Important Note: Deadline for district newsletter submissions is the 25th of each month. The newsletter will be distributed by the first full week of the month.
District Governor's Message
November is Foundation Month
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Dean Dickinson |
Dear Rotarians,
In the Rotary calendar, November is Foundation Month. For most of us we look forward to November with a mix of longing for the good old days of summer and an awareness that spring is five months up the road. At the front end of winter we pause to give thanks for all of the blessings that we have. It is a tradition that comes from the agrarian roots of this country. The harvest is in, the barns and silos are full, we will have enough to eat until spring comes and with it the ability to plant and start the cycle over again. Thanksgiving, the giving of thanks and a yet deeper meaning is to be found in our ability, and our willingness, to share our good fortune with those who are not so blessed with the abundance that enriches our lives.
In 2008 our Rotary Foundation announced that the 30,000 th matching grant had been funded. Who can begin to calculate the impact that those grants have made on the people that benefited, directly and indirectly. It is beyond our ability to quantify the number of lives that have been changed because of our involvement in making those lives better. In and through our foundation we bring hope to people who struggle on a daily basis simply to survive.
“Every Rotarian Every Year” is the theme for the recommended level of $100 per member per year in annual support for the Rotary Foundation. That equates to just twenty eight cents per day. That pocket change can save lives. If you haven’t indicated to your club secretary that you want to have this level of support added to your billing statement, please do it today. I will guarantee you that as you sit down to a great Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends that someone, somewhere in the world will be giving thanks for your generosity. What a blessing that will be to you and to those we serve through our Rotary Foundation.
Yours in Rotary,
Dean Dickinson
District Governor
Rotary District 6250
District News, Events and Announcements
Club Vision Planning is Now Available
Club Visioning is now available to Rotary Clubs throughout District 6250. Twenty-Nine Rotarians from across our District successfully completed a full day of facilitator training on October 24, 2009 at the Wintergreen Resort in Wisconsin Dells. Facilitation teams comprised of four Rotarians are ready to facilitate a club visioning event if requested by any club in our District.
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Julie Keitel (center), Rotary Club of La Crosse Valley View plays the role of an "Extractor" during Club Vision Facilitation training on Saturday, October 24, 2009 at the Wintergreen Resort, Wisconsin Dells. Bill Hoel (left at easel), Rotary Club of La Crosse, and Judy Hawley (right at easel), Rotary Club of Black River Falls, play the role of "Scribes" while John Schoenherr (center), Rotary Club of Wisconsin Dells, plays the role of "Runner" during vision training. |
The visioning process is designed to help a Rotary club create its own vision and to discover for itself the steps necessary to achieve that vision. The result is unique to each club because this is not a vision decided by the Rotary District or by Rotary International. The result is a vision designed and endorsed by the club’s own members.
A club visioning event brings together a good cross-section of its membership from the newest to the most experienced Rotarian. The process uses the talents and life experience within the club to develop a vision and goals reflecting that club’s membership. A club visioning event provides renewed focus on objectives and is completed in a dedicated, fun-filled four hour session. The challenge during this process is to gather as many ideas and opportunities for the future from a group of 15 to 30 Rotarians and then condense it down to the most important goals as determined by that club. To make sure that all of this can be accomplished within a limited time frame, the club visioning event is run by an outside neutral team of Rotary facilitators. The team has been well-trained in a specific process to help the club bring out its best thinking. The facilitation team does not suggest or promote projects.
This is not a strategic planning process. However, it does provide wonderful material that can be used to either help review an existing club’s strategic plan or help in the development of such a plan at a later time. By the end of this four-hour process, each club will have a clear vision of the following:
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What the club stands for in the community;
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The club’s target membership size in five years;
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Identification of the club’s attributes;
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Top three objectives for each avenue of service; and
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Ways to improve the club’s leadership development.
