Representatives of the Village Park Reimagine project, Andy LaFond and Colleen Landish-Hansen, spoke to the club about the status of the Village Park Reimagined projects in Thiensville. 
 

Since 2016, over $300,000 has been raised to make improvements in the park. In recent years we have seen new playground equipment, the PWSB River Stage, new bathrooms, and more. We look forward to a new handicap accessible boat launch, fish ladder, a water feature, and much more.

 

All of this is in great part to donations from local organizations, including Rotary, as well as businesses and individuals.

Although an official meeting wasn’t called, several Rotarians had an impromptu meeting at Thiensville Village Park on a warm afternoon, which ultimately resulted in the presentation of the Rotarian of the Year award being given to John Rosing.

On a separate note, check out the newly carved stone around the Giving Tree. (Rotating this image seems to be outside of the scope of this author's capabilities, but feel free to turn your head 90 degrees to get the full effect.)

 

1. Thank you to Jenne Hohn for volunteering to take over ordering lunches for Tuesday Meetings.

 

2. The Board of Directors voted to extend outdoor meetings in the park through the end of September. Although it may be a little cold toward the end of the summer, general consensus is that there's more comfort meeting outdoors in light of COVID-19. Masks and social distancing are strongly encouraged.

 

3. The Board of Directors voted to cancel Family Night at the end of August and replace it with a regularly scheduled meeting. 

 

4. Tuesday will be a business meeting. Come prepared to join a committee if you are not already on one. We will be encouraging each committee chair to provide a list of members of their committees. If you're not included on a list, you will be assigned to a committee to encourage broad participation in our club's goals and objectives. 

As part of our leadership speaker series, today’s speaker was Dick Gruber. Dick is a former business consultant for Goodyear Tire. He is the father of 5 and grandfather of 9, and currently resides in Cedarburg. 
 

Dick spoke about the importance of customer service, both from the retail side to the wholesale side, and how it can extend to every aspect of business and relationships. He says it all starts with having a good conversation, which leads to a good relationship. He also pointed out the irony of having a customer service department. “If customer service is a department, what is everybody else doing?“

 

Of all the customers Dick had throughout his career, the most successful customers didn’t necessarily have an extensive education, or around the clock.  Instead, one particular customer made it a point to go work the counter so he had the opportunity to connect with his customers. Dick gave a great perspective on ways of providing customer service to advance any business.

Mel’s Charities story can be heard time and time again, and still inspire. Mel’s goal of bringing Mel’s Charities to the southern end of Ozaukee County is coming to fruition in just a couple weeks away. On July 17 and 18, they will be hosting “Mel’s in the Village” where we can rock out on the river for Mel’s Charities.  Hope to see you there.

 

A year of good honest competition has sprung a new home for the Sam Azinger Trophy for the 2020-2021 year. Although the Noon Club gave it their all, and raised $7,201.00, the Sunrise Club brought their A game in June to bring their total contributions to The Rotary Foundation and Polio Plus to $7,599.50, making them the winners of the 2019-2020 head-to-head competition between the two clubs. 

 

As for the Noon Club, the $7,201.00 in contributions is at least a 10-year high, and something to be truly proud of. As for the Sam Azinger Trophy, it will be presented to the Sunrise Club the next opportunity possible. Rest assured, the Noon Club will be back with a vengeance in the 2020-2021 year to bring the Sam Azinger Trophy home. 

The Peterson Apfelbach Award for Excellence in Attraction was presented to Sam Azinger for bringing the most prospective Rotarians to meetings in the 2019-2020 year.  What an honor to receive such a prestigious award named after the person who came up with the idea. 

Changing of the Guard this year was a truly special event, as we gathered together in person for the first time in several months. We thanked our 2019-2020 leadership, enjoyed a year in review presented by Rob Kos, gave out a ton of awards (both legitimate awards and the ones that Sam gave out), and introduced the 2020 Board of Directors: