Bright Future Awards 2013

BRIGHT FUTURE 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

Stephanie Lotto

Tomchai Yang

Appleton East  – Brandon Schnese

Kyle Stolzman

Ibuki Lennon

John Lee

Appleton North – Matt Hechel

Kelli Nottelet

Kory Lain

Appleton West – Matt Knutsen

Savannah Begay

Joe Wright

Thanks to the Youth Services and Education Awards Committee for arranging the Youth Recognition Award programs: Ralph DeMarco (Co-Chair), Karen Dorn (Co-Chair), Bill Breider, Bret Buxton, Steve Gineris, Paul Hillmer, Kathleen Lhost, Mark McGinnis, Martin Rudd 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.

2013 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.  The silent auction consisted of items such as overnight stays, gift baskets, gift certificates, art and jewelry.  A live auction featured five items:  an Entrance 21 package at the Performing Arts Center; and 2 trips for 2 to Africa, a stone fire pit and 2 MetJet tickets.  Thank you for supporting this year’s club initiatives:  Fox Valley Memory Project, a collaborative project with Rotary Club of Gangavathi, India to provide drinking water to school children and PolioPlus. 

Thanks to the following sponsors:  Community First Credit Union, Goodwill Industries and Network Health (Presenting Sponsors); Ah-Ha, American National Bank, Barb Merry & Gail Popp, Boldt, Nicolet National Bank, Pfile Homes, Schenck and Stifel Nicolaus (Supporting Sponsors); and Bassett Mechanical, Curt and Jean Detjen, Epiphany Law, Fiduciary Partners, Val Wylie and Tom Nelson.

Thanks to the Fundraising Committee for putting on this wonderful event:  Michelle Devine-Giese (Co-Chair), Ruth Ann Heeter (Co-Chair) Chad Hershner, Tom Berkedal, Shane Lathrop, Jennifer Stephany, Gail Popp, Megan Klubertanz, Nancy Heykes, Nancy Johnshoy and Trey Neher.

                                               

The remaining 3 ticket holders split the prize and received the following:

Tom Boldt - $583.33

Bryan Kluesendorf - $583.33

Shipra Seefeldt - $583.33

Rotary Shines - TONIGHT

Rotary Shines will be held on TONIGHT,  April 19 from 6:00-10:00 p.m. at the OuterEdge located at 303 N. Oneida Street in Appleton (former church on the corner of Oneida and Franklin Streets).  Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. There is a parking lot located on the side of the building off Oneida Street.  Please enter in the front of the building.  (There is a handicap entrance/ramp located on the side of the building by the parking lot.)

BUILDING WISCONSIN INTO THE SILICON VALLEY OF WATER TECHNOLOGY

Rich Meeusen, The Water Council, discussed how southeastern Wisconsin was built on the back of wet industries.  These are the industries that came to Wisconsin because we have 21% of the world’s freshwater outside our back door – the Great Lakes.  Milwaukee was not only the beer capital but there were also tanneries, papermaking, lumber, steel and meatpacking.  Milwaukee has lost many of these industries.  In 1848, Germany consisted of independent kingdoms.  People started uprising against the kingdoms to throw out the royalty because they wanted independence.  It was the skilled craftsmen who led these revolts which failed.  There was a mass exodus out of Germany to Milwaukee which was a German city.  As a result, many machine shops or water technology companies started.  In 1922, Milwaukee’s forefathers knew that they were about water – how to move, process, pump and clean it.  About 5 years ago, the Milwaukee region was struggling with its identity and needed to determine what it was good at.  Meeusen suggested that they were about water.  No one really wanted to focus on water.  He went to Julia Taylor, Greater Milwaukee Committee, to explore this idea.  They went to U. W. Milwaukee to have graduate students find out how many water technology companies there were in southeastern Wisconsin and if there was any greater concentration of water technology companies in the world.  The students found out that there were 150 water technology companies and there was no place in the world that had this many.  These companies are all involved in the process of finding water, cleaning it, delivering it, using it wisely and returning it to nature.  Meeusen and Taylor wanted to bring these companies together to make southeastern Wisconsin the silicon valley of water technology.  Taylor suggested that to do this Meeusen needed to come up with a city that tried to do this and failed and another city that tried this and succeeded.  Meeusen used the example of Disneyland that opened in 1955 in Anaheim, California.  Anaheim wanted to turn into the tourist capital of the world but for the next 20 years did nothing. Disney then went to Orlando and opened Disney World. In 1972, the city leaders in Orlando got together and talked about it becoming the tourist capital of the world.  They got the tourist industry to work with venture capitalists, the universities, government and nonprofits.  Today, they have Sea World, Universal Studios, a large convention center, expanded airport and the University of Central Florida is the #2 rated school for tourism and hospitality management. Orlando accomplished their goal.  Meeusen convinced Governor Doyle to create the School of Fresh Water Sciences at U. W. Milwaukee.  Today, there are 50 students enrolled in this program.  The new school is under construction and will serve 200 students (1,000 students were turned away).  U. W. Whitewater offers a minor in water with any business degree.  Marquette offers courses in Eastern Water Law.  MATC offers a 2 year degree in water technology.  Paid internships were also created.  By bringing these educational institutions together, a talent pipeline has been created.  Water is becoming a major problem everywhere and it is only going to get worse.  The United Nations reports that a child dies every 20 seconds from lack of fresh water.  With the companies and talent that are being built, technology can be developed to solve the world’s water problems.  Meeusen went to Israel and visited a company that offered free office/lab space to any entrepreneur who has an idea about water technology.  After this trip, he thought that this would be a good to create this in Milwaukee.  Two years ago, a building was purchased in order to build the Global Water Technology Center.  It will be finished in August.  It will contain the School of Fresh Water Sciences, U. W. Milwaukee School of Engineering, The Water Council, a law office, an accounting office, U. W. Whitewater graduate students, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (that will offer free rent to develop water technology, six $50,000 grants and free apartments), water technology companies, confluence gallery, flow lab and research facility.  Meeusen believes that The Water Council can grow this region around water and stop a child from dying every 20 seconds from lack of fresh water. 

