• At its June 18th meeting the Club's Board approved the 2024-2025 budget.
  • The budget is balanced (total income equals total expenses).
  • The budget includes committee requests for increases.
  • The budget incorporates new fundraising methods and fundraisers.
  • And the budget provides for a large, yet to be determined club project which an ad-hoc committee will propose.
• The Board also approved the 2024-2025 Club Dues, which include slight increases ($10.00) due to Rotary International increases.
  • Invoices will be available starting July 1st:
    • Half Year Payers Invoice #1: $233.00 due by July 31, 2024.
    • Half Year Payers Invoice #2: $198.00 due by January 31, 2025.
    • Full Year Payers: $431.00 due by July 31, 2024.

If you have any questions, please contact Rick Voss, the Club Treasurer, or another member of the Budget and Finance Committee.

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Shu returned home on June 20th, after a successful year in Waupaca.  In a recent interview, Shu was asked what one word might sum up his year in Waupaca.  He said "Obstacles".  Shu arrived here with little spoken English.  He worked hard and we could all see his progress through the year, as he went from memorized, one sentence, Happy /Sad announcements he sweated over in the beginning of the year, to slightly longer and more elaborate details of his week, later in the year.  He was always a man of few words but his spoken English improved immensely.

Shu attended boarding school before coming to Waupaca and liked the detailed and somewhat regimented schedule of boarding school - he soon found that the life of an exchange student is anything but detailed and regimented!  Shu worked continuously to adapt to the ever-changing schedules and events of the exchange year. 

Host family living was also a challenge - Shu had not lived with a family for quite awhile (boarding school) and that was a continuous "obstacle" ("challenge"?).  American family life is often a new experience for our exchange students. While our family structures can vary quite a bit, we do expect our kids to be part of the family and participate in family meals and events. This, of course,includes conversation and pitching in at home.  American parents also tend to like to know where our kids are, what they are doing, when they will be home.  In many countries, older teenagers spend less time at home and have much more freedom to spend their days wherever and however they like.  Home expectations were new to Shu and sometimes tricky.  We are so thankful to all of the families who hosted Shu and helped him on this journey.

Shu thrived in school sports.  He had a goal of playing basketball even though he had not played much before arriving here.  He practiced throughout the fall so he could join the basketball team in November.  He played JV most of the year and loved being part of the team.  At the end of the year he was allowed a few minutes on the Varsity team.  When he got on the basketball floor the Waupaca audience started yelling "Shu! Shu! Shu! until he made a basket - even the opposing team erupted in applause.  Shu beamed - it was a highlight of the year.   Shu also ran track and  enjoyed being part of that team.  He made a couple of close friends.

It was a big year for Shu - one he will never forget. 
 

Thank you to all of you who made the effort to get to know Shu and offered special opportunities for him.  The support from Waupaca Rotary is always wonderful.  

And a special thank you to all of Shu's host families:  Becky and Jason Liegl, Dean and Carmen Sondrol,  Glen Bullick and Patti Kile, and Joe and Maggie Jones.

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On June 19th, members of our club – many accompanied by their partners – gathered to celebrate another great year.

Among the evening’s highlights: Greg Harvey presented the Presidential Award to Chris Anthony; Chuck Reynolds presented Sandy Testin with the Rotarian of the Year Award; and Wes Klages announced that Rotary’s Service Above Self scholarship will be re-named the Tim & Joy Neuville Service Above Self Scholarship in honor of the couple’s generosity in our community and Tim’s impact on our club. Additionally, our 2024-25 Officers were installed, Barb Conradt presented Greg with a Paul Harris award in recognition of his year of service as Club President, The Cogs treated us with a few verses of “Barbara Jean,” sung to the tune of Barbara-Ann, and Barb shared some thoughts about the coming year before ringing the bell to close the meeting.
 

Thanks to Terri Schulz and Andrea Jenson for organizing such a delightful evening. 

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Every year our club recognizes a Waupaca School District teacher or staff member with a "Service Above Self Award".  The award recognizes volunteer service beyond paid responsibilities and activities. The award includes a $500 stipend with $250 going to the teacher and $250 to a non-profit group or organization of the winner’s choice.

Sue Harrington was this year’s Service Above Self Award winner. 

Sue has taught in School District of Waupaca for 37 years, is a lifelong member of Trinity Lutheran Church where she serves an a range of capacities, and has been the backbone of the WICEC, Waupaca International Cultural Exchange Committee for well over a decade. She has hosted, traveled, and coordinated travels to our sister city, Mitoyo City, Japan. Her work as the co-president helped ensure strong ties that will last a lifetime. 

Sue and her family have been involved with the Waupaca Rotary Youth Exchange program, hosting multiple exchange students, and her daughter was an exchange student to Germany in 2019-2020. 

A co-worker describes Sue as "... a teacher who teaches the whole child.  She treats every child as if they were her own. Not only wanting them to learn academics, but to be kind, productive human beings in life. She loves her students from day one and the students know she loves them. They love her too. She looks for the best in everyone.” 

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About 2.5 years ago, we approached Josh Warner and Wayne Netzler of Waupaca Radio FM 96.3 with the idea of starting a radio program that would feature the sorts of people we often have come speak at our weekly meetings - people who were doing good things in our community. It just so happened that Josh and Wayne had been having similar thoughts about a program that would be a platform for local groups to talk about their organizations and upcoming events. 

In the space of two meetings, the idea for Good News Waupaca took shape, and just a few months later, in June of 2022, we broadcast our first Good News Waupaca radio show!

Since then, we've broadcast nearly 50 shows, each of which features an update from our club, a "Waupaca Proud" guest, good news from the Waupaca County Post, and four guests talking about their organizations and programs. And, through the "Our Money - Your Cause" drawing, the Rotary Club of Waupaca has given over $2,000 to local charities selected by drawing winners. How great is that!

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The scholarship is awarded each year to a student who embodies the service above self Rotary principle. At the second Rotary Convention in 1911, Rotary adopted the motto: service, not self. It was changed to Service Above Self in 1950 and the 1989 Council on Legislation established Service Above Self as the principal motto of Rotary because it best conveys the philosophy of unselfish volunteer service 
 

For many years the scholarship was named the Rotary Mike Malone Service Above Self Scholarship. Mike was a former school superintendent and having his name associated with the scholarship served us well. Last year though, we retired Mike Malone’s name and the board has decided to rename the scholarship to honor 2 people who have embodied the service above self principle in a major way – in an exponential way:  Tim and Joy Neuville

Tim and Joy together take the time to really hear what the issues and needs are in the community and selflessly collaborate with community partners to address root causes and achieve

• Funded the purchase of the first police drone which can be used searching for missing person, during traffic crashes and other critical actions
• Funded the hiring of the Inspire Director to help connect students with employers for job shadowing, mock interviews, job research and apprenticeships
• Funded the Oxford House to provide a self-supporting, drug-free house to help during the first phases of recovery
• Funded the start-up of Catalpa to open a mental health clinic for young people in Waupaca
• Funded the hiring of a grant writer who has now brought in 63 grants totaling over $5.5 Million dollars for the city, chamber and schools.

Every one of these actions truly demonstrates that the service above self by Tim and Joy Neuville has had and will continue to have an exponential impact on our community benefiting many, many people 

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