Our speaker this week is on a mission from God. Think Blues Brothers! He was given a vision to help families in need break transportation barriers that keep them from advancing in life. Through overcoming these barriers, Chariots4Hope WI hopes to impact economic, social, and medical stability, while helping individuals grow a spiritual foundation. Help me welcome Dr. Nyhus Schaffer, Executive Director of Chariots4Hope WI.
Johann is from Meerbusch, a suburb of Duesseldorf, Germany. He is soon to be 16 years old. He is fluent in German and English, but also speaks some French. His family in Germany consists of his father, Andreas, mother, Katharina, two younger sisters, Isabella and Felicitas, and two dogs, Bonnie and Greta.
Johann enjoys school and learning. He has many interests including field hockey, tennis, swimming, theater club, acting school and guitar lessons. He is looking forward to participating in the West Salem sports, band and theater programs. Let's all give him a warm welcome when he joins us in this week's meeting!
VALLEY VIEW SUMMER PICNIC
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26
Please join us for an evening of great food, fellowship, and fun on Wednesday, August 26, from 5:30-7:30pm. Dinner will be provided, and we'd love it if you brought a favorite dessert to share. Please RSVP using this link so we can get an accurate headcount: Picnic RSVP
If you're able to lend a hand, we've also included an option on the sign-up form to volunteer for table and chair setup at 1:00 p.m. We'd appreciate a few extra hands to help get everything ready before the festivities begin. NOTE: There will be no regular meeting that morning due to the picnic.
Car parking options are highlighted above; shuttles will be available from the main parking lot.
There is also room at Mark's dock for 4-5 boats!
ALS WALK KICKOFF: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
ALS WALK DATE: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10
This year's ALS Walk is Saturday, October 10th. Registration starts at 8:30, with the walk beginning at 10. Like last year, there will be a kids zone where kiddos can play as well as some other fun activities for the adults, including a silent auction. Valley View Rotary will be supplying and manning the food tent this year for the walk, so see Gayle if you'd like to volunteer. Gayle has started a team, so use this link to register for the team or make a donation to the team in memory of Linda Lyche:
The kickoff event will be Thursday, September 3, 5-7 at the Freighthouse in the Hiawatha Room. Meet team captains and other supporters of the walk, and learn what to expect on walk day as well as the team week incentives. Please RSVP to Gayle.
CONCESSIONS VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
For the Moon Tunes concert this week, August 20, we need the following:
Someone to load & drive the box truck from the Rotary Lights warehouse to the Park, AND
Two volunteers for the concession stand 4-8pm
High School Interact clubs normally run concessions, but student availability is limited at this time of year due to school sports starting up. Please contact Nancy Schmidt if you can volunteer for any of the above duties.
moon tunes VOLUNTEERs needed august 20
“Many hands make light work”… and it's FUN!!
We have several Moon Tunes “regulars” out of town this week, so there is an urgent need for volunteers at this Thursday's concert. Please use the link below to log into ClubRunner and click on Volunteers then View Sign-up List. Please check out the shifts available this week to see how you can help, then check out the remaining dates and sign up for fun!
The Downtown La Crosse Rotary Club will be collecting and recycling lithium-ion batteries and rechargeable devices that you’ve been holding onto in your junk drawers! Join us at Moon Tunes and bring your lithium-ion batteries and rechargeable devices including smartphones, tablets, electric toothbrushes, laptops, power tool batteries, rechargeable vacuum batteries, wireless headphones, and any other lithium-ion battery and help close the loop. The battery drop-off location is the Interact Popcorn tent.
Climate change is creating a global imperative to electrify everything from our vehicles to our grids. Lithium-ion batteries are at the heart of powering all these solutions and are made up of the same metals like cobalt, copper, nickel and lithium. At the end of a product’s life, every rechargeable lithium-ion battery is a source for making new batteries and sustainable energy products in the US. By responsibly recycling our products and batteries, we keep them out of landfills, reduce the need to mine critical minerals, and help increase the security of our domestic supply chains. Note: Only undamaged lithium batteries can be accepted. Come recycle with us!
ROTARY AFTER HOURS MINI-MASTERS 9/19
Rotary After Hours (RAH) is holding its annual Mini-Masters golfing event to raise funds for youth exchange programs. This year's event will take place on Saturday, September 19, from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM at Riverside Amusement Park (1304 Interchange Place, La Crosse). Valley View Rotary Club will put a team together to participate, so please see Amy Bettis to sign up for a fun afternoon!
