Holiday Meeting Schedule

The Rotary Club of Appleton will not be meeting on December 24th or 31st. 

Holiday Celebration

Our Holiday Celebration began with Frank Rippl playing the piano. President Peter welcomed members and guests.  John McFadden gave the invocation. He talked about how this year we don't have the Christmas culture wars.  Instead people are accommodating many displays of the various cultures.  Do we tell people Happy Holidays or to have a Merry Christmas?  Etiquette looks past words and instead focuses on good intentions.  Christmas is a hopeful gift.    Scriptures say that "Light shines in darkness and the darkness has not overcome it". 
 
Lunch consisted of seared turkey medallions topped with cranberry-apple sauce and served with spaghetti squash and garlic mashed potatoes or quinoa stuffed portabella mushrooms.  

After lunch, Tony Gonzalez talked about how the Fox Valley Symphony is in its 47th season and have 60-80 musicians who perform 5 concerts in the Symphony Series at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center .  In addition, smaller groups perform around the community. Today, 4 members of the Symphony's string quartet played holiday favorites such as The First Noel, Let it Snow, Silver Bells, Frosty the Snowman, White Christmas, The Christmas Song, Come All Ye Faithful, Joy to the World and Silent Night.

Thanks to the Family of Rotary Committee for arranging this program:  Tony Gonzalez (Chair), Ruth Ann Heeter, Nancy Heykes, Nancy Johnshoy and Eric Oelhafen.  Also thanks to Frank Rippl for playing the piano, Fox Valley Symphony's string quartet, the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel and staff for the wonderful lunch and service they provide us every Tuesday and everyone who made a donation to COTS. 

Holiday Celebration

The holiday season is here and it is time once again for the annual Rotary Holiday luncheon hosted by the Family of Rotary Committee.  This year’s event will be held at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel on Tuesday, December 17 from 11:30 to 1:15 P.M.  Please make sure to get there early since we will be having a served lunch versus a buffet.  Entertainment will be provided by the Fox Valley Symphony.   There will be a $12.00 charge for guests and “attendance not required” members.  Please sign up before Friday, December 13 so that we can let the  Radisson know how many to expect.

 

As is our holiday tradition, we will again collect cash donations and items for those in our community who are less fortunate.  This year’s charitable recipient is COTS, whose mission is Ending Homelessness in the Fox Valley.  COTS is a transitional homeless shelter in Appleton that focuses on addressing the root causes of homelessness.  The COTS Program helps 70 men, women and children experiencing homelessness transform their lives.   Donations of cash and goods will be collected at the Holiday Lunch.

World Service Committee

The World Service Committee is charged with initiating, investigating, planning, coordinating and implementing new and existing opportunities for our club's international service activities.  The goal of the committee is to help our club serve on an international basis, which will allow us to promote peace and goodwill among all people.  The committee is accepting grant applications that focus on water/sanitation and economic sustainability through female literacy that will come from the proceeds of Rotary Shines. It would also be beneficial to have Rotary involvement in another country, matching fund from another club/organization, local  involvement and the ability to monitor/report on the progress of the project.  Applications can be found on our website (www.appletonrotary.org) or contact Jeff Werner or Kathy Dreyer.

Nonprofit Roundtable

Over the years, the Club has had many inquiries from nonprofit organizations to make presentations about their organizations to inform members about what they do.  Today, members were assigned a table with a director/executive of a nonprofit organization.  Each director/executive director made a presentation and then time was left for discussion and questions. 

Appleton Downtown, Inc. - Jennifer Stephany:  Appleton Downtown, Inc. (ADI) is a not-for-profit community coalition dedicated to an economically strong, safe, attractive and exciting downtown.  ADI's mission is to make Downtown Appleton a vibrant and accessible destination for business, learning, living and leisure.   They focus their attention to business retention and recruitment by creating a vibrant lineup of events and promotions to market downtown Appleton such as the farm market, lunch and evening concerts, Death by Chocolate, Soup Walk, Octoberfest arts and crafts, parades and Art on the Town.  ADI works closely with the City of Appleton Public Works Department to keep the central city a clean and attractive place to work or play.   When it comes to safety, Appleton has been ranked as one of the nation's safest cities. 

Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass - Jan Smith:  Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass rebranded to focus its attention on glass art as its core area of expertise and evolving history.  By focusing its educational efforts in the area of glass art, the  museum can use its distinct network to bring new educational and exhibit opportunities to the community and connect participants to an international world of art, science and invention through glass resulting in increased visibility of the museum in the Fox Cities as a destination, unique offerings and economic impact.

Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes, Inc., - Amy Flanders:  At Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes, we are honored to, "Build girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place." For over 100 years, Girl Scouts has been committed to giving girls new opportunities. The cookie program teaches financial literacy, camp gives the wonder and beauty of outdoor adventures, and traditional programming provides leadership skills that girls need to be successful. The Girl Scout Cookie Program is the largest girl-led business and one of the most respected financial literacy programs in the world. Girls who participate in the Cookie Program get hands-on entrepreneurial experience and learn five key skills: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics. When you purchase a box of Girl Scout cookies, you are supporting local girls as they reach their goals and learn essential skills that they'll carry with them throughout their lives. The cookie sale begins January 10, 2014.

Harbor House - Beth Schnorr:  Established in 1984, Harbor House is the only organization offering safe shelter and outreach programming to victims, including children, and survivors of domestic violence throughout Outagamie and Calumet counties. Not only do we provide emergency shelter in our 55-bed facility, but we also offer one-on-one counseling and advocacy, legal advocacy and assistance, support groups, education and resource referrals. Harbor House serves more than approximately 1,800 people annually through our core programs and in 2012 another 11,000+ students, educators and members of various community groups took part in awareness and prevention initiatives.  Our mission is to lead a community-wide partnership in the awareness and prevention of domestic violence and abuse, and to offer safety and support to diverse families in crisis. This mission is carried out in our concentration on our four current strategic initiatives, which serve as overall programming goals: 1) Meet the needs of a more diverse population; 2) Succeed in preventing domestic violence; 3) Increase involvement and diversity among board and committee members; and 4) Maintain a financially secure organization. 

STEP Industries - Michelle Devine-Giese: STEP Industries is a social enterprising offering HOPE to those in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction through transitional employment.  STEP Industries is 95% self supported through the sales of its packaging and assembly services.  In order to serve the mission of STEP, providing soft skills training in a supportive alcohol and drug free environment we partner with local manufactures to provided needed services for their products.  

 

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Fox Valley Region - Greg Woller:  For more than 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is the ability to succeed and thrive in life. As the nation’s largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers (“Bigs”) and children (“Littles”), ages 6 through 18. We develop positive relationships that have a direct and lasting effect on the lives of young people.  Mission: provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.

Fox Valley Symphony - Rosie Cannizzo:  The Fox Valley Symphony is in its 47^th year of providing transformative experiences for our community as a whole, and for the professional musicians in our community who play in the adult orchestra, as well as the thousands of area children who experience the power of symphonic music each year through our Youth Orchestra and our other educational programs. Rotarians at our table shared with each other some meaningful experiences that we’ve each had with live music and art, and how those experiences have touched us and in some cases had a profound impact on our lives. The Fox Valley Symphony works very hard to improve the quality of life for the whole community by providing these magical moments for as many people as we can.

Feeding America - Patti Habeck:  Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin is a food bank serving 36 counties in Eastern Wisconsin, including 27 counties in Northeast Wisconsin.   We provide millions of pounds of food each month to local food pantries, meal programs, and emergency shelters—including vital protein, produce and shelf-stable products.    The demand for food in Northeast Wisconsin from our facility has increased 61% in the past two years, leading us to intensify our work in the region.    We work efficiently and collaboratively to  address the need, and to help find solutions to hunger.

 

Rotary Youth Exchange Student - Flora Prada

Our RYE student from Argentina will be returning back home as her exchange has come to a conclusion.  Flora Prada will be flying out of ATW on Dec 17 (Tuesday) with a scheduled departure of 10:40 am.  

It just seems like yesterday that several Rotarian's met Flora as she arrived earlier this year...........so again we would like to bid her a bon voyage for safe travel home.     

Our club has enjoyed getting to know Flora and hosting her.  Many thanks to all who have helped her during her stay.

Hope you can join us prior to her departure.......around 9:00 - 9:30 am (?) or so if you are available.  I know we all have many things going on so please help get the word out.

