Headquartered in Tampa Bay, Schools for Haiti has ten schools with 1,850 students in Montrouis. Haiti remains the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere … and 85% of the education is done by charitable organizations. Brandon Williams, former Packer and NFL player has been actively involved. There’s a local gala for the organization on April 27th at the Madison Marriott West. For more details, go to schoolsforhaiti.com.
Richard W. Meister passed away at Agrace HospiceCare on April 13, 2019. He was born April 11, 1926, in Black Earth, WI, son of Albert and Grace Lockwood Meister. He attended McPherson elementary one-room school grades 1-8 and graduated from Verona High School, 1944. Following high school graduation, he worked on the family farm until enlisting in the US Army on October 15, 1946, with assignments to Camp Lee, VA, Seattle WA, and Sapporo, Japan. During the overseas assignment, he served as a paratrooper with the 11th Airborne Division. As a special military honor, he represented his regiment in the July 4, 1947 parade in Tokyo, with General Douglas McArthur as the reviewing officer. He also played on the regimental basketball team.
Following military discharge, he earned BS and MS degrees - education, UW Madison, married Ellen Hefty, and received his Ph.D. - Educational Administration, UW- Madison, 1972. Dick taught school at Kewaskum, Deforest, and Madison Sherman and East Junior high schools. He served as an administrator at Madison Memorial High School, Jefferson Middle School, and West High School. Following retirement from Madison, he served as an interim Administrator / Principal at Kickapoo, Waupun, Richland Center, and La Follette High School.
Losing his father at six months of age, growing up on a farm, experiencing strong discipline during paratrooper training, and earning 3 university degrees while working full-time certainly impacted his exemplary work ethic which he shared with hundreds of high school students during his career.
Dick's special interest in sports included being a successful basketball coach for 13 years, and officiating basketball/football/baseball for more than 35 years. He was an avid UW Basketball fan and a golfing member at Blackhawk Country Club. Another special interest was his affiliation with the Rotary Club of Madison West Towne-Middleton, being a charter member with perfect attendance for more than 35 years. He was honored as a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow for his involvement with several Rotary Club special projects: development of Pope Park on Old Sauk Rd, establishing fundraisers for the orphanages supported by Rotary and going to El Salvador and Guatemala several times to work at the orphanages. Dick enjoyed traveling to Idaho, Arizona, Europe, and Asia. He cherished his membership in the Catholic Church (Our Lady Queen of Peace), never having missed attending mass his entire life, except when aboard military ship going to Japan.
He is survived by his wife Ellen; brother-in-law Wayne Hefty; niece Rebecca Freitag; nephews Ron, Garry, Don, Tim and Rich Meister; and several great-nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father Albert, mother Grace, brothers Eugene and Donald, and nephew Joseph.
Memorial services will be held at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, 401 S. Owen, Madison on Tuesday, April 23, 2019, with a visitation starting at 10:00 am, mass at 11:00 am with lunch and reception at Blackhawk Country Club to follow. Cemetery Services will take place at a later date at Oak Hill Cemetery in the township of Springdale.
Memorials are suggested to the Rotary Club of Madison West Towne-Middleton Foundation, PO BOX 620312, Middleton, WI 53562-0312 or the Meister Memorial Fund @Blackhawk Country Club, 3606 Blackhawk Drive, Madison, WI, 53705
Dick was a long-time member of our Club, with decades of involvement and charitable give.
.Let’s show a strong Club presence at his visitation and memorial service
The Golf Outing Planning Committee needs help with the marketing and promotion of the upcoming Golf Outing. We’re looking for a Club member to join in the capacity of marketing and promotion. The Committee will guide this member on the specific things they will be asked to accomplish, however having their own ideas and concepts will be encouraged. This is by far our Club’s largest fundraiser, and its success is critical to funding the great things we support. We don’t need a marketing guru … just someone (or two) with some energy and commitment to help out and work with us. Maybe you? Reach out to Kevin Welton at kevinw1420@tds.net.
