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The Thiensville-Mequon Rotary Will Be Meeting at Rotary Park in Mequon on Tuesdays at 12pm Until August 20th!

2019 Summer Schedule at Rotary Park

2019 Summer Schedule at Rotary Park

Tuesday, June 25th: Head Chef - Custer. Crew: Naggs, O'Connor and Gannon

Tuesday, July 2nd: No Meeting

Tuesday, July 9th: Head Chef - Brown. Crew: O'Leary, Schneider, Davis, Moran

Tuesday, July 16th: Head Chef - Mobley. Crew: Milshteyn, Azinger, Joynt

Tuesday, July 23rd: Head Chef - Rowe. Crew: Hertz, Apfelbach, Bonaparte

Tuesday, July 30th: Head Chef - Robertson. Crew: Wiese, MacFarlane, Mader, Kirgues, Lysaught, Johannes

Tuesday, August 6th: Head Chef - Koch. Crew: Davis, Holtz, Sommersberger, Landisch-Hansen

Tuesday, August 13th: Head Chef - Hillman. Crew: Munchin Young, Smith, Lind, Vond Rueden

Tuesday, August 20th - Family Night. Gathering at 5pm, Dinner at 6pm: Head Chef - Custer. Crew: Naggs, Carr, Borland, Vertz

Tuesday, August 27th - First Meeting Back at Ozaukee Country Club

Printable Schedule

Service Above Self

We meet Tuesdays at 12:00 PM
Ozaukee County Club

10823 North River Road
Mequon, WI 53092
United States of America

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Bulletins

Venue Map

Changing of the Guard 2019-2020

Posted by Peterson Apfelbach

On June 18th, we gathered together at the American Legion Post 457 to celebrate our 2018-2019 Rotary year! During this time we were able to Thank Tim Vertz for his service as Club President as well as the board that served during his tenure to help him keep us in line. Following those recognitions, we took some time to honor a few Rotarians who stood out in the last year!

For the first time ever we had recipients of the Sam Azinger Award! This was bestowed upon Ellen MacFarlane, Greg Huffman, Jack Weise, John Wirth, Karl Hertz, Pam Koch, Rob Kos, Sam Azinger, Sandy Custer, Stan Smith, Tim Vertz, Tyler Briggs. All of these members donated $100 or more to the rotary foundation and/or Polio plus in the 2018-2019 year. If you were not in attendance at the Changing of the guard you can expect them this Tuesday at our first outdoor meeting.

Many were also honored for their years of perfect attendance.

Next, we honored Megan Borland with the Service Award!

Rotarian of the Year was presented to Sam Azinger and shared with his children!

Finally, Greg Sommersberger was named an Honorary Paul Harris Fellow for which our club will donate $1,000 in his name to the Rotary Foundation! Following the applause and celebration, to our surprise, Sandy Custer took the microphone and gave out one more award. For her great service to our club, Diane Robertson was given an honorary Paul Harris award having $1,000 donated to the rotary foundation in her name as well!

Once the dust settled, Our New President Rob Kos took time to introduce our new officers and directors for the 2019-2020 rotary year. Those officers and directors are pictured above from left to right as follows.

Pam Koch: Fall into Comedy

Megan Borland: Director of vocational Service

Peterson Apfelbach: Director of Club Service

Heather Mader: Secretary-Treasurer

Sam Azinger: President Elect

Rob Kos: President

Ellen MacFarlane: Director of International Service & Club Outreach

Sandy Custer: Director of Community Service

Calendar of Upcoming Events and Dates

Posted by Peterson Apfelbach

June 25- August 20: Meetings will be held at Rotary Park on Highland Rd. On August 20 we will have Family Night from 5 PM to 7 PM

June 29: Rotary Corn Roast at Fun Before the Fourth in Thiensville Village Park.

July 2: No Meeting: Happy 4th of July!

July 13: We will have a tent at Gathering on the Green. Announcements for how and where to buy tickets will be announce at an upcoming meeting.

July 31: Chinooks Game at 7 PM.

