Rotary Club of Omaha Whirl 9.11.2020 (Sep 11, 2020)

Sep 16, 2020

Kara Eastman

Congressional Candidate

Sep 23, 2020

HYBRID IN-PERSON / ZOOM MEETING

Chris Janicek -Candidate for Senate

Sep 30, 2020

John Higgins

NCAA Basketball Ref/Final Four

Oct 07, 2020

HYBRID IN-PERSON / ZOOM MEETING

Don Bacon, Candidate for House

Oct 14, 2020

Tony Veland, AIM Institute

AIM Institute - Job Creation

Oct 21, 2020

BUSINESS NETWORKING

Oct 28, 2020

HYBRID IN-PERSON / ZOOM MEETING

Ben Sasse, Candidate for Senate

Nov 04, 2020

US State Department

View entire list

Rotary Club of Omaha Board Meeting
ZOOM
Sep 11, 2020 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM

911 Tribute of Flags-Take Down
Memorial Park
Sep 13, 2020 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM

Stephen Center Food Service
Stephen Center
Sep 22, 2020 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM

Rotary Club of Omaha Board Meeting
ZOOM
Oct 09, 2020 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM

View entire list

MEETING UPDATE

Please join us for a weekly virtual Zoom meeting September 16.
We will have our first HYRID IN-PERSON/ ZOOM meeting at The Field Club September 23rd.
Watch your email for reservation requests.

President's Pen

As I write this on September 11, 2020, American flags with the names of our dead wave at Omaha’s Memorial Park because a committed group of Rotarians picked up the baton to carry forward the tradition, begun by Lynn Castriano of Omaha whose brother Leonard was lost at the World Trade Center on this date in 2001. I thank our leaders Dan Esch, Lindy Hoyer and Gary Bren for providing the opportunity to serve. I hope that you may see this year’s memorial, or possibly read the story of one or more of the victims of 9/11 – one identification tag is attached to each flag on the south hillside of the park. We are reminded that the terror of that day did not discriminate. All faiths, all colors and all immigrant histories are represented. President Bush was briefly at Strategic Command in Bellevue, NE on that afternoon. We are united in our remembrance. Work is already underway for the 20^th memorial in 2021.

Your Rotary board met this morning and confirmed our decision to meet in hybrid fashion on September 23 and October 7 and 28 for our congressional candidate series. All other meetings will be zoom only as we “test the waters” and work our way through the pandemic environment. We also held a round-robin discussion regarding membership growth with Membership Chair, Phil Taylor. Thank you to Phil for leading that discussion. New member Dr. James (Jim) Hauschildt, president of Clarkson College, joined our board meeting and contributed to the discussion. Welcome, Jim!

I look forward to seeing each of you online on September 16^th as Kara Eastman makes her case for the nationally significant District 2 (NE) U.S. House of Representatives seat. The candidate has elected to join us in zoom format, and Secretary Nash Mahupete is gathering your questions in advance with an assist from Leigh.

~ John Sullivan

Guest Journalist 9.9.2020

Hear ye! Hear ye!

All hail our esteemed District Governor, the Exchanger of Youths, the Deliverer or Pins, receiver of cement chickens, the former President of Suburbia and our fearless leader, Roxy Orr. Governor Orr graced us with her virtual presence while delivering an update on our all important STRATEGIC PLAN

The realm of 5650's plan for strategy comprises of 4 parts:

Part in the first: INCREASING IMPACT IN THE COMMUNITY. This includes making Rotary known throughout the land, as well as increasing partnerships between Rotary clubs within the realm, clubs and local business, and even clubs and other service organizations. (Special Huzzah to Gretchen Harvey for her work on the trails project!)
Part in the second: EXPANDING REACH. The realm requires more knights of various backgrounds in order to thrive. Governor Orr desires more projects for our clubs and more money to fund those projects as well.
Part in the third: ENHANCING ENGAGEMENT. It is one thing to grow the ranks of the knights in the realm. It is another thing to ensure that said knights are engaged in their clubs. This includes diving into the sorcery known as "analysis" to see how clubs can better serve member knights.
Part in the fourth: ERRADICATING POLIO. With recent news from the WHO declaring Africa free from wild polio, Rotary's vision of seeing Polio wiped from the land is that much closer to being complete! With World Polio Day coming in October, clubs in the realm are encouraged to continue to fight the good fight.

Our fair Governor has visited all parts of the realm, visiting clubs and providing resources needed to adapt during this trying time. HUZZAH TO GOVERNOR ORR FOR HER CONTINUED HARD WORK IN SERVING THE REALM!

~Adam Leong

Guest Journalist

Guest Journalist 9.2.2020

We were honored to have Echohawk Lefthand, member of the Dine (Navajo) nation and OPS Director of the Native Indigenous Center Education Program, join us to educate us on the, past, present, and future for First Nations people in the United States. Mr. Lefthand laid out the history from relations between the Europeans and First Nations people, beginning with Columbus in 1492.

