District Governor's Message
New Generations and Youth Exchange
Tom Marshall
During the month of September, we celebrate "New Generations" in the Rotary calendar. I am so very impressed, when I travel throughout the District and see the wonderful efforts of so many clubs in their attempt to attract diverse and younger members to the world of Rotary. It is so very exciting to learn of the outstanding activities that are happening to enhance the opportunities for these new members. Having younger members join us and making our clubs more diverse, will certainly make a positive difference in completing the many projects that we have throughout the world.
As I visit the various clubs that are involved with "New Generations", I find renewed enthusiasm, genuine curiosity and excitement among these new members. They seem to be very tuned in to making a difference with polio eradication, the Every Rotarian, Every Year" program and membership growth. They have arrived with sincere efforts to MAKE DREAMS REAL throughout the world.
We need to continue to make an effort to attract the younger generation and the diverse community to the wonderful world of Rotary. We need to educate them and help them to learn how they can be so very helpful in making our world a better place in which to live. Please do your best this month and throughout the Rotary year to help our clubs meet the "New Generations" challenge.
Finally, this is the month when we begin to finalize our numbers for outbound students in our District. Our outbound numbers have been much lower during the past few years and we all need to spread the good word about Rotary youth exchange. We need to make contact with area schools and make an effort to tell the students about the opportunities that are available through the program. I cannot think of better ways to spread good will and friendship in the world than being involved with our exchange program. Let me know if you have any questions about this great experience.
Have a wonderful Rotary month!
Tom
Click Here to View District Governor Tom Marshall's Club Visit Schedule
District News, Events and Announcements
GSE Committee Seeks Team Members For Cultural and Vocational Visit to Both Northern Philippines and Western India.
Our District is still seeking potential team members for our two GSE exchanges for the current Rotary year. Each team needs four team members and at least two alternate team members. The team members must be between the ages of 25 and 40 at the date of application, must live or work in Rotary District 6250, must be employed full-time and not a Rotarian or a member of the immediate family of a Rotarian. Team members are sponsored by Rotary clubs in our district, so for this program to continue to be successful, the Rotarians in our district's clubs need to identify outgoing, adventurous young people who would like to participate in this unique travel experience. We need your help in finding young business and professional people who may be interested in participating. Rotary will cover the costs for a Rotarian team leader and four non-Rotarian team members for each of these two team.
The first team to depart will be our team to District 3131 which will travel to India from January 8, 2009 until February 9, 2009. The members of this team may be from any business or profession and should have at least two years of vocational experience in their field. The applications are fairly simple and may be downloaded from Rotary's website: (http://www.rotary.org/en/ServiceAndFellowship/Fellowship/GroupStudyExchange/Pages/ridefault.aspx).
The second team will be our team to District 3790 which will travel to the Phillipines from March 28, 2009 until April 28, 2009. The members of this team must be engaged in the field of music (i.e., musicians, music teachers, conductors or other music-related profession) and should have at least two years of relevant vocational experience. Because of the focus of this team, the members will experience more vocationally related opportunities than a typical GSE team.
Team members from both teams should expect to stay with Rotarian host families during their stay and to participate in numerous vocational and cultural activities during the four weeks of their exchange.
Is is already past the original deadline of September 15 so contact us immediately if you are interested. Interviews for the team members will be conducted in October.
For more information about Group Study Exchange and applications , review the www.rotary.org website for Group Study Exchange, referenced above.
For more information on Rotary District 6250, review the district website at:
http://www.rotary6250.org/ , or contact the district GSE chairman, Robert Stroud (rstroud@stroudlaw.com, or phone 608 257-2281).
Questions about or completed applications for these exchanges 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
Youth Exchange Seeks Members
People have said that if everyone had been an Exchange Student, there would be World Peace. The most powerful force in the promotion of international understanding and peace is exposure to different cultures. So, why are our Outbound Exchange numbers down?
In the last few years, we have seen the numbers lower for out Outbound Exchange students. The Rotary Exchange program is the best exchange program there is. The CSIET (Council on Standards for International Education Travel) Advisory List is a book that is mailed annually to high school administrators. In it lists the top youth exchange programs and Rotary is at the top of the list not only because of its quality but also because of the price. Of the three top programs, Rotary’s program costs approximately $5,200 compared to $10,000 or $20,000 for the other top programs. We do it right and we do it for less.
Students leave here wide-eyed and innocent of world affairs. They come back ready to tackle the world. A testament to our program is the number of students who come home and want to go somewhere else as a Rotary student right away. They also want to be involved. They want to give back to Rotary and the community. It is amazing to see the change.
