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Rotary: People of Action
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As a global network that strives to build a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change, Rotary values diversity and celebrates the contributions of people of all backgrounds, regardless of their age, ethnicity, race, color, abilities, religion, socioeconomic status, culture, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Rotary will cultivate a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture in which people from underrepresented groups have greater opportunities to participate as members and leaders.

Visit Fellowship's Website

Club Information
Our club meets Friday mornings from 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM at the Mequon Public Market, 6300 W Mequon Rd, Mequon, WI 53092. 
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Home Page Stories
Club Meeting Information
Posted by Steve Lettau on Mar 21, 2023

When: We meet Friday mornings from 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM.

Where: We meet at the Mequon Public Market, 6300 W Mequon Rd, Mequon, WI 53092.

Program: This week's program will feature Amy Schmelzer - Executive Director of the Adult Literacy Center.

The greeter will provide either the thought, a Rotary minute, share a family moment or a cultural tradition ... anything they would like to start off the day positive.

Upcoming "It's your Rotary moment" assignees:

  • Dan O'Connor (3/24)
  • David Petrulis (3/31)
  • Mika Frank (4/7)
  • Steve Peterman (4/14)
  • Brain Monroe (4/21)

Note: If you are unable to act as "It's your Rotary moment" assignee when scheduled please arrange for your replacement.

Club Assemblies have been scheduled for the following date(s): 4/21, 5/19

Visit our website at mtsunriserotary.org.

Thought of the Week
Posted by Steve Lettau on Mar 22, 2023

Don't forget to tell your favorite people that you love them. - Shirley Temple

Working alongside ShelterBox after Super Typhoon Rai
Posted by Steve Lettau on Mar 21, 2023

Editor’s Note: In December 2021, Super Typhoon Rai hit the Philippines with gusts of up to 240 kilometers per hour, the equivalent of a category 5 hurricane. ShelterBox worked closely with Rotary contacts, local partners, international response teams and the Philippines Navy. Bernard Vonn Sia was part of a disaster response team working with ShelterBox.

By Bernard Vonn Sia, Rotary Club of Cebu, Philippines

As the son of a Rotary member, I was exposed to the organization very early. I thought of it as a group of like-minded people who wanted to help the poor. It wasn’t until I joined the Rotary Club of Cebu sometime later that I realized Rotary was about more than that. Rotary is about coming together to share our time, talent, and resources to better humanity. Giving becomes a pleasure, as we collaborate with other organizations to use our different strengths and competencies to save lives and build a better future.

I saw this very clearly as I got involved with ShelterBox. I had previously heard about ShelterBox when Typhoon Yolanda hit Western Visayas in 2013. It was a gruesome time in Tacloban City and Rotary members there reached out to our club for help. Two members of the Rotary Club of Cebu rushed to Tacloban City and brought whatever they could as relief goods. They kept going back and forth as  facilitators for the ShelterBox relief efforts.

In December 2021, Typhoon Odette (as Rai was known locally) hit our city hard. We had no water or power, and most of the roads were blocked. Thankfully, damage to our property and business were minimal. I was busy because I am in the building materials business, and the need for generators and roofing materials was at an all-time high.

Stephen Castillo asked a select group of Rotarians to accompany him with ShelterBox in distributing tarpaulins, nails, and tools to the remote mountain houses in Cebu. Our involvement included assisting in the distribution of these tarpaulins and tools, along with roofing materials and other goods.

Read more...
Troubling news for monarch butterfly populations
Posted by Steve Lettau on Mar 22, 2023

Presence of monarch butterflies in their wintering habitat drops 22% in one year

The Eastern migratory monarch butterfly is at risk: new reports show a sharp population decline and a loss of habitat in the forests where they winter each year. In just one year, the presence of monarch butterflies in their wintering grounds dropped 22%, from 7 acres to nearly 5.5. acres. This is part of a mostly downward trend over the past 25 years—when monarchs once covered more than 45 acres of forest.

Every year, Eastern monarch butterflies travel up to 2,800 miles from Canada and the US to their wintering sites in the forests of Mexico. There, in what is known as the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, monarchs cluster in shelter from winds, rain, and low temperatures.

Monarchs require a vast, healthy migratory path and large, robust forests for survival through the winter. Today, the butterflies face a reduction of breeding habitat in the US due to herbicide application and land use changes as well as forest degradation in wintering sites in Mexico. Extreme weather conditions in all these ecosystems can further their decline.

