MEQUON, WI - Vertz Marketing and Concordia University Wisconsin are excited to announce the continuation of the Vertz Marketing Rotary Small Business Innovation Center at Concordia University Wisconsin.
Starting in the fall semester, there will be openings for up to 10 Mequon-Thiensville businesses to become a part of this innovative marketing and business mentoring program.
The Vertz Marketing Rotary Small Business Innovation Center at Concordia University partners with select Mequon-Thiensville businesses to provide marketing and business development service to foster economic development in the region.
The Batterman School of Business at Concordia University Wisconsin, Vertz Marketing and Rotary International have combined their forces to share their business expertise with the Mequon-Thiensville Business Community. These entities will provide FREE digital marketing and business development planning to ten qualified area businesses each semester.
“We are proud to be a part in creating the Vertz Marketing Rotary Small Business Innovation Center at Concordia University and help give back to our local community,” said Tim Vertz, founder and CEO of Vertz Marketing.
Young, growing businesses in the Mequon-Thiensville community are encouraged to apply for the fall 2019 program. Each business will be assigned up to three Concordia University student interns for the semester under the direction of Concordia University and Vertz Marketing.
Organizations including the Mequon-Thiensville Chamber of Commerce, Thiensville Business Association, Thiensville-Mequon Rotary and Ozaukee Economic Development are signed on as business association sponsors to help recruit businesses to take part in the Vertz Marketing Rotary Small Business Innovation Center program.
“This is a great service for up and coming businesses in the Mequon-Thiensville community. With all of the economic growth in Mequon-Thiensville and many new businesses coming to the area, the Vertz Marketing Rotary Small Business Innovation Center is a great community service. We appreciate the commitment of Vertz Marketing and Concordia University Wisconsin in our community,” said Tina Schwantes, Executive Director of the Mequon-Thiensville Chamber of Commerce.
For more information about the Vertz Marketing Rotary Small Business Innovation Center, please contact: Tim Vertz | timv@vertzmarketing.com | 414-379-1677 Dr. Daniel Sem | daniel.sem@cuw.edu | 262-243-2778
It's Official! Thiensville-Mequon Rotary Foundation has secured the lease from the City of Mequon for the site of the Mequon Town Center Gateway Promenade. Board Chairman, Steve Peterman and Treasurer, Herb Hillman signed the lease August 19, 2019 and paid the first year's rent in total, up front.
The Sunrise and Noon Rotary Clubs are teaming up to participate in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, which is the largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support and research. The walk will take place on October 5, 2019 with Registration at 8:30, Ceremony at 9:40 and the Walk beginning at 10:00.
This week we had the honor of our District Governor, Steen Sanderhoff, visiting our club. During his visit, Steen had a few major points he wanted to share. The first was the strength of Rotary. He confirmed to us that we are growing and encouraged us to continually share the message of what our great club does saying that if people knew what we as an international organization were doing people would be flocking to us. In addition to that great news, he also imparted wisdom on continued ideas for growth and service. Steen Emphasized the use of both the district and international organization to find new opportunities for attracting new members and service to our communities.
Jenna Kashou is a writer, author, storyteller and journalist specializing in lifestyle and culture feature writing for magazines and the web. She wrote the second edition of the book “100 Things to do in Milwaukee Before You Die,” that was released May 1 from Reedy Press. Find her published work in Milwaukee Magazine, MKE lifestyle Magazine, the Business Journal, Edible Milwaukee, Forbestravelguide.com and more. She was chosen as the fifth writer in residence at the historic Pfister Hotel where she wrote about and photographed guests and events, unearthing over 50 unique and compelling stories. A Milwaukee/Mequon native, Kashou has also lived abroad and visited far-flung locales like Greece, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, and Argentina. She has always had an enormous sense of pride for her hometown and loves to explore the hottest spots around town. She even served as Milwaukee Magazine’s “Girl about town” for a few years, before kids. Kashou also provides grant writing and copywriting services, and has worked in nonprofit management and as a fundraiser and event planner for over a decade. Look for her book so you can take advantage of all Milwaukee has to offer!
So far the Noon Club is making an early push in the Noon Club-Sunrise Club Foundation Giving Competition and the coveted Sam Azinger Trophy. As of August 1, the Noon Club has contributed $560.00 to the Rotary Foundation in 2019-2020, with the Sunrise Club trailing by a modest $560.00. With 11 short months to go, there is certainly to be a lot of action to come
Our speaker on Tuesday was Terese Capizzi! Terese is a Mequon resident who recently retired from Northwestern Mutual after 38 years in product development. She is now an active volunteer for the Alzheimer's Association and is a board member of the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Association and a member of the development and advocacy committees. Her focus is promoting both Federal and State legislature changes and research dollars for supporting those impacted by Alzheimer's and other dementias. Her passion is to be a part of the cause to see the first survivor of Alzheimer's.
