Our Happy Hour is moving again starting in May, back to the third Tuesday of the month at 5:00. April’s is right around the corner, this Thursday April 18th at 5:30.
Come and have a drink with us and meet the other club members!
The Rotary Districts of Wisconsin (including Caledonia and La Crescent, MN) and Upper Michigan are holding their Tri-District Conference (Tri-Con 2024) in Green Bay from April 18th - 20th. During this event we will be raising money to fight polio by holding a Silent Auction, and a Pound the Pavement for Polio (PP4P) walk on the morning of April 20th. District 6250 has set up this fundraising page to encourage the individuals and clubs of our district to raise money for PP4P. We are challenging the other two districts and the team raising the most money by the end of April will be declared the winner. The prize will be revealed at Tri-Con 2024.
Let's do our part to End Polio Now! We have reduced cases by over 99.997% from 1985 levels, with only 12 cases in 2023.
“When enough people come together, change will come. Together we can make anything happen. So instead of looking for hope, start creating it.”
Greta Thunberg
April is Environment month for Rotary. Rotary members understand that protecting the environment is a world-wide effort, everywhere, not just “over there”. Our District 6250 has joined a partnership with Operation Pollination and the Rotary Clubs/communities along the Mississippi River. The Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group is one of Rotary’s fastest-growing groups. It inspires and empowers the family of Rotary to implement effective environmental projects.
I attended an Operation Pollination webinar in March and will present information from it to our club in the coming months. This is something that we can do as a club, and as individuals.
The Sun Prairie East Interact club that we are sponsoring is up and running. They are conducting a Book Drive for the month of April for children over the summer months. They are also holding a bake sale, with proceeds going toward our Ukrainian school supply project.
We are sponsoring a student, also from Sun Prairie, to attend the district RYLA camp at Upham Woods in May. RYLA participants experience a life changing weekend full of strong connections, inspiring activities, an introduction to Rotary and a weekend of memories. They will also be introduced to the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group to encourage them to bring pollinator gardens to their communities.
Our Happy Hour is moving again starting in May, back to the third Tuesday of the month at 5:00. April’s is right around the corner, this Thursday at 5:30.
The final paperwork for our La Clinica service project has been submitted, and work continues on the Ukrainian school supply project. We will have a friendship table at Tricon this weekend promoting the project.
It is an honor to create HOPE in our world together.
For those of you on vacation or otherwise unable to attend, here is a recap of our April club meeting.
We recited the four way test to remind us of our Rotary ethics of truth, fairness, goodwill, friendships and beneficial to all.
We are looking for members of Service committee, if you are interested, let anyone on the board know, or just show up. Meetings are on the last Tuesday of the month at 5:00, and can be accessed from our website. We are also always looking for service projects, if you have any ideas, come to the service committee meeting or contact a board member.
We are looking for more club members, if you know of anyone who may be interested, please get in touch.
Tri-Con (our Multi-District Conference) - will be April 18-20, 2024 in Green Bay.
Happy Hour is the third Thursday of the month at 5:30 p.m.
Reminder - For a Rotary club to be eligible for district grants, there is a requirement of an average $100 per capita to be given to the Rotary Foundation.
Our new District Governor Elect is Todd Restel from La Crosse. He will be attending our October meeting.
There will be a Friendship Exchange with Rotarians from District 6250 going to the Philippines May 17 - 22. They state that this is the Fun Zone! Check your email or the district website. Cathy is going, and there is still room.
A one-way Mini-Friendship Exchange with the Netherlands will take place the weekend of April 27. This is a Tulip viewing opportunity. See the district website for more details.
Our speaker next month will be Srilekha Mundla - Power of Consciousness
Our 50/50 raffle winner was Peter Groth.
Sharon updated us on our current service project of supporting a Ukrainian-Hungarian Budapest school. She will present to the Prairie du Chien club, and will be at TriCon with a friendship table spreading the word to other clubs.
Our speaker was Kim Groshek, who spoke about the Power of the Pause.