Yogi Berra said, “If you don’t know where you are going, chances are you will end up someplace else.” If a club starts with an effective visioning event, it leads to a long range plan that can effectively result in programs locally and internationally. A club vision is a living management tool that begins this process by defining a shared commitment, providing long term direction, creating a framework to establish goals and objectives, and helping the club to optimize the use of its resources.
The key thing to remember is that this visioning process is designed to make sure that it is the club members who are providing the input and deciding the goals, objectives, and action steps that they want to take in order to realize the vision that they have created for themselves as a Rotary Club in their community.
If you would like more information on the Club Visioning process, feel free to contact Committee Chair and District Governor Nominee Chuck Hanson or any member of District 6250's Club Visioning Committee. You can find all the names and e-mail addresses on the District website. If you would like to request a club visioning event for your club, you can download the request form and fax it to Morgan Data using this link: Club Vision Facilitator Request Form . The District 6250 Club Visioning Committee looks forward to hearing from you.
Chuck Hanson
District Governor Nominee
District 6250 Club Visioning Chair
Foundation Facts At-a-Glance
The Rotary Foundation was founded in 1917 by the sixth president of Rotary International, Arch C. Klumpf.
The foundation was funded by a contribution of $26.50 from the Rotary Club of Kansas City, Missouri. Contributions to the Rotary Foundation in 2005-2006 amounted to almost 118 million dollars.
“The mission of the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education and the alleviation of poverty.”
In short form, this means that the Rotary Foundation is committed to those programs which support the premise that there cannot be world understanding and peace when people are hungry, sick, uneducated and living in squalor.
The Council of Legislation in 2001 set a EREY goal of $100 and that decision was endorsed by the 2004 Council of Legislation.
The Rotary Foundation is comprised of these major funds:
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ANNUAL PROGRAMS FUND: Supports Ambassadorial Scholars, Supports Group Study Exchange, Supports District Simplified Grants, Supports through DDF Matching Grants,
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THE WORLD FUND: Supports Humanitarian Grants, Supports World Peace Scholars, Supports 3H Grants, Supports Matching Grants
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THE PERMANENT FUND: An endowment fund established in 1982
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THE POLIO PLUS FUND: Supports the ongoing efforts of R.I. to eradicate polio.
DONOR DESIGNATIONS
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Sustaining Member $100 per year
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Paul Harris Fellow $1000 in cumulative giving to the foundation
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Benefactor $1000 or more to the Permanent Fund
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Paul Harris Society $1000 in annual giving to the foundation
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Bequest Society $10,000 or more to the Permanent Fund
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Major Donor $10,000 or more to the APF, PF or TRF
Foundation Raffle
November is Rotary Foundation month and the District Foundation Committee is happy to announce a Foundation Raffle intended to reward those of our district membership who are sustaining members of the Rotary Foundation. Each Rotarian who contributes at least $100.00 to the Annual Programs Fund (EREY) in Rotary year 2009-2010, on or before May 1 st, 2010, will have his/her name entered into a raffle drawing. Additional tickets will be entered for each subsequent contribution of $100. Three winners will be drawn on Saturday evening, May 22, 2010, at the District Conference Celebration Dinner. The prizes?
3 rd Place 26” Flat Screen T.V.
2 nd Place 36” Flat Screen T.V.
1 st Place 42” Flat Screen T.V.
The more you contribute the greater number of chances you will have to win one of these great prizes but donations must be in increments of $100 to qualify for a raffle ticket. If you are making a contribution through a billing statement from your club you will want to ask your club treasurer to remit your contributions to the Rotary Foundation so that they arrive not later than May 1st, 2010.
This raffle is conducted in compliance with Wisconsin Raffle Rules and Regulations.
There is no cash value associated with these prizes and they may not be redeemed or exchanged.
