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Service Above Self

We meet In Person

Tuesdays at 12:00 PM

Rotary Park

4100 Highland Rd, Mequon, WI 53092
Mequon, WI 53092
United States of America

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TM Rotary Club Silent Auction

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Sep 24, 2020

Although our Fall Into Comedy event has been cancelled this year, we are still going to hold the silent auction fundraiser from October 13-30. This will be a unique opportunity to do our annual fundraising to support our projects. Once the silent auction goes live, we will put together a shareable Facebook post and link to the silent auction that you can share with your friends, family, and pretty much anyone else in the world.

Until then, WE NEED YOUR ITEMS. If you have a silent auction item or idea that you'd like to donate, please drop it off at PWSB Thiensville, or contact a member of the Fundraising Committee. Talk to your friends who would like to make a donation that promotes their business, or anyone you know who could provide an item to make the silent auction a hit. Thank you in advance.

Here is a link to the silent auction website so you can get excited about the items as they are posted. https://www.32auctions.com/T-MRotaryFallAuction2020

Save the Date - Roadside (and Brush) Clean-up

Two times every year we have fun with a group of Rotarians coming together to beautify our community by cleaning up Green Bay Road from County Line to Mequon Road. This year will be no different, except that it will be a little different.

On October 17 at 9:00AM we will meet at Kwik Trip on the corner of Donges Bay and Green Bay Roads. Groups will be organized to walk the roadway and pick up trash along the side. Many of us have become accustomed to this and know how much fun it is, including what is often an opportunity to engage with fellow Rotarians while doing good for our community. The event typically takes less than 1 hour.

This year, we're offering another one-of-a-kind fun opportunity following the roadside cleanup (or during if we have enough participation). If you haven't noticed the structure being built on the corner of Green Bay and Mequon Roads (you know; the one we've been talking about for several years), that is where we will be removing and hauling away brush to make the feature somehow more beautiful than already anticipated. Put it on your calendar and we look forward to seeing you there.

Looking For Bulletin Editor

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Sep 18, 2020

A unique opportunity to be a part of the team that facilitates our club's efficacy has arrived. If you're interested in facilitating the weekly bulletin, your service would be greatly appreciated. One (or more) select member(s) will be able to put their own unique spin on the weekly newsletter and website stories, and have fun doing it. If you've got it in you, please email Sam Azinger.

Hybrid Meetings Starting October 6 - Survey Response Should be Sent by September 21

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Sep 18, 2020

As you may know, our final meeting at Rotary Park will be on Tuesday, September 29. Starting October 6th, we will convert to a hybrid meeting format. In person meetings will use the same format as is usual. Club members wishing to participate virtually can enter the Zoom Meeting at noon, and participate in the social aspects of the meeting with the virtual group. Virtual participants are encouraged to bring lunch and eat, drink and be merry with the other virtual participants. From 12:00 until 12:25, the computer linked to the meeting will be muted, and the computer will not be linked to the speakers for the in person meeting.

At 12:25, the sound for the virtual participants will be linked into the in person meeting for the remainder of the meeting and virtual participants will be able to participate in club business, fulfill their meeting responsibilities (although we may give the greeter a pass), and be able to interact and ask questions of our speakers. Some technical difficulties are anticipated while we perfect this format, so we ask that everyone be patient.

The Board has voted to extend the members' option to not be charged for meals if they know they will not be participating in the in-person meetings. If you are currently opting out of paying for meals, you do not need to do anything to continue to opt out unless you no longer wish to opt out. If you wish to opt out of paying for meals for this upcoming quarter, please contact Shelley directly no later than Monday, September 21.

The venue for our meetings has not yet been finalized. In order to meet at Ozaukee Country Club, we must commit to paying for a minimum of 40 meals. We are currently very close to this quota, and are anticipating that we will not be able to maintain that venue. As such, we are in the process of arranging an alternate venue that will allow us to more accurately pay for the meals of members that are anticipated to actually be in attendance. There will be more information on venue coming in the next couple weeks once we have made a final decision.

