Category Archives: Madison WI

October 23: Tom Loftus: Ambassador to Norway

Posted on October 25, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Ellsworth Brown

We had the pleasure of spending time with Tom Loftus, advisor to the World Health Organization; member of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents; and the Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Governor of Wisconsin, defeated by Tommy Thompson.

We were in the company of this Sun Prairie man’s service as United States Ambassador to Norway between 1993 and 1997.

Loftus reviewed the old order, now past:  USSR’s government had collapsed; the Berlin Wall was down; Nelson Mandela shared the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993; Oslo Accords 1 and 2 regarding Israel and Palestine were signed in 1993 and 1995 respectively.  Among other things, Loftus negotiated with the Russians regarding safe disposal of their submarines’ liquid nuclear waste at sea.

Loftus shared lighter stories too:  his introductory presentation to King Harald V of Norway, who later visited the United States; hosting and feeding Governor Thompson’s impromptu trade mission visit to Norway; and  Norwegian immigrants to Wisconsin and their links to Wisconsin mayors.

Ambassador Loftus was highly articulate, self-effacing, and very funny.  Watch the video (https://youtu.be/ubjQQoLfz8A) if you missed the meeting, or buy his book, Mission to Oslo, published last month.  It would be a rewarding experience.

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Posted in Madison WI, Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Club of Madison Guest Speaker, Rotary Weekly Guest Speaker, Weekly Rotary Guest Speaker

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October 16: Dane County Executive Candidates Forum

Posted on October 18, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Ellsworth Brown

Club member Joy Cardin moderated a classic Rotary forum for the two candidates for the Dane County Executive Director’s seat:  five-term State Senator Melissa Agard, and Dana Pellebon, current Executive Director of RCC Sexual Violence Resource Center.

Joy directed a series of pre-selected questions to each candidate in turn, each responding with two-minute answers and then three-minute closing statements.

The forum revealed clear differences in experience and style between the candidates and thus also signaled a change in approach for this report.  Their multiple answers were rapid-fire, challenging to report, and impossible to review without revealing this scribe’s conclusions about each person.

The good news is there is a video record of the forum, and viewing it enables those who missed the program to form clear and independent opinions about the candidates and their readiness for the job:  https://youtu.be/se6oPsuQI4o.

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Posted in Madison WI, Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Weekly Guest Speaker, Weekly Rotary Guest Speaker

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Mike Gotzler Receives Rotary Club of Madison Youth Service Award

Posted on October 16, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–presented by Anthony Gray on October 16, 2024

Each year, our club recognizes six members for their service to our Rotary Club in one of Rotary’s five avenues of service which are club, community, international, vocational or youth service.  Today, I am going to introduce you to our Rotary Club of Madison 2024 Youth Service Award recipient.

Mike Gotzler joined Rotary in 2009.  He is an attorney with Littler Law Firm, specializing in labor and employment matters. 

During his 15 years of membership, Mike has been very active in our Rotary Ethics Symposium Planning Committee.  He chaired the committee starting in 2019 and through the years of Covid.  He co-chaired the committee last year and continues to be an active member of the planning committee which is just starting up with preparations for our 2025 Ethics Symposium.

Mike also served on our Youth Awards Committee, helping to make the presentations to high school students during our annual Youth Awards luncheon in the spring.  He has also served on our Personnel and Goodman Rotary 50+ Fitness Advisory Committees and served on the Board of Trustees for our Madison Rotary Foundation for 4 years.

We want to thank Mike for his continuing dedication to Rotary and especially to our youth programs, and our club board has named him as our 2024 Rotary Club of Madison Youth Service Award recipient.  Congratulations, Mike!

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Posted in Madison WI, Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Club of Madison Club Service Award

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October 9: Leckrone Shares His Moments of Happiness

Posted on October 11, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Ellsworth Brown

Moments of Happiness:  A Wisconsin Band Story, co-authored by Doug Moe and Mike Leckrone, provided more than a meeting’s worth of happiness for Rotarians as Moe interviewed Leckrone about his fifty years as UW-Madison Marching Band leader.

From a musical family, Leckrone’s inspiration was fueled by a stage-side seat at a non-stop two-and-a-half-hour performance by Louie Armstrong and his band in a small Indiana town.  Armstrong’s commitment to even a small audience was not forgotten by Leckrone.

Moe’s questions triggered endless stories about Leckrone’s life, band, students, and stage creations from 1969 on.  In fact, he began earlier with a story about meeting his future wife in seventh grade and extended it to sixty-two years of marriage.

Many UW Band traditions began accidentally:  “When you say Wisconsin, you said it all” was a commercial injected with “Wisconsin”.  The basketball “pep band” became the UW Varsity Band.  Leckrone’s famous concert entrances offset his boredom with standard entrances.  A career highlight: The 1994 Rosebowl parade where the band played “On Wisconsin” 137 times while passing by Wisconsin fans.  Pride: The band played for all UW sports except fencing (ended too soon).

In closing . . . career and life well-lived, and presentation very funny besides!

If you missed our meeting this week, you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/PJidZnF6uzc.

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Posted in Madison WI, Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Weekly Guest Speaker, UW-Madison, UW-Madison Football, Weekly Rotary Guest Speaker

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June 12: RI President Gordon McInally Addresses Club

Posted on June 17, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Ellsworth Brown

Through the invitation of club member Ed Futa, Rotary International President Gordon McInally addressed Downtown Rotary’s meeting, which included invited clubs in and around Madison.

President McInally’s Rotary year is nearing an end, but the theme he has chosen– Create Hope in the World—will endure because it describes in five words what Rotary International does.  He shared moving incidents that reinforce the theme:

  • In 2022 he vaccinated a Pakistani child with two drops of fluid on his tongue, eliminating his risk of polio.
  • In northern India, at a school funded by the Rotary Foundation, he spoke with an eight-year-old student who said that her education was the “key to the golden door and a noble future.”
  • Also in India, he spoke with a woman of 46 who appeared to be 70.  Rotary gave her a grant for medical care a prohibitive 12 hours away, cataract surgery and her first pair of glasses, enabling her to earn a living and see her grandchildren for the first time.

These are examples of how Rotary holds hope in the collective hands of our worldwide clubs’ members.

If you missed our meeting last week, you can watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuZM_NjsnRc.

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Posted in Madison WI, Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Club of Madison Guest Speaker, Rotary Weekly Guest Speaker, Weekly Rotary Guest Speaker

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May 8: Building and Sustainability

Posted on May 10, 2024 by | Leave a comment

submitted by Joy Cardin

Not only are sustainable building practices good for the environment, they’re good for business according to Ben Austin, the Sustainability Lead at J.H. Findorff and Sons, Inc.

Austin outlined some of the reasons why businesses should prioritize sustainability during his presentation before the Rotary Club of Madison.

Saving money on energy costs is one of them, taking advantage of grants and tax credits available to address the climate risk through the Inflation Reduction Act is another.  Businesses can also support the health of a building’s occupants by having better air ventilation systems and they can also attract and retain younger workers, who care deeply about the climate change issue, by practicing sustainability. 

If you missed the program this week you can watch it here:  https://youtu.be/STGswGVoeQA

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Posted in Madison WI, Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Club of Madison Guest Speaker, Rotary Weekly Guest Speaker, Weekly Rotary Guest Speaker

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