Tag Archives: Rotary Club of Madison

Wine Fellowship Group Tasting to Support UW Rotaract Project

Posted on November 18, 2013 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Ellie Schatz; photos by Martha Casey & Mike Wilson

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“Keep a Child Alive” is the mission of the Mashambanzou Care Trust, Zimbabwe, an international service project of the UW-Madison Rotaract. Fifteen of our club members and guests joined 2 Rotaract students and a representative of the project to enjoy an evening of fellowship while learning about and supporting the needs of “Orphans of Aids” in Africa. “A new day, a new dawn,” is the meaning of the word Mashambanzou and exactly what this project gives the children in an area with the 4th highest AIDS death rate in the world.

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Photos left to right: (Photo 1: From left: Rachelle Richardson (Purple Feet Wine Rep), Pauline Michalik & Weston Halter (Rotaract students); Photo 2:  Pauline and Weston talk about the Mashambanzou Project; Photo 3: From left: Rachelle Richardson, Pauline Michalik, Weston Halter & Mike Wilson–“Let the wine tasting begin!”

The enjoyment was spelled w-i-n-e, and there were 14 different sparkling wines, whites, and reds from respected vineyards in California, Australia and Italy for our group to taste, along with accompanying cheeses, crackers, breads and Patty Wilson’s ever-tasty chocolate-covered strawberries.

Mike and Patty Wilson hosted the event, with Mike helping tasters to appreciate not only the wines themselves, but also corked versus capped bottles and new versus old vines. All of us were familiar with blends, but I, for one, learned something new when presented with a “field blend,” meaning not that the grapes were mixed after picking, but that the vineyard features a blend of grapevines.

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Photos left to right: (Photo 1: Ginny & Ken Yuska; Photo 2:  Tim Muldowney & Jackie Hank; Photo 3: Paul & Ellie Schatz

UW Rotaract was presented with a gift of a soapstone statuette that represents “the oneness of us all” from the sisters who run the project in Zimbabwe. One and all of us seemed ready to step up to help the Orphans of Aids that the project feeds and supports with health care, residential care, psychosocial care and education. From the bustle in the kitchen with wine-order forms, I think our Rotaract friends and our evening’s hosts can rest assured a success in this, the wine fellowship’s annual fundraiser for Mashambanzou. “We are raising funds for education — the greatest future for our children” and “it takes only $5 to keep a child alive,” our Rotaract friends told us. We’d all showed we could drink to that and now we opened our checkbooks with hopes of sending many kids to school and easing their grief in 2014 while we continued to enjoy the fruits of this fellowship evening.

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Posted in 2. Meetings, 4. Fellowship Groups, Wine Fellowship Group

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Buon Appetito! A Tour of Italy at The Madison Club

Posted on November 7, 2013 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Kay Schwichtenberg; photos by Kris Ashe

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Buon Appetito!  That is how Chef Andrew Wilson greeted 38 Rotarians and their guests on Tuesday evening, November 5 at the Madison Club.    A tour of Italy through its cuisine was on tap for the evening.

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Part of our tour allowed us some time in the kitchen with Chef Wilson.  He demonstrated making pasta from scratch as well as some delicious fillings.  The pasta was prepared with local eggs from a farm in McFarland, many with double yolks resulting in wonderfully rich tortellini.

From there we gathered in the dining room to begin the ‘official tour’ starting with a Sicilian first course of octopus, fennel and olives.   The Emilia-Romagna region was next with a wonderful tortellini en brodo.   The third course was a specialty from the Lombardy region, Osso bucco and polenta.  And if we had not had quite enough with the wine flights and food, we finished the evening with a Piedmont specialty, Gianduja chocolate tart, sea salt caramel gelato and candied hazelnuts.

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When we left for the evening everyone was saying– complimenti alla cuoca!  Thank you to Culinary Arts Fellowship Group Chair Valerie Kazamias (pictured at left) for organizing this event for our group.

