Today's the day I publish the newsletter solo for the final time. Next week Beth and I will get together for an in-person ClubRunner orientation session and I'll pass the newsletter and club leadership baton on to very capable hands. Please take a few minutes to read this last newsletter of the Rotary year. Take special note of three items: (1) details regarding Tuesday's installation event, (2) results of the pre-visioning session club survey and (3) registration information regarding Wednesday's District club awards happy hour. Thanks to those of you who contributed newsletter items throughout the year and to the Risers that read and hopefully enjoyed learning more about RI, the District, Risers and each other. There is NO regular club meeting on June 29...see you at the installation!
Members, spouses, significant others, kids and guests are all welcome to join us Tuesday for an evening of food, fun, socializing and a short program. In our first face-to-face meeting in months, we'll celebrate our club's successes and induct new leadership. If you haven't already done so, please RSVP to McKinsey Goodenberger (mckinseygoodenberger@gmail.com) today!
Gates to the reservation will be unlocked at 4:30 p.m. Once you enter the reservation, signage will direct you to a parking area in close proximity to the picnic pavilion. Guests are invited toexplore and eat from 5:30 - 6:30 p.m., followed by a short program. Weather permitting, there'll be an opportunity to wander the grounds, play some lawn games and enjoy pavilion or outdoor seating. Facilities with flush toilets will be available. Food, drink and paper products will be provided with a free will offering taken to help cover costs. Picnic tables will be available, but please feel free to bring your own lawn/camp chair or canvas seating...and maybe a bottle of your favorite insect spray. Casual dress and walking/hiking shoes suggested.
Thanks to the 29 Risers who completed the pre-visioning session club member survey. More details will be shared at the August Club Assembly, but I thought you might be interested in a summary of the survey results. Since most club responses were positive, today I'm only sharing the feedback for the first two category responses. Following are the questions, followed first by the "strongly agree" percentage, then the "agree" percentage and finally, the total.
1) Our Rotary Club is healthy - 69 + 24 = 93%
2) Our Club is known by many in the community - 17 + 52 = 69%
3) Our Club tries new ideas - 45 + 48 = 93%
4) Our Club is the right size - 10 + 62 = 72%
5) Our Club is open to age, gender, ethnicity & other attributes - 66 + 21 = 87%
6) Our Club does a good job of sharing stories & using our brand - 10 + 41 = 51%
7) Our club members are engaged - 45 + 48 = 93%
8) Our club members have leadership development opportunities - 24 + 66 = 90%
9) Our club participates in community service projects - 55 + 46 = 100%
10) Our club participates in international service projects - 35 + 62 = 97%
11) Our club raises enough funds to support our projects - 35 + 55 = 90%
12) Our club members know how to support The Rotary Foundation - 48 + 52 = 100%
Are you registered for next Wednesday's District Awards Happy Hour? I received the following note today...
While we aren’t going to spoil the results, we can say that your club will be recognized for 1st or 2nd place for at least one award in your club size category. We would ask that you:
Consider attending the Happy Hour to celebrate the accomplishments of your club, and clubs throughout our District, during the 2020-21 Rotary year
Promote the Happy Hour to your fellow club members!
While we will be recognizing clubs, the Happy Hour is more than that: we’ll also be featuring some short interviews from different Rotarians throughout the District…a great way to hear what other clubs are doing and get some ideas you can implement as well!
CLICK HERE to register for this fun event…and make sure to BYOB!
Congratulations again, and we look forward to seeing you and your fellow club members as we recognize you for making the world a better place through Rotary!
Sincerely,
Mitch Popple & Kyle Haugen
District 5960 Awards Team
Have you had a chance to review Jeff Leland's membership application? If not, please do so and let Jeff Warfield know this coming week if you have any concerns. Jeff has visited our club Zoom meetings several times and we're eager to welcome and induct him as a new member!
Several members have commented on how much they enjoyed the COVID-19 program update from Graham Briggs. If you have questions that didn't get answered at last week's meeting or thought of one following his presentation, please feel free to connect with Graham at Briggs.graham@co.olmsted.mn.us.
Janet Swanson has a great suggestion...
