Fox Cities Exhibition Center

Lynn Peters explained that the conversation on whether or not there should be convention center in the Fox Cities started about 25 years ago. In 2008, the Chamber of Commerce and the Convention and Visitors Bureau conducted a feasibility study to determine whether there was a reason to continue this conversation. Afterwards, the Appleton City Council and Mayor appointed a Convention Center Community Coalition to conduct more in-depth studies. The results were reported to the community in December 2010. On January 14, 2011, the Fox Cities Exhibition Center was chartered to pursue the development of an exhibit space that, when combined with existing services and space at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel, results in a prominent and competitive convention facility in downtown Appleton. The feasibility study determined that there was a strong market demand, downtown Appleton was the best site, should partner with the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel and that the best size would be 30,000-35,000 square feet of exhibit space plus 50% more for support. This facility would bring $8.4 million annual economic impact to the community.

Walt Rugland reported that if we had a full service convention center capacity (400 rooms, ballroom of 15,000 sq, feet, adequate meeting rooms and an exhibition center for trade shows and exhibits), it would add about 42,000 overnight stays and 66,000 annual non-local visitor days to the Fox Cities. Except for the exhibition center, the Radisson has all these features. Over 20 years, the annual economic impact would be about $105 million. In order for the exhibition center to be built, there are many things that need to come together. (Click here to read the rest of the article.)

Rotary Shines

Rotary Shines, our Club’s one and only fundraiser, will be held on Tuesday, May 3 beginning at 6:00 p.m. at Fox Valley Technical College. The cost is $100 which admits 2 adults. For those who have not pre-purchased their Rotary Shines ticket, they will go on sale next week. The proceeds of Rotary Shines will benefit the Housing Partnership of the Fox Cities, the Peruvian Mobile Medical Project and PolioPlus. So far the sponsors for Rotary Shines include:

Lead Sponsor: Goodwill Industries

Supporting Sponsors: Community First Credit Union, Fiduciary Partners, Nicolet Bank, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Wells Fargo Bank and Schenck SC

Friends Sponsors: American National Bank, Bassett Mechanical, Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, East Wisconsin Savings and Loan, and Pfefferle Companies.

If you would like to become a sponsor, please e-mail JoEllen Wollangk at bwollangk@wisconsin.bbb.org. The sponsorship levels are: Supporting Sponsor ($500) or Friends Sponsor ($100-$499).

The Fundraising Committee is also looking for silent auction items. Be creative. Past items include: tickets to an event, catered meals, jewelry, guided activities and one of a kind items. Donations should be dropped off at Nicolet National Bank located at 900 W. College Avenue in Appleton prior to April 26. To help accurately describe items and recognize donors, please complete a silent auction form which can be found on our website – www.appletonrotary.org. If you would like to donate an item or if you have any questions, please contact Nancy Johnshoy at njohnshoy@nicoletbank.com.

Group Study Exchange Team Members Needed

The exchange with Rotary District 2710 in Japan will depart on October 2, 2011 and return October 30, 2011. Applicants from all vocational areas are encouraged to apply. Exchanges are open to all who work or reside in District 6220, provided they are not an immediate family member of a Rotarian. Applicants must be at least 25 years old and no more than 41 at the time of their application. The application deadline is April 1, 2011. For more information, contact Roy Valitchka at rvalitchka@new.rr.com.

ShelterBox mobilizes quickly for Japanese in need

After a deadly earthquake and tsunami struck Japan last Friday, response team members from ShelterBox were on the ground within 24 hours.

The organization, founded by 2008 CNN Hero Tom Henderson and Rotarian, provides emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies to families affected by disasters. These essentials come in a large, green box that shares the organization's name. To read the entire article, please go to this website.

Conscious Eating and Nutritional Healing

Doctor Sudeep S. Sodhi,  MD FACG, of Affinity Health System was our speaker on March 15, 2011. Dr. Sodhi spoke on the topic of Conscious Eating and Nutritional Healing. If you have PowerPoint software and would like to review his presentation, you can link to it here. If you do not have PowerPoint software, a web page version is located here.