October 10: Fall Into Comedy.

The Rundown - June 23rd, 2019

Posted by Peterson Apfelbach

1. 2019 Summer Schedule has been distributed at meetings by Sandy Custer assigning head chef's and cooking crews for summer meetings. If you don't have your date on your calendar, get it on there.

2. Congratulations to Dianne Robertson for being listed as the club's top member sponsor. She was doing this while she was working, imagine what she's capable of with free time! Way to go Dianne!

3. Thanks to Roger and the OED for the work that they are doing in Ozaukee County. We hope everyone had the opportunity to apply or nominate a business for the 2019 Business of the Year Awards!

4. We are looking for volunteers for the Fun B4 the Fourth corn roast and ice cream stand. Talk to Herb Hillman or Peterson Apfelbach if you are interested.

5. Dan Gannon will be taking ticket orders for the Lakeshore Chinooks game on July 31.

6. Rotary will be sponsoring a tent for Gathering on the Green on Saturday, July 13. Tickets are $100. Enhoy a beautiful evening outdoors listening to great music with a private tent, catering by Ferrante's. craft beer and wine, good friends and a fundraiser for our rotary foundation. Talk to Rob Kos for more information or see the flyer distributed at last weeks meeting.

Ukrainian Visitors

Posted by Peterson Apfelbach

This week, five infrastructure professionals from Ukraine visited our club! In recent years, the government in Ukraine has worked to decentralize its power giving more responsibility to the local governments. During their visit, they took time to learn about the various forms of local government and visit different work sites to better understand the processes we use to keep our infrastructure in great condition.

These wonderful guests were brought to us by Bob Blazich, a member of the Sunrise Club, through Friendship Force, a group funded by congress to bring the best and brightest from the former Soviet Union to help them learn how our communities have been able to grow and prosper.

Guests pictured above from left to right

Alexander works to protect city from natural hazards.

Roman does research on cities open spaces works to have cities be more human centered.

Serhii works with construction and engineering of roads.

Tatiana recently received PhD and now works for her City Council.

Maria works for increased accessibility.

Elisabeth gets her Graduation Ceremony

Posted by Peterson Apfelbach

AFS had their final picnic and invited Elisabeth to join them. They found out that Elisabeth (Rotary Exchange Student) and Yasmine, here from Cameroon, would not be able to attend the graduation ceremony on Sunday. Yasmine is on a program through the US Congress and has to be in Washington D.C. this week. Elisabeth leaves for her tour of the western US on Saturday. As a surprise, they played Pomp and Circumstance, had their caps and gowns available, and provided them with a graduation ceremony.

Showdown Between Noon and Sunrise

Posted by Samuel Azinger on May 28, 2019

The esteemed Rotary Club Foundation Chair has taken the liberty of challenging the Sunrise Club to raise more money for the Rotary Foundation/Polio Plus before the end of the 2018-2019 fiscal year. As of May 21, the Thiensville-Mequon Rotary Club ("the Good Guys") has contributed $4,100.00 total, nearing our ultimate goal of $5,500 between the Foundation and Polio Plus. The Mequon-Thiensville Sunrise Rotary Club ("the Other Guys") has raised $4,075.00, trailing by a narrow margin.

The Other Guys are bringing the competition request to their Board for approval, but the Good Guys are just going with it, because the ultimate objective is to raise money for the Foundation and the reward is merely bragging rights. Posted below are instructions for making one time or regularly scheduled contributions online. Otherwise, a check made out to the Rotary Foundation can be given to Sam Azinger at a meeting (or dropped off at his office at 414 N. Main St. in Thiensville). If you would like assistance with online contributions or setting up automatic contributions, Sam would be more than happy to provide one-on-one assistance (your place or mine).

Additionally, for the first $400 that is contributed this year, our new member, Tyler Briggs has agreed to contribute a matching amount. Needless to say, Sam will be very disappointed if we as a club do not take full advantage of this opportunity.

