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Rotary Tri-Quest FAQ

Posted on March 12, 2012 by | Leave a comment

TriQuest Rotary Logo

Planning continues for our club’s Tri-Quest event scheduled for Sunday, May 20, at Bergamont in Oregon.  To help explain the day’s events, here are responses to some frequently asked questions:

   Can I just have my foursome play golf?  There is no option to just play golf unless you are part of a relay (corporate) team. In that case you are one person on a three person relay team, and you can play golf, while your teammates do either the run or the bike.

   Can I register my team all at once?  Yes– Go to Rotary Tri-Quest  and click on ‘Register Now’ and you will be able to register all of your team at once. We will need certain information about each team member including, birthdates, e-mail addresses, emergency contact persons, etc. At some point, we will need each of them to sign waivers. If your team is part of a corporate sponsorship, you should have received a coupon code.

   What happens between events?  Unlike traditional Tri-events, there is no advantage to transition times. After the run, you will have about 45 minutes to change your clothes, tune up your bike and refresh before the bike event. After the bike event, you will have about an hour to take a shower, eat lunch, practice golf. Bergamont is a wonderful facility and will be able to meet any needs.

   How tough are the run and bike courses?  There is some elevation throughout the bike event with some rolling hills. The run and bike will finish with an uphill. You can check out the course at the following links:

Bike: http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/68424594

Run: http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/71948018

   Can I use a cart when playing golf?  Unfortunately there is no cart option for golf. We do allow pull carts, and a cart will be available for you to get to your hole for a shotgun start.

   Are golf handicaps used?  There is no handicapping system being used for the golf.

   What is the format for the golf event?  For the relay event as well as for the individual one-person event, the one golfer plays stroke play with no handicap.  For the two-person event it is divided into three events: 6 holes of scramble, 6 holes of best ball and 6 holes of alternate shot. For the four-person event it is a scramble.

   What if I just want to make a contribution to the event?  Checks made payable to the Madison Rotary Foundation, a 501(C) 3, are fully deductible. If you are participating in the event, there would be some limitations according to the benefit received. All other checks should be made payable to the Rotary Club of Madison.

   Who does this benefit?  The Rotary Club of Madison through its foundation, the Madison Rotary Foundation, has established the Synergy Fund. This fund will provide 4 year college scholarships to disadvantaged youth in Dane County. We hope to raise $50,000 for this fund.

   I want to be on a team, but don’t have team members.  We have started a list of individuals who want to be on a relay team to help them find team members.  Simply email your name, sex, age, & event to info@rotarytri-quest.org.

   Will there be age brackets?  Because of the limited size of the event, we do not anticipate needing age categories unless one category is large enough to warrant it. There are male, female and co-ed divisions.

   I can’t participate, but want to help out.  There are many ways to help out, and we are currently looking for volunteers. Just e-mail us at info@rotarytri-quest.org, and we will certainly find a way to include you.

For more information visit:  http://tri-quest.rotarymadison.org/

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Posted in 6. Youth, Tri-Quest, Uncategorized

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Rotary Club of Madison Annual Fund Drive a Success!

Posted on February 2, 2012 by | 1 comment

From Renee Moe, 2011-12 Fund Drive ChairRenee Moe Photo:

Thanks to the participation of 410 of our members – and more who have shared they still plan to contribute – we have exceeded our $130,000 annual fund drive goal.

Much appreciation to each and every donor, the fund drive committee, members who donated incentives for our weekly drawings, our anonymous donor who encouraged numerous members to give for the first time with an innovative match gift, Pat and Jayne in the office, and a special thanks to the Irwin A. and Robert D. Goodman Foundation for making a generous gift in memory of Irwin and Bob and their long standing relationship with Downtown Rotary.Madison Rotary Foundation Logo

Our Board of Directors has confirmed that the annual fund drive is the Club’s top philanthropic priority. Thank you for demonstrating your commitment to our Club’s programs through  your financial support.

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 Madison Rotary Foundation

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

Posted on January 23, 2012 by | 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.Rotary Club of Madison Tri-Quest Logo

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
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. 

Rotary International Logo

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Posted in Tri-Quest

Season’s Greetings – Rotary Club of Madison

Posted on December 13, 2011 by | 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!

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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Madison Rotary – Speed Dating Rotary Style

Posted on September 1, 2011 by | 6 comments

Typical Rotary lunch:  “Hi, may I join you?  How’s your day going?”

Speed Rotary:  “Please take a minute to tell me what you really want out of life.”