Let’s help promote this wonderful, life-changing program. Please help us find outbound students. Think of your children, their friends, the children of your friends and your nieces and nephews. Think of how they will grow as human beings.
Applications are due Oct 1 for students leaving Fall of 2009. The application is available on our district website:
http://www.rotary6250.org/district/ri_youth_exchange.shtml
Look for the District Outbound Student Applications section on that page.
Thanks for your help and caring.
Judy Levine
District 6250 Youth Exchange Chair
For more information you may contact: Doug and Sharon Richmond, District 6250’s Outbound Coordinators, (608) 592-5391, richmond1@bigplanet.com
Annual Fall Conference for Membership and Foundation Set for November 8th
Mark your calendars and don't miss this free conference in the Wisconsin Dells. It will start Saturday November 8th at 8:00 am with registration and conclude with lunch so you should be done by 1:30.
This is a good opportunity for both club leaders and new members to learn how the Foundation works, how it has funds available for projects around the world as well as for District and all our 61 Clubs in the District. PDG Hal Keitel, District Foundation Chair will lead this part of the two part morning. Richard Kenney, District Membership Chair will lead be responsible for the Membership and Retention part.
The seminar provides helpful information to equip club leaders with the tools and training to motivate club members to support the Rotary Foundation as well as to recruit and retain members.
We have selected the site this year to be the Glacier Canyon Lodge at the Wilderness Resort in the Wisconsin Dells. While the conference facilities provide a private and quiet meeting area, there is a waterpark so it is well suited to bringing the family.
Click here for more information or to sign up now for this important event!
Contacts are:
Hal Keitel: hkeitel@centurytel.net
Richard Kenney: richardjkenney@yahoo.com; 715-423-0986
The 10 Minute Club Membership Energizer
The November 8th Membership and Foundation conference will be full with great tips and opportunites to share ideas with other Rotarians. Click here to view the 10 Minute Club Membership Energizer.
Public Relations Help for Your Club
By Bob Boelter, District 6250 PR Chair
One of the three goals of the district’s public relations committee is to provide PR advice and counsel to individual clubs.
This service happens in a variety of ways.
Look for upcoming newsletter articles, e-mails and advisories related to the other goals of the committee. That includes the prospective Rotary International PR grant for advertising in the district in 2009; and a possible district-wide media relations effort involving Rotary Youth Exchange. Among the suggestions will encouragement for you to inform your members of these efforts and ideas and suggestions as to how your club can tie-in with these efforts.
We also are available as a sounding board for your club’s PR, advertising and communications initiatives. In relation to your plans, the committee can provide ideas and suggestions about the best way to achieve your club’s goals.
We can also help review brochures, newsletters and other communication materials prepared for your club and can also help interpret RI’s graphic standards for use of the RI logo.
The PR committee is also looking for Rotarians who would be interested in serving on the district PR committee.
On any of these possibilities feel free to contact me. My e-mail address is bb6712@ameritech.net or I can be reached at Momentum Marketing Communications LLC, 1706 Camelot Drive, Madison, WI 53705, telephone: 608-233-5756 or cell 608-445-4397.
2009 Training Calendar Set
The training schedule for 2009 has been set. Rotary training is a well thought out program that provides training (teaching and learning) opportunities for every Rotarian in the district. District Leadership Training, set for February 21, 2009, is provided for district committee people and for the Assistant District Governors. PETS, President Elect Training, mandatory for incoming Club Presidents, and recommended for Club Presidents Elect, is set for March 20-21, 2009 and District Assembly, a program that is provided for club leadership and club committee chairs, is set for April 18, 2009. All of these training sessions will be held at the Wilderness Territory in the Wisconsin Dells.
District Leaders Meet in Ohio for Rotary Zones and Regions Leadership Training
Once a year all Rotary Districts' leadership attends annual training within Zones and Regions to receive the coming year's developments and updates on training for the next year's requirements. It is also a time when many ROTARY worldwide projects are looked at and presented for all to share in seeing the good that they provide. District awards for the previous year's accomplishments are also shared at this conclave, and we meet the the Rotary International President-Elect. This year it is John Kenny of Grangemouth, Scotland. We met at the Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio September 1-7.
Our District 6250 is in Zone 27 (currently for this year ); to be reorganized in the coming year and renamed Zone 28. Once reorganized, Zone 28 will include 11 Districts within Wisconsin, Southern Ontario Canada, Minnesota, Iowa, Eastern Nebraska, Northern Illinois, and Upper Michigan. Zone 28 will train with Zone 29 and their 14 Districts that stretch from northern Illinois, Indianna, and Ohio to Western Pennsylvania and New York. The Zone Training Seminar for 28 & 29 will be held in the Minnesota Twin Cities next year.
