Eau Claire Rotary - President Messages - A Message from 2009-10 Past-President Jacqe Lahn

(Editor’s Note: At the end-of-year Recognition and Installation Celebration, 2007-08 President Sam Stagliano made the following remarks and installed the officers and committee chairs for the 2008-09 Rotary year.)

Welcome

Welcome Rotarians and Guests to our Annual Recognition and Installation Celebration for the Rotary Club of Eau Claire.

We are pleased to have guests with us tonight and would like to take a few moments to have Rotary members introduce themselves and their guests.

Meeting Prayer

Our prayer this evening is in our programs and as Rotarians we usually sing it.

I would ask all of the Rotarians to please stand and Chris DeBruyckere will lead us in the prayer.

Dinner

Entertainment

I would like to thank our group of young, talented musicians that provided us with the live Jazz music tonight. Please join me in a round of applause to thank them.

Thank you to the Eau Claire Golf & Country Club for the excellent meal.

Thank you to Angela Hite and Jerry Reinecke for organizing tonight’s

event.

Program

2007-2008 Rotary Year in Review:

The Rotary International Theme for 2007 – 2008 was “Rotary Shares”.

One year ago at this Celebration as the incoming president, I asked all of you as Club Members to take this fundamental spirit of generosity and share in our community, and you certainly did.

You have given generously of your time and resources. Coupled with your willingness to be involved and put “Service Above Self”, the lives of individuals in the greater Eau Claire community and beyond have undoubtedly been influenced and likely changed in a positive way.

Let me remind you of a few of the many ways in which the Rotary Club of Eau Claire shared in our Community and beyond in the 2007-2008 Rotary year.

In our Community Service area under the leadership of Barb Wiedenbeck, our club donated close to $8,000 to a number of local organizations this past year:

· Boys & Girls Club of Chippewa Valley – kitchen improvements.

· Chamber Youth Leadership Eau Claire – scholarship sponsorship.

· Chippewa Valley Museum.

· Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra – Children’s Concert supporter.

· Junior Achievement – education programming.

· Junior League Backpack Project.

· Junior League “Kids in the Kitchen” Project.

· Altoona, Memorial, North and Regis High School Graduation Parties.

· Eau Claire Safety Patrol Trip.

· Memorial High School Heifer International Trip.

· Special Kids Day Inc – celebration for kids with Special needs for Eau Claire and Chippewa Counties.

· Pledged funds to support the development of the Half Moon Lake second Accessible Dock Project.

The Club conducted Bell Ringing for the Salvation Army… our thanks to Jack Bartingale for his work in organizing this annual campaign.

Also, some of our club members volunteered at the Special Olympics State Sports tournament for Bocce Ball… our thanks to Barb Wiedenbeck for organizing that project.

Some of the larger Club projects of the year included:

· Past President Laura Talley led the continued effort on a Literacy project that started in 2005-2006 and was concluded this year. Literacy Kits were developed and four local groups are making use of them:

o Eau Claire Area School District Head Start Program

o Literacy Volunteers & Family Literacy

o Western Dairyland Head Start

o Bolton Refuge House

Thanks Laura for your perseverance on this project!

· $5,000 in Scholarships for 6 area high school students to further their education. Thanks to Janine Wildenberg for her work on this and her work on the Youth Rotar monthly recognition of 36 outstanding high school students.

In the International Service area under the leadership of Mark Morse, the Rotary Club of Eau Claire has been a strong supporter of Rotary International programs. During this past year, the Club:

· Hosted a Group Study Exchange Team from Argentina – many thanks to Mark Morse who organized venues, lodging, entertainment and travel for our guests from Argentina.

· Hosted an Inbound Youth Exchange Student – Richard Handoko from Jakarta, Indonesia. The Youth Exchange Program truly changes lives of the next generation. The student spends almost one year in the USA and gains tremendous self-confidence, an appreciation for cultural differences while at the same time recognizing our human similarities.

We need to recognize the efforts of our Youth Exchange Officer, Sherry Mohr and our Youth Exchange Counselor, Robin Shih, for all their hard work in making the Youth Exchange program very successful this past year.

