Rotary Club of Madison, Wisconsin

How’s It Going?? – Rotary Club of Madison

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Rick Kiley | Leave a comment

From President Paul -

How is your Rotary year going? Are you getting the most out of your membership? Have you been able to work on a committee? Join in fellowship group activities? I hope so. If not, jump in! Not a week goes by that I don’t hear a member’s story about benefits they’ve received through contributing and participating – even just getting to know others at fellowship group events.

Feedback on weekly programs continues to be excellent. Dave Mollenhoff’s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer story was rightfully described as mesmerizing.

Please allow me to share a few updates on items from our strategic plan -

Speed Rotary in August rocked. 110 out of 112 members that completed the survey said we should do it again. Many thanks to Deb Raupp and her committee. Look for a reprise in the spring.
The new member event at the Chazen was a hit – almost 300 attended and feedback indicated all had a grand time. Thanks Petie Rudy, Virginia Bartelt and committees, and of course our hosts Mary Carr Lee and Russell Panczenko.
Scott Haumersen and his committee are working on Rotary Tri-Quest to benefit Dane County Youth – our Run-Bike-Golf fundraiser on May 20, 2012. (Members Jason Beren, Susan Schmitz, and Carrie Wall & Jim Gilmore are pictured below.)

Derrick Van Mell has taken on the task of compiling a list of activities that our club may discontinue. Please contact him with ideas.
Laura Peck, Steve Goldberg, Wes Sparkman, Deb Archer, Linda Baldwin and their committees continue to lead projects related to our centennial in June 2013. These include Rotary Plaza by the Madison Children’s Museum, Family Fun Fair and the Centennial Celebration.

And, many thanks to Rick Kiley, Paul Ranola and the Social Media Committee. They are managing this blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and instituted ConstantContact for emails to members. The emails are much more attractive, and we are gathering statistics on what is being looked at so we can adjust as needed.

How’s it going for me? Really well. What continues to amaze me is the spirit with which members embrace volunteer work for the community. Recently I was asked to recruit a few more members to help on a committee. The first five members said yes.

Committee and Fellowship group chairs – remember, there is a standing invitation for you to pen an article for this blog to let members know what you’re up to. Please remember to include a photo or three.

Wishing you and your family a festive holiday season! In service,

Paul Riehemann

The Rotary Club of Madison has 500 members from business, academia, healthcare and public and community service. It is one of the ten largest Rotary International clubs in the world and will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2013. Rotary International is a service club with local and global reach. It’s 34,000 clubs in over 200 countries have 1.2 million members who meet weekly to develop friendships, learn, and work together to address important humanitarian needs.

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Posted in 1. President's Messages

So What’s the Rotary Tri-Quest? — Madison Rotary

Posted on January 23, 2012 by jaynecoster | 1 Comment

Perhaps you have been hearing about the Rotary Club of Madison Tri-Quest, but haven’t really tuned in to what it is all about.

The Tri-Quest is a long-established and unique event that was started in LaCrosse 15 years ago by a group of athletic enthusiasts who wanted to incorporate golf into athletic competition. Its history was born in raising money for youth in the LaCrosse area. Over the last 15 years, 3,000 have participated and helped raise over $750,000 for the Children’s Museum, Boys and Girls Club and Family Services in LaCrosse.

Your Rotary club has licensed the right to use the event in Madison. Our goals are to:

To provide service to the community by promoting a unique, fun, challenging athletic event.
To raise up to $100,000 in honor of our centennial year.
To increase Rotary’s brand awareness and to enhance our member’s experience in Rotary.

Your Board has designated the proceeds to the Madison Rotary Foundation Synergy Fund as the primary beneficiary. The Madison Rotary Foundation Synergy Scholarship Fund annually provides a four-year college scholarship to a low-income graduating high school senior from our community. Recipients excel in academics and are active in community service projects during high school, but they lack the financial resources to enable them to attend college. The Synergy Fund helps students in need to realize their college dreams; it is a gift that will last them a lifetime. Many recipients receiving our scholarship are the first in their families to attend college.

The event will be held Sunday May 20, 2012, at the Legends of Bergamont in Oregon. It includes a 5K run, 33K bike ride and 18 holes of golf. You can participate as a 3 person- corporate team, where the event is divided among competitors who compete in each leg of the event. You can also form individual, 2-person and 4-person teams where each of you participate in each leg of the event. There is competition in the male, female and co-ed divisions as well as age categories. Winners are based on overall positions in each leg of the event compared to the rest of the field. The golf event is either stroke play, best ball, scramble, or alternate shot, depending on the format of your team. It is non-handicapped event.

You can help with this event in a variety of ways.

As a volunteer on the Tri-Quest committee or on the day of the event
As a participant, by forming either a corporate team or other team
By being a sponsor in one of the many categories or asking other businesses to sponsor
By inviting friends, colleagues and co-workers to be participants
By being a spokesperson in the community for this event

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Posted in 7. Tri-Quest

Season’s Greetings – Rotary Club of Madison

Posted on December 13, 2011 by paulranola | Leave a comment

Enjoy this video short! Thanks go to Neil Fauerbach for interviewing members and filming (he accepted and was off with the camera rolling about 1- 1/2 seconds after being asked), Rob Stroud for letting us put some wear and tear on his camera, Paul Ranola of Requisite Video for putting it together, and Lew Harned for…….. just being Lew.

Happy Holidays from the Board of Directors and Kitchen Committee!

