John Yacavone introduced our 2026/2027 District Governor Ariel Mondlak from the Rotary Club of Waterbury, Vermont. (see short bio at the end of this article):
District Governor Ariel Mondlak
As our District Governor, Ariel Mondlak contemplated her year as District Governor with the Rotary theme of Create Lasting Impact, she shared why she wanted all clubs in our District to work on restoration of Monarch Butterflies habitats. This preservation work fits within the Rotary 2026 theme. In turn this work fits within the framework of protecting the environment, one of Rotary’s and the Rotary Foundation's seven areas of focus. It is her hope having all clubs participate in milkweed planting, we will make a bigger impact than just having one or two clubs participate in this project. It will show us how it fits into a international project impacting Mexico.
She set three goals for the year:
- First engage all clubs in the Monarch/milkweed project;
- Second encourage all of us to visit other clubs in our District and be able to lean from, and support one another;
- Third, encourage all of us to support the Rotary Foundation by giving to the Annual Fund/Share, and to our efforts to eradicate polio. https://my.rotary.org/en/donate (important for you to sign in to My Rotary to make the donation that ensures that the donation is credited to our district.
During our meeting, members learned about this conservation project focused on helping monarch butterflies by creating milkweed and other pollinator-friendly gardens.
Early in the lead up to this Rotary year, Ariel shared some of this information about her Monarch project with Marilyn Bedell. Ariel outlined the relationship between Monarch’s life cycle and Rotary International. Marilyn has added some additional information based on what she learned during Ariel’s talk.
MONARCHS
“The Caterpillars”
- “This is a changing world; we must be prepared to change with it. The story of Rotary will have to be written again and again.” Paul Harris, This Rotarian Age, Circa 1935
- As a child, she grew up in Vermont, seeing monarchs every year in the summer. Her father is from Mexico, so when she visited him, he showed her where monarch butterflies spend the winter. As a kid she found it to be an absolutely magical experience! They would arrive in the forest before sunrise. The trees looked brown with heavy branches. As the sun rose, Monarchs would begin their day with a thunderous sound as they flew all over the forest and could land on her to her amazement.
- It takes 4-5 generation of Monarch to travel from Mexico to New England. Super Monarchs are the butterflies that return to Mexico.
- District 7850 is within the monarch summer range, but they have noticeably disappeared over the years, largely connected to the disappearance of milkweed.
- At the Rotary International Assembly, she met the District Governor for North Central Mexico, where the Monarchs live from October to February. They shared their interest in helping to assure that Monarchs will thrive and survive and have habitats from New England to Mexico that help them thrive and survive.
The monarch super generation and their phenomenal migration
Written By
Mara Koenig
As fall approaches, we at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have something special for you to watch and celebrate. Mid-August typically marks the start of fall migration for millions of monarch butterflies. Adult monarchs are partway through their lifecycle, but their reproduction is on hold. These monarchs are different from their parents, grandparents and even great grandparents. Previous generations completed their life cycle in four weeks. Each of these previous generations migrated north, resulting in four generations over the course of the summer. Butterflies in this last generation are members of the generation that migrates south, often called the monarch super generation.
Imagine the journey - flying more than 3,000 miles to Mexico, not knowing where you can rest or where you will have your next meal. The sun is your guide on daily flights, traveling about 50 miles each day. You often catch free rides on thermal air currents, sometimes flying a mile high. Read More
“The Chrysalis”
- As District Governor, she wanted to find ways to connect our District, both to foster cohesion (enhance participant engagement) and harness the collective power (increase impact).
- This project also has the potential to expand the reach of Rotary, raising awareness of Rotary and its programs throughout the district (hopefully we can get good PR buzz!), as well as creating opportunities for partnerships.
- Beyond the project, the metaphor of the monarch and their incredible journey of reinvention represent the adaptability of Rotary, thus tying into the Paul Harris quote.
“The Butterfly”
- Ariel wanted to distribute milkweed seeds and challenge every Rotary Club, Rotaract, Interact, or even Rotarian to plant milkweed (native milkweed, with property approval, etc.). Depending on budget, logistics, or even club preference, it could be scaled from a bigger club/community-wide milkweed garden to a few plants behind a Rotarian’s home, but I would like everyone to participate in some way.
- In addition to creating an opportunity to incorporate the action plan, as outlined above, it fits nicely within Rotary’s area of focus on the environment. It’s an easy and accessible project that helps to tangibly repair both local and global environments.
- Because milkweed should be planted in the fall, she decided to incorporate this project into her club visits She wanted to distribute seeds to District 7850’s clubs, and then plant them together. The goal, in the spring, hopefully we will start seeing monarchs or at least healthy milkweed plants!
You can follow Monarch migration at CLICK HERE
Ariel was asked about the ongoing work to combine District 7780 (southern Maine, coastal New Hampshire, and one club in Newburyport, northeastern Massachusetts) and our District 7850 (Northern NH, Northern Vermont, and several of the Eastern Townships in Quebec). The goal is to create a new model for the best way to organize to support the clubs in this region.
Rotary International seeks to have clubs that are around 2,000 members strong. Our District’s membership has fallen to about 1,050 members. We received a letter that our district need to grow, or it would be realigned. Our District’s Leadership team took the proactive step of reaching out to join forces with an adjacent district that was also seeing membership decline. District 7780 was approached and agree to work with us to form a new District. Both Districts have differing strengths the would augment each other. Working groups, Joint Action Groups (JAGs) are being formed to do the work of setting up new structures as we move forward. Each JAG will have a co-leader from each district. Marilyn Bedell is co-leading the Rotary Foundation JAG with Carolyn Johnson from D7780.
A goal of our District is to maintain our internationality by having our Quebec clubs stay a part of the new district.
The new District will be rolled out in 2029.
September 28, 6:30–8:00 PM
September 30, 6:30–8:00 PM
Any member who is interested in helping with the work for creating a new District should reach out to Ariel.
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Ariel Mondlak – Short Bio
Ariel is native Vermonter who lives in Waterbury, Vermont and has been a proud member of the Waterbury Rotary Club since 2019. Ariel grew up in Brandon, Vermont and began her Rotary journey as an Interact member throughout high school. She attended the University of Vermont, where she graduated Cum Laude with a BA from the Honors College as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. After graduating in 2015, she criss-crossed the country a few times while working in National Parks and non-profit organizations until the Green Mountains called her home.
Ariel settled in Waterbury and continued her work in non-profit organizations, through which she quickly found her community with the Waterbury Rotary Club. Among many other club responsibilities, she has taken on the mantle of President for the 2023-2024 year. She is a Paul Harris Fellow thanks to the generosity of her club members. In recognition of her contributions to the Waterbury Rotary Club and other community work, Ariel was named a Rising Star in 2022 by Vermont Business Magazine.
Outside of Rotary, Ariel lives with her best friend Stella, a lovable but sassy shepherd-husky mix. She is an avid fantasy football player and currently works as a freelance editor, primarily in the fantasy sports and sports betting world. To relax, Ariel loves knitting, sewing, and a wide variety of other crafts. She also enjoys travel and has been to about 40 states, 15 countries, and 4 continents, and she hopes to continue traveling in the future. Ariel is honored to be representing District 7850 as the District Governor for 2026-2027.
At the end of her introduction, Ariel also let us know that she is now engaged to be married to Chris. Chris proposed the day prior to the Lake Moster’s game that highlighted Rotary International’s work in polio eradication.