Home Page | Rotary Club of Thiensville-Mequon

The Thiensville-Mequon Rotary meets every Tuesday at 12pm at the Ozaukee Country Club in Mequon. Visiting and prospective Rotarians are always welcome. We hope to see you there!

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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Venue Map

Walk to End Alzheimer's Award

A message from the walk Manager for Ozaukee County.

Your team, Rollin' with Rotary, won Ozaukee's Walk to End Alzheimer's category: Largest Company Team with 21 people as of 10/28/2019!!!

Thank you so much for all of your hard work! Our walk is a success because of the hard work you (and your team) put in every year.

The link to RSVP for the party (please invite your family, friends, and co-workers along!): http://wteaozcelebration.eventbrite.com. Please see the flyer attached, for details.

Please let me know if you have any questions, or would like to schedule a follow-up phone call.

I have one request: do you have any pictures of your team (and some of just yourself) on walk day? The more pictures, the better! If you could have those to me by end of day tomorrow, that would be great!

Thiensville-Mequon at the District Dinner!

District Govvernor Steen Sanderhoff, Ellen MacFarlane, former DG Karl Hertz, and Carol Hertz enjoyed talking at the District 6270 Foundation Dinner at the West Bend Country Club on Wednesday evening

Trick-or-Treat

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Oct 31, 2019

Rotarians present at Tuesday's meeting gave generously to celebrate World Polio Day! $306 was raised by our Trick-or-Treater (Maureen's daughter, Jax). Peterson Apfelbach (pictured above), who warned us last week of the consequences of not giving, but still missed the meeting Tuesday, went from skin and bones to just bones. Peterson did, however, generously donate those bones (as well as a hat, tie, and name tag) to enlighten Rotarians on giving to Polio Plus to avoid the same fate as him.

October, 2019 Roadside Cleanup

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Oct 28, 2019

12 Rotarians, and 6 extras participated in Saturday's Roadside Cleanup. The 12 Rotarians and extras include those pictured below and Ellen MacFarlane. Photo's courtesy of Ellen MacFarlane... Would someone get her a selfie stick so she can be in some of the pictures too?

George Witte was represented by Jess and her husband and their two sons at Saturday's roadside cleanup. It looks like the Rotarian way of life may be rubbing off onto her. Pictured with Sandy Custer, who is of course instrumental to this service project, as he is so many others.

Carter Azinger puts a piece of trash gracefully into an open garbage bag held by Sam Azinger while Tim Carr looks on (note, this photo was posed before leaving), while Tyler Azinger looks for trash in the Kwik Trip lawn.

John Rosing and Tim Vertz show off their skills with full bags in hand and a clean roadside behind them.

Stan Smith sported a Rotary hat to assure anyone driving by at less than 50 MPH could identify the source of the good deeds (nobody slowed down, must have been all the Thiensvillians trying to escape Mequon as quickly as possible).

Mequon Mayor John Wirth and Alderwoman Kathleen Schneider are happy to take a break from their role of sitting behind a desk to keep Mequon beautiful, and instead participate in the laborious side of keeping their city beautiful.

Jim Lysaught and Rob Kos enjoy the relaxing task of cleaning Green Bay Road where the speed limit is only 30 MPH. Rob Kos only identifiable as a result of being the only person brave enough to sport a Yankees hat in Wisconsin.

Karle Naggs may have kept his boots clean, but he sacrificed his van's carpeting by picking up and dropping off the muddy trash collectors.

Ozaukee County NAACP Branch Freedom Fund Dinner - Nov. 15

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Oct 25, 2019

Rotary’s theme for this year is “Rotary Connects the World”. Here is a great opportunity to show the Noon and Sunrise Clubs collective support and make some special connections at the Ozaukee County NAACP Branch Freedom Fund Dinner at the Watermark at Shully’s on Friday 15 November.

The keynote speaker is Rotarian Thelma Sais. She has been recognized for her work in Milwaukee. Last year alone she was recognized by the Milwaukee Business Journal twice; first as recipient of the "Business Diversity Award" and again for "Lifetime Achievement Award". Brian Monroe has had the pleasure of hearing her speak and knows her through the Rotary Club of Milwaukee, and highly recommends the opportunity to hear her speak. The emcee will be our AG Rayna Andrews.

The tables will be comfortably set for eight guests and Brian is hopeful that Rotarians will be able to fill a few tables. For tickets and menu selections please click the Freedom Fund Eventbrite link. You’ll also be able to request seating with the Rotary tables.

Thanks for your consideration and hoping that you are able to join us.

This post is requested by Brian Monroe of the Sunrise Club.

Rotary Speaker: Angela Schultz

Posted by Peterson Apfelbach

Angela is now in her tenth year as the assistant dean for public service at Marquette Law School. Prior to Marquette she worked in private practice as an elder and disability law attorney. Angela came to the practice of law as a social worker- she worked for ten years with a domestic violence intervention agency in Portland, Oregon. During that time, she completed her law degree at Lewis & Clark Law School.

