Fellow Rotarians and Friends-

Happy New Year, Waunakee Rotarians! A new year brings promise and opportunity. For officers of the Waunakee Rotary, it either means the Rotary year is half done or we have half a year ahead. Service Above Self takes a very visible meaning to us. We certainly have promises and opportunities ahead as we stop at this mid-point and plan our months ahead. But first, we need to recognize and salute our recent accomplishments as Rotarians.

The Thanksgiving Day senior breakfast welcomed about 125 diners to the Community Center. Rich Murphy and Ed Niebuhr headed this effort-thanks! We had a soggy start to the second annual Rotary in Lights display but that certainly didn't dim the impact this fantastic event has on our community. It was bigger and brighter than ever. Tom's dream just over a year ago entertained thousands of visitors. Many thanks to Tom Reis, Phil Willems, Bill Erickson, Danny Pauls, Ray Statz and Bob Tucker for all their extraordinary effort with this project and the many other helping hands. We're glad to be sharing the donations with two youth groups…hockey and softball players. We appreciated their assistance this year. Tammy Reefe added to the holiday spirit with Santa at the Village Center Dec. 2. We've donated $200 to the Waunakee High School choir for their assistance, and thanks to everyone who helped out. We're very proud of Phil and Bill taking our club international again with the Haiti well project in early December. And Lynne Spielman made the Rotary district trip to Nigeria. They were overwhelmed with project ideas, and we look forward to hearing more about their trips. Your board is working to support these direct involvements with our funds in the coming months, giving us direct international involvement from the only Waunakee in the World.

Your support and enthusiasm are greatly needed for our Super Bowl Raffle. The Pack is out, so what better excuse to watch the Super Bowl with our friends, neighbors and fellow Rotarians. Sell some raffle tickets and bring your friends to Rex's for the Super Bowl. This is one of our main fundraisers so please give it all your support possible-the odds are far better than any other lottery, casino or scratch ticket. In our community, we have several large projects involving leadership opportunities at the high school. We're also moving forward with hosting an in-bound exchange student next fall. Another service opportunity-we need host families. We also need hosts for our Russian exchange in April. Share your homes and families in this very unique way. Please contact Ray Statz to sign on. Please come celebrate our accomplishments and our plans at the Holiday Party Friday, Jan. 26. Get your reservations and meal choices into Jeremiah Gollon. We'll have a fun gift exchange and dancing to follow.

Lots more to come…let's make 2007 the best year for the Waunakee Rotary!

Thank you! Drew Lawrence, president