His expertise shines through as he explained the latest stormwater chaos we’ve been through. The ‘rain event’ of Aug 20-21 was a 1-in-a-thousand-year event for us – meaning it had less than .1% chance of happening. But it did. His charts and graphs showed the tremendous amount of water that fell on the west side (with just 3-4 inches on the isthmus). 6.68” of rain would be a once-a-century amount in a 24-hour period; in some spots, we had 10.56” in 12 hours. Almost all the rain fell into the Pheasant Branch Creek Watershed and then flowed into the lakes, very gradually. Lakeside homeowners suffered not from rain, but from the lake levels rising.
Next Week’s Speaker: Jessie Charles: Bringing Their Stones Home – Restoring Gravestones to the Old Dane County Asylum and Poor Farm
Basketball Cards have arrived. Your Board of Directors would like 100%
participation. One packet is $100.00. A suggested buyout is $75.00.
Here is how it works: $10.00, buys a person one "membership card”. If they buy two, they can get a third card free on the www.basketballsweeps.com/FREE site.
Each card contains 4 NCAA Basketball teams below the scratch-off area. If you have a team that does not make the event, there will be a replacement team announced prior to the tournament. These teams are your teams for the duration of the tournament. You total all of the scores of your 4 teams to find your total for the event. The highest score wins $200.00, 2nd place $100, 3rd place $75.00, 4th place $50.00 and the lowest score wins $75.00.
Checks for winners will be distributed following the final game. There are 700 tickets available for sale. Ticket stubs must be retained and turned in with your money to Deb Dieter by March 22, 2019.
Deb Dieter runs this project. Questions, kudos, or gripes, email Deb at debragdieter@gmail.com
This month our Club has engaged the services of a new bookkeeper, Sandy Gruber. Sandy will be assisting the Club Treasurer, initially with the recording of weekly deposits for both our Club and Foundation and also creating and sending quarterly dues invoices, using our QuickBooks Online software installed earlier this year. Later she will be picking up additional duties, including the reconciliation of the monthly bank accounts. The Treasurer will continue to issue checks, prepare the monthly financial reports, and attend meetings of the Board of Directors.
Sandy has served as the administrative office for the Wisconsin Chapter of the Risk Management Association for several years, an organization in which Derek Moehring has been active for many years. She also serves other Midwest chapters of the RMA. Sandy lives in rural Spring Green. We’re hoping she will be able to attend one of our Club meetings in the not-too-distant future, so you will have an opportunity to meet her. Our initial estimate is that Sandy will spend about ten hours per quarter supporting our Club. Her billing rate is $20 per hour, so the estimated cost will be about $800 per year.
Last quarter over 25 of our members paid their quarterly dues electronically using ACH (Automated Clearing House). The process is quick and easy, and there is no cost to either the Member or the Club. To make the payment, click on the “Review and Pay” box that shows up on the first page of the invoice email you receive and follow the instructions. The first time you use it, you will need to enter your checking account information – Routing Number and Account Number. You can then save that information, and you will not need to re-enter it the next time.
If you have any questions, please email or call Club Treasurer John Olsen – johno.olsen@gmail.com or 608-220-2826.
The Red Badge program was developed many years ago to ensure that new members were made aware of our club’s leadership, operations, fundraising, projects, and charitable giving. We have modified the Red Badge program over the years and added a mentor program that we find more effective. At our January board meeting, we voted to end the Red Badge program and instead rely on the mentor program to onboard and support new members. As a result, all new members will immediately be given a blue badge. For those still slapping on a red badge on Fridays, you’ll be receiving a blue badge soon. On a side note, I personally set the record for the longest-tenured red badge and I didn’t want to lose that dubious distinction.
Established as a Rotary Structured Program in 1971, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is Rotary's leadership training program for young people. The Rotary District 6250 RYLA program is a camp designed to build future leaders and Rotarians who exemplify the four-way test.
If you know a high school sophomore who would benefit from leadership training, please refer them to RYLA!! Questions?