The Board has scheduled an additional meeting for Tuesday, September 22 to finalize arrangements. To assist in the decision, members were asked email their response to the following question no later than the end of the day on Monday, September 21. If you have not done so yet, please email your response to Sam Azinger.

How will you participate in meetings from October 6 through the end of 2020?

1. I plan to attend all meetings in person.

2. I will attend a majority of meetings in person, but will attend some meetings virtually.

3. I will attend a majority of meetings virtually, but would like to attend some meetings in person.

4. I will not be attending meetings in person and will be attending all meetings virtually.

5. I'm too cool to respond to surveys, and I understand that by not responding to this survey I will be counted as planning to attend all meetings in person (no response necessary).

MTSD is in Good Hands - Confirmed by Tuesday’s Speaker, Dr. Matthew Joynt

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Sep 18, 2020

Always classy, Rotarian and Superintendent of Mequon Thiensville School District, Dr. Matthew Joynt, spoke to the Club on Tuesday to give us an update on how MTSD is handling the current learning environment with the COVID 19 pandemic. If nothing less, we all got out of Dr. Joynt's presentation that we can all be confident that our school district is in good hands, and we are lucky to have him leading our schools and as a member of our club. He has handled the differing opinions of thousands of school parents with tact, professionalism, and logic, to assure that the kids are able to have the best possible learning environment, although he did give the impression that he may feel some school parents could use a lesson in tact, professionalism, and logic themselves.

Welcome New Members Barkha Daily and Lawrence Kreiner

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Sep 01, 2020

Our club was delighted to induct new corporate membership for the cheel, including owner and chef, Barkha Daily, and designee Lawrence Kreiner. As many know, Larry is a former member of our club, and we are delighted to have him back. We are also very excited to have Barkha as a part of our club, as her and her husband Jesse have been pivotal members of our community for some time. Barkha and Larry are pictured above with their sponsor, Maureen O'Leary.

Thank you to our suppliers of boxed lunches for this extended summer

Special thanks to the restaurants, caterers, and grocery stores that supplied our boxed lunches this summer. Please also extend gratitude to Shelley and Herb for offering wonderful suggestions for our local favorites. - Jenne Hohn

7/7/20 – Out n’ Out

7/14/20 – Firehouse Subs

7/21/20 – Prime Minister

7/28/20 – Café 1505

8/4/20 – Shully’s Catering

8/11/20 – Sendik’s Mequon

8/18/20 – The Outpost

8/25/20 – Armon’s Catering

9/1/20 – Benji’s

9/15/20 – Leonardo’s

9/22/20 – Olsen’s Piggly Wiggly

9/29/20 – The Chancery

Todd Rathe and Tom Stark - Cub Scout Pack 3852

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Sep 01, 2020

In addition to a swarm of bees, Todd Rathe and Pastor Tom Stark joined and spoke to the club on September 1st about Cub Scout Troop 3852. The Troop is running into similar struggles as every other organization these days, including the lack of a space to meet, and the difficulty of fundraising. Members rose to the occasion with donations as well as substantial popcorn fundraiser purchases. During the meeting, Todd and Tom took $435 in popcorn orders, and $180 is donations. These will help fund events for the boys and girls of the troop, such as camping trips and other fun events designed to develop these young men and women. Thank you to everyone for their direct support of the Troop that our club sponsors.

Sam Azinger will facilitate the popcorn delivery to club members. $105 of the orders has not yet been paid, so if you have unpaid popcorn orders, please deliver money to Sam.

Hardly New Member Thumbnail Presentation - Kathleen Schneider

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Aug 25, 2020

Our speaker at Tuesday’s meeting was Kathleen Schneider, who gave us a new member thumbnail presentation, even though she’s been a member of our club for over 2 years.

Kathleen is the Alderperson for the Mequon District 7, but wasn’t there to talk about Mequon. Instead Kathleen told us about her life, her experience, and what brought her to become a doctor.

