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Rotary District Conference 2021 Video Play List

Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.

Get Your Glow On!

Welcome to the 2021 District Conference! 2020-2021 has been a year that has challenged all Rotary Clubs and all of us. We have grown in remarkable ways – now it’s time to celebrate, as well as exchange ideas and plan for the future. Our Rotary theme for this year has been “Rotary Opens Opportunities”. The 2020-2021 year has opened the door for conversations around what we value, and how we can pivot into what is coming next in our communities and the world. During our conference, we welcome and challenge you to continue these conversations during a week of engaging conversations with thought leaders from across the district, the state, the United States, and the world!

We have pulled together a rock-star line up of thought leaders in all things Rotary. You’ll hear from Rotary International leaders such as Tom Thorfinnson, Brian King and Tom Gump who are on the cutting edge of the actions plans for our Rotary path in North America and beyond. We will be blessed with presentations/discussions each night during the week from district leaders around Youth Programs, Foundation, Membership, Public Image, and a look at work being done around the country and globe by Rotarians in our seven key areas of focus. We’ll be joined by the leaders of Rotary’s past (yes… Paul Harris himself!) to Rotary’s present (Rotary International President Holger Knaack) to a look forward at how our Rotary action plan will impact our futures, with presentations from Rotary International President-Elect Shekhar Mehta and Rotary International President Elect Nominee Jennifer Jones. And we will close our plenary sessions on the following Saturday by thought leaders in the areas of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion on how to absorb this fast evolving topic into our clubs, our districts, and into ourselves.

Rotary Opens Opportunities each and every time you open yourself to the incredible opportunities all around us. I hope that the time you dedicate to bettering yourself and your Rotary Club leaves you with a glow of pride in the work that you and your Club have done over the years, and with a glow of anticipation of the great things that are there for the taking, right on our horizon.

District Governor 2020-2021
Bill Pritchard

District eBulletin

ClubRunner Login

Calendar

RYLA 2021

May 16, 2021 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Virtual

PE Training: Club Goals

May 17, 2021 5:30 PM – 6:15 PM

Zoom

PE Training: Club Goals

May 18, 2021 7:00 AM – 7:50 AM

Zoom

Tools for Leaders: Club Central and Club Runner

May 20, 2021 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM

Zoom

April Interact Instant

Virtual Exchange, park cleanup, food drives, little libraries and more! Check out the great work of our Interact Clubs in the March Interact Instant!

Lodi Interact Club created an 8 week virtual exchange with 15 interact clubs based in District 4170 Mexico. Follow on Instagram: lodi_interact
Madison Interact Club spent their day in fellowship by doing a park cleanup! Follow on Instagram: madison_interact
Lake Mills Interact Club created a fun way for each class to participate in a food donation drive. Follow on Instagram: lmhs.interact
Verona Interact Club is always in pursuit of books to fill up their local free libraries. Follow on Instagram: interactverona
Baraboo Interact Club had a ton of fun collecting personal hygiene and bath products for community members in need. Follow on Instagram: interact.baraboo
Mount Horeb Interact Club participated in Neighbors Helping Neighbors by collecting and delivering food to the essential needs pantry. Follow on Instagram: moho_interact

Read more for some posts and photos of all the great work!

February 2021 Governors Message

Dear Fellow Rotarians,

In life, sometimes the experiences that matter the most are the briefest. They pass in a blink of an eye; a few days, a few hours, a few moments. They are the experiences that illuminate the landscape of our memory, shining brightly even years later. They are the moments in which we see, suddenly, something we had not seen; we understand something we had not understood; we forge a connection we had not expected.

For me, this has been a Rotary year like no other. I have been around Rotary for over 16 years, having traveled around the world, traversing countries and continents. I have been to places I had never seen before. As I prepared for my year as your District Governor, my calendar was full of visits to clubs not only around the district, but around the world. I had Russia, Germany and Taiwan on my calendar. But then things changed… this has been a Rotary year like no other.

