Lake Mills Rotary Agenda: 03.05.2024
Pyramid Event Venue
12 pm
- Good Afternoon & Happy Tuesday!
- Welcome to Rotary-Pledge of allegiance and 4-way test
- Welcome all Visiting Rotarians, Guests, Zoomers
- Happy Bucks and fines.
- Greg thanked Eli for hosting the Arts Alliance Showcase. It was standing room only, and the lineup was fantastic.
- Ed stated it was a great season for the women’s basketball team. The boys are counting on and playing Thursday night. There is a concert this week at the High School of Show Choir, Pop Choir, Strings, and Band.
- Andy’s kids performed for the first time for Irish Dance on Friday. Milwaukee has the St. Patrick’s Day this Saturday.
- Debb is going on a selfcare retreat in Guatemala.
- Brian attended the PETS (President Elect Training) in Chicago. The speaker Saturday morning was from the United Nations Council. It was invigorating to think about her, and the connection to Rotary Clubs. His second happy buck is that his newest grandson was born last night. His name is Waylen.
- This week’s Birthdays- Rob Lewis March 2nd
- This week’s Anniversaries
- Ginger Ramsey has been in Rotary Club for 2 years.
- Club Business, Committee Reports or Announcements
- Next Night Meeting Updates
- On March 6th they will be discussing recipient for proceeds of Pyramid 5k.
- On April 17th consider attending Hwy 89 & G Cleanup then meet at Tyranena Brewery afterwards.
- Calendar Raffle-Barb & Gerard
- Tickets printed and ready to sell.
- They are $100 each, multiple chances to win weekly for April through June.
- Red Cross Blood Drive
- The next blood drive will be on Tuesday, April 9th. Please consider volunteering.
- Registration is open for Tri-Con April 18-20th in Green Bay
Program Speaker: Charlie Kruschek, Photographer
Debb Linns introduced the speaker, Charlie. They met and were both interested in van life. Debb had purchased an older van, and Charlie had purchased a new van in the pursuit of a “van life”. He is interested in storm chasing and shares his adventures on tik tok.
Charlie is happy to be in attendance and was invited by Debb Linns a few months ago. When asked he decided to talk about his life and “how to weather the storm”. Charlie is 23 years old and was born and raised in Waunakee but moved to Lake Mills recently with his family.
Charlie has always had a love of nature. He comes from a large family who has been a huge support system for him through the years. He is the oldest of 8 siblings. He has found that family is what has allowed him to follow his dreams. He has always had a love of storm chasing. Just last night he followed a tornado to Illinois – amazing that he has already seen two in 2024!
At the age of 16 he purchased his first camera and began chasing storms. He traveled all over. At this time, he began studying weather and atmospheric sciences. He got accepted to his top 2 schools, both outside of Wisconsin. He began taking his classes at Madison College in the pursuit of a transfer as out-of-state schools are expensive. While in school, he decided to take a leap, drop out, and move to Iceland.
During the time he was in Iceland, his sister was home. Eveyln was adopted from China and had several health conditions. Despite her medical condition, she was always happy with a smile on her face. Unexpectedly she died at home. He felt like he didn’t know what to do – he was lost.
In May of 2021, his friend Jonah, a fellow storm chaser, convinced him to “just chase”. He loved storm chasing, and his friend Jonah convinced him to get back out there. In May 2024 he went to Kansas with his friend. A storm became to grow, and he started to feel excited. They decided to dip down and chase another storm where there were not many chasers at. Before he knew it, there was a piercing light through the clouds next to a tornado. He felt like in that moment Eveyln was reminding him of his passion, and that she was along with him.
Charlie has been continuing to heal, a lot of this comes with the help of Debb Linns at Opening Doors together. He continues to work on healing with break work, taking a pause, cherishing every moment, being mindful, and never settling. Settling means you’re complacent and comfortable, you need to be uncomfortable to grow. This is what Charlie is focused on, being uncomfortable, growing, and chasing.
Charlie purchased his first van in November and intends to be on the road full time by this summer. This is what makes him happy. He chases the light. He has seen sunrises, sunsets, and light from the moon that you could not even imagine. He feels like when he sees this light, he knows Evelyn is with him.
His words for us are to “chase what makes you happy”.
Upcoming Speakers:
March 12th-Janet Foust-Retired Educator speaking on Highly Sensitive People
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