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

As part of the Rotary Grant for our pollinator garden project, education and outreach is part of our mission, to our club members and outside our club as well. Below is a little piece of information about the importance of snow to pollinator plants.

The pollinator Garden’s Prayer: “ LET IT SNOW”!!

Simply put, Wisconsin winters are damn tuff!! We need a good snow cover to give us a “blanket of protection”

Without snow, we can get: Freeze dried,  Heaved out of the ground, Suffer from drought, Burnt to a crisp, think its Spring on a Sunny day or Suffocate under a sheet of ice!

And then, “No Soup for You! ( no honey either) and nothing for the birds and the bees.

You get the picture – without the protection of a blanket of snow, bad things happen. We could get stunted, maimed or just plain DIE!

So just saying, from one bloomer to another, “ LET IT SNOW”!!

William Wandsnider 
BS Landscape Architecture UW Madison

As the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approached, Rotary magazine’s Wen Huang traveled to Europe to see firsthand how Rotary members are responding to this humanitarian crisis. In the first installment of his two-part report, Huang visits Poland en route to Ukraine.

By Wen Huang

Tuesday, 7:45 p.m., Warsaw

A glittering, guitar-shaped sign for a Hard Rock Cafe welcomes me when I step out of Warsaw Central Railway Station. I snap a photo and send it to a journalist friend whose wife used to collect Hard Rock Cafe T-shirts from former communist countries. She and other pop culture experts believe that there is a strong relationship between rock 'n' roll and the fall of communism in Eastern Europe. From my perspective, the sign is one example of a loud declaration of Poland's modern identity.

When I turn to take in the rest of Warsaw's central landscape, I am confronted by the Palace of Culture and Science, a hulking edifice that rises nearly 800 feet and remains the second-tallest building in Poland. Begun in 1952 and completed after Stalin's death, this Soviet-style high-rise that resembles the Empire State Building was a "gift" from Moscow to its unruly satellite. At night, the Poles light the building in hues of yellow and blue, Ukraine's national colors, in solidarity with their besieged neighbor. This symbol of Poland's communist past overlooks nearby shopping centers decked with Christmas lights and neon signs proclaiming Western fashion brands.