District Governor's Message
New Generations
Mary Kessens
This month is “New Generations” month in the Rotary calendar. As I travel around the district, I have noted the efforts of many clubs to attract diverse and younger members to Rotary. We have come a long way and still have longer to travel in attracting more diverse members. Clubs with a significant number of younger members include Holmen, Marshfield Sunrise and Madison Breakfast to name a few. These clubs have a noticeably different culture. They are organized, curious and willing to be a part of the larger world of Rotary in creative ways. Their members are asking questions about how the district and The Rotary Foundation can work together to benefit their communities and their projects in the larger world. They are clubs that say “YES” often to new ideas and creative projects. In fact they have processes in place for all to participate in new ways.
Younger Rotary members challenge use to reach out across the world through new connections. They have lived in an international community all their lives, from primary school to college. Our connection to each other and the world is not a mystery to the younger Rotary member. These younger Rotarians give blank stares when you hesitate about conducting a “net meeting” or using an iPhone. The multi-tasking of Rotary clubs with multiple projects and activities compares easily to their daily lives.
Our Rotary clubs need these new members to continue the growth of Rotary and our ability to do good works in the world. As Rotary, all of us need to allow these younger members to change our clubs and demand new ways of doing business. We will be better for it through new energy, ideas and more hands to make a difference in our communities and the world.
Best Wishes in Rotary,
Mary
In Rememberence
Nikki Johns, wife of our Zones' Rotary International Director, Mike Johns, died at home on September 17, 2007. Further details regarding her memorial can be referenced as they become available on our Zone 27-28 website, www.zones27-28.org
District Goals for the Year
Mary Kessens
Click here to download district goals as a pdf.
District News, Events and Announcements
Youth Safety Committee Needs Volunteers
Our district is in need of volunteers to serve on the Youth Safety Committee. These individuals will be responsible for establishing a Youth Safety Policy for district activities related to youth and respond to any incidents or crisis occurring in our district. Current district youth activities include RYLA, Short and Long Term Youth Exchange and Interact. The chairs of these committees will be a part of this committee.
We are seeking volunteers who may have relavent intervention or training experience from the areas of law enforcement, education, legal or emergency services. We are considering meeting dates of Sept 29 and/or October 20, 2007.
Please contact District Governor Mary Kessens if you are interested in serving on this committee. Email: Kessens@gdinet.com
Rotary Service Trip Changed Our Lives - in Central India and in Central Wisconsin
Little did we know how circumstances could build on one another to result in a life changing experience. Take a Rotary Exchange student from India, an Indian next-door neighbor, and the RI website list of Rotary Volunteer Projects, and guess what? We're off to India.
This past spring Rotarians Mike Murrell and Hemender Vats (Sunrise Rotary, Marshfield) utilized a Volunteer Service grant and a desire to serve in a third-world setting to provide dental and medical care to rural tribals of central India. Over the course of ten days, 400 patients were seen for services ranging from extraction of abscessed teeth and setting broken bones to managing ongoing treatment of malaria and TB. Six hours from the nearest airport, Lok Biradari Prakalp is an enclave carved out of the jungle of central India. The dental and medical facilities were surprisingly adequate, the housing very basic, and the food strictly vegetarian. The typical patient was a Madia Gond tribal (native inhabitants of the area ). Compared to Westerners, they basically have nothing. They walk days from their remote villages for the only medical care available. Even when ill or in pain they are appreciative, stoic, and friendly. |
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This past spring Rotarians Mike Murrell and Hemender Vats (Sunrise Rotary, Marshfield) utilized a Volunteer Service grant and a desire to serve in a third-world setting to provide dental and medical care to rural tribals of central India. Over the course of ten days, 400 patients were seen for services ranging from extraction of abscessed teeth and setting broken bones to managing ongoing treatment of malaria and TB. Six hours from the nearest airport, Lok Biradari Prakalp is an enclave carved out of the jungle of central India. The dental and medical facilities were surprisingly adequate, the housing very basic, and the food strictly vegetarian. The typical patient was a Madia Gond tribal (native inhabitants of the area ). Compared to Westerners, they basically have nothing. They walk days from their remote villages for the only medical care available. Even when ill or in pain they are appreciative, stoic, and friendly.
