I read the email, broke out laughing, and then shuddered a little at the thought. He was serious. “Uhhhh, no,” I replied aloud to everyone and no one.
The message was for me and some of my fellow District Governors. The question was if I was going to give you some challenges. As far as I can tell, you already have plenty of challenges. I know I do!
So if we, your District Leadership Team, don’t plan to give you challenges, what will we give you? The answer is found in every Rotary district’s mission: Strength and support.
We’ll give you strength and support as you face personal, community and global challenges. We’ll give you strength and support you look beyond challenges and imagine something different. We’ll give you strength and support as you plan the path through.
Together, we’ll:
Let the light of Rotary values (fellowship, leadership, integrity, diversity, service) illuminate every day, every role, and every relationship.
See what can be - and grow the desire and ability to see from another’s point of view.
Unite to take action - assess needs with intelligent and humble curiosity, enjoy the lift and focus of measurable goals, recruit teams and partners who share our purpose, allocate resources in clear plans, celebrate success and lessons learned, and share our experience to benefit others.
We have themes. We have projects. We have hopes. We have schedules. We have invitations. We’ll be sharing all of that as we progress through the year. But for now, let me say, District 6250 Rotarians: Your District Team believes in you, is grateful for you, and is beside you as you enjoy…
As communities in District 6250 reopen following the COVID pandemic, Rotary is hard at work as part of the solution to vaccination challenges and related health care emergencies that continue around the globe. Our Clubs have responded generously to local needs. But sorting out how to help around the world is a more complex challenge.
If you are looking for ways to contribute to the ongoing human toll resulting from Covid-19, Rotary can be trusted to make sure your donations are put to good use. Here are some ways you can respond to the plight of people in need.
A gift to Rotary’s Annual Fund can help the most people in the most ways. A portion of each contribution will be used for Global Grants and District Grants that are helping countries respond to the pandemic and address needs that help them recover. Each of Rotary’s seven focus areas are important to recover the health and well-being of people, communities, and nations across the globe.
A gift to Polio Plus can help Rotary use the elevated awareness about disease prevention through vaccination to attain Rotarian’s goal of a polio free world. Rotary’s expertise to achieve immunity through vaccination and collaboration is an important resource that being used for COVID-19 and Polio. Funds donated to Polio Plus are used explicitly for Polio eradication.
You can also find a variety of appeals from Rotarians in countries that are struggling to meet the challenge on the Rotary website. A good starting point is https://www.rotary.org/en/rotary-responds-covid-19.
No matter how you give, your support for The Rotary Foundation and its focus areas are an important resource for our precious earth to emerge from this pandemic. Thank you for all you do to help Rotary and The Rotary Foundation respond to human need and suffering during this difficult chapter in human history.
Dwight Heaney
Rotary Club of Fort Atkinson
District 6250 Foundation Committee, Incoming Chair
Vietnam has return of its’ first Rotary Club in 46 years:
by Lyn Kenney
Linh Vo, our District Peace Fellow who graduated with a master’s from Duke University and is now working in Vietnam, invited me to join in the inaugural meeting of the new Rotary Club there. Dave Warren also joined in.
Below is information about that meeting and some slides from the presentation by Matt Millard who has a company in south Vietnam. He works on “branding”.
Inaugural Club Meeting of the newly Chartered RC Saigon International, Thursday, 24 June, 6:30PM
Dear Fellow Rotarians of our newly chartered RC Saigon International,
As a historic moment marking the return of Rotary to Vietnam after 46 years, the first two Rotary Clubs, the RC of Saigon and our English-speaking RC Saigon International, have been officially admitted to the Rotary family on last Friday, June 18, 2021.
Our two co-mentors Jason Lim and Wolfgang Czizegg have been very crucial to get our club chartered, and we would like to thank them for their tireless and continuing support to our young club. On behalf of all of our members, I have also extended our gratitude to Rotary International president Holger Knaack and to many dedicated Rotarians and management team members at the HQ and at district 3350, who have contributed since many years to get the first Rotary Club in Vietnam re-established.
RI president Holger Knaack wrote to our members in a letter on this occasion:
“Rotary clubs provide a place for those with a passion for community service to connect, share ideas and discover how to improve the lives of others. I am delighted that your club will join us as we confront some of the world’s most critical and widespread humanitarian issues. Chartering a new club is exciting and challenging. The key to success is building a strong, engaged membership dedicated to the idea of service, ranging from local community-based projects to major global initiatives. Together, we will accomplish great things as we serve local and international communities as Rotary Opens Opportunities.”
Now it´s up to us to build a strong and engaged club. It depends on our fellowship in the coming months and years to make RC Saigon International becoming a nucleus of a growing community of passionate Rotarians in Vietnam, dedicated to serve our local communities and contribute to RI global initiatives.
Yours in Rotary,
Vu Minh Anh
Club President, RC Saigon International
Posted on Jul 01, 2021
District Member Count: 2497
Member Growth Success 2021: Lake Mills +8, Mayville +8, LaCrosse After Hours +6, Sun Prairie +5, Madison Breakfast +5
Welcome to a whole new 2021-2022 Rotary Year! My name is John Locke and I am serving as the District Membership Chair. Along with the District Membership Team, our goal is to provide the support and structure needed to help strengthen your club’s membership. My first ask is to please make sure you have a club membership chair assigned. If you do not have one, I suggest making either the President Elect or the Past President the membership chair. You will need to have a club membership chair to qualify for the membership grants.