Relations between European descendants and First Nations people have taken many forms over the years, including eras of removal, restoration, assimilation, reorganization, termination, and self-determination. This history has led to a number of adverse outcomes for First Nations people, including cultural genocide and historical trauma. These outcomes have been exacerbated over time as more generations have passed, leading to a loss of cultural identity, socioeconomic and health disparities, and increased suicide rates among First Nations people.

Mr. Lefthand's role as Director of the Native Indigenous Center Education Program is to provide resources, community, and cultural enrichment for First Nations students in the Omaha Public School system. First Nations students make up less than 1% of OPS students and are often considered an "invisible minority." Mr. Lefthand works with students to build their resilience in a culturally appropriate way while also reaffirming cultural heritage and customs.

What can we do to help? Mr. Lefthand laid out a few different steps to make Omaha more welcoming to First Nations people. Step one is recognizing that First Nations people are here in Omaha and we may not be aware of their historical traumas. From there, we can find First Nation organizations in our communities and reach out to them, looking for opportunities for partnership. Finally, it is crucial that we make sure our spaces are welcoming to First Nations people, especially urban youth.

We thank Mr. Lefthand for sharing his knowledge with our club and for taking the time to educate us on how we can make Omaha more inclusive for First Nations people.

~Adam Leong

Guest Journalist

9/11 Tribute of Flags TAKE DOWN

As one of our Club Service Projects, our club both helps plant the flags and remove the flags that each year has commemorated the people who perished in the 9/11 bombings.

We can use your help at Memorial Park on Sunday, September 13 to take them down from 1:00 - 2:30pm. Family and friends are welcome.

If you are a new member, this counts as a Community Service Project. It is also worth attendance credit.

If you have a Rotary shirt please wear it.

We could use around 20 volunteers. Volunteers will report at the top of the hill on Underwood (the hill that faces Dodge Street). Volunteers should plan to bring a mask and wear them when not socially distanced from others. Bring their own hand sanitizers.

SIGN UP TO TAKE DOWN FLAGS

Salvation Army Volunteer Recognition

The Salvation Army's annual volunteer recognition event is going virtual! This year, due to COVID-19, we have made our event a virtual one. We want to make sure we celebrate your generous and selfless gift of volunteering while keeping everyone safe. Please join us on Saturday, September 19 at 10:00am via Facebook to watch our event.

www.facebook.com/salarmyomaha

Shawn Bonge
Divisional Director of Volunteer Services

Thank You!

Thank you to all who helped place flags at Memorial Park Friday, September 4th.

You can read some publicity from WOWT at the following link.

https://www.wowt.com/2020/09/06/september-11th-memorial-honors-nebraskans-who-lost-their-lives-in-terrorist-attacks/

Volunteer from Home

Send Happy Notes to residents at the Salvation Army’s Durham Booth Manor. This is a project that can be done at any time.

If we could get a few club members signed up to send them, Lindy Hoyer will get a committee member to coordinate the frequency of the notes.

Just cheery notes to brighten someone’s day.

Stephen Center Food Service

Stephen Center Food Service
2723 Q St, Omaha, NE 68107
5 - 6 volunteers per shift
Suitable for families, as long as children are over age of 10.
Volunteers will be serving meals, no food preparation.

Tuesday, Sept. 22 from 4:30-6:30

Tuesday, Oct. 20 from 4:30-6:30

September Birthdays

Steve Gerdes - Sept. 2

Viv Ewing - Sept. 3

Camille Metoyer-Moten - Sept. 4

Alex Petrovich - Sept. 8

Peggy Carrell - Sept. 9
Sandy Lemke - Sept. 11

Sue Kutschkau - Sept. 15

Julie Sebastian - Sept. 23

Gene DeBoer - Sept. 26

Zoom Make-Ups

If you attend another club's virtual meeting please email Leigh for attendance credit.

The other clubs are not all reporting make-up credits for Zoom attendance at this time.

Thank you!

Membership Application

We have also received a membership application from Thomas Urbanski, II, Project Manager for The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company.

Tom is sponsored by John Sullivan.

Any comments should be sent to Leigh Sittenauer at director@omaharotary.org.

STATUS OF CLUB MEETINGS IN ROTARY DISTRICT 5650

We strongly encourage you to check club websites before planning to attend meetings.

You can check the status of Rotary Club Meetings at the link below:

https://www.rotarydistrict5650.org/Stories/status-of-club-meetings-in-rotary-district-5650

To link to the website or contact of any club in Rotary District 5650, click here.

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Please join us for a weekly virtual Zoom meeting September 16. We will have our first HYRID IN-PERSON/ ZOOM meeting at The Field Club September 23rd.Watch your email for reservation requests.

ClubRunner Mobile:Downtown Rotary Club on the Go

Member Directory

Executives and Directors

View posts on your website

Learn more about upcoming events and speakers

Download the app on your phone or tablet

Please join us for a weekly virtual Zoom meeting September 16.
We will have our first HYRID IN-PERSON/ ZOOM meeting at The Field Club September 23rd.
Watch your email for reservation requests.

ClubRunner Mobile:
Downtown Rotary Club on the Go