Net News 40 Story Archives
May 5, 2009 to present
July 13, 2009
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library - A Great Success
by Janet Jennings
Our Rotary Club 40 is one of the sponsors of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which provides a free book each month to children in Douglas County from birth to age 5. So far the sign-ups have been better than expected. 95 children received books in July; 406 will receive them in August!!!! That's over 15% of the children in Douglas County, already. As a result of this program's great success, the program will need more sponsors to meet our Douglas County children's needs. Please help by writing checks out to Imagination Library. Each $35 will pay for one child receiving a book a month for one year.
Mail your contributions to:
Imagination Library @United Way Douglas County
1507 Tower Avenue, Suite 215
Superior, WI 54880
September 28, 2009
LSDBF - Breast Cancer Program Fundraising Exceeds Expectations
by Larry Lehner
SMDC Breast Cancer and Health Fund
SMDC Health System is most pleased to again have our Breast Cancer and Health Fund as the Charitable Partner for the 2009 Lake Superior DragonBoat Festival. SMDC Health System is committed to providing the highest quality breast cancer screening and treatment in our Region. In 2008 paddlers raised over $70,000 for our SMDC Breast Cancer and Health Fund. These funds were used primarily to improve breast cancer screening rates in our region and to provide compassionate care assistance.
For 2009, donations were made to: 1) continue supporting compassionate care assistance for our region and 2) upgrading existing analog mammography to state-of-the art digital technology in Superior.
The Duluth Clinic Breast Program is committed to upgrading existing analog mammography machines to state-of-the art digital technology in Superior. The total cost for equipment, installation and training is $480,000.
We are pleased to announce that the funds raised for this year's festival were in excess of $81,500, far exceeding our hopes and expectations.
September 28, 2009
LSDBF Awards $1,000 Donation to Kiwanis for Providing Kids Activiites During the Festival
The Lake Superior Dragon Boat Festival Superior Co-Chair James Farkas presents a check for $1,000 to Melissa Brown, Superior Kiwanis club president, for their partnership with the Festival to provide kids activities during the Festival.
Superior Kiwanis has been a partner with the Lake Superior Dragon Boat Festival since the 1st Festival, making them a loyal partner for 8 years. Their club provides fun and crafts for the kids attending the festival. This is a popular feature of our festival for kids and parents alike.
October 12, 2009
Club 40 Communicator MovesEditor: Allen Raffetto
/ Online club news and information now managed through one source
As of today Club 40's information flow will come through one source: Clubrunner. "The change will be more convenient for members to view and eventually be a better way for the club to know what is happening now and in the future. It will encourage us to learn more about the stories behind the news" stated Al Raffetto, the friendly editor of the Club 40 Communicator. We willno longer be using Constant Contact for producing the Communicator. Watch this space for the next edition/rendition of thoughts, ideas and pictures.
October 12, 2009
Dues Detail Presentation
Tuula Harris held a very informative fellowship on October 7th on how well members know the detail of dues and how fundraisers are used for specific funding of scholarships, youth programs and charitable giving. Click Here to see the details of dues distribution and members' responsibilities.
November, 2009
Help District 6220 Update Their Clubs' Histories
by Tom Wondolkowski
Pryse Duerfeldt is District-6220 PDG and is researching the genealogy of the clubs in this district. Records show that Superior Rotary sponsored Marquette, MI on 3/1/1916. Our clubs were all in the same district [9] and then [15] for many years.
Now it is being researched to discover the sponsors of the clubs at Merrill, WI # 231, 7/1/1916 ;Wausau, WI #136, 1/1/1915; Green Bay, WI #279, 3/1/1917; Oshkosh, WI, #274, 3/1/1917; and Appleton, WI #288, 4/1/1917.
Does anyone have any information on the sponsorship of these clubs? Please let me or Mary Lou know by email.
Learn more about Marquette here.
Editor: Tuula Harris
/ Superior Rotary Club #40 President Greg Guenard, right, and Tuula Harris, Treasurer, left, present a check for $5,000 to Rick Rockwood, center, from the Friday Night Hoops - Superior High School Recreational Basketball Association. The Rotary Club has donated a total of $15,000 over the past three years to help establish the basketball association. There are currently over 200 high school students participating in the games every Friday night at the UW-Superior gym. Teams come from throughout the region including Douglas County, Duluth, Superior and the surrounding areas.
Polio Plus $200 million Challenge
Editor: Tuula Harris
The $200 million challenge is the Rotary Foundation's response to the two grants totaling $355 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help eradicate polio.
Every dollar given to PolioPlus will be counted toward the $200 million match, which must be completed by 30 June 2012. Our local club challenge is to raise $30 per member per year for the next two years. Please do your part by making your annual contribution now to PolioPlus.
Rotarians have mobilized by the hundreds of thousands to ensure that children are immunized against this crippling disease and that surveillance is strong, despite the poor infrastructure, extreme poverty, and civil strife of many countries. Since the PolioPlus program's inception in 1985, more than two billion children have received oral polio vaccine. To date, 210 countries, territories, and areas around the world are polio-free, and 134 of these have been certified. As of June 2009, Rotary has committed more than $881 million to global polio eradication. 2008-09 program awards were $87.8 million.
