The Waunakee Rotary Club learned more about one of its newer and perhaps more adventurous members, Todd Smrcina, as he gave his classification talk during the Sept. 24 meeting.
Raised in La Crosse, Todd's heritage is French on his mother’s side and Czech on his father’s side. Both sides of his family immigrated to the United States in the 1800s.
After growing up in a fairly racially homogenous city, Todd attended UW-La Cross and was placed in the dorm for international students. That seemed to have sparked a sense of wanderlust. Todd spent a year abroad in Spain and another year in Colombia, and traveled to Argentina, Chile and Guatemala, where he taught English.
He also bicycled across the country, spending 14 weeks making his way from La Crosse to the west coast before settling in San Francisco, where he lived for 25 years. He taught ESL there evenings, spending his days working in the financial district.
During his travels to South and Central America, Todd met his future wife, Bruni, and they married at her family’s farm in Chile.
Todd and Bruni, have two children, a son and a daughter, and the family has lived in Savannah Village for a number of years. Todd said he doesn’t define himself by his vocation, but in addition to teaching, he has worked in venture capital and animal genetics.
Though he’s new to the club, Todd already has an international project in mind – a school in Chile is in need of a bus for transportation.
Club Assembly
The club members also met in committee during the Sept. 24 meeting and gave these reports:
International - On Oct. 15, James will visit the club from Kenya to report on SOAR Kenya. The club has worked on projects for the school, gardens and dormitories.
Meetings - The club has speakers booked. Kylie West is now working through all of the members’ suggestions and arranging more presentations.
Membership - We could always use more members, so if you know someone in the community who might consider joining, invite them to our lunch.
Youth - The reading program at Heritage is starting up again. If you’re interested, talk to Robert Arntz. RYLA will be May 14-15 and registration will begin in January. The World Affairs Seminar is June 20-25 and registration is underway.
Community Service - The club will unload the trailers for the Rotary Lights and begin hooking them up on Oct. 17. Tracy Graber invited volunteers over for a euchre party afterwards. Ken Pesik said the village has given the club permission to repaint the concession stand at the Village Park. That committee is thinking of a chalet theme with cream and burgundy colors. In January, the club will look into helping to pack medical supplies again.
Marketing - Depending on whether the arch is completed, a photo shoot has been arranged with the local newspaper on Nov.. 16 at 4 p.m. to also kick off Rotary Lights. And, speaking of Rotary Lights, Jen Tasker announced that the sales team had met the $60,000 goal for the magazine advertising. The marketing committee will focus on social media for Rotary Lights, a website update and sprucing up the event booth.
Other news
The Interact Club has raised about $4,600 and has other fundraising projects planned for its clean water project.
Coming Up
Oct. 2: Waunakee Artisan Market at Schumacher Farm Park. Volunteers are still needed.
Oct. 6: Bishops Bay Pizza and Fellowship at 5:30 p.m.
Oct. 11: Food for Kidz
Oct. 13: Sunrise Fellowship at Grace Coffee
Nov. 22-Jan. 1: Rotary Lights
Greeters: Oct. 1, Tracy Graber and ???; Oct. 8, Sally Gile and Ken Ballweg; Oct. 15, Shelley Moffett and David May; Oct. 22, David Rupp and ???
To sign up to greet or to find out when you are greeting, visit:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805054CAAAA2CA7F85-44320149-2023#/
