Our next regular meeting will be Friday (11/4) at Newcastle Place - 12600 N. Port Washington Road, Mequon, WI  53092.

Our program will feature our own Lance Parve who will speak on the topic "Innovations in Design and Construction at WisDOT".

Reminder that there are two events scheduled this week:

• District Fall Assembly - One Rotary Summit 11/9 (more information)
• Club Visioning Session 11/10 (more information)

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:

• Lance Parve (11/4)
• Steve Peterman (11/11)

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

Visit our website at mtsunriserotary.org.

When opportunity knocks, some people are in the backyard looking for four-leaf clovers. - Polish Proverb

Mequon rated most expensive to buy home in Wisconsin
By Erik S. Hanley

Mequon was recently rated the most expensive community in Wisconsin in the 2016 Coldwell Banker Home Listing Report.

The report ranks more than 2,000 markets across the country based on the affordability of the average listing price of a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home.

According to the report, Mequon's average listing came in at $474,739. The next highest community is Whitefish Bay at $458,262, meaning Mequon took the top place by nearly $16,500.  Also in the top five are Oconomowoc, Cedarburg and Hudson.

The average price for a home with those options in Wisconsin was $225,442 with the national average listing price at $320,120, according to a news release on the study.

Alderman John Wirth, when presented with Mequon's top rating, said homes in the city may be more expensive, but they also "retain their value better."

Both Wirth and Mayor Dan Abendroth said Mequon has a higher percentage of expensive homes, but the city also offers plenty of cheaper and more affordable options.

The most affordable cities in the state include Beloit in first place with the average home costing $117,655 followed by Wisconsin Rapids, Merrill, Ashland and Manitowoc.

By Nancy Wright Beasley, a polio survivor and member of the Rotary Club of Brandermill, Virginia, USA

I thought I’d never walk again, but I did.

I thought I’d never talk about polio either, but I’ve regularly shared my childhood memories of the disease since joining the Rotary Club of Brandermill in 2005. I had been  invited to speak about my first book, Izzy’s Fire. That’s where I first learned about PolioPlus, and decided  that day to join Rotary International’s fight to eradicate the disease. I often say that I’m the only speaker who gave a speech then never left.

I contracted polio in the summer of 1952, in the middle of one of the worst epidemics in U.S. history.

Some 60,000 people nationwide were infected, killing 3,000 and paralyzing 21,000 others. My brother still remembers the summer day when he found me, the youngest of four children, unconscious under a snowball bush just beside our farm house in Christiansburg, Virginia.

A spinal tap at Roanoke’s Memorial and Crippled Children’s Hospital confirmed a diagnosis of polio. At 6, I had never spent a night away from my family, but I was isolated in a sterile room, seen only by medical personnel swathed in gowns and masks. I cried with joy the first time a nurse wheeled me into the sunroom where my mother placed her hand on a glass partition opposite mine. A prisoner of polio —I talked to her by telephone.

The 18th Annual Lobsterfest, the premier fundraising efforts of the Mequon Thiensville Sunrise Rotary Club, was held on Saturday, October 1, 2016. Volunteers for this year’s event included 45 Rotarians with volunteer help from 36 Concordia students. The event was a fun evening for 250 individuals and businesses who participated through their presence, sponsorships and contributions, and generated $51,000.

The “Fund a Cause” for this year’s event highlighted Sunrise Rotary’s continuous projects in Guatemala, Mexico and Africa, to which local Rotarians travel each year. Of the $51,000 raised, $37,000 will support humanitarian services and educational scholarships for children and families around the world. These projects includes providing medical, dental and eye care, disease prevention services, installation of clean water and sanitation facilities, distribution of water filters to rural families where well installation is not feasible.

This year special focus was on Rotary efforts to provide scholarships to support children in Guatemala. When the children stay in school past the 6th grade it keeps them from back-breaking work in production fields and changes their lives through education. Lobsterfest guests enthusiastically responded when they learned that just $150 will support one child for a school year. In less than five minutes, guests at Lobsterfest pledged $10,400 to support 80 scholarships … a record response to Rotary’s annual Fund-A-Cause invitation.

Proceeds from the 2016 Lobsterfest bring the Sunrise Rotary’s total grant giving over 20 years to $465,699 – 73% donated to address local and community needs, 27% to serve international humanitarian causes. Click here to learn more about these efforts.

Rotary International’s Number One worldwide effort is the eradication of Polio. We are almost there! To learn more and support this effort click here.

The Sunrise Rotary would love to have you join us at our meetings. We meet at Newcastle Place at 7:00 a.m. every Friday morning. For more details about our meetings and other projects click here. 

Thank you for your support.

Danielle Deller (left) is welcomed into our club at our Friday meeting. Bob Leonhardt (center) and Elizabeth Suran (right) are Danielle’s co-sponsors. Photo: Bob Blazich.