On Monday August 26th Mike Ohlinger, Mike Phelan, Greg Harvey and Bill Zimmermann participated in the Gold Cross Heartstart Foundation Golf Outing which supports placement of AED’s (Automated External Defibrillator) in the Gold Cross Ambulance service area. 

Waupaca Rotary is working on a project to place AED’s in targeted locations in the Waupaca area with the goal of saving more lives of people who have cardiac arrests. AED survival rates without chest compressions or defibrillation are essentially zero, but with early bystander CPR and a defibrillation shock provided within less than 3 minutes after collapse, the AED survival rate can be as high as 74% for patients with ventricular fibrillation (AED Leader 10/2/22).

The project is a collaborative effort with the Waupaca Chamber of Commerce, Gold Cross Ambulance Service and the UW-Oshkosh School of Nursing. A kick-off meeting is scheduled with representatives from these organizations in mid-September to finalize the key elements of the project which include:

• Determine current locations for AED’s in the Waupaca area
• Determine ideal locations for additional AED’s based on Gold Cross cardiac arrest data
• Work with targeted local businesses to place the AED’s
• Install AED’s
• PR campaign to raise awareness of  AED’s and locations in our community
• Train employees of AED locations and community members on AED use
• Ongoing maintenance of AED’s and annual AED training

Waupaca Rotary is currently in the fundraising phase of the project with a budget of $26,000, We have raised $17,500 through grants and donations to date, with potential for an additional grant in the next 30 days from the Gold Cross HeartStart Foundation. Individual Rotarians pledged $2,000 in donations at the 6/5/24 club meeting.

Stay tuned for news on how you can help with this project with time and/or treasure to save lives in our community!

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During last Wednesday’s meeting we presented Rotary International’s most distinguished award to two citizens of our community. The recognitions were made possible by two of our Rotary Club of Waupaca Ambassadors.

Bank First honored Randy Faulks for his consistent and generous support for organizations and events in our community.

Vic & Chris Anthony honored Dean Sondrol for his commitment to volunteerism with a wide variety of organizations and causes in our community.
 

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This was fun! At the August 21st meeting, our inbound Rotary Youth Exchange student from Brazil got to meet our outbound student headed to Brazil! 
 

Rotary Youth Exchange promotes peace by cultivating understanding across countries and cultures. Our club, our community, and the world are better for it.

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Our club is proud to sponsor the 2024 Hartman Creek Naturalist program put on by the Friends of Hartman Creek. Pics below are from the June 29 program on birds of prey. Wonderful to see so many families gathered to learn more about nature.

For more information about Friends of Hartman Creek State Park including a schedule of this summer's programs, go to: www.friendsofhartmancreek.org.
 

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We said goodbye to Ula Rozanska on July 6th.  Ula was a wonderful ambassador for Poland during her year with us.  

Back home, Ula was in a High School vet program where she studied and worked with large animal vets.  Ula has a passion for horses and loved that she was able to enjoy horses with her first host family, Georoid and Melissa Sexton.  
Reaghan Sexton helped Ula with the transition to American High School.  Our High School system allowed Ula to explore a bit more of herself.  She took numerous art courses and was able to show some of her work in a few Waupaca art shows.  

When asked about her memorable experiences, Ula immediately responded with her dog-sledding trip with Cheryl and Paul Sletten.  Of course, as an animal-lover, the dogs were  fascinating.  She also loved that she slept outside on the ice with nothing but sky overhead – a peak experience.  Her camping trip with her second host family – Kelly and Ben Baumgart- was another favorite memory.  Ula noted that back home, camping “is not something people really do”.   
Ula says she has gained self-confidence while here.  She appreciated the support of our club – “they give you a push so you can climb the ladder”.  

A special thanks to Ula’s host families:
Georoid and Melissa Sexton, and Ben and Kelly Baumgart
And as always, a special thanks for all the supportive teachers and staff and Waupaca High School!
Pictured – Ula’s Polish family here visiting with both host families.
 

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Parker Wilson was presented with a Paul Harris Fellow award. The award was made possible by his grandmother, Faye Wilson, who as a Rotary Club of Waupaca Ambassador was able to nominate a worthy recipient. 

As he was introduced, we learned that Parker is not only a good student and gifted athlete, but that he's also a kind and giving young man, involved in charity work and leading fundraising for important causes.
 

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Chuck Reynolds is presented with a Paul Harris award earlier this month.

Pictured below between Dennis and Queen Barbara.

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