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Background on the Rotary Works Foundation: The Rotary Club of La Crosse founded the Rotary Foundation in 1982 to provide a separate agency to award grants for local and international activities which fall under the criteria established. In 2008, the foundation became a regional foundation and changed its name. Rotary Works Foundation is made up of the nine Rotary Clubs in the area - La Crosse Downtown, La Crosse East, La Crosse After Hours, Valley View, Onalaska, Onalaska Hilltopper, Holmen, Caledonia and La Crescent and is governed by a board made up of members from each of the clubs. The efforts of the Rotary Works Foundation are supported in large part by the nine Rotary clubs and individual members of those clubs. Because of the large scope of many of the activities, the Foundation enthusiastically welcomes contributions and memorial gifts from people who share its commitment to improving the quality of life in the La Crosse area and the world.
PAUL HARRIS FELLOW RECOGNITION
We are pleased to report that members of our club have achieved a new level of giving to the Rotary Foundation.
Kathryn Sexauer and Sue Durtsche will be making the presentations. If you are a Paul Harris Fellow, please wear your pins and medallions in honor of those that will be recognized.
We are looking for nominations for "Rotarian of the Year" from our club....please submit you nominations to rotarylax@charter.net by May 1st...click here to view form. The board will review the nominations at the May board meeting and make a selection. The Rotarian of the Year will be recognized at our Spring Social and the Avenues of Service Dinner on Tuesday, August 14th.
The Downtown La Crosse Rotary Club (along with the Caledonia Rotary Club) partnered in 2016/17 with the Kumbo, Cameroon Rotary Club for an international project to develop bathrooms, hand sanitation units and libraries for ten schools in the Kumbo region. The project was named the WASH and Library Project.
The physical aspects of the project were completed late in 2017. The toilets and hand sanitation units have been installed and the library books were delivered.
The next step involved holding a seminar for stakeholders to develop a plan for effective implementation and support. The seminar was held in early 2018. We received an audio copy of a Kumbo City Radio Report interview about the WASH and Library Project. The radio interview was conducted at the seminar. The Bui Divisional Officer, Chin Iridisu (Cameroon Education Foundation, who also visited the Downtown La Crosse Club in 2016) and the President of the Kumbo Rotary Club were interviewed. Two other radio stations also covered the story.
Rotary Friendship Exchange...The Rotary Friendship Exchange program gives Rotarians and their families the opportunity to host and visit Rotarians around the world. In addition to experiencing other cultures and making lasting friendships, an exchange provides a strong foundation for carrying out other international activities and service projects. The primary goal of a Friendship Exchange is to build greater international understanding and goodwill among Rotarians and their families. In addition, exchange participants can learn how their vocations are practiced in other parts of the world, observe new customs and cultures, and promote an appreciation of cultural diversity worldwide.
Our club will be hosting three friendship exchanges in 2018.
We will host Rotary Friendship exchanges:
9 Latvians from May 13-16;
7 Argentinians tentative dates June 14-16
We will also host delegates from the La Crosse - Forde (Norway) sister city project. At this time we do not know how many will be coming and the tentative date is most likely Oktoberfest Friday and leaving one week later.
Would you like to represent our Rotary Club of La Crosse by volunteering at the USO La Crosse Regional Airport lounge? In order to volunteer you will need to complete the online training and background check.
Information below is how to start the process of becoming a volunteer.
Please also email rotarylax@charter.net so we can include you in the Rotary Contact List in ClubRunner and that the USO knows you are from our Rotary group. We will also have a sign-up sheet at our meeting this Thursday at the registration table.
2) Log in to “Register to Volunteer” and create an account.
3) Enter your personal information.
The application is done in sequence. Need not all in one sitting. You can complete it any time of day or night at home or the office.
NOTE: There is a wait between the first stages to eliminate those who lose wind in their sail to volunteer.
*A background check is done on all applicants.
The USO has received our check and will be purchasing items for the Veteran's Lounge. We hope to have a social in the Veteran's Lounge this Spring once the items are installed. More info on our project.