Rotary disaster response grants for Ukraine
Posted by Steve Lettau on Mar 21, 2023
Meme of the week
Posted by Steve Lettau on Mar 22, 2023
Viva Lviv: Life during war time
Posted by Steve Lettau on Mar 21, 2023

By Wen Huang

As the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approached, Rotary magazine’s Wen Huang went on a personal trip to Europe, where he witnesses the resilience of the Ukrainian people and the wide reach of Rotary’s global network. In the second installment of his two-part report, Huang crosses the border from Poland to Ukraine.

Friday, 10 a.m., southeastern Poland

“I can smell Ukraine now,” exclaims Vasyl Polonskyy with a broad smile on his boyish face. “We are getting very close to the border.”

We’re zooming through southeastern Poland on a newly paved country road. Polonskyy pokes his head out the window and takes a deep breath. I do the same but fail to catch the scent of anything distinctively Ukrainian. Polonskyy reads my thoughts. “Only we Ukrainians can detect the unique smell of our land,” he says. “Each time I return from trips abroad, I always know I’m home, just from the smell of it. I love my country very much, and the war has only made my love stronger.”

I met Polonskyy earlier this morning in the Polish town of Zamość. Tall with a slender build, he’s the president-elect of the Rotary Club of Ukraine Unity Passport. He rose at dawn to drive across the border to fetch me.

Rotary projects around the globe - Peru
Posted by Steve Lettau on Mar 21, 2023

This month the Rotary Club of Chincha is scheduled to unveil a new addition to a shelter that houses vulnerable girls ages 5 to 17 in the Ica region. The girls, some of whom have been abandoned by their families or are victims of abuse, “need a lot of psychological help,” says Mónica Avilés Calderón, a past club president.

The club completed the first building, with a capacity of 30 residents, in 2000. Soon the number of girls living in the shelter more than doubled. Starting in 2018, the club expanded capacity with additional buildings, costing about $35,000 each. The three new structures were funded primarily by donations from the Rotary Club of Flawil, Switzerland, and District 2000 (Liechtenstein and Switzerland). The Chincha club raised the remaining funds.

Meeting Moments: 3/10/2023
Posted by Steve Lettau on Mar 15, 2023

If Dean's photos look a bit dark it's because our meeting took place during a power outage at Spur 16.

Pedaling Toward Prosperity
Posted by Steve Lettau on Mar 15, 2023

By Michaela Haas

A few years ago, Jorge Romero walked his daughter, Mariangel, to school every morning, and every afternoon he accompanied her home. She was 13 at the time, and the 2.5-mile trek in Galapa, a town on the outskirts of Barranquilla, Colombia, was "too dangerous for a girl to walk on her own," Romero explains. The family couldn't afford other means of transportation. But walking his daughter to school meant that Romero, a day laborer, missed out on getting in the labor queue early enough to grab opportunities to work.

Like many families in Galapa, the Romeros are refugees from Venezuela who depleted their savings making the journey. Nine family members share a simple two-bedroom home. The family sleeps in one bedroom, reserving the other to store their few prized possessions — including the bicycle Mariangel received from World Bicycle Relief that gave her a new way to get to school. The family's hopes now rest on Mariangel to complete her education, thrive, and help support them. As one relative put it, that bicycle is a godsend.

World Bicycle Relief, a Chicago-based nonprofit started in 2005, has given away more than 684,000 bicycles in 21 countries, most of them in Africa. "Bicycles are a really overlooked tool for people to access opportunities," CEO Dave Neiswander says via a video call from his field office in Zambia. "There's a billion people that are challenged to find reliable transportation. Bicycles are a very efficient way for them to help themselves, which is what intrigued me from the beginning."

First Rotaract RPIC talks about creativity, community, and hats
Posted by Steve Lettau on Mar 15, 2023

By Etelka Lehoczky

On an ordinary day last August, people at a park in Copenhagen, Denmark, saw something extraordinary: a stream of runners all adorned with floating, bobbing pink balloons. The balloon carriers were part of Run With Rotaract, a three-year-old event organized by District 1470’s Rotaract clubs. This year, it raised money for education in Malawi.

The balloons served as tickets for the approximately 65 participants. And, says Philip Flindt, a member of the Rotaract Club of København Nord, they performed the equally important function of attracting public attention.