Rotary Foundation Projects
Editor: Tuula Harris
The Foundation sponsors one of the largest international scholarship programs in the world. Scholars study in a country other than their own where they serve as unofficial ambassadors of goodwill. Since 1947, almost 40,000 scholars from over 130 countries have received scholarships at a cost of more than $517 million. Jennifer Laakso was sponsored by club to study for her master's degree in Australia with a $25,000 scholarship. In 2008-09, 651 scholars from 71 countries studied in 87 countries. Program awards were $13.2 million.
Rotary World Peace Fellowships
Editor: Tuula Harris
Each year, up to 60 fellows are sponsored to study at one of the Rotary Centers of International Studies in peace and conflict resolution for a master's-level degree. Since the program's inception in 2002-03, over 430 fellows from over 80 different countries have particpated at a cost of more than $27 million. In 2008-09, 50 peace fellows from 33 countries began studies at the Rotary Centers totaling $3.8 million for the two-tear programs; additionally, 36 received professional development certificates for a total of $0.5 million. Remember that local students can apply for this opportunity. So if you know of anyone who might be interested have them contact President Greg.
Rotary Foundation Supports Teachers
Editor: Tuula Harris
Rotary Grants for University Teachers are awarded to faculty members to teach in a developing nation for 3 to 10 months. Since 1985, over 500 university teachers have shared their expertise with a college or university in a developing country at a cost of $5 million. In 2008-09, 22 university teachers from 6 countries taught in 17 countries. Program awards were $0.3 million. A UW-Superior faculty member participated in this program a few years back.
Superior Club 40 Haitian Response
Editor: Charles Glazman
The International Service Committee and the Board of Directors have encouraged and authorized spending $1000 for the purchase of a Rotary ShelterBox to be sent to the country of Haiti.
"Since its inception in 2000, ShelterBox has provided shelter and dignity following over 100 disasters in more than 63 countries. ShelterBox instantly responds to earthquake, volcano, flood, hurricane, cyclone, tsunami, or conflict by delivering boxes of aid. In many cases, ShelterBoxes have made the difference between life and death. Each ShelterBox supplies an extended family of up to 10 people with a tent and lifesaving equipment to use while they are displaced or homeless. The contents are tailored depending on the nature and location of the disaster, with great care taken sourcing every item to ensure it is robust enough to be of lasting value. Highly trained ShelterBox Response Teams distribute boxes on the ground, working closely with local organizations, international aid agencies and Rotary clubs worldwide."
Rotary members should take great satisfaction and pride in this initial response to this tragedy from Superior Rotary Club 40.
PDG Gary Nolte and His Wife Were in Haiti at the Time of the Earthquake
Here is an email from him forwarded by the District. He and his wife are now home and safe.
Email message from PDG Gary Nolte upon his return from Haiti Received 1/22/10
It is hard to believe that just a week ago we were on a school bus, headed north toward the Dominican Republic and out of Haiti. We had arrived the week before. As we landed in the Port a Prince airport, I commented that there's a jet way this year for the first time.
We had little trouble with customs and Pastor Caleb was waiting with trucks right outside the terminal. As promised, he took us to lunch at a very nice place. It seemed so out of place for Haiti, this fine restaurant with a pool overlooking the city. After lunch we drove by the UN building and on to a supermarket to get cheese for Caleb's daughter. After winding through what seemed to be endless streets, we were on the road, a very nice road. The sights in mountains were breath taking, we had always flown to Pignon in the past. As we traveled, we passed the dam and large lake behind it, more beauty. The road became rougher the farther we traveled, but progress was being made on the north-south connection of the country. Our project this year was to be a fence and playground at College de la Grace, where we have worked in each of the past four years.
The work went smoothly and the team really began to gel. By Tuesday we had mostly finished the fence and began to focus on the playground, which we would start tomorrow. Back at the camp, where we stayed, several decided to walk over to the sugar cane factory, write in journals or just nap. We were sitting on the front porch, under an overhang when it hit. It was a rumbling, shaking sound. Cindy asked me if it was a jet. No, I said it's an earthquake and we need to be in open ground.
The trees were swaying, tin roofs rattling and walls shaking. In 15 seconds it was over. At supper we speculated what had happened when Caleb came with a very serious look on his face, the quake had struck Port, hard. There were many buildings down, cell phone service was down, it was bad. Caleb had a satellite phone that the Rotary club had given him several years before. We were able to call home at tell our folks we were okay. The airport was closed until further notice. We were in limbo. It was a sleepless night.
We finished our fence and decided to save the material for the playground for probably a better use. And we speculated, how do we leave? By Thursday the Internet began to come back on line and some of the images made it apparent how bad it was. The restaurant we ate at was gone, the UN building flat, the supermarket, gone and probably many of the people we passed on the streets gone. We would have to leave, but how? We would have to leave through the Dominican Republic, but how to get there?
Caleb arranged for his school bus to take us to the border then we could catch a bus from there to Porto Plata and home. Up at 4 am Friday and on the road by 5, along the way we picked up the medical team and some refuges headed north to family and safety. The road was treacherous. There were potholes and raging rivers with no bridges. Sometimes the road was only as wide as the bus. The border crossing was wall-to-wall people and Caleb's bus could go no farther, so we had to walk across the bridge with thousands of people streaming in both directions.
After about an hour at the border, were on another bus and on our way. The road had taken it's toll on Caleb's pickup, which was hauling our bags. We had to buy two tires to continue. Now the question was, would we make our flight? Our driver as extraordinary and made it with 20 minutes to spare. Someone called ahead and the airport staff and security is waiting to whisk us through and to our plane. At last we are in the air and on our way home.
The people of Haiti need our help, now more than ever.
February 15, 2010