March 22, 2022 Meeting Report
We hear from the Wisconsin Shoreline affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters and much more!
March is Water and Sanitation month
Announcements
Today's guests included Van der Brohe Arboretum Director John Durbrow and Jeanette Greenwood-Kane who expressed interest in joining our Club.
John Durbrow shared that the Van der Brohe Arboretum Annual Tree Sale is happening now, offering a 20% discount on nursery stock with proceeds benefiting the arboretum. Further details are available on the arboretum website.
Mr. Durbrow, representing the Van der Brohe Arboretum, was also presented with a check totaling $4820.30 from our Club.
Today's Program
Today's program was organized by Jim Lester.
Denise Wittstock, Executive Officer of the Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) Wisconsin Shoreline affiliate.
Indeed, it takes a village to help all youth achieve their full potential, a philosophy that is well-aligned with the Kids at Hope program used by the TRivers Schools.
Denise outlined the case for the BBBS program and how their mission/vision and the strategies help to reduce barriers to youth becoming the best versions of themselves.
Originally Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sheboygan County, the WI Shoreline affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters led the effort bringing mentoring programs to children in the state of Wisconsin by becoming the first Big Brothers of America in Wisconsin in 1965. A merger of the two local groups happened in 1982 when Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sheboygan County, Inc. was incorporated.
In 2021, the organization grew once more leading a merger with their neighboring affiliate of Manitowoc County founded in 1968, thus becoming Big Brothers Big Sisters WI Shoreline serving both counties.
"In nearly six decades, we have served nearly 20,000 children creating meaningful and professionally supported matches between adult volunteer mentors (Bigs) and children (Littles), ages 5 through 18, in both urban and rural communities. Big Brothers Big Sisters remains true to our founders’ vision of bringing caring role models into the lives of children," Denise said.
BBBS MISSION
Create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.
Create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.
BBBS VISION
All youth achieve their full potential.
ACCOUNTABILITY
By partnering with parents/guardians, volunteers, and others in the community we are accountable for each child in our program achieving:
By partnering with parents/guardians, volunteers, and others in the community we are accountable for each child in our program achieving:
- Higher aspirations, greater confidence, and better relationships
- Avoidance of risky behaviors
- Educational success
Cornerstone Programs:
Community-Based Mentoring (with interest pairing) - Littles might consider their Bigs to be their heroes. But Bigs are just regular people who invest a little time in meaningful interactions with kids to help them harness the potential they’ve had all along. Sharing a few hours several times a month doing activities you both enjoy can be transformational for both of you. Mentoring can be as easy as cooking, playing or watching a sport together, playing games, doing chores or just hanging out to talk.
School-Based Mentoring (structured) - School-based Bigs meet weekly with a Little during the lunch hour in elementary and middle schools throughout the county. Most spend time eating, talking, playing games, or heading outside for some fresh air and a walk. Being a good influence, a good listener and a good friend is just that simple. Bigs and Littles meet during the school year only, not during summer vacation.
Mentor U (being developed) – academic and career planning for high school youth
Club Operations
📰 Check the program schedule for your next chance to contribute to meeting programming.
🎳 5th Tuesday Bowling! A bit of R and R before the D and A. The front runner at this time is a kegling event at The Hook – formerly known as Rudy’s Lanes. Details for this social gathering are being developed. Look for a communication from Steve D. later this week.
🗣 Board of Directors Report/Actions. Meeting was held March 23.
Keep your eyes on the prize…
Winter ice skating pond and loop, south half of park (pond overlays splash pad area)—planned for artificial ice
Club Secretary opportunity. After many years of service as Club Secretary, Colleen Inman has announced plans to step down from this role. Detailed instructions and mentorship is available. If you are interested, please let Steve D. know. 🎉 Update: A “divide and conquer” option is available with a division of tasks among a couple of members to make the opportunity more palatable.
Please consider the opportunity to express the Rotary ideal of service in the above role.
Club Events / Service Opportunities
🐣 Two Rivers Ecumenical Pantry (TREP) Easter Bag project. Brenda G is providing leadership and is awaiting word from TREP as to final numbers needed. Easter Bag items will include books, stuffed animals, and activities that are age appropriate. Brenda extended kudos to Colleen for her acquisition prowess. While this is a Club-funded project, assembly help will be needed – stay tuned for more information.
