Rotarians tour the Proven Winners Fulfillment Center in DeKalb with guide Sandy Wentworth. The company’s ever-expanding sales prompted a move of its marketing and warehouse operations to new space at 1600 E. Lincoln Highway in DeKalb within the past year.
There is no guessing when a product comes from Proven Winners in its environmentally friendly eco-pot, ready to be used.
For large plantings, Proven Winners offers the unique ceramic AquaPot providing an extended self-watering system where you just fill it with water and let the right balance of moisture reach plants or shrubs.
Marshall Dirks tells the story of Proven Winners to Sycamore Rotarians. Dirks is the company's Director of Marketing and E-Commerce.
“Quality” and “controlled environment” were words used by Proven Winners Marketing and E-Commerce Director Marshall Dirks to explain how the finest plant items get shipped from their DeKalb fulfillment center. Proven Winners began in 1992 and provides wholesale plant and plant-related products to garden centers across the country and through on-line ordering. Their offerings are the result of high-tech growing environments at facilities in Michigan, New Hampshire, Florida, and Canada. These facilities use cuttings from an international network of breeders providing product under highly controlled harvesting conditions.
A Proven Winners product goes through extensive initial and on-going tests to ensure top quality. Dirks outlined a 12-step introductory process that can take 3-5 years to complete for flowers and plants and 10-12 years for shrubs. He said the company has worked with 38 universities to perfect their various offerings which now number about 1,800 varieties and results in 200 million plants sold in a year. To make plant selection easier, Proven Winners now offers categories of collections based on type of use.
In recognition of the disruption to normal business because of war in the Ukraine, Dirks said Proven Winners finds itself working with its Polish plant breeder to assist refugees at their border with the country. He said they are paying for basic living supplies to be set out weekly for those in need. He also said they are purchasing transport trucks for use by the Ukrainian government.
To find a local retailer or to buy online, visit the Proven Winners website at www.provenwinners.com.
As of this morning (Wednesday, April 20), 54 Hula raffle drawdown tickets that have been sold / claimed. If you haven't purchased your tickets yet, now is the time to get your number. And for the remaining 36 tickets, it's time to start kicking the social media campaigns or phone calls into gear. This is a great opportunity for your friends and family to win a chance at $3000 while helping to support local projects.
As for dinner/trivia attendees, I have the following:
Name (Total Attendees)
Bob Brown (1)
Bob Farley (2)
Bob Hammon (2)
Brandon Diviak (1)
Chris Boyes (8)
David Dosier (2)
Eric Jones (2)
Heidi Wright (2)
Jeff Jacobson (2)
Jeff Keicher (2)
Jeff Jacobson (2)
Jeff Petersen (1)
Jonelle Bailey (1)
Kathleen Smith (1)
Mark Spiegelhoff (2)
Michael DeVito (2)
Michele Jurkovic (2)
Pat Shafer (3)
Paul Barnaby (1)
Paul Michel (2)
Paul Stromborg (2)
Paulette Renault (2)
Ray Dembinksi (2)
Riley Oncken (2)
Sally Bruch (1)
Steve Kuhn (1)
Sue Emberson (1)
Tim Neubert (2)
Velvet Mason (1)
That's 56 people for trivia or only about half of capacity. It's a pretty sad state so far for this year's Hula with only one week left to go. We're looking at a potential profit of about $2,000 right now and no reason to sell 101/102 tickets. I have three (3) trivia round sponsors, but several door prizes:
Join with Rotary to promote the power of vaccines to protect children and save lives!
During World Immunization Week, 24-30 April, let’s advocate for polio eradication and the importance of vaccines to the health and well-being of our communities.
Vaccines are one of the greatest advances of modern medicine. They’re safe, effective, and save millions of lives each year. Our progress in the fight to end polio is proof that vaccines work.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative estimates that the polio vaccine has saved more than 20 million children around the world from paralysis. We need to continue vaccinating children against polio, because as long as the poliovirus circulates anywhere, it is a threat everywhere.
Here’s how you can support Rotary’s efforts during World Immunization Week:
Use the World Immunization Week Toolkit for graphics and sample posts to share on social media with the hashtags #EndPolio and #VaccinesWork.
Donate to PolioPlus to help Rotary and our partners deliver polio vaccines to vulnerable children. Or start an online fundraiser using Raise for Rotary and share it with your friends, colleagues, and family members. All contributions will be matched 2-to-1 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Rotary districts can give District Designated Funds (DDF) to PolioPlus to help meet our goal of raising $50 million each year to eradicate polio.
Donations are currently being requested for the Sycamore Food Pantry. Bring a bottle of laundry detergent...or $10 for Julie Sgarlata to purchase one. Money is easier to handle.
Personal hygiene items (bar soap, shampoo, etc.) are also being sought.
April 10, 1847 – Newspaper publisher magnate Joseph Pulitzer is born in Budapest, Hungary. With his wealth he endows the journalism school at Columbia, University and the prizes annually given in his name for excellence in journalism
April 13, 1743 – The principal author of the Declaration of Independence and the third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, is born in Shadwell, Virginia.
April 16, 1867 – Aviation pioneer Wilbur Wright is born in Millville, Indiana.
April 16, 1889 – Film legend Charlie Chaplin is born in Walworth, England.
April 12, 1961 – Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in outer space. His 108-minute orbit of the earth propels him into international fame.
April 14, 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln is shot and mortally wounded while watching a play at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C.
April 15, 1947 – 28-year-old Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American player in Major League Baseball when he steps onto Ebbets Field to compete for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
April 15, 1912 – The supposedly unsinkable luxury ocean liner Titanic strikes an iceberg while crossing the Atlantic on its maiden voyage and tragically sinks with a loss of more than 1,500 lives.
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