It's been 100 years since our club was born. Thank you all for your continued support and dedication. Without you, our list of achievements would never have come to life. It is truly admirable what our organization has been able to do for our community and communities abroad. Your participation has made a global impact improving the lives of many. So to all our members, we'd like to say:
Thank you!
BLUESFEST 2021 IN THE BOOKS:
What an amazing event this year - especially after the cancelation of our 2020 BluesFest due to COVID! The weather could not have been better!! Waukesha Rotary BluesFest would like to extend a huge thank you to all of the sponsors, vendors, volunteers, fans and other supporters of the festival. A huge shoutout to our faithful, hardworking BluesFest Committee! (especially our Chairman Kip Rupple and our Sponsorship Chair Rick Kobriger). For those of you who were not at our last two Monday meetings, our t-shirts this year were such a huge success, we had to sell the shirts that our members ordered. We intended to re-order our members' shirts, however, the company that does our shirts was in the process of moving and we were not able to affordably re-order. We thank you for your understanding and will make sure the shirts are doubly cool in 2022!!! Mark your calendar for our 15th Annual BluesFest, Friday August 12 - Saturday August 13, 2022. See you there!!!
UPCOMING CLUB MEETINGS:
Our 2021-22 Board of Directors is doing a fabulous job of planning interesting speakers for our Monday meetings. Coming up next Monday, August 30th, we have Dustin Godsey, Chief Marketing Officer for the Milwaukee Bucks. He will be highlighting the excitement of the road leading to the 2021 Championship. Is there a favorite Bucks fan in your life that would enjoy this program??? Feel free to invite them to next Monday's meeting. As this has the potential of bringing in a larger than normal attendance, please let Colleen know if you are bringing a guest: mail@waukesharotary.org
There will be no meeting on Monday, September 6th due to the Labor Day weekend.
On Monday, September 13th, we will be traveling to Retzer Nature Center to take a look at the progress that is being made on the Retzer Adventure Trail Renovation project. We will meet there at noon and end at 1:00 pm. Bubb's will be there to provide our lunch.
Please plan on joining your fellow Rotarians - especially if you haven't been to a meeting for a while. Consider bringing a potential new member. Let's grow the amount of "Service Above Self" that we can do by simply "asking" other people to join us.
HIGHWAY CLEANUP AND CLUB SOCIAL SCHEDULED:
This Thursday, August 26th at 5:30 pm. We still need one more volunteer. Volunteers must be 11 years or in at least Sixth grade or older. Under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Rick Kobriger will bring the cleaning supplies - volunteers need to bring their own bug spray, water bottle, gloves and wear appropriate clothing. Please contact Rick if you are able to lend a hand. rickkobriger@aol.com
A club social will be held immediately following the cleanup. All members and their guests are invited to attend. We will meet at Tally's Tap in Waukesha starting around 6:00 pm. No need to rsvp - just come and join us!
$100 FOR 100 YEARS:
In conjunction with the City of Waukesha’s 125th Anniversary, AND Waukesha Rotary Club's 100th Anniversary, we would like to add educational signage at the Formal Gardens at Frame Park. The goal of the sign is to educate the public about the history of the garden, promote historic preservation, and inspire appreciation for the powerful beauty of nature. We welcome you to join us in the effort to preserve, share, and celebrate the vital role that gardens play in our culture and history, and, indeed, our quality of life. With your support, a visit to the garden can be both beautiful AND educational! The total cost of this project will be $4,000. Past President Ken Genin is spearheading this project and will be asking for $100 donations from Past Presidents and our general membership. Please make your check payable to the Waukesha Rotary Charitable Fund and either give it to Colleen at a Monday meeting or mail it to: Waukesha Rotary Club, P.O. Box 1876, Waukesha, WI 531867. What a great way to celebrate and remember our 100th Anniversary!
WAUKESHA UNLOCKED:
As part of Waukesha's 125th Anniversary celebration, they will be holding a "Waukesha Unlocked" event scheduled for Sat. and Sun., Oct. 9-10, 2021 throughout the City. The event will showcase business, properties, and organizations to build awareness and pride in the Waukesha community by providing access, opportunities, and behind the scenes tours to buildings and spaces. The Waukesha Rotary Club would like to showcase our membership, the work that we do and our major fundraisers at the new City Hall during the event on Saturday, October 9, from 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. We will need 2 members to be at our booth at all times. A Sign-up Genius has been set up with two slots for each hour - not a huge time commitment for anyone. This is a great way to have attendees at this event come away understanding more about the contributions we make in the community and the world. SIGN UP HERE
LOOKING AHEAD:
Christmas Clearing: In September we will start working on a couple of projects with the Christmas Clearing Council. There will be 3 levels of commitment to this event.
- Supporting the Toy Shop on Dec 11th. Families that are not adopted go to toy shop day to pick out items that were donated. We will need 12 volunteers to work the toy shop in two shifts: from 8-11am and 11-2pm. A sign up will go out at a later date.
- The club is sponsoring a family. More information will go out at a later date.
- Buying gifts for either the toy shop or our family. The committee is suggesting that our members purchase bikes this year. (It would be greatly appreciated if you would assemble the bike before donating it.) We are in the process of finding storage for these bikes, as bikes may be more available now as opposed to waiting until Christmas.
Rotary Blood Drive: Monday October 11. This event will be operating as we have done in the past.
Salvation Army Bell Ringing: Our Community Service Committee is looking into moving the Salvation Army Bell Ringing a little earlier as to not conflict with Christmas Clearing Council Toy Shop Day.
More information on all of the above will go out as soon as we have more information.
ANYTHING ELSE?
YES! We have not abandoned the idea of holding our 100th Anniversary Dinner Celebration!!! After talking to many of our members, we just didn't want to go ahead with the celebration at the Historic Courthouse with the 80 minimum requirement. Besides that, many, many organizations in Waukesha are trying to hold fundraisers that were cancelled in 2020 due to Covid before the end of 2021. We are, therefore, working on a celebration to be held in March of 2022 (technically still our Anniversary year!!). The committee is in the process of holding a date and location and will ask you to mark your calendars ASAP! We still hope we can get 80 (or more) people to attend, but we will rest easier knowing that we don't have to.
A NEW WORD FOR YOUR SCRABBLE BOARD:
VOLUNESIA
(Noun)
that moment when you forget you're
volunteering to help change lives,
because it's changing yours.
