You are invited to Buy the Big Wheel, an annual Rotary tradeshow/networking event organized by the Omaha Rotary Clubs and open to all Rotarians in Dist. 5650. It's a great opportunity to network with Omaha business professionals showcasing their products and services on March 8th, Thursday, 4:30 PM - 7:00 PM at Champions Run, 13800 Eagle Run Drive, Omaha. Please register here. Watch Martie Cordaro's promotional video here.
Heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served and there is no cost to Rotarians and their guests. Enjoy your share of gifts and giveaways from our Exhibitors. This is your once a year opportunity to bring your spouse, friends, and prospective Rotarians for fellowship and possible business with Rotarian business professionals. DON'T MISS IT!
Public Speaker and Representative, Endicott Clay Products
TOPIC: Harness the Power of a Millennial Workforce with a Purpose-Driven Workplace. There are currently four generations in the workplace. As the Traditionalists and Boomers retire, the Generation Zs will soon be applying for jobs. Research shows that younger generations want careers with meaning. They want to make the world a better place, have flexible hours and enjoy a personal life. How do we tap into this new way of thinking and hold on to our most important asset - our employees? Lisa will outline characteristics of each generation and focus on how we can retain employees and provide work with a purpose.
BIO: Lisa Lackovic is an Architectural Representative at Endicott Clay. In addition to marketing masonry products to architects, landscapers and interior designers, she is a frequent speaker at events that increase sales and build customer relationships. Examples are the Ultimate Backyard Challenge, Divas of the Dirt, Contractor Seminars and Advisory Councils. Lisa, also known as The Brick Chick, has traveled the US giving presentations on many topics including Generations in the Workplace-Why Can't We All Get Along? Leadership Styles of Men and Women, Small Business Marketing, The Trailblazer in All of Us and Good Manners Make Great Impressions.
Last week, President Nuzhat Mahmood presided the meeting. Bob Kully gave the Invocation. Ron Niederhaus and Dwayne Brown served as greeters, while Bonnie Gill was Cashier. Rodge Bickerstaff was Sgt. at Arms. Dean Rasmussen received his Paul Harris Fellow + 5 pin and Rod Anderson received his Paul Harris Fellow + 1 pin. We also welcomed our 105th member Andrew Shim.
Bill Sutton was Chair of the Day. Bill introduced our own Jamie Summerfelt, President & CEO at Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) as speaker. Jamie spoke about VNA's services: Home Health, Hospice Care, Palliative care, and Community Care. Speaking from the healthcare industry, Jamie advised his fellow Rotarians to eat healthy, stay active, stay hydrated and visit your primary care physician at least once or twice a year. If you missed Jamie's presentation, visit VNA here and watch this video on how VNA is providing affordable healthcare by clicking here.
Jamie Summerfelt
Our Friday Crew: Dwayne Brown, Rodge Bickerstaff, Ron Niederhaus
Andrew "Andy" Shim made the best decision when he chose to join the Omaha West Rotary, the best Rotary club in Metro Omaha! Andy was introduced by Membership Chair and President-Elect Jill Slupe. Andy is a former Rotarian and Paul Harris Fellow from the Rotary Club of Vermillion in South Dakota where he served as Chair of their Fundraising and Membership Committees. Andy is Program Director at College of Saint Mary. Please make sure to introduce yourself and welcome Andy when you see him at our Friday meeting.
L to R: Dean Rasmussen, Rod Anderson, Bonnie Gill and Nuzhat Mahmood
Last week, The Rotary Foundation Chair Bonnie Gill, awarded Dean Rasmussen as Paul Harris Fellow + 5 and Rod Anderson as Paul Harris Fellow + 1. Congratulations and thank you Dean and Rod for your generosity!
This past Friday at Omaha West Rotary, Rotarian Laura Thomas joined us again from the E-Club of the Carolinas. We recognized our Red Badge Members. We helped the Rotarians with March birthdays celebrate. Dick Sturgeon nominated John Morey to lead us in singing the Happy Birthday Song and the club sang surprisingly well.
Karin Lombard had good news to share about becoming a grandmother. Laura Thomas shared good news about a conference she attended. Jim Meier told us about an upcoming Honor and Remember event. Vaughn Wiebusch thanked Dick Lerner and Kim Kuhle for organizing the successful fellowship at Bel Air Fashions the night before.