This Rotary year, your club will be able to get two different membership grants: the New Member Grant and the Membership Growth Grant. The grants are explained below:
New Member Grant:
This is a continuation of the current Membership Grant that consists of getting 4 new members and having them last for 4 months. They receive $1000 for the new members to use towards a service project. To qualify for consideration, you must have 4 new members stay for 4 months during the 2021-2022 Rotary year. Five $1000 grants will be awarded with priority going to the club that has the highest net positive growth in the number of members for the Rotary Year as of May 31st.
Procedure for New Member Grant:
Club Membership Chair or President must notify the District Membership chair when they have reached 4 new members lasting for 4 months before May 31st. On June 1st, the district membership chair will compare the net positive growth in number of members and will award the top 5 with the grant monies during the month of June. These monies must be used by the new members for a project of their choice in order to engage these members. Once these funds are used, preferably the new members, the club membership chair, or club president must report to the district membership chair on how these funds were used.
The winning clubs for the 2020-2021 Rotary Year were: Rotary Club of LaCrosse, Rotary Club of LaCrosse After Hours, Rotary Club of Sparta, Rotary Club of Mayville, and Rotary Club of Sun Prairie.
Membership Growth Grant:
Two $1000 grants and ten $300 grants given away to clubs requesting funding to help with membership retention, recruitment, starting a new club, promotion, etc. To qualify, your club must have a membership chair.
Procedure for Membership Growth Grant:
Club Membership Chairs must submit to the district membership chair a 1 page reason for why the club’s idea deserves to receive the membership growth grant before December 1st. The responses will be reviewed and the winners decided upon by the District Membership team in December. The winners will be announced to the clubs in January using the District Newsletter. These funds will be paid out in January. We will expect a follow up report to be submitted by June 30th. Priority of the awards will go to those efforts demonstrating the most innovative and impactful ideas for growing a club’s membership. We encourage collaboration with the club’s Public Image, Foundation, and Youth committees. If several clubs choose to collaborate on the grant, we may choose to aggregate the award for the same project. The funds will not be awarded if the request involves expenses for normal club operating budget, paying for expenses that are covered or addressed by another part of the district budget such as food or travel expenses, or for any reason the District Governor line deems unreasonable.
The Winning Clubs for 2020-2021 Rotary year were the Rotary Club of Black River Falls, and The Rotary Club of Caledonia.
There are nearly 1.2 million individuals who belong to Rotary. They are in 34 zones, 529 Districts, 35,000 clubs. And they all have something in common.
Just like a large family, each individual Rotarian is unique and yet, when viewed as a whole, they share a family resemblance. That family resemblance is our brand, our motto, Service Above Self, and our guiding questions, The Four Way Test. Just like a family we share meals and activities together. We grow and learn together. We proudly identify by our Rotary club’s name. Beyond these commonalities is an exciting and unending variety of club experiences.
What does family resemblance have to do with Public Image? Why bring this up now?
We are all beginning a new year, a very special new year. Many, if not most, of us will return to in person meetings. Our public image will begin to rise as we engage with our communities and are seen again after more than a year of invisibility.
Let’s get ready to be seen! Pull out your Rotary pin. If you have more than one be sure they are pinned to the jacket you wear most often, the hat you wear on a sunny day.
Belonging to a family as honorable and respected as Rotary is a privilege. We are all proud to be Rotarians. Let’s be recognized as part of the Rotary family.
The Public Image Team looks forward to the coming year serving the District and our 59 clubs through training and tested tools.
Chair, Environmental Committee – Rotary Club of La Crosse
La Crosse County Commissioner – Wisconsin Mississippi River Parkway Commission
WHY POLLINATOR PROJECTS: Pollinators throughout the world are in precipitous decline due to loss of their habitat, a changing environment, and the use of pesticides harmful to them. The survival of pollinators is incredibly important because almost 90 percent of wild plants and 75 percent of all food crops need pollinators for their survival. Greater survival of pollinators and butterflies can be achieved through the planting of pollinator seeds/plants to enrich and extend their habitat.
WISCONSIN ROTARY “OPERATION POLLINATION” FOR OCTOBER 4-11 “DAYS OF SERVICE” WEEK: That is where a Rotary program called “Operation Pollination” combined with Rotary’s “Days of Service” scheduled for October 4-11, 2021, comes in. All Wisconsin Rotary Clubs in Wisconsin’s Districts 6250, 6220, and 6270 will be invited to collaborate with a combination of partners by planning or preparing for, or planting seeds/plants to create, restore, or maintain the habitat of pollinators/butterflies. See Operation Pollination for details on how this program works.
A unique effort associated with “Operation Pollination” is a Mississippi River Corridor “All American Great River Road National Scenic Parkway” and Midwestern states initiative that originally focused on bringing Rotary together with the Wisconsin Mississippi River Parkway Commission (WIMRPC). These efforts have now broadened to the whole MRPC from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico and to the whole State of Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) will be this state’s agency to help support these lofty goals and help in the coordination with Rotary and WIMRPC. See Wisconsin - Experience Mississippi River and Saving Wisconsin's Native Pollinators | Wisconsin DNR for details on both WIMRPC and WDNR and their collaborative pollinator programs.
“OPERATION POLLINATION” WEBINAR: A free one-hour Webinar will be scheduled for some time in late July or Early August 2021 and will be conducted by Rotarians with expertise on how to select, proceed, and succeed with “Operation Pollination” projects connected with Rotary’s “Days of Service” during the week of October 4-11, 2021. See Paths to Pollinators Rotary Network for projects that are already underway.
Dwight Heaney
WHY POLLINATOR PROJECTS: Pollinators throughout the world are in precipitous decline due to loss of their habitat, a changing environment, and the use of pesticides harmful to them. The survival of pollinators is incredibly important because almost 90 percent of wild plants and 75 percent of all food crops 