While in criminal law if you can not afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you this is not the case for many civil law matters. As such there are many low income individuals and families that are often not receiving the proper legal service or protection they may need. Legal Action of Wisconsin is an available service for these group to go to; however, they are only able to serve roughly half of the 25,000 eligible clients they evaluate each year. Marquette's Law School seeks to answer that call through its spirit of volunteerism and service. Every year they have a team of roughly 550 lawyers and students that are able to serve an additional 5,000 people with their legal needs with emphasis on housing, health, domestic violence, seniors, and veterans and military families. They do this from four brick and mortar locations and a mobile unit staged around the Milwaukee area.

For questions or availability to volunteer please reach out to

Angela F. Schultz, J.D.

Marquette Law School

Assistant Dean for Public Service

4142886823

angela.schultz@marquette.edu

FOXTOWN BREWING GALA

Posted by Peterson Apfelbach

Thanks to the generosity of our friends at the soon to open Foxtown Brewing in Mequon, the Mequon Thiensville Historical Society has been offered the opportunity to host a Soft Opening fundraiser. The Foxtown Brewing building was constructed in 1857 as the Zimmermann & Opitz Brewery and has been carefully returned to its original purpose after many years of industrial use, warehousing, and vacancy.

The details of the event are:

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30

5 - 9 PM

FOXTOWN BREWING

6411 WEST MEQUON ROAD

MEQUON, WISCONSIN

A donation of $75 per person includes any two items from the Foxtown Brewing menu (appetizers, salads, boards, handhelds. and entrees) plus complimentary beer, coffee and coke products.

Seating is limited. Tickets will be available starting at 9 AM on Monday, October 21st, at the Port Washington State Bank locations in Mequon and Thiensville. Please plan to pay by check made out to MTHS.

I hope you will attend this wonderful event. It will be a great opportunity to see the spectacular Foxtown building, enjoy a great meal along with specialty beers, and support your MT Historical Society.

It promises to be a night to remember.

Rollin' with Rotary Walk Team Participates in the Walk to End Alzheimer's

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Oct 11, 2019

The Rollin' with Rotary Walk Team participated with over 450 walkers in the two mile Walk to End Alzheimer's on Saturday, October 5. Pictured above were the most people who could be gathered at one time for a photo op, specifically, Bruce Rowe, Herb Hillman, Maureen O'Leary Guth (with 2 sisters, Alison O'Leary and Kristin O'Leary), Marilyn Jacobs, Ellen MacFarlane, Sam Azinger (with Tyler and Carter). Not pictured includes Alice and Steve Sedgwick, Maureen's husband and daughters, Jeremy, Jacqueline, and Madelyn (featured in third photo), Sam's wife and daughter, Jessica and Reagan, and Cindy Shaffer. Others who may have been there but were not verified by photographic evidence or non-photographic memory include Bob Blazich, Andy Moss, Cara Seppi-Bern, and Doug Hansen. All walkers collectively lost 35 lbs. by the end of the walk.

The Rotary Walk Team consisted of 20 registered walkers, and raised $1,030. Listed donors included Ellen MacFarlane, Bob Blazich, Brian Monroe, Bruce Rowe, Cara Seppi-Bern, Carol Wessels, Dan Gannon, Dave Kliber (in honor of Edward and Floramae Kliber), Herb Hillman, Jenne Hohn, Karl Hertz, Kathleen Schneider, Maureen O'Leary Guth, Sam Azinger and Sandy and Jean Custer. If anyone is missed, I sincerely apologize. Truthfully I suspect someone isn't listed that I'd like to give a shout out to, but am more worried that I'd shout out to them and they'd have to correct me by stating that they didn't make a contribution.

Funds raised are used to support finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Once there is a cure, I presume there will no longer be a need to raise funds, so theoretically you could call this event the Walk to End the Walk to End Alzheimer's.

Save the date for November 19th from 5:30-7:30 in which a celebration dinner and awards ceremony will be held at the River Room in Grafton. I suspect our team is due an award or two, such as for the Largest Team, and possibly the Rookie Team that raised the most funds. If you're interested in attending, RSVP at wteaozcelebration.eventbrite.com.

What a great time to be a Rotarian.

LIES LIES LIES - O'Leary Claims FAKE NEWS

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Sep 20, 2019

Ordinarily a very reliable news source in Ozaukee County, the News Graphic has joined the Fake News Club with their article in Tuesday's paper announcing new members of the Mequon-Thiensville Sunrise Rotary Club. Contrary to the caption of the photograph seen above, Maureen O'Leary has not abandoned the Noon Club to join the Sunrise Club.

In fact, Maureen had introduced the new member being inducted, Danila Danesi, to the Sunrise Club (since Danila's schedule wasn't fitting for the Noon Club), and was invited to attend the meeting in which Danila was being inducted into the Sunrise Club. What could be LIES, LIES, and more LIES, may also be accredited to a typographical error or slight misunderstanding.

