In 2018 Lynn Streeter introduced us to an exceptional young man by the name of Matthew Ceelen. Matt's story began with a letter to our club requesting financial support for his Eagle Scout project of building two bat houses to be placed in the Mequon Nature Preserve.
Matthew was diagnosed with bone cancer just weeks shy of his 15th birthday. In medical terms it is a high grade sclerosing subtype of osteosarcoma. Approximately 450 children in North America are diagnosed with osteosarcoma each year. He is 1 of approximately 4 children who will be diagnosed with his subtype of osteosarcoma in 2017.
As Matthew continues in his battle with cancer, his next surgery is scheduled for January 16.
Please keep Matthew in your thoughts and prayers during his surgery and recovery.
With our Holiday Party scheduled for this evening there will not be a club meeting Friday (1/17). Our next meeting will be Friday (1/24) at Newcastle Place 12600 N Port Washington Rd, Mequon, WI 53092.
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:
Chuck Zamora (1/24)
Kurt Zellmann (1/31)
Rachel Newson (2/7)
Errol Barnett (2/14)
Note: If you are unable to act as "It's your Rotary moment" assignee when scheduled please arrange for your replacement.
Editor's Note: This is the fifth annual appearance of What It’s Like, a proven favorite with readers inside and outside Rotary. - The Rotarian
Erik Elsea Rotary Club of Cape Coral, Florida
When I was nine years old, my father and I were camping near Fort de Chartres in southern Illinois. We hiked a little ways and there at our feet was the Mississippi River rushing by. I said, “Wow, wouldn’t it be cool to canoe the entire Mississippi one day?” And my dad, instead of saying that was a crazy idea, said, “It’s possible. You could do it.” Ever since, it had been a dream of mine to canoe the Mississippi from source to sea.
On 7 July 2018, about seven weeks after my 40th birthday — and days after I’d completed my term as our Rotary club’s president — I began fulfilling my dream. I was at Lake Itasca, Minnesota, the source of the Mississippi, paddling a red 17-foot Prospector, a canoe made by Nova Craft that’s coated in this material called TuffStuff. There are pretty decent rapids coming out of Lake Itasca, and most people portage around them. I thought: They say this canoe is made out of tough stuff. Let’s find out.
I started paddling, got up a good head of steam, and hit the rapids. I started bouncing off the rocks — boom! boom! boom! — and got to thinking that maybe this was not the best of ideas. But I came out fine on the other side.
My image of the river had always been of the way it is near St. Louis where I grew up: the massive, mighty Mississippi. The northern part of the river is nothing like that. It was so narrow the first day that wetlands touched both sides of my canoe at the same time. It was beautiful, scenic, and very pristine.
One reason I made the trip was to make money for and raise awareness of ShelterBox, Rotary’s partner in disaster relief. I’m an ambassador for ShelterBox, and so is Holly Anderson, a member of the Rotary Club of Fargo Moorhead PM in North Dakota.
The Rotary Foundation (TRF) has received the highest rating - four stars - from Charity Navigator, an independent evaluator of charities in the U.S. More Rotarians, and others, see the wonderful results of our projects and scholarships worldwide, and they are using TRF as their “Charity of Choice” in their annual giving and their estate plans.
So, in cooperation with District 6220 to our North, we decided to have a little fun and have set out on a Million Dollar Journey. The goal for our two districts together is to find and recognize NEW Major gifts to the Foundation.
Our goal is to raise at least $1,000,000 via the following gift types during this campaign period which will wrap up in late October 2020:
Outright gifts – funded with cash or appreciated securities
3-year pledge funded with cash or appreciated securities
Life Income agreement funded with cash, appreciated securities or real estate – this can include a charitable gift annuity, a charitable remainder trust, or a pooled income fund
Bequest commitment via a will, life insurance policy, revocable trust, or retirement plan.
Veteran Track Program at Aurora Psychiatric Hospital
"I have a person-centered approach that meets people where they are at. I individualize care to help meet people's goals by using a mixture of education and evidence-based therapeutic approaches as needed to foster change. My background in positive psychology and resilience focuses on people's strengths to not only survive, but thrive."
I earned my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and Master's of Science in Clinical Psychology from the Wisconsin School of Professional Psychology. I also received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Marquette University. I completed a psychology internship at Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), and also completed Master Resiliency Training from the U.S. Army.
I have been in the U.S. Army since 2007: five years active duty and six years and counting in the Reserves. My focus is treating trauma, moral injury, and working with a military population which includes individual, couple, and group therapy. I utilize a number of evidence based modalities (CPT, PE, EMDR, ACT, CBT) in addition to an interpersonal style to treat trauma related disorders.
I am also competent in treating anxiety, depression, substance use disorders, serious mental illness, and relationship problems. I have extensively studied barriers for veterans accessing mental healthcare and have a strong background in motivational interviewing.
I have a beautiful wife and three amazing children. We also have a dog, two cats, two birds, and many fish. Chickens are on the horizon. Outside of work, I enjoy playing, coaching, and watching sports... in that order. I play everything from volleyball to bowling to basketball to ping pong. If it has a ball, I will probably enjoy it. I also love spending time with my kids, traveling (when possible), the theatre, and trying new foods.
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