When: We meet Friday mornings from 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM.
Where: Our next meeting is Friday (9/2) will be at the Mequon Public Market, 6300 W Mequon Rd, Mequon, WI 53092.
Our program this Friday will feature Connie Pukaite who will update us on Operation Pollination and Pukaite Woods goat projects.
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:
Jo Ann Vetter (9/2)
Bill Wandsnider (9/9)
Shawn Whalen (9/16)
Carol Wessels (9/30)
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 dates: 9/16, 10/21, 11/18 and 12/16.
MEQUON — It’s hard to miss the 17-foot-tall Mequon Town Center Gateway structure located at the northeast corner of Cedarburg and Mequon roads that serves as an entrance to the Mequon and Thiensville communities as well as the Town Center District.
But what is less visible are the multiple storyboards describing the rich history of the local community.
It was in 2004 when Thiensville-Mequon Rotary Club member and Mequon-Thiensville Historical Society President Bob Blazich had the idea to have informational signs mounted on bronze, tree-like pedestals for the Rotary Riverwalk Project along the Milwaukee River. But due to the high cost of the pieces, his ideas never went anywhere.
Until there were talks of creating a Town Center gateway.
“Several people approached me and said that they hoped to have some type of historical signage included in their plan. I, of course, was all in on that idea,” Blazich said.
He proposed five storyboards focusing on Indigenous People, Mequon, Thiensville, The River and the Town Center. Former Mequon Mayor and current T-M Rotary Club member Connie Pukaite helped oversee the project with Blazich and helped him considerably with the wording of the storyboards.
By Marcos Farto, president of the Rotary Club of Marília Coroados, Brazil
As a member of Rotary for 11 years, I’ve seen how members put Service Above Self. Never has this been more evident than during the COVID-19 pandemic, when we all became aware of how vulnerable life can be and how much we depend on each other.
Many have stepped forward. And out of that need to help, a beautiful story of collaboration and partnership emerged.
In 2021, our then club president established a partnership with the Lions Club of Nova Geração. In August, we packed approximately 100 meals to help three charities that no longer had food in their pantries and were depending exclusively on donations. APAE (an association for people with disabilities) in Marília, a city in the state of São Paulo, offered us their kitchen. It was wonderful to see everyone united, focused, and committed to preparing meals.
In February 2022, the Rotary Club of Marília-Pioneiro joined us on our next service project. In Marília, a public school was dedicated but it had no trees. Hundreds of children attended, but not a single tree had been planted. After consulting with the school principal and the environment secretariat, we obtained and planted 400 tree seedlings.
These efforts demonstrated something very important: regardless of the organization you belong to, being surrounded by good people with a shared purpose is very motivating. We — the members of Rotary and Lions clubs — worked together to address hunger and help the environment. We share common goals, so through our partnership, we can leave the world a better place and set a good example for others.
The Rotary Club of Astana in late 2018 inaugurated its first inclusive playground in a country sorely in need of such opportunities.
Named Kunshyaq, or “Sunshine,” the playground has specialized swings, ramps, merry-go-rounds, and other equipment to accommodate children with and without disabilities and instill values of tolerance and empathy.
While the municipal council of the capital city, now called Nur-Sultan, donated the land, Rotary members in Astana, led by Past President Lyazzat Alshinova, generated about $55,000 from club members, other District 2430 clubs, embassies and other organizations, and proceeds from an art auction and ball. The playground is such a hit that the club, composed of Kazakhstanis and expatriates, raised funds for a second one in the capital.
Operation Pollination and Pukaite Woods Goat Projects
Operation Pollination recognizes the importance of pollinator habitat both restored and maintained on public and private lands. Through collaboration and outreach, an interconnected mosaic of pollinator habitat interspersed between public and private land will be developed to stabilize and/or increase populations of pollinator species throughout your project area.
The popular goats that first helped eradicate weeds in Mequon’s Rotary Park Pukaite Woods last have officially made their return this season, with help from the Mequon-Thiensville Sunrise Rotary Club.
Last year, 38 goats grazed the woods eating buckthorn and other invasive brushy species for about a month in June and another two weeks in August. It’s estimated they weakened the plants considerably, reducing new growth this year, though there is still work to be done.
The 18-acre woods is located behind the band-shell in Rotary Park. The goats work in pens built around a 1-acre perimeter at a time. With the help of Boy Scouts, Rotarians and people in the neighborhood, the pens are moved every day or so over the time that the animals are there.