The Monthly Newsletter of Rotary District 6250 August EditionImportant Note: Deadline for district newsletter submissions is the 25th of each month. District Governor's Message
Fellow Rotarians-
Dean McHugh
District Governor 2016-2017
Rotary District 6250 District News, Events and AnnouncementsiFEED 11.5.16What do you get when you mix energetic high school students with passionate Rotarians? You get new Interact clubs that burst on the scene of multiple high schools while helping to breathe new life into service for dozens of Rotarians. And that’s a powerful thing. In the Spring of 2015, with the guidance of the Holmen Rotary and Interact Clubs, four La Crosse Area high schools (Central, Logan, Aquinas and West Salem) chartered their own Interact clubs. Soon after, the idea to collaborate on a community service project was formed. The initial idea was to create a day to help feed the hungry children in Nicaragua. This idea grew and morphed into an event that used teamwork and collaboration to unite a community into Service Above Self. The event was called iFeed and in six short months it became a movement to alleviate hunger both locally and globally.
Congratulations to District 6250!The end of year numbers are in and the Rotarians of District 6250 have lots to be proud of! This is a going to be a busy busy weekend in La Crosse with several other events in town taking up hotel rooms. We strongly urge you to book early to be sure that you'll have a room for the 2017 Rotary District Conference!
Room Block Information: Radisson Hotel - Conference Venue 200 Harborview Plaza La Crosse, WI 54601 Standard King Room: $149 Standard 2 Queen room: $159 Reservations: (608) 784-6680 or (800) 333-3333 Ask for the Rotary District 6250 Conference Rate www.radisson.com/lacrossewi Enter promo code: RD6250 Room block deadline: April 14, 2017 The Charmant Hotel - upscale boutique hotel 101 State Street La Crosse, WI 54601 Standard King or Double Queen Room: $249 Reservations: (608) 697-7300 Ask for the in-house reservations: Rotary District 6250 Rate Room block deadline: March 27, 2017
Club News, Events and Announcements“Uncorked” Comes to Downtown Platteville
- The Mint
- Barbershop Rock
- Memo Design Office
- Driftless Market
- SW Wisconsin Rotary
- Julie’s Da Vine Wine & Stein
- Kopp McKichan
- Shannon Marie Photography
- United Country Real Estate
- The Local
Sponsors included Benvenuto’s, Claire Bank, Wisconsin Bank & Trust, Livingston State Bank, Applied Micro and The Ticket. Next year’s event is already planned for Friday, June 9th, 2017 and will include a new twist – beer tasting! More information can be found at http://www.uncorkedplatteville.com/
Holmen Area Rotary Celebrates 10th Anniversary YearWhile many folks are starting the second half of their calendar year on July 1, the Holmen Area Rotary Club is beginning their fiscal year. Not only is July 1 the first day of Rotary’s fiscal year, this date marks the beginning of this relatively young club’s 10th Anniversary Year.
