Civility is the missing ingredient in civic discourse in America today and a local Wausau area service club is working to restore it.
Wausau got its third Rotary Club with the recent formation of the Rotary Club of Wausau After Hours.
The focus of the new club is two-fold; international service and cultural appreciation.
Rotary’s international service is best known for polio eradication efforts, vaccinating more than 3.5 billion children since 1989. The 1.4 million member organization provides clean water and sanitation in Third World countries, promotes women and children, economic development and peace studies and conflict resolution.
In the Wausau area, Rotarians are known for reading to school children, highway clean-up, providing scholarships, hosting youth exchange students, supporting food pantries, delivering mobile meals and promoting environmental awareness.
Wausau’s newest Rotary Club, formed in November of 2023, started with a Cultural Appreciation Initiative outreach effort to build goodwill and better friendship with American Indian neighbors.
The club has hosted a member of the Lac du Flambeau Lake Superior Ojibwe tribe, Biskakone Greg Johnson, who spoke on being Indian in northern Wisconsin. Future speakers include author, journalist and educator Patty Loew, a member of the Bad River tribe of Lake Superior Ojibwe, and Norbert Hill, Jr., a member of the Oneida Nation known internationally for his cultural preservation and educational accomplishments.
Listening with respect to people of other cultural backgrounds is the first step to building goodwill and friendship. By inviting American Indians to educate Rotary members about cultural backgrounds and history, members of the Rotary Club of Wausau After Hours hope to foster understanding and civility.
Without, for example, a fact-based understanding of U.S. American Indian treaties, non-Indigenous people may not appreciate why some Wisconsin tribes have the right to spear fish, gather rice and hunt on land ceded centuries ago by the tribes to the U.S. government.
Having important discussions with a commitment to civility is a core value of the new Rotary Club of Wausau After Hours. The outreach initiative with American Indian neighbors will be followed by similar efforts with members of the area Hmong and Hispanic communities.
The newest club meets on the first Wednesdays of the month at 5:30 p.m. in the office of the Wausau Area Chamber of Commerce on Washington Street in Wausau. A monthly, third Wednesday meeting is either a service project or social event.
Information on membership can be found by visiting wausauafterhoursrotary.com.
Other opportunities for Rotary membership include the Rotary Club of Wausau which meets the first and second Mondays of the month in the lower level conference room at City Square Center, BMO Building, on 500 N. Third St.
Third Monday meetings rotate locations.
The Wausau Early Birds Rotary Club meets Thursdays at 7 a.m. at the Wausau Country Club.
Roger Utnehmer is a Rotary District 6220 Governor 2024-2025, retired radio broadcaster and Wausau resident.
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