Winners need not be present to win but are responsible for the delivery of the prize to their home (so plan on coming to the conference and make it easy on yourself)
Dean Dickinson
District Governor
Rotary District 6250
Mary Kessens
District Foundation Chair
Rotary District 6250
Recruiting for District Foundation Subcommittees
Have you ever wondered how The Rotary Foundation really works? Been curious about Group Study Exchange? Wondered how to propose someone for an Ambassadorial Scholarship? Been confused about how to send in a donation to the Rotary Foundation? Wish there was a way to find out more about The Rotary Foundation? Wanted to leverage some of your current skills for a good cause? Wanted to develop some skills that you wouldn’t normally use in your day-to-day work?
One way to get answers to these questions is participate on a District Rotary Foundation Subcommittee. Although it may seem that the Rotary year has just begun, our district leaders are already planning for next year. District Foundation Chair Mary Kessens is recruiting interested Rotarians for various activities of The District Foundation Sub-Committees.
Options to serve include:
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Area Foundation Coordinator: Work with 5-10 clubs on fundraising and education about The Rotary Foundation
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Polio Fundraising Committee: assist clubs in developing events to meet the $2000/year challenge grant for polio eradication
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Fund raising: looking for Rotarians who are willing to assist individuals in donating to The Rotary Foundation. May include working with zero-giving clubs, talking to major donors, working with individuals on planned giving, developing club fundraising, promoting the Every Rotarian Every Year Campaign, promoting the Paul Harris Society
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Grants Committee members: learn about the guidelines for matching grants and district simplified grants, educate others about how to write grants, review grant applications
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Writer: researching and writing articles for the newsletter and other media detailing the work of The Rotary Foundation with area clubs. Articles needed on matching grant successes, Ambassadorial Scholar stories and GSE events
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Videographer: develop videos of matching grant projects and promote them on the web and media outlets
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Alumni coordinator: Take initiative to develop ways to include Rotary Foundation Alumni in the activities of Rotary in our District
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Planner/Leader: Rotarians to develop vision for the future of The Rotary Foundation in District 6250
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Foundation Trainer: Develop training for annual Foundation Seminar, webinars and other vehicles to advance education on The Rotary Foundation
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Foundation webmaster : work in conjunction with current district website or other social networking sites to disseminate information about The Rotary Foundation’s work with District 6250.
If you are interested in any of these positions, contact Mary Kessens at 608-516-1306 or kessens@gdinet.com.
District 6250 Ethics in Business Award
The Rotary Clubs of District 6250, in order to recognize ethical behavior as demonstrated by individuals or enterprises, residing in, and conducting their activities within the district, establish this award in order to provide district wide recognition to those deserving this award.
Click here to learn more about this distinguished award and view the nomination form.
Get to Know Your District Rotary Youth Exchange Inbound Students
This year we have 24 inbound students from all over the world. We also have sent out 29 students to 16 countries. They are off to a busy start having already spent an orientation weekend at Camp Rotamer in Janesville, a few going to a yachting event at the invitation of a Chicago club and on an overnight at Six Flags Great America. This year our inbound students will be involved with a project for Polio Plus. So, not only do our students have fun but they also participate in service project. Please involve your students in a variety of activities. Show them that Rotary can be fun, full of fellowship and service. Our students enjoy their time doing service projects and spending time with Rotarians. It is a great way for you to get to know other cultures and for our inbound students to learn about Wisconsin and our district. If your club is not hosting or sponsoring a student, contact a nearby club and see about participating in an activity with their inbound student. A list and interactive map of which clubs are hosting students can be found on the district website.
Three of our inbound students will be participating in the North American Youth Exchange Network Conference the end of February. They need to attend practices in Sturgeon Bay, WI. If any of you can provide a ride to a student at least to Appleton or from Appleton on the dates below, we would very much appreciate it. They will be picked up and returned there. The times below are when they need to be in Sturgeon Bay or picked up in Sturgeon Bay. If you can give them a ride all the way there, wonderful. If you can provide a ride on one of the Fridays to Appleton, they would need to be in Appleton by around 11 am. If you can transport on a Sunday from Appleton, I imagine they would be dropped off in Appleton around 11 am.