RAH is also seeking event sponsors and raffle donations. Please see Nancy Schmidt for additional information.
WORLD'S LARGEST POLIO WALK - OCTOBER 24
Rotarians across our region are gearing up for something big - the World’s Largest Polio Walk on October 24 and Valley View Rotary will be part of it!District 6250 will join Rotary districts across Region 36 – Rotary Zones 25B & 29. The effort will unite more than 36,620 Rotarians and 964 Rotaractors across 11 states and 2 countries in a powerful demonstration of Rotary’s commitment to a polio-free world. Rotary has been leading the global fight against polio for more than 35 years through its End Polio Now campaign. Thanks to Rotary and its global partners, polio cases have been reduced by more than 99.9%, but the fight continues until every child is protected.
Tom Byerly and Julie Nelson will represent our club in a collaborative committee of representatives from all participating clubs in our area. Sponsorship and Monetary commitments will be discussed by the committee, but we do know that registration will be $20 per person, which gets you an End Polio Now t-shirt as your "ticket" and the remaining $ go to the Polio fund. There will be an after-party following the walk, so raffle items will be needed to help make a generous donation to support Polio. Tom will keep us informed as more information becomes available.
This is going to be fun, easy and a short 1 mile walk. We would love to have a great showing of the La Crosse area and a big group photo, so please mark the date on your calendar. Other D6250 clubs are also participating but we feel that our area is the BEST so we need your HELP and SUPPORT!
A Rotary Vibrant Club Workshop is an annual Rotary International event designed to inspire, equip, and connect Rotarians from across a district to help their clubs become more dynamic, inclusive, and impactful. It’s part of Rotary’s “Be a Vibrant Club” initiative, which encourages clubs to engage members, conduct meaningful service projects, and try new ideas to strengthen their communities. It is a great opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with Rotarians from other clubs in District 6250. The next workshop is Saturday, November 7, from 9am-1pm. Click the link below for more details and registration. Join the fun!
Valley View Rotary will be sponsoring an opportunity for a Rotary Fellowship Danube River Cruise in the spring of 2027. This will be a Viking 8-day cruise from Passau, Germany to Budapest, Hungary, with stops in Linz, Krems and Vienna, Austria, as well as Bratislava, Slovakia. All Rotarians in District 6250, including their friends & family (18 years and older), will be invited to join in, and we hope to connect with at least one Rotary club along the way for a meet-up, service project or to make plans for joint projects or RFEs in the future. Some of the best parts of Rotary happen outside our meetings—the conversations, friendships, shared experiences, and people we meet along the way. So why not take that fellowship all the way to Europe?
Viking's intimate river ships carry up to 190 guests with meals onboard, beer and wine with lunch and dinner, Wi-Fi, guided excursions, and cultural enrichment included. You unpack once and stay in the same comfy cabin each night but get to enjoy the beauty and history of amazing scenery and destinations throughout the journey. Matt Boshcka, Valley View Rotarian and owner of Dream Vacations, has generously offered to do all the legwork to make this Fellowship Cruise happen. We're working on specific dates and pricing right now, so stay tuned for more details to come!
Rotary provides many opportunities to create positive, lasting change in our community and around the globe. One meaningful way to strengthen that impact is to enroll in Rotary Direct, our Foundation's recurring giving program. Last year, thanks to generous donors, our Foundation was able to fund more than 1,488 global grants, 457 district grants, and 57 disaster response grants to help communities in need. Rotary Direct is one of the easiest and most secure ways for our donors to support this work. Because contributions are automated, donors don't need to send checks or remember to make an annual contribution.
Rotary Direct saves time and reduces administrative costs. It offers flexible giving options to fit every donor:
For more information, you can refer to these frequently asked questions. Thank you for your dedication to Doing Good in the World!
rotary works foundation
The Rotary Works Foundation was founded in 1982 with the purpose of awarding grants for qualified activities. Through generous gifts from local Rotary Clubs (including VVR) and others, the Foundation makes a difference in the quality of life in our communities. Please click on the link below for more information. Grantees of RWF funds are listed in the ABOUT section after the list of sponsors.