The Zones get together for the annual training for the District Governor (DG) District Governor-Elect (DGE), District Governor - Nominee (DGN), and District Trainer (I guess if the acronyms are used, then Trainers become DT's.....so I guess since I am Trainer co-chair with Darla Leick, that makes me a DGN with the DT's).
We bring back materials and doctrine to distribute and share with our District through our District Team Training Seminar (February), President Elect Training (March) and Assembly (April), in addition to sharing with other committee seminars and gatherings. Besides the formalized training, Zone training is a good time and place to see what other Rotarians are doing in other Districts and areas of the Country. For instance, the entire state of Ohio conducts a single PETS for their Districts, and of course, we conduct our own PETS right here in the District. Many many ideas and different ways to get things done!
Jim Crubaugh
District Governor Nominee
2010-2011
Club News, Events and Announcements
Do you have an upcoming Club Event or accomplishment that you would like to nnounce? Send your pre-written article to: rotarydistrict6250@morgandata.com.
Rock County Rotary Clubs Support Ugandans with Medical Services and "Miracle Food"
Occasionally we all complain about the state of health care in our country. Whether it’s 
“long waits in the emergency rooms”, “too few staff members to respond quickly” or simply “not enough hospital choices”, Americans are quick to voice their opinions. Contrast our medical options with those of the citizens of Jinja, Uganda, Africa, where 400,000 people are served by the Mother Kevin Hospital. This 200 bed facility is home to 50 leprosy patients and 150 of the area’s sickest residents, many of them children.
Between August 1st – 20th, 38 Rock County residents including two surgeons, one radiologist, one radiology technician, one anesthesiologist, one nurse anesthetist, two medical students, several nurses and scores of regular people, just wanting to help traveled to this poor African country to offer the residents some hope. During their time in the field, with the help of 3 local doctors, they performed 82 surgeries in 3 ½ days. These procedures included everything from hernia repairs, to skin grafts, to amputations.
According to Rotarian, Laurie McCutchan, Executive Director of the Hope Institute of Uganda, she heard no complaining about the quality of the hospital food. In fact, most of the patients’ food, if they got any, was prepared by relatives in an open-air room over fires. Unfortunately, none of the patients received food with sufficient amounts of protein and other essential nutrients needed for a fast recovery. In Uganda, it’s just not available to most of the population.
This problem is slowly starting to change thanks to 7,128 highly nutritious Kids Against Hunger – Rock County Rotary, Inc. meals that were shipped along with a container of badly needed medical supplies for the struggling hospital and its staff. With these meals, first prepared in small batches by the Rock County volunteers, the sick children are now starting to regain both physical and mental strength. Mothers who weeks before felt only dread are now slowly beginning to experience hope. The food is being treated more like medicine than simply something to fill an empty stomach!
When asked by Sister Sarah, the head of the hospital nursing staff, if more of the “miracle food" could be sent, Laurie McCutchan, cautiously said “yes”. How much food obviously depends on the generosity of her Rock County and Rotary friends.
Kids Against Hunger –Rock County Rotary, Inc. is a cooperative effort of the Beloit, Edgerton, Janesville Morning and Janesville Noon Rotary Clubs. With a separate board of directors, bank account and 501(c)(3) status, the organization aims to bring people together, educate them about local and international hunger and to then have them actually package nutritious life saving meals for those in need! Thanks to an all volunteer labor force and donated facilities, over 95% of all contributions go directly to pay for food and related transportation costs. For additional information, please contact Rotarian John Wong at j.wong@micorp.com or Rotarian David Warren at dave@davesace.com .
For more on Kids Against Hunger, click here to view their newsletter.
Four Avenues of Service Awards Dinner Held
The eight area clubs of Western Wisconsin held the annual Four Avenues of Service Awards Dinner on Tuesday, September 9 th at Caledonia, Minnesota. Two hundred and twenty five plus Rotarians and companions celebrated successful efforts in the Four Avenues of Service with the Rotary Clubs La Crosse-Downtown and LaCrosse-East being honored with the Club Service Award for their efforts in expanding the La Crosse Rotary Foundation to include all eight area clubs. The Holmen Rotary Club, chartered in February of 2007, was honored with the International Service Award for successfully applying for an RI grant and then implementing a water project in the slums of Lima, Peru. The Community Service Award went to the Rotary Club of LaCrescent, Minnesota for their development of a handicap accessible playground project and the Vocational Service Award was taken home by the Rotary Club of La Crosse-East for their work in forming the Rotaract Club of LaCrosse
The Rotarian of the Year award was presented to Steve Doll of the Downtown Rotary Club of La Crosse and the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Natalie Hartigan of the Rotary Club of La Crosse/Valley View.
