Tag Archives: Rotary Club of Madison

Photo Highlights from Annual Vocational Fellowship Luncheon Day on July 9

Posted on July 14, 2014 by joannamartinez | Leave a comment

At the Carey Fused Glass Studio, members created unique votive candle holders. Photo 1: from left: Peggy Lescrenier, Rachel Krinsky and Ken Yuska; Photo 2: Dewey Bredeson

Members and guests received a backstage tour at the Overture Center for the Arts.

At Madison College, members and guestsreceived a tour of the new Health Education Building. Pictured above from left: Bob Dinndorf and Dick & Nina Rieselbach.

Members enjoyed lunch and a tour of the new UW Department Student Athlete Performance Center which was completed in January 2014.

At St. Mary’s Hospital, members heard about better care at lower costs. Photo 1: Frank Byrne; Photo 2: from left: Dave Ewanowski, Suzanne Qualia, Larry Zanoni, Pat Guttenberg and Ted Waldbillig; Photo 3: from left on the helipad: Cindy Herbst, Ted Wadbillig, Paul Karch, Larry Zanoni, Jon Lewis (VP of St. Mary’s Operations) and Dick Goldberg.

At UW’s School of Human Ecology, members toured this sustainable facility which included 13,000 items in its textile collection.

At Bruker AXS, members learned about cutting edge digital technology used by next generation scientists in a wide array of industries.

Members and guests learned how rapidly the health industry is changing and what that means to palliative care at Agrace Hospice & Palliative Care.

And members enjoyed lunch and a tour of Webcrafters on July 9. Photo 1: from left: Kip Frautschi, Nate Brand, Ellis Waller, Martha Casey, Brian Basken, Marci Henderson, Derrick Van Mell and Neil Fauerbach; Photo 2: Jac Garner (left) addresses the group.

We thank the following organizations and Rotary hosts:

Agrace Hospice & Palliative Care – Lynne Myers
Bruker AXS – Mark Stover
Carey Fused Glass – Denny Carey
Edgewood College – Scott Flanagan
Madison College – Bob Dinndorf, Carey Heyer, Kathleen Smith & Diane Walleser
Overture Center for the Arts – Ted DeDee
St. Mary’s Hospital – Frank Byrne
St. Vincent de Paul – Ralph Middlecamp
The Capital Times – Paul Fanlund
UW Athletic Department – Ben Fraser
UW-Madison School of Human Ecology – Majid Sarmadi
Webcrafters, Inc. – Kip Frautschi

We extend a special thanks to Rico Goedjen, chair of our Vocational Opportunities Committee and his committee for organizing this year’s Vocational Fellowship Luncheon Day.

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Posted in Vocational Fellowship

Tagged Annual Vocational Fellowship Luncheon, Fellowship, Rotary, Rotary Club of Madison

Madison Police Chief Mike Koval Addresses Rotary on July 2

Posted on July 3, 2014 by joannamartinez | Leave a comment

–submitted by Mark Stover; photo by John Bonsett-Veal

Police Chief Mike Koval (left) with Club President Tim Stadelman

Chief Mike Koval of the Madison Police Department (brother of Rotarian Dan Koval), future Downtown Madison Rotarian – no pressure Chief! – and self-described “recovering journalism major” impressed the Wednesday luncheon meeting with thoughtful remarks about his first 3 months in the position.

Chief Koval began his talk by noting the power of words (journalism major recovery apparently notwithstanding). He noted that police professionals are often caricatured in the media as “law enforcement warriors.” While this makes for good drama on TV and good copy in the press, it puts off the very people he intends the department to serve. The problem with the warrior image is that it implies an attitude of “winning at all costs without regard for collateral damage.”

Instead, the Chief prefers connotations of the word “guardian.” A guardian operates under rules that ensure police officers are not reduced to the level of those who would do harm to the weak, elderly, infirm, or innocent. A guardian cares for people within his/her area of responsibility and seeks to work with others to build trust. Trust creates the ability to solve problems together for mutual benefit.

Among those Chief Koval intends to protect are those suffering from mental illness. The Chief pointed out that earlier this year the State of Wisconsin made it more difficult for his police force to provide that protection. The Mendota Mental Health Institute is now closed to accepting adult males detained through emergency petitions. Instead, they need to be driven to Oshkosh to a facility there. That puts the patient at greater distance from his/her support network. It also makes two officers unavailable for other protective duties for about 5 hours.

