Do you know a great candidate to nominate for the Entrepreneur of the Year Award?  If so, nominate then by February 26!

Selection criteria:

·         Under 50 and over 18

·         Owns a business or runs an organization

·         Has been in business more than two years

·         Is active in at least one local Volunteer organization

·         Lives or does business in Lake Country area

·         Does not belong to Rotary

·         Nomination would consist of a written submittal outlining why the potential recipient is deserving of the award. Submittal form are standardized to insure that all submittals are uniform for judging purposes

Nomination criteria

·         By Rotary member

·         If by someone outside Rotary, must be co-nominated by Rotary member

Publicity

·         Lake Country Reporter

·         Lake country Reporter Rotary blog

·         Milwaukee Journal –Waukesha edition

·         Waukesha Freeman

·         Business Journal

·         Chamber of Commerce News letter

Recipient would be awarded one year’s membership in Lake Country Rotary as well as a plaque at a special Rotary meeting.

Judging would be by an appointed panel of Lake Country Rotary members

Timeline

·         Nominations submitted by Feb. 26, 2012

·         Nominations review completed by April 1^st, 2012

·         Award presented by end of April, 2012

Village of Hartland - Santa and his helpers brought an early Christmas gift to Lake Country children last week, in the form of more than $100,000 in donations toward a proposed "splash pad" project in Nixon Park.

A splash pad is a flat, concrete-surfaced water play area that includes a variety of water features that shoot water in different patterns and directions. In October 2010, the Lake Country Rotary Club announced plans to pursue the construction of a splash pad in Nixon Park, with a fundraising target of $300,000 and a tentative goal of installing the new feature in summer 2012.

That completion date is now looking a lot more solid, thanks to the recent funding commitments, said project co-chairman Mike Kaiser. "We are definitely building this next summer," Kaiser said.

Last week, the Lake Country Foundation committed $75,000 to the project, while the Rotary Club pledged $25,000. Individual donations have also started to come in, and include pledges of $5,000 each made by Tom and Mary Brass, Dick and Karen Bertrand, and Hartland-based firm Rapco Inc., owned by longtime Rotarian Mike White.

Splash pad organizers will now reach out for both monetary and in-kind donations from local businesses, other service clubs and individual community members. The Rotary Club has set up a website, http://www.lakecountryrotarysplashpad.com, that both explains the project and accepts donations toward its completion.

The club also plans to raise money for the project at a gala fundraising dinner May 5 at the Oconomowoc Lake Club, and at special fundraising events during the village's annual Hartland Hometown Celebration next summer. In mid-January, the club plans to erect a fundraising thermometer in downtown Hartland near the Rotary clock at Cottonwood Avenue and Hill Street to illustrate the progress of the fundraising campaign.

Plans for the splash pad have not yet been approved by the village, but the Village Board has expressed support for the project. Current plans show that the splash pad would be between the tennis courts and the park shelter near the sand volleyball court.

Village officials have not yet discussed what would happen with the basketball court, which would be displaced if the splash pad is built where planned.

After construction, the splash pad would be owned and operated by the Village of Hartland. The Rotary is planning to create a $15,000 endowment fund to pay for future maintenance, once the splash pad is turned over to the village.

The Splash Pad committee is working very hard behind the scenes to get the Splash Pad off the ground.  At this time, they could use your help to promote and support the project.  The anticipated opening is in Summer of 2012, and there is still a lot of work to be done. 

The Splash Pad will be an exceptional addition to the Lake Country Community, and your support is essential to making it a success.  Please check out the details and spread the word!

UPDATE:    On December 16, Mike and Gina White donated $20,000 to the Splash Pad.    Thank you Mike and Gina!

Earlier this month at the International Assembly, it was announced that the Challenge has surpassed the US$200 million mark and has raised US$202.6 million as of 17 January 2011.

In addition Jeff Raikes, Chief Executive Officer of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was at the Assembly and announced that the Gates Foundation has awarded The Rotary Foundation an additional US$50 million grant for polio eradication.  The new $50 million grant from the Gates Foundation is not a challenge grant; it results from Rotary’s early achievement of the $200 million milestone and of the need for continued funding support for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.   We are aware that there may be many questions concerning the additional grant from the Gates Foundation so to help answer many of these questions a Fact Sheet has been prepared. Please feel free to share the Fact Sheet with your fellow Rotarians.

We know that many districts and clubs supported The Challenge through fundraisers in their community; we would encourage you to share this press release with your local media. You may want to personalize the press release to include information on fundraisers and other polio related activities in your area.

We must remember, however, that this achievement is just one more milestone in our journey to eradicate polio. Most importantly, our ultimate goal is the certification of the eradication of polio. Rotarians are continuing to raise funds for the challenge, which officially concludes on 30 June 2012, and as Rotary leaders, we should encourage their continued involvement. We are confident that we will far exceed our $200 million goal, just as Rotarians have done in all previous campaigns.

Thank you for all you have done and will continue to do to help us reach our ultimate goal, the certification of polio eradication. Together we will End Polio Now. 

Come Join Us version two (featuring Rotarians)-EN from Rotary International on Vimeo.

January 19
February 16
March 15
April 19
May 17
June 21 

Meetings are held at Senor Tomas in Hartland at 7am on the 3rd Thursday of each month and last for approximately 2 hours. Please join us!