Rotary Shines

The first Reverse Raffle was held at the Outagamie Museum then the hotel, Liberty Hall, Fox Valley Technical College and now the OuterEdge.  Michiels Fox Banquets provided the heavy hors d'oeuvres.    Boxes of chocolates were sold with purchasers being able to win jewelry, bottle of wine, gift certificates, etc.  The silent auction consisted of items such as overnight stays, gift baskets, Timber Rattler and Milwaukee Bucks tickets, gift certificates, art and jewelry.  A live auction featured three items:  a framed limited edition print by David Wollangk called “The Old Council Tree; an Entrance 21 package at the Performing Arts Center; and 2 trips for 2 to Africa.  The most important thing was the fellowship everyone experienced while raising money for PolioPlus, the Even Start Family Literacy Program and the Peruvian Mobile Medical Unit.   Preliminary numbers show that we raised about $30,000.  We will report on the exact amount once everything comes in.

Thanks to the following sponsors:  Goodwill Industries (Premier Sponsor); Stifel Nicolaus, Valley Truck Leasing and Community First Credit Union (Presenting Sponsors); Bassett Mechanical, Fiduciary Partners, Barb Merry/Gail Popp, Nicolet Bank and Schenck SC (Supporting Sponsors); ThedaCare, American National Bank Associated Bank, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP, Curt and Jean Detjen, East Wisconsin Savings and Loan, Keller Inc., M & I Bank, Jay Drzewiecki, Susan May, Steve Reith, Frank Rippl, Val Wylie, Steve Gineris, Well Fargo Advisors, Terri Trantow, Tom Williams, Ellen Totzke and Harry Spiegelberg (Friends Sponsors).

Thanks to the Fundraising Committee for putting on this wonderful event:  Michelle Devine-Giese, Ruth Ann Heeter, JoEllen Wollangk, Chad Hershner, Deborah Wetter, Tom Berkedal, Tony Gonzalez, Shane Lathrop, Jennifer Stephany, Gail Popp, Chuck Lewis, Megan Klubertanz, Nancy Heykes, Nancy Johnshoy, Caroline Lasecki, Trey Neher and Mary Schmidt.

                                                The remaining 4 ticket holders received the following:

                                                                        $   100  Travis Andersen

                                                                        $   300  Steve Andrysczyk

                                                                        $   500  Paul Trigg

                                                                        $1,500  Dawn Doberstein

Bright Futures Awards

The Bright Future Award recognizes students from the Appleton schools who have risen above challenging circumstances in their lives to move towards a future filled with hope and promise. Each school selects students for this award. Award winners have also demonstrated most or all of the following:
1. Markedly improved school attendance with few absences.
2. Increased his/her grade point average of one or more points.
3. Exhibited a positive attitude about school, teachers and fellow students.
4. Showed responsibility by completing work on time and being dependable.
5. Exhibited positive, productive relationships with acceptable conflict resolution activities.
6. Successfully involved in a part-time job, co-curricular activities or volunteer community work.
7. Has realistic future plans and goals.

The Youth Service and Education Awards Committee presented several area high school students with a Bright Future Award.

Appleton Central – Sarah Reis
Jessica Martinez
Jaime Richmond
Cullen Tousey

Appleton East – Brandon Schnese
Carli Finley
Tierney Kerr
Jose Vargas

Appleton North – Matt Hechel
Jordan Frechette
Breanna Taylor
Wesley Waukau

Appleton West – Jon Meidan
Abbey Mirsberger
John Pham

 Thanks to the Youth Services and Education Awards Committee for arranging the Youth Recognition Award programs: Paul Hillmer (Co-Chair), Dan Schetter (Co-Chair), Al Archer, Bill Breider, Bret Buxton, Ralph DeMarco, Michelle Devine-Giese, Shane Lathrop, Chuck Lewis, Mark McGinnis and Jeff Werner. A special thank you to Fox Valley Technical College, and staff members Shana Farrell and Roxanne Fasel, for their donation of printing services and materials. Special thanks to “friend of Rotary” Autumn Grimm for layout and design.