I thank Rotary for expanding my horizons and for allowing me to experience a corner of the world that very few people will ever see. The heartwarming relationships that were forged and the incredible ongoing need for medical services, prompts us to plan a return trip for 2008. Interested in joining us? Please contact Mike Murrell ( 4murrells@charter.net).
Membership Success
Rotary International President Wilf Wilkerson sent out Rotary Sponsor pins to DG Mary Kessens for distribution to all club presidents who sponsored new members during this Rotary Year. DG Mary has distributed her first sponsor pins to club presidents. Earning sponsor pins are: Jamie Durocher of the Rotary Club of La Crosse East, Bob Zettler of the Rotary Club of Onalaska, and Bill Hoel of the Rotary Club of La Crosse. Congratulations to these club presidents. It appears that the Rotary Clubs of the La Crosse area are setting a good example for all. Tell DG Mary of your successes when she visits your club and she will have a sponsor pin for other club presidents recruiting a new member this Rotary year
Report of July District Advisory Committee Meeting
Productive meeting in the Dells! Click here to view the minutes.
District Foundation and Membership Seminar
Join your fellow Rotarians on Saturday, November 3, 2007 at the Great Wolf Resort in Wisconsin Dells for the District Foundation and Membership Seminar.
The District Foundation and Membership Educational Seminar is available for the purpose of providing Rotary Clubs helpful information that can be used within the club to equip club leaders with the tools and training to motivate their club members to support The Rotary Foundation, to recruit new members and to retain current members.
For more information and to view the registration form, click here.
Group Study Exchange - Study Of Services To People With Disabilities in Argentina
By Robert Stroud
Rotary International District 6250 and the Rotary International Foundation are pleased to announce that they are jointly sponsoring a Group Study Exchange with District 4850, which is in Argentina, northwest of Buenos Aires. T he co-sponsors will cover the costs for a Rotarian team leader and four non-Rotarian team members. The team members must be between the ages of 25 and 40 at the date of application and both the team members and the team leader must be employed in providing services to people with disabilities. Applicants must live in Rotary District 6250. There is a strong preference for team members who are at least conversant in Spanish. This is our district’s first single-vocation exchange. We expect that this vocational emphasis will help us convince both applicants and employers that this will be a worthwhile international continuing education experience for the team.
The district GSE committee would like to have applications for team leader submitted no later than September 25 and team member applications submitted no later than October 25. Interviews for the team leader will be conducted in Wisconsin Dells in the first weekend of October and team member interviews will be conducted, also in Wisconsin Dells, in the first weekend of November.
The team will travel to District 4850 from March 15, 2008 until April 12, 2008. Since all team members have similar vocational interests, we anticipate that the exchange will have considerable exposure to institutions providing services to people with disabilities.
We also are looking for clubs wishing to host our visiting team from Argentina, with the same vocational emphasis. Host clubs should plan to have in-depth vocational visits for the visiting team at an agency, school or institutionserving people with disabilities. Team visits usually last from 4 to 6 days and require, in addition to vocational activities, host families for visiting team (team leader and four team members), at least one-half day of free time for each three days of their visit, and transportation arrangements both during their visit and between host cities.
For more information about Group Study Exchange and applications , review the Rotary website for Group Study Exchange :
http://www.rotary.org/foundation/educational/gse/index.html
Travel dates are:
Wisconsin District 6250 team travels to Argentina District 4850 : on March 16 and returns to Wisconsin on April 12, 2008
Argentina District 4850 team travels to Wisconsin District 6250 : on April 13 and returns to Argentina on May 10, 2008
APPLICATIONS FOR TEAM LEADERS ARE DUE SEPTEMBER 25, 2007 .
APPLICATIONS FOR TEAM MEMBERS ARE DUE OCTOBER 25, 2007 .