Kim is retired, but keeps very active. She spoke to us about life shifts, having kids, they go to kindergarten, each grade, kids move out, retirement. She detoxed from tech for a full year in 2015. She started on computers at age 3. Dad was computer programmer, on punchcards. In college she didn’t have support system. It took several colleges and 7 or 8 years to finish college.
Her first job was a computer system director. When Facebook started, only universities could get in, she was an instructor, and encouraged her students to get on.
She was brought up to be quiet and respectful. She realized in 2007 that electronics will take over our lives. About 10 years ago she paused social media accounts, it gave her more time to write and do other things.
Her methodology is concept > pilot > practice, in a forward sprint.
She encourage us to each take a 15 minute pause every day. Intention for pauses. 30 minutes talking about Abundance. Every day take a minute to write what thankful for that day. Next month will be Intention. She works with mastermind groups. Intentional Integrity. Consistency > Power. The pause connects us with ourselves.
The shift happens when traumas come up. Hiding emotions is bad. We are savants. Pausing helps our conscience ladder, it bridges a gap between what we know and what is new. Her daughter is catalyst in her writings. Facebook is also catalyst. God guides her in her activities.
Kim has a podcast we were encouraged to listen to.
Fellow Changemakers, I am writing to thank you for your financial support for the President Elect Training Seminar held March 1 – 3. I assure you that this training was well worth the investment and support that you have given to it. I learned so much and know that you all will help me through my year as president. I also realized that PETS includes training for the President Nominee. Wouldn’t it be great if in 2025 Changemakers could send both the President Elect and the President Nominee! I, of course, missed the chance to attend as President Nominee because I wasn’t even a Rotarian last year.
I want to share with you about the General Session inspirational speakers. I am hoping to find people to talk about these topics at our first Friday of the month Changemakers meetings. Friday afternoon E. Michelle Bohreer from the Rotary Club of Houston Skyline, Texas gave us a rousing message about empowering girls. She then talked about human trafficking.
Friday evening Jennifer Jones from the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland, Ontario talked to us about her year as the first woman president of Rotary International in 2022-23. She inspired us with stories and photos of her Rotary visits around the globe.
Saturday morning, we were introduced to Her Excellency Vanessa Fraser, Ambassador of Malta and member of the United Nations Security Council. We were all fascinated to hear about her story and her work at the UN. By the way, she attended Luther College in Iowa and one of the governor elects was her classmate.
Afterlunch on Saturday, we were present for a dialog between one of the governor elects and Biskakone Greg Johnson, a member of the Lac du Flambeau band of Ojibwe in Wisconsin. He is a cultural practitioner and teacher in the Anishinaabe tradition. Sensitive topics like treaty rights, mascots, and the Indian children taken away from their families and placed in government schools were covered with grace, respect, and acknowledgment of how things could or could have been better. Biskakone is an instructor at the North House Folk School teaching the skills and knowledge of his culture. He makes baskets, moccasins, and canoes.
Saturday night’s speaker was Michael McGovern from the Rotary Club of South Portland-Cape Elizabeth, Main. Michael is the Rotary International Polio Plus Committee Chair. He spoke eloquently from the heart about this extremely important initiative of Rotary International. The eradication of polio is near. In 2023 there were 12 cases reported in the world, six in Pakistan and six in Afghanistan. Michael has traveled all over the world visiting the workers and clinics who administer the vaccine. He has accompanied the workers into the homes of people, where they give the vaccine and record the date, names, and locations of all who receive it. When Polio is eradicated, the work will not be done. The labs will be still there helping to diagnose and prevent other diseases.
On Sunday morning we heard from Nina Menis, Rotary Club of Naperville, Illinois and CEO of KidsMatter and Ryan Lauterwasser of Linden Oaks Hospital, Naperville, Illinois. Ryan spoke to us about his work with high-risk youth and he is the Manager for the Adolescent Impatient and Adult Mental Health and Chemical Detox Units. Ryan told us about the therapeutic model which includes strengthening relationships to promote balance and healthy engagement. Nina’s message as CEO of Kidsmatter focused on prevention-based programs for youth and working collaboratively with other community organizations to promote social, emotional, and academic well-being of children.
