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UW-Madison Campus Bombing, 50 years ago
Aug. 11, 2020 7:15 a.m.
Dan Woll, a former School Administrator and author of Death on Cache Lake. ..a literary thriller that includes the famous bombing on the UW-Madison campus in 1970. He is relaunching his book this summer to tie in with the 50th anniversary of this historic time. ABOUT THE BOOK August 2020 marks the tragic 50th anniversary of the Sterling Hall bombing on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. The book Death on Cache Lake re-imagines that fateful night. Today, the campus bomber Leo Burt is still a fugitive and wanted by the FBI. The book gives readers a fictionalized idea of what happened to him. Anyone who has ever paddled a canoe on a wild river, climbed a mountain, cycled lonely country roads or sat by a roaring campfire while a loon cries on a moonlit lake will find much to love in this book. Set in the tumultuous days of 1970 as the University of Wisconsin campus imploded after a deadly campus bombing, the book takes the reader on a dark odyssey through the lake wilds of Ontario, and the woods and small towns of Wisconsin. A fishing trip in Quetico Provincial Park turns tragic when two friends cross paths with a former acquaintance who is running for his life. This spellbinding tale of political intrigue and conspiracy will also captivate history buffs who share the authors’ fascination with American crimes that seem solvable but remain mysteries. Caleb and John’s adrenaline-filled flight through Ontario to unravel the conspiracy and save their lives takes them on trains, hitch-hiked rides on trucks, cross-country skis, and canoes, all at a breakneck pace. |
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Incredible Journey -- From Boxing Ring to Boardroom
Aug. 18, 2020
Growing up with poverty and racism on Milwaukee’s Southside, faith and perseverance led him to becoming an internationally acclaimed boxer, and President-CEO of Lutheran Social Services (LSS) of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, one of the largest non-profits in the Midwest. There’s an old adage that says a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Sometimes the starting line begins in childhood, during very challenging times. The Hector Colón story, detailed in the author’s memoir, From Boxing Ring to Boardroom-5 Essential Virtues for Life & Leadership (August, 2020), began in a broken home, punctuated with gang violence -the Latin Kings and Spanish Cobras were never far away. As a young Latino in Milwaukee he experienced the ever-present challenges of bullying and prejudice. All of these experiences played a part in igniting his interest in helping others in his work today as a servant leader. “If you want inspiration then you owe it to yourself to read Héctor Colón’s life story. From humble beginnings to a champion boxer to the boardroom. Héctor weaves a wonderful story about life’s challenges and rewards.”—Howard Behar, Retired President of the Starbucks Coffee Company Earlier this year Colón’s leadership was recognized when Gov. Tony Evers appointed him to the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents “The Héctor Colón story is one that would capture anyone’s heart. Whether a teacher or preacher, boxer or CEO, Héctor’s story is an inspiration. Despite what would seem insurmountable odds, this is a captivating story of someone who had the grit, determination, and altruism to make a difference despite growing up in poverty, a broken family, and living through the challenges arising from prejudice. —Dr. Mary Meehan, University president emerita and honorary alumna, former healthcare executive, and life fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives Colón’s personal and professional path had an unlikely beginning ---in the boxing ring. Héctor’s first book, “From Boxing Ring to Boardroom” is set to release in August 2020. |
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Compelling Story -- She's Changing Up the English Language
Aug. 25, 2020 7:15 a.m.
Vivian Probst, who has a longtime business in the Milwaukee area as a National Consultant to the Affordable Housing industry, is also a linguist and author. Her new book, Tha Womun Who Forgot Who She Was –the first book in a five-book series is written in WEnglish, a groundbreaking, gender-neutral language. Vivian spent over a decade creating the concept, text and Glossary for the book. This distinctive book, inspired by dramatic dreams that mirrored Vivian’s own life, is being launched in August, in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote in the U.S. She will discuss the concept of WEnglish, and what her novel represents 100 years after the 19th Amendment was signed.
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Sun Prairie's Economy
Sep. 01, 2020 7:15 a.m.
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The Wonder Years are Back
Sep. 08, 2020 7:15 a.m.
