Reminder - There is no meeting next week, Tuesday, December 27

German Christmas Quiz

1. What do children in Germany set out on December 6th for St. Nick to fill? A boot
2. During the night, St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, hops from house to house carrying a book of sins in which all of the misdeeds of the children are written. If they have been good, they receive delicious holiday edibles. If they were naughty, they receive: twigs.
3. Parents will hide this unusual glass ornament deep in the tree. The first child to find it will receive a special blessing and an extra gift. Pickle
4. An Advent Calendar has windows containing a Christmas scene or chocolate treat to be opened each day. How many windows are on an Advent Calendar? 24
5. The first Advent Calendar was printed in Germany in what year? 1908
6. In German the name Weihnachtsmann would refer to whom in English? Santa
7. What is the name of a popular hot spiced wine shared at the Christmas Market and among friends? Gluhwein
8. While it is tradition to open gifts on the 24th, December 25 and 26th are both legal Holidays. What are their names? The First and Second Christmas Day
9. This German delicacy, dating back to the early 1300’s, is considered one of the most precious Christmas pastries in the world, and has been adapted as “Fruitcake” in the United States. Stollen
10. We Three Kings is not a German Christmas song.

Christmas in Germany

Dawn Doberstain, Ella Proll (RYE student) and Dan Nisler

Ella Pröll told how her family and the people in Germany celebrate Christmas. Houses and streets are decorated with lights. A wooden crib (manger) is placed in the living room. Four candles are set out representing each of the four Sundays before Christmas – The Adventzkranz. Children have calendars from December 1-24. People eat Bratapfel and tea during advent. Sankt Nikolaus comes on December 6. Children put out boots in front of the house the night before. There are Christmas markets in the streets where you can get everything you need for Christmas. Christmas is celebrated the evening of December 24. The whole family comes together at one house to sing Christmas songs around the tree, share presents, eat dinner and then go to church. Presents are brought by the Christmas Angel who comes in the house and puts gifts under the tree while everyone is out of the room.

Michele Missler - Art Scholarship Recipient

Last year, Michele Missner received an art scholarship from the Appleton Rotary Foundation Art Scholarship Fund to attend the “Experience the Wonders of Waterbased Mediums” class at Jack Richeson and Company in Kimberly. This was a 5 day class that was held last October and taught by Morton Solberg. Michele learned various techniques such as gesso, wash and acrylic. Gesso is a surface preparation or primer which you apply to the canvas before you start to paint. A wash is useful for providing a background or for covering a large area. The particles are bigger and it has a chalky presence. Acrylics are a type of paint that binds the pigment and is fast drying. Once it is on the paper, it can’t be changed unless it is painted over. Solberg uses many mediums and his paintings are fairly simple using white as his backgrounds. Michele showed photos of the process Morton took from beginning a painting to the end. Several of Solberg’s and Michele’s painting were shown. One of Michele’s paintings was a street scene from New Orleans where she added musical images to the painting. Michele has enjoyed painting for most of her life. About 20 years ago, she began painting in watercolor at the Paine Art Center. After she retired, Michele began to devote more of her time painting. She loves to paint abstracts using watercolors. Michele’s work has been displayed at several exhibits and galleries and has received several awards for her work.

Holiday Celebration Collection

Please member to bring to the Holiday Celebration your items for LEAVEN. They are in need of diapers (size 5 & 6), shampoo, body soap, Valley Transit bus passes and gift cards to Wal-Mart and Target.

Membership Drive

The second Membership Drive will begin in January. Think about who you would like to propose into membership.

December 27

The Rotary Club of Appleton will not meet on Tuesday, December 27.

10 Day Outreach Trip to the Alto Cayma Mission

There will be a 10 day mission trip to the Alto Cayma Mission in Arequipa, Peru February 2-12, 2012. Please see the attached for more information.

Group Study Exchange to Japan

Roy Valitchka was the team leader of the Group Study Exchange that went to Japan (District 2710) October 1-31, 2011. Prior to the trip, the team went through 3 months of interviews, team building and then getting ready for the trip. The team consisted of 5 people from District 6220 that visited 23 cities in 29 days. After 30 hours, the team landed in Norita, Tokyo. From Norita, they took a 1 ½ hour flight to Hiroshima then a ride on back roads another 1 ½ hour to a welcoming party by the Miyoshi Rotary Club. When Roy went to his host family’s house, they had a Japanese bath ready for him. Japan only has 25% living space nestled between the mountains and sea. Industry such as the auto industry (Toyota, Mitsubishi and Subaru) hugs all the available space along the waterways. Despite the congestion of the cities, you will see by certain homes and museums, bonsai trees hundreds of years old. There are 11 bridges, each designed and built by a different architectural /construction firm, that link the various islands. These bridges carry rail, automobile and pedestrian traffic. Ships line up the waterways waiting for the tide to bring them into the coast ports. All that stood after the atomic bomb was the headquarters for the Japanese military. The Memorial Museum shows what really happens in an atomic bomb blast. During the exchange, politics was not discussed but they did talk about survival. It was felt that if the bombs would not have been dropped, the massacre of both the allies and Japanese would be more than anyone could bear. The attitude toward America is that the Japanese want to be loved and respected. Any available space becomes a rice field. At the end of their tour of the rice fields, they received a 5-lb. bag of high quality sticky rice. They also brought home a bottle sake and bottle of wine from the Miyoshi Winery. One day, the team went to a dough factory where they worked the dough for noodles they had for lunch. The police are almost nonexistent in Japan. Very seldom to they have a problem with theft. The degree of the concern they have for others is unbelievable. They visited a silk embroidery factory that makes kimonos that cost $11,000-$15,000. During the wedding ceremony, the bride changes kimonos several times. At the top of mountains, you will see temples and shrines. People have many respiratory issues because of the haze that comes down from the mountains. Shinto and Buddhism are the two major religions in Japan. The team visited a first grade class. The pictures the kids made look no different from those of kids in the United States. Before the team left, they all sang “It’s a Small World”. While in Japan, Roy learned to enjoy raw fish. People came 40-50 miles just to come to say, “goodbye” to the members of the group study exchange team who then left to come back to Wisconsin and Upper Michigan.