Cullen Tousey, Sarah Reis and Jaime Richmond

Tierney Kerr, Carli Finley, Jose Vargas and Brandon Schnese

Breanna Taylor (with daughter), Wesley Waukau, Jordan Frechette and Matt Hechel

John Pham, Abbey Mirsberger and Jon Meidan

Rotary Shines 2012

Rotary Shines

Rotary Shines will be held tomorrow, Friday, April 20 from 6:00-10:00 p.m. at the OuterEdge in Appleton.

The live auction items will include:

• A Entrance 21 package at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center for you and 11 of your closet friends. This package includes complimentary private valet parking, heavy hors 'dourves, dessert, your own bartender serving wine, beer, water or soda and 12 box tickets to Pride and Prejudice on February 14, 2013.

• Trip for 2 to a South Africa Photo Safari for 6 days/6 nights. This trip includes 3 delicious meals per day and 2 daily open Land Rover trips with experienced guides. The value is $4,950. (This trip does not include airfare, transfers, personal beverages, side trips and phone calls. It must be used within 2 years of purchase and is not transferable or refundable.

• A framed limited edition print by David Wollangk called "The Council Tree". The giant elm, which marks and adorns the point beyond Riverside Park has, from the earliest times, been known as the "Council Tree" or "Treaty Elm". The crown of the tree was so enormous that it was used as a navigational guide for boat pilots on Lake Winnebago, and pioneer weddings were held beneath its branches. The tree came down more than a century ago to allow for a new channel in the Fox River. This print was commissioned by the family of Marigen Carpenter in honor of her tenure as mayor of Neenah from 1982-1998. The original hangs in Neenah City Hall.

We will also be selling candy from Wilmar's Chocolates. The cost per box is $20. Each box also includes a $5 gift certificate to Bazil's, Olde Town and No Idea Bar as well as a chance to win 1 of 10 prizes.

Ambassadorial Scholar - Rachel Young

Last spring, Rachel Young was selected by District 6220 to receive an Ambassadorial Scholarship. She will be traveling to Taipei, Taiwan in August to go to National Taiwan University and study in the International Chinese Language Program. Rachel is from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has a brother who is studying at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Her father works for 3M Company and her mother is a dental assistant. She came to Appleton to study at Lawrence University where she will be graduating in June with a double major in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. Rachel will be the first in her family to graduate with a bachelor’s degree.

Rachel received a $27,000 scholarship from District 6220 / The Rotary Foundation. This helps fund her tuition (at an institution of her choice in the country RI places you), living expenses, airfare and money to travel to and from Rotary events. Rachel is required to give 10 talks to Rotary Clubs around Taiwan and talks when she returns. She attended an orientation in Austin, Texas where she learned how to be an ambassador between Rotary clubs. Taiwan is an island about the same size as Wisconsin and is part of the People’s Republic of China. Taipei has a population of 6,218,227 people. Rachel is assigned to District 3520. Most clubs have dinner meetings versus lunch meetings. Rachel hopes to be involved in some of their youth programs. When Rachel returns, she hopes to go to the Monterey Institute of International Studies and pursue a master’s degree in interpreting and translating. She would like to become an interpreter. This scholarship will be instrumental in Rachel being able to complete these goals.

The 2010-2011 class of Ambassadorial Scholars received $9.6 million through individual grants through The Rotary Foundation. Since 1947, a total of $532 million has been awarded to 41,000 men and women. The scholarships sponsor undergraduate and graduate students, as well as qualified professionals pursuing vocational studies. While abroad, scholars serve as goodwill ambassadors to the country where they study and give presentations about their own culture to Rotary clubs and other groups. Back home, scholars share with Rotarians and others the experiences that deepened their understanding of another culture. The Ambassadorial Scholarships program promotes international understanding and friendly relations among people of different parts of the world. Through their generous contributions, Rotarians worldwide show a continued faith that today’s scholars will be tomorrow's community and world leaders.