Questions about or applications for this exchange should be forwarded to:
Robert R. Stroud
STROUD, WILLINK & HOWARD, LLC
25 West Main Street, Suite 300
P.O. Box 2236
Madison , Wisconsin 53701-2236
voice (608) 257-2281
fax (608) 257-7643
e-mail: rstroud@stroudlaw.com
Club News, Events and Announcements
Do you have an upcoming Club Event or accomplishment that you would like to announce? Send your pre-written article to: rotarydistrict6250@morgandata.com.
Madison, WI to Host Curling Event
Did you know that being a Rotarian spill over into curling? Rotary International has a fellowship group combining the sport of curling and fellowship. For many years, the International Curling Fellowship of Rotarians in the United States has competed every January at the Rotary Can Am. This years Can-Am will be held at the Madison Curling Club in Madison, WI from January 17-20, 2008. It will mark only the second time the United States has hosted this event. The first was held in Utica, New York in the 1960’s.
The 2008 Can-Am will be a 32 team Bonspiel, or competition, that will determine the third and final spot for a US team to compete in the Rotary Worlds event, held in Brantford, Ontario from March 30 to April 6, 2008. The Rotary Worlds will have three teams from the US, three teams from Scotland, three teams from Canada and one team each from the UK, Sweden and Switzerland. The other two US teams are the Garman team of Potomac, Maryland and the Matzke team of Madison, WI.
Form more information, please contact:
Rich Lepping
US President
International Curling Fellowship of Rotarians
147 S. Butler Street, #2
Madison , WI 53703
Telephone: 608-235-1707
Email: richl@borderpatrolwi.com
Chippewa Falls - Rotary Effort to Bring Fresh Water to Thousands in South America - Part 1 of 4
By Mark BakerChippewa Herald
A thin strand of bright blue plastic pipe stands out among the rock-hewn trench cut into a hill in Buena Vista, Bolivia.
A group of engineers from America and Bolivia looks at the progress, and smiles with satisfaction.
Soon, the pipe will transport fresh water from a storage tank at the crest of a hill to taps in homes in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Cochabamba, a city of more than three quarters of a million people in the poorest country in South America.
It’s a process that’s been in the making for more than three years. It’s been a slow, arduous effort. But soon, fresh water pouring from the blue pipe could mean a substantial improvement in the standard of living for thousands.
| Mark Broses of Chippewa Falls witnessed the final stages of the project during a recent trip to Bolivia in conjunction with Dr. David Crane and the Chippewa Falls Rotary Club. Dr. Crane has led a humanitarian trip to Bolivia for more than 20 years. Broses, a local Rotarian who works as an environmental engineer for Short Elliott Hendrickson (SEH), made his first trip to Bolivia. |  |
It wasn’t the first time Broses has visited poor countries, such as Mexico. But on past trips, he admits, he never went with the intent of looking into living conditions.
“I went to have fun,” he said.
This time, among other duties, he went to examine the progress of the water project in Buena Vista.
Buena Vista, Spanish for “good view,” sits on a dry and dusty hillside 8,000 feet above sea level. It was settled by squatters, many of whom had left the “high” country around La Paz, displaced by economic turmoil. Looking for a better way of life, they traveled through the Andes mountain range and settled around Cochabamba, building small makeshift structures to house their families.
Because of their poverty, the residents of Buena Vista lack the basics that many Americans take for granted. Until recently, the community was not served by electrical power. Even today, the village has no potable water supply or sanitary sewage system.
When Anna Haarman arrived from Holland in 1996 to work in an orphanage, her heart was moved by what she found in Buena Vista. She led an effort to construct a neighborhood school to give the children of Buena Vista an education.
But her dream ran into a one overwhelming problem: An estimated one-third of the children of Buena Vista died before their 10 th birthday, victims of dysentery, caused by contaminated water.
“You have to have (fresh) water to live,” said Broses.