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Posted in 2. Meetings, 4. Fellowship Groups, Culinary Arts, Networking

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Recent Rotary Fellowship Group Events

Posted on October 28, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Second Century Networking Event October 22

–submitted by Mike Kosolcharoen; photos by Michell McGrath

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Photo 1: From left: Mike Kosolcharoen, Jason Beren & Erin Luken
Photo 2: From left: Paul Ranola, Michelle McGrath & Tim Conroy
Photo 3: From left: Victor Rodriguez, Michelle McGrath, Matt Goetzke & Sam Adams

The Second Century Committee hosted a networking Happy Hour at Sardines on October 22. There was a great turnout of members and prospective members as well as guests from other Madison Rotary Clubs. The event was open to the entire Downtown Rotary membership, and we had a diverse turnout across all demographics! Members had a chance to get to know each other– socializing at Sardine, one of the coolest settings in Madison. Stay tuned for similar Second Century events coming!

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Photo 1: From Left: Rob Stroud, Scott Campbell & Tripp Stroud
Photo 2: From Left: Mike May, Victor Rodriguez, Trey Sprinkman, Matt Goetzke & Sam Adams

Kurdish Culture and Music Night October 24

–submitted by Rich Leffler; photos by Rich Leffler & Jenny Sereno

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Back row from left: Nate Brand, Fred Marshall, Phil Levy, Mark Moody, Candace Moody, Dave Sereno and Jenny Sereno. Front row from left: Majid Sarmadi, Regina Millner, Joan Leffler, Sharyl Kato and Ann Cardinale

About a dozen Rotarians and guests enjoyed a splendid evening at Kurdish Culture and Music Night sponsored by our Rotary Cultural Awareness Fellowship Group at the home of Majid Sarmadi.

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Adel Ardalan and Chiya Saeedi

The first part of the evening’s events consisted of a short talk about the Kurds of Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria, who would like nothing more than to establish their own homeland, Kurdistan. Adel Ardalan and Chiya Saeedi–who are Iranian Kurds and UW Ph.D. students in computer science and electrical engineering, respectively–presented a power point explanation of the complexities of Kurdish languages, music, art, dress, customs, and cuisine, which differ greatly from the Arab, Turkish, and Persian majorities of their countries. In a brief, informative, and entertaining presentation Adel and Chiya did a remarkable job of explaining a complicated subject with knowledge and wit.

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We next had an opportunity to taste some of the delicious specialties of Iran provided by Majid, including pastries, nuts, and a wide variety of dried fruits. Majid also provided superb fruit from his own garden. Cherries from Majid’s tree made a wonderful warm beverage. One other component: a surprise birthday cake to celebrate Nate Brand’s birthday.

After the repast, we were treated to a concert of Kurdish music played by Adel and Chiya on several Kurdish stringed instruments and a unique, resonating, hand-held drum. Music–and dancing–are important elements of Kurdish celebrations and festivities. The musicians were really skilled and the music was not only interesting but enjoyable. At the conclusion, Adel and Chiya played and sang the Kurdish equivalent of Happy Birthday to Nate.

It would take a writer far more able than I to capture the hospitality of the evening provided by Majid and the enjoyment we shared as we learned about Kurdish culture from our tutors Adel and Chiya.

Sharyl Kato attended the October 24 Kurdish Culture and Music Night, and here is what she had to say about the event: “The Cultural Awareness event was amazing, and I wanted to share with other Rotarians how incredible the content, presenters, food, music and rich dialogue were among Rotary members and guests last night.  I so appreciated Majid opening his beautiful home to us and the wise, courageous and talented Kurdish students Adel and Chia who were exceptional.  As was the Kurdish music, food, drinks.  Especially meaningful were the personal stories shared of the trauma experienced by Adel and Chia before coming to the United States.  The deep dialogue amongst attendees regarding the historic, political, cultural and social issues in the middle  east, were very profound on a personal, social/political and global level.  I am grateful to everyone who participated as the evening was the epitome of  the purpose of the Madison Downtown Rotary Cultural Awareness Fellowship Group of which I am a proud co-chair, to gain greater knowledge and create deeper understanding of others and know how we are the same and how we are different, as human beings. “

