As we move into 2025 as a Rotary Club we have some opportunities for Service Above Self! Tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan 14 - starting at Noon we will assist the United Way deliver Kindness books to all the Waseca 1st graders. The time slots were emailed to you so please show up and help. Contact me if you need the details again. The 1st Annual Rotary Pickleball Tournament is coming up on Feb 8th. We were fortunate to have Abbe Hoehn at the Mill help with all the pickleball logistics and now we are ready to enlist the help from YOU! Please Save the Date in your calendar!
1) Help the Day of the event - watch for a sign up to come this week.
2) Donate a Silent Auction item
3) Sponsor the event from your business/personal with a $200 donation.
4) PLAY in the tournament. Register to Play Here
Rotary Readers is another way to give of your time this year. Those preschool kids love hearing stories and it is such a short and sweet way to give a little bit of your time. Sign up to Read. Service Above Self will be in action from all of us this year! Many of you serve in your churches and other organizations in this community. Keep up the good work of making our community a better place!
Happy New Year!
Gonzales Wins His First Ever Game of LRC.
Andrew Gonzales, husband to Rotarian Katie Gonzales, sat down at the annual Rotary party thinking he was simply there to eat some shrimp and be bored at his wife's Service Club event. Little did he know that his life would change forever. Andrew, with hesitation, sat down at the round table attempting to learn a new game, Left Right Center. His head bouncing from left to right, as if he was front row at Wimbledon. Fortunately, he rarely had to look into the center, aka the belly of the beast; it's where your dollars goes to die. With his wife being the last dollar standing, she rolls a single die to "prove" her authority at dice rolling. She rolls an L and passes her buck to Andrew. This was his moment. His wrist was warmed up from several majestic tosses before his last. And then. . . he did what most men only dream of. He won a game at his wife's holiday party and asserted his dominance over all the other men. We see you Andrew, we are humbled by your prowess in a games of chance.
Rotarian Sarah Berry walked into the Lynx room with no agenda. Her husband, Paul, certainly did not anticipate strolling out with a legend on his arm that evening. A simple game of Left Right Center? Sure, to some; but to others this is a blood sport. No mercy to be shown. With each roll of the dice, Sarah quietly stayed in the game. When no on one won the second game of the night, Sarah plotted and planned to win the elusive "Double Pot." Still, slyly situated with a prime view of all rollers, she quietly attacked the game, dot after dot. She snuck up on all of us. It came down to Sarah the Silent Assassin, she had to roll a dot to win. Her wrist flicked like she had been a successful watch model in a previous life. Even with those cheering for a triple pot, she assassinated those dreams everyone.
The White Bear Lake Rotary Club is leading an initiative that secured funding for an $86,000 Global Grant, which will bring three Vocational Training Teams from Ukraine to Minnesota for advanced training in amputations, prosthetics, and rehabilitation. Ukrainian surgeons are performing life-saving procedures in the field, but often there isn't enough stump left to fit proper prosthetics, leaving many without hope of regaining full mobility. Fortunately, the Protez Foundation in Oakdale, MN, led by Rotarian Yakov Gradinar, is equipped to offer state-of-the-art prosthetic fitting and rehabilitation. Over a two-week intensive program, these teams will receive expert training from the Mayo Clinic, Hennepin County Medical Center, the University of Minnesota, and Protez Academy. White Bear Lake Rotary is seeking additional support for this effort, with our District providing a 1.5 match on all donations and Rotary International offering a 0.8 match. Every contribution helps make a difference in the lives of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. If you or anyone you know would like to assist with this life-changing project, please consider sharing this opportunity. Together, we can create a lasting impact for thousands in Ukraine.
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