David Benjamin’s Highly Praised Memoir, The Life and Times of the Last Kid Picked, about Growing up Mid-Century in Small-Town Wisconsin, is Getting a New Lease on Life. By Sharyn Alden In October, readers who loved The Life and Times of the Last Kid Picked, by Madison author, David Benjamin’s can devour an updated version of the beloved book originally published by Random House in 2002. Regarded as a masterwork of storytelling, the book shadows the life — often in laugh-out-loud detail — of a kid coming of age in mid-20th century Wisconsin. In one of many superlative reviews, Hartford Courant book editor Carole Goldberg, called Benjamin’s book “richly hilarious” and warned, “Don’t read this at bedtime — your laughter might wake up the kids.” Benjamin will be speaking to the Sun Prairie Rotary Club about how he regained the copyright from Random House (not an easy task) to publish the new book under his own Last Kid Books imprint. Benjamin is a prolific novelist and founder of the Madison-based publishing firm, Last Kid Books, named for his popular memoir. He is also a newspaper veteran, award-winning editor of the Mansfield (Mass.) News, Tokyo Journal in Japan, and other periodicals. Fans Relate to Being Chosen Last The “hero” of the Last Kid Picked languishes at the bottom of the pecking order among fellow students at St. Mary’s School in Tomah. He is literally the last kid picked for playground games, and his only friends are fellow outcasts named Koscal and Fat Vinny. He feels the stigma of his mother’s status as a divorcée, his dad’s absence from his life and his family’s nomadic poverty. Despite a steady series of failures and humiliations, “Benjamin” throws himself into every game, learns skills by trial and demoralizing error, discovers talents that no other kid acknowledges — and he grows. “Remarkably,” Benjamin says, “Readers identify emotionally with my protagonist because they tell me, ‘I was the last kid picked’ I hear this from as many women as men, in numbers that defy probability.” Humorously, he wonders, “I mean, what if everyone was the last kid picked?” The good news is the book, which accumulated fans when published by Random House, is updated now. It will be published in October as a Last Kid Book (www.lastkidbooks), an outfit named for the book that started it all. The new book provides a deeper look into Benjamin’s career as an underdog — more like “under years,” he said, “than wonder years” — in a story that mixes memoir with flights of fiction. Midwest Nostalgia The author explains life the way he knew it as a kid. “It was freelance childhood. What we had was just the outside,” he explains. “We dove into our local wilderness to commune with, capture and risk injury from tadpoles, snapping turtles, snakes, bullheads, bloodsuckers, vicious squirrels, wood ticks, green apples and a boogeyman named Ed Gein.” If you grew up in small town Wisconsin as Benjamin did in Tomah, in an era when there were no play dates or peewee leagues or parent-supervised tournaments, you understand the thrill of unstructured play. Benjamin says, “Kids learned the ways of adults by watching them, rarely asked them for help and didn't tell them any more than they absolutely had to. Everyone respected the authority of teachers — especially if it was a Catholic school.” |
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COVID-19 and Financial Planning
Sep. 15, 2020 7:15 a.m.
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What Kids Need –When Self-Esteem Suffers In & Out of Virtual Classrooms
Sep. 29, 2020 7:15 a.m.
“Learning to believe in yourself can be a struggle for kids when they are learning remotely, especially if they have been bullied,” says Bev Davis, hospital chaplain at Meriter Hospital and author of several children’s books about bullying. By Sharyn Alden Teachers, parents and students are facing the virtual school year with many challenges. One of those challenges, maybe not so obvious is a student’s feeling of not fitting in or being picked on. “Low self-esteem can make a student more vulnerable to bullying,” says Bev Davis, an anti-bullying expert, hospital chaplain and author. When she talks to groups about the importance of believing in yourself, she’s speaking from the heart since she was bullied throughout childhood. Once bullying starts it has a deep impact on families and communities “The acts of marginalizing people doesn’t just effect the person being hurt; it effects everyone in your life, as it did mine,” she says. Her experiences have given her deep empathy for others. That ability to be helpful is an important element in her position as a hospital chaplain at Meriter Hospital. “People may think that when you’re hurt with words it can’t be as bad as physically being injured, but the effects of words can actually hurt longer than sticks and stones.” says Davis. “I can still hear the taunting and see the spots on the playground where I was bullied.” Davis holds a Masters of Divinity degree from McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago and a Certified Dementia Practitioner (NCCDP). She will be speaking to the Sun Prairie Rotary Club on September 29 via a Zoom meeting about the life-long effects of bullying. All are welcome to join the meeting. Her personal experiences inspired to write her first book, Great Gray…a Book about Exceeding No Expectations when she was in Clinical Pastoral Education Residency at Aspirus Wausau Hospital. (bevdavisauthor.com) With many schools playgrounds closed due to Covid-19, Davis says there are still opportunities outside the classroom for kids to learn kindness and not be mean to each other “If I had been bullied in the classroom before this pandemic closed my school, right now I’d be very anxious about what I would face when we return to the classroom,” she says. “I hope that any student who has been bullied will be able to share their feelings with their parents and that adults will listen, intently.” Have a Plan –What a Bullied Person Needs Davis says as a chaplain, and someone who works and supports people in all walks of life, she recognizes the importance of having a plan to help kids feel good about themselves. Here are four points Davis suggests for parents:
“These points of advocacy are based on my hearing from people who could have been helped, if they were heard and felt safe to share their feelings and circumstances with someone who they could trust,” she says. |
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"Mom's Gone Missing" -- losing parents to Alzheimer's and Dementia.
