Tag Archives: Rotary Club of Madison

2024 Mitch Javid Award Recipient: Susan Schmitz

Posted on October 2, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–presented by James Tye on October 2, 2024

Our Member Recruitment Team continues to encourage all of us to think about individuals in our circle of friends, work colleagues and family members who would make good additions to our Rotary Club. 

The committee created an award in 2014 to recognize a member who is excelling at sponsoring new members into our club.  The award is named after Rotarian Mitch Javid Award as a way to honor him for holding the club’s record for sponsoring the highest number of new members. We annually recognize the member who has served as the primary sponsor to the most new members for the past 3 years–and who are still in our club. 

Mitch Javid was a member our club from 1968 until his death in 2021.  Mitch sponsored 56 members and co-sponsored another 10 members.  This distinguished and very busy member who was chairman of the UW Department of Neurosurgery said, “I love Rotary.  It is very dear to me. I believe in it and so I want to share it with other good people.”   

This year’s recipient is long-time member and past president Susan Schmitz who continues to be a champion of our club and promoting membership and has received this award three times previously since 2014.  

Susan has been part of our Rotary Club since 1989 and retired in 2018 from Downtown Madison, Inc.  She was our club president in 1995-96 and continues to be incredibly active in our club.  She has served as our Member Experience Team Leader since 2022.  She also serves as our fellowship group coordinator among a number of other continuing committee roles

Susan has served as the primary sponsor to 10 new members since 2021: Dave Bornstein, Chris Campbell, Kyle Geissler, Mark Guthier, Eric Krieghoff, Erin McCombs. Rich Oliver, Paul Rider, Peter Welch and Lindsey Yoder.

Congratulations, Susan, on receiving this year’s Mitch Javid Award!

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Posted in 2. Meetings, Rotary Club of Madison

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September 25: Madison’s City Clerk, Maribeth Witzel-Behl, Explains How Numerous Checks & Balances Keep Local Elections Fair and Secure

Posted on September 27, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Sharyn Alden

It’s a big job to stay on top of election security, but Madison, along with the state of Wisconsin, has multiple safeguards to prevent election fraud. Wisconsin has 1800 election administrators, and Madison has 4,000 poll workers ready for the November elections.

Witzel-Behl pointed out we have a paper-based voting system. That means it’s imperative to keep elections safe and make sure each person’s vote is counted.

Some of the Safeguards:

  1. The system is designed so you can’t vote twice, deliberately or accidentally. On an absentee ballot, the barcode prohibits from using the same ballot more than once.
  2. At the polls, a continual tabulation reconciles the number of people who have registered to vote in-person with the number of votes that are continually being counted.

If you’ve wondered about the security of ballot drop boxes, Witzel-Behl said they are ’tamper proof.”

So where do Dane County ballots go after the voting ends? They are delivered in locked cages to the Madison City Clerk’s office, where the numbers are certified. After that, the State of Wisconsin is required to sign off every vote and certify all the results. Once verified, the results are available online.

If you missed this week’s meeting, you can watch it here:  https://youtu.be/1QWrjJJvr5Y.

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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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Steve Mixtacki Receives Joseph G. Werner Meritorious Service Award

Posted on September 25, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–presented by Terry Heinrichs on September 25, 2024

Today, I come before you to help recognize one of our club members with the Joseph G. Werner Meritorious Service Award.  The Werner honor is not an annual event, but instead given under special circumstances when warranted. The Joseph G. Werner Meritorious Service Award is granted in recognition of outstanding club service in the Rotary tradition of “Service Above Self.”  Joseph G. Werner was a committed Rotarian.  He served as club president from 1953-54.  Both before and after this, he chaired many significant committees.  He served as district governor and became the second member of this club to serve as a director of Rotary International.  He later served Rotary International in several additional positions.  Following his death in 1974, the club established the Joseph G. Werner Meritorious Service Award as the club’s highest recognition for club service.  

Today we recognize long-time member Steve Mixtacki with this prestigious award.  Steve is a CPA.  So very carefully and dangerously, I took the liberty to do some accounting.  Let me share some numbers:

15:  In addition to Rotary, Steve served as a board member on 15 different boards across areas of Madison life, including community, faith, education and arts.  Some examples include First Business Bank, The Evjue Foundation, CTM Madison Family Theater and St. Thomas Aquinas Church.

6:  For 6 of these he was either the Chairperson or President for organizations including the Madison Community Foundation, Edgewood College, the YMCA and Friends of WHA-TV. 

29:  After a few years in public accounting, Steve spent 29 years with American TV.

7:  he added 7 years as the CFO of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation

Surrounding these efforts, Steve is grounded by a few numbers…

44, 2 & 2:  (if we cheat to November) 44 years of marriage to Meryl.