There were a lot of things that brought Kathleen to where she is, including family, loss, and a day in an Air Force recruiting office. She followed her friends to the University of Eau Claire where she went for pre-med. She worked to pay for her education before starting Medical School at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where she met her now husband. Kathleen returned to Wisconsin to attend the Medical College of Wisconsin during her residency after deciding she did want to be closer to her now husband. They will be celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary.

Kathleen switched to become a medical director for hospice care after years of the chaos of emergency medicine to allow her more flexibility.

Thank you to Kathleen for sharing her story with the club. It's always great to learn a little more about the people we have come to know as part of the Rotary family.

2020 Fall Into Comedy Cancelled

Posted by Rob Kos on Aug 20, 2020

Based on the recommendation from the Fundraising Committee, the Board of Directors has voted to postpone the Fall Into Comedy fundraising event from Oct. 15, 2020 to Oct. 14, 2021. This is due to concerns regarding the COVID-19 virus.

As this is our largest fundraising event, we need to find a way to make up the loss of income in order to maintain our current level of financial commitments. These include the Gateway project, Student Scholarship as well as the numerous organizations we currently support. Based on the recommendation from the Fundraising Committee, the Board of Directors has agreed to assess each member $200 to be used towards this purpose. This, along with an online silent auction and tapping a bit of our reserve fund, should enable us to meet our commitments. This assessment will go out to the membership on September 1.

We thank you for your flexibility in these times.

Ron Knaus and Rob Kos discuss Thiensville Business Association

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Aug 20, 2020

Familiar faces Ron Knaus, President of the Thiensville Business Association, and Rob Kos, Executive Director, spoke to the club at Thursday's meeting about the history and current events of the Thiensville Business Association. The TBA is behind a lot of great events designed to draw people into Thiensville, including the Farmer's Market, Traveling Food Truck Tour, Village Wide Rummage Sale, Business to Business Trick-or-Treat, and the annual Tree Lighting. They are also looking forward to a few new events which have been delayed until 2021, including the Best Dam Blues Festival which will be a 2 day music event at Village Park in September, and Nightmare on Elm Street, which will be held at Village Park after the 2021 Business to Business Trick or Treat.

Is a Virtual Satellite Club In Store?

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Aug 05, 2020

Paul Harris himself came to me in a dream the other night and said "Sam, I know people are struggling in all kinds of different ways these days, and maybe there's a way to utilize this 'internet' technology to engage more members." He added "the Four Way Test starts with asking yourself 'is it the truth,' but nothing says the answer has to be yes, as long as it passes the other three prongs and you don't try to play it off like it's the truth." For the record, this whole paragraph is complete BS. Early the very next morning at the gym, a sign from Paul Harris appeared to confirm what he had told me in my dream, which was quickly documented with photographic evidence.

A Satellite Rotary Club is a part of the "Host" Club, and allows for a more flexible way to accommodate needs of Rotarians. A Satellite Club's members remain members of the Host Club, but would instead meet virtually, allowing members who have busy schedules, individuals who find financial requirements challenging, and of course in our present time, individuals with health concerns. I would like to sincerely give this idea some consideration, as it may be an attractive way for members to remain engaged, and a good way to attract new members who are passionate about Rotary ideals, but don't have the ability to regularly attend a lunch meeting in person. It would also give members a great way to stay informed and make up missed meetings. I'm looking for a few individuals who would be interested and willing to get this idea off the ground with me. If that's you, let's talk.

The Gift that Rotarians Give - Speaker District Governor Craig Burnett

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Aug 04, 2020

District Governor,Craig Burnett joined us and spoke to the club at our meeting on Tuesday. Craig was very complimentary of our club, members, achievements, and more, leaving us all feeling very good about what we do in the community and the world, all while having a good time.