HOLIDAY CELEBRATION

The holiday season is here and it is time once again for the annual Rotary Holiday luncheon hosted by the Family of Rotary Committee.  This year’s event will be held at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel on Tuesday, December 17 from 11:30 to 1:15 P.M.  Please make sure to get there early since we will be having a served lunch versus a buffet.  Entertainment will be provided by the Fox Valley Symphony.  Please sign up at the registration table so we have an accurate count of Rotarians and guests.  There will be a $12.00 charge for guests and “attendance not required” members.  Please sign up before Friday, December 13 so that we can let the  Radisson know how many to expect.

As is our holiday tradition, we will again collect cash donations and items for those in our community who are less fortunate.  This year’s charitable recipient is COTS, whose mission is Ending Homelessness in the Fox Valley.  COTS is a transitional homeless shelter in Appleton that focuses on addressing the root causes of homelessness.  The COTS Program helps 70 men, women and children experiencing homelessness transform their lives.   Donations of cash and goods will be collected at the Holiday Lunch.  Attached is a wish list.

UNCOMMON COURTESY AWARDS

The Uncommon Courtesy Awards are given for service above and beyond, unusual and for those who went the "extra mile" for the Rotarian.  Nomination forms can be found online at www.appletonrotary.org.  The nomination deadline is Friday, January 24, 2014 and awards will be presented at our Tuesday, March 4th meeting.  While you are out shopping, take notice of those providing you with exceptional service and nominate them.

Nonprofit Roundtable

Next week, we will be having a Nonprofit Roundtable to inform Rotarians about what  some of the nonprofits are doing in our community.  Members will be assigned tables.  Each of the 10 tables will be hosted by a Rotarian who is the administrator/leader of a nonprofit organization.  Half of the time will be spent on a presentation and the other half will be for questions and discussion.  Hope to see you next week.

ROTARY YOUNG PROFESSIONALS INITIATIVES

Alan Blake discussed how the median age of the founders of Rotary was 38 - Paul Harris being 36.  The median age of our club is between 58-59 with 1/2 being baby boomers, 1/4 under 50 and 1/4 over 70.  Over the past 10-12 years, Rotary International membership has been flat (1.2 million since 2002) with growth being overseas and declining membership in the United States.  There are Interact Clubs for ages 12-18 and Rotaract Clubs for young adults 18-30.  Rotary does a good job for high school and college students but not with young professionals.  Alan has conducted some focus group discussions with young professionals 40 and under and discussed these results with our Board who suggested he do some research with other Rotary Clubs.  At a Rotary International Board meeting on September 2011, it was determined that "The future of Rotary is in our ability to attract new generations . . . this is imperative if Rotary is to continue into the next century."  At this meeting, it was also determined that volunteer rates peak in mid-life (late 30's and 40's), women are more likely to volunteer than men and young professionals are eager to bring new approaches to solving persistent problems.  In 2012, Rotary Districts 5950 and 5960 (Minnesota/Wisconsin), hired a marketing firm to conduct research and develop pilot programs that were tested in several markets around the United States.  Their goals were to learn/develop best practices for engaging younger members and sharing Rotary's messages with a broader audience.  Some of the key points of young professional programs/initiatives were membership cost, meeting/attendance structure (e.g. weekly breakfast or lunch), communication methods/frequency, meeting format/content and perception of being outdated/inflexible/unwelcoming/non-diverse.  The pilot programs found that young professionals focus on community service and networking events rather than weekly meetings; biweekly rather than weekly meetings; focus on social media and word of mouth publicity including follow-up conversations on Facebook, Twitter, etc.; and changes in meeting content/format.  What we are really talking about is CHANGE.  There are New Generations Clubs forming across the United States that have after hours meetings (e.g. 5:30 p.m.) with beverages/appetizers rather than a meal, lower membership dues, frequent social / networking / service projects and activities, and focus on communication via internet/social media.  How can the Rotary Club of Appleton best engage with young professionals in the Fox Valley?  Is this a conversation our Club is ready/willing to have at this time?  If so, what changes do we feel are necessary to attract and engage young professionals?  How can we gain buy-in and support of our existing members for any changes that may be necessary?  Members were asked to write down any comments/feedback to these questions.  If you were unable to attend this meeting, please forward any comments to Alan Blake or Kathy Dreyer.  At the RI September 2011 Board meeting, they determined that New Generations is the future of Rotary and that "we must instill a desire among Rotarians to attract and engage young professionals by building an understanding that engaging the next generation is the only path to the future of Rotary, highlighting that it's an exciting path as well."  Attached is Alan's presentation.