Tuesday night, the Madison Common Council granted the Chief permission to pursue a legal challenge to the State’s order. True to the character presented in the rest of his presentation, the Chief noted that he sees the Council’s action as offering him leverage to open dialogue rather than as a weapon to be used pre-emptively.

When asked, the Chief noted that if members of the Club wish to provide support in his effort to change the State’s decision they should consider exercising their civic power to address state representatives and senators on the issue.

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Posted in 2. Meetings, Weekly Rotary Guest Speaker

Tagged Rotary, Rotary Club of Madison

Rotary Wine Fellowshippers Enjoy Another Great Event on June 24

Posted on June 30, 2014 by joannamartinez | Leave a comment

–submitted by Mike Wilson

The Wine Fellowship Group had a Bring Your Own (BYO) Event at Mike and Patty Wilson’s on Tuesday the 24th of June. There were 15 attendees, and each Rotarian brought a bottle of wine, their story to go with it and a snack to accompany it. Great fun was had by all! I rated every bottle of wine as excellent (17.75-18.5/20 on my scale),for an extraordinary fleet of wines.

From left: Nona Hagen, Dan Dieck, Mike Casey & Carolyn Casey

They started with three cold wines: a Santinori Assyrtiko to accompany a tapenade; an Alsatian Pinot Gris (Rotenberg from Domaine Zind-Humbrecht) with a Greek dip; and a Rose of Sangiovese from Amorosa (called Goia) with the winery being a large “Napa Castle” which was viewed from their parking lot on the successful Wine Fellowship tour of Napa exactly one year ago. These were accompanied by feta and watermelon kebabs.

Next, two beautifully soft Pinot Noirs were tasted: Acrobat from Oregon and Husch from the Anderson Valley. Both were paired with great artisanal Wisconsin cheeses and a basket of cherries. Just like the cold wines described above, these were excellent, and the tasting group was evenly divided in preference.

(Photo 1: Mike & Mandy McKay; Photo 2: Juli & Keith Baumgartner; Photo 3: Patty Wilson & Cheryl Wittke)

Two “racy reds” were then tasted: A Domaine de la Janesse Cotes Du Rhone with a colorful story of how it came to be selected (Dan Dieck’s son had sent a case from France) and an A Venge wine called Scouts Honor (a dog story, not Baden-Powell) California blend (Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Charbono and Syrah). Once again, the tasting group liked both equally well.

(Photo 1: Steve & Meryl Mixtacki; Photo 2: Meryl Mixtacki & Mike Wilson; Photo 3: Mary Barbieri & Beverly Simone)

Finally the hosts provided two very different ports. A 1960 Warre’s Vintage Porto as a traditional base, and a 1947 “Royal Reserve” Mazuran “Port” from New Zealand. This previously unknown vineyard in Henderson , NZ, has been producing Port for years. The initial winemaker was a descendant of the Dalmatian Kauri tree gum diggers that emigrated to New Zealand early on for just this purpose, but when the Kauri trees were significantly reduced (now a protected tree) they switched to other work. Dalmatia is near where the original Zinfandel vines have been located, and these immigrants formed the basis of the early New Zealand wine industry. Chocolate covered strawberries and other chocolates were the accompanying snack made by Hostess Patty. Here the New Zealand port was the absolute winner. The 67 year old Royal Reserve is the very first Mazuran port Mike tried some 40 years ago, and was released for the visit of the young Queen Elizabeth in her 1952 tour of New Zealand as part of the new monarchs tour of the antipodean british Commonwealth. Perhaps the Mazuran was rated so well as the tasters were informed that it now sells for NZ$700.

Our thanks to Mike & Patty Wilson for hosting another great event!

A great time was had by one and all!

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Posted in 2. Meetings, Uncategorized, Wine Fellowship, Wine Fellowship Group

Tagged Fellowship, Membership, Rotary, Rotary Club of Madison, Wine Fellowship Group

Tears & Laughter: The Changing of the Guard

Posted on June 26, 2014 by joannamartinez | Leave a comment

In relinquishing the gavel, President Renee Moe (’13-’14) cited many of our club’s accomplishments among which were moving up to 5^th largest Rotary Club in the world and the Foundation’s Endowment breaking the $10 million amount. She thanked her parents who were present, her fellow workers at United Way, the Rotary office staff and her family, especially her husband, Jason. All of this with her usual modesty. (CLICK HERE to read her thank you to the club.)

President Renee concluded by saying to us what her parents taught her as a little girl, “Thank you for inviting me. I had a wonderful time.” All of this, of course, accompanied by tears.

