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).
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