Rotarians regularly give a gift to people around the world that we will never meet. Those gifts impact the direct recipient, but also others that we will never know, as those who receive the gifts impact others around them. Rotary is a family, which is one of the reasons it is has been so hard to be apart, but as Rotarians we all will come back to our Rotary family. There are millions of opportunities through Rotary, and each of us are encouraged to make the best of those opportunities, encourage those around us, and be the best that we can be.

Sunrise Club Receive's Sam Azinger Trophy After Stunning 11th Hour Contributions

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Jul 31, 2020

With a small tear in his eye, and a reluctance to release his grip on the Sam Azinger Trophy, the Noon Club President faithfully delivered the well deserved trophy to the Sunrise Rotary Club on Friday morning at their annual changing of the guard. With a cushy $4,000+ lead going into June, the Noon Club took a nap just before the finish line, and the Sunrise Club made substantial contributions to the Rotary Foundation, putting them in the lead and taking home the coveted award. Sam Azinger vowed that the competition was on, and that the Trophy would be returning to the Noon Club in 2021. Let's not let him down on that promise.

Official Renderings of the Mequon-Thiensville Gateway Promenade

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Jul 30, 2020

The Mequon-Thiensville Gateway Promenade is currently being constructed at the Northeast corner of the intersection of Mequon and Cedarburg Roads. In case you're wondering what the final product will look like, here are the "official" renderings. Congratulations and thank you to everyone who has put in so much time and effort into making this a reality, and thank you to those who have donated. Disclaimer: Any captions should be taken purely for their comedic value, and not taken offense to. The opinions expressed herein are solely that of the Tony Von Reuden Fan Club. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Thiensville-Mequon Rotary Club or its members (except those who are additionally members of the TVR Fan Club). The designations employed in this publication and the presentation of material herein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Thiensville-Mequon Rotary Club, Rotary International, the Thiensville-Mequon Rotary Foundation, the Mequon-Thiensville Sunrise Rotary Club, the City of Mequon, Village of Thiensville, Groth Design, or the Tony Von Reuden Fan Club.

This promotional profile view shows that the Promenade will probably be a prominent procurement. It also appears to have a misconceived the color of the Milwaukee River, implying that it may in fact be safe to swim in. It also depicts the sidewalk having been moved well away from the street, reflecting the added safety feature. It should be noted that the last photo in this series may completely bring back all safety concerns.

The 10 people rendered in this East facing summer sunrise shot demonstrates the Promenade could be heavily patronized at 4:30 in the morning, shortly after the summer sun breaches the horizon, and that mopeds are making a comeback.

Another early morning rendering shows a man in a tan suit gazing across the Promenade at two people. He is clearly wondering "what ever happened to social distancing."

This shot shows the beautiful interior design of the Promenade and the recognition plaques to be included. This shot is additionally credited with being the most difficult to write a joke about.

This rendering shows kids playing and having fun around the back of the Promenade. It is also acknowledged that a good joke regarding kids playing and having fun is hard to come up with.

Here, a father and son approach the Promenade practicing good social distancing. That or the father is attempting to lose his son, or simply forgot that his little legs cannot walk as fast. More likely that the father is just super excited to get up close to the Promenade that he doesn't want to wait for his kid who is "always lagging behind."

Here we see the Promenade from the center of Cedarburg Road, South of Mequon Road. Two individuals are crossing Cedarburg Road heading West, while several groups, including a large group with a stroller cross Mequon Road anxious to get a closer look at this incredible feature. Meanwhile, a truck is traveling through the intersection toward the family with their stroller. It's unclear which party is violating a traffic signal, but undoubted that someone is. Clearly people not paying attention to the road and signals with such an admirable structure on the Northeast corner will cause substantial dangers, and should be monitored very closely. Also note the traffic jam on North Cedarburg Road of additional gawkers. The Tony Von Reuden Fan Club (Membership Applications Available) is dedicated to building safety awareness to drivers and pedestrians when driving and walking near this beautiful structure. For more information visit www.TVRFanclub.com/safetyaroundthepromenade

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