Oct. 06, 2020 7:15 a.m.
I'd like to introduce you to Susan Marshall, an excellent speaker of the new book just released, Mom's Gone Missing ....a poignant story written by Susan about her recent journey with both parents dying of Alzheimer's and Dementia ..what happens to the family that's left, how she, as the spokesperson for her family, was on a daily roller coaster with associated organizations in finance, legal and health, and other matters she had to negotiate..What she'd like others to know if they too find a loved one 'missing' due to a disease with no cure. Susan is also the founder of Milwaukee's Backbone Institute. https://backboneinstitute.com/ "Never Grow a Wishbone Where a Backbone Ought to Be." |
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Sun Prairie Rotary Foundation
Oct. 13, 2020 7:15 a.m.
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Oct. 20, 2020 7:15 a.m.
EMS Chief Brian Goff joined the Sun Prairie EMS team in January 2018. Chief Goff has more than 20 years of emergency services experience and has worked in private and public systems in both EMS and Fire Departments. He is nationally credentialed in multiple emergency service disciplines and has earned peer distinctions as Chief EMS Officer from the Center for Public Safety Excellence as well as Fellow of the American College of Paramedic Executives. Chief Goff earned his Associate's Degree in Emergency Medical Services from Seminole State College (FL) and his Bachelor's Degree in Fire and Emergency Services from the University of Florida. |
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The Three Ps in My Life: Polio, Post Polio Syndrome and Polio Plus
Oct. 27, 2020 7:15 a.m.
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Supporting the environment & ESRAG’s Role
Nov. 03, 2020 7:15 a.m.
ESRAG (Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Groups) Karen Kendrick-Hands, a member of the Rotary Club of Madison, WI, USA, D6250 since 2012, helped to form the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group (ESRAG), to synergize her passions for Rotary Service and mitigating climate change and providing a way for like-minded Rotarians to collaborate. She has served as ESRAG’s Chair, Director of Communications, and is currently the Director of Projects. She was the first ever Observer Delegate sent by Rotary International to the UNFCCC climate talks, attending COP24 in Katowice, Poland, December 2018. In February 2020, Karen presented to the Rotary Foundation’s Environmental Issues Task Force, on behalf of ESRAG. Rotary International’s Directors and the Trustees of the Rotary Foundation accepted the Taskforce report unanimously and have created a seventh Area of Focus: Supporting the Environment. Karen is active with the Wisconsin Chapter of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby and is the Co-leader of its Rotary Action Team. When active as an attorney, Karen worked as a volunteer public interest advocate for cleaner air and mobility and transportation choices, including serving on various local, state and regional advisory bodies, for over 30 years. Karen is blessed to have been a Rotary Youth Exchange student in 1967-68 to Australia. Karen and her husband Larry Hands, also a Rotarian and ESRAG Board member, have been married for 46 years, and have two married sons and three grandchildren. Together they are building a carbon-neutral home and working to restore prairie and savanna habitat on 80 acres in southwest Wisconsin, USA. |
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The Changing Landscape of Nutrition, Health, and Wellness
Nov. 10, 2020 7:15 a.m.