1.) Friday, November 6, 2009 at 1:00pm thru Sunday, November 8, 2010 at 9:30am.
2.) Friday, December 18, 2009 at 1:00pm and Sunday, December 20, 2009 at 9:30am.
3.) Friday, January 29, 2010 at 1:00pm and Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 9:30am.
4.) Friday, February 12, 2010 at 1:00pm and Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 9:30am.
If you can provide rides, please contact :
Judy Levine
District 6250 Youth Exchange District Chair
Office: 608 661-7816, Home: 608 271-5472, SKYPE: Judy_Levine, Cell: 608 220-2949
5406 Dorsett Drive
Madison , WI 53711
District Hosts Swedish Rotarians as Part of Rotary Friendship Exchange
District 6250 and it’s clubs of Waunakee, LaCrosse and Menomonie have just finished hosting 11 Swedish visitors as part of the Rotary Friendship Exchange program.
The group visited our State Capitol, the local DNR fish hatchery and a large dairy farm while in the Waunakee area. During their stay in LaCrosse they took part in Octoberfest, boated on and swam in the Mississippi River and relaxed in the Trempealeau area. While in Menomonee visited an historic theater, toured a glass factory and met with both the noon and sunrise clubs for an evening social. The Menomonie hosts then traveled with our guests to Minneapolis to tour the Swedish Institute and bid the farewell on behalf of all the Rotarians from 6250.
All of the clubs provided excellent opportunities for our guests to experience Wisconsin hospitality at its best. The committee wants to thank all the 6250 Rotarians who helped with the exchange and made it the success it was.
Our next RFE will be in June of 2010 when Rotarians from Turkey will visit Wisconsin. They will be hosted in the Madison, Jefferson and LaCrosse areas. Our District visited Turkey on the front end of the exchange in 2008.
For information on the Rotary Friendship Exchange in District 6250 you can contact Bill Erickson at billjneteric@tds.net.
District Adopt-A-Grant
This year, several club Matching Grant requests were declined by TRF due to lack of funding. The Foundation Committee in turn reviewed all RECENTLY non-funded Matching Grants for 2009 and decided to take some kind of action at the District level to help encourage these worthy projects along. We are opening up the opportunity for ALL clubs in our district to "adopt a grant' to assist in moving projects forward. WE are in the midst of some challenging times, but we all know from experience that Rotarians can be very generous if given an opportunity to assist people in need. We feel strongly that all the matching grant requests turned down this year are projects that need some attention.
Please take a moment to read about some of these grants and contact the primary contact to see how your club can assist another in true Rotary fashion!
Click here to view these worthwhile projects.
Thank you,
Theresa Carroll, DGSC #6250
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.
Journey to Montreal in 2010 with Menomonie Club
Are you planning on attending the Rotary International Convention in Montreal?
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Please consider joining the Rotary Club of Menomonie in this journey to experience Rotary camaraderie at its best. Make new friends from District 6250. After the Convention, cruise with us to Boston.
Click here to view a brochure with details on travel options and pricing.
The club needs travel to be booked by November 23rd so contact Sandy Ott today!
Sandy Ott sandyott@charter.net
Rotarians at Work - Clubs Announce Projects
Our clubs are being asked to identify a community service project that they can complete on the first Saturday in May, 2010.
The latest clubs to announce their projects are The Marshfield Rotary and Sunrise Rotary Clubs. They will collaborate on a local park clean up project.
Remember, the first 500 Rotarians to sign up will receive a “Rotarians at Work” t-shirt. Sandy Ott, immediate past assistant governor and a member of the Menomonie Rotary Club is chairing this event. You can expect to be hearing from her.
A posting of clubs that are participating can be found on the Club Projects & News page of the District Website.
Member Clubs Calendar
In our District website, at the top, a listing for “Member Clubs”. Within that listing there is a club calendar. The clubs of the district are invited to post into the calendar those events that might be of interest to other Rotarians in the district. Are you doing a fundraiser? How about a golf outing? Maybe your club is observing a chartering day event.
