NOTE: Officers, Directors and Chairs: Please submit your 2023-2024 Budgets to Mark Kotschevar by April 1stmkotsc1@gmail.com
16 Mar-23 3rd Thursday Rotary Service option: Rochester Public Library, 2nd Fl. Meeting Room B Begin working on the digitization of the Post-Bulletin Archive
Social option: Twigs Restaurant
23 Mar-23 4th Thursday Rotary
Lynn Clarey
30 Mar-23 5th Thursday Rotary @ Even Hotel
Rochester Mayor Kim Norton
19-Apr-23 See Rochester Risers Rotary Club 35th Anniversary Celebration information in this issues; note April 7th RSVP deadline
21-Jun-23 Greater Rochester Rotary is pleased to invite you to the 2023-2024 District Governor Installation of Patricia McCleese in the Floral Hall at Graham Park. 5:30-8:00 PM. Details to follow.
22-Jun-23 Ashokakomar Patel, MD, Installation, President 2023-2024 The Rotary Club of Rochester
At the request of the Rochester Public Schools Superintendent Kent Pekel, the Rochester Rotary Clubs were invited to say a few words about the Holiday Classic, as the School Board wished to express their gratitude with a formal resolution. On Tuesday, March 7, 2023, Lorie Luedke spoke on behalf of the Rochester Rotary Clubs gave a heartfelt, impressive tribute to the Holiday Classic with compelling visuals you can see here!
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Tonight, we welcome and recognize the Rotary Clubs of Rochester for their operation and support of the Rotary Holiday Classic.
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the Rotary Holiday Classic was created in 1988 to support our local high school basketball programs; and
WHEREAS, the last Rotary Holiday Classic was held in December of 2022; and
WHEREAS, at its peak, the Classic welcomed 32 boys and girls high school basketball teams and their families for three days during the last week of December; and
WHEREAS, the Classic has contributed over $1,000,000 to area youth-related non-profit organizations and more than $80,000 to local schools to help support our basketball programs; and
WHEREAS, the Classic has been operated for the past 34 years by the Rotary Holiday Classic Steering Committee and scores of dedicated Rochester Rotarians who volunteered countless hours to the event.
BE IT RESOLVED that the School Board of Independent School District #535 expresses our gratitude to the Rochester Rotary for their investment in organizing the Rotary Holiday Classic for the past 34 years; our appreciation for the partnership between Rochester Public Schools and the Rotary Clubs of Rochester and the financial support that the Classic generated for Rochester’s schools and youth programs; and our recognition of the unique opportunity that the Rotary Holiday Classic provided for generations of families to gather and support high caliber basketball.
Dear M & M cohort: We can’t believe our pilot project is wrapping up over the next two months! Please plan to meet with each other to recap your progress to date and share any other fun activities based on your mutual overlapping areas of interest, Club service, and ways to making a difference in our (Rochester) community!
Thursday, April 13, 2023 (Noon – 1 pm) – Presentation at Even Hotel to TRCR on mentorship program – objectives, progress, and plan for wrap-up.
Thursday, May 4, 2023 (5:30 – 7 pm) – Wrap up at Centerstone Plaza Soldiers Field Hotel with full M & M cohort re: certificates of participation/engagement, lessons learned, insights for future engagement & capacity-building.
