Welcome to Neenah Rotary!

"Make Dreams Real"
"Make Dreams Real" is the 2008-09 Rotary International theme. The beginning of the Rotary year is always an exciting time with new challenges, new club officers and directors and a renewed sense of purpose for our service projects and fundraisers.

The Neenah Rotary Club has a rich history of making dreams real for people in our community, across the state, and throughout the world. We are a club that is blessed with energetic, hardworking, and talented members who are willing to share their resources to help create opportunities for others. We look for challenges and for ways to overcome obstacles in order to help others' dreams become a reality.

Each day Neenah Rotarians share their time, talents, skills, abilities, and resources to enable people to make their dreams come true. Take a moment and reflect on what you have done to make others' dreams real. For a Neenah Rotarian the list is long and impressive. Now we must challenge ourselves to use our blessings and abilities to expand our list of successes over the next weeks and months.

As Neenah Rotary President, I ask each of you to write down one to three Rotary goals that you intend to achieve during this next year to help make dreams real. We are Rotary's ambassadors to our workplaces and communities, and I encourage you to take every opportunity to share Rotary's message and to renew your commitment to make dreams real.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be your Rotary president. It is an honor and privilege to serve you and the Neenah Rotary Club for the coming year.

Serving to Make Dreams Real
Jerry Rickman

03/20/2008 - What Does the Rotary Club Do? Someone asked me that question once, And I stood there feeling like a dunce! What do our Rotarians do? I hemmed and hawed a time or two, Then said, “We gather for a meal And ask each other how we feel. Get our food and have some fun, Chattering till the meal is done. We get club business out of the way And have the program for the day. Some are good…and some are great! And…some run on till fairly late.” But then my friend, he turned to go, “That wasn’t,” he said, “What I wanted to know.” I’ve thought a lot about this since… What could I possibly say to convince My friend that Rotary does more than meet… Greet…take a seat…then eat? Well, this is how I would make amends By explaining Rotary to my friends. A million children are healthy today In lands both near and far away Who otherwise might be lame…or dead From polio…that childhood dread! And hungry children are being fed Through better ways to grow their bread. Rotarians in many lands are teaching, And doctors of all kinds are reaching Out to heal the sick and lame With little thought for wealth or fame, And men and women are meeting the need To teach little children how to read. Youth come here from every land In answer to our outstretched hand To learn to know us and know our ways Bringing peace and friendship to all our days. And clubs are formed in every nation For fellowship and conversation, For education and information, And practicing the cultivation Of peace on earth, good will to all And a speedy end to every wall Which separates the folk of earth And keeps us from seeing each other’s worth. A hundred things there are to say About what Rotarians do each day, In every land and every town To lift someone when they are down And help each other along the way. Service Above Self…What more can I say. Well, if my friend should ask again, I’ll have an answer for him then! ---Jack Matrow, Ellinwood Rotary Club Ellinwood, Kansas February 10, 1997

06/14/2007 - Friendship Bakery Project - Rotary Olimpia Integration, Brazil A letter "home" from Kathy Westover while dedicating the Friendship Bakery in Olimpia, Brazil. Hello fellow Rotarians! I barely know where to begin. The people of Brazil have been so wonderful I feel like I am in a dream. I will tell you more later about the many activities (never in bed before midnight - never!), but first I want to tell you briefly about Tuesday and Wednesday night. I will preface my remarks by saying that you can not imagine the gratitude for our gift of money for the bakery. Tuesday night, as a surprise to me, they took me to the soup kitchen that every night feeds as many local children as can come. Many have to sit on the floor. This was the first night that bread from the bakery had been made and served to the children. The amazing volunteers (four sisters) start with a short lesson and prayer and a song each evening and they then asked me to say something. I got out one or two sentences in Portuguese telling them hello from Neenah Wisconsin USA and that they are all so beautiful. They cheered. A sea of faces so happy and yet with so little. Marcia and I served them the bread to go with their soup, going around to each table. After they had eaten, they crowded around us wanting to hear English and to touch us and ask us questions. It was amazing. They loved showing their clothes with American words on them and hearing their names in English. The experience was so overwhelming as we saw the face of poverty up so close. Tonight (Wednesday) was the official dedication of the bakery. The district governor, his assistant, other Rotary club presidents, the Olimpia club members and bakery volunteers were all there. It was very emotional. When I gave my speech and told them that everyone in our club had touched the plaque I was presenting (I had a translator - thank goodness!) there was not a dry eye in the group, including mostly the men. The tears were not because of my words, but because of our partnership and what it means to the poor children here and for the reality of what our clubs have accomplished together. The accomplishments of this Rotary club are truly wonderful and I feel exceeds any expectations we may have had. What a hard working and giving group of men and women. I also gave gifts which they all loved and then the president of Rotary Olimpia Integration spoke, Celso Ruiz. He was so overcome with emotion he had to wait but they gave a wonderful speech. He and I then went together to take the curtain down that was hiding the official plaque showing the partnership between our two clubs and what it means to the community. More tears. So many photos were taken all night and my lips were shaking in most of them. First from nervousness then from emotion. Many wonderful breads were baked and we all got to sample them, then I got a special tour of the bakery to show everything that had been accomplished. In addition to the bakery, the soup kitchen will move to this building and there are two offices for a volunteer doctor and a dentist. This experience has been a true highlight of my life and I feel so proud to represent our club here. I wish I could bring this indescribable feeling back for each and every one of you. For the next two days we will visit more people and tour more places. Saturday we head to Forteleza and the Rotarians there have some things planned for us as well. I donìt know when I will ever feel rested, but I know when I will feel good. Every time I am with these warm and caring people. When Maria (Celsoìs wife - we are staying at their house) saw me writing this email she said to tell you they are SO happy. That says it all. We have made a difference and we need to remember this seed was planted by sending an exchange student here. We need to keep that program alive in our club. It truly does make a difference in the world. Missing all of you. Kathy Westover

Got News? send it to info@neenahrotary.org and we'll post it here for you.

Past Projects

Seafood Fest 2005

Seafood Fest 2004

Seafood Fest 2003

Seafood Fest 2001

Green Park Playground Installation Sept, 2000

The Neenah Rotary Club meets every Thursday at 12:00 noon at the HOLIDAY INN NEENAH - RIVERWALK,123 E. Wisconsin Ave., Neenah.

June 18th -- No Noon Meeting Betsy Rozelle presents Changing of the Guard

June 25th Mark Keating presents Dave Lee Executive Director Paper Discovery Center and the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame

July 2nd Ray Appel presents

July 9th Steve Morton presents Lunch in the Park

July 16th Gail Ondresky presents Neenah Rotary Grant Recipient Making Dreams Real

July 23rd Tony Lee Arneson presents Dr. Jan Bax Fox Valley Wildlife Museum

July 30th Kelly Hicks presents Youth Go Kentucky Trip

August 6th Vicki Krueger presents Kailene Grabner Women’s Foundation

August 13th Ray Appel presents District Governor Bill Wresch District Governor Visit

August 20th Dawn Gohlke presents Trisha Timmerman Victim Crisis Response

August 27th Dana Kohlmeyer presents Catherine McNeil Youth Exchange

September 3rd Shelly Lauer presents Bob Dove Hospitality

September 10th Meet at Jefferson Park Sea Food Fest 2009 Neenah and Menasha Rotary Clubs Jefferson Park, Menasha

September 17th Ray Appel presents Club Assembly

September 24th Laura Meverden presents Jill Rasmussen Apple Creek YMCA

More Meeting info is available in the current edition of SPOKES

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