Welcome to the district site for Rotary Clubs in Wisconsin and Southeastern Minnesota
To Access the 2013 Rotary Conference Web Site - Click Here
From District Governor Rob Stroud
District Governor's Message
The month of May is designated as "Rotary International Conference Month" by Rotary. For me (and I hope for you) it is also Rotary District Conference Month. The Rotary International conference this year is being held in Lisbon, Portugal from June 23 to June 26. Registration is still open here: http://www.riconvention.org/en/2013/Pages/ridefault.aspx
If you have never attended a Rotary International Convention, you are missing out on a unique experience. For most of us, our Rotary horizons seldom extend beyond our own Rotary Club and our local community. A make-up at another club or attendance at a District Conference is, for many of us, the next logical step to expanding our Rotary horizons. Attending an International Convention gives us an opportunity to truly appreciate the internationality of Rotary. It gives us fellowship opportunities and awareness of Rotary service on a global scale. If you have thought about visiting Europe, registering for the Rotary International Convention and attending all or part of this annual event would be a great foundation for a European vacation. If you try it, you will like it. If you like it, plan you vacation to Australia for 2014 and attend the Sidney Convention next year too!
District Conference: Closer to home, we have our own
District Conference, which is being held at Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison on May 31 and June 1. We have a great conference planned for you. More details are only a click away. I certainly hope you will come for part or all of the conference and bring other members of your club. Your newer members will certainly gain a greater appreciation for all that Rotary has to offer at the club and district level and around the world. There is also a special performance of the Broadway musical Wicked on Friday evening at the Overture Center for the Arts, which is a short walk from Monona Terrace. We reserved a block of tickets which can be purchased at a discount, but the show may well be sold out and the reserved tickets are being released early in April.
We have another important District event this month. We have RYLA weekend coming up on May 17-19 in Wisconsin Dells at Upham Woods. For those of you who are not acquainted with it, RYLA stands for Rotary Youth Leadership Awards . Each year, we invite our member clubs to nominate one or more high school students to be participants in this three-day training session. The clubs sponsor their candidates so that the cost to those attending is minimal. Once they have completed the RYLA training, the students return home with new leadership skills that they can immediately put to use in their schools and communities. Our district RYLA co-chairs (Jeff Odom and Michelle McGrath) tell me that we have 98 high school students signed up for the RYLA weekend. This is a record number for us. The number of participants has been growing rapidly in the last few years, thanks to the enthusiasm of our co-chairs who have tirelessly promoted RYLA to our clubs.
Another important district event this month is the chartering of our newest club – The Madison After Hours Rotary Club will be receiving it's charter from none other than Rotary International President Elect Ron Burton on the evening on Wednesday, May 22 at a chartering event to be held at River Food Pantry on Madison's east side, close to the airport. Check here for details: http://www.madcityrotary.com/Register.aspx
I think it is significant that this provisional club has chosen a food pantry as its site for its chartering event. This club doesn't just talk about service; they emphasize it as an integral part of their club.
Club Visits and the District Bell
My official visits were completed in October, so visits now are only in response to specific invitations. As for the District Bell, it was taken from Caledonia to the La Crosse After Hours Club. If you haven't heard about the District Bell, click on the bell icon at the top of this page and read up.
As we enter the last two months of the Rotary year, I am happy to report that, as your District Governor, I have enjoyed the hospitality of every club in the district. I have been impressed with all of the wonderful things that we are doing in our district and globally. We have a good number of vibrant clubs, led by presidents, officers and directors who are making an effort to recruit and retain members and make their clubs the service club of choice in their communities. Our collective contributions to our Rotary International Foundation have been steady, but we still have a ways to go to reach our goal. It is our contributions to TRF that fund our district and global grants and allow us to provide the services for which we take justifiable pride. Please join me in supporting our Foundation.
Peace Through Service!
All the best,
Rob Stroud
District Governor 2012-2013
Rotary District 6250
District Governor
