Fall is here and our club has been busy! We RAHk!
In September, we got to hear from DG Todd Restel about the upcoming Rotary year and how our club can share the love of Rotary and make an impact with global projects and maintain peace in our lives. One way to help build peace and conflict resolution is to complete the free online workshop through the Rotary Positive Peace Academy. Completing this course will help all individuals and Rotarians develop tools to enhance and engage in Rotary’s work in peace and conflict resolution around the world. Here is more information and please let me know if you complete the course, I plan to! Rotary Positive Peace Academy - Rotarian Action Group for Peace (rotaryactiongroupforpeace.
Our club got to experience the Magic of Rotary through the RFE exchange in La Crosse from the Philippines. Joe Hammes, Jenny Arihood-Hanabarger and myself all were hosts for the Filipinos for 5 days and we got to experience the magic of the La Crosse area through their eyes. We took them to Riverside Park, the Friendship Gardens, the Pearl, lots of local shopping and TJ Maxx, Grandads Bluff, Guadalupe Shrine, St Rose Convent, the Rotary Mobile Clinic, Downtown Rotary of La Crosse Oktoberfest meeting; the Tapping of the Golden Keg and all the festivities of Oktoberfest; the Torchlight Parade and Maple Leaf Parade. What a week and how great it is to have Rotary members from the Coulee Region get to share in the journey. RFE is a great way to see the world and experience the culture and build friendships. The next upcoming RFE is to Sweden in June 2025 and they are taking applications. For more information: Friendship Exchange | District 6250 (rotary6250.org)
Pickleball for Polio and World Polio week is fast approaching! I hope that RAH members can sign up to participate in the fun. You can bring friends or co-workers to join as well, and we hope that all attendees can help donate to eradicate polio. Thanks to our club representative and planner Marissa for all her work to help with this event and the other three clubs as sponsors. October 24th is World Pollio Day and I hope that you can join for the event- maybe we have some dominating pickleball players in our club!? Sign up here!
Our next club meeting on October 22nd will be one you should not miss! While in Singapore, I heard the two brothers from Iowa speak about their Flight to End Polio around the world. I was amazed by their story and how a small plane could travel all over the world in order to help with donations to the Polio fund thru Rotary. They will fly up for the night to come to our club to speak and we are very lucky to have them come to our area. Please spread the word and join us that night to hear how you can help eradicate polio and share their amazing journey.
Finally, thank you for the great turnout for our off-site meeting featuring the La Crosse Dark Tour! Who knew there were so many stories and haunting spots in this town. I will never look at the Pearl Ice Cream shop building the same knowing it was a brothel! I hope you enjoyed the night and got to chat with other club members over beers and pizza. Our next off-site will be in November at the Rivoli- please attend with friends or potential members. The Magic of La Crosse is the theme for meetings during my President year and I hope you enjoy learning more about the area and all it has to offer.
Please welcome our new members and give them a warm welcome at the next month’s events. We are growing and have so much to do this year and it couldn’t be done without everyone’s help, thank you! “You create the magic with every project completed, every dollar donated, and every new member- Stephanie Urchick, RI President 2024-2025.
Stefanie Kline
Rotary After Hours President 2024-2025