I have still traveled this year… just in a different manner… a different conveyance. I have traveled virtually into your homes, offices, and meeting locations. I have actually expanded my international reach this past year – visiting Rotary meetings on four continents and 7 different countries. I can share without hesitation that the Rotary I have seen is strong, vibrant and full of energy! On February 23, we will mark 116 years since the founding of Rotary. It is incredible to think about how much has changed, in our world… in our organization, since the first Rotary club met in Chicago with Paul Harris as its president.

Some things are easy to compare between now and 1905. Technology and medicine? Certainly. Society? Not so easy but certainly “different.” When one looks at a map of the world from 1905 and a map of the world today, we can see many things that are different. What we can’t do is compare what is with what might have been. There is no way to compare our world as it exists now with the world as it would have been without Rotary.

This year, like the 115 that preceeded it, has seen Rotary rise to its many challenges. We’ve answered conflicts with peace, and poverty with education. We’ve responded to a lack of basic health care with projects large and small, from equipping clinics in tiny villages to eradicating polio across the globe.

Global Grant Update - Guatemala Water and Sanitation Project

Chronic childhood malnutrition is a problem all over Guatemala. Almost 50% of children aged 5 and under are malnourished. In the highland villages of Tecpan, however, the number is as high as 95%.

In 2019, Madison South Rotary wrote a Global Grant for a Water and Sanitation Project in two villages in the highlands of Tecpan, Guatemala. We partnered with ABPD (Association Behrhorst Partners for Development), the Antigua RC in Antigua, Guatemala, District 7750 in South Carolina and clubs in Florida and Maine. At the same time, Deb Walters from District 7790 (Maine and Quebec) wrote a Global Grant for Maternal and Child Health for one of the same villages plus one other that had been assessed to need this type of help. The “ask” comes from the village leaders themselves then a detailed assessment is done by ABPD.

Angling for a Better Tomorrow: Al's Musky Challenge

With a gleam in his eye, Rotarian Al Louis deftly set the hook on Musky #7; minutes later, he and his friend A.J. hauled it from the cold waters of Minnesota’s Lake Vermilion into their boat. This musky was special, not only because it takes, on average, 10,000 casts to land just one musky, but because this musky—all 41½” and 22 lbs. of it—represented more than $41,000 raised for five nonprofits in Al’s hometown, La Crosse, Wisconsin.

It wasn’t easy.

Al battled the elements, a lake crowded with 85 bass boats thanks to a two-day bass tournament, tedious hours without a strike, muskies that tracked the lure to the boat only to break away at the last second, the fog of a bizarre insect hatch, and a sinking boat (yes, really). Not to mention, raising money during a pandemic is ... challenging, to say the least.

Rotary Club of Mayville Supports P.A.V.E. with Disaster Relief Grant

Imagine living in the same home as your abuser. The pandemic hits, escalating stress and tensions. A bad situation becomes untenable, and you know: you MUST get out. You MUST find a safe place to stay. For residents of the Beaver Dam area, that safe place to stay might be P.A.V.E, an organization that provides services and shelter to survivors of violence.

Unfortunately, the pandemic brought not only rising cases of violence, but with it, additional challenges in keeping the shelter a safe and healthy place:

Additional cleaning and sterilization processes needed to be put in place.
More personal hygiene and protection supplies, like masks, were needed.
Additional entertainment supplies were needed to help keep shelter residents occupied.

Dedicated Rotarians in the Rotary Club of Mayville saw a need in their community, and being People of Action, stepped up. With the help of a Disaster Relief Grant from Rotary District 6250, the Rotary Club of Mayville provided needed cleaning and personal hygiene supplies— including 35 handmade face masks—along with entertainment items, to P.A.V.E for use in their shelter.

We are Rotarians. We are People of Action. We believe in Service Above Self. Together, we EMPOWER.