Tag Archives: Rotary Club of Madison

March 27: Total Eclipse of the Sun

Posted on March 28, 2024 by | Leave a comment

submitted by Joy Cardin

During his presentation before the Rotary Club of Madison, UW Space Place Director Jim Lattis explained the science behind the upcoming total solar eclipse; what we can expect on April 8; and how to safely experience it.  

Lattis said it is a multi-sensory experience when the moon is positioned between the earth and the sun, and its shadow is cast on earth. The sky becomes darker, the sun’s outer atmosphere or corona becomes visible, temperatures drop, and birds may sing and get ready to roost for the “night.”  The path of totality for the April 8 solar eclipse runs across the United States from Texas to Maine. 

Madison will experience a partial eclipse–89% of the sun will be covered by the moon.  The partial eclipse in Madison will reach its peak or maximum at 2:06pm.  Eclipse glasses are a must to safely look at the sun during a partial eclipse.  

If you missed our meeting this week, you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/v6VIBdddpwE.

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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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March 20:  Madison Mallards’ Women’s Softball Team 

Posted on March 22, 2024 by | Leave a comment

Submitted by:  Joy Cardin 

Samantha Rubin, the general manager of the Madison Mallards and Madison Softball, shared an enthusiastic update about the new women’s collegiate softball team that will start playing at the Duck Pond in Warner Park in June.  

A new head coach has been hired, players are being signed, renovations are happening on the field to adjust the size of the diamond when the women play – and the organization is about to unveil the new fan-picked name for Madison Softball!   

Will it be – the Night Mares, Lake Muensters, Thunder Chickens, or Swamp Angels?  

We can find out at the name reveal event on April 20 at 5:30pm at the Orpheum Theater.  

If you missed the program, you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/ceYAj8dqv6o.

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

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March 13: Madison’s Startup Climate

Posted on March 15, 2024 by | Leave a comment

Submitted by: Joy Cardin

Why should we care about startups?  The CEO of StartingBlock, Scott Mosley, asked and answered that question in his presentation before the Rotary Club of Madison.  Mosley says startups are the economy’s net job creators, not small businesses as is commonly believed.  He says small businesses tend to stay small, while startups grow. 

That’s been the case with one of the startups that has benefited from the programs, funding, mentorship, office space and other services made available through StartingBlock.  Rehab Path is an online service that matches patients with mental health providers.  CEO Ben Camp says StartingBlock helped his company grow from five employees in 2019 to 60 employees today. 

Mosley also noted that Madison’s startup ecosystem is thriving and is considered the number one potential growth center in the nation.

If you missed this week’s program, you can watch it here:  https://youtu.be/S9TnOZnGyc0.

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

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March 6:  English Language Lessons

Posted on March 8, 2024 by | Leave a comment

Submitted by: Joy Cardin 

Rotarians were taught a lesson on the evolution of the English language and why we spell certain words the way we do – on the same day we honored the top spellers of the recent All-City Spelling Bee. 

UW-Madison Professor of English Anja Wanner explained the many factors that influenced our spelling system – including word origin, politics, and even human error. For example, there is a “g” in the word sign, because it comes from the word signal; there is an “s” in the word island, because a printer made a mistake; and dictionary maker Noah Webster took the “u” out of honour and many other words because he wanted the United States to have its own distinct English language.

And why do we have words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings?  There are TOO many reasons TO go into here, so take a moment or TWO and check out the recording of the program here:  https://youtu.be/3Tr-SQt33Wc.

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February 28: Top Chef in Wisconsin

Posted on March 1, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Larry Larrabee

Our program on Feb. 28th was our fellow Rotarian, Joy Cardin, formerly with WPR, interviewing Lindsay Christians, the Cap Times Food editor, regarding the long running, 21 years, food competition, Top Chef, filming this season’s series which is totally dedicated to Wisconsin Chefs and Wisconsin food. Lindsay said Wisconsin was chosen, not for its gourmet restaurants but for its culinary and food cultures. While the Top Chef winner will receive $250,000 and huge exposure, the state will receive immeasurable positive publicity throughout the nation. She enumerated the intricacies of filming the competition around the state as well as her brief role as a dishwasher for the production. The first episode is March 20th on Bravo or Peacock.

The CapTimes included an article about Lindsay’s appearance at our Rotary meeting, and here is a LINK to the article if you’d like to read more about Top Chef Wisconsin.

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

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February 21: RNC Coming to Milwaukee July 2024

Posted on February 22, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Larry Larrabee

On February 21, former Downtown Rotary member, Alison Prange, shared with us the role the 2024 Host Committee plays in working with the National Republican Committee to prepare Milwaukee and Wisconsin for the invasion of 50,000 additional visitors including 5,000 delegates attending the National Republican Convention July 15th to the 18th.  She is the COO of the Host Committee, a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization. 

Alison emphasized the role of her organization is to help the RNC have a smooth convention by facilitating 8,000 vendors in their effort to serve the convention and its attendees who will spend $200M as well as promote Milwaukee and Wisconsin to 24 million television viewers.

If you missed this program, you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/hK7MKA_-VxY.

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

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