“It created something weird for people to look at — people running with pink balloons,” Flindt says. “It was a way to reach people in the community around the park. They were asking, ‘Is this a bachelor party, a bachelorette party? Why are you running with these balloons?’”

Flindt never seems to lack creative, eye-catching ideas. It’s clear why he’s the Rotary public image coordinator for Zone 18, the first Rotaractor to serve as an RPIC. He’s been promoting Rotaract since he helped found his club on 13 March 2013. That date, he’s quick to note, is the anniversary of the certification of the first Rotaract club in 1968.

“Philip is a fantastic advocate for Rotaract,” says Becky Giblin, a dual member of the Rotaract Club of Auckland City, New Zealand, and the Rotary Club for Global Action District 5150. “When he’s given an opportunity, he not only represents all Rotaractors in the best way possible, but he works to make sure other Rotaractors are given similar opportunities.”

Breaking Down Walls
Posted by Steve Lettau on Mar 15, 2023

By Diana Schoberg

In 2011, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee was in Oslo, Norway, waiting in a room with a few friends before she delivered her Nobel lecture.

Gbowee had lived in a refugee camp, worked as a counselor for child soldiers, and led a nonviolent peace movement that played a pivotal role in ending a bloody 14-year period of civil war in Liberia. But still, they asked her, “What’s next?” “

My answer was simple,” she recalls. “Duh, I just won the Nobel Peace Prize. I’m going to retire at 39. They said, ‘No, you’re still young. Think.’ The only thing I could think about in that moment was girls and education.”

She went on to found Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, which focuses on just that. Since its inception in 2012, the organization has awarded more than 500 full scholarships to African young people, most of them women, to study across Africa, Europe, and North America. It has also provided support to schools in Ghana and Liberia that benefited almost 2,000 students. The foundation has held campaigns to inspire and train women and young people to help maintain Liberia's peace. It has moved beyond the classroom to do work in sexual health and reproductive rights, and produced radio programs that encourage discussion about gender-based violence.

Rotary Projects Around the Globe - United States
Posted by Steve Lettau on Mar 15, 2023

Southern Michigan lore tells of a wanderer who handed melon seeds to a greenhouse owner. The resulting Howell melon has been celebrated by townsfolk with an annual festival now in its 63rd year.

The Rotary Club of Howell has gotten in on the festivities by selling a Howell melon–flavored ice cream. In August the 40-member club sold 7,000 cups of the ice cream and 1,500 half-gallon containers over the weekend fair. More than 100 people, including Rotarians, members of the Interact Club of Howell High School, and school athletes, pitched in to help.

The endeavor scooped up $30,000 for scholarships, local youth programs, and other community projects. “It’s so popular that no matter what time we say we’re going to start selling there’s going to be a line,” says Sandie Cortez, a past president of the Howell club. “People go crazy over this.”

A Debt to the Dead
Posted by Steve Lettau on Mar 07, 2023

By Bryan Smith

Break, break Bulldog-6, Bulldog-6. Where are you?

Bulldog-6, come in Bulldog-6

Bulldog-6 ... Come in

Bulldog ...

Tom ...

The family of Jacob Lowell had arrived early. They milled about for a while and then sat on the folding chairs they had arranged at the edge of a vast expanse of grass. Spread before them, in precisely laid-out rows, stretched a landscape of identically shaped headstones, bone white against the green. More people arrived: in jeans and garrison hats, in ball caps with crossed rifles stitched in gold, and in T-shirts bearing slogans like, "Remember Our Fallen Heroes." They shook hands and embraced, sometimes weeping, sometimes chatting, sometimes simply standing in silence before one of the many markers casting slanted shadows under a mostly cloudless sky.

They had been told to be at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois, at 1 p.m., and now, the hour having arrived, they turn their gaze down a long driveway. There they spot the man for whom they have been waiting. Gripping the handlebars of his custom-painted Specialized Aethos Pro bike, he coasts the last couple of hundred yards to where the people have gathered.

Fifteen years earlier, Private First Class Jacob Lowell, 22, had been on patrol in Gowhardesh, Afghanistan, when insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade into his Humvee. When he and the other members in his squad jumped out to return fire, a bullet ripped into his leg, spraying blood and muscle. Despite that, Lowell managed to climb back into the Humvee, heave himself into the vehicle's turret, and seize the twin handles of the mounted .50-caliber machine gun. He was blasting the attackers when a second, fatal shot hit him in the chest. He died 2 June 2007, only a few days after the arrival of the new commander, Lieutenant Colonel Chris Kolenda, the man now stepping off his bike at the Illinois cemetery.

