I was born & raised on my family’s Massachusetts Homestead, which was settled in 1725 before our Town of Shrewsbury was established by decree of the King of England, and long before the Revolutionary War. My parents made it clear we were put on earth to work for the common good and to serve as stewards of the earth with the responsibility to leave it in good condition for generations to follow. Farm life was a lot of work, but full of joy as well.

Family … The love of my life (my husband) Cliff died in 2008, but I still have my two sisters and a brother, though my older sister has Alzheimer’s and hasn’t demonstrated any recognition of the rest of us for four years now.  I share my home on the Newcastle Place campus with a delightful pint-sized Shih Tzu named Tutter.  I am the proud Aunt of 10 extraordinary nieces & nephews, ‘Great Aunt’ to 16 grand-nieces and nephews, and now a Great-Grand-niece . None live in Wisconsin, but following their lives online keeps me connected.

My Chosen Hometown … I have lived in Mequon for 55 years, choosing to settle here after Cliff finished graduate school at UW-Madison. Mequon, with its farm culture, history and open space reminded both of us of the Town of Shrewsbury where we both were raised.

My Work and Community Involvement … I am now retired from paid employment, but remain very active in volunteer work.  My 45 years of paid employment included …

• 5 years with the Worcester (MA) YWCA and Shrewsbury (MA) Veterinary Clinic
• 27 years with the Association for Retarded Citizens (24 years as CEO) … developing services for children & adults with development disabilities, and advocating for public policy and laws to better serve them.
• 13 years with Wisconsin Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) developing quality housing for low & moderate income families … the last 9 years I spent coordinating a major urban initiative called Lindsay Heights to restore central city Milwaukee neighborhoods torn apart by poverty, neglect, drugs and crime

My Avocation (part-time) for 14 years was as an elected official serving the City of Mequon … 8 years (1981-86 and 2014-17) as an Alderman and 6 years (1986-1992) as Mayor during tumultuous-active development periods for the City. I am most proud of helping to lead Mequon in creating a Comprehensive Land Use Plan to guide where new development should occur, establishing the first and most successful Mequon Business Park securing Allen Bradley – now Rockwell - as an anchor, creating Rotary Park to serve as a community gathering place, and more recently, helping to lay groundwork and secure the land-space for the development of Spur 16.

…now … I continue to enjoy an active life of service to others every day with volunteer opportunities through the City of Mequon as President of the Police & Fire Commission, President of the Board of Trustees at Mequon United Methodist Church, M-T Sunrise Rotary, the T-M Rotary Foundation, and Vice President of Family Promise of Ozaukee County, which serves our county’s homeless families with children.

Rotary, especially, appeals to me because it’s an extraordinary organization of professional men and women of high ethical standards who are positive people committed to serve, and are involved in local and worldwide projects serving others, much like my church. Both church and Rotary focus on active ministry for the common good throughout the world … my passion.  Life is good!!

By Roger Bjoroy-Karlsen, Rotary Club of Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

I am on a small boat fully loaded with food bags headed for the people of St. Helene, a small island about two miles long and one mile wide, separated by a canal from the island of Roatan. Roatan is the largest of the Bay Islands located off the northern coast of Honduras.

As the waves are striking our boat, my thoughts wander to the approximate 1,000 people in 218 households who are in need of the food we’re delivering. Many of whom have no income because they lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. St. Helene has no roads and no infrastructure. Its people are descendants of African slaves brought by the British to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands who then migrated to Roatan after gaining their freedom in the 1830’s.

Last year they got electricity for the first time. And 14 months ago, as the first part of a Rotary global grant, members completed a fresh water project. Phase two of the grant has been approved.

We landed on a Friday in September 2020 at a dock that was built by grant money and the effort of Rotary members. Our trip could not have happened without funds from the Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar (Ontario, Canada) and the Rotary Club of Evergreen (Colorado, USA).

In addition to the food, we provided 600 N95 masks and 250 face shields to residents of St. Helene thanks to a donation from Michael McCarry of Mount Sinai Hospitals in New York City, New York. A special thanks to Sterling Lucas and his boat captains who brought us to the island.

The islanders received their bags of provisions as they were checked off of a list. They then loaded into their boats and flipped up their umbrellas and went back to their homes either by sea or along crooked paths around the island. The bags will provide each family with enough food to live on for about a month.

It was great to see their renewed hope for the future as the supplies gave them the ability to look beyond this pandemic. This is what Rotary is about, Service Above Self and bringing new hope to parts of the world.