Election of officers for the upcoming Rotary year and then Selected members will talk for a few minutes on why they joined Rotary and why they find it rewarding
UPCOMING PROGRAMS:
Our January 50th anniversary meeting is postponed until spring.
January 21One of our two newest members, Kevin Hayden, will provide a program about St. John's Northwestern Academies. Joe Sevenz, Dean of Administration, will speak about the purpose of the academy which was built in 1884 on 110 acres of land in Delafield, Wis. Its goal is to prepare students for success in life by instilling solid work ethics, understanding the value of integrity and teamwork, the ability to think critically, communicate well and function on a diverse and ever-changing world.
January 28 Author and publisher David Benjamin will talk about his craft. He is the winner of numerous literary awards and has written and published 12 books and over two thousand essays. One is called "Almost Killed by a Train of Thought.” Benjamin graduated from LaFollette High School and lives part-time in Madison and part-time in Paris.
February 4 Dr. Daniel Dickinson, a psychologist at UW Clinics, will discuss sleep disorders.
February 11 Anne Goodwin will tell us how to relax and let go of everyday stress via her real-life experiences of a "getaway" place called "Come to the Lake."
We are in need of club greeters. Please click on the link, find a day that you can serve the club by greeting members and guests, and sign up. Thanks for all you do to serve our club, each other, and our community here and around the globe!
The meeting place is Serendipity Labs, a co-working facility on the sixth floor of the Johnson Bank Building at 525 Junction Road Madison, WI 53717(right next to Panera Bread). We’re in the SOUTH TOWER. Parking is easy and undercover. We’re doing this on a month-to-month basis right now, but it may lead to a long-term arrangement.
Our meeting place is circled in red on this map. 6th floor. For parking, follow the blue arrow on the map to underground parking. Go left once you enter the ramp. Parking is free; park in any unassigned spot. Go to the covered walkway to enter the building and grab the elevator to the sixth floor.
Libby Burmaster with Sandrine, principal of Madison West at the time of the photograph.
Host Family: Diane and Ed Fink
Host Family:
Mary Beth Growney and Daughter
Host Family: Jim and Jacque Schutz Family
Recently, I was in contact with Sandrine Robin, our former Rotary Exchange Student (1993-1994) from Belgium. She is pictured here in a recent photo with her daughter Manon Arena. While in Madison, Sandrine attended Madison West.
We are starting a new social club for our club members. But wait it can be so much more than just a social club!
Who is for:
Knitters and Crocheters or other yarn enthusiasts! If you’re a beginner, knitting clubs are a great place to learn things, discover tips and tricks and build your confidence. They can be a space to meet like-minded knitters who will get excited with you when you’ve discovered a new yarn or worked your first cable. For seasoned knitting veterans knitting groups are a place to share your passion, show off your makes and you won’t be annoying anyone with the clicking of your needles! (Although we all know that’s a beautiful sound.)
What do we make: Hats, scarves, socks, mittens, baby blankets, knitted knockers, or anything else we want!
What is the purpose: 1- Knitting groups are a great way to meet new people or just to get to know others better. Going to a place where you’ve all got something in common and can use the excuse of fiddling with a few stitches while you relax enough to get your chat on, is ideal. 2- A great way to serve our community! We can donate the things we make to women’s shelters, homeless shelters, breast cancer patients, mental health patients, schools or any place that could benefit from the things we make. 3- Possible fundraising event. We can sell the item we make to raise money for other worthwhile causes our club is involved in.
How to participate: We could use an organizer to get this started. I would be happy to jump into that role after June! Any club member (family member) can join in making items. You can donate yarn. Find needs in the community that we could focus our projects and energies on.
Club Benefits: Club Service-engaging members of our club to get involved in fun worthwhile events. Community Service-create items that will benefit multiple members and organizations in our community Vocational-teach kids in school, boys and girls clubs, and other like groups. International-is there a need for items we can send to the orphanages or international programs we support?
Your Board met on Monday, Oct 25 to cover the usual business and to take a look at the way we're dealing with masks and Covid in general ... and how this has affected our Club. You all know attendance has been sorely impacted.
Starting with October 29 meeting:
All in-person attendees must be vaccinated and masked. We're not going to ask for proof of vaccination. We'll let the four-way test handle that.
Unvaccinated people attend via Zoom, & we genuinely wish they do so.
If you eat or drink at the meeting, you'll see two special tables set aside for you. Most of the room will be for people not eating or drinking, and they'll be wearing masks all the time. You'll have your mask off while eating/drinking, obviously, but put it back on when you're done. The meeting runner and Board members in attendance will lovingly poke members who've let their masks slip.
People at the microphone may remove their mask while they're there. No removal of masks when talking from the floor ... just go to the microphone and remove your mask.
Relatedly, we're aware that our usage of Zoom has been too often problematic. We know this is an issue and we're working on it.
The Board hopes this revised policy encourages more members to attend the meetings in person. We want the safest, healthiest environment for members to enjoy what they primarily come to the Club FOR: fellowship. We want to re-establish the importance of regular attendance in our members' lives. We can't do the good we do without engaged members. We think many have just gotten out of the habit of attending meetings regularly, especially in light of Covid. We want to change that. We NEED to change that.
We will review this policy regularly. We hope that Covid continues its downward trend. We'll follow Dane County on refining our mask policy. We have moved our Fiftieth Anniversary event from January to the spring in the hope that the Covid situation is better, and that we can hold part of the event outdoors.
Finally, please, please make a hearty effort to attend meetings in person. Venue directions are in the Bulletin. Your Club needs you. If you have questions about this new policy, please reach out to President-Elect Kathy Roberg (kar8525@gmail.com )
Rotary Club of Madison West Towne-Middleton, PO Box 620312, Middleton WI 53562
We’re currently holding Hybrid/Zoom meetings during this COVID time. The Zoom link is above in this Bulletin. The in-person meeting site is the Johnson Bank building at 525 Junction Road. Park in the ramp to the east of the building, then go to the 6th floor to Serendipity Labs.
You can’t miss us.
Fridays at 12:12 PM
The meetings combine a live, in-person element with the capability to join via Zoom.
We are the self-anointed ‘Coolest Rotary Club in the World.’
Our website is mwt-mrotaryclub.org
Executives
President
Connie Fish
President-Elect
Kathy Roberg
Secretary
Jack Ferreri
Treasurer
Matt Loch
Club Service
Dean Ryerson & Rod Nilles
Community Service
Abby Benbow & Todd Wigand
International Service
Paul Patenaude & Mary Cobb Dunn
Vocational Service
Roxanne Brazeau & Jim Emerick
We meet
FRIDAYS at 12:12 pm
at
Serendipity Labs, Suite 6500 Johnson Bank Building 525 Junction Road Madison, Wisconsin 53717