Bigger than Polio
Posted by Steve Lettau on Mar 07, 2023

Pakistan’s female vaccinators are doing more than helping end a disease

Photography by Khaula Jamil and Sana Ullah

Women make up two-thirds of Pakistan’s polio workforce. It’s a startling statistic for a nation that ranks 145th out of 146 countries for gender parity in economic participation and opportunity, according to a World Economic Forum gender inequality index.

The role of female vaccinators is born of necessity. Because of cultural norms, men are not allowed into many people’s homes in Pakistan. Women who provide the health care are the key link. They can build mom-to-mom relationships and provide trusted advice on not only polio but other health issues.

“Women working with women on the front line is going to be what gets us across the finish line,” says Rotary President Jennifer Jones, who met last year with polio workers in Pakistan. The country and Afghanistan are the only two where wild poliovirus is still transmitted persistently.

The female vaccinators’ work is neither safe nor easy. The women in Pakistan are sworn at, shoved, beaten, and some even killed. They’re fighting misinformation. But their work is crucial — and not just for the cause of polio eradication.

“They are supporting their education, they’re supporting their household, they’re supporting their men and giving a change in Pakistan,” says Sadia Shakeel, coordinator for a Rotary-supported polio resource center in Karachi. “This is bigger than polio.”

$1000 Scholarships Available
Posted by Steve Lettau on Mar 07, 2023
Saving Babies in Ukraine
Posted by Steve Lettau on Mar 07, 2023

By Dr. John Philip, a member of the Rotary Club of Newbury, Berkshire, England, and Chair of the International Fellowship of Healthcare Professionals

I recently traveled 1,350 miles from my home in Newbury, South England, through France, Germany, and Poland to the Ukraine border. My role was mainly one of providing navigation for the relief supplies we were delivering. I was joined by two Scottish colleagues, each driving a van packed tight with 120 boxes of vital medical equipment.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have some trepidation about the journey, but it was one I felt compelled to make. I felt a deep sense of personal responsibility, both to the Rotary members who’ve generously supported the International Fellowship of Healthcare Professionals’ relief work, and to all the Ukrainians whose lives this equipment could ultimately save.

Since March 2022, Fellowship members have collaborated with colleagues in Ukraine and other countries to regularly evaluate the population’s medical needs. This helps us offer medical aid in a selective way, prioritizing needs and maximizing the impact of our aid.

Several months into the war, I became concerned about the status of maternity care in Ukraine. We heard chilling stories of women – many of whom were displaced – being forced to give birth away from hospitals, in cold conditions. They’ve given birth in basements and even in subway stations, where crowds of people are sheltering without electricity or running water. I was surprised that maternity care wasn’t on humanitarian agencies’ priority lists.

Read more...
Partnering with parks department yields Miracle Field
Posted by Steve Lettau on Feb 28, 2023

Editor’s Note: In 2010, the Fargo-Moorhead Rotary Foundation, which is supported by five Rotary clubs in the Fargo, North Dakota, and Moorhead, Minnesota, USA, area, raised 100 percent of the funds needed to build a Miracle Field in Moorhead. Keith Brokke shares how they were able to make an impact with their project.

By Keith Brokke, past governor of District 5580 (Minnesota, North Dakota, USA) and a member of the Rotary Club of Fargo-Moorhead AM

In the spring of 2010, a Rotary member came to us with the idea to build a Miracle Field, a special field with a rubberized, barrier-free turf that allows children with disabilities to play baseball safely. We had previously built a universal playground five years before in Fargo to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of Rotary. We felt a Miracle Field was a good fit for our Fargo-Moorhead Rotary Foundation.

Since we had worked successfully with the Fargo Park District in the earlier project, we decided to approach the Moorhead Parks & Recreation department for the Miracle Field. We knew that it is important early in the planning process to design a project for results. Part of a well-planned project is working closely with partners who also have a stake in the outcome. We learned that the Moorhead Parks and Recreation department had already done a needs assessment and wanted to build a Miracle Field, but faced budget constraints. They were ecstatic when the Fargo-Moorhead Foundation offered to build the field.

Part of a well-planned project is working closely with partners who also have a stake in the outcome.

