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We're Building Beds for Kids!
Our volunteer build day with Sleep in Heavenly Peace is this Saturday, September 10th, 2022.
There are more kids in our area than you may imagine that don't have a bed to sleep on at night. We need your HELP to provide them one! We need your family's help. We need your friends to help us build beds for local kids in need. RAH contributed $5,000 raised at our Ugly Sweater 5k and we received a matching district grant which allows our club to build 40 beds for kids in our community.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace Build Day-
Saturday Sept 10th 9 am to 12 pm (Please be there at 9am for directions and instructions on how to build. The more people we have the quicker the build!)
We will be painting, sanding, drilling, and saws, to name a few! No experience required as the core SHP team will help guide us. We can't wait for the build day and make it a success!
Please wear a RAH apparel item if possible as we hope to have the news station and photographer there!
Join Us For Our Annual Mini Masters 2022 Mini-Golf Fundraiser!
Mini Masters is on Thursday, Sept 22nd. This is our 10th annual event that raises money to help us bring a youth exchange student to La Crosse for a year!
Gather your team and support a great cause for our club! We will have our good friends Tom Conrad playing some tunes, the wonderful MC Laura, and a food truck and beverages to enjoy!
Don't forget to sign up your team of 4 by TODAY Sept 9th!This is a great opportunity to invite friends or individuals who may be interested in RAH to join your team.Give them a glimpse of the fun we have in Rotary After Hours.
We still are in need of hole sponsors and donations for our raffle, so please reach out to those organizations and businesses you may know!
We appreciate all the support and look forward to a fun night! If you have questions please see Stef Kline or Bill Pritchard.
Katelyn was selected by fellow club members as our Rotarian of the Year for 2021-22. As a second-generation Rotarian, she brings so much value to Rotary After Hours. She has led RAH’s Service Committee to provide an increasing number and variety of service opportunities for our members over the past two years, directly helping to increase RAH’s impact in the community. "RAH would not have thrived throughout the COVID pandemic without the help of Katelyn, and all she did to identify help safe volunteer opportunities for our members to participate in. She really has knocked it out of the park!" said Past President Marissa Dickinson.
Katelyn is not only involved in Rotary, but is an active member on several community committees and boards including: Women’s Fund Development Committee, Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors, Coulee Region Humane Society Board of Directors and the La Crosse Community Foundation Impact Committee.
Katelyn is someone who "Serves to Change Lives" every day. Most importantly, she lives out the 4-Way Test in all things she thinks, says or does. She is friendly, always welcoming, a "get er' done" gal and someone we all love to be around. RAH is lucky to have Katelyn as a member of our club and past board member, and we are grateful for her service and leadership.
Trinity Lutheran Church’s skyline overlooked a beautiful group of people enjoying the Community Block Party on Monday night, August 15th.
Pastor Phil put together a great evening. With the help of many volunteers, a good bit of fun played out on the north side of La Crosse. Cheerful bells from the sightseeing trolley matched the pitch of laughter as children ran to the bouncy house or smacked birdies on the badminton court.
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La Crosse’s legendary Sweet Shop brought out the old school ice cream, chocolate and vanilla! Margarita’s forearms MIGHT just be stronger for it, too. Linda’s Bakery, also legendary, put forth amazing buns for brats and dogs. As people loaded dinner plates in the food tent, others belted out John Denver’s “Country Road” along with the band near the music tent.
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Inside the church a calm, peaceful quiet contrasted the activity outside. Families cycled through this area, receiving sneakers and school supplies for kids, feeling grateful for a community of caring individuals.
We also bumped into Lurch with Bikers Against Child Abuse and he gave us the details on their November 12th Soup Cookoff. How cool to have awesome groups in our community strengthen each other through social fun and fellowship. Trinity Community Block Party is a great example.
Speaking of adventures, our second newest member Margarita Licon is certainly not short on them
Remember when you were a kid seeking something new and freeing and said you were going to run away and join the circus? Margarita did just that! Including various opportunities in the United States, she spent some time living in Scotland, where she performed at the International Fringe Festival. If you missed her brain floss at our RAHck the Rotary Year party, check it out!
Originally from Fillmore, California, Margarita and her partner Alex have settled into his area of origin, which has allowed her to find us! Margarita is currently the Community Engagement Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the 7 Rivers Region. When not at work or RAH events, she enjoys traveling, all things music (listening, playing, writing, and performing), cooking, kayaking, Pokemon cards, and spending time with Alex and their dogs.
Both these amazing women joined Rotary to build relationships and to help as well as learn from their communities, and we are so lucky to have their energy and passion for servant leadership in our club!
Our Youth Exchange student, Mariarrived in La Crosse on August 10th after a long flight from her home country of Japan. A handful of us were there to welcome her with open arms! She will be staying with the Skendzel's as her first home stay.
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Mari is attending Central High School and is on the tennis team. She would love to invite you to one of her upcoming matches!
4:30pm Tuesday 9/13 vs Holmen (at Central)
4pm Thursday 9/15 vs Luther (at Central)
4pm Tuesday 9/20 at Logan
Serving aces for Central's tennis team!
Please coordinate with the Youth Exchange Team to include Mari in your plans. She is very open to trying new restaurants and is up to make the most out of any opportunity. Let's immerse her in the culture of Wisconsin (and also help her host families out)! A reminder, if you are with her solo, to complete the background process here.
Rotary Revealed the Rotary Mobile Clinic and Handed Over the Keys to St. Clare Health Mission!
