The COVID-19 level for La Crosse County is measuring at a LOWlevel at this time.
Per current CDC guidelines, when a county is in low COVID risk level, wearing masks indoors is optional.
According to the CDC's guidelines, individuals in communities at this level should stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and get tested if you have symptoms, but wear a mask indoors in public if you choose. However, additional precautions may be needed for people at high risk for severe illness. People may choose to mask at any time. If you have been exposed to COVID-19 or test positive, we ask that you follow the CDC guidelines for quarantining/isolating.
PAUL HARRIS FELLOWSHIP AWARDS THIS WEEK!
This Week: Emily Buer, "Be The Match"
Emily Buer is an experienced Recruitment Coordinator at Be the Match. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Southwest Minnesota State University and her Master’s in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from Metropolitan State University. Emily is dedicated to the continued growth of the Be the Match registry and encouraging new members to join.”
“Be The Match is a global leader working every day to save lives through cellular therapy. The Be The Match Registry® is the most diverse registry in the world and includes both adult donors willing to donate to a stranger in need and stored cord blood units. Donation is safe, free and confidential. Unfortunately, not all patients have an equal chance of finding a match. The good news is we have the power to disrupt this disparity and literally save lives.
Last Week at Rotary: Mayor Mitch Reynolds with an update on homelessness in our area
Mitch Reynolds was elected in 2021 to serve as mayor of La Crosse. Mayor Reynolds spoke about initiatives the city of La Crosse is taking to help the homeless population and the seriousness of the problem.
The meal will be Orecchiette pasta with kale, roasted peppers, Italian sausage, and with a roasted butternut squash sauce. Coffee, tea, and milk available at all meals.
RSVP to Niki Pohnl if you are bringing guests please!
Note: If every you see a meal option that does not meet your dietary restrictions, please know the Cargill Room ALWAYS offers an alternate option. See the Sargent at Arms before the meeting for more details.
Note: If you prefer to keep your mask on during the entire meeting, you will be provided a box to make a meal to take home.
STAR Meeting, November 10th at 7am
Our next STAR Meeting will be Thursday, November 10th from 7-8am. Location: Rotary Office in the Capella Performing Arts Center at 721 King Street (enter through the doors on 8th Street (DOOR D) and follow the signs). Hosted by Jodi Widuch and Todd Restel.
Please RSVP through the link below.
STAR - Specialized Training for Action in Rotary....you will meet other new Rotarians from the area. We will provide programs on the Avenue of Service, The Rotary Foundation, and the Rotary Works Foundation, along with other aspects of Rotary. This is a great time to ask questions you may have about our club or Rotary in general. Hope you will be able to join Jodi and Todd on Thursday, November 10th!
Hors d'oevres, cash bar, 50/50 Raffle, and dishes to sample from the student's home country.
Tickets purchased in advance $40/person
Tickets at the door $45/person
(This link goes through Rotary After Hours. You must sign up as a GUEST.)
Funds raised for this even help our students cover the cost for the East or West Coast trip at the end of their exchange. A great way to meet our exchange students and support our own student, Matihilde.
El Tour Tuscon: Ride to End Polio Matching Donation
Former La Crosse City Planner Larry Kirch has again committed to fundraise and ride the 100 mile El Tour de Tuscon. Larry now lives in Scottsdale, AZ and summers in our area with a home in Winona to keep connections with friends here.
Until the pandemic this was an annual event by the many Tucson area Rotary clubs and Larry last participated in 2019. Though Larry is not a Rotarian, he is sponsored by the Tucson Sunset Rotary club.
La Crosse Rotarian Steve O'Malley (and fellow bike rider) is offering a $250 match to any contributions by members of our club who would like to sponsor Larry's ride this year. Steve will be out of town for the November 10th meeting, but back in person on the 17th if you would like to join this fundraiser. they are accepting donations through the end of November. In 2019 La Crosse Downtown Rotarians were Larry's most generous donors to his ride.
Anyone interested in taking up the match challenge can provide a check through Steve, or donate directly on-line at:
https://raise.rotary.org/Larry-Kirch/challenge. If you're curious to learn more about the ride in general, click the link below. Thanks for your consideration, this is an example of non-Rotarians helping to fulfill Rotarian goals.
The Packer Raffle is up and running! The Riverfest Commodores organize this yearly raffle and our club's budget benefits greatly by the number of tickets we collectively sell.
Tickets sell for $10 each. Each ticket has a bar code on the back good for one FREE Lava Wash at Ship Shape Car wash (a $20 value good through 01-31-23.)
1st Prize: 2 tickets to the Packer/Viking game on Sunday, January 1, 2023 at Lambeau
2nd Prize - 2 tickets to Hamilton musical on April 29, 2023 at the Orpheum Theater in MSP
3rd Prize - $500 gift card to Festival Foods
The drawing will be Monday, December 5th at Celebrations. Need not be present to win.
Selling Details: Sign out as many packs of 5 as you would like at club meetings or by contacting Niki Pohnl. Sell your tickets, return the cash/check/Venmo and sales stubs to Niki Pohnl by December 1st.
Our club receives $5 (half the ticket sale price) for every ticket sold. Our goals is to sell 500 tickets.
World Polio Day is October 24th. Some clubs have a tradition to raise funds for Polio Plus in October. District Governor Ben Bauer is also issuing a challenge to our District to raise $130,000 for Polio Plus by March 30, 2023. That is an increase of $11,000 over last year's success. Better yet, when we reach the goal, DG Ben will dye his hair purple in honor of our contributions! Keep reading to for more info and some tools to help us get there!
Rotary Friendship Exchange to India
While there are a few in the works, there is a Rotary Friendship Exchange scheduled for February 4-14, 2023. The group will travel to Mumbai (Bomba), then inland to their district 3170 to visit Maharashtra, Goa, and Karnataka. Contact Dave Clemens as soon as possible if you are interested in being part of the group of 12 to travel there.
"PADDY" Bears Still Available!
The need to help our local food pantries has never been greater. The mission of Rotary Lights is to "feed the hungry". They are selling these bears to help offset some construction costs of larger food pantry, serving thousands of needy families in our area. Bears can be purchase for cash, VENMO, or club account at weekly meetings. Help support WAFER if you can!
District 6250 Sponsored: Two Free Books from Poland
Our club was sent two had copies of "Ola and Boris go to School" and "Ola, Boris, and Their New Friends". These books address some of the issues among children caused by the Ukrainian refugee crisis. We were asked to donate them to our local library.
The books were written in Poland and illustrated in the United Kingdom. The published hard copies have been primarily funded by District 6250. The books are available as a FREE DOWNLOAD.
Download the books below and/or donate toward the project if you wish.
THANK YOU Rotary Clubfor donating your time to serve and your funds for the local food pantry. Our club won first prize at the Ifeed event for most food collected! Thank you to the following volunteers for helping to pack food Saturday morning: Team 1 (shown above): Jeremy and Bridget Thomas (and children), Cassie Hanan, Dean Dickinson, Nell Saunders-Scott, Mark Solyst, Pat Boge, Niki Pohnl, Angela Czerwinski, and Sheila Riley. Team 2 (below): Tony and Sarah Arendt-Beyer, Carolyn Bostrack, Mike and Diana Carey, Tim and Sue Durtsche, Chuck Hanson, Jamie O'Neill, Shaista Shaik, and Ian Turner.
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