This Week: Ed Futa, The Often Overlooked Magic of Rotary
Mr. Futa's findings and thoughts on what really drives Rotary and Rotarians to undertake life and globally impactful goals and projects.
Ed Futa is the past CEO of Rotary International and our current Rotary representative at the UN.
Last Week: Lee Rasch,
Coping with the Political Divide
Leaders and individuals face unique challenges in today’s contentious political environment. The divisiveness can effect our relationships with family, friends, and co-workers We can find ourselves reacting to the political imbalance rather than focusing on long term growth and engagement. This program will focus on the importance of ethical leadership, and it will include practical tools and approaches that can be helpful in navigating the turbulence.
Lee founded LeaderEthics in March 2018, a non-profit/non-partisan organization committed to promoting ethical leadership among elected officials. He serves as the Executive Director of the organization. Prior to this experience, he served as President of Western Technical College from 1989 to 2017. Throughout his career, he has actively promoted ethical leadership development, continuous improvement, economic development and sustainability at the national, statewide and local levels. He has written numerous articles and extensively provided presentations on these topics. Lee was Chair of the Legislative Committee for the Wisconsin Technical College System for more than 15 years. In his spare time, he plays bass guitar in a 60’s rock band.
Guests are ALWAYS welcome! RSVP in advance to Niki Pohnl if know you are bringing guests but last minute invites are also welcome!
Club Information
Climate Change Committee
Almost all of us are aware of the threat posed by climate change. Rotary International and its Environmental and Sustainability Rotary Action Group (ESRAG)recommends that clubs become active in the fight against climate change. Given this, the Downtown Rotary Club and its Environmental Committee are exploring the creation of a Climate subcommittee.
Prior to forming such a committee, we want to pull together a short-term planning group to decide what would be the work of such a climate subcommittee-what would be it's goals. At this point, we are looking for 4-5 volunteers who would be interested in joining such a group (probably 3-4 meetings). If interested, please email Tom Schlesinger
Rotary Friendship Exchange Host Homes
We are asking you to consider hosting guest from either the Philippines in September or Croatia in October. Host provide a place for guest to sleep and a light breakfast. As a host, you are welcome to participate in the daily activities planned for our guest, but are not obligated to do so. Please contact Mark Jolivette to host in September or Chuck Hanson to host in October.
Meeting Tech Team
Would you be interested in helping to set up technology for our weekly meetings and making any last minute changes if needed to the power point? Team is on a rotating basis and ends up to be approximately once a month. If interested, contact Niki Pohnl.
SAVE THE DATE - TriCon
TriCon is set for April 25-27, 2025. Registration opens in early December. Watch for more details coming soon.
STAR Meeting, September 17th at Noon
Our next STAR Meeting will be Tuesday, September 17th from 12-1pm. Location: The Parenting Place, 1500 Green Bay Street, La Crosse. Hosted by Jodi Widuch and Todd Restel.
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 us.
Al’s Musky Challenge is a Rotary Beneficiaries Club of La Crosse Project that provides opportunity and support
to youth throughout the Coulee Region!
From July 25 through September 30, Rotarian Al Louis will be fishing Lake Vermilion in Northern Minnesota. This Summer, Al will fish with his fishing partners, both named A.J., as well as multiple sponsor guests and fellow Rotarians.
2024 recipients are the Boys and Girls Club of Greater La Crosse and the Family and Children's Center.
Al’s Musky Challenge continues to be dedicated in memory of founding member David Amborn.
Please consider pledging and paying later or donating now.
Help us CELEBRATE WORLD POLIO DAY! Pickleball for Polio takes place at the Blue Zone Pickleball, 2500 Rose Street, La Crosse on Thursday, October 24th, which is World Polio Day.
There are four ways to participate in this fundraiser, all of which include a donation to Polio Plus:
Attend the event - $15 (includes one drink ticket)
Open Pickleball Player - $20
Join in the Pickleball Tournament - $25
Donate!
Items available for purchase at the event: Beverages from Blue Zone. food from Food Truck in the parking lot, bucket raffle tickets, other raffle drawings.
Hosted by: Holmen Area Rotary (Kelly Dunn), La Crosse After Hours Rotary (Marissa Dickinson), Rotary Club of La Crosse (Eva Marie Restel), Onalaska Hilltoppers Rotary (Ramona Lisowski)
Welcome to Week ONE of RI’s Month of Basic Education & Literacy.
Kicking off the new school year and in recognition of this month’s focus on education, Foundation Minute is dedicating this week’s report to TRF’s mission of supporting basic education and literacy, reducing gender disparity in education, and increasing adult literacy.
The Hicksville-Jericho Rotary Club in partnership with the Sarah Grace Foundation for
Children with Cancer, Inc. delivered 48 new back packs and much needed school supplies to Stony Brook Cancer Center and Cohen Children’s Medical Center. “Families with children with cancer often struggle financially to provide everyday items like school supplies while dealing with the high cost of medical care for their children.” said Donna Rivera Downey, president of the Hicksville-Jericho Rotary Club. “This project allows these children to have all new schools supplies without the additional financial burden to their families…This great partnership utilized the resources of the Sarah Grace Foundation for Children with Cancer, Inc. to reach the hospitals and the volunteers of the Rotary club to purchase, organize and deliver the
school supplies.” said Donna Rivera-Downey. “This project was supported by a grant from the Rotary Foundation and Rotary District 7255.
In a related report, Rotary District 7770 is sponsoring two $45,000 scholarships for the 2025-2026 academic year. Adeline Rios and Ryan Lohr have been awarded the Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Global Scholarship for 2024. The goal of the Rotary Foundation Global Grant Scholarship Program is to prepare students for careers in one of Rotary’s seven Areas of Focus and to promote international understanding and friendship among people from different countries. The Rotary Foundation’s Ambassadorial Global Scholarship program, established in 1947, is one of its oldest and most recognized programs. Since its inception, over 41,000 people
from 130 countries have studied abroad through this program.
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