Stories

Many of you recite the Four Way Test at every meeting, so the phrase, “In the things we think, say and do” is very familiar. Today, I encourage you to pause and reflect on how this phrase pertains to you and your role within your club. How you THINK, SAY and DO for your club is instrumental in shaping its Public Image. 

Meet 2026 - 2027 District Governor: Scott Ryan

Becoming an administrator in another district within the Rotary community presents a fresh and thrilling challenge. This year, I had the opportunity to interact closely with Governor Michelle McGrath and the rest of the district team, whom I had previously only seen virtually via Zoom since assuming the role on July 1, 2023.

The Rotary Club of Chippewa Falls “Rotars of the Month” Ethan Faschigbauer, a senior high school at Chippewa Falls High School, with her team Kamryn and Bella, embarked on a project called "Impact Spouts" to benefit elementary school students, starting with Halstad and Parkview Elementary. 

Tierney Ray Hall, District 6250’s Global Scholar Reports from Oxford, U.K.

We are thrilled to announce that Governor Michelle McGrath, along with our district, supports mental health and wellness and a priority for both Rotary International and our district.

Join our District 6250 Hope Squad for the annual NAMI (National Association for Mental Illness) Walk, taking place on Saturday, October 7, 2023 in Madison, WI. Our goal is to raise $6250 and have 100 Rotarians participate in support of mental health for all. Click on this link below to join our team, and please share this information with your Rotary Club members. This event is sure to be amazing, with plenty of fellowship and fun for everyone who attends.

REGISTER HERE

Let us gather around with the District 6250 Hope Squad. There is also the same walk (on September 28th) in the Eau Claire area. Please share Walk Day photos by using the hashtags #Together4MH and #WhyIWalk

Rotary's brand represents more than just a logo – it embodies our organization's essence and what we stand for. To promote Rotary effectively and increase awareness, it's essential to use our brand consistently across all club communications.

As a unique organization, we need to ensure our messaging reflects our distinct character. To help you achieve this, we offer many resources that can be used to showcase Rotary in your community and demonstrate that we're people of action. If you're new to the Brand Center, take a look at our introductory materials to get started.

If you're a first-time user, start here for a seamless introduction to the Brand Center https://brandcenter.rotary.org/en-us/templates

or check this video https://youtu.be/eFjtTRT4V5I

Cover Photo: Rtn. Vera Allotey of the Rotary Club of Accra Dansoman (Ghana); Photo above: Service project that sent 16,000 meals to Ukraine by PDG Ben Bauer

• 1st Place: Madison Breakfast
• 2nd Place: La Crosse Rotary After Hours
• 3rd Place: Holmen
• Honorable Mention: Lake Mills

Check out the links above for all the great videos.

Got a community service project to share? Email admin@rotary6250.org your story, video or project description and we'll share your project on our newly formed Community Service Committee page.

The Rotary Citation awards recognize the hard work clubs do throughout the year. Working to achieve the citation goals helps clubs engage their members, stay relevant in their communities, and run more efficiently. A welcoming and engaging club not only fosters a positive experience for its members, but also reflects the values of Rotary. When clubs achieve citation goals, they contribute to the overall health and culture of Rotary for generations to come.

8 clubs earned the recognition of the 2022-2023 Rotary Citation! Congratulations to:

• Baraboo
• Chippewa Valley After Hours
• Eau Claire
• La Crosse After Hours
• Lake Mills
• Madison Breakfast
• Marshfield
• Menomonie Sunrise

Several other clubs achieved double digit goals and were oh so close to getting the required 13. Please encourage your club leadership to engage with the citation again this year and use it as a tool to focus your club around some key measurements of club health and success. Citation goals can be found in Rotary Club Central. To achieve the Rotary Citation, review all the available goals, select at least half of them, achieve those goals, and report your achievement in Rotary Club Central. All achievements need to be reported in Rotary Club Central by 30 June.

Click or tap play on the video above, or click 'read more' if you'd like to see the full transcript and get links to all of the goodies Ben shared in his message.

• Instead of “lifting” images or other media of the internet, use images or media created by members of your club (WITH THEIR PERMISSION) or use the Rotary Brand Center.
• Never, NEVER, use images or other media without permission.
• Purchase images or other media online.
• Consult the U.S. Copyright Office’s website. https://copyright.gov/

Click or tap play on the video above, or click 'read more' if you'd like to see the full transcript and get links to all of the goodies Ben shared in his message.

Click or tap play on the video above, or click 'read more' if you'd like to see the full transcript and get links to all of the goodies Ben shared in his message.

Click or tap play on the video above, or click 'read more' if you'd like to see the full transcript and get links to all of the goodies Ben shared in his message.

As Rotarians, we have a responsibility to ensure that when we interact with youth through our programs and activities, we are following Rotary's general guidelines. Some of you may be quite familiar with these, but as a reminder, please review the following information and reach out with any questions. We appreciate every Rotarian in our district and your commitment to ensuring that we are in compliance with any Rotary International policy that helps protect our Youth.

Everyday is an opportunity to share Rotary. By showing up in our communities to serve and volunteer each of us is sharing what Rotary means to us, what Rotary means in our communities.

Sharing and showing up can be as simple as wearing your pin even on days when you don’t have a meeting. Add the Rotary logo or your club’s logo to the signature block of your personal email. If you use social media, post a mention of a speaker you heard at a meeting, link to an article in the Rotary magazine, put a Rotary decal on your car, in the window at your office.  These are just a few suggestions that cost you little and will spread awareness that Rotary is here in our communities.