Jeannine Desautels is rounding up volunteers for the many jobs that need to be handled for this event. She passed around sign-up sheets the last couple of weeks, but be proactive and reach out to her and ask her how you can help. You can reach her at jeanninembd@gmail.com.
The Oliveros Scholarship Fund is grateful to the members of Madison West Towne-Middleton Rotary Club for your generous support of our "Soup's On" fundraiser. Because of you, we are able to provide nearly 20 scholarships to the kids of Oliveros. Thank you for cooking and setting up and donating! It means that the kids we serve have a better chance for a sunny tomorrow!! You truly are the greatest Rotary Club in the world!!
Thanks to all, especially Peder Moren, H.G.A. (Svein Morner's employer) and Svein for creating this fund to provide additional support for the Adopt-a-Cot program at TLC in South Africa. These folks are saving babies and finding "forever homes" for them. It seems like the babies keep coming and the financial strain is great. I would encourage you to get their newsletter.
Here's the Thank You from TRLC:
Dear friends at Madison-West Towne Rotary Foundation
We are so delighted to receive your generous donation to help us continue our life saving work. Thank you for partnering with us in this significant way as we try to build families for the abandoned and orphaned babies of our nation.
Your donation of $2607. 88 will go directly into our Adopt-A-Cot program which is our sustainable funding project helping with the work of rescue, relief and the rapid, responsible placement of infants into permanent families.
We were so blessed to have you supporting us, please be encouraged to follow our activities on Facebook or Instagram as we always share lovely pictures and stories to keep you connected with the wonderful work being done here. Bless you all, we wish you every success.
Meet between 4 and 430 at the Vitense Golf Land parking lot -- 5501 Schroeder Rd
We’ll be cleaning the Beltline, South R/W (right of way), starting at Whitney Way and ending at Gammon Rd. The route is about 1.3 miles.
We’ll supply trash bags and yellow safety vests. Bring your own yellow top if you wish.
Wear good shoes for working over uneven ground. AND WORK GLOVES.
Weather cancellation: We will be watching the weather. If it looks bad the night before, we will email you to let you know if we plan to cancel the event.
We’ll have cars/vans will be parked at the west end of the clean-up route to bring us back to Vitense.
Family and friends are welcome. Young people must be over 16 and have adult supervision. Safety: Hwy traffic will be heavy and noisy, so stay focused, and stay in the grassy right of way. Don’t go on the gravel shoulder of the Hwy. Be safe!!
The Silent Auction Committee thanks you in advance for your donations to the Silent Auction. We have noticed that in the past members may have struggled to come up with ideas for donations or felt that their donation would not be able to "go with anything" in a basket so we have come up with some additional donation ideas for those that want to donate but do not know what to donate.
Do not worry about what your donation may "go with" in a basket. That is the Silent Auction Committee's job and you don't have to worry about it! We are just grateful for your donation whatever that may be!
Local Beer Theme Basket: Please bring 6-12 pack of bottles or cans of LOCAL beer. We will auction it all off together so variety is key. For example, it would be better to donate 3 different flavored 6 packs of New Glarus beer as opposed to 3 six-packs of 1 flavor like Spotted Cow. Examples of local beer: Capital Brewery, Wisconsin Brewery, Karben4, One Barrel, New Glarus, Potosi, Next Door and many more.
Rose all Day Theme Basket: Please bring a bottle(s) of Rose (not white zinfandel). Every liquor store has a display of Rose set up already getting ready for summer. If you want to donate more than one bottle please get a variety of different bottles so that we have more variety. 4. Lottery Ticket Gift Basket: Please bring in lottery ticket(s). Again, variety is the key! So purchase different tickets, denominations, games, etc. Think of the potential value if all the tickets were winners!
We cannot put these baskets together without your help! We appreciate any and all donations and look forward to reaching the goal Kevin has set for us. Please let us know if you have any questions.