Dean Dickenson
District Governor Elect
Madison Breakfast Rotary Seeks Shipper for Books
By Cristianne Wendlner, Madison Breakfast Rotary
Click here to read about Rotary International President D.K. Lee's praise for the book project in Johannesburg.
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You can help these children by finding a shipper |
A Little History
These are children that children that have either been orphaned by AIDS or are in some way affected by AIDS. They live in Soweto, South Africa. Kidlinks World, through one of its projects, the Ikageng Itireleng AIDS Ministry, provides support by ensuring that the children are in school, have uniforms, receive monthly food deliveries, have electricity, receive necessary medical care, and are safe in their home environment.
Where You Come In – This is the helpful part
I am Judy Levine and I am a member of Madison Breakfast Rotary. A year or so ago, one of our members, Cristianne Wendler, suggested a wonderful project to us. Helping these children get books for their schools and their homes. Many of them have never seen a book before! Our club is helping to provide books to the children helped by this wonderful organization. We are desperately in need of help shipping these books to Texas from which they will be shipped to South Africa. It is a wonderful project but we have two semis worth of books that are already packed on pallets and ready to go. We are out of room for storage. If anyone knows of a shipping company that would be willing to give us a deal on the arrangements and cost of shipping, we would really appreciate it. Below is the information on the amount of books we have along with the contact information of where they will go. Cristianne Wendler is our club member that heads this project.
Each box weighs, on average, 45 pounds. On our last shipment we were able to put 32 boxes per pallet, which makes each pallet weigh approximately 1440 pounds. A full semi can take up to 44,500 pounds and fit at least 24 pallets, so 24 pallets at 1440 pounds each is 34,560 pounds and about 768 boxes totally. We currently have enough to fill two semis. We can work with a company on full or partial shipments, whatever works for our shipper.
The address where the books need to go in Houston is below and there will be people at the warehouse to unload the books.
McLean Cargo Specialists, Inc.
1310 Rankin Road
Houston , Texas 77073
Phone 281-443-2777
mclean@mcleancargo.com
Cristianne Wendler
Member of Madison Breakfast Rotary
Ikageng Itireleng AIDS Ministry Trustee, www.ikageng.org.za
Kidlinks World Board Member, www.kidlinksworld.org
Contact Cristianne if you have any questions about the project.
c_wendler@hotmail.com 608-658-1772
To learn more about this project, click on any of the links above.
Orphan Train is Alive and Very Well
By Ed Fink, Orphan Train Project-Chairman, Madison West Town - Middleton Rotary Foundation Inc.
This report, written by Cora Holloway, is being forwarded so that you can get a feel for what is going on with one of the Orphan Train conductor’s efforts at their orphanage in Tanzania, known as Mgolole. The team is led by Rotarian Cora Holloway, on her third trip to Tanzania. This year, the team will spend four weeks working at the orphanage. They are staying at the Tanzanian Institute, just down the road. Father Bernard Witek (mentioned in the report) is a Salvatorian priest who serves as our intermediary.
We pray for their continued success and safety.
They write...
Internet in this part of the world is something that you can't depend on. We (Joan, Lois and myself) can get very frustrated with the Internet connections if we choose to but I guess we learned that it is okay if we can't send e-mails everyday or every 3 days.
Anyway, last week Father Bernard and I attended Rotary Club of Morogoro Central meeting. We presented the Mgolole project and invited them to join us in helping the orphans. It was received warmly and they seems to be very interested. I will make a follow up this week and probably attend their meeting again before we head back home.
We continue to come to the orphanage in the morning , taking a lunch break and back again in the afternoon. Every morning as we walk through the gate of the orphanage the children will be waiting for us and calling our names. They call Lois "Ois' , Joan and Cora like they were cheering for us. They love blowing balloons and getting "pipi" ( candy) from us. They all love to dance and watching some sort of video with dancing and singing. We saw some of them fall flat on their faces and get hurt. They cry to get our attention or sometimes they misbehave (like most kids do) to be noticed. One kid in particular, she is born in Mwansa. Her mother is Tanzanian and her father is from India. Her name is Gifti. He is kind of short little girl with curly thick hair. She is so smart and can be intimidating most of the time considering her small body.