Membership Drive

Thanks to those who sponsored new members during the membership drive. We inducted 14 new members.

Rotary Shines

The live auction will include 2 South Africa Photo Safari’s for 2, an Entrance 21 package (Pride and Prejudice) at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center and a framed limited editing print by David Wollangk.

Next week and at the event, we will be selling candy from Wilmar’s.

If you purchased a ticket but are unable to attend, please let Ruth Ann Heeter raheeter@foxcitiesmagazine.com) know so that we can get an estimate on the number of people attending.

Dinner and SAMP Packing

Have we got an invitation for you!

The Family of Rotary and SAMP Committees invite you to join us at the Goodwill Shiner Center on Tuesday, April 24th

5:30-6:30 p.m. Enjoy a meal of pizza, salad and luscious goodies for dessert
& the fellowship of other Rotarians and friends

6:30-8:00 p.m. Pack medical supplies for SAMP to send to countries in need

Bring a Rotarian who has never packed before, a family member or a good friend
Great project, great people, great food. An event not to be missed.

See you there.

District Conference - May 18-19 in Waupaca

At this years District Conference, much of the focus will be about the Future Vision plan. Every member should consider attending to make sure the Club absorbs as much information about this as possible. As a special encouragement, the District is offering a $25 early bird discount if you register before April 15.

For more information and to register, please go to http://www.ridistrict6220.org/news/feb-special-event.php

RYE STUDENT REPORT - February and March

I came to Appleton over seven month ago and the time is going by so fast. In almost three month I will be on an airplane back to Germany.

The host family I stayed with the last 3 months are the Berkedal’s. I got the chance to see a lot of different things and to learn more about the language, like the different pronunciation of grammar and grandma.

At the beginning of February my host family took me to a basketball game of the Green Bay women’s Phoenix basketball team and a game of the UW Badgers in Madison. We also went to Door County, to the condo of the Berkedal’s , and saw the lake and eat good food. The last weekend in February I traveled to Wausau and spend two days with all the other exchange students from the district. We had a lot of fun and were very tired when we returned to our host families.

Only one and a half weeks later I left for the Rotary trip to Oahu, Hawaii. I was there for one week with 30 other exchange students from all over the world. We visited Honolulu, Waikiki Beach, Diamond Head, and Perl Harbor. We also got to try snorkeling and surfing and came back to our host towns after a fun week with sunburns.

Two days after I came back to Appleton the Berkedal’s took me to the Michael Jackson Immortal tour of the Circe de Sole in Milwaukee and last weekend we went to the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota and we spend a night there after a long shopping day in the Mall. The Mall of America was awesome and I really enjoyed the trip to Minneapolis. I am looking forward to the last quarter of the school year and a lot of new experiences.

