Waunakee Rotarians learned a bit more about their fellow members and what they get out of Rotary at the Aug. 28 club meeting.
A new program format to take place instead of club assembly once in a while has five members talking for five minutes about themselves and why they joined Rotary.
Linda Olson kicked it off. She joined Rotary the first time in the mid 1980s when the organization first allowed women. Originally from Mount Horeb, Linda’s husband is from the Waunakee area, and after she joined the club, her in-laws died of carbon monoxide poisoning. She and her husband took over their construction business, and between raising their children and working, Linda had no time for Rotary.
Trained as a dental hygienist, Linda did that by day then was the bookkeeper for the family company at night until she realized she couldn’t do both and devoted her time to just the construction company.
Later, her husband sold the construction company to a competitor but they continued on there. Linda then had more time and rejoined Rotary. She became what she called a “true Rotarian,” getting involved at the District level and with international projects. She realized while she alone was unable to affect real change, through Rotary, she could make a difference. That was the case in Guatemala where people had hand-dug wells and people routinely were sick with hepatitis and dysentery. Rotary Clubs dug a deep well and ran pvc pipes to the homes. Then the disease rates dropped.
Linda encouraged fellow club members to get involved, as well.
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Ken Ballweg was born and raised on Hogan Road on a dairy farm that today is the Waunakee business park and home to Octopi Brewing and other companies. He attended St. John’s School, Waunakee High School and UW-Madison with a major in history, then did his military service at Fort Benning and was a field radio repairman.
In high school and college, he worked at Endres Manufacturing Company when it was located at 305 West St.
In the late 1960s, the facility moved to Hwy. Q and Ballweg rejoined the company, this time doing estimates and project management. In 1990, he became president. Today, his son, Sam, operates the business. It now has a second location in Arlington.
Ken has three children, and four grandchildren, with a grandchild on the way.
After the Army, he became involved in the Jaycees and has been on a number of other boards. He’s made a lot of friends and business contacts. Ken enjoys traveling on cruises, happy hours, card playing, mystery books and fundraising events.
“I just love it all,” he said.
Ken summed up what he enjoys about his involvement in nonprofits.
“God put us on this earth for one reason. That’s to make it better than what it is today,” he said.
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Jen Tasker learned about Rotary while she was spending summers with her grandfather in California, where she was born.
She was raised in Racine, but during her summers with her beloved grandfather, she would help serve the meals at his Rotary meetings. Her grandparents were involved with Rotary, going to district conventions and traveling the world through Friendship Exchanges.
Jen attended UW-Madison and was part of the first crew of the Betty Lou Cruise. She then lived in Beijing and then Australia. About six or seven years ago, she and her husband decided to move to the United States. They sold everything and moved to Waunakee, where her sister and her mother are. She met Todd Schmidt, who suggested she join Rotary, and she made friends with everyone in the club.
Jen said the members have a common purpose and a common goal, and they leave politics and religion aside.
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Like Ken, Bill Kennedy also grew up as a farm kid in Westport. He has visited 40 countries and done business in four, he said.
Bill attended UW-Madison and graduated with a degree in agricultural journalism. He started working there as an academic specialist rewriting research papers into stories for Newsweek and Time magazines.
He was hired by an advertising agency with large clients such as Pepsi and Kentucky Fried Chicken. The agency is the 13th largest in Milwaukee and the 16 largest in the state.
The agency has also done a fair amount of political campaigns and seen a 71% winning percentage.
Bill got involved with Rotary because his brother Tom had joined and was having so much fun with Rotary Lights. Bill thought he’d join when he came close to semi retirement. He also remembered his brother Dave helping with the Super Bowl Sunday event Rotary hosted.
He summed up what Rotary has meant to him.
“One of the things about giving is you get so much more back than you put in,” he said.
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Club President Tony Burns grew up in Reedsburg and joined the military in 1989 serving as a Military Police Officer. He realized later on he did not want to be a police officer and in 1998, interviewed with a mortgage company. He jumped into Rotary in 2008 to network. But he also has been involved with a number of nonprofits such as the River Food Pantry.
“Where I get the most enjoyment is giving back to the community,” Tony said.
He and his wife have two children and a dog.
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Guests:
Amy Wilcox, guest of Paul Knutson; Shannon Arthur, Shelley Moffatt.
Other News:
Club members are retiring! Jeff Smith will celebrate his retirement with a fellowship at Octopi Brewing on Thursday. And Ken Pesik will celebrate his on the first night of Wauktoberfest. He’s been gifted $600 for his retirement so the beer is on him that evening. Bill Kennedy is also coming out of semi-retirement and into full retirement. Congratulations to all!
Speaking of Wauktoberfest, the Art on Main auction has been moved to 6 p.m. Saturday evening. The pieces this year are dragonflies and they are much more geared to residential lawns, Kylie West told the club.
Greeters: Sept. 4, Bill Kennedy and Jen Tasker; Sept. 11, Lori Derauf and Ellen Schaaf, Sept. 18, Tracy Graber and Shauna Hughey; Sept. 25, David Rupp and Mark McFarland.
To sign up to greet or to find out if you are greeting, visit:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805054CAAAA2CA7F85-44320149-2023#/