When questioned O'Leary said "Oh my goodness, what am I going to do when Tony sees this?" She went on to say "We have to get in front of this." When discussing how to go about getting in front of this it was best determined that a story for the Newsletter would suffice. "Maybe we can say 'Lies Lies Lies' and claim it's 'fake news.' We should make sure it is super sarcastic too so nobody actually thinks we don't like the News Graphic."

Crises in Cameroon

Posted by Peterson Apfelbach

Our Speakers:

Dr. Cal Tamanji, PHD;AICP. Professor of Economics/Social Science Milwaukee Area Technical College,President of Ozaukee County NAACP Branch, Adviser of West Cameroon Community Association(WECAWI.)

Dr Zachary Nchinda, Phd Professor of History Milwaukee Area Technical College, Adviser of West Cameroon Community Association(WECAWI.) Last but not the least,

Mr George Azeh, MSc. Consulting Accountant. President of West Cameroon Community Association(WECAWI). We are all US citizens of Southern Camerron origin that have lost relatives in the ongoing French-backed genocide in Southern Cameroons(Ambazonia.)

History:

Cameroon was colonized by Germany In 1884 and remained under their control until their defeat in World War 1.

After the war, African colonies held by the defeated countries were split between France and England with 1/5 of Cameroon falling into English control and the other 4/5 were given to France. This amount of control was maintained until 1945 when the UN set rules and standards for the preparation of independence for the many colonies and territories in Africa.

The British style of rule allowed West Cameroon to establish its own common laws and customs; however, in East Cameroon, the French ruled directly with the East Cameroonian government answered directly to Paris.

In 1961, the French colonies in Africa were presented with the opportunity to have complete independence, or become part of the French Union. When New Guinea requested complete independence, France made an example of them, freighting other colonies into joining the Union. Resulting in the formation of the Federal Republic of Cameroon.

In 1970 oil was discovered in West Cameroon, as a result, France pressured their East Cameroon state to move for a combined Cameroonian state so they would have access to the oil reserves.

This led to continued conflict between the western English speaking residents and the French backed East Cameroonian citizens.

Many professionals protested the many changes that were uninvited and unwelcome from the french speaking side of Cameroon and were labeled as terrorists for their perceived hate of Cameroon resulting in unfair treatment of many lawyers and teachers.

Today:

War has been raging for 3 years with 500,000 refugees fleeing to Nigeria, many eternally displaced. Many countries are hesitant to contribute and support the suffering members of English speaking Cameroon.

Due to collusion between governments, there have been many difficulties shipping resources and supplies to the suffering refugees. Our guests highly encourage us to reach out to our government officials to stop the violence going on in English speaking Cameroon

Rotary at Gathering on the Green

Posted by Peterson Apfelbach

Many members of our Rotary Club attended Gathering on the Green Saturday July 13th! They had a great time listening to rockers Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo. The close proximity of the tents for the sunrise and noon clubs provided great opportunities for the two great clubs to spend time bonding and getting to know one another at a deeper level.

Heather Wins it All

Posted by Peterson Apfelbach

At the first ever Gathering on the Green Battle of the Bands, our very own Heather Mader and her band Won first prize! I highly encourage everyone to visit our Facebook Page "Thiensville-Mequon Rotary Club" so they can watch of Video of their award winning performance! You can quickly access the video by visiting this link https://www.facebook.com/ThiensvilleMequonRotaryClub Don't forget to like the page while you are visiting!

2018-2019 Rotary Foundation Good News/Bad News

Posted by Samuel Azinger on Jul 16, 2019

I'm happy to announce that we have met our goal for 2018-19 Rotary Foundation giving. Our goal was set for $4,000 and as a club we contributed $4,325.

Unfortunately, our goal for Polio Plus giving for 2018-19 was $1,500 and our club contributions were only $725.

Although combined we did not meet our total giving goal of $5,500, as you may recall, we have a friendly competition with the Sunrise Club to see which club could contribute more to the Rotary Foundation and Polio Plus. In the end, our club did contribute $100 more than the Sunrise Club, whose total contributions were $4,950 for the 2018-19 year! It looks like the Noon-Sunrise Foundation Giving trophy will be named after our Foundation Chair and will stay with the Noon Club for at least the next 12 months (and hopefully longer).

Although our numbers are great in comparison to most clubs in the district, there are still a couple clubs in Ozaukee County that are outdoing us. Specifically, Cedarburg-Grafton contributed $5,664 in 2018-19 and Port Washington-Saukville contributed $6,125.

Let's look forward to a great 2019-20 year of meeting our goals, and making sure that the Sam Azinger trophy stays with the Noon Club!

If you'd like assistance with setting up recurring monthly, quarterly, or yearly contributions to assure your Sam Azinger award for 2019-20, let Sam know and he'd be happy to assist. Otherwise, make out a check to the Rotary Foundation and give it to Sam at a meeting and he'll take care of the rest.

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