🍽 🚗 Meals on Wheels. Next up is April 18-22! A sign up and invitation has been made available on the website. Thanks for all those that take the opportunity to help our community’s most vulnerable.
💰 District Grant (2022-23) – one idea being developed includes support for a Sensory Trauma Room for Kids to be located in the Aurora Emergency area. The need for such an area was raised by Lakeshore Foster Families to help already traumatized youth in our area. Member “grant” training is needed for our Club to apply for District Funds. Betty B., Brenda G. and Lisa V. round out those members trained and ready for the task.
(Diane J.) Get the Community Back in our Schools. (Diane J.) This is an opportunity for our Club to build student connections.
- Diane reports that the intrepid travelers have returned from Europe with their experiences documented on Facebook…first order participants in living history.
- The TR schools are participating in the FRV’s Golden Apple teacher recognition program…Educators Making a Difference. Four of our finest are finalists.
- The Raider Reporter serves to shine a spotlight on positive aspects of our schools in the community. Contributions from community partners are welcomed for inclusion in the quarterly publication. Chris E-R. has offered to contribute a piece from our Club for the June edition.
🍕🍔🌮🥗 Annual Dinner. This week’s edition of “Dinner Details” – The steering committee shared an updated report. To date, we have 60+ reservations in hand with an appeal for personal outreach by our members to reach more. Online signups are also being monitored daily by Colleen. Michael D. has pledged to enhance the online registration experience as well. The more in attendance, the more fun and funds we realize. Dinner deadline is March 25th! Bank First has committed to a $1,000 sponsorship to help underwrite the event cost. While they have a good handle of all things dinner related, setup help is welcome with a window of Friday/Saturday morning prior to the event. Many hands make light work.
The event received a nice plug at Monday’s City Council meeting with placement noted on the Central Park sign as well.
Auction Alerts … a successful auction will form the backbone of our fun and fundraising efforts. As such, each Rotarian is asked to provide an auction item valued at $50 or more. We are reported to be in “good shape” entering the sorting and categorization phase of the project…once again, experiential items highlight the haul.
🍾 In addition to the auction item, we ask that each Rotarian provide a bottle of liquor, wine or 6 pack of craft beer for the Booze Bin Raffle, preferably with the contents still inside!
Looking Ahead...
🍔 Senior Volunteer Luncheon. Logistics are being discussed at this week's board meeting.
World Affairs Seminar Reimagining Global Health and Wellness: Contagious Ideas will be held on Saturday, June 18 – Friday, June 24, 2022 Promote World Affairs Seminar information at the high school. There is one student with interest at this time. A members suggested that we reach out to the returning Europe trip kids as a natural fit for this Seminar.
Promote the Rotary Club of Two Rivers Scholarship at the high school. Our intent is to offer multiple scholarships for technical college education to phase out this program’s funding. Thanks to Stanley P. for coordinating this program and to Brenda G. for helping “judge” the applicants. The application deadline is April 13th with judging and awarding to follow.
And, looking way ahead. Interest was expressed in resurrecting the idea of a Rotary Float as a highlight of the 2022 Christmas Parade. This would be a fine idea to kick off our Club’s Centennial Year! We can check and see if the Rotary Rose Parade float is available for our local use 🎅🏻 🎄
District Activities
⚙️ TriCon 2022 in Elkhart Lake April 29-30. Still Time to Sign Up and Join Fellow Rotarians. Learn all you need to know about TriCon 2022 at rotarytricon.com
💵. Happy Bucks. Collections from the next two meetings will be funneled to the annual dinner "bag o’cash." 💰 This prompted a number of our attendees to open their wallets. Highlights included
- Appreciation for the Dinner plans and general Club impact/governance
- Celebration of the successful return of our Europe kids
- The imminent return of Deb B. to the “still-frozen” tundra.
Birthday and Anniversary Report
Deborah Brotcke (3/1) 🎂
Brian Jensen (3/14) 🎂
Colleen Inman (3/27) 🎂
Lisa VanLanen (2 years) ⚙️
Steve Denzien (an amazing 3 years) ⚙️
Next week’s Program Chair is Next week’s program: A 5th Tuesday --- the calm before the storm (April 2nd – Dinner/Auction