Congratulations Tim Vertz on Achieving Paul Harris

Posted by Samuel Azinger on May 28, 2019

Congratulations Club President, Tim Vertz, who was presented with a Paul Harris Award on Tuesday, May 14, 2019. Shown above being presented with the recognition by Thiensville-Mequon Rotary Club Foundation Chair, Sam Azinger.

A Paul Harris Award is granted to a Rotarian who contributes $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation or Polio Plus. Money raised by the foundation goes to carry out an array of programs that achieve beneficial changes in our world, including improved living conditions, increased food production, better education, wider availability of treatment and rehabilitation for the sick and disabled, new channels for the flow of international understanding, and brighter hopes for peace throughout the world.

Thank you Tim for your contribution and caring heart.

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Apr 24, 2018

I'm new at this, so I don't know know that I'm getting all of my facts right. But here's how I understand the facts:

Our club goal for Foundation contributions from July 2017 to July 2018 is $5,500.

Our total contributions for the year is $3,550 (plus my measly $25.00 contribution today)

If I'm reading the reports correctly (which I acknowledge I may not be) the full $3,550 in contributions came from 5 members! Thank you to those 5!

I mentioned my measly contribution, because I would like to encourage a whole lot more measly contributions. It took me less than 2 minutes to make my contribution (it was easier than ordering a pizza).

So why can't we all take two minutes to make a small (medium or large) contribution? Here's the link: https://www.rotary.org/en/donate. If you need help, give me a call and I'll come over.

While you're at it. Go ahead and make that a monthly, quarterly, or yearly contribution. Admittedly, this will add 4-6 seconds to the process, but will save you 2 minutes every month, quarter, or year, plus the headache of remembering. Further, if everybody signs up for monthly, quarterly, or yearly contributions, I won't post stories like this all the time (which I reserve the right to do).

Together, we can blow this goal out of the water!

As an aside, and without board authorization, I will personally give a pat on the back to anyone who makes a contribution before the end of June.

Welcome New Member, John Wirth

Posted by Samuel Azinger on May 28, 2019

Welcome to the Thiensville-Mequon Rotary Club, new member, John Wirth. John is the newly elected Mayor of the City of Mequon and an attorney with Mallery & Zimmerman. Picture above receiving his Rotary Pin from Sponsor, Kathleen Schneider. John's membership was co-sponsored by Stan Smith (not pictured). We are very excited to have John join the club, and look forward to getting to know him as a fellow Rotarian.

Student of the Month - Josh Hodge

Posted by Samuel Azinger on May 09, 2019

Student of the Month, Joshua Hodge, with Vocational Director, Megan Borland

Joshua Hodge (center) with parents, Doug Hodge and Wanda Hodge

On May 7, 2019, we honored our final student, Joshua Hodge, for the 2018-2019 Student of the Month program. Joshua is a senior at Homestead High School and was accompanied by his parents, Doug Hodge and Wanda Hodge.

Joshua was selected as our Student of the Month for his dedicated volunteer and community service work. Some of Joshua’s accomplishments include Champions, a program that promotes remaining alcohol and drug free to local middle school students. He has also been very involved with serving his church as a lead Sunday school teacher for 4^th and 5^th graders. He has also participated in mission trips as well as the church’s Vacation Bible School the past 4 years. Joshua has been a member of Homestead’s choir for the past 4 years. He has served as the co-captain for his volleyball team and a member of the Track and Field team.

Joshua will be studying engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison this fall. Joshua, we thank you for your service above self and all that you do for your school and community.

Welcome New Member - Tyler Briggs

Posted by Samuel Azinger on May 09, 2019

Rotary is happy to have inducted new member, Tyler Briggs from RBC Wealth Management, to the club. We look forward to getting to know Tyler as a fellow Thienville-Mequon Rotarian! Tyler passed the first test of being a Rotarian by hardly flinching while sponsor Roger Kirgues placed his pin on his collar.

OMG - If Tony Only Knew!

Posted by Samuel Azinger on May 09, 2019

Andrew Petzold with Concord Development Company joined the club for lunch on Tuesday. After two years with the club, Sam Azinger is happy to announce he has not met all of the members. Andrew may or may not have coordinated coming on a week that Tony was not present, but if he didn't, hopefully he was prepared for the fine of a century.