Laura Isaacson is a Registered Dietitian and Clinical Dietetics Lead at Vida Health. She was previously the Director Clinical Nutrition and Director of Community Outreach at Upland Hills Health in Dodgeville, Wisconsin and has also worked in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at The Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and with the Neurosciences Department at The University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. While at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Laura was selected to participate in the UWHC Division of Nursing and Patient Care Services and University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing 2011 Clinical Leadership Institute as well as in the 2011 American Dietetic Association Leadership Institute. Laura received a Bachelor’s Degree in Dietetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master’s Degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition from the University of Maine-Orono. She completed a supervised practice in dietetics at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. Laura has enjoyed volunteering with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Wisconsin Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in a variety of roles. She is the Past-President of the Wisconsin Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has previously served as the Wisconsin Delegate to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Chair of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Medical Nutrition Practice Group, and President of the Madison District Dietetic Association. She has previously served on the Board of Directors for Fifth Season Cooperative, The Healthy Classrooms Foundation and The Montessori Children’s Community School. Laura received the 2019 Upland Hills Health Leadership Award and the 2019 Rural Health Ambassador Award, was recognized as a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in 2014 and was awarded the Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year Award in Wisconsin in 2010. Laura lives in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin with her husband Chet, sons Henry and Will, three dogs and two horses. In her spare time, Laura enjoys cooking, reading, gardening, traveling and hiking. Provided by Colleen Burke |
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Tips on Running a Succesful Small Business
Nov. 17, 2020 7:15 a.m.
Main Street Moxie From Surviving to Thriving in the New American Marketplace When the going gets tough –Noelle Stary has your back. This young entrepreneur has built two thriving New Jersey businesses from scratch through a voracious devotion to learning, improvising and improving —and knowing when and how to fall forward. Today, as the pandemic has changed the business landscape many Main Street businesses are operating out of bedrooms, basements, garages and home offices. Stary shares her hard-won tips for success despite the impact of a global pandemic. Main Street Moxie is filled with real-world ideas that may change your world.
“Thriving as a small business owner requires finding your grit. It’s not always easy, I know. But when you have grit and moxie, you can will yourself through anything.” ---Noelle Stary There’s an old adage that says when you have the opportunity, be the change you’d like to see in the world. That describes Noelle Stary who has intuitively sought that goal for a long time, going back to childhood. As is sometimes the case with people who grow up to be good in their chosen fields, Stary had a pretty clear idea of what she wanted when she was a little girl. “I wanted to be an entrepreneur when I grew up,” she says. “While other girls were playing house with their Barbies, my dolls were being dressed for success and heading out to work.” Today, she is a role model for change. For starters, before she was 30, she founded the first co-working space in New Jersey www.coworkinginjersey.com including the Woodridge site. She is also at the helm of her marketing firm, 20 Lemons, and its focus on the hospitality industry. As the title of Stary’s book emphasizes, she says moxie is key to thriving in today’s business environment. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines moxie as “energy and pep, courage, determination, and know-how.” Stary explains the importance of that word in business. “When I was 26, and I founded my first business, I had enough energy, courage, and determination to take care of the fact I had no more know-how than most people my age. In other words, I had moxie. And if you want to succeed in business, you’ll need a healthy dose of this trait, too.” Main Street Moxie, recently released and available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, is the story of how the author used a lot of grit combined with her singularly unique brand of moxie to make it through the largest paradigm shift of her generation.
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Rotary Friendship Exchange - What it's all about!
Nov. 24, 2020 7:15 a.m.
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Boys & Girls Club of Sun Prairie (Virtual Tour)
Dec. 01, 2020 7:15 a.m.
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Dealing with Mental Health During the Pandemic
Dec. 15, 2020 7:15 a.m.
Lynn Brady is the President and CEO of Journey Mental Health Center. Lynn has over 40 years of experience in the behavioral health field as both a clinician and an administrator. Her background includes clinical practice and teaching in a university setting, policy and systems development as a state director of behavioral health services, and organizational management. Journey Mental Health Center: Journey Mental Health Center is a community based behavioral health care system providing services to over 12,000 individuals annually in Dane and Columbia counties. Journey employs approximately 350 staff in administrative and clinical positions. Journey provides mental health and substance use disorder treatment to individuals throughout the life span using multi-disciplinary teams of psychiatrists, social workers, and nurses. |
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Rotary Orientation for all members
Dec. 22, 2020 7:15 a.m.
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Experiences, Memories, and Life as an Exchange Student in Sun Prairie
Dec. 29, 2020 7:15 a.m.
Gonzalo will take us through is final report of his exchange year. He was our Inbound Rotary Youth Exchange Student who arrived in August of 2019 and left the US in August of 2020 to return to his home country of Venezuela. He attended Sun Prairie High School while he lived in Sun Prairie and he had 3 host families. |
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Your United States Military Academy at West Point, From 1802 through the Pandemic
Jan. 05, 2021 7:15 a.m.