Haarman and the Rotary Clubs of Cochabamba teamed up with Rotary Clubs in Ketchikan, Alaska, Port Angeles, Wash., and Chippewa Falls, Wis., among others to raise funds to bring water to the school, and the greater community.
Progress has been very slow, not only because of the cost, but because of basic engineering issues, said Broses.
In 1970, Cochabamba had a population of about 150,000. With the migration of rural people to bigger cities, Cochabamba now finds itself with 800,000 residents, said Broses, and expects to hit a million people by 2010.
The ancient municipal water system faces its own set of problems servicing existing customers, said Broses, much less extending services to areas that provide little, if any, tax base.
“The water system has not been able to keep up,” said Broses. “It’s not that they don’t want to give (the squatters) water, it just can’t keep up.”
For example, in talking with civil engineers in Bolivia, Broses learned that water at the municipal plant is very good.
“But by the time it gets out to the users, they have to boil it because of leaks. And these are the people who have water.”
Because the poor residents of Buena Vista lack the means and money to get municipal water, a unique system evolved.
Huge tanker trucks owned by private firms deliver water into the neighborhood. A 55-gallon drum stands outside each home. The tanker fills the drum, which is then covered with a sheet of plastic to keep out insects and the ever-present dust. Water in the drum is then used for cooking, cleaning and everyday hygiene.
And it’s not cheap. An average family in Buena Vista uses 40 percent of its income to pay for the tanked-in water, said Broses.
The rudimentary system, however, is blamed for the high rate of childhood death in Buena Vista. Thus began the drive to come up with an alternative.
The company that manufactures the bright blue plastic pipe set up a special program, called Agua Tuya (Water for You). Partnering with the Rotary Clubs, it works with local civic officials on long-term solutions. A master plan calls for the city to build a huge water tank on the top of the hill overlooking Buena Vista. Five smaller tanks, built with donated funds, would then be connected to the larger tank, and water would be distributed from there to individual houses.
When Broses was in Bolivia, work was nearly complete on one of the smaller tanks and running piping to homes in Buena Vista. He worked closely with Gustabo Heredia, director of the Agua Tuya program. They discussed the effort now underway to bring potable water to each household in Buena Vista.
“One thing that struck me is most of the folks that I met who were engineers, they’re so emotional,” said Broses. “(They say) I have to save my country. I have to make it better for my people, as if they all were one.
“You hear about and read about there’s this big difference between the rich and poor. But the engineers I met with that were taking me out to the poor communities, you could see it in their eyes. They were people to them. They were their countrymen, (no matter) what their heritage was.”
And one thing Gustabo Heredia insisted is that outside partners could not simply write a check to make things happen.
“He made a real point of saying, ‘We don’t want you to just come down here and buy equipment, buy materials, just throw money at us. We have to have a plan, and the local people have to have an investment in it so they can have ownership and respect for themselves.’
“That model has been shown in our country,” said Broses. “If you just give people things, there’s no appreciation for it. But if you let people own a part of it…”
And so, while reinforcing rods and concrete went into constructing one of the five smaller tanks, the villagers of Buena Vista have been patiently but persistently digging trenches for the blue plastic water pipe. It is not an easy task, because the ground is made up of solid rock and huge stones. What might take two weeks with heavy industrial equipment in the U.S. is taking many months to hue it by hand in Bolivia, said Broses.
“One of the reasons why it’s taking so long is that people are digging these ditches, the people in the village, it’s part of their in-kind service, they’re digging the trenches by hand, which is just amazing,” said Broses. “They’re digging through rock.”
When complete, water will be transported to the smaller tanks by tanker trucks. But instead of sitting out in the open in 55 gallon drums, each household will have one tap. The water should be clean and free of disease, said Broses, showing an immediate improvement in public health.
“Those will be served by trucks that come from the public water system, so that you know its good water,” said Broses.
The mayor of Buena Vista will collect a small amount of money from each household to pay for the water system, said Broses. Anyone who doesn’t pay can be shut off. Eventually, when the large tank is finished, the five smaller tanks could be hooked into the municipal water distribution system so tanker trucks will no longer be needed.