2012-2013 Officers/Directors

At Tuesday's Annual Meeting the following Officers and Directors were elected for the 2012-2013 Rotary year:

Immediate Past President Dan Nisler
President Dawn Doberstein
President Elect Peter Kelly
Secretary Deborah Wetter
Treasurer John Fuller
Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Hillmer

One Year Term Board Members
Greg Linnemanstons
Rich Redman
Susan Stockton
Jennifer Wanke

Two Year Term Board Members
Caroline Lasecki
Trey Neher
Mary Schmidt
Robb Waugus

Meeting Time Change - Trial Basis

After receiving a number of comments over the past several years and watching the number of people that get up around the 1:00 p.m. time period, the Board has decided to adjust the meeting times. The following time table will be held on a trial basis beginning January 3:

· The bell will be rung at 12:15 p.m. instead of 12:25 with the goal of finishing as close to 1:00 as possible.

· People are encouraged to keep their “Thought of the Day”, announcements, gifts to the president and thumbnails within the time frames that have been established. Members giving announcements are encouraged to script them in advance and be as clear and concise as possible.

· Membership surveys have clearly indicated that “Fellowship” ranks very high on the list of reasons people enjoy weekly meetings. Members are encouraged to come before noon if you would like to spend more time in this regard. The food is served at 11:30 a.m. so there is ample opportunity for interacting with other Club members before the meeting starts.

Collection for LEAVEN

This year we will be collecting items for LEAVEN at the Holiday Celebration. They are in great need of the following: diapers-sizes 5 & 6; shampoo; body soap; 10 ride bus passes from Valley Transit (passes will be sold at Club meetings on Dec. 13^th & 20^th); and gift cards to Walmart or Target. Please purchase a bus pass or bring in your donated items at the Holiday Celebration.

PROGRESSIVE APPLETON: THROUGH THE LENS OF W. D. SCHLAFER

Nick Hoffman, Curator at the History Museum at the Castle, talked about the Museums new exhibit, Progressive Appleton: Through the Lens of W. D. Schlafer that will run from November 15, 2011 to August 12, 2012. At the age of 10, Wilmer D. Schlafer went to Chicago’s Columbian Exposition to see the new technologies. This was where he was introduced to photography. Wilmer’s father, Otto Schlafer owner of Schlafer Hardware Company, bought Wilmer a Kodak camera and he started to document the City of Appleton. He walked up and down the streets and looked through newspapers for events coming up so that he could document as many things as possible. From 1893-1920, Schlafer took over 3,000 photographs. He loved Appleton and photography. He took pictures of business efficiencies, technology, social reform and educational reform. Hoffman showed us many of the photos from the exhibit as well as photos taken by Image Studios who found the current locations of where these photos where originally taken. Schafer Hardware Company was passed down to Schlafer by his father and was located in what now is Houdini Plaza. Progressives were interested in helping small businesses and to embrace new technologies. Bushey’s Business College taught women to learn skills such as stenography and typewriting and was located in what is now the Salvation Army. The first airplane flight in Appleton was done by Cal Rodgers, a celebrity pilot from the period, in a Wright Brothers plane. Appleton had the second documented automobile, the Locomobile, owned by Dr. James Reeve. This was a steam powered auto that was not very reliable. A bicycle was tied to the back in case it broke down. You had to fill up the Locomobile with water, check the gas and ignite the starter flames. It took about 20-30 minutes to get it going and it went about 45 mph. Technology was changing fast. Before parking ramps, there were privately owned livery stations where one could park their horse or auto such as J.C. Kunitz and Son Horse and Auto Livery. Schlafer loved parades and took about 50 photos such as the Ringling Brother parade where elephants are walking down College Avenue. During this time, consumers were looking for entertainment options for people to come together as a group such as baseball and movie theaters. There were photos of men working on interurban tracks for electric streetcars to connect Appleton to Neenah and Lake Winnebago. Progressives were looking to regulate utility companies because of rates skyrocketing. Businesses lobbied the legislature to gain control. Small businesses forced utility companies to take utility poles down in front of their buildings and put them in alleys. In 1915, the YMCA started their membership drive.

The Museum purchased this collection of Schlafer’s photographs at a family auction after he died in 1966. Other photographs in the exhibit were donated by family members and some are on loan from the family. The Progressive Appleton exhibit contains 250-300 photographs and artifacts such as the Locomobile.

Inductions

Today, the Rotary Club of Appleton inducted Ralph De Marco, Realtor at Coldwell Banker – The Real Estate Group; Shane Kohl, Director of Membership and Annual Giving at the Trout Museum; Crystal Lillge, Public Relations and Development Director for the Housing Partnership of the Fox Cities; and Michael Muoio, CEO of Lillian Vernon and Miles Kimball. Welcome!