You can post these events by sending an e-mail to rotarydistrict6250@morgandata.com along with contact information.
Joint Madison Club Clean Water Project Receives Approval and Funding
Great News! Our matching grant application for our Clean Water Project in San Rafael, Guatemala has been approved by The Rotary Foundation (TRF). After TRF suspended matching grants for 2008-09 last spring, we submitted our application in July to be first in line for funding in the current Rotary 2009-10 Year. We received formal notification this week that our project will be fully funded.
The commitments from our fourteen Madison-area Rotary clubs total $15,013, which meets our original goal of $15,000. We believe this broad level of support was important for the approval of our grant. Thank you! Nine of the clubs have already submitted payments totaling $10,513 to our local escrow account. Bill Erickson is contacting the other five clubs this week.
Our contributions plus matching grants from the District and Rotary International give us almost $53,000 to work with for our project!
The project includes a well (Phase 1); pump, treatment equipment, equipment shelter, storage tank, and tower (Phase 2); as well as distribution piping to the homes in the village (Phase 3). Our best estimate of the total project cost is in the range of $50,000 to $52,000 U.S. Most of the work in Phases 1 and 2 would be done by local vendors in Guatemala. The Phase 3 work will involve a large number of Madison-area Rotarians traveling to Guatemala to work with our Host Partner Rotarians and village residents on the installation of the piping from the well to the residents’ homes.
From the Project Team:
Bill Erickson, Michael Edlinger, Kico Gandara, Bruce Carroll and John Olsen
La Crosse: Steppin Out in Pink Registry Event a Success
La Crosse Rotary along with the Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation and the Blood Center of Wisconsin made the first ever Bone marrow registry held during the Steppin' Out in Pink event in La Crosse a success.
Thanks to the Rotarian volunteers and these groups, more than 200 people will become part of the registry with the goal of saving a person's life.
Organ donation is one of the many programs the Rotary Club of La Crosse promotes.
Menomonie Sunrise Club Celebrates 15th Anniversary
The Menomonie Sunrise Rotary club celebrated its 15th year of existence recently with a dinner cruise on the St. Croix river.
Pictured at right are District Governor Dean Dickinson, Club President Jim Hathaway and the eight charter members of the club.
Club Meeting Celebrates Oktoberfest and Service
La Crosse Rotary Club, the home club of District Governor Dean Dickinson, had their October 1st meeting at the Oktoberfest Grounds.
Pictured at left are Festmaster and Frau - Todd and Deb Ondell . . .2007 Festmaster and Frau on right is Peter and Krin Krause . . .and of course on left District Governor Dean Dickinson.
Dean, Todd and Peter are all La Crosse Downtown Rotarians . . .. between the three they have 71 years of Rotary Service and 17 Paul Harris Fellows!!!
RI News
Rotary International Places 2011-2012 President Candidate in Nomination
The nominating committee of Rotary International has placed in nomination to be the president of Rotary International in 2011-2012, Rotarian Kalyan Banergee, the Rotary Club of Vapi, Gujarat, India. An industrialist, he has been a member of Rotary since 1972. If the nomination stands, Banergee will be the third President of Rotary International from India. He will succeed Ray Klinginsmith, of Missouri, USA who will serve in 2010-2011.
Member Access to RI Website
Do you have questions about what you can find on the Rotary International website and how you go about getting access. Check out this fact sheet with Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the RI site.
Update on Annual Giving
November Foundation Calendar
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
New Reporting Tool for District Attendance
Check out the new reporting tool for District Attendance for 2008-2009. http://www.rotary6250.org/clubs/monthlyattendance.shtml Clubs can view each month’s attendance in a visual graph. Also Club Secretary’s can request access to update their information directly online!
A big THANK YOU goes out to District 5340 for sharing this web functionality!
Click here to submit your club's attendance report
Click here to see the full Attendance Report.