Back in 2005, the Fargo park district had promised to finance our universal playground interest-free and provide maintenance if we raised all the funds to build it. We got a similar agreement with Moorhead. We were able to raise 90 percent of the $254,000 total needed by June 2010.

Read more...
2023 Candlelight Walk in the Woods Photo Gallery
Posted by Steve Lettau on Feb 28, 2023
Pukaite Woods Preservation a Goat Fundraiser
Posted by Steve Lettau on Feb 20, 2023

Pukaite Woods at Rotary Park has been trimmed by an unlikely landscaping crew since 2020: a herd of goats! Now the Mequon-Thiensville (M-T) Sunrise Rotary Club is seeking public help to bring the goats back to continue the woodland restoration.

The future of Pukaite Woods is dependent on the reproduction of all the native trees that make it such a unique and enjoyable place for children and adults who walk the trails. Removing invasive species like buckthorn has been an uphill battle over the years.

The goats are kept in 1-acre to 2-acre paddocks enclosed with electrical mesh fencing to keep the goats in and to keep predators and people out. Once the goats eat all the leaves off the buckthorn and thistle plant in that area, they move on to the next paddock.

The leafless buckthorn plants will use the energy in their root system to grow back. Once the leaves grow back, the goats are brought back to graze again. Throughout the two grazing sessions, the energy in the buckthorn's root system is slowly depleted, starving the roots before they go into winter dormancy.

There are costs to rent the goats, fencing and transportation annually. The Rotary and OWLT have donated over $40,000 to the goat project since 2020. Please help the M-T Sunrise Rotary bring the goats back and keep the woodland restoration going for the benefit of current and future generations to come.

Questions? Please contact Matt Wolf at: mwolf@mtsd.k12.wi.us.

Donate today: https://gofund.me/9dd74a07

Rotary International Convention: 27-31 May 2023
Posted by Steve Lettau on Feb 15, 2023

For more information and registration CLICK HERE.

2023 Rotary TriCon
Posted by Steve Lettau on Jan 26, 2023

A Joint Conference of Rotary Districts 6220, 6250, & 6270

Rotary International Districts 6220, 6250, and 6270, covering Rotary clubs in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the majority of Wisconsin, are holding this and future district conferences together in order to provide an outstanding Rotary conference experience that would be more difficult to accomplish with the resources of a single district.

Register

Online Version
Posted by Steve Lettau on Feb 07, 2023
therotarianmagazine.com

Upcoming Speakers
Doug Podzilni - President Hollander Chocolate Co.
Mar 31, 2023
Hollander Chocolate Co.
Thomas McDonald - Bureau of Labor Statistics
Apr 07, 2023
Inflation Report
Brian Kendzor - MT Sunrise Rotary
Apr 14, 2023
IAQ and Health Homes
View entire list...
Upcoming Events
  • Club Meeting
    Mequon Public Market
    Mar 31, 2023
    7:00 AM – 8:00 AM
  • Club Meeting
    Mequon Public Market
    Apr 07, 2023
    7:00 AM – 8:00 AM
  • Club Meeting
    Mequon Public Market
    Apr 14, 2023
    7:00 AM – 8:00 AM
  • Club Meeting (Club Assembly)
    Mequon Public Market
    Apr 21, 2023
    7:00 AM – 8:00 AM
View More...
Operation Pollination - MNP
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Rotary Foundation - How to Contribute
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Club Executives & Directors
President
Corinne Guerin
President Elect
Dick Kinney
Vice President
Daniel O'Connor
Immediate Past President
Matt Wolf
Executive Secretary / Director
Michael Shay
Secretary
David Schlageter
Treasurer
Michael Shay
Club Membership Chair
Brian Monroe
Sergeant-at-Arms
Bob Blazich
The Rotary Foundation
Alice Sedgwick
Downloads
2022 Around the World Fundraiser
2022 ATW Sponsor Form
Grants & Donations Request Procedure 2022
Rotary Statements on Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Classification Talk Guide
Guidelines for Prospective Members
Mentor Guide
MTSR New Member Application
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New Member Challenge
Photo Galleries
2023 Candlelight Walk in the Woods
Ozaukee County Rotary Mixer
PortLight Emergency Shelter Grand Opening
2022 ATW Fundraiser
2022 Rotarian Alumni Reunion
Our Mailing Address

MT Sunrise Rotary
PO Box 251
Thiensville, WI 53092

Our Mailing Address
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