.  Here's hoping we stay in touch and someday meet again.

 

 

 

 

Greetings to all of you Changemakers! This will be my last message to you.  And, it is not goodbye, but rather, until the next time we see each other.  It has been a privilege to have been your president for the past two Rotary years and to have gotten to know you.

  

Please join us for our March 6th, monthly meeting at 7:30 am for fellowship and the business meeting from 8:00-9:00.  We will be having a celebration of our club.  Join me as we reflect on everything we have done in the past three plus years. And a recognition of all those members who contributed to our club.  I hope that we can share our memories and experiences as Changemakers.

 

A big thanks to our first president LeRoy Kemnitz who was tasked with getting this club off the ground and up and running. Not only did LeRoy dedicate many hours for this but he has also been our treasurer for the last three years.  And to Val Wachuta, our second president and forever secretary, thanks to all of your hours of work to keep this club viable.  Val has done an outstanding job of  keeping our website current and vibrant.  And to Peter Groth, thanks for your work on our Facebook pages and posts as our Social Media Chair. Thanks to Cathy Statz for being Co-chair of the Service Committee and for being our Youth Protection Officer. Thanks to Rita Wachuta-Breckel for inviting speakers to our monthly meetings.

 

What can you be doing?  You will remain a member of the Changemakers Rotary Club through March 31st.   You might want to visit some in-person clubs near you and consider a change in membership as of April 1st.  

 

This is not goodbye.  We may all become members of other clubs; but, Changemakers will be part of us as we move on.  

---

 

Sharon was traveling, Val led the meeting and forgot to record it.

 

Highlights from the meeting:

 

We recited the Four Way Test.  Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned?  Will it build goodwill and better friendship?  Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

 

Peter ran the 50-50 raffle - Val was the winner this month.  Hooray Val!

 

Service Committee Updates: 

Committee meetings are the fourth Tuesday of the month, this month February 24th at 5 pm.  If you wish to form a committee and meet at another time that is good too.

 

We are in need of a membership committee, foundation committee, grants committee, treasurer, secretary/website, speaker line up, and president nominee for 26/27.

 

Our club has lost another member, and is facing unexpected significant price increases.  The executive committee has been discussing this, along with the lack of club participation and difficulty in lining up speakers.  We have come to the conclusion that this club may no longer be viable.  The executive committee voted to disband as-of March 31st, and brought this to a club vote.  Five of the eight members voted to disband the Changemakers Rotary Club, as of March 31, 2026.

 

The next executive board meeting will be February 10th at 5:00 pm  All members are welcome.  Find the meeting link on the website.

 

Our tentative  March 6th speaker will be Ben Stanger, CEO and Founder of Green Box Compost.  This matches the Rotary focus of protecting the environment.

 

Today's guest is Gary Eldred. He founded the Southwest Wisconsin Prairie Enthusiasts. Over time, the organization expanded and rebranded as The Prairie Enthusiasts, which has enabled thousands of activists to work together to heal nature’s wounds. In his newly published memoir, author Gary Eldred shares his unlikely stories of how a miserable person found a passion and became the leader of a grassroots, boots-on-the-ground movement, The Prairie Enthusiasts, to protect and restore the remaining fire-adapted ecosystems of the Upper Midwest.

 

Gary, along with the botanist Mark Leach PhD,  has recently written a book about his life and giving back to nature.  The memoir intends the reader to find and grow passions in this world of wounds.  In many ways, the prairie saved him.    He found a passion and ways to work with other enthusiastic people to start healing nature's wounds.  He hopes that the reader's small failures and grand successes bring them joy.

 

 

Gary grew up in the Albany area.  As a kid he learned from the old timers, who were always happy to share their knowledge.  He learned about Rubin's Cave, named after Rubin Folsom who made a living hunting wolves.  Rubin lived a hermit lifestyle, and would sometimes shelter in the cave. He became good friends with trappers and fishermen, a bee keeper and breeder of Jack-in-the-pulpits.  Some exploited the weaknesses of nature and could have destroyed it, others cared for nature.  Gary became a good hunter, taking from nature.  He was inspired by Sand County Almanac, and began to wonder if he needed to give back. 

 

He began building bluebird and wood duck boxes, but felt he still needed to give back more.  Another project was working with the Green County Conservation League to restore Marsh Creek. He fenced out the cattle and added habitat for trout.  Working there, he learned about the glacial drift in the area, and the area used to be an Indian gathering area.  He realized that this piece of land had been used for centuries.

 

In 1977 The Green County Conservation League and DNR bought Muralt Bluff Prairie, and a group including Gary worked on restoring the prairie so the original native plants could grow. Experts came to teach others about the native vegetation needs.

 

After that, he moved to Boscobel, and began looking for native areas in Grant County.  He founded the Southwest Wisconsin Prairie Enthusiasts, which became The Prairie Enthusiasts, which has thousands of members in the upper midwest area.  Because of all of his activities, one of the lands for restoration in Grant County has been named Eldred Prairie.  

 

 

Gary is selling his memoir, with all proceeds going to cover publishing costs and restore more prairie land.