In anticipation of fresh dues statements being emailed out, now would be a great time to update your ClubRunner profile. It's especially important that your preferred and any secondary email account addresses be accurate. Please take a few minutes to review your profile and make any additions or corrections. This would also be a great time to find your favorite profile photo and add it to ClubRunner. Thanks!
Joanne Rosener, our club's Meals on Wheels Coordinator, has done an amazing job organizing our first year's involvement in this important and much needed community service. We will continue this service in 2021-22 thanks to those who have volunteered to deliver. If you'd like more information or would be willing to volunteer on a substitute basis, contact Joanneatjoanne.rosener@gmail.com.
Patricia McCleese, GRR Rotarian and future District Governor sent me the following note. Anyone from our club interested???
Hi Don,
Your club is growing. Is there someone in your club who would like to be on the District Membership team? I am looking for a good leader for that team.
Responsibilities could include:
Activity - Details - Frequency
Friday Features - Spotlight clubs that are growing; at least twice a year
PETS Training* - The team will host a session for PE’s and PEN’s; usually March
Around the District - Share resources in the District newsletter; 4 times a year.
One Rotary Summit* - Team does a session; usually October
Assistance* - Offer assistance to clubs who are loosing members; on-going
The team will create their own Smart Goals, perhaps collaborate with another District team. The activities with an * are definite, others are optional. There are many resources on My Rotary about membership.
If you're interested or want to learn more, connect with Patricia at rotary5960mccleese@gmail.com.
KIM NEEDS YOUR HELP NOW!
Please, whenever you complete Rotary-related service projects or activities above and beyond our regularly scheduled meetings, send your hours to Kim Keilholtz atkimdtm@msn.com. Eligible hours include those spent delivering Meals on Wheels, volunteering at Channel One, tree planting, Adopt a Family shopping, Samaritan Bethany tree decorating, Salvation Army bell ringing, STRIVE mentoring, house painting, tree planting, District workshops and meetings, newsletter prep, etc. Those members who have accumulated hours since July 1 and not submitted them to Kim should do so now. Thank you!
My name is Amber Benike, and I live in Plainview, where I grew up. I bought a house for me and my four kiddos right in Plainview a few years ago. I have three girls and a boy, the oldest is a newly-licensed driver when she turned 16, and the "baby" turned four in April. We are a very active family, and we spend so much time at the ball fields, I think they should offer me a campsite. The kids' activities keep me quite busy; I'm a Girl Scout leader for one of my daughter's Cadette troop. I teach two religion classes, one for the same daughter and one for my son. I am a cancer survivor as well, some of you may even recognize me from that - I was quite the local celebrity in my day. Although I'm not entirely sure what the draw was. You will soon see that my limp isn't just my old age. As much as I try to not have a limp, I'm an above knee amputee from my bone cancer in 2009. Since then I've done lots of volunteer work with various amputee and cancer-related events. I've been asked to be a speaker for different events as well (I'm not the best speaker - just putting that out there!) and I've done various things for and with my community. My Dad owns a "mom and pop" variety store in Plainview. He opened it when I was in second grade. Community and service are just a part of who we are. And I'm proud of that. In my "free time" (insert alllll the laughing you can here, because I am!) I enjoy all things creative. I like to write, crochet, garden, scrapbook, and I can whip up a wreath for your front door in very little time. I also get the sewing bug sometimes, but I don't get bit hard enough to move it up my list :) As a family, besides ball, we enjoy hiking the local scenes. We do the Elba Fire Tower at least once a year! We also have a camper that we do not spend near enough time at! During the day, you can find me servicing my insurance clients and running appointments with future clients. I am very honored to have been offered this position. And I am so looking forward to getting to work. When you see me at events, please don't be shy - say hello, remind me of your name and what you do - at least a few times :) See you all soon!
Thanks much to the many Risers who have contributed to The Rotary Foundation this year. It would be great if the Risers could achieve EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year) status...a milestone where every member contributes something to the Foundation. We're very close...and there's still time! Here's the latest from The Rotary Foundation...
Thank you for Doing Good in the World by donating to The Rotary Foundation. Because of your generous support, we can make a positive impact together in communities that need our help the most.