By Raphaela Proell

REGULATION OF EMOTIONS AND THE ADOLESCENT BRAIN

Lori Hilt, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Lawrence University, discussed how developmentally teenagers are much stronger than children physically and emotionally but yet the rate of disability and mortality is 200% higher than it is for children. Teenagers have difficulty managing emotions which can lead to suicide and risky behaviors. Emotion regulation is managing or modulating emotions. We often think of this in terms of suppressing negative emotions so that we can deal with the situation at hand. We regulate our emotions by controlling attention, controlling thoughts, suppressing/inhibiting thoughts or reappraisal. The center of our emotions is located in the front part of the brain or the prefrontal cortex. We now know that the brain is extremely plastic, the adult brain can grow new neurons, neurogensis takes place in the hippocampus and the brain continues to develop in the second decade in life. No two neurons touch in the brain – there is space between them. At birth, there is a lot of space between the neurons so that the brain is ready to soak up information and learn new things. By the age of 6, we have a densely packed brain. At 14, it is already thinning out. It is thought that the brain has several pruning periods throughout development (at age 5, 10 and 14) that gets rid of unneeded connections. This is why it is important that kids learn and are exposed to new things so they don’t lose the plasticity in the brain to learn those things at the same level. One of the manifestations of emotion regulation difficulty that they see in adolescence is depression. After the age of 15, the rate of depression increases. Starting at age 18, the rate of depression in women is 1 out of 4 and that stays the same throughout the lifespan. In men, the rate is 12%. One of the areas of research that Prof. Hilt is studying is rumination where people try to manage their negative emotions by thinking about them a lot. People who ruminate are more at risk of becoming depressed. It is thought that rumination takes place in the hippocampus (learning and memory center that keeps things at the front of our minds). People who are depressed have a smaller hippocampus than people who are not depressed. Depression is associated with neurodeath and a lack of neurogensis. Prof. Hilt studied to see if there was a genetic cause of rumination. She looked at the gene that encodes a chemical called brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) which is important for neurogensis, plasticity and executive functioning/problem solving. The results of the study indicated that the BDNF gene predicted rumination and symptoms of depression. Another study that Prof. Hilt conducted induced rumination, randomly assigned a brief intervention and measured rumination in real time throughout the study. She found that 2 strategies were effective in controlling attention: mindfulness mediation and distraction (thinking about things outside the study and notice the positive stimuli). We need to help adolescence by teaching them emotion regulation skills to better control their attention. People are researching adolescent risk taking. Adolescents know better but still engage in risky behavior. Some factors include peer influence and brain development. Adolescents can perform the go task (go / no go tasks that measures inhibition) but have difficulty with the no go task as compared to children and adults. Other examples of emotion regulation difficulties in adolescence include: eating disorders, anxiety disorders, substance abuse and non-suicidal self injury. The adolescent brain may be to blame since it is more sensitive to reward and the hippocampus structure and prefrontal cortex are changing. Emotion regulation during adolescence may be really challenging since emotions may be high, inhibitory control is not fully developed, sensitive reward system and stress/peers. We can help by supporting social and emotional learning efforts in schools and by providing support for teens to engage in exercise, meditation, pay attention to positive stimuli and an enriching environment (i.e. music and art).

Sharing Around (the World) Medical Project - Jamaica Shipment

Attached are pictures of the three most recent activities of the SAMP shipment to the Christiana club in Jamaica. The club is grateful for the assistance of all these groups and persons as it “Reaches within to Embrace Humanity”.

Rotary on the Road - Goodwill Industries Shiner Center

Bob Pedersen told how the Goodwill Movement began 110 years ago by Dr. Edgar Helms, a pastor at the Morgan Methodist Chapel in Boston. Now, there are 166 independent autonomous Goodwill organizations generating $4.3 billion each year.

Goodwill Industries of Northcentral Wisconsin is the 14 largest Goodwill in the country. It has retail stores for donated goods; post retail; provides vocational, community/diversity, financial and family programs and services; and a Community Center that contains 24 agencies providing a one stop shop for programs and services. Last year, Goodwill touched the lives of 48,000 people.

Bruce Senn took us on a tour of the Shiner Center which is currently undergoing a $3.5 million remodeling project including a production area, warehouse and outlet center. The outlet center is the last chance for the public to purchase items by the pound which gives Goodwill a new customer base. The area with the most growth potential is e-commerce – shopgoodwill.com. Goods Made Good was established to use material to design patterns and make products such as scarves, skirts, handbags, etc. Goodwill not only provides training and work opportunities for those with barriers to employment but also tries to find innovative ways to sell or use items donated so that they stay out of the landfill. The renovation of the Shiner Center should be completed by February 2013. By: Kathy Dreyer

Rotary on the Road - Fox Cities Performing Arts Center

About 20 of us gathered at the Performing Arts Center for an “Insider’s Tour”. We started in Room 180 for lunch. During a big show, this room would be filled with wigs and costumes. After some enlightening theater trivia, we were joined by the Center’s Production Stage Manager Pete Duecker and proceeded on our tour of the dressing rooms, the stage (where we encountered the ‘ghost light’) and we even got to “ride” on the Orchestra Pit Lift. We learned about lighting, screening and just how all those big sets can be literally “dropped in” during a show. Upon leaving the stage, we split into 2 groups. One group accompanied Susan to the second level of the house to see the Partner’s Lounge, Founders Room and Entrance 21 and walk through the theatre from the point of view of the first row of the Dress Circle.

