Tag Archives: Membership

New Member Event at Top of the Park – Message: Follow Your Passion

Posted on February 8, 2013 by | Leave a comment

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(Pictured above from left; Photo 1: Yigit Uctum, Cary Heyer & Michelle McGrath; Photo 2: Mike McKay & Herman Baumann; Photo 3: Wendy Wink & Yigit Uctum) 

From left: Rob Stoud, Terry Heinrichs & Jessica Schock

From left: Rob Stoud, Terry Heinrichs & Jessica Schock

What started off as handshakes and introductions budded into the start of many new friendships at the recent new member event on February 4, at the Top of the Park. President Wes Sparkman along with veteran Rotarians passed along the secret to having a successful Rotary experience; follow your passion. Making impact in the club and community will come from your ability to get involved with those causes that you feel most passionate about. A veteran Rotarian shared a story with a newcomer about the passion he and his family have had for hosting exchange students and the impact it has made in his life for both himself and his family. It’s these shared stories that can help to ignite another’s passion and make Rotary what Rotary is all about. Based on the size of the club, it may be impossible to meet everyone and share in their passion. But it’s exciting to think that after years of being a Rotarian, the passion can still be found simply in sharing a story.
                                                                               —submitted by Jessica Schock

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Posted in 4. Fellowship Groups, 5. Members, New Member Events

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Celebrating 100 Years: Politics & Poetry at Madison Rotary Club in the 1960s

Posted on January 28, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Rotary Club of Madison-Centennial Logo   As we celebrate our 100th anniversary, our History Sub-Committee is taking a look back in our club’s rich history and is sharing highlights from the past century.  This week’s message is shared by committee member Jerry Thain:

The polarization of politics today is a topic of widespread analysis. As is well known, there is no official political leaning of our Club although individual members certainly are free to express strong views to others at their table during the Club meetings (and sometimes in a birthday message). It is unusual for the Club newsletter to note political leanings other than in reporting the statements of speakers. Thus, an interesting situation was presented in 1968, following the very narrow victory of Richard Nixon over Hubert Humphrey in the presidential race. In the November 16, 1968, Club newsletter, Rotarian Cecil L. “Duke” Duquaine wrote a tribute to Nixon, referring to him as the one who would bring us together as a country–rather ironic in light of later developments.

Probably as a means of evenhandedness, the November 23, 1968 newsletter carried a poem by Rotarian Joe Silverberg entitled, “The Loyal Opposition…or Close Counts Only in Horseshoes!” This piece, while honoring Humphrey, also recognized the control that election victory brought to Nixon and his party.

Perhaps present day Rotarians–including Joe Silverberg–will find these two poems about politics somewhat bemusing. It is hard to imagine anything similar occurring today.

Incidentally, Cecil L. Duquaine who was Club President in 1966-67, apparently enjoyed expressing his views in poetry. The December 17, 1966, edition of the Club News carries a poem by him extolling the hardworking and dedicated secretary of the Club, Brud Hunter, entitled “Our Brud.” It seems certain that there was no effort to rebut that piece by other Rotarians in light of the excellent reputation of Brud Hunter as vital to the Club’s successful operation. The duties of the Secretary noted in the poem may be compared with those of the Executive Director’s office today, if one wishes.

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Posted in 2. Meetings, 5. Members, Centennial Celebration, History

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Learning About Ways to Participate in Rotary

Posted on December 17, 2012 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Jason Beren

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On Thursday, December 13, our Member Development Committee hosted a New Member Event where over 20 Rotarians met in the morning for coffee at Blackhawk Country Club arranged by Mike Wenzel to enjoy fellowship, the beautiful view, and to help new members learn more about Rotary.

Experienced Rotarians also in attendance helped Jason Beren with a “Ways To Participate In Rotary” presentation. The discussion emphasized the many opportunities available to participate in Rotary, which also count as make-ups. A number of Rotarians shared personal stories about participating in our own club’s activities and attending meetings at other Rotary Clubs at home and abroad. Hopefully, our new members will be inspired to visit other clubs all over the world, explore and experience the benefits of committee and club service, and participate in the ever-popular fellowship groups.

The event concluded with a quiz, including Panera Bread gift cards for the first new members to answer the questions properly.

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Posted in 2. Meetings, 3. Committees, New Member Events

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Wine Fellowship Group Raises Over $1,800 for Rotaract Project

Posted on November 29, 2012 by | Leave a comment

From left: Carol Koby, Rich Leffler & Joan Leffler

The Rotary Wine Fellowship Group enjoyed a great tasting at Mike Wilson’s home on Sunday, the 18th  of November.  This event marked the group’s 8th Annual Fundraiser for the UW Rotaract’s Mashambanzou orphanage project.