No one submitted any Bitcoin articles this week to get Matt fined. Matt fined Jamie Sommerfelt for an article about the Visiting Nurse Association. Martie Cordero was fined for being on KFAB radio about the start of the new season and Dick Lerner testified that he also heard the radio interview. Martie was fined again for an article about the Stormchasers changing their name for a day to the Omaha Runzas. Martie was also fined again for an article on a new mural for the Stormchasers. Matt reminded the club that Martie was to be Club President in years 2020-21 and that his secretary would undoubtedly fine Matt often. Matt noted that at Omaha West Rotary revenge builds “good will and bitter friendships” but quickly corrected himself to say “better friendships”.
To celebrate the start of Spring Training, Matt defined baseball terms. One such term was "frozen rope" which is a 150 feet-per-second line drive that, after you recover from your injuries, should convince you that you can't play professional baseball. Another was a "foul ball" defined as a ball that is hit out of bounds or, in the alternative, a homerun ball hit by the other team that causes you to loudly curse.
On March 15th Ray Klinginsmith, past RI president from 2010-2011, will be speaking at Suburban Rotary at 12:00. To register in advance (which is recommended) click here.
The physical address for Omaha Suburban Rotary is: Anthony’s Restaurant at 7220 F Street, Omaha, NE
Ray will be speaking at the North American Youth Exchange Network (NAYEN) Conference that Thursday morning and then at Omaha Suburban at noon.
On behalf of Omaha Suburban Rotary Club, I want to invite area Rotarians to visit Omaha Suburban Rotary and hear Mr. Klinginsmith speak. Ray is a very accomplished and progressive and it would be worth the effort to come hear and meet him. He was at PETS in Salina Kansas a few years ago when I was a new club president and I still remember him and his message. Among other accomplishments he helped implement Future Vision in Rotary.
Hope you can make it. The cost (paid on site) is $16, a bargain. :)
Thank you for the opportunity to share with my fellow Rotarians a bit about my vocation.
I am an Educational Consultant in addition to being the Owner and Managing Director of FixLexia a clinic dedicated to serving the needs of individuals with Dyslexia. I graduated from the University of Nebraska Omaha in 1994. Like most, my vocational trajectories has not been a straight line. For the first 8-9 years of my career, I worked in the financial services industry. While I enjoyed the work, I wanted something that "filled the bucket." I was fortunate to have had to opportunity to own a tutoring franchise for 14 years, and this was the impetus that fueled my desire to work with individuals with dyslexia.
The need for services in our state is great as it is estimated the prevalence rates of dyslexia are between 13-17%.
The official definition provided by the International Dyslexia Association is as follows:
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.”
Adopted by the IDA Board of Directors, Nov. 12, 2002.
While this is the definition, there are many myths in the general public that unfortunately lead to delayed intervention. The most common myths include:
1. Dyslexia is visual; they see things (or read) backward
Extensive research has shown that while reading is primarily phonological, not visual
However, individuals can have visual processing difficulties, but this would be separate and distinct from a diagnosis of dyslexia.
2. That a child cannot be assessed until 3rd grade
When in fact children's phonological skills can be addressed as early a four years of age
3. Dyslexia is curable
Dyslexia is neurobiological; it is a lifelong condition
4. Children with dyslexia will never learn to read
This is NOT true, interventions provided in Kindergarten -2nd grade can significantly improve a child's reading writing and spelling abilities.
It is estimated that nearly 45,000+ Nebraska children in our combined public and private schools have dyslexia. I feel grateful to have the opportunity to serve individuals by assuring that those coming to my clinic are appropriately assessed and receive the interventions they need and deserve.
Thank you for the opportunity to share a bit about my vocation, and I look forward to continuing to positively impact literacy rates in our state.
Last week, Engagement Committee Chair John Philo awarded Steve Redler with a 24-karat gold number tab 31 for his amazing, unmatched record of 31 years of perfect Rotary attendance. John praised Steve for setting a good example for his excellent engagement as Rotarian. Congratulations, Steve!