2:  Children, using algebra ((4*2*1)+(9*2*1))=26 semesters of college tuition when you add in a doctorate degree.

2:  Grandchildren.  Shall we do the same math for them??

41:  In 1983, 41 years ago, Steve joined the Rotary Club of Madison.

2:  Steve’s Rotary hook was the Community Grants Program where he served 2 terms and chaired for 2 years; Also, he served 2 terms on the Madison Rotary Foundation Board, including as President, in 1995, receiving the Outstanding Trustee Award.

24:  Number of Paul Harris Fellows.

$53,251.62:  Dollars raised in 1987 while chairing our annual fund drive.

1:  Steve served 1 term on our Club’s Board and as Club President from 1991-1992.  He boasts that he is the 1 who hired Pat Jenkins as the Executive Director.

33:  During his presidency 33 years ago, he initiated the Community Projects Committee that continues today offering our club hands-on community service.

2003:  the year Steve received the Rotary International Avenues of Service Award

30, 2.7, 17.4 & 16 – Quite importantly, Steve recently completed 30 years of service as the Chair of our Foundation’s Investment Committee, during which time our foundation grew from $2.7MM to $17.4MM and distributed over $16MM in scholarships, awards and grants.  It was on this committee that I witnessed first-hand his knack for leadership, management, cooperation and effectiveness.  He will continue to assist with our Foundation’s annual report and serve on our Investment Committee.

Lastly, 32! Steve, your service to Rotary has and continues to be incredible.  We thank you for your outstanding service, and I am pleased to introduce you as the 32nd recipient of the Rotary Club of Madison Joseph G. Werner Meritorious Service Award.

Thank you, Steve!

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Posted in Joseph G. Werner Meritorious Service Award, Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Club of Madison Club Service Award

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September 18: The 20th Anniversary of the Overture Concert Organ

Posted on September 23, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Joy Cardin

Rotary Club of Madison members and guests experienced a special presentation and performance by Greg Zelek, the Principal Organist of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Curator of the MSO’s Overture Concert Organ to instrument’s 20th anniversary at Overture Hall.  Here’s more information on the 2024-25 organ concerts: https://madisonsymphony.org/concerts-events/overture-concert-organ-performances/.  Zelek said the organ has 4,040 pipes that need to be tuned before each concert and it is so heavy it needs to be moved into place using railroad tracks.  He demonstrated how the organ works by pushing pistons that play the sounds of other instruments and how he uses multiple keyboards with his hands and feet!  Here’s a brief example:  https://youtu.be/jagPULPNBxk.    

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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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September 11: How Do We Increase and Restore Trust in Wisconsin’s Election Process?

Posted on September 13, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Sharyn Alden

Former Lieutenant Governor, Mandela Barnes and former Congressman, Scott Klug shared some ideas at the September 11th Rotary meeting.

Wisconsin’s Democracy Defense Project (one of several in the country), is currently working to rebuild confidence in our elections. Klug noted voters get news in numerous ways –from social media to traditional media and mailed promotional ads. “The ‘messengers’ are many, but not always knowledgeable,” he said.

Both speakers talked about the importance of voters getting involved in the election process.

Barnes said voters would better understand and have a deeper knowledge of how elections work if they play a part. “One way is to become an election observer,” he said.

Then there’s the humorous extreme. Klug said his father wanted to be “buried in Chicago so he could stay politically active!”

One audience member suggested key Packers or Brewers players could be used as ‘credible messengers’ to encourage the electorate to vote and get involved. Given potential budget constraints, the idea was well received.

If you missed our meeting this week, you can watch it here:  https://youtu.be/-HAm9fQzywU.

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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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September 4: Solutions for Making Madison’s Housing Market More Affordable

Posted on September 6, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Sharyn Alden

On September 4, Rotarians heard from Matt Wachter, Director of the City of Madison’s Department of Planning, Community, and Economic Development, and Nicole Solheim Vice President of Development for Cinnaire, a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) about challenges behind affordable housing.

The City of Madison has been growing at about 1 percent a year since World War II. In 2021, the demand for affordable housing shot up due, in part, to younger renters with employers like Epic. Construction couldn’t keep up with demand. Coupled with extremely low employment throughout the city, it became apparent that demand was outstripping supply. Wachter noted that since 30 percent of income goes into housing costs, about half of renters in Madison couldn’t afford housing. This significant problem needed to be solved. Over the past 10 years, the city has allocated more money into increasing affordable housing choices. One interesting option is the ‘downtown height bonus” for constructing buildings up to 116 feet in height as long as affordable housing is part of the plan.

If you missed our meeting this week, you can watch it here:  https://youtu.be/R96fwsbT-8k.

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

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