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Posted in 4. Fellowship Groups, 5. Members, Cultural Awareness Fellowship Group, Networking, Second Century Committee

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Rotary “Wheel Fever” Riders October 20

Posted on October 21, 2013 by | 1 comment

–submitted by Paul Riehemann

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The authors of Wheel Fever Jesse J. Gant and Nicholas J. Hoffman gave an interesting talk as part of the Wisconsin Book Festival. Following their presentation, they led a group of Madisonians on a historical bike tour of the city.  From “boneshakers” to high-wheels and racing bikes to tricycles, Wheel Fever: How Wisconsin Became a Great Bicycling State  traces the story of Wisconsin’s first “bicycling boom.”  It covers the origins of bicycling and why those origins still matter, but it is also about Wisconsin’s continuing fascination with all things bicycle.

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Pictured above from left are Rotary Bicycle Felowship participants: Paul Riehemann with daughter Danika, Mike Crane, Jason Beren, Jeff Tews with Susan Rather and Jed Engeler with Jan Cibula

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New Member Coffee Event October 3 at Madison Club

Posted on October 3, 2013 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Patty Struck

On Thursday morning some 25 new and longstanding Downtown Rotarians met over breakfast at the Madison Club for the first of this Rotary year’s new member events. Jason Beren chaired the event and briefed the group on the schedule for the remainder of the year’s new member events, including Rotary Bingo in Spring of 2014.

After inviting members to introduce themselves and summarize their Rotary involvement, Jason introduced the leaders of three initiatives to talk about service opportunities.

Sorensen_ScotScot Sorensen: Community Projects Scot told us about October’s collaboration with Lions on eyeglass collection; Salvation Army bell ringing and our Giving Tree around the holidays; Tri-Quest volunteer opportunities; and Summerpalooza. He explained how the committee chooses projects by thinking strategically about where service gaps exist in our community.

McGrath_MichelleMichelle McGrath: Youth Exchange
Michelle told us about the Youth Exchange program and about our current Rotary Youth Exchange Student, Kanon Ando from Japan. She stressed the ongoing need for host families and reminded us that Kanon’s experience will be enriched by Rotarians including her in plans such as sports events and field trips.

Larson_DanielDan Larson: Rotaract
Dan told us about the large Rotaract footprint around the world and then described our existing Rotaract chapters at UW and Edgewood. The committee is considering adding a chapter at Madison College. The Rotaract Advisory Committee supports the chapters by helping identify speakers, field trips and community service opportunities. We had a chance to hear from representatives of both chapters talk about their service activities.

It was a great way to kickstart the day! We finished up at 8:30.

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Posted in 5. Members, New Member Events

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Rotary Hikers on the Autumn Trails of Indian Lake Park September 28

Posted on September 30, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Indian Lake Sept 2013 2

–article submitted by Becky Steinhoff; photo credit to Stan Kitson

The Rotary Hiking Group met on Saturday morning at Indian Lake Park for a fall hike totaling about 6 miles.  The group of 16 Rotarians and spouses could not have asked for better weather! The sun was shining and a nice breeze was blowing to keep us cool as we hiked.  Our group first hiked the shorter loop around the lake looking at the beautiful fall grasses and prairie.  After reconvening in the parking lot, a few left to tend to other weekend tasks while the rest of us headed up the hill to the German chapel built in 1897.  The views from the top were idyllic Wisconsin landscapes made even more special by the immerging fall colors.  Interested in joining our fellowship group?  Contact the Rotary office about future hikes.

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Posted in 2. Meetings, 4. Fellowship Groups, Hiking Fellowship

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