The multi-club meal packaging project chaired by our very own Brett Wawers was a huge success! Omaha West Rotary, together with Suburban, Millard and Southwest, packaged a total of 30,600 highly nutritious meals for distribution to our local food pantries and to feeding programs and orphanages around the world. Thank you to all those who volunteered last Saturday. Pictures have been posted on our Facebook Page here.
Spread the News! It's a great time to join Omaha West Rotary!
Please spread the news, the fee for joining West Omaha Rotary has been discounted from $540 ($340 plus $200 application fee) to $113 from now till June 30th. Because of the generous “new member” contributions from Nizar Mamdani, Dwayne Brown and John Morey, the application fee has been waived and the membership fee has been supplemented for all new members. This is a great opportunity to encourage prospects to test out our club and join at a reduced rate. For more information please reach out to Jill Slupe at Jslupe@verdemartin.com or 917-416-7498.
Announcement: We are meeting at QLI on March 23rd. Mark your calendars as this is one of a kind meeting.
On March 23rd we have decided to support our fellow Rotarian and immediate past president, Kent Templien by holding our Friday Rotary lunch at Quality Living Inc., 6404 N 70th Plaza, Omaha, NE 68104. Kent is a resident at QLI and loves the idea of us bringing Rotary to him. The guest speaker will be Jon Pearson, director at QLI.
QLI is providing lunch at their cost. In return, we will ask for voluntary contributions to QLI, certainly not mandatory. But we do need to have everyone sign up in advance so that we know how many to plan for. Please register here.
Understanding the value of The Rotary Foundation . . .
When asked what participants want to get out of Rotary training and meetings, we hear things like the statements above.
Meeting all of those needs is a challenge - but there is an answer – the Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI).
RLI has been available in District 5650 since 2006. The curriculum and format were improved in 2009 and we expanded to partner with District 6000 in Iowa in 2012. There have been nearly 275 Rotarians participate in our local program.
Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) was designed to provide discussion and activity-based programs. There is time to go into detail on many topics. It is not focused on a particular Rotary position but allows an opportunity for participants to truly discover Rotary.
All Rotary members benefit from the RLI experience. Rotary Club leadership can be more effective because of their expanded knowledge and connections made during RLI sessions.
RLI is a three-part program. Each RLI participant attends three one-day sessions. Our goal is to offer each Part with every meeting date (pending a sufficient number of registrations).
Upcoming session dates:
March 3, 2018 - Hosted by District 6000 in Iowa City
April 21, 2018 - Hosted by District 5650 likely in Omaha
October 6, 2018 - Hosted by District 5650 likely in Omaha
November 3, 2018 - Hosted by District 6000 likely in Des Moines
We are now offering 10 punch lunch tickets ($160) and 10 punch meeting-only tickets ($70) for sale at the meetings. Get one and don't worry about having cash or getting out your credit card! For sale at check-in.
MONDAY BELLEVUE 12:00 PM (DJ's Dugout, 10308 S. 23rd St.) NORTH 12:00 PM (Omaha Eppley Airport Conference Room) MILLARD 12:00 PM (German American Society, 3717 South 120th Street) - NO MEETING on Oct 9
TUESDAY MORNING 7:00 AM (Happy Hollow Country Club, 1701 S. 105th St.)
NORTHWEST 12:00 PM ( Effective August 15th Northwest Rotary will meet Tuesday's at noon at Jerico's, 11732 W Dodge Rd, Omaha, NE 68154.)
SOUTHWEST NIGHT 5:15 PM (DJ's Dugout at 17666 Welch Plaza, northeast corner of 180th & Q streets)
WEDNESDAY COUNCIL BLUFFS CENTENNIAL 1st Wed 7:00 AM; 3rd Wed floating event; no meeting other weeks (Hy-Vee in Mall of the Bluffs, I-80 Exit 5) DOWNTOWN 12:00 PM (Field Club, 3615 Woolworth Ave.)
THURSDAY COUNCIL BLUFFS NOON 12:00 PM (The Center, 714 S. Main St.)
SUBURBAN 12:00 PM (Anthony's, 7220 F St.)
WESTERN DOUGLAS COUNTY 7:00 AM (Elkhorn Common Ground Community Center, 1701 Veteran's Drive)
FRIDAY WEST 12:00 PM (Champions Run, 13800 Eagle Run Drive)
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