When people see us, see Rotarians in action, the opportunity opens to extend an invitation to a meeting, to be a volunteer, and just maybe to become one of us.

Once you’ve chosen a travel destination, what do you do next? Learn a bit of the language? Get a list of area highlights? Check out a map? Anticipate a warm welcome?

Our Rotary District will be hosting new member orientation throughout 2023. On every fifth Wednesday (March 29, May 31, August 30, November 29) at 7 a.m. or 7 p.m., new Rotarians – and Rotarians who feel new – can join others for an easy-going hour designed to give everyone a great start to a great Rotary experience. We will offer a warm Rotary welcome, Rotary language acquisition, Rotary highlights, and a Rotary map.  This is not a series, it is a single opportunity, offered four days a year, at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. each of the four days.

• Lake Mills Rotary
• Madison Breakfast Rotary

Click or tap play on the video above, or click 'read more' if you'd like to see the full transcript and get links to all of the goodies Ben shared in his message.

Digital copies of both books are available FREE here:
https://rotary6250.org/page/ola-boris-book-downloads/

Click or tap play on the video above, or click 'read more' if you'd like to see the full transcript and get links to all of the goodies Ben shared in his message.

• District 6250 travel to 3170 … February 4 to 14, 2023.  District 3170 to 6250 … June 10-20, 2023.  There are visa requirements in both directions, but it can be done simply on line. 
• Travel to Mumbai(Bombay), then inland to their district. We will move in their district to visit parts of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka.
• Maximum of 12 interested Rotarians, spouses and/or family members. Express your interest early!
• Trip Leader 6250:  Rotarian David Clemens, who was an exchange student to Goa in 1971, and has traveled to this area five times. Please contact Dave Clemens, if interested, at dclemens541@gmail.com, or text to 608-408-8941.

Click or tap play on the video above, or click 'read more' if you'd like to see the full transcript and get links to all of the goodies Ben shared in his message.

Click or tap play on the video above, or click 'read more' if you'd like to see the full transcript and get links to all of the goodies Ben shared in his message.

Click or tap play on the video above, or click 'read more' if you'd like to see the full transcript and get links to all of the goodies Ben shared in his message.

Meet 2021 - 2022 District Governor: Karen Hebert

Meet 2025 - 2026 District Governor: Michael Kloss

Meet 2024 - 2025 District Governor: Todd Restel

Meet 2023 - 2024 District Governor: Michelle McGrath

Meet 2022 - 2023 District Governor: Ben Bauer

District 6250 Hybrid Meeting Task Force

June Membership Update

At the close of another Rotary year, our membership has changed. We are slightly fewer in numbers, have slightly more women, are somewhat more diverse, have very good retention in the long term, and are normal in comparison to the other districts in our zone - about 35 districts running north-south through the center of the United States and part of Ontario. Worldwide, Rotary has grown by a net 11,000 members – the first year of net growth for quite some time. South Korea, much of Africa, and India have lead the addition of new members and new clubs.

 

Here are some 6250 highlights!

 

 

Congratulations to the clubs who won membership grants this year. The district made grants to support membership recruitment events mid-year, and are happy to announce the grant awards supporting new member service here at the end of this year. Congratulations to the Rotary Clubs of Black River Falls, Janesville Noon, Lake Mills, Mayville, and Prairie du Chien! We look forward to what your cadre of new members plan and execute in Rotary service!

 

This year I also have the pleasure of awarding a special $500 Governor’s Grant for the new members of Rotary Club of Holmen Area (HARC). HARC inducted four members in the meeting immediately following the grant application deadline. While HARC applied for the grant and barely missed qualifying, the induction of four more new members puts them near the top of all awardees. I’m sure you’ll join me in celebrating their success! HARC also formally organized an annual new member service project under the leadership of their Past President -  whether or not they win a district grant. Well done, HARC! We are proud of you.

 

Thank you to all of our clubs for inviting your community members to join you in Rotary fellowship and service. Mark your calendars now for next year’s membership grant opportunities: Membership Growth in December and New Member Projects in May.

 

Karen Hebert

District Governor

Change HerStory
How do you tell the story of a menstrual hygiene project in Ghana?

When the International Projects Committee of the Rotary Club of Madison chose its international project in 2018, we knew we had to create messaging that would reduce “discomfort” about the project. After all, who wants to talk about menstrual hygiene at lunch...or maybe at all.

The committee was thrilled to be partnering with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s new 4W (Women and Wellbeing in Wisconsin and the World) initiative. The goal was to provide a junior high school curriculum to teach adolescent girls and boys about reproduction & menstruation, dispel myths and provide menstrual hygiene “kits” to female students that they could use when they got their period. Over three years, we would work with seven US Rotary clubs, 3 Ghanaian Rotary Clubs, 8 districts and 188 schools and an in-country partner, Days for Girls (an international NGO that advances menstrual equity, health, dignity and opportunity for all) to reach more than 25,000 girls, boys and their families and distribute more than 17,500 kits.

Back to the “discomfort”. Even in our club of smart professionals in Madison, WI, when we started to tell the story, folks would cringe a little and be visibly uncomfortable. So, what do we do? Who do we find to tell the story and what story do we tell?

The answer to who would tell the story? Gray-haired guys, of course. When we proposed this strategy to our committee members, the guys got it. And we were on our way. The first time Committee co-chair, Mike Casey, stood at the podium to introduce the project and ask for contributions, he joked, “You are probably wondering why I’m here talking about menstruation.”