"We wanted to do something big, something that shows what will happen when the community comes together.” -Josh Mansee, Past President of Rotary After Hours and Past District 6250 Foundation Chair
In the Spring of 2020, representatives from each of the local Rotary clubs came together seeking to do a big project, locally. Area non-profit organizations were asked what they would do if they had $300,000. Nine project ideas were submitted and ultimately arrowed down to two, in alignment with Rotary's Areas of Focus. St. Clare Health Mission was one of the final non-profits and was asked to come and pitch their project to the committee. Their idea: A mobile medical clinic that can travel to the remote areas of the Coulee Region and provide health services to the working poor, uninsured, immigrant, and homeless populations.
"There's no question about it. The one that will have the greatest impact in our community is the mobile clinic," said Rotary East member, Pat Stephens. The group unanimously agreed and the dream of bringing a Rotary Mobile Clinic to the Coulee Region began.
The local Rotary clubs teamed-up with the goal of raising $80,000 and using the financial power of Rotary International funding to triple the total. We ended up raising more than $170,000 locally and bringing in an additional $160,000 through Rotary grants and global partnerships to create the fully-functional clinical unit in what Jason Larsen, St. Clare's executive director, and Rotary East member, calls a time of great need.
Supply chain issues caused many delays in getting the mobile clinic back home, but at the end of July 2022, our very own Josh Mansee and Marissa Dickinson along with Downtown Rotarian Dean Dickinson had the honor of traveling to Columbus, Ohio to pick up the brand new, 26' Rotary Mobile Clinic from La Boit Specialty Vehicles. After a couple of hours of orientation to the mobile unit, the papers were signed and the trio hit the road for Wisconsin. They made a stop in Evanston, IL at the Rotary International Headquarters to showcase the great work being done by Rotary in the Coulee Region. 13+ hours of driving later, they safely arrived home with the Rotary Mobile Clinic and tucked it away for the big reveal at Moon Tunes the following Thursday (August 4th, 2022).
The custom-built mobile clinic will bring the St. Clare Health Mission services to uninsured and immigrant populations across multiple counties. Equipped with two exam rooms, diagnostic equipment, a wheelchair lift and bathroom, the clinic can provide basic medical care by volunteer doctors and nurses. The clinic has already visited places like Houska Park as well as making stops to do farm medicine in Arcadia and Tomah and sports physicals for youth.
The Rotary Mobile clinic symbolizes our commitment to live a life of Service Above Self. Many thanks to everyone who supported the project and to all of you who came out to Moon Tunes to welcome the mobile clinic to the region.
Check out the photos of the road trip home and the Moon Tunes reveal along with the great media coverage!
In addition to the first case of vandalism, Mother Nature tossed an unexpected December wind storm that caused about $150,000 of damage.
Rotary Lights President Pat Stephens has listed a series of September evenings they are looking for help to fix up several light displays. No experience is necessary; they will have Leo Chaput there leading our group.
A handful of us helped put new lights on 4 different displays this past Wednesday night and can attest that no experience was needed!
If you area able to volunteer, stop down at the Rotary Lights Warehouse (27 Market St., La Crosse) on Sept. 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29 from 6-9 pm and lend a hand!
It will get you in the Christmas spirit and is guaranteed fun!
The 12th Annual Bricks for Babies Golf Fundraiser is on Monday, September 12th starting at 12:45 pm with Banquet and Charity Auction to follow at 6pm. Please reach out to Bob Newberry at 608.792.0035 or bnewberry@winona.edu if you are interested in willing to help the day of the event, golf, sponsor and/or contribute to the auction.
Onalaska Hilltopper -
Third Annual Chiefs ChallengePulled Pork BBQ-Q is on Thursday, October 6, 2022 from 3:30-6pm in the parking lot of Dickinson Funeral Home at 401 Main St, Onalaska. Help support the Onalaska Fire Department and Onalaska Police Department - it's the Chiefs Challenge, whichever department sells more tickets wins! Proceeds benefit both the Onalaska Police and Fire Departments. Tickets are $10.00 per meal. Each meal includes Onalaska Hilltopper Rotary's award-winning pulled pork, Fayze Talame bun, cheesy scalloped potatoes, slaw, and locally made Storandt Farms Sweet BBQ Sauce... all served up by Rotarians... drive-thru pick up only!
iFeed will be held on Saturday, November 5, from 8am to Noon at Logan High School, in La Crosse, Wis.
iFeed is a one-day event that works to alleviate hunger in the world and in our own communities. It is organized by seven area high school Interact Clubs and their Rotarian advisors. Interact is the high school equivalent of Rotary that focuses on teaching servant leadership. For more information, visit: https://www.rotaryifeed.org/
A big shout out to Cullen Lucas, Margarita Licon and Larry Skendzel for sharing vocationals at our August 23rd meeting.
If you were unable to attend and hear them share more about their lives and also what Rotary means to them, take 40 minutes to watch the recording (starts around minute 25:00). It will be well worth your time!
Challenge: Invite a friend, coworker or even a stranger to join a RAH event to check it out!
We often have visitors that are considering joining our club! In a recent article written by Rotary International President Jennifer Jones,she remarked on how it all begins with an invitation. We are so grateful to already have added three new members since July, and we want to invite you and encourage you to continue inviting friends, family and those members of the community you interact with or meet that would be great additions to Rotary After Hours Rotary. Valley View President, Rolan Covert shared an article he read this week that you may enjoy: How Community Service Can Grow Your Business (entrepreneur.com). "As we have conversations within our spheres of influence, there is a mutual benefit to companies and organizations that tap key leaders and invite them to serve their local community."
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