Category Archives: Notable Books

Rotary Fellowship Groups – Great Opportunities to Make Connections

Posted on March 22, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Our Rotary Club has over 20 fellowship groups to help members make connections with others that have like interests.  At the March 21 Rotary luncheon, members present received fellowship and committee sign-up forms for the 2012-13 Rotary year.  Members not present will be receiving one via email soon.  Be sure to fill out your forms and return them to the Rotary office as your current assignments end June 30.

Below are photos of some recent fellowship group activities.  Other fellowship groups are encouraged to submit photos to the Rotary office for future blog postings.

Fly Fishing Group at On the Creek

Fish Stories Told Here…Some True! 

The fly fishing fellowship enjoyed its best turn out ever with eleven members attending our “ice breaker” meeting on March 8. Todd Opsal and Nick Volk of On the Creek Fly Shop in Cross Plains led an informative discussion on fly fishing. The meeting covered everything from equipment to basic stream side insect life. Wine, cheese and crackers complemented the presentation on fly fishing and most importantly the good fellowship enjoyed by all. Our next meeting is scheduled for 7:00pm on April 12 at On the Creek Fly Shop in Cross Plains. There is a good chance that we will do a road trip to sample some of the trout fishing in southwestern Wisconsin on April 6. We hope to firm up dates for future outings at our next meeting.  Proposed ideas include the ever popular Black Earth Creek, Gordon Creek and a late May trip to Lake Waubesa for Blue Gills followed by a Canadian style shore dinner. 

—Submitted by Dana Corbett, Chair of Fly Fishing Fellowship Group

Gayle Langer & Curt Brink

Scotch Whisky Fellowship Group Event

On Monday, March 12, Gayle Langer and Melanie Ramey co-hosted the March Lew Harned Society’s Fellowship event at Gayle’s Cherokee home. Pictured above are Gayle and Curt Brink.  Gayle and Melanie put together a fine selection of scotch and complimented it with some quality cheese and some wonderful shrimp.  Fellowship Chair Ellis Waller gathered feedback from the attendees on what type of community project the group would like to participate in as part of our club’s Centennial Celebration.

–Submitted by Mike Wenzel, member of Scotch Whisky Fellowship Group

Members and guests of the Wine Fellowship Group enjoyed the hospitality of Steve and Meryl Mixtacki on February 12. Pictured here from left: Mike Wenzel, Dick Pearson, Noel Pearson, Todd Perkins, Tracy Perkins and Pat Wilson.

Our Notable Books Fellowship Group meets at Takara Restaurant in Whitney Square. Pictured from left: Ruth Ann Schoer, Darrell Behnke, Rich Leffler, Joan Leffler, Frank Stein and Roberta Stadky.

The Bridge Fellowship Group meets at various homes of its members on a monthly basis. Pictured above from left: Mary Helen Becker, Lori Kay and Jim Ebben.

Congratulations to Rotary Bowling Team I which is currently in first place in this year’s Madison Civic League.  Main bowlers for Rotary I this year are Gerry Thain (pictured at right), Doug Gerhart & George Keehn (pictured at left) with help this season from Dick Goldberg and Mike Engelberger.

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Posted in 4. Fellowship Groups, 5. Members, Bridge, Fly Fishing, Notable Books, Scotch Whisky, Lew Harned Society, Wine Fellowship

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Rotary Madison — Notable Books Fellowship

Posted on September 29, 2011 by | Leave a comment

So, what goes on at a monthly meeting of the Rotary Notable Books Group you ask?

A lot of discussion about interesting books! For example, on September 22, the Rotary Notable Book Group met at the Takara Japanese restaurant to discuss the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. The book has been on the New York Times best seller list for many months.

Notable Books Fellowship Group (L-R): Ruth Ann Schoer, Darrell Behnke, Rich Leffler, Joan Leffler, Frank Stein and Roberta Sladky.

Frank Stein, a member of the group, gives us the following summary of their meeting:

Essentially the author describes the case of Henrietta Lacks, a mother of five who died in 1951 from cervical cancer. While in treatment at the noted Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, a slice of cancerous tissue was taken from the cervix and given to a laboratory scientist for analysis. The cancer cells in the tissue proved to be very much alive and continued to reproduce at a tremendous pace. This was a great scientific breakthrough since previous tissue cultures used in laboratory research containing cancer cells usually died within days.

The most fascinating part of the book was the depiction of the Lack’s family.  They were descendants of black slaves from Virginia who lived on the edges of society in poverty with poor education and lack of opportunities to better their lives. Another aspect of the story was the question of informed consent in research studies and who benefits from research that uses tissues from someone’s body? We had a lively discussion of the abuse of research in the lack of informed consent to patients in the past, such as with syphilis
patients and prisoners who were given live cancer cells.  In this book Skloot examines specifically how the exploitation of poor, uneducated people who are unaware of the research taking place can lead to legal dilemmas especially when huge profits are made on the basis of the findings. Should patients have any financial gains from tissues taken from their bodies?  This question has not been completely settled and the courts have been split in their verdicts.

In summary this was an excellent book that raised many scientific issues and described a culture of poverty that still exists in this country.

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 4. Fellowship Groups, Notable Books