JOan & I met with Mother Prudenciana (the Mother General) and got her blessings . WE presented to her our plans and activities while we are here in Morogoro and got her okay.
With the older kids, we started putting together 1,000 pcs of puzzle early last week. It was not easy but Emmanuel and Mango are up to the challenge. Last Friday, I cooked green papaya with coconut milk for the older kids.
We spent the weekend trying to get connected via Internet, did some shopping and help prepare some food for the Inauguration of the Salvatorian Institute. Monday, we spent the whole day celebrating the Inauguration
Lois and Joan made coffe cakes and 3 different kind of pies while I prepared food for lunch. We had chicken BBQue, Beef Caldereta, Vegetable egg roll, meat eggroll and Pansit (Lo Mien). I made leche Plan and Cassava cake for dessert.
Today, Tuesday, I woke up with fever ( due to some insects bites- which I am not sure what). WE went to the orphanage in the morning and made some popcorn cooked in a covered pot in a charcoal stove. Joan had a time of her life helping me out cooking the popcorn. It was not so bad. WE decided we will then cooked the rest of the popcorn at Salvatorain Institute where there is more choices of pots & pans. The children enjoyed the popcorn.
We helped feed the smaller children their lunch. Lunch is the time of the day that is full of chaos. Some children does not want to be fed or they will cling to you like little spider with their hands full of " ugali mixed with beans." As Joan put it in her own words............I think I'll pass lunch for today. Oh well.
Lois and Joan just left for the afternoon session with the older kids while, I decided to stay put because of my fever. Internet is on so I decided to give you a glimpse of our life in Morogoro.
This weekend we are hosting a birthday party. This is to celebrate the birthday of all the orphans living at Mgolole Orphanage. Our goal is to give the children memories of birthday cakes and birthday celebrations. WE want them to remember that birthdays are special.
More to come.
Cora, Joan & Lois
For more information, contact Ed Fink with the Madison West Towne Middleton Club.
Madison South Rotary Hosts 3rd Annual Rotary Junior Champ Track and Field Meet
The Third Annual Rotary Junior Champ state track and field meet hosted by Madison South Rotary attracted 21
RI News
Celebrate Rotary's 100th Convention in Birmingham England
It is with great pleasure that I tell you about being a part of history at the RI Convention in Birmingham England, June 21 - 24, 2009. This year marks the the 100th time that Rotarians will gather to celebrate the service and fellowship that Rotary has come to represent, so this convention will truly be a special one.
You will hear inspiring plenary sessions, multicultural entertainment, informative breakout sesssions and Rotary Foundation updates. Learn about successful club and district projects.
In addition, your hosts will have planned a variety of events that capture the excitement of Birmingham's shopping and nightlife and the charm of West Midlands cities such as Coventry and Stratford-upon-Avon. You won't want to miss the concert to be given by the reknown City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
It will be exciting and at this convention, we will celebrate a year in which we, as Rotarians, will MAKE DREAMS REAL for the most vulnerable among us---children--through projects promoting health, nutrition, clean water and literacy. With you help, Rotary's great dream of world peace and understanding, will one day come true.
Go to the website----Rotary.org for the application and for more details. More information will be forthcoming in future newsletters.
Thank you.
Tom Marshall
District Governor
Club President and Secretary Access to RI Website
Dear District #6250 Presidents and Secretaries:
I hope the new Rotary year is off to a good one!
As secretary of District #6250, I have been asked to forward you the message below about access to the RI member access site on the RI Web site. Once you go to the Web site , http://www.rotary.org, and click on “Member Access” in the upper right and get online, follow the directions to log on the first time (you’ll need to know the district (6250) your club number and your member number –it’s on your magazine). It’s an easily accessed site with TONS of information!
Also, be sure to stay current and report your club attendance MONTHLY; this will help us move forward in the district.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
In Rotary Service,
Brad Quarberg
6250 Secretary
quarberg.brad@uwlax.edu
608.785.8572
Update on Annual Giving
Foundation Reports
Each club in District 6250 has established a foundation goal and the question is how are the clubs going about the achieving those goals? Have each of the clubs done an every member enrollment? Successful clubs take the time to ask each member to make a pledge commitment to the Rotary Foundation. Fulfilling that pledge might involve a quarterly billing by the club secretary/treasurer or participating in the direct deposit transfer from the Rotarians checking account to the RI Foundation account or it might mean a monthly charge to a credit card. Successful clubs establish a process that allows their members to both make and fulfill the commitment.
Click here to view the updated Club Goals Report!
Attendance Report
Click here to submit your club's attendance report
Click here to see the full Attendance Report.