Scary?  Maybe, but today’s speed Rotary session was so successful; a loud whistle was needed to bring the group back to order as the session ended.  It’s not that we can’t ask personal questions during normal Rotary meetings, but it may seem a bit unnatural when it is not moderated.

Today’s speed Rotary session highlighted members in short, focused conversations with people that they probably didn’t know well.  When the 5-minute time was up, it was off to the next person and the next conversation.  Judging by the buzz in the room and the reluctance of people to stop sharing, many Rotarians felt special, unique and cared about.

If you missed today’s speed Rotary, you missed a special day.   Try to make the next one; you’ll be glad that you did!  Check out this video of the action.

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According to About.com, “Rabbi Yaacov Deyo of Aish HaTorah is the first to be credited with the idea for speed dating, a concept he introduced to Jewish singles with the intent of meeting and eventually marrying.”  While I’m confident that my conversations with Bruce Petersen, Paul Riehemann, Paul Ranola or Tracy Perkins won’t lead to marriage, I know them more meaningfully because of the five minutes I spent with them today than I ever have.  I even got to know John Faust better because I kept hustling him out of his seat to greet my next person!
One theory on the subject of speed dating asserts that the need to feel special, unique or cared about heightens our attraction to people that make us feel this way.  Human beings have an innate capacity to judge this level of attraction in other human beings very quickly.

(Click on photos to expand them.)

Thanks to the following Rotarians who served on the Speed Rotary Ad-Hoc Committee: Deb Raupp (Chair), Richard Bliss, Lew Harned, Heather Hopke, Donna Hurd, Craig Klaas, Paul Riehemann, Susan Schmitz, Jim Taylor and Bob Winding.

Our thanks: to Peter Cavi for this review article; to John Bonsett-Veal for coordinating photography and video for the first-ever Madison Rotary video blog post; Uriah Carpenter, a member of Oregon Rotary, for capturing video and photo highlights of our Speed Rotary session.

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 chapters 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 chapters in over 200 countries have 1.2 million members who meet weekly to develop friendships, learn, and work together to address important humanitarian needs. 
 

Rotary International Logo

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Posted in 2. Meetings, Speed Rotary, Video

Rotary Club of Madison Wisonsin

Posted on July 24, 2010 by | 4 comments

Within moments of the conclusion of our meeting Wednesday, Gail Selk was talking with our speaker, Laura Heisler, about  joining the club.  During lunch, Laura asked me — a question I suspect is familiar to many — “do you REALLY come EVERY week?”

Well, now that I’m president, yes, pretty much. But I went on to explain to her how for me it was a process of discovery and self-reinforcement. In the beginning, most Wednesdays, it was hard to imagine I could make the time, but I often did largely because I said I’d do something and I put it on my calendar.  Gradually over time, I recognized that I always left the meeting feeling better than when I came — more energy, more enthusiasm, more vigor to go back to my office and swing the bat at whatever ball crossed the plate.

So I shared that observation with Laura.  She seemed intrigued.  Does the weekly meeting do that for you? I am curious. Will Laura join? We shall see.

I opened the meeting Wednesday with our membership numbers.  Our current membership is 496.  When the annual comparison happened last spring, our total was 523 (making us the 5th largest club in that moment in time).  You can see the difference.  Fortunately, President Dave got the board to look at membership rolling monthly totals, so we are accustomed to looking at trends and averages, and overall, we remain strong but challenged by a down fluctuation.  (Virginia Bartelt is at the helm of the membership committee FYI and we are all honorary members. I’m an actual member, as I welcome the chance to be very hands on in this area).

Our strength in membership is due to people like Gail whose wheels are always turning, discovering the Rotarian in our midst, and to people like you blog readers who remain active club members.

But membership is not just by the numbers.  It’s the quality of our individual and collective experiences and accomplishments.  A recent highlight for me was when in the orientation new member Paul Karch mentioned he was reading the history of the Rotary Club of Madison book and noted the misspelling of “Wisconsin” on the sign on the cover. (See it here: AR-M355U_20100721_090429). This bit of esoterica got me to pick up the book again and fall fascinated into the story of the founding of our club.

Every week, it’s moments like that that have kept me coming back.  What keeps you coming back?  And in fairness, what keeps you from coming?  How do you describe the club and value of membership to people you know who are prospective members?

Juli

p.s. Props to Matt Goetzke who sponsored not one, but two, members this month.  He was stuck in the one-lane from Milwaukee to Madison Wednesday or would have adjourned us by ringing the bell in recognition of the importance of sponsorship.

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