On August 14, the Rotary Club of Oregon welcomed Kantira as their exchange student for the 2025-26 exchange year. After many hours of travel from her home in Thailand, and successfully navigating immigration, security, and a terminal change at O’Hara, she arrived in Madison on time and in good spirits! She was greeted at the airport by her first two host families. She is settling in nicely and enjoying her time with her host family.
Backpacks of Hope
This fall, my family and I will be traveling to Cambodia, to the village where my mother grew up. While we’re there, we’ll spend time at a small rural school—home to 400 bright, eager students who want nothing more than to learn.
Our dream is simple: to give every student a backpack filled with the essentials—school supplies, a school uniform, shoes, rice, and food staples for their families. Everything will be purchased in Cambodia, not only supporting the children but also strengthening the local economy. And if we raise enough, we’ll also help the school accommodate for a 33% growth in enrollment.
We’d love for you to join us in this mission because Rotarians doing “Doing Good in the World” knows no borders. Together, we can open the door to education for students in Cambodia and help change the story of their future.
With Gratitude, Nike
Pizza with Maggie
Last month, we hosted an open community night to welcome and get to know our new OHS principal, Maggie Zywicki. Oregon High School staff remain a vital partner with us as we invest in the future of our youth. Maggie presented the OSD “Theory of Action”, statements of purpose that guide the direction of all educators in the Oregon District.
District Governor Visit
District 6250 Governor Mike Kloss was our featured speaker at our Sept. 2nd meeting. Mike gave some very informative updates on district activities and reported that our district is actually experiencing an uptick in membership. Governor Kloss took the opportunity to present our club with the 2024-25 Club ExcellenceAward. Congratulations Oregon Rotary!
Lerner Park Sign Project
Oregon Rotary is making great progress in this exciting 6250 grant project to design, build, and install new signage at Lerner Park enhancing its appeal as an environmental resource. We would like to extend our gratitude to Rich Strohmenger, Chair of the Lerner Park Sign Team. Special thanks also go to Heidi Putnam for giving us the invaluable gift of her time and talents toward the design of the signs. All of this is possible because of the generosity of Rotarians who have financially supported the project through matching funds.
Poinsettia Sale
Our club has launched our annual Poinsettia Sale. Proceeds to be used for youth development and other vital community service projects. The Oregon High School Interact Club has agreed to partner with us in sales again this year.
The Rotary Club of Oregon will be hosting our annual community-wide electronic recycling event on October 25th. Details can be found in this linkOregon Electronics Recycling