Rotary Shines

Rotary Shines will be held on Friday, April 19 from 6:00-10:00 p.m. at the OuterEdge located at 303 N. Oneida Street in Appleton.  The cost is $100 which admits two adults.  Heavy hors d'oeuvres will be provided by Fox Banquets.  This is our club’s one and only fundraising event.  Please make sure to purchase your ticket next week. 

Live auction items include:

·       2 Africa trips for two

·       Two round trip tickets to Orlando/Ft. Myers

·       Entrance 21 package for 12 to Hello Dolly on October 30 at 7:30 p.m. 

·       Stone fire pit installed by Oberstadt Landscaping

Silent auction items include:

·       Private 1 hour Planetarium show for 98 guests at the Barlow Planetarium

·       Original painting by Phil Sealy

·       18 holes of golf for four with carts at Ridgeway Golf Club

·       Chaska golf package

·       One night lodging at the Copperleaf Hotel with $50 gift certificate to Bella Vita Ristorante and 30 minute massage at Spa BenMarNicos.

·       Two night Country House stay in Door County

·       One night’s lodging at the Radisson paper Valley Hotel and $100 gift certificate to Lombardi’s

·       2 tickets to an opening night of the Broadway season, $100 gift certificate for Apollon and a bottle of wine

·       4 tickets to SUDS May 23-25 at U. W. Fox Valley

·       And many, many more

It is an evening of fun, fellowship and will benefit the Fox Valley Memory Project and clean water projects for school children in Gangavathi, India and Burundi, Africa, and Polio Plus

Family of Rotary Volunteer Opportunity

Family of Rotary is partnering with Coventry Glass to participate in a creative community project and it involves you!  Coventry Glass is undertaking a volunteer project with various groups and donated materials to provide ‘art in the park’ to be installed this year in Arbutus Park.  The art work consists of two large mosaic panels (of glass and other fun materials) to be permanently mounted at Arbutus Park.  

Rotary volunteers are needed to help complete this exciting new community project!  We need 5 people per shift on Apr. 25, 26 & 27 with shifts from 1-3pm on all 3 days.  Sign up at club meetings on Apr. 16^th & 23^rd or email Kathy Dreyer at dreyer.kathy@gmail.com .  Come be a part of this exciting opportunity to network and complete a beautiful community treasure!  

CHARLES AND ADELE HEETER OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP AWARDS

The Charles and Adele Heeter Outstanding Community Leadership Award is bestowed on Rotarians or individuals of the Appleton/Fox Cities community who exemplify the Rotary Motto of “Service Above Self” by providing significant Rotary and/or community leadership and/or service through the use of his/her time, talent or treasury.  Such leadership and/or service should reflect the standards described in the Rotary Four Way Test.  These individuals should also demonstrate a strong commitment to volunteerism in one of the four Rotary Avenues of Service outside the scope of his/her normal job responsibilities. The Rotary Club of Appleton has a tradition of giving out this award which is accompanied with a Paul Harris Fellowship.  It originated when Charles Heeter made a donation in the amount of $25,000 to the Appleton Rotary Foundation.  The Charles Heeter Fund was then started to recognize outstanding community leaders.  Today, this endowment fund is over $100,000 because of the generous donations from Rotarians and investment results. 

Today, the Rotary Club of Appleton presented Dr. Susan and Reverend John McFadden with Charles and Adele Heeter Outstanding Community Leadership Awards for helping our community become one of the first in the country to earn the designation “dementia friendly community”.  They spent 3 years exploring the ways in which other countries are providing services and hospitality to those with progressive memory loss and their caregivers.  While touring England, they discovered that Rotary had established memory café’s throughout the country.  John and Susan have written a book on this topic and started a community initiative to establish the Fox Valley Memory Project.  Today, there are 3 memory cafes in the Fox Valley and a Care Partners Welcome Center to help individuals find information and support. 

