Stories
Club Meeting Information

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 meeting will feature a classification talk by Mika Frank along with a catered hot breakfast.

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:

  • Matt Monaco (3/10)
  • Andy Moss (3/17)
  • Kay Newell (3/24)
  • Dan O'Connor (3/31)
  • Mika Frank (4/7)
  • 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): 3/17, 4/21, 5/19

Visit our website at mtsunriserotary.org.

Thought of the Week

Failure is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign that you are alive and growing. - Buzz Aldrin

Member Spotlight - Matt  Monaco

Business & Personal Related Questions:

Where were you born, education/degrees or associations/board seats? Des Moines Iowa. Undergraduate: Iowa State University. Graduate: Purdue University. No associations or board seats.

What did you want to be when you grew up? Didn’t have a clue! Everything from restaurant owner to anthropologist.

Name of company & position, or your very first job? Very first job was at 14 years old washing dishes at a restaurant called The Port.

Family? Married to Lindsey for 6 years. Three daughters, Alora (8), Eden (4), Irie (newborn). Mother, brother, and sister all live in Des Moines, Iowa.

Interests/hobbies/last book read/favorite movie/what’s playing in on your car’s stereo/pastimes? Spend most free time playing with the kids. Last book – Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav. Favorite movie – Joe Dirt. Car stereo – everything from classic rock to electro-swing. 

Best business decision, or hardest business decision? Best and most difficult – moving out of state for career opportunity.

Biggest career accomplishment/highlight to date, or what do you like best about your job? Best part of my job - The opportunity to learn from my customers every day.

Most important lesson that you've learned in business? People aren’t listening just because you’re talking.

Career mentor/favorite words of wisdom/role model? Former resident quote - The danger in being good is not trying to be better.

Most memorable Rotary moment or event? Putting up fencing for goats at Rotary Park.

Your favorite vacation? Lake of the Ozarks trip with Lindsey and the girls.

Rotary Related Questions:

What was your first experience or awareness of Rotary? First awareness was about 15 years ago when I was the chef at a country club that hosted Rotary meetings.

How did you find MT Sunrise and what prompted you to join? A resident encouraged me to attend.

How often do you wear a Rotary pin? Every day – it’s pinned to my nametag at work.

Have you ever attended Rotary International events? Around the World fundraising event. 

What do you want to do to give back to Rotary and MT Sunrise? Volunteer time, donate funds for good causes, mentor youth in the community, help other Rotary members in any way I can.

A Debt to the Dead

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

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
Meme of the week
Saving Babies in Ukraine

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...
Online Version
Upcoming Speakers
Speakers
Mar 24, 2023
Adult Literacy Center
Adult Literacy Center

Amy became the Executive Director of the ALC in August 2022. She had previously worked as the Education Coordinator and the Program Director at the ALC. Her background is in education. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education from Miami University (Ohio) and her Master’s in History from Cardinal Stritch University. Amy taught history at John Long Middle School in Grafton and online for the University of Phoenix. She also worked as a Training Specialist for Ranch Community Services in Menomonee Falls. Amy oversees the administration, educational programs, and strategic plan of the Adult Literacy Center.

Mar 31, 2023
Mequon Update
Apr 07, 2023
Inflation Report
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