Tim Stadelman took the gavel as our new president (’14-‘15) and after gaining control of his tears presented Renee with her past president’s pin. Then past presidents Wes Sparkman, Juli Aulik and Paul Riehemann moved us to laughter as they presented related benefits of becoming a past president.

(Pictured above from left in Photo 1: Monique Scher, Mike (“Cafe Renee”) Bress & Bill Haight. Mike Casey served as chef at Cafe Renee.)

(Photo 1: Charles Tubbs, Sr. & Renee Moe; Photo 2: Renee Moe & Cartoonist Phil Hands; Photo 3: Front row from left: Al Ripp, Stan Kitson, Jason Beren, Barb Wiley and Laura Gallagher; Back row from left: Dan Larson, Kris Ashe and Phil Hands.)

Finally, the new members’ Roast Committee introduced us to “Café Renee” after Chief Charles Tubbs, Sr. served her with a bench warrant for her arrest with the chief complaint being “excessive modesty.” The “Café” motif was that of running on time and using strategic planning.

(Photo 1: Ellsworth Brown & Juli Aulik; Photo 2: Paul Riehemann & Wes Sparkman; Photo 3: Tim Stadelman & Renee Moe)

One of the diners was Jason Salus, Renee’s husband, who shared his view of the past year. It was so successful the committee concluded that he would be invited back for President Tim’s Roast.

(Photo 1: Renee Moe & Pat Jenkins; Photo 2: Mike Kosolcharoen & Renee Moe; Photo 3: Mike Bress, Renee Moe & Andrea Kaminski)

Words cannot do justice to the entertainment that the Roast Committee provided us this year at the Changing of the Guard, nor the service Renee Moe has given us.

Our thanks to this year’s Roast Committee co-chaired by Kris Ashe and Stan Kitson; to Laura Gallagher of The Creative Company for video services including a “PRESS” FILM prepared for the Roast Committee; to John Bonsett-Veal and Valerie Johnson for photography and video; and to Larry Larrabee for this review article.

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Posted in 1. President's Messages, Annual Changing of the Guard, Annual Roast Program, Roast Committee

Tagged Annual Changing of the Guard, Annual Roast Program, Rotary, Rotary Club of Madison

Dean Soyeon Shim on Fiscal Responsibility

Posted on June 19, 2014 by joannamartinez | Leave a comment

–submitted by Stan Inhorn

On June 18, Soyeon Shim, new Dean of the School of Human Ecology at UW-Madison, told Downtown Rotarians about her research on influences in creating financial responsibility in young adults. This study was started around the time of the 2008 financial crisis, when Professor Shim was at the University of Arizona. The study is called APLUS (Arizona Pathway to Life Success.)

Shim recognized that many parents worry that their children lack financial literacy, especially when they send them off to college. In a report to a President’s Advisory Panel in 2013, the study found that many students already had large credit card debts. Messages to students to save for the future or for retirement have little impact, whereas emphasis on creating a modest plan for saving has better outcomes.

Her studies found that there are three categories of students in relation to managing personal finances. “Pathfinders” are those who are taught to carry out financial transactions responsibly. “Followers” are those tend to adapt their parents’ style, whereas “Drifters” have no systematic approach to good financial management. Much depends on whether parents and other adults have had meaningful conversations and interactions with their children regarding fiscal management.

In 2013, the study found that in two years after college, only half of college students have permanent jobs. 32% are self-supporting, 51% are still helped by their parents, and 17% are borrowing elsewhere. Dr. Shim’s advice to parents is to be intentional in their interactions with their children and to use adult dialogue. Parents should themselves establish positive financial behavior in order to help students become “Pathfinders”, which in turn results in overall happiness and in becoming successful adults.

(CLICK for a copy of Dean Shim’s powerpoint presentation on June 18.)

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Posted in 2. Meetings, 5. Members, Networking, Rotary Club of Madison

Tagged Rotary, Rotary Club of Madison

Photo Highlights and Video Clips from 2014 SummerPalooza

Posted on June 17, 2014 by joannamartinez | Leave a comment

–submitted by Juli Aulik, Ellsworth Brown and Paul Riehemann

It was picture perfect weather for our second annual SummerPalooza held on Saturday, June 14th on the Capitol Square. We had 2007 people enjoy free admission to the Madison Children’s Museum and outside activities for children, including crafts, a bounce house and a dunk tank. A parade around the Capitol Square started at noon, and we had 300 participants in the parade with 1000+ viewers. Shown on the next page are photo highlights. Our thanks to Steve Goldberg and Deb Gilpin for organizing this year’s event and to 45+ Rotary volunteers who helped make it another great event!