Greetings. I hope you had a relaxing and fun holiday weekend.
We’re trying something different with the President’s blog this year. It’s been renamed the “Rotary Roundtable.” Similar to the rotation format Paul Harris started in 1905, various people will contribute. Rick Kiley, Chair of the Social Media Committee, will pen the August post.
Rotary Roundtable blog posts will aim to get people excited about what we’re doing in our club (past events or promoting future ones), create a dialogue, and share something personal so members get to know each other better. I’ve set a goal of two posts per month. To start, Committee and Fellowship group chairs are invited to reserve a spot to write a post by emailing the office.
Members Lynn Phelps and Mark Moody volunteering at Wheels for Winners
What do you think? Please share your comments on the Rotary Roundtable idea below.
The engineer in me wants to summarize plans for the upcoming year, right here and now. But that can wait. Instead, a few sentences on why the club and Rotary are special to me –
Lew Harned
- Because members are genuinely friendly and interested in each other – friendships abound.
- Our club does a ton of good.
- Because new and old members alike go to board meetings and are served dinner by a One Star General and other Madison leaders whose main concern is if you have enough butter.
- My point of view is expanded by the club’s interesting and informative programs.
Puppy Time. On a family note, we’re adding to ours July 14 when we 
bring home an 8-week old Labradoodle puppy, “Sasha.” The picture shows our friend Charlie with his puppy Boris, our daughter Danika, and our son Max with Sasha. We’re excited although it’s not lost on me that things could get messy.
Wrap-up. Thank you for your commitment to our local and global community through Rotary. Throughout the year please let me know how I may assist. Send easy questions to me and hard ones to President-elect Wes Sparkman.
Here’s to a productive year – getting it done, having fun.
In service, Paul
Rotary Club of Madison, Wisconsin 
I am so glad you are doing this now! Great idea. I will return to Facebook.
Can the puppy come to Rotary?
Good question. Let’s check with Sgt-at-Arms Stadelman. 🙂
Wow, Paul, your kids got so big! We had the good luck to share an in-home daycare provider with Paul and Rita Riehemann, and miss seeing them at drop off and pick up. The puppies look fun, but you have more guts (and energy) than I do. One more comment – you can never have enough butter!