You know the feeling. It’s 7 am on the third Tuesday of the month. You’re just hanging around in your robe and slippers, thinking about the tedious day ahead. But wait! You could be going to an MWTM Rotary Board meeting at Capitol Bank on High Point Road at 7 am on the third Tuesday of the month. The meeting typically runs until 8:30 or 9:00. You’ll get a chance to see all the behind-the-scenes effort and commitment that go into helping our Club do all its good work. If you see your Rotary membership as a long-term commitment, you’ll learn a lot in a couple of hours. Give it a try.
Our Club has supported this financially and with volunteers for many years. On Thursday and Friday, March 7-8, the 36th annual event takes place at the Glacier Canyon Conference Center at the Wilderness Resort in the Dells. They need Speech Judges, Speech Timers, & Interview Judges, all from 4:00-840pm on the 7th. A shuttle bus will depart Madison at 230pm (pickup location TBD) to take Madison volunteers to the Dells and back. Mick Faulhaber leads our Club’s efforts. It’s a great event and a lot of fun. And it helps young people. Contact Mick directly (mfaulhaber@ward-brodt.com). The State Director is Janet Bailey at 920-617-5617, jbailey@cesa7.org.
Nancy Comello has been the heart and soul of a project to provide midwife and birthing education to local Guatemalans. The goal is to reduce mortality and improve the lives of both mothers and children. She has been on a solo crusade with a lofty goal of raising over $80,000 through various sources. It is time to form a committee to support Nancy’s vision and make this effort a high-profile project for the Rotary Club of Madison West Towne-Middleton. We can use help in grant writing, finance, project management, and promotion. Please contact me if interested.
Hmmm … what do we have in common? We both have Middleton in our name. This event has been going for 50 years plus and the proceeds go to Middleton area service clubs and other NPOs. In effort to better promote Rotary in Middleton, Jack and I attended the Middleton GNF board of trustees meeting on Monday. We have participated in this event in the past and believe it’s time to jump back in. I am looking for volunteers to join Jack and me on a Rotary club committee for this interesting fundraising and promotional activity. Please contact one of us soon. The Fest will be Aug 23-25, 2019.
Bill Pritchard, of the Rotary Club of La Crosse - After Hours, has been selected as District Governor Nominee - Designate, to serve as Governor in Rotary Year 2021-2022. Bill has served District 6250 as Membership Chair and is currently Inbound Coordinator for the District Youth Exchange. Bill has also served as Assistant Zone Coordinator, and Inbound Coordinator for Central States Youth Exchange, which covers 17 districts. His nomination will be confirmed by vote at our Annual Meeting at the District Conference in La Crosse June 7 & 8.
Folks please pay a visit to ClubRunner and check that your anniversary and partner are listed in your entry. If you don’t know how to access ClubRunner, drop me an email.
Our April 26th meeting will be a luncheon at Jefferson Middle School. Many of our members have supported Club activities on behalf of JMS. Now we get to enjoy lunch there and see the facility.
Feb 7, 2019. Club Socializing Gather-Round at Cowboy Jack’s starting at 430.
Feb. 16. 6-9 pm at the Jefferson Area Business Center/Woolen Mills. The Jefferson Rotary Club is having its Annual Beer & Wine Tasting Fundraiser, Craft Beers, Area Wineries, Heavy Appetizers, DJ, Photo Booth and LOTS of GREAT Silent Auction items for you to bid on (including signed Green Bay Packer 2017 Football, autographed Bears photo, tickets to area sports and more to come!) Tickets are $40 in advance and $45 at the door. Tix: Deb McCoolCloute at dmccool-cloute@badgerbank.bank.
February 23. Club Social, Details to come.
March 7. Academic Decathlon, Wisconsin Dells. Details to come.
May 17-19 2019. RYLA at Upham Woods, Wisconsin Dells.
takes place at the Glacier Canyon Conference Center at the Wilderness Resort in the Dells. They need Speech Judges, Speech Timers, & Interview Judges, all from 4:00-840pm on the 7th. A shuttle bus will depart Madison at 230pm (pickup location TBD) to take Madison volunteers to the Dells and back. Mick Faulhaber leads our Club’s efforts. It’s a great event and a lot of 