Answers to a few questions that have been asked:
Military Lounge Hours: Open 24/7 by key pad/code access.
Code available from flight assistants/ Avis Rental office desk and USO online.
Parking: Yes, will be validated
Peak Days to volunteer: USO will give notice when they are due heavy traffic.
Consider for May – August to be busy. As weather cools so does traffic.
Benefits of sponsoring an ad on the Rotary Club of La Crosse Web Site:
Enhance your business' public relations and image.
Advertise an upcoming event.
Opportunity to sponsor and support the Rotary Club of La Crosse and your community.
Sharing with fellow Rotarians in our club and other local clubs who would like to know what you do.
Why advertise on the Rotary Club of La Crosse's web site?
The majority of visitors to our website are members and friends of our club. This makes our site's web sponsorship an ideal opportunity for small and large businesses to promote their products, services or an upcoming event in our community. Moreover 100% of the advertising revenue goes back to our club; this in turn supports the local community.
Click on the logos under Website Sponsors...located on right side of our home page...or the left side on our newsletter to view information on each sponsor...PeopleFirst HR Solutions, Vendi, Outback, Rotary Works, Brain Game, Rotary Lights and Girls Scouts, Al louis-Who Will Be Smarter than a 5th Grader, and New Horizons Dinner and Silent Auction.
Our three new sponsors this week are Vendi, New Horizons and Al Louis:
Our Youth Exchange Student for 2018-19 will be a girl, Lucia from Spain.We have already identified her first host family, who happens to live in the Central school district. The first family will have her from mid-August to early December, Her second family will have her from early December to around March 31st, after which her second family would have her until mid-July 2019.
We are looking for Rotarians who would like to host her as the second or third family. If hosting an exchange student interests you or if you have any questions, please talk to Maria Norberg, Eva Marie Restel or Jack Haase. Also, feel free to talk to Tami Woods on what it has meant to her family to host Beca.
Happy Birthday Jud Beck - March 17 Bill Hoel - March 20
Happy Anniversary
Beth (John) Smith-Houskamp - March 18
Happy Rotary Anniversary Matt Boshcka - March 15 - 6 years Colin Fleming - March 16 - 1 year Carey Shilts - March 16 - 1 year Carl Miller - March 18 - 14 years Debby Johnson-Towner - March 19 - 26 years Meredyth Lillejord - March 19 - 20 years
Rotary Attendance policy is to attend or makeup at least 50% of the club meetings during the first six months and the second six months. They can be done by: • Attending regular club meetings • Making up meetings at other Rotary Clubs ( which includes E-Clubs) • Engaging in club projects/events/fellowship/board meetings.
100% Attendance Winners July - Miranda TerBeest August - Sue Durtsche September - Tim Durtsche October - Jamie Capuzzi November - Wendell Snodgrass December - Al Louis January - David Amborn
Corporate Membership is a program to allow multiple employees of a business Rotary participation under one primary membership. Each corporate membership is limited to a three-year term. After the three-year corporate membership term, the individuals are required to become individual members. View Corporate Membership Policy.
Family Membership is a program to allow a second individual Rotary participation under one primary membership. View Family Membership Policy.
Honorary Membership is offered to members who have distinguished themselves by meritorious service in the furtherance of Rotary ideals. View Honorary Membership Policy.
Excused Membership is offered to members if the aggregate of the member’s years of age and years of membership in one or more clubs is 85 years or more, the member has been a member of one or more clubs for at least 20 years, and the member has notified the club's secretary in writing of the member’s desire to be excused from attendance and the board has approved. Excused Members will pay the quarterly dues of $70 and only for meals when they attend a meeting.
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.
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.
March 8th: Raffle $246: Fines $52: Scooters $3: Scrip $35
If you would like to volunteer for Rotarians in the News, be a greeter, a hospitality greeter, raffle ticket seller, scrip seller or announce guests, you can email the Monthly Program Chairs that are listed above....just click on their name. If you would like to give your classification talk please contact Program Committee Chair Tami Woods.