Rotary Youth Exchange Student

Robb Waugus, RYE Officer and Laura McNeill

Congratulations to Laura McNeill who has been selected to be the Rotary Club of Appleton's Outbound Rotary Youth Exchange student who will be going to Chile. Laura is a student at Appleton East High School.

Rotary Japan and Pacific Islands Disaster Recovery Fund

In response to the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan last week, the Rotary Foundation has established the Rotary Japan and Pacific Islands Disaster Recovery Fund.

For more information visit - http://www.rotary.org/en/Contribute/WaysToGive/
Announcements/Pages/110311_announce_japanfund.aspx

Rotary Arts Scholarship

Scholarship applicants are being sought for the Rotary Club of Appleton’s Art Scholarship Program. Through the program, up to $1,500 is awarded to one or more applicants seeking a degree or non-degree-related educational experience in the performing, visual or literary arts.

According to Barbara Stack, co-chair of the Rotary Arts Scholarship Committee, “Our Rotary Club is proud to recognize the role of the arts in making our community more inviting, vibrant and connected. We want to help our community’s practicing artists grow and improve in their discipline through continuing education.”

To be eligible for a scholarship, the candidate must reside in the area served by the Rotary Club of Appleton (the immediate Fox Cities). In addition, the applicant must be a practicing artist. Teachers and students are eligible if they can demonstrate they are a practicing artist outside of the school environment. Although there is no age limitation to apply, the candidate must demonstrate that the experience will help him/her to become a more successful practitioner.

Jan Smith, co-chair of the committee and executive director of the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum, noted that the Rotary Club of Appleton has been awarding these scholarships for more than 35 years. “It’s a unique opportunity for artists, and for our Rotary Club, too. When the artists share what they have learned with us, we learn and grow as Rotarians,” she said.

Applications and more information on the scholarship program is available on the web at www.appletonrotary.org. Due date is Friday, April 1, and winners will be notified after May 24. Questions may be directed to the Rotary Arts Scholarship Committee through dreyer.kathy@gmail.com.

Commuity Service Grant

The Rotary Club of Appleton is currently taking applications for the 2011 Community Service grant program. The club will award up to $3,000 of funding to non-profit organizations that support local community needs and provide members of the Rotary Club of Appleton with volunteer opportunities.

Interested organizations must apply for the grants by April 1, 2011. Eligible organizations will meet the following criteria:

· Only 501c(3) organizations are eligible

· The program or project must serve/benefit residents of the Appleton area

· Capital projects and/or annual campaigns will not be funded

· Funds will be committed for only one year at a time, but may be awarded up to three consecutive years.

Applications are available at the club’s website http://www.focol.org/aprotary/ScholarshipsGrants.html. The Rotary Club of Appleton has approximately 200 members and meets weekly on Tuesdays at noon.

ABOUT ROTARY INTERNATIONAL: Rotary is a volunteer service organization with 33,000 clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas. It initiates humanitarian projects that address today’s challenges affecting the world today, such as hunger, poverty, and illiteracy. Rotary club members represent a cross-section of business and professional leaders around the world. These 1.2 million men and women donate their expertise, time, and funds to support local and international projects that help people in need and promote understanding among cultures. Rotary International is the worldwide association of Rotary clubs united under a motto of Service Above Self.

Our New Website

We hope you like the new look and function of the Rotary Club of Appleton website.  This front page will contain news and information of interest to members and others.  If you "click" on the blue headline of any post, you'll be taken to our Blog, where you will be able to find an archive of everything that has been posted.

To your right on each page of the main site, you'll see a calendar of Rotary Club events.  Click on any event to see the details of time, location,  program, etc.

We will be adding content over time as we strive to make the site more useful to members and interesting to prospective members.  Come back often!

16th Annual Courtesy Awards

The Courtesy Awards are given to recognize sales people and others who work with the public and have exhibited special courtesy or consideration to customers or individuals served. The recipients received a Courtesy Awards certificate, a check in the amount of $75.00 and a Rotary pen/pencil set.

