Congratulations to our Rotarian of the Year...Matt Boshcka...Matt has been a member of our club for three years, has 100% attendance since day one, involved in Mobile Meals, RYLA and help start up Interact Clubs at our local high schools. Matt also went to St. Lucia on a Mission Trip this year. Our program last week was St. Lucia Good News Project...very heartwarming and following his presentation, President Roger Christians announced that Matt is our Rotarian of the Year. Thank you Matt for your service and devotion to the ideals of Rotary. We are proud to have Matt as a member of our club. Click here for Matt's PowerPoint presentation.
Matt will be recognized at our Avenues of Service Dinner on August 18th.
Rotarian Jodi Widuch, Executive Director of The Parenting Place was on local media stating that access to diapers is a great need for parents in our community. So The Parenting Place is having a diaper drive.
Peter Krause announced that we would help with this cause....our club took monetary donations to buy a pallet of diapers for The Parenting Place. In two weeks we collected $1600 to cover the cost! Thanks to all who made a donation.
Jodi last week thanked the membership for helping with this need in the community. She was overwhelmed with the response from our club.
GET WELL wishes go out to Hal Keitel. Hal is in the hospital in Rochester..good news is he is out of ICU and doing better. Hopes to be back home later this week.
Maike is the Youth Exchange Student from Germany who came to our District last August 2014….as most of you know her dreamed ended on January 29th when she was rushed by med flight to a hospital in Madison to repair a bleed on her brain. She spent many weeks in intensive care…..she had a number of surgeries…..she was flown back home this Spring to Germany. Her family stayed at the Ronald McDonald house while they were in Madison.
Maike is in a rehabilitation facility in Germany…an hour away from her mother. Her mother misses everyone here in the United States especially the team at the University of WI hospital. Maike is getting good care in Germany but not the same as she was at the University of WI hospital. Her mother also misses the Ronald McDonald house. Maike is walking with the aid of a walker….she is starting to say a few words and write a few words. Her mother is volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House there.
Our District started a medical emergency fund for her and her family (suggestion from a Rotarian from our club). Our District raised $4,500… $1,400 of that came from our club!!
The bills so far have all been covered by insurance….which is amazing. The expenditures so far from the $4,500 raised was a donation to the Ronald McDonald House in Madison of $1,000 where the family stayed. Bills are still coming in and the monies left will be used for any charges not covered. If all are covered by insurance the monies will be held in an account – Rotary Youth Exchange Emergency Medical Fund – that would be used for other Youth Exchange Medical Expenses.
The District Governor from Maike's area was so pleased with the help our District gave Maike and her family….especially Jan, our District Youth Exchange Chair who visited Maike and her family daily…that they honored Jan with a Paul Harris Fellow.
COME FOR SUPPER....The Humanitarian Committee will be helping again with the "Come for Supper Meal Program" at Our Savior's Lutheran Church - 612 Division Street on Tuesday, July 28th from 4:30-6:00 p.m. Click here to volunteer. We need FOUR more volunteers.
Our Rotary Youth Exchange Student for 2015-16 will be Anniina, a 16 year-old girl from Finland. We are excited to sponsor Anniina while she is here. She will be arriving on Thursday, August 13th at 1:40 pm at the La Crosse airport. It would be nice to have a welcoming group go from our Rotary Meeting to the airport to greet her.
We hope you will consider opening up your hearts and home to make Anniina feel welcome. She will be staying at three host families while she is here however, we would love to have other Rotary families help make Anniina feel at home in La Crosse. Are you going to have a family gathering or attend a special event....ask Anniina to join your family.
Things she would like to do while she is here...Loves Nature - Hixon Forest Hike to Grandad Bluff; Riverside International Friendship Gardens; Visiting the Shrine an Visiting St. Rose Convent. Let Bill know if you would like to give her a tour of any of the above.....it will be a great way to learn more about Anniina.
AVENUES OF SERVICE BANQUET...Our 26th annual Avenues of Service Banquet will be on Tuesday, August 18, 2015 at the Four Seasons Community Center, Caledonia, MN. Save the date for an evening of Rotary fellowship. We will gather with area Rotarians to recognize the hard work of individuals and clubs. Each club will recognize one member of their club for Rotarian of the Year (Matt Boshcka from our club)...we will honor the Lifetime Achievement Award, Avenues of Service Awards and the Rising Star Award.
You can now register online for this event. We are hoping to rent a bus to take Rotarians over to Caledonia...if you would like to ride the bus, please note that. The cost of the bus will be $10 or less per person...depending on how many ride it.
Cards will be for sale before and after our Rotary Meeting.
Birthday, Wedding, Sympathy, Get Well, Anniversary, Congratulations, Note Cards and other cards will be available. All cards are unique and hand-made. Thank you cards are only $1.00, as are the note cards, which are blank inside. The regular cards are $2.00 and $3.00 each. Some cards are three for $5.00. Anita donates all sales to the Rotary Works Foundation!
Please note: Raffle, Fines, Birthday, Anniversaries and Scooters are all donations that will go to the club If you are making a donation and would like it to go to the Rotary Works Foundation or Rotary International Foundation, we ask that you write a check to the Foundation of your choice.
July 16th: Raffle:$45 Fines: $32; Scooters: $15; Scrip: $120
MEMBERSHIP 2015-16
Active Membership
June 30, 2015 - 167 July 23rd - 167
Honorary Members 23
Honorary Membership is offered to members who have distinguished themselves by meritorious service in the furtherance of Rotary ideals. Honorary membership is the highest distinction that a club may bestow and should be conferred only in exceptional cases. Honorary members cannot propose new members to the club or hold office and are exempt from attendance requirements and club dues. Honorary members will continue to receive The Rotarian Magazine compliments of the club.
Membership Proposals....we will no longer ask for three references when you propose a new member. This was a criteria that our club had set not RI. This will help us process new members into our club more efficiently. You can access the membership proposal form online, under the Club Information site page.
Moon Tunes of La Crosse is a Valley Rotary Project bringing free concerts to Riverside Park most Thursdays in the summer from 6:00 – 8:00 pm....click here for schedule.
If you would like to volunteer to give your Classification Talk, do Rotarians in the News be a greeter or raffle ticket seller, or announce guests, you can email the Monthly Program Chairs that are listed above....just click on their name.
this year. Our program last week was St. Lucia Good News Project...very heartwarming and following his presentation, President Roger Christians announced that Matt is our Rotarian of the Year. Thank you Matt for your service and devotion to the ideals of Rotary. We are proud to have Matt as a member of our club. 
GET WELL wishes go out to Hal Keitel. Hal is in the hospital in Rochester..good news is he is out of ICU and doing better. Hopes to be back home later this week.
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