Each year the Rotary Club of Maple Grove sponsors two students, one from each high school, to attend the camp. Students from all over Wisconsin and Minnesota participant in this event.

Luke Tomczyk, student at Maple Grove Senior High School, and Naziah Haywood, student at Osseo Senior High School, recently completed a four-day experience at Rotary Camp  RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) which was held at the YMCA Camp just south of Hudson Wisconsin.

Camp RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) is a fun, intensive leadership experience that develops leadership, teambuilding, and problem-solving skills. This unique experience promotes individual growth and leadership capabilities of high school juniors and sophomores through physical, mental, emotional and intellectual challenges. Campers interact with other members of their team and volunteer counselors as they work through these challenges together.

The final event at the camp is when the campers participate in a meeting of the Rotary Club of St Paul 10, the main organizing club, and recount their experiences during the camp. The students always say this is the highlight of the year.

The Rotary club of Maple Grove in collaboration with the City of Maple Grove, planted a large pollinator garden at Central Park this past June. Located near the pickleball courts, the garden was designed with the guidance of Heidi's Growhaus Nursery and features more than 100 planted in the northeast corner of the fields. This project supports the city's Monarch Pledge goals and provides important habitant for the pollinators such as bees, butterflies and other bendficial insects. 

While the plants take time to mature they will become an attractive feature for the park visitors as they grow.  And once the garden reaches its full display the longterm benefits will be significant. The colorful flowers and native plants will not only enhance the beauty of Cental Park but also help sustain pollinator populations  that play a crucial role in the ecosystem.

As a Rotarians we tend to meet, since we also like to learn about each other as a networking aspect of Rotary. What are your thoughts about your club experience? Here are a few key take aways as to how club members feel the Rotary exerperience is working for them. If you have any other ideas to make the club experience better for you, contact the club President with your thoughts.

District Governor Mark Shockey presented takeaways from the 2025 Rotary International Survey where 88% of Rotarians are very or moderately satisfied with their Rotary experience and agree that the time invested in Rotary is worth it.  In addition, 76% of Rotarians feel that their expectations are being met.  What members experience in their club matters and is positive when 

• Members enjoy meetings.
• Members have confidence in club leaders and the direction of the club.
• The club offers opportunities for personal growth and skill development. 
• Members develop meaningful friendships.
• Club service opportunities make a difference in their community and world.

If you feel there are other aspects to the club experience that keeps you engaged please let us know.

Want to learn more about your membership, how membership works, have ideas to make it better or just want to know how to get more engaged? Join this membership group being lead by Lloyd Campbell and members of other clubs. It is a once a month meeting for 4 months from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. No commitment just a way to get more involved and provide feedback. Lloyd calls it a vault since we have a wealth of knowledge and what better place to put it, but in a vault

Clubs involved will be from Region 36.  Meetings are the third Tuesday of the month: April 21, May 19, June 16 and July 21 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.  It is encouraged that all members sign up. Scan the QR code to register. You can cancel at anytime.

The Rotary Club of Maple Grove - ESRAG (Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group) sponsored the Green Show at the Maple Grove Art Center on March 26.  Sponsorship gave our club the opportunity to speak about our activities. Bonita Marten spoke about the work ESRAG does - planting trees, pulling buckthorn, planting pollinator gardens, and recycling, We collected 1000# of plastic last year to keep it out of the landfill and earned a bench. 

Many of the art pieces resonated with ESRAG interests – trees, gardens, plastics and recycling, and even the circular economy.  Several art pieces used recycled plastic, single use containers, tinfoil, and even seed packets. 

The Rotary Club of Maple Grove is all about helping the community.  We are aware the last 2 months have been difficult for families. We have been working with CROSS Services to develop our role in an initiative to assist families in our community with emergent needs.  Over the next two months, we are asking for your help. We are focusing our effors to assist the Mobile Hope facility  in Corcoran.

Please bring your donations to the Rotary Club meetings during the months of February and March, and we will coordinate having CROSS Services deliver them to Mobile Hope for distribution.  You may also donate gas cards, gift cards for Walmart, Target, or Cub for Mobile Hope to share with families as needed. Donate what you are comfortable with.

Items Needed:

Food 
•    Canned vegetables
•    Canned or individual cups of fruit
•    Canned soup
•    Canned or pouch meats (tuna, chicken, seafood)
•    Dry Beans
•    White Rice
•    Pasta & Pasta sauce or diced tomatoes
•    Tortillas & Hot Sauce 
•    Cereal or oatmeal
•    Peanut Butter & Jelly

One of Rotary's focus is Peace. Our club is looking to install a Peace pole at Central Park. While searching for poles we came across this story on planting trees with the Rotary Club of Brooklyn Park four years ago. Here is the link to the full story.

https://share.google/dJYST5wCK2N5FbPqd

Enjoy!