Ozaukee County is having our Walk To End Alzeheimer's on Saturday October 5th! The walk will start at Veteran's Memorial Park in Port Washington. Registration & Check-in at 8:30. the two mile walk will begin at 10am with post walk celebration including food and music! There are many ways to get involved such as being a sponsor of the walk, joining the Rotarian Action Group National Walk team at www.alz.org/rotarianactiongroup, community engagement, getting a yard sign from the library anytime after 9/5/19, and sharing with others you think should be connected with this wonderful cause! The Goal for this walk is to raise $90,000!!
The T-M Rotary Noon Club has challenged the M-T Sunrise Club to give more to the Rotary Foundation and Polio Plus each year. The winning club each year will be awarded the Sam Azinger Trophy (pictured above with Potato Salad and a tub full of chicken for scale) until they are unseated as the champion by the other club and must pass the Trophy to the victor along with all bragging rights and pride appurtenant thereto.
In 2018-2019, the Noon Club contributed $5,050 between the Rotary Foundation and Polio Plus, while the Sunrise Club raised $4,950. Accordingly, what is being named “the Sam Azinger Trophy” (named after Sam Azinger for some reason unbeknownst to everyone other than Sam Azinger), will be proudly displayed by the Noon Club until the Sunrise Club can take the title and the Trophy is passed on.
In defense of the Sunrise Club, the Noon Club contemplated this idea in June of 2019 and contributed accordingly to surpass the Sunrise Club in late June, while nobody actually informed the Sunrise Club that the competition was happening. We do anticipate a fairer fight in 2019-2020.
Monthly updates on the status of each club’s contributions will be provided in newsletters. Good luck to both club’s and may this friendly competition help advance the goals of Rotary to make the world a better place.
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
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.
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!
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.
During her time, Pam invited us into the world of fine speech and sustainable breathing technique! She highlighted that many of us have fallen into the terrible habit of vertical breathing. This style of breathing only utilizes the top portion of our lungs limiting our oxygen intake while simultaneously putting unnecessary stain on our shoulder and neck muscles. Sustainable and proper breathing involves full use of your diaphragm which allows your stomach to expand completely filling your lungs. When it comes to speech, there have been a number of quirks she has identified and helped her clients overcome through a variety of exercise to control tone, volume, and power.
Pam’s training and experience as a singer taught her how the vocal instrument works and how to make it more powerful. Her experience as a voiceover artist gave her insights into how different parts of the voice affect the listener in very specific ways.
Pam has held workshops for U.S. Attorneys, trainers with GE Healthcare, the local chapter of ATD, and the Women’s Business Council at SC Johnson. She also works with individual clients.
Below are a list of common exercises and a link to a Ted talk discussing proper breathing habits.
Exercises
Body position – stand, bend over at the waist, slow roll up, stacking the vertebrae and then pulling the string up through the top of the head.
Head position – push head forward then bring back to position – look in the mirror to check there is no double chin
Breathing – fill the belt around the waist, let the abdomen pop out
High hoot to find the upper register – feel the vibration between your eyebrows and behind your eyes
Upper middle register – breath through the nose then yawn - feel the openness on the roof of your mouth and space behind your front teeth – feel the vibration in your cheekbones – say “hi” as a breathy Marilyn Monroe
Middle register– tongue flat and low, tip touching the back of the bottom teeth –say Ahh, Ayy, Eee, Ooooh, Oooo . Fill the hand six inches in front of your mouth with air– show your teeth - feel the vibration behind your top teeth
Lower register – say “huh” with lots of air - feel the vibration in your breastbone
Welcome to the Thiensville-Mequon Rotary Club, new member, Jenne Hohn. Pictured above receiving her Rotary New Member Kit from Sponsor, Maureen O'leary. We are very excited to have Jenne join the club. She has already spent some time with us serving corn at Fun Before the 4th and we look forward to her future contributions to our club!
We celebrated the achievement of Greg Sommersberger and Diane Robertson for being named Honorary Paul Harris award winners they will each have $1,000 donated to the Rotary Foundation. We look forward to the continued contributions of these two great members!
We had an exciting time at the Fun Before the 4th event on June 29th. Due to a rental corn roaster with a low powered motor, the corn roast got off to a dark start. Fortunately after some manual labor and a great reduction in cooking temperature we were able to start producing high quality corn of the for the lovely patrons at the event. In addition to the corn, we also served free ice cream to the many children and adults who were fortunate enough to arrive before our great supply ran out!
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
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.
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.
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.
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