What happens when you give to the Foundation? Your gift is transformed into projects that:
Promote peace and provide clean water and sanitation in Papua New Guinea
Mobilize Rotarians around the world, including in the United States, to use our expertise in disease prevention and treatment to support COVID-19 vaccination efforts
Help mothers and children get healthy food in Guatemala
Continue our work toward a polio-free world, building on a recent big achievement in the African region
Protect the environment by training farmers in places like Taiwan in organic farming techniques
These projects wouldn’t be possible without generous Rotarians. Help us continue making a difference in your community and around the world by making an initial or additional gift today. Thank you for your dedicated support of our Foundation.
I am asking for your help spreading the word about an exciting NEW fundraiser that Stillwater Sunrise Rotary is planning for Sunday, August 15th, 2021. This event is the Bridge the Valley – Bike Rally. This bicycling event is planned to be part of exciting three-day celebration of the grand opening of the renovated Stillwater Lift Bridge and opening of the new Loop Trail. We are hoping that this bicycling event will be attractive to all ages and skills and that we will have many participants. There are 6 routes to choose from so options for all. But we need your help. Our biggest need is RIDERS and help getting the word out for this inaugural event!
You can find out more and register for the ride OR to volunteer by going to our website and you’ll see the Bridge The Valley link there.
Or contact us at this email address with questions or comments about this event!
BRIDGETHEVALLEYBIKERALLY@GMAILCOM
Thank you for your help and we are looking to increase our rider numbers so your help in alerting your members would be greatly appreciated!
Kristine Bowditch & Rick Heidick
Co-Chairs
612-385-4961 651-274-6351
Wendy Heck
President-elect Stillwater Sunrise Rotary
A message from Kyle and Ed (Previous and Current DG's)...
We’re in the home stretch of the 2020-21 Rotary year, which means you have less than a month to help us FINISH STRONG with our Rotary Foundation giving for the year!
We’ve done a good job so far…our STRIKE OUT POLIO and SHARE THE LOVE campaigns were a big success, but we still need a little bit of work to reach our goals for the year.
ANNUAL FUND GIVING: We are at $409,400 for the year…which means we are within range of reaching our $500,000 goal! If you’re one of the 1,038 members of our District that have already given this year, THANK YOU! Please consider an extra gift, but more importantly encourage those in your club that haven’t given to donate!
If you are one of the approximately 1,400 Rotarians in our District that haven’t given yet…now is the time to help us FINISH STRONG!! Please give whatever you’re able before June 30th…it’s easily done in one of two ways:
Sign in to your MyRotary.org account and make your contribution online
Send your gift directly to The Rotary Foundation
The Annual Fund is where the funds for our District and Global Grants come from, and your participation is needed now more than ever. For both District & Global Grants in the 2021-22 Rotary year, the requests for funds from our clubs exceeds the amount we have available, so we aren’t going to be able to fund those requests to 100%. In the future, the easiest way to fix this is through increasing our giving…so your gift will not only help us FINISH STRONG, but will allow us to positively impact more people in the future!
POLIO PLUS: We are very close to our goal (just over $140K raised so far with our goal being $150K), but if you are in one of the ten clubs that has yet to make a contribution this year…now is the time to FINISH STRONG! Remember, all Polio Plus contributions are matched 2:1 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, so every dollar we give will become three towards eradicating Polio.
Thank you again for all of your efforts so far this year…it has been a good year, and it will be a great one if we all work hard to FINISH STRONG!
Thanks,
Kyle & Ed
Did you know that the Board of Directors recently updated Rotary's policy on diversity, equity, and inclusion? Check out the new policy in the Committing to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion course. You can start taking this course by clicking this link and signing into My Rotary.
For questions about the Learning Center, email learn@rotary.org.
The Rotary Risers join our other Rochester Rotary colleagues in congratulating Patricia McCleese, Greater Rochester Rotary member, on her selection as District 5960 District Governor 2023-24. Patricia has been very active in her GRR club, an advocate for all three Rochester clubs and extremely engaged in District 5960 initiatives and projects. The Risers wish Patricia well in her new adventure and look forward to working with her as she assumes her new role and responsibilities.