And the final step in the process will be to paint a Rotary logo on the tank.
RI News
RI Nominating Committee Announces 2009-10 President
The 2007-08 Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International in 2009-10, having functioned in accordance with the bylaws of Rotary International, has indicated that it unanimously nominated:
JOHN KENNY
of the Rotary Club of
GRANGEMOUTH, CENTRAL, SCOTLAND
for the office of President of Rotary International for the year 2009-10.
Biographical information for Rotarian Kenny is available on the RI Web site and in the next issue of the Rotary World.
RI - The Latest Facts and Figures on the Polio Elimination Effort
For the sake of clarity and consistency in all Rotary publications and information, the International PolioPlus Committee has adopted the following set of frequently reported statements, statistics, and terms concerning the PolioPlus Program and the global polio eradication effort, and encourages all members in the global partnership for polio eradication to adopt similarly consistent statements and figures. The Committee has also requested a wide dissemination within Rotary for these statements. The Committee reviews these statements at each meeting, to ensure that they remain current and appropriate.
Click here to download the latest facts and figures.
RI Needs Photos for PR Campaign
RI's Public Relations Division is currently in the creative stages of developing new print and billboard Public Service Announcements (PSAs) for distribution in early 2008, in conjunction with a Chicago-based advertising agency. These PSAs will focus on membership in Rotary.
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We need your assistance, as we are looking for a few great faces for the print and billboard advertisements! |
We know that using pictures of active Rotary members in our messages will make the pieces highly effective and relevant to the general public. We need your help in directing us to potential casting participants for the PSAs. Specifically, we are looking for Rotary members that fit the following description:
Women ages 40-50 -- African-American, Caucasian, Asian or Latin ethnicity
Men ages 40-50 -- African-American, Caucasian, Asian or Latin ethnicity
(Please note: Rotarians must appear 40 to 50 years old)
Please email me at joseph.lorenzo@rotary.org with your recommendations of Rotarians who should be considered for possible inclusion in these advertisements. I will then contact them to discuss their availability. The photo shoot will occur in late September at RI headquarters in Evanston. To give you an idea of the campaign, sample print and billboard artwork with stock photography is attached.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Thank you for your help.
Joseph Lorenzo
public relations coordinator
rotary international
tel.+1.847.866.3387
fax.+1.847.866.8237
www.rotary.org
Environmental Rotary Action Group Annual Report
During this year, our Environment Fellowship of Rotarians has continued to offer Rotarians, their spouses, and Rotaractors so many opportunities to enjoy true rotarian fellowship while promoting the vision and action towards a better environment through Preserve Planet Earth, sustainable global development, and, ultimately, so facilitating the attainment of the Object of Rotary. We thus keep available and are always ready to share our experience and expertise with all Rotary Clubs interested to make more successful all kinds of rotarian environmental projects wherever the need is greatest.
Moreover, during this year, a very exciting new dimension of Rotary projects is now becoming possible thanks to the Board of Directors of Rotary International which is forging and giving us the opportunity to form environmental Rotarian Action Groups. We do facilitate these by helping all those Rotarians who wish to take this initiative in their preferred field of expertise. Thus all who have an interest and/or expertise in any specific environmental field and wish to be active in projects, like Rotarian Action Groups make it possible, have been and are welcome to join all others with similar interests and, together, propose their Rotarian Action Group to the Board of Directors of Rotary International for recognition.
Such proposed RAGs are tentatively planned in the following fields:
- RAG Agriculture ( Organic Gardening, Food Production, Composting, etc.)
- RAG Built Environment ( Bio-architecture, Feng-Shui, Materials Indoor, Green Builders using also Straw Bales, Materials Indoor, etc.)
- RAG Education ( Environmental-, Consulting, etc.)
- RAG Energy (Alternative-, Renewable Energies, etc.)
- RAG Forestry ( Reforestation, Deforestation, Fighting desertification, etc.)
- RAG Health ( Nutrition-, Community-, etc.)