On March 4, 2023, the Rotary Peace Fellows offered a free virtual 24 hr. conference covering a wide range of themes and emphasizing dialogue and collaboration:
Framing conflict eg. Climate crisis and Human rights
Understanding “Us” to know “Them”
Convening Rotary for Building Positive peace
Protecting yourself from “Secondhand smoke” of trauma
Peace resiliencies within and across communities (in Africa)
Interfaith dialogue
Women, Peace and Security (UNSCR 1325) – Afghanistan context
Peace-building and (music) performance
In view of its overall engagement and moderated feedback from breakout sessions, the RPF GPC organizers have drafted a ‘declaration’ to frame their future annual events, emphasizing the vital role of Rotary members, global partnerships, and locally aligned action groups. Please feel free to contact Ashok Patel (acpatel1172@gmail.com) or visit https://www.rotary.org/en/our-programs/peace-fellowships for more details or updates on the status of the draft declaration. If you’re even more inspired about Rotary and Peace Fellowship opportunities at its Peace Centers, feel free to check out: https://my.rotary.org/en/peace-fellowship-application
Rotary Grants Committee – Air quality/stove project highlight/update:
Submitted by Ashok Patel
The Rochester Grants committee project sponsored by TRCR related to improving indoor air quality and respiratory health awareness in Guatemala is entering its last phase! We are pleased to report that 208 vented stoves were installed in homes of families in San Lucas Toliman region of Guatemala, impacting at least 500 household members distributed over 5/16 communities. Educational support on use and maintenance of these efficient stoves as well as more general awareness of environmental economics was shared with over 500 local learners/users in the communities served.
Some very adaptive and creative problem-solving helped assure project implementation, with special thanks to RCTC volunteers/educators (Lillyam Arroyave, Lori Halverson-Wente, and Don Baldus) as well as in-country support from Friends of San Lucas mission (Bill Peterson), local host Rotary club members, health promoters (Vincente, Ricardo) and physician co-champions, Dr. Raphael Tun and Ashok Patel.
The teams are very grateful for the extra guidance and financial stewardship of TRCR, our 3-club Rochester Grants Committee advisors, and D5960 grants committee. A small delegation is being prepped along with travel to visit San Lucas region in late May 2023. This visit will respect the six steps to sustainability as we transition the project to local coordinators and relevant Rotary/FSL/Community health & education partners. The delegation will also recognize over a dozen volunteers who have been involved since the initial pilot project in 2017 through mid-year 2023. Thank you, TRCR members, for all your generosity and encouragement to stay resilient and make a positive difference beyond our borders!
Apr 29th –Tri-District Conference – Get Registered. Click and get yourself registered for this tremendous, exciting event with a focus on membership and leadership. Madden’s Resort at Gull Lake – that’s the place for rooms. Click the link on the district conference website to book your two-night stay. One-night stays will ONLY be accepted by contacting the resort directly at 800-642-5363. There are 12 rooms in the block currently located in the Mission Point area of the resort. These 2 buildings are being opened up early just for our group to accommodate the 1 night stay requests. Anyone that will need a one-night stay should contact the resort sooner than later. Rooms not guaranteed with a deposit will be released back to general resort inventory April 2nd.
District Governor Dayle Quigley reminded us of the need for shelter worldwide especially in areas with recent crises: Pakistan flooding, Ukraine war, and earthquake devastation in Turkey and Syria.
How to contribute
You can give online, by check, or by transferring District Designated Funds:
To give by check, make it payable to The Rotary Foundation or to an associate foundation and include a completed contribution form. In the DESIGNATION/PURPOSE section, choose Other and write the fund name (Pakistan Flood Response Fund or Ukraine Response Fund).
Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria ShelterBox is responding after a series of powerful earthquakes hit Turkey and northern Syria. Please donate today to help people affected by the earthquakes and other disasters around the world. https://www.shelterboxusa.org/
Did you know that if you buy the majority of your gas at Kwik Trip, you could pre-pay for your gas AND help the club at the same time? A $100 Kwik Trip card immediately creates $5 for the club and any in-store purchases creates another 5% donation.If you would like to purchase Scrip cards, send an email to romnrotary@gmail.com with how many and what denomination you'd like. In additional to Kwik Trip, Scrip cards are also available to Apollo Liquor and Menards. The cards are purchased at face value, but the club receives 5% back from Apollo Liquor and Kwik Trip and 4% back from Menards. The club receives an additional 5% on purchases at Kwik Trip, other than gas, inside the store.
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