                        

                                 Dr. Susan  and Reverend John McFadden                                  

Egide Nimubona grew up in Burundi, Africa where he attended elementary school and high school. He attended college in Moscow on a scholarship. After graduation, he returned to Burundi where he taught college. He has been living in North America since 1994 where he teaches engineering at FVTC. He visits Burundi from time to time and is always saddened by the hardship that poor children face.  He identifies with these children. He also came from a peasant family that scarified to keep him and his siblings in school. Egide started the Burundi Education Fund to provide materials and financial support to students and schools in extreme poverty in Burundi. The fund’s ultimate goal is to help children remain in school and eventually become self-reliant adults, leading to a break in the cycle of excessive poverty in their families.  Burundi is one of the poorest countries on earth. This fund will help give these young people a chance to grow, to learn, and to create lasting opportunities for change. Ignoring the basic needs for these students and the poor schools they attend would be turning our backs on the tragedies of civil war and the vicious cycle of poverty that have crippled Burundi for decades. Egide was also presented with a Charles and Adele Heeter Outstanding Community Leadership Award.

Egide Nimubona

Family of Rotary Sponsoring Happy Hour

The Melting Pot

Wednesday, April 10^th from 5-7 p.m.

2295 W. College Ave. in Appleton

Cash Bar, Sampling of Appetizers Provided and Appetizers to Purchase

With our Spring melting comes The Melting Pot! Bring a spouse, significant other, friend, potential Rotarian – and join us at The Melting Pot as we relax in their guest room reserved for us.  Get to see old friends and meet new ones, and just enjoy camaraderie and conversation.  This is a great way to get to know each other better – and earn a makeup as well!

Family of Rotary Survey

Thank you to the many club members who responded to our recent survey concerning activities we organize to build better friendships!  As a result of the survey we have concluded the following…

·       Coordinating activities that are geared toward involving children does not seem to be a priority. 

·       We will focus on attending activities as spectators vs. participants (i.e. attend a sporting event vs. participating in a sporting event).    

·       We will choose activities where fellowship building is possible or can relatively easily be incorporated into the activity. 

Thank you again for your feedback!  Family of Rotary Committee

APPLETON REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP-BUILDING COLLABORATION AROUND OUR LOCAL ECONOMIC FUTURE

Larry Burkhardt, Executive Vice President of the Appleton Regional Partnership, discussed how economic development is a community wealth building process that is done by supporting primary sector businesses (a company that derives a majority of its revenue by selling a product or service outside the community).  This process brings new dollars to the local economy.  The intent of the Appleton Regional Partnership is to improve the quality of life for our local residents by supporting the activities of business development.  They plan to stimulate the local economy so that people can make their house payment, buy a new car, send kids to college and do some of the things that are important to their quality of life.  The Fox Valley has not had an economic development program.  There are 5,000 organizations like this throughout the country enticing companies to come to their own communities.  Our community is not immune to economic decline.  Communities without economic development struggle.  Within the last several months, Kewanee Power Plant announced they will be closing and 600 jobs lost and Oshkosh Truck announced 350 layoffs in the first part of this year.  The Appleton Regional Partnership is an affiliate of the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce.  They are a public/private partnership whose board consists of 16 public sector entities and 43 private sector companies.  This effort began when the Board of Directors of the Chamber realized that there was no one looking out for the economic development needs of this region.  In 2011, the Chamber commissioned a consultant to do a full evaluation of our community and evaluate 74 different attributes.  Overall, there were a dozen attributes rated better than average, a dozen less than average and the remaining in the middle.  The goal of this report is to support the announcement of 1200 new primary jobs in our global economy over the next 5 years.  Annually, this would generate over $75 million in new payroll, $141million in new positive economic activity and generate $4.7 million in property taxes to support local government.  The Appleton Regional Partnership needs to establish relationships with existing primary employers and provide them with the resources for them to become more competitive and in the process add new jobs.  So far this year, 27 formalized visits have been made that have turned up specific issues that are currently being addressed.  In addition, they will be looking at attracting new companies into the area specifically 4 main targets:  food processing, transportation/equipment manufacturing, innovative manufacturing and quality business services.  A regional (Outagamie County, Calumet County and the upper half of Winnebago County) approach was decided because in order to do economic development on a national or international level, you have to build the biggest and most integrated picture.  If a company wants to expand their market, they go to a site selector who performs a detailed analysis on considerations such as labor, education, transportation and business climate. The primary tool in economic development for attraction is website presence.  The Appleton Regional Partnership is working on developing a website and a plan to go out and meet with site selection consultants.  Some of the challenges the Appleton Regional Partnership faces is competition and branding/awareness of our area.  Our area is known for having a good work force ethic, quality community and high school graduation rate of 90%.