Greetings, Valley View Rotary family and friends!!!
Thank you to Lynn West for sharing about our La Crosse's Sister City relationship with Bantry, Ireland! Who is in for a visit now that we learned more about the beauty, fun and good cheer that awaits us?
Please note the message from Todd Ondell below related to his visit with us last week and sharing about the Friends of Trempealeau Lakes and stay tuned as local Interact Clubs begin work on their International Service project to help Henri Johanga (who visited us last November) with the Anointed Community Academy in Kenya.
Please join us this week to hear from Gustaf who will share about his life in Sweden!
Friends of Trempealeau Lakes
Todd Ondell, fellow Rotarian that visited us last week wanted to share this Thank You and provide us with some contact information to get more involved:
Thank you for allowing me to share information relative to the non-profit organization, Friends of Trempealeau Lakes. Our focus is to educate, collaborate, restore and preserve the natural lakes of the Mississippi basin at Trempealeau. FoTP is working with WI DNR, Corps of Army Engineers, Trempealeau County Land Management, the Village of Trempealeau, Fish and Wildlife, Conservation Wardens, Fishers and Farmers and other organizations to clean the Trempealeau Lakes of invasive plants and to investigate and implement ways to control ground water nitrates from entering these spring fed lakes.
If you would like more information, to join FOTL, to attend membership meetings or to join our Board of Directors, send your contact information to:
Friends of Trempealeau Lakes
23583 Lake Road
Trempealeau, WI 54661
Applications for the 2024 Rotary Peace Fellowships are now available!
Each year, Rotary awards fully funded fellowships for peacebuilders from diverse backgrounds to study at one of our peace centers located at premier universities around the world. This year, we’ll select 50 peace fellows to study in our master’s degree programs and 40 fellows to earn a professional development certificate.
Rotary Peace Fellows use their training to amplify their work at the local, regional, or global level. Clubs and districts can partner with them on peacebuilding initiatives before, during, and after their fellowships.
Thanks to generous support from donors and the dedicated participation of Rotary members, the peace fellowship program has more than 1,600 alumni working to make positive change in more than 140 countries.
To learn more about how you can recruit the next generation of peace fellows, contact your district Rotary Peace Fellowship subcommittee chair or write to rotarypeacecenters@rotary.org.
Background on our Valley View's 50/50 Weekly Raffle
With the number of new members, we thought it would be nice to provide some background information on our weekly 50/50 Raffle and where the proceeds go to. Thank you to Dick Spencer for providing the information below.
The McKinney-Marshall Scholarship has been established to provide financial support to outbound youth exchange students representing District 6250. The scholarship was created in 2013 through a combination of funds that had been received by the District in honor of Past District Governor Tom Marshall, and a contribution from the La Crosse Valley View club in memory of Jeremiah McKinney.
Jeremiah was a student from Logan High School in La Crosse, who through the Rotary Youth Exchange program experienced a wonderful year in Japan from 1991 to 1992. His dream was to be a lawyer and eventually become a judge. For many years his family had generously provided child foster care services to many youth in La Crosse County. Tragically, two months after Jeremiah returned from Japan, he, and his father and a foster brother died in an auto accident on I-90/94 while returning home from a trip to Madison. Unfortunately, Jeremiah never had a chance to fully share his exchange experience with the Valley View club. In 1993, La Crosse Valley View established a fund for its future exchange students in Jeremiah’s memory. When the District 6250 Charitable Trust was established, La Crosse Valley View gifted this fund to the Charitable Trust for the benefit any outbound exchange student in the District. Valley View continues to provide financial support to this fund through a weekly in-club raffle.
Dr. Tom Marshall served as our District Governor for the 2008-2009 Rotary year. Dr. Marshall retired from the Wisconsin Rapids school district after having served as the school’s Director of Student Services for 37 years. For 32 of those years, Tom also served as the Outbound Coordinator for District 6250’s youth exchange program. In 2011 Tom was the recipient of Rotary International’s Service Above Self Award, which is Rotary’s highest honor recognizing a Rotarian’s commitment to helping others by volunteering their time and talents. Tom enthusiasm for Rotary’s youth exchange program cannot be overstated. He has mentored many, many, club’s youth exchange officers, counseled an untold number of parents of exchange students, and to this day is still valued as a friend by hundreds of rebound students.
Youth Exchange
Calendar of Events
** Monday ** 2/06 - Black Leaders Acquiring Collective Knowledge is the guest caller at BBBB Bingo. $7,000 Jackpot, $1/game, $150 payouts. Food, Entertainment, Fun!!! Doors open at 4pm and First Call at 6pm.
February 9, Rotary Leadership Series. 12:05-12:35pm. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89349418185?pwd=T3lQNnNiSnNseVJhYU04Y2p1bFRkQT09
February 10th. Winter Roots "Ice Breaker" at The Main, 6pm - 10pm $5
February 12th. Valentine's Market at The Main, 10am - 3pm.
February 20-25th. Downtown La Crosse Winter Days
March 2, Gateway Area Council Golden Eagle Gala. https://www.gatewayscouting.org/goldeneagle
March 6, Valley View Red Cross Blood Drive
March 20-26, Valley View Rotary Mobile Meals Week
May 25th, Valley View Rotary Mobile Meals Week
Event Resources:
Thank you, Rotarian friends, for all you do for our community and our world!
Cheers-
Rolan
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