The Holmen Area Rotary club consists of approximately 35 members, including business owners, community leaders, retirees and spouses, school administration, insurance, financial advisors, real estate brokers and many more unique classifications. Rotary represents greater than 1.2mm individuals around the world, making them the largest single service organization in the world. Rotary’s motto is “Service Above Self” but can readily be described in six words: Join Leaders, Share Ideas and Take Action. Speaking of Taking Action, “Our club is very active both locally and internationally”, exclaimed Adam Fleis, the club’s president during the 10th Anniversary year. Community projects completed/ongoing include Holmen’s Hope Community Dinner, Spring Community clean up, Highway 35 road-side clean-up, a 4-sided clock located in Halfway Creek Park, purchase of a Holmen Police K-9 Dog, Camp Decorah Boy Scout Camp restoration, Summer lunches in the Park, Respect Retreat and STRIVE Program (Holmen High School mentorship programs), as well as Holmen High School Scholarships, just to mention a few of the local community projects this club has accomplished in its nine years. And community projects are not all this club does annually. “We host over a half dozen ‘social events’ throughout the year at various venues to promote comradery and to have good fellowship”, remarked Bryan Helgeson, club appointed social director. “One project we are currently working on and are excited to say are very close to finalizing the fundraising portion of the project is our Deerwood Park shelter”, Helgeson went on to say. This will be a $40,000 shelter project and will be donated to the Village of Holmen. Internationally, this club has supported several clean water projects in multiple villages in Peru as well as a central water system and private family restrooms in another community. These projects are accomplished through collaboration with Water Missions International in one instance and directly through a local Rotary Club in Lima Peru by providing education and funding for the construction of Bio Sand Filters. “Clean water is something we all take for granted”, indicated Dean McHugh, Rotary District 6250 District Governor and club member, “and now, villages in Peru have experienced what it is to be able to drink a glass of water without concern for contamination”. Outside of clean water in Peru, our club has assisted in providing financing to purchase a cow for a community school facility in Kenya. And another international project is our ongoing support for both incoming and outgoing foreign exchange students at the high school level. “So the projects just described do not just happen,” Fleis said, “the club accomplishes these projects primarily through three annual fundraising events – a Club Member Service Auction in the Spring, Rock ‘n Ribs Competition in the Summer and a Green Bay Packer Raffle in the Fall.” Rotary has a Foundation that all clubs and individual members support financially. The funds received by the Rotary Foundation are used for many goodwill projects around the world, the eradication of Polio being the primary project. However, a portion of those funds are redirected back to area clubs in the form of Grants to support various club projects. As a result of this club’s fundraising, collaboration with other clubs financial supporting our international projects in collaboration, coupled with grant funds received from the Rotary Foundation, the Holmen Area Rotary Club has raised and supported nearly $250,000 worth of projects in our community and internationally. If you have a desire to “Join Leaders, Share Ideas and Take Action”, please join other like-minded individuals for a hot breakfast every Wednesday morning at 7:00 a.m. at the Holmen Village Community Room or visit our website at homenarearotary.org. We look forward to seeing and/or hearing from you. Return to Top
ROTARIANS PADDLE TO VICTORY!Rotarians from La Crosse Rotary East, Valley View, La Crosse Downtown and Onalaska and family and friends, paddled their way to a Silver Medal at the 4th Annual Big Blue Dragon Boat Festival in La Crosse. The Rotary Works Foundation team was one of 48 teams that competed in the race on July 16th.
The team, consisting of 20 paddlers and a drummer, raced in heats on a course 300 meters long on the Black River. Sponsored by Mayo Clinic Health System Franciscan Healthcare, the event raises funds to support breast cancer research and support breast cancer survivors.
Return to Top RI NewsThe Rotarian MagazineThe Rotarian Magazine is our link to the greater Rotary world. The pictures and stories tell us of the wonderful work that is being done, in and through Rotary, to make the world a better, safer and a more peaceful place…all because we are advancing the key elements of social justice, health projects, and educational opportunity and alleviating the dire effects of poverty. A person is not free if they are hungry. A man is not free when he has to watch his children die because of the lack of clean water or adequate food. A mother will not be free if her sick child cannot receive medical care and when people are not free they will seek social justice even if it means going to war to achieve it. Our magazine, paid for in our RI dues, is not junk mail. It makes you and me “literate” in the great story of Rotary. Read it. Share it with others. Drop it off in a public area where literature is offered, a dentist's reception area, the waiting room at your local hospital or when you go to your accountant's office to pick up your tax filings. Plant the seeds of Rotary by sharing our great story.
Update on Annual GivingNew RI Foundation Donation FormsClub executive members can now download a Multiple Donor Form that is pre-populated (filled out) with details of club members including their ID number. This form is on Rotary.org at member access. Club presidents and club secretaries have access to this form. Also club treasurers and club Rotary Foundation chairs can get this form if they have been registered on member access by the president or secretary. Select the club members who have donated and add the amount of each donation. The new form makes it easy to forward donations from a group of club members who contribute weekly, quarterly, etc. More Info.
Attendance ReportReporting Tool for District AttendanceCheck out the reporting tool for District Attendance! Clubs can view each month’s attendance in a visual graph. Also Club Secretary’s can request access to update their information directly online! Click here to submit your club's attendance report Click here to see the full Attendance Report.
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