Geroge will cover a brief USMA history, what the Corps of Cadets looks like today, and how the Academy has dealt with the pandemic.
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Reducing Anxiety in Children
Jan. 12, 2021 7:15 a.m.
Terri Sorg, Wisconsin Author & Former Registered Nurse Specializing in Mental Health, Presents “Reducing Anxiety in Children” At Sun Prairie Rotary Club, January 12 Terri Sorg’s books have a wonderful way of connecting the messages on the pages to what’s on the minds and moods of many families across the country. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from UW- Madison and is a retired Registered Nurse. She has worked with troubled teens and the mentally ill. “I helped them deal with the struggles in their live," she says. Early in her nursing career when she learned of the work being done in hospice, she became a volunteer and trained in energy healing. She discovered her niche in mental health where, she says, treatment is as much art as it is science Her fourth book –Heart Fairy & Anxiety, will be published early in 2021. Writing about Anxiety during Historic Times “Many of us face challenging times, especially now when we are living in a pandemic. Having a strong inner spirit and knowing that you are loved are more important than ever before.” She adds that for many people, including children, happiness may be missing in their lives. “It can be related to feeling anxious,” she says. Sorg’s new book Anxiety helps young readers understand their feelings and offers tips for moving beyond feeling anxious. She knows firsthand, from dealing with anxiety in her own life, how freeing it is to let go and accept yourself. She also learned anxiety runs in her family. She decided to find ways to lower anxiety in her own life which she shares in her book Anxiety as well as during presentations. “Letting go of anxiety helps you become happier, whether you’re an adult or a child,” Sorg says. “I know firsthand that when you let go of anxiety and accept yourself, you become happier.” |
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"Suck the Muck" Project
Jan. 19, 2021 7:15 a.m.
Provided by John Belken |
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Racial Justice
Jan. 26, 2021
Diara Parker is a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant, as well as a change management and organizational culture champion. As a consultant and Vice President of Operations for EQT By Design, Diara supports organizations and communities as they redesign, build, and implement strategic initiatives using an equity-centered change management approach. Diara has a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership and Development from the University of Colorado Boulder. She has experience leading strategy development, systems analysis, and community engagement through an equity-centered lens on both a local and statewide level. She is passionate about employing equity-driven, people-centric approaches to change management and strategy development that center the voices of diverse stakeholders and support long-term sustainability. |
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Species Survival Plans and how Henry Vilas Zoo participates
Feb. 02, 2021 7:15 a.m.
Jess Thompson the Conservation Education Curator at the Henry Vilas Zoo. Bring your questions about polar bears, harbor seals, and pythons. She will explain Species Survival Plans and how our zoo participates. Provided by David Berggren |
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Reweaving the Social Fabric... Lessons from Loving Traumatized Children.
Feb. 09, 2021 7:15 a.m.
Pippa Jarvis is Managing Director of TLC Children’s Home, based in Southern Johannesburg. For 27 years she has worked in every area of the organisation, coming to a deep understanding of the operations before taking on the leadership role in 2015. After completing a bachelor’s degree in education, Pippa devoted her life to the mission of the organisation, advocating enthusiastically for the rapid, responsible placement of over 900 children into permanent, loving families. In 2010 Pippa was voted as one of the Top 200 Young South Africans to take to lunch by The Mail and Guardian. She has participated in the Common Purpose Navigator program for Leadership development and completed a Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship at the Gordon Institute of Business Studies. Over the years, Pippa has developed a passion for learning, networking and supporting collaboration in the NGO space. Participating in many Forums, online courses and always seeking opportunities to grow and learn more. Committed to ensuring no child fell through the cracks of the broken placement system, Pippa is now the mother to 14 adopted children, 9 boys and 5 girls (aged 5 to 21). She is dedicated to investing in the fundamental yearning each of us has, to truly belong. Her current personal development is focussed on learning as much as she can about Trauma Informed Parenting and Conscious Discipline as methodologies that could be put into impactful practice in the residential care of babies and children. She hopes to help develop a support platform for mothers at risk of losing their babies to the System, and thereby stem the flow of babies coming into long term residential care settings. She is an accomplished speaker with a wide repertoire of experience to draw on. From parenting, to special needs, to life in an adoptive family, and running an NGO in the South African context, Pippa is able to share fascinating insights into a multitude of issues facing humanity today. |