Sherry and Robin brought boundless energy to the Youth Exchange program; Angie Niska, Tom McCarty and several other club members also gave time and energy to the program.

· We Pledged to contribute another $2,000; bringing our two year club commitment to $4,000, to support the Rotary Group 1 project to build a well in La Labor, Mexico… special thanks to Mark Morse and Tom McCarty for their leadership on this ongoing project.

· The Club also contributed $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation and supported their Rotary Polio Plus Campaign.

The Club’s ability to provide funding and financial support to all these activities depends in large part on the annual fund raising activity… the poinsettia and chocolate sale. We need to thank Vicki Hoehn and Lisa Stelter for leading and managing this annual event.

In the Vocational Service area under the leadership of Marcia Van Beek, we had two excellent club visitations:

· The first visit was to UW-Eau Claire for the Center of International education with students from various countries… special thanks to Chancellor Brian Levin-Stankevich and Marcia Van Beek.

· And the second was to Ayres Associates where we toured the Eau Claire facility and were shown how they were involved in a wide range of projects around the country. Special thanks to Dave Pantzlaff.

In the Club Service area under the leadership of Angela Hite:

· We had a Rotary Group One picnic and Eau Claire Express baseball game with the five rotary clubs in the Chippewa Valley… special thanks to Michael Golrick.

· We also had an excellent Christmas luncheon and tonight’s Outstanding Recognition and Installation Ceremony.

· The weekly programs organized by Ron Dulitz and Sue Hesketh were always interesting, informative and well received.

· From a public relations perspective, Chris DeBruyckere did an excellent job of promoting our Rotary activities through out the year.

When I review this impressive list of contributions, there is no doubt in my mind that the Club’s activities are making a positive impact on people and organizations today and into the future.

As a direct result of the all the efforts of the members of the Rotary Club of Eau Claire in completing those projects and donations during the past year, our club once again received the Rotary International Presidential Citation. This citation is issued by the RI President to local Rotary Clubs that achieved at least one goal in five theme areas of Rotary operations: Membership, Club Service, Community Service, Vocational Service and International Service.

Again, none of our club accomplishments would occur without the contributions of our members and their willingness to be involved and SHARE in our community.

All organizations change and as members move on to other activities or locations in their lives, new members are welcomed to help in accomplishing goals.

Let’s take a moment to recognize our newest club members that joined during this past Rotary year. Please stand if you are present and hold your applause until all are mentioned:

· Luke Wren

· Rhonda White

· Wendy Gustofson

· Deb Severson

· Dave Pantzlaff

· Sara Antonson

· Rob Kreibich

· Jane Gobler

· Bob Schmidt

· Terry Klonecki

· Gary Gilger

· Scott Johnson

· Andrew Semb

Let’s give a round of applause to our new members.

Rotary Clubs operate best when the members are involved. From my perspective, none of the accomplishments noted previously happen in a vacuum or from the efforts of a single individual. It takes a group of dedicated club members to complete projects and reach goals.

I have already noted some of our member’s names associated with specific projects. Now, I would like to recognize the members who served as Club Officers, Avenue of Service Chairs and Subcommittee Chairs during 2007-2008.

When I call your name please come forward to receive a gift of appreciation and then return to your seat. Please hold your applause until the end.

· Club Officers:

o President-elect – Don Huebscher

o Vice-president – Jacqe Lahn

o Secretary – Jon Niebergall

o Executive Secretary /Treasurer – Jerry Reinecke

o Past President – Tom McCarty

· Avenue of Service Chairs:

o Community Service Chair – Barb Wiedenbeck

o Club Service Chair – Angela Hite

o International Service Chair – Mark Morse

o Vocational Service Chair – Marcia Van Beek

· Committee Chairs

o Poinsettia / Chocolates Sale Co-Chairs – Vicki Hoehn and Lisa Stelter.

o Uthrotars – Janine Wildenberg.

o Programs Co-chairs – Ron Dulitz and Sue Hesketh.

o Public Relations – Chris DeBruyckere

o Youth Exchange Officer – Sherry Mohr

o Youth Exchange Counselor – Robin Shih

o Rotary Foundation – Bill Hilgedick

o Membership – Mike Welsh

Please join me in a round of applause in thanking these individuals!

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