- RAG Pollution ( -control, , Industrial-, Pulp-Paper, etc.)
- RAG Climate Change (Global warming awareness, etc.)
- RAG Waste (Recycling, Waste -management, -treatment, -recycling,, -culture, Promoting Zero Waste, etc.)
- RAG Wildlife ( Bird-, Conservation, Marine Environment, etc.)
Once organized and approved by the the Board of RI, with care and business prudence, these RAGs will be moving forward planning and implementing rotarian service projects around the world, wherever possible through Rotary Clubs and their districts. They will be consistent with the Rotary areas of emphasis and with the Millennium Goals of the United Nations (UN), which will give to Rotary's relationship with the UN the opportunity to gradually really fully fulfill best its potential for humankind, and grow in harmony with the spirit of Rotary, while giving Rotary new opportunities to always better and most meaningfully helping alleviating humankind's greatest suffering and needs.
We are happy to report that one of the RAGs we did promote, the one on water resources and sanitation, was meanwhile accepted by the Board of Rotary International and has taken off.
Another, on sustainable tourism, is gradually advancing towards submitting its application for recognition to Rotary International.
We have been present again at the Rotary International Convention also this Rotary year. This gave us the opportunity to meet personally and enjoy great fellowship with many hundreds of like-minded members of the global family of Rotary. There we have had our annual face to face meeting, and did participate in the official gatherings of the Rotary Fellowships and of the Rotarian Action Groups.
Moreover, throughout the year there has been lots of enjoyable and quite fruitful fellowship and personal meetings, while all were regularly actively united by frequent email and telephone, making use of the best available offered by the ever-improving telecommunications.
All members of the family of Rotary united in the Environment Fellowship have a keen interest in Preserving Planet Earth , in the Environment, and in Sustainable Development. They have volunteered in true rotarian spirit and we have been able to function without the need to have dues. There is thus no financial statement. News have been circulated regularly by email and, as our Newsletter, they are also available for all on our website www.environment-rotary-fellowship.org
We do now have Continental Chairs in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America, and our website is available in more languages.
The Rotarian of April 2007 was on the Environment, and especially its page 8 featured our Environment Fellowship of Rotarians' President through the eyes of The Rotarian's Editor.
To conclude this Annual Report, we reconfirm that with passion for the environment, inspired by 'Preserve Planet Earth', aware of the interdependence of all areas of the environment, thinking globally and acting locally, in good rotarian fellowship, the members of the Environment Fellowship of Rotarians enjoy fellowship and also inspire and help Rotary Clubs to initiate and participate in projects where the need is greatest for an always better environment for on our planet earth.
The Environment Fellowship of Rotarians' Annual Report 2006-7 is hereby respectfully submitted.
Sincerely,
Marco Kappenberger
Rotary E-Club of Latinoamérica, Secretary 2007-08, District 4200, www.recl.org
Environment Fellowship of Rotarians, President
Ask Mary
Do you have a question for our District Governor Mary Kessens? If so click here to email your questions to Mary Kessens.
Update on Annual Giving
Useful New Tools to Help with Club Planning from Rotary International
Review the information in this spreadsheet to learn about your club’s five year history of membership and Foundation giving. To see each club's current status and history, go to the blue box in the upper left corner. There is a down arrow for pull down of all the clubs in District 6250. Use this resource to meet and exceed your goals for membership growth and giving to The Rotary Foundation.
Click here to download the planning tool (excel format).
Foundation Reports
Every Rotarian Every Year Report.
Foundation Trustees Request Nominations for Distinguished Service and Citation for Meritorious Service Awards
Application deadline is November 15!
The Rotary Foundation has a number of awards presented for service to humanity — individual efforts that exemplify the Rotary spirit of Service Above Self.
Click here for information and nominations forms for the Distinguished Service and Citation for Meritous Service Award.
Attendance Report
Click here to submit your club's attendance report
Marshfield Sunrise grows by over 10% with 8 new members!
Tomah records 92% attendance for July!
Click here to see the full July Attendance Report.