Rotary Exchange Student Update

Posted by Samuel Azinger on May 09, 2019

Rotary Exchange Student Elisabeth is pictured (right) at a recent track event in which she plays on the Homestead JV Team. Host parent Todd Tischer, Ellen MacFarlane, and New Generations Director for the morning club, Dave Schlageter were all there cheering her on.

Rotary Speaker Erica Turner - Bridge the Divide

Posted by Samuel Azinger on May 09, 2019

Thank you to Erica Turner for speaking and sharing with the club at Tuesday's meeting. Erica is with the grassroots organization, Bridge the Divide. The Cedarburg based organization is a forum for discussion and action around racial reconciliation. The group seeks to identify instances of inequality, foster empathy and educate individuals to recognize their part in the problems and solutions.

Representatives for the Kettle Moraine YMCA

Posted by Samuel Azinger on May 05, 2019

Kirsten Coenen, Ron Johnson and Kate Hoffman spoke at Tuesday's meeting about what's happening with the Kettle Moraine YMCA. There are several locations associated with the Kettle Moriane YMCA, including the West Washington Branch in West Bend, the River Shores Branch in West Bend, and the Feith Family Ozaukee Branch in Port Washington/Saukville. They offer many great activities and are hoping to expand in the near future. Specifically, they highlighted their child care and other fun physical activities, such as the growing popular Pickle Ball. Thanks to Kirsten, Ron and Kate for joining us and keeping us informed on what's happening with the YMCA.

Giving to the Promenade

Posted by Samuel Azinger

Promenade Video Link

It has been brought to our attention that many Rotarians are doing their end of year donation planning and that they would like more information about donating to the M-T Community Promenade project. As you know Rotary and Rotarians have been actively working on the Town Center and River Walk projects since 2002. As a capstone landmark for this area we have been active in the planning and now the fundraising for the Mequon-Thiensville Community Promenade on the north east corner of Mequon and Cedarburg Roads.

First, prospective donors should know that both municipal governments – Village Board for Thiensville and City Council for Mequon – have collaborated to get this new landmark designed through a Joint Gateway Committee appointed in August 2017. And, the Village and City have pledged as many tax dollars as elected officials feel they can toward its construction. Collectively, the Village and City have committed $200,000 toward the total cost of design and construction.

We know private fund raising is not an appropriate function of municipal governments; therefore, we are personally and collectively committed to raising $500,000 in private contributions to meet the total projected cost of $700,000. As a club, we have donated $15,000 already with more to come after the Community Action Council meets in December. $30,000 remaining from the efforts for the River Walk have been transferred to this project. It is our expectation that more will come in the next two years.

The City has indicated willingness to authorize a construction contract to build the Promenade as soon as 75% or $375,000 of the private funds needed are pledged or in the bank.

Our Promenade Landmark Campaign Committee, composed totally of volunteers, has kicked off a quiet campaign to secure commitments for as many lead gifts as possible by January. We hope the Council will be able to issue that contract in February in preparation for construction in Spring 2019.

We are working independently, without the services of a professional fund-raiser so that funds raised will be used for construction, not fund raising.

Before asking others, Campaign Committee members pledged their own donations. Since then, we have secured four (4) lead gifts of $25,000 or more thus far, plus ten (10) commitments at other levels totaling private dollars raised of $211,400 to date Nov 10, 2018. More has come in since then, but we don’t have the latest figures.

Donations of $500 and up will be recognized on the donor wall. Pledges can be made to spread out a donation over three years. If you have an employer that will match your donation, please help us make that contact. Tax deductible donations are to the T-M Rotary Foundation, note to Promenade.

In the past, Rotarians have amazed us with their generosity, many pledging over three years. Our goal is to have donations from everyone in the club, no pressure on amounts, but eager participation.

Please feel free to share this information with others who may be interested.

Sandy Custer, Stan Smith, Dan Gannon, Tim Carr