Paul Harris recognitions this week. Wear your medallions and/or pins!
This Week: Rotary Foundation
November is Foundation month throughout the Rotary world. Today we will be handing out our pledge forms, asking our members to involve themselves in the work that Rotarians do around the world and in our own community. The three places we invite your giving will include the Rotary International Annual Fund, often called the RI Foundation for short; the Polio Plus campaign that is the work of Rotarians worldwide; and our own area Rotary Works Foundation. With special guest Erin Luken, our District 6250 Foundation chairperson, we will hear more about the work of RI that is supported by our gifts. We will cap this presentation off with the awarding of Paul Harris Fellows, honoring significant contributions to our joint endeavors through the Annual Fund and Polio Plus.
Pedro Mascaró Merino is our 2025/26 youth exchange student from Argentina. He is from the province of Tucumán which is in the far northwest corner of Argentina where weather is always warm, year-round. He has embraced his year in La Crosse already traveling to Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago with his host family and taking a full load of classes at Logan High School with band and American football.
Like many of the 8,000 – 10,000 rotary youth exchange students each year, world-wide, Pedro is an ambassador for his country to not only us as Rotarians, but everyone he meets with his host families and at school. And, like wise, we get to share our culture and daily lives with Pedro. It is truly a chance to build international relationships at a personal level.
Now that Pedro has been here about 3 months, we will have a chance to get to know him better. We will learn about his family and living in Argentina as well as some of his first impressions and experiences in La Crosse. It is a pleasure to welcome Pedro to our Rotary family.
Lunch this week: Grilled Chicken with mustard cream, roasted baby red potatoes, and green beans. Cauliflower Steaks for the vegetarians
Coffee, ice tea, and water available.
Guests are ALWAYS welcome! RSVP in advance to Niki Pohnl if know you are bringing guests but last minute invites are also welcome!
Condolences
David Johnston passed away November 12th. David was a member of our club since 2015 and a member of Rotary since 1987. We just celebrated his 38th year in Rotary last week. David's funeral will be this Thursday, November 20th at Blessed Sacrament. View his obituary here. Cards or notes can be sent to S383 Valley View Estates Road, Coon Valley, WI 54623.
Our thoughts are with Mike Nickel and his family as they mourn the death of Mike's father, Roman Nickel. Funderal services for Roman are Tuesday, November 18th. View Roman's obituary here.
New Member Proposals
The following community members has been proposed to become members of our club:
Nancy Gerrard, Broker, Realtor Gerrard Hoeschler; proposed by Sheila Riley.
Pat Dannenberg, Director Boy Scouts of America; proposed by Joe Kress.
According to club procedure, applicant names are to be published in our weekly email bulletin for two weeks. If there are no objections from the current membership, these applications will be approved. Please contact the Club Administrator if you object to these applications by November 18th.
The news this week is from Kansas City, where one life-long Rotarian just got nominated as the Rotary International President for the 2027-2028 service year. Steve Kraske and Zach Wilson of NPR’s KCUR in Kansas City report that Larry Lunsford who has been a Rotarian for over thirty years describes the nomination as “one in a million kind of opportunity.”
A member of the Rotary Club of Kansas City-Plaza since 1991, Lunsford is a certified public accountant with an impressive professional resume that ranges from a 7-year stint with Ernst & Young to his current job as executive vice-president and chief financial officer for the Bernstein group of companies. Larry Lunsford has also served in various capacities within Rotary International, including being a director and member of several committees, and trustee of the Rotary Foundation (2021-2025, vice chair 2024-25).
President-nominee Lunsford first encountered Rotary when he received a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship to spend the 1981-82 academic year at the University of Newcastle in Australia. "Rotary International has its own Rotary Foundation, and I was a beneficiary of one of (its) educational programs as I was finishing college; I went to Australia for nine months as a Rotary Foundation ambassadorial scholar. And that certainly was a life changing experience. It planted the seed of Rotary inside me in a significant way, started my career, then eventually I joined a Rotary club. But truly, this opportunity I now have to serve as Rotary International president is a continuance of just trying to pay back the wonderful opportunity that was given to me."
If no one challenges him, on September 15 2026, Larry Lunsford of Rotary Club of Kansas City Plaza will become Rotary International president for the 2027-2028 service year.