The 18 participants tasted 18 different wines, and most were available for sale for the cause.

Two Rotaract representatives (Charlotte Smith and Derek Shupe) as well as Dan Larson (Chair of our club’s Rotaract Advisory Committee) were present for the event.

From Left: Charlotte Smith, Derek Shupe & Dan Larson

Purple Feet provided the wines as they have for past tastings.  Mark Bausch (the principal) and I selected the wines from the Purple Feet “book.”  We cannot thank Mark enough for his generosity and help in this fundraiser event.

Some of the wines were three sparklers including Duval “Leroy Nieman Paris Label,” a cremant, and a great New Mexico version.  Next we had two NZ Sauvignon Blancs and two NZ Pinot Noirs for an Antipodean experience.  Two good Chardonnays, and four Italianesque reds followed.  We had cheeses with each of the whites and some meat cuts with the reds.  The final phase included Ports, Sauternes and an Icewine (Eiswein) – with chocolates.

The really good news is that we helped the UW Rotaract Group raise $1,838 for the Zimbabwean orphans project, and we made the Rotaract students and Dan Larson very happy.  The tasters were also happy with the selections, as everyone purchased some for home use at a later date.

–Submitted by Mike Wilson, Wine Fellowship Group Chair

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Posted in 4. Fellowship Groups, 5. Members, Wine Fellowship Group

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The Family of Rotary

Posted on November 19, 2012 by | 6 comments

There is something about the ideals of Rotary and “Service Above Self” that makes me smile.  I can’t count the number of times that our Downtown Rotary luncheon was the highlight of my Wednesday.  I enjoy the world class speakers, the fellowship, camaraderie and the singing (yes, even the singing).  As the holiday season is quickly approaching, I’m think about spending time with friends and family.  The holiday season reminds me of good food and sharing a few laughs.  For so many of us, we’ve chosen to make Rotary a part of our extended family.  We eat together; share laughs together, and sometimes express sadness and grief together.  For some of us, our luncheon serves as the only time we get to visit with extended family.  Some of our parents have passed on and some of our children live miles, states and even continents away.  Let’s take the time, this year, to make this a very special holiday season.  Introduce yourself to someone new this week.  Make a new friend in the Club or in the community.  Who knows, one day, that new friend could become a part of your extended family.

Yours In Service,
Wes Sparkman, Club President

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Posted in 1. President's Messages, 5. Members

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Celebrating 100 Years: A Look Back in Our Club’s History – National Attention in 1952

Posted on October 22, 2012 by | 1 comment

Rotary Club of Madison-Centennial LogoAs part of our celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Rotary Club of Madison, Jerry Thain and Rich Leffler will be publishing original documents from the Club’s archives and other sources. We hope that these documents will recall for you the rich history of the Club and the times during this momentous century.

This week, Rich Leffler provides the following history piece:

The Rotary Club of Madison has, from its early days, sought members from a cross-section of the community, including faculty members at the University and leaders in the Wisconsin Historical Society. The Club took great pride in 1952 when Newsweek and Time, the two great newsweeklies, printed stories about two Madison Rotarians, Professor Mac McCarty and Society Director Cliff Lord. Mac was one of the leading figures in the University’s effort to create a state broadcasting network and a television station. He served as Club president in 1975–76. Cliff Lord had been Director of the Society for six years in 1952. The Society is one of the greatest libraries in the world for the study of American History (I should know: my life’s work has depended on the Society’s great research collection).

Continuing in this tradition of broad-based membership, today the Club has as members Mike Crane of Wisconsin Public Radio, who joined on October 3, and Society Director Ellsworth Brown, a member since 2005, in addition to new-member Diane Nixa, co-director of the Wisconsin Historical Foundation. (Ron Bornstein, director of Wisconsin Public Television, was president of the Club in 1992–93; Malcolm Brett, director of Broadcasting at UW-Extension and General Manager of WHA-TV, was a longtime member; Dick Erney and Nick Muller were also members when they were directors of the Society.) Ellsworth, by the way, has corrected one of the few mistakes Cliff Lord made: he has restored the Reading Room to its original state, down to the reading lamps, as it was before the “modernization” done in the mid-1950s. The Reading Room is now an architectural masterpiece. You should take a look.

The October 25, 1952, issue of The Rotary News contained the following report by secretary Brud Hunter.

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Posted in 5. Members, Centennial Celebration, History

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