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 an 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.
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.
Who: Volunteers We Need You - many of you have volunteered in the past and “thank you”, “thank you.” We will pair up newbies with seasoned volunteers where possible. No job to big or small.
Morning Shift: (7:30 - 12:30ish) Volunteers to be at the farm 7:30 a.m. Go to the tent and look for a sign for volunteers to get a volunteer ribbon for your shirt (gets you a
yummy free lunch) and have a roll and coffee and get your assignment. Dressage starts at
8:30 so everyone must be "in place" at that time. Please see the Chart below for Volunteer
Positions and Descriptions
Afternoon Shift: (12:00 - 4:30ish) Volunteer assignments made while enjoying lunch - Marathon starts at 1:30 so everyone must be "in place" at that time. Please see the Chart below for Volunteer Positions and Descriptions
We will feed and hydrate you and guarantee fun whether rain or shine - please bring your own
chair, sunscreen, rain gear (if needed) and good sense of humor - we provide the fun!
How: Fun, fun whether rain or shine - - - be there or be square! and THANK YOU!!!!
Parking: All volunteers park to the west (behind) of the show tent (go left as you come in the gravel drive from Riverside Road). We will have signs. Contact: Mary Ruth Marks at 608-513-7490; maryruthmarks@gmail.com.
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?
An inbound Rotary Friendship Team from Australia will be visiting the Madison area in late July. We are co-hosting this with Madison Downtown Rotary. We’ll need accommodations for five couples and two singles. Hosts will pick up the 1 or 2 people at the agreed-upon place on Monday, July 22, provide overnight accommodations and breakfast, and transportation to the daily activities. Many hosts trade off days and attend the daily events with the guests if possible or drop them off with the group in the am, meet them for dinner, etc.
The crisis is bad, continued rain and rising floodwaters are expected to last a week or longer. Authorities are concerned about possible cholera outbreaks from dirty water.
Our response team met with the Rotary District 9210 Governor Hutchson “Hutch” Mthinda and Past District Governor Stallard Mpata, both from the Rotary Club of Lilongwe, on Friday evening to discuss plans. The team is now in Chikwawa, one of the worst-hit districts of southern Malawi. They’ve visited families living in collective centers to understand how ShelterBox can help.
There are tens of thousands of families with nowhere to call home. Most of the families have lost all their possessions in the floods. Many of them are sheltering in schools, so children are missing out on their education. Conditions are crowded and cramped, putting people at increased risk of disease, violence, and even trafficking. Emergency shelter is desperately needed, to give families space and tools to recover in privacy. We expect support may include emergency ShelterKits so families can repair or create shelter, as well as water filters and mosquito nets so families can protect themselves from diseases.
Rotary District 9210 is the most affected, covering Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. District Governor Hutchson Mthinda is in close contact with ShelterBox and has been providing local updates. We have reached out to The Rotary Club of Limbe in southern Malawi, who supported a previous ShelterBox response to flooding in 2015.
We have been closely monitoring the impact of the flooding and cyclone across the whole region, which has also affected Rotary District 9400, which covers some of South Africa, Botswana and, crucially, Maputo in southern Mozambique. We are in regular contact with Past President Bruno Maximiano do Amaral of the Rotary club of Polana in Maputo, who has worked with our teams previously and is ready to offer assistance if required.
ShelterBox is ready to support families with emergency shelter and other essential items. With your support, we can help more people.
We’re working to reach communities as soon as we can, but the devastation slows everything down. Roads and bridges are washed away, communications are down, floodwaters stay high and continuous rain hits people with the misery of more flash floods. Families who’ve seen their homes swept away are building temporary shelters with the few materials they could salvage. The challenges are frustrating, but we’re doing everything we can to get to where we’re needed.
Lots of Spring and Summer Events coming up. Find something to volunteer at as a MWTM Rotarian. We’ve supported this program, both with funds and volunteers, for several years.
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.
.png)