I first joined Rotary in 1990. The President of RI was Paulo Costa of Brazil. His initiative, Preserve Plant Earth, was the first real effort in Rotary to address environmental issues in a big way.The Rotary Action Group on Environmental Sustainability grew out of this effort and was founded in 2015 in Brazil.
In 2017-18, RI President Ian Risely of Australia stated: “Protecting the environment and curbing climate change are essential to Rotary’s goal of sustainable service. The time is long past when environmental sustainability can be dismissed as not Rotary’s concern. It is, and must be, everyone’s concern.” As President, Ian asked every Rotarian to plant a tree. He would be delighted with today's project.
The following year, Barry Rassin of the Bahamas took the reins as RI President. He said, “Rotarians must acknowledge some hard realities about pollution, environmental degradation, and climate change. With sea levels projected to rise two meters by 2100. My country is going to be gone in 50 years, along with most of the islands in the Caribbean and coastal cities and low lying areas all over the world.”
In 2019, The RI Board of Directors and the Rotary Foundation Trustees set up a task force to consider the environment as a possible Focus Area for Global Grants. It should be noted that In the past 5 years, $18.4 million in Foundation global grant funding has been allocated to environment-related causes through our support of community economic development and water, sanitation, and hygiene projects.
So now, beginning in July 2021, the Rotary Foundation will enable our members and their community allies to take action in these ways:
● Protecting and restoring land, coastal, marine, and freshwater resources
● Enhancing the capacity of communities to support natural resource management and conservation
● Supporting sustainable agriculture, fishing, and aquaculture practices
● Addressing the cause of climate change by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases
● Strengthening ecosystems and communities affected by climate change
● Supporting education initiatives that promote behavior that protects the environment
● Advocating for sustainable consumption to build an economy that uses resources more efficiently
● Addressing environmental justice issues and public health concerns
This year has been the year “Where Nothing has gone as planned. So we have moved from the traditional conference of clubs format to one where we can meet together - outdoors. We will be celebrating the work being done here today in Rochester, along with the projects Clubs across our District are doing, and together herald in the Environment as the RI New Area of Focus. I look forward to seeing you in Hastings on Saturday June 5th!
The Rotary Foundation Trustees and Rotary International Board of Directors have both unanimously approved adding a new area of focus: supporting the environment.
More than $18 million in Foundation global grant funding has been allocated to environment-related projects over the past five years. Creating a distinct area of focus to support the environment will give Rotary members even more ways to bring about positive change in the world and increase our impact.
RI President Mark Maloney says that during his travels around the world as a Rotary senior leader he encountered many Rotary members and Rotaractors who advocated for the environment to be an area of focus.
“I believe strongly that our Rotary Foundation programs now have a valuable added dimension to our efforts,” says, Maloney.
Foundation Trustee Chair Gary C.K. Huang says that with the global population reaching near eight billion, protecting the environment is increasingly important.
“It is time for us to use our collective resources to invest in a smart and efficient way to protecting our environment,” says Huang. “We are qualified to take this initiative because we are a global group of problem solvers with diversified talents.”
In 1990-91, RI President Paulo V.C. Costa made the environment one of his primary causes, creating the Preserve Planet Earth subcommittee, which looked at ways clubs and members could conduct environmental initiatives.
“We have finally caught up to Costa [his vision],” says Past RI President Ian H.S. Riseley, chair of the Environmental Issues task force, which championed the new area of focus.
“As a lifelong environmentalist, I’m delighted that our great organization has recognized that the environment is a worthy and appropriate destination for our project activity,” says Riseley. “This is an exciting moment in Rotary history.”
Supporting the environment becomes Rotary's seventh area of focus, which are categories of service activities supported by global grants. It joins peacebuilding and conflict prevention; disease prevention and treatment; water, sanitation, and hygiene; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; and community economic development.
Grant applications for projects will be accepted beginning on 1 July 2021. Gifts and commitments from Rotarians and others will be sought to provide global grant support for the new area of focus.
More information about this new cause will be announced soon.
Club Information
Service Above Self
Tuesdays at 7:00 AM
Hilton Garden Inn
225 S. Broadway
Rochester, MN 55904 United States of America
We are meeting via Zoom until at least June 30, 2021.
