In light of COVID-19 mandates, MT Sunrise Rotary will be hosting virtual meetings until further notice. Our next meeting will be 7:00 AM Friday (8/28).
Our program this week will feature our ownLucia Francis who will lead our group in a series of meaningful conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion. (Scroll down for bio)
The virtual 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:
Connie Pukaite (8/28)
Diana Raasch (9/4)
Dave Schlageter (9/11)
Alice Sedgwick (9/18)
Note: If you are unable to act as "It's your Rotary moment" assignee when scheduled please arrange for your replacement.
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While some are familiar with Zoom, there are others for which this will be an opportunity to experience something new
It's as easy as one-two-three. Honest! (You may want to check off the first two steps in advance of the meeting start time)
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The “waiting room” will open at 6:50 AM with our meeting starting at 7:00 AM. Attendees should mute themselves when not speaking, or if they have background noise. Attendees can communicate with one another through the “Chat” icon. Click button below to join our Zoom meeting!
Hope to see you Friday!
Meeting ID: 820 2810 1978 Password: 012780
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I was born & raised on my family’s Massachusetts Homestead, which was settled in 1725 before the 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 two 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 53 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, 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 be kept very busy every day with volunteer opportunities through Mequon United Methodist Church, M-T Sunrise Rotary, the T-M Rotary Foundation, the City of Mequon, and Family Promise of Ozaukee County, which serves our county’s homeless families with children.
Rotary, especially, appeals to me because it’s an extraordinary civic-minded 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 to the common good throughout the world … my passion. Life is good!!
Editors Note: This story is from a series appearing in the August 2020 edition of the Rotarian magazine.
Ryan Blancke Public works official Rotary Club of York, South Carolina
I am the assistant public works director of York County, South Carolina. We’re a small community; the population in the county is 281,000. We have a little over 250 employees in our public works department. Under public works, we have road maintenance, water and sewer utility, landfill and trash collection, recycling, animal control, vehicle maintenance, and other things. All of those are essential functions. Whether we have trees down, or snow and ice, or a pandemic, we still have to provide all of those services.
In March, we started to see more cases of the virus in our area. There was already a shortage of masks, especially the N95 masks. We have 16 collection centers where people drop off their recyclables, and we try to protect those frontline staff who are dealing with not only people, but their trash. Right now, because everybody is at home and they’re cleaning out their garages, our landfill and recycling centers are flooded. We’re not able to sort some of the commingled recyclables right now, so they’re going to the landfill.
Sometimes I’ll tell somebody I work for York County Public Works and they’ll nod. But typically they don’t know what that means. As long as your toilets are flushing and you have water coming out of your faucet and a place to put your trash, you don’t even think about it. But if those things weren’t there, it would be a big deal.
A lot of restaurants and other places in the area are doing promotions for nurses and frontline workers. None of our guys are asking for it, but I know they don’t get the same kind of support, even though the federal government recognized public workers as essential critical infrastructure workers. But I would say the mood is positive. They’ve all been great. They just keep showing up and saying, “I work for York County Public Works.”
Since July 2018, the SKYGEN International Foundation has been working in some of the poorest areas of Tanzania, Africa, providing free vision testing to over 136,845 people (many of whom had suffered with poor vision for their entire lives) and distributing more than 27,367 pairs of corrective eyeglasses. We’ve arranged screenings at over 215 schools and 122 community clinics. With prescription eyeglasses and the ability to see clearly, the lives of adults and children can be transformed. The fact is, a pair of custom glasses has the power to change a life and make every day richer.
Brett's Bio:
Brett R. Bennett, has over 25 years of experience working within the Vision Care Industry. He currently manages multiple roles, within the SKYGEN USA organization: as an operational lead, “Director of Ocular Benefits”; and as Vision Director for the SKYGEN International Foundation. Throughout 2018-19, Brett embarked on 3 separate humanitarian missions to Tanzania, Africa, as part of a team to establish mobile vision clinics, train local staff and provide much needed vision testing and eyeglasses to tens of thousands of local Tanzanians in need. Brett attended Marquette University; is an Eagle Scout and United States Marine Corps Veteran.