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Posted in 7. Video, Board of Directors, Kitchen

Tagged board member, christmas, holiday, kitchen committee, Rotary Club of Madison, season's greetings, video

Blackhawk Country Club New Member Event – Rotary Club of Madison

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Rick Kiley | 1 Comment

On Tuesday, December 6, our Member Development Committee hosted a New Member Event where over 30 Rotarians met in the morning for coffee at Blackhawk Country Club to enjoy fellowship, the beautiful view, and to help new members learn more about Rotary.

Patty Franson gave a presentation on our club’s proud heritage of philanthropy, Rotary International’s Foundation, our Madison Rotary Foundation, and our Annual Fund Drive. She highlighted the Philanthropy Committee’s focus on stewardship, acknowledgment, celebrating, and promoting how our collective gifts make a difference both locally and internationally. Obviously, since a picture is said to be worth a thousand words, Patty utilized Roth Judd’s famous diagram to help illustrate the link between the Annual Fund Drive and the community grants we provide.

The Annual Fund Drive Committee is encouraging new members to participate, even with a small gift, so that over time they will be able to experience the value of their gift at work locally and internationally.

Rob Stroud, Terry Anderson, and Roth Judd helped Jason Beren with a “Ways To Participate In Rotary” presentation. The discussion emphasized the many opportunities available to participate in Rotary, which also count as make-ups. A number of Rotarians shared personal stories about participating in our own club’s activities and attending meetings at other Rotary Clubs at home and abroad. Hopefully, our new members will be inspired to visit other clubs all over the world, explore and experience the benefits of committee and club service, and participate in the ever-popular fellowship groups.

: L – R: Virginia Bartelt, Donna Beestman, Kelly Fischer

: L – R: Brian Basken, Rob Stroud, Jason Beren, Roth Judd

: Amy Overby & Ken Loving

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Posted in 5. Members, New Member Events

Tagged Blackhawk Country Club, Rotary International

Rotaract Tour and Supper, 12.01.11

Posted on December 5, 2011 by rotaryclubofmadison | Leave a comment

Dan Larson, Chair and Jacqui Sakowski, members of the Rotaract Advisory Committee, accompanied students from Edgewood College and UW Madison on a tour of Full Compass Systems and to supper at The Imperial Garden Chinese Restaurant.

Roxanne Wenzel, VP Sales & Marketing, left above, guided the party through showrooms, recording studios, the colossal 80,000 sqaure foot warehouse and the a la carte bistro.

Johnathon Lipp, founder took the students through the history of the firm to the present day. The students were truly inspired to learn how Full Compass had bucked the recession and grown dramatically by doing the opposite of conventional business wisdom.

During a half-hour Q&A session Johnathon shared some of the downs as well as many of the ups, so everyone left with a taste of success underpinned with a good sense of the reality of managing a growing business in a fast changing industry.

Cool space, fast growing, hi-tech, rewarding, inspiring, were the words much used over a luscious buffet style meal at The Imperial Garden Chinese Restaurant.

Many thanks to Full Compass Systems and to Imperial Garden Chinese Restuarant for their time and contributions to this fun evening.

The Full Compass goody bags and cartons of Chinese food were enthusiastically apprreciated by our group.

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Posted in a. Rotaract

Tagged Fellowship, Rotary International, Rotary Club of Madison, Rotaract, Rotary, UW-Madison, Edgewood College, Full Compass, Imperial Garden Chinese Restaurant

Rotary Club of Madison Fall Membership Event, Chazen Museum of Art

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Rick Kiley | Leave a comment

At Chazen Museum of Art, Submitted By Maggie Peterman.

Even the draperies are a work of art… if you enjoy the waltz, you will discover Petra Blaisse’s design for indoor architectural spaces at work in the Chazen Museum of Art lobby.

When closed, the 20-foot-high curtain covers the glass wall with a pattern designed in voile and felt. As it opens, it coils around a LED-studded column with the elegance of the leading man and lady in ABC’s hottest TV series “Dancing With the Stars.”

Russell Panczenko, the museum’s director and Rotary member, gave nearly 300 Madison Rotarians, their guests and prospective members a glimpse of this graceful dance step Thursday night during Rotary’s Special Autumn Fellowship Event in the new $43 million, 86,000-square-foot addition that opened to the Madison community less than a week ago.

Museum docents escorted small groups of visitors through the museum’s 10 new galleries and 22,500-square feet of new exhibition space.

Sporting a classic bow tie, Max Gaebler, a retired minister from the First Unitarian Society of Madison, praised the work of Boston-based architects Machado and Silvetti Associates, as well as display of artwork previously kept in storage.

“It’s so much bigger, so much richer in contents than it was years ago,” says Gaebler, who served the Unitarian congregation more than 35 years. “It now feels like a significant museum.”

Visitors were charmed by the Alexander Calder sculptures in Gallery 10, the Claes Oldenburg Typewriter Eraser in Gallery 12 and the Spirit Wall by an unknown Chinese artist in Gallery 15.
Few could resist the temptation not to touch the display of bottle caps and liquor wrappers a Nigerian university professor sewed together with copper wire.

“This is just amazing,” says Barb Kubly, who is in residential real estate and a prospective member. “It’s phenomenal.”

The museum also features the private collection of Simona and Jerome Chazen whose $25 million gift sparked the expansion.

“This shows you the Chazens really like color and the human figure,” Docent Sandra Loman points out.

One evening is not enough time to absorb all the exhibitions in the building featuring a two-story glass lobby with a limestone “carpet” and a 160-seat auditorium for films and lecutures.

“I’d like to spend more time just looking around,” says Rob Stroud, a Madison attorney and Rotary District Governor-elect. “There are some real interesting pieces here.”

Click photos to enlarge.