Congratulations to the following Courtesy Award recipients:

Craig Alswager

My Strategy Consultants

Nominated by: Jan Smith

Teresa Briski

Goodwill Industries

Nominated by: Dan Toppins

Tabitha Buchanan

Jo To Go

Nominated by: Deborah Wetter

Jean Davis

Shopko Express

Nominated by: Jeff Knezel

Dr. Lisa Kokontis

Neuroscience Group of Northeast Wisconsin

Nominated by: Frank Rippl

Diana Ortega

Radisson Paper Valley Hotel

Nominated by: Mary Harp-Jirschele/

Karen Laws

Mic Ponschock

Midwest Protection Services, Inc.

Nominated by: Debra Cronmiller

ROTARY YOUTH EXCHANGE STUDENT UPDATE

The north east trip was an amazing month. There were 101 exchange students from 23 countries. In every city you were on a different bus, one time it might be yellow and blue in one bus then the next city it switched, so you were always with new people. We also had new roommates in every city. During the trip we played this game we played, a lot like games you play at camp. They have a giant baby pacifier you can wear around your neck and every night we tell funny stories that happened during the day. The person with the funniest story wins the pacifier and has to wear it for 24 hours. As a “revenge” one time during the day they get to yell a phrase in Portuguese and all the other exchange students fall over on the ground and start screaming and waving their arms and legs in the air. This happened almost every day and we got some pretty funny looks for it. It happened at rest stops, at the Christ statue in Rio and in the middle of the street one day too. We started in Brasilia, where we had a tour of the city as well as forro lessons (forro is a traditional dance here in Brazil). We went up a mountain and when we left it was cloudy so no one put on enough sunscreen…. By 10 it was sunny and hot and we were all sun burned! The view at the top was worth the hike though. We also went to a water fall which required walking through a river. The water was strong at times and lots of people almost lost their flip flops.

In one city we got to go on a zip line, snorkeling and hike through a cave. For the zip line you started up on this rock and ended up in the water. It was so much fun when you did it but running up to the edge of the rock and jumping off was a little scary! The snorkeling was pretty fun too, but it was so dark you could hardly see anything. The hike through the cave was also really cool there were tons of neat rock formations and the guide showed us how they form fun shadows and stuff on the wall.
When we went to Fortaleza we went to two of the most beautiful beaches in Brazil. It was absolutely gorgeous. We spent a whole day at the beach swimming, laying in the sand and drinking fresh fruit juice! We also went to our first party in Fortaleza. It was a pirate party. When we went to parties we had to use shirts that terra Brazil (the tour group) gave us, but they said we could cut them and try and make them look as cute as possible. So everyone was getting ready for the party when the power went out on one of the floors of the hotel. All the girls had to go find other rooms so we had 7 or 8 girls all trying to do hair and makeup and make their shirts look cute before it was time to leave.

On the trip we also saw the biggest cashew tree in the world, it was pretty impressive too. Another day we all bought toys or candy and gave them to poor children. We also got lots of shopping done! We had to learn how to bargain because when people realize we are not Brazilian they jack the price waayyy up. In Salvador we saw capuera shows, it is a mix of dance gymnastics and karate, it is very impressive to watch.

We also went to Rio de Janeiro. We stayed at a hotel that was about 20 minutes from copa cabana beach, it is amazing! The water there is colder than the other beaches we went to and the waves were a lot stronger too. We saw the Christ statue, you have to walk up a lot of stairs to see it but it was worth it when we go to the top. I was walking back from the beach with a couple other exchange students at the end of free time and it started down pouring, so we ran most of the way back to the hotel. Everyone was laughing or pretending to cheer us on while they waited in doorways or over hangs for the rain to stop but we didn’t have time to wait since we needed to be back before dinner! We saw so many incredible things and there are hundreds of stories from the trip. It was the best vacation in my life and I will never forget the people or the memories.


RYE STUDENT UPDATE – JESSICA WEINDLIN

Exchange with District 2710 Japan

The exchange with Rotary District 2710 in Japan will depart on October 2, 2011 and return October 30, 2011. Applicants from all vocational areas are encouraged to apply. Exchanges are open to all who work or reside in District 6220, provided they are not an immediate family member of a Rotarian. Applicants must be at least 25 years old and no more than 41 at the time of their application. RI pays their airfare so the only expenses they have are incidentals. The application deadline is April 1, 2011. For more information, contact