All of these General Session speakers have inspired me to share their stories and information with you Changemakers. Let’s make 2024-2025 a year of learning, action, and change!
We're going again! Eight more orientation opportunities for new club members - opportunities to consider how to BE a Rotarian and let the DOING flow naturally.
Sessions held the fifth Wednesday of the month at 7:00 am and 7:00 pm (choose one)
Our Happy Hour is moving again starting in May, back to the third Tuesday of the month at 5:00. April’s is right around the corner, this Thursday April 18th at 5:30. 
The Rotary Districts of Wisconsin (including Caledonia and La Crescent, MN) and Upper Michigan are holding their Tri-District Conference (Tri-Con 2024) in Green Bay from April 18th - 20th. During this event we will be raising money to fight polio by holding a Silent Auction, and a Pound the Pavement for Polio (PP4P) walk on the morning of April 20th.
April is Environment month for Rotary. Rotary members understand that protecting the environment is a world-wide effort, everywhere, not just “over there”. Our District 6250 has joined a partnership with Operation Pollination and the Rotary Clubs/communities along the Mississippi River. The Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group is one of Rotary’s fastest-growing groups. It inspires and empowers the family of Rotary to implement effective environmental projects. 
The Sun Prairie East Interact club that we are sponsoring is up and running. They are conducting a Book Drive for the month of April for children over the summer months. They are also holding a bake sale, with proceeds going toward our Ukrainian school supply project.
The final paperwork for our La Clinica service project has been submitted, and work continues on the Ukrainian school supply project. We will have a friendship table at Tricon this weekend promoting the project.
For those of you on vacation or otherwise unable to attend, here is a recap of our April club meeting.
opportunity. See the district website for more details. 
Kim is retired, but keeps very active. She spoke to us about life shifts, having kids, they go to kindergarten, each grade, kids move out, retirement. She detoxed from tech for a full year in 2015. She started on computers at age 3. Dad was computer programmer, on punchcards. In college she didn’t have support system. It took several colleges and 7 or 8 years to finish college. 
Her methodology is concept > pilot > practice, in a forward sprint.
The shift happens when traumas come up. Hiding emotions is bad. We are savants. Pausing helps our conscience ladder, it bridges a gap between what we know and what is new. Her daughter is catalyst in her writings. Facebook is also catalyst. God guides her in her activities. 
Fellow Changemakers, I am writing to thank you for your financial support for the President Elect Training Seminar held March 1 – 3. I assure you that this training was well worth the investment and support that you have given to it. I learned so much and know that you all will help me through my year as president. I also realized that PETS includes training for the President Nominee. Wouldn’t it be great if in 2025 Changemakers could send both the President Elect and the President Nominee! I, of course, missed the chance to attend as President Nominee because I wasn’t even a Rotarian last year. 
Saturday morning, we were introduced to Her Excellency Vanessa Fraser, Ambassador of Malta and member of the United Nations Security Council. We were all fascinated to hear about her story and her work at the UN. By the way, she attended Luther College in Iowa and one of the governor elects was her classmate.
On Sunday morning we heard from Nina Menis, Rotary Club of Naperville, Illinois and CEO of KidsMatter and Ryan Lauterwasser of Linden Oaks Hospital, Naperville, Illinois. Ryan spoke to us about his work with high-risk youth and he is the Manager for the Adolescent Impatient and Adult Mental Health and Chemical Detox Units. Ryan told us about the therapeutic model which includes strengthening relationships to promote balance and healthy engagement. Nina’s message as CEO of Kidsmatter focused on prevention-based programs for youth and working collaboratively with other community organizations to promote social, emotional, and academic well-being of children. 
We're going again! Eight more orientation opportunities for new club members - opportunities to consider how to BE a Rotarian and let the DOING flow naturally. 
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