The more adventurous among us went with Pete up a lift the size of a phone booth to the fly rail for a bird’s eye view of the stage and saw the rigging. We were then taken up to the lighting grid which is 8 stories above ground level! After this tour, I have a far greater appreciation for many of the “Behind the scenes” things that happen to make a show come off well. I will, no doubt, enjoy my next show at the PAC a little more as a result. By: Matt Rehbbein

Rotary on the Road - Festival Foods

Rotarians enjoyed learning about Festival Foods’ commitment to be an innovative grocer that makes a positive difference in the communities it serves. Rotary is an important relationship as are various non-profit organizations. Festival has 16 store locations at present, and is looking forward to opening number 17 in Neenah by the end of 2012.

Festival employs three nutritionists, including Leah Anderson. Leah introduced the group to the NuVal system, an objective calculation of the nutritional value of various products. The higher the NuVal score, the better its nutritional value. Festival’s nutritionists provide information on its website and through informational presentations like the one Rotary heard, aiming to provide helpful information to the community to help consumers make smart shopping choices. Leah emphasized “trading up” to higher valued items within product categories. Festival also promotes its “Eat Well” program, labeling certain products with this program name to indicate it is a healthy choice adhering to the program’s higher standards. By: Curt Detjen

Rotary on the Road - St. Elizabeth's Hospital

Nineteen Rotarians gathered at St. Elizabeth's hospital for an introduction to the new facility by Dr. Lawrence Donatelle, and a quick-step walking tour led by Tara Pearce. We began in the beautiful new main entrance, which was part of the first phase of the expansion, remodeling process along with the new parking facility. The Heart/Lung/Vascular unit was next, and the third phase is underway, including a Cancer center, Women and Family center and a combined Emergency and Surgical Preparation Area (known as SPA). These last two are adjacent to each other and allow overflow from one to the other if necessary.

Dr. Donatelle noted that a major project currently being developed is Catalpa, a children and adolescent mental health service. This is a collaboration between Affinity, Children's Hospital and Thedacare. He also discussed the special emphasis that Affinity, a part of Ministry Health Care System, has on care for the poor. There is an effort to provide "right care in the right place", using LEAN principles, and a need to balance the "mission and the margin" in providing care for everyone - the fully insured, the underinsured and the uninsured, medicare and medicaid patients.

Following his presentation, we toured the new sections of the hospital. Eventually, most public walkways between functional areas will be along the exterior of the building, with floor to ceiling windows on the outside, helping people find their bearings on the large property. Public walkways will mainly be separated from hospital patient areas, increasing privacy for patients. By: Barbara Kelly

Rotary on the Road - Bassett Mechanical

It started as a refrigeration company in l936. Seventy Five years later Bassett Mechanical Contractors and Engineers of Kaukauna is a global enterprise employing 345 persons.

Rotarians Tuesday toured the sprawling facility viewing its high tech approach to heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration manufacture and component assembly. The firm now in its third generation of family management is known for its expertise in ammonia refrigeration, carbon capture systems, air handling , waste water, wind tunnel , food and beverage and health worldwide.
In 2009 the firm was recognized as a Wisconsin Family Business with leadership in LEED and ISO certifications. Submitted by: Roy Valitchka

Rotary Shines Live Auction - Trips to South Africa

The live auction will include 2 South Africa Photo Safari’s for 2. The trip includes 6 days / 6 nights of luxury accommodations, 3 meals per day and 2 daily open Land Rover trips with experienced guides. This trip is a tantalizing taste of the wild in the heart of Africa’s richest conservation regions. You can experience elephants, rhinos, leopards, giraffes, hippos, zebras, cheetahs, buffalos and many more plains game. It does not include air fare or transfers. This package is also not transferable and is non-refundable. If anyone would like to have more information about this trip to be auctioned off at Rotary Shines, they can visit the resorts website atwww.zulunyala.com.