Category Archives: Rotary Weekly Guest Speaker

November 6: Badger Honor Flight

Posted on November 8, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Rich Leffler

Steven Bartlett and fellow Rotarian Gary Peterson spoke to the Club about Honor Flight, which is solely engaged in flying military veterans to Washington, D.C., so that they may tour and engage with the memorials created in their honor.

All veterans, whether they served in wartime or not, are eligible. All expenses are paid for. It’s an emotional and fulfilling experience for the vets, one of whom, in a short video, referred to it as “A Dream Trip.”

Gary described the welcome he received in Washington as “unbelievable.” He urged all veterans to sign up.

If you missed our meeting this week, you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/-gS8m_JaBMg.

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

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October 30: Zach Brandon Delivers Greater Madison Storyline to 2050

Posted on October 31, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Ellsworth Brown

Zach Brandon opened his presentation by giving a snapshot of Greater Madison in 1999 and then made some comparisons to where things stand in 2024 before ultimately projecting out to 2050.

He delivered a master statistical, fast-passed, data-driven storyline that mapped fifty years of actual and projected changes.

As an example, a house in Madison was advertised for $173,000. The same house today is listed at $461,000. Epic’s MyChart was in development. Epic’s current annual revenue is valued at $5 billion in 16 countries and MyChart is now the dominant entry point for all medical records.

Madison now ranks third in concentration of software developers and was one of 12 places to receive funding through the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs program. Coincidentally, its housing market, even inadequate, and Madison’s amenities help rank the city among the top 20 best places to live that are also technology hubs—no wildfires, hurricanes, or major flooding. It is well-positioned with respect to current climate changes. New rapid transit buses help linear expansion throughout Dane County. Moreover, the addition of key jobs creates a multiplier of complementary services and additional residents.

And so to “Outsight: 2050” . . . For work and living, Millennials’ influx has been followed by Gen Z. Madison ranked 9th in the country, according to data released in 2023, in Gen Z net migration. Brandon uses an estimated projection for Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area 2050 population at 1,000,000, a potential increase of 300,000.

Brandon’s presentation is complex but easily followed in the video recording: https://youtu.be/PFzrZ_WjTU4.

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

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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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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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October 2: Madison’s Passenger Rail Station Identification Study

Posted on October 4, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Ellsworth Brown

Liz Callin, City of Madison senior transportation planner and specialist in transit, passenger rail, public engagement and policy work, spoke about Madison’s Passenger Rail Station Identification Study that is fitting and necessary for the state Capital, the University and associated research, tourism, Madison’s new transit system, and linkage to the city’s biotech hub.

The goal is to provide two round trips per day between Milwaukee and Minneapolis-St. Paul while linking several Wisconsin cities associated with the new Borealis line, as well as the Hiawatha line.

Possible Madison station sites being studied: somewhere downtown (probably preferred), First Street corridor and the Oscar Mayer corridor. The best would contain associated space for development of lodging, businesses, and public functions.

A site could be identified in 2025-2026. Completion of planning, design, and construction could occur by 2031.

The benefits would include accommodation of 300,000 new Madison-Dane County residents by 2050; and more efficient, safer, cleaner and environmentally friendly city linkages.

Now the project needs federal leadership and a supporting coalition of potential benefactors in Madison and along related rail routes.

If you missed our meeting this week, you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/ckc1Es-u0hM.

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

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