Good afternoon and Welcome- Club President Brian Benisch called the meeting to order at 12:20 p.m. and welcomed everyone to the meeting. The Pledge of Allegiance and The Four-Way Test followed.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests-
Amy Litscher briefly introduced our speaker, Pam Waters with Jefferson County Literacy Council. Rotarians attending the meeting on Zoom: Andy Barnes, Aaron Genthe, and Karen Riemer.
Happy Bucks and Fines-Raina Severson is jazzed to be back in person at a Rotary meeting, having been extremely busy lately with Town and Country Days, Brews and Bingo, and the golf tournament which necessitated Zooming She thanked Brian Benisch and Terri Benisch for leading the Town and Country Parade, and Amy Litscher for the superb job she did as parade chairperson. Raina said the Jaws movie our Rotary Club hosted last weekend was a big hit; her parents attended, too, and said they had a ball.
Gerard Saylor announced he and his wife are marking their 25th wedding anniversary with a celebratory trip to Bayfield, Wisconsin.
Scott Irwin recalled when Jimmy Carter was president, the U.S. cancelled Russia’s participation in the Olympics. His brother was on one of the Olympic teams at the time.
Jim Wishau said he went to his wife’s high school class reunion this past weekend, with 150 or 200+ people in attendance. While he didn’t really know anyone as he went to a different (competing) area high school, Jim said it was great listening to his wife laugh, smile, and hug her former classmates.
Jenny McAdow announced her Mom is finished with her chemotherapy, recently had further tests, and will be scheduling surgery soon. Jenny’s happy her mother’s moving closer to getting closer the medical issue resolved.
Brian Benisch reported his plans last week changed due to rain, happily allowing him to get back into town in time to show the Rotary movies Friday and Saturday nights. He said he’s grateful to be out in the community, and the kids were unbelievably enthused to get treated to free popcorn Friday night. Between 35 and 40 people have been attending the movie nights; “a decent attendance but not great” in terms of numbers. Brian also thanked Jenny McAdow for all she’s done this past year as President of our Lake Mills Rotary Club, leading attendees in a round of applause for her dedicated service.
Janine Fixmer said she went to the Jaws movie with a friend that recently retired. The gentleman commended Rotary for giving back to the community by hosting free movies, and indicated he might start attending Rotary meetings in the future.
Anita Martin said she needs to pay a fine for misspelling Brian Benisch’s name on the 7/16/24 Rotary meeting minutes, and neglecting to include Cody Gentz’s name on the list of volunteers to thank for serving as bartenders at the Jefferson County Fair. Many thanks, Cody!
July Rotary Anniversaries- No additional July Rotary anniversaries to announce (other than those announced at our 7/16/24 Rotary meeting) and no birthdays.
Club Business
Committee Reports or Assignments-
Music in the Mills (MITM) August 17th- Brian Benisch headed off the discussion regarding Music in the Mills 2024, stating the company will set up the tent Friday/the day before the event; however, volunteers are needed for putting up the fence, tables, chairs, etc. on Friday. MITM Volunteer Committee Chair/Coordinator Linda Jeffries passed around a sheet, asking for names and phone numbers of people that can volunteer to help with MITM. Linda also asked if there’s something specific you’d like to help with, or a time frame (day before the festival, the day of the festival, and the day following the festival for clean-up) to specify that preference on the sign-in sheet. She’ll pass the volunteer sheet around again at the evening Rotary Assembly Meeting July 30th, and then the following week, a volunteer schedule will follow. Brian Benisch announced that food will be served from 11:00 a.m. until most likely, no later than 8:30 p.m. on the day of the music festival.
Rotary Foundation- The 2024 Annual Lake Mills Rotary Club Foundation meeting takes place August 20th at 12 Noon, Foundation Chairperson Jim Wishau announced. The presentation will include the history of the foundation, when and how it started and why, the goals of the foundation and where the money which is donated goes. Jim emphasized it’s a great learning opportunity and encouraged people to attend if at all possible.
Important reminder: Evening meeting, Tuesday July 30th at Korth Park Pavilion- This assembly night meeting is a program for scholarship recipients and their families, and replaces our usual Rotary meeting. It’s important for Rotarians to show up for this meeting, to support the scholarship recipients and their families.
Paul Harris Award: Brian Benisch recognized Rotarian Dan Sanft for his ongoing commitment to the Rotary Foundation, presenting him with the Paul Harris Fellow Award. Dan is actually a Paul Harris Fellow Plus Three due to the previous Paul Harris Award distinctions he has achieved. Paul Harris Fellows are Rotarians who’ve given $1,000 a year to Foundation, for projects such as Polio Plus immunizations, etc. Congratulations and thank you to Dan Sanft!
Post pounder: Last year for the music festival, the fence stakes had to put in by hand, which is a labor intensive, difficult process. We previously paid the American Legion Post $500 to utilize their manual post pounder, and this year, we have the opportunity to purchase a gas-powered, much more user friendly post pounder. The cost for the equipment is $712.07 with tax included, Brian Bensich reported, adding that Darryl K. with the Legion said we could keep the post pounder there when not in use. Attendees unanimously voiced support for this purchase, provided a stipulation is included that we can use the equipment whenever we request it.
Set-up and clean-up after weekly Rotary meetings: Going forward, BonTon will be providing our Rotary Club meals; however, they will be dropping off the food and will not be staying for the meeting. We will be responsible for wiping down the tables after our meetings. Brian Benisch called for volunteers to help with set-up and clean-up after our weekly Rotary meetings.
Blood drive (location change; volunteers needed): The August 13th Blood Drive is being moved to the high school that day, because the City Municipal Building will be used for primary election voting. Volunteers are still needed for the August 13th blood drive (3:00 p.m.-6:15 p.m.); please contact Brian B. if you’re able to work that day, (608) 295-2689.
Other business: Ed Heimstreet gave an update on the solar panel project our Rotary organization has supported abroad. The solar panels are currently working well, but they need to be washed down periodically to continue to function properly. They are looking for a donation from the Lake Mills Club soon; the Rotary Club Board will address this request Tues. 7/30/24 at the next Board meeting, as an answer is needed soon.
Program—Jefferson County Literacy Program, speaker Pam Waters. Key points: JCLC is a 501©3 which was formed in 2001, having initially begun in 1996 with grant funding in the basement of Fort library by some librarians concerned about community literacy. It is not associated with Jefferson County Government as often mistakenly believed. The focus is removing barriers to education, and while they don’t serve people under age 18, they are a fierce advocate for family literacy, Ms. Waters explained. Currently, there are 37 volunteers (tutors or those working on special areas, or Board members.) Main areas-English language, citizenship and preparation for naturalization, GED preparation, digital literacy skills, etc. 1/7 WI adults struggle to read and access information for education, employment, etc. JCLC is staffed by 3 part-time workers, helping train and oversee classes and up to 30 tutoring pairs, which meet in different locations like Rock Lake Activity Center/ Lake Mills, L.D. Fargo Lake Mills Library, Madison College, Rock River Clinic, etc. They’ve also expanded their services to people in the Jefferson County jail. Ms. Waters said volunteers are needed, not just for doing 1:1 tutoring; also for such things as website design and maintenance, etc. Ms. Waters’ presentation generated numerous questions. To reach JCLC, call 920-675-0500.
---Anita Martin, Secretary
(7/29/24)
