Volunteering at the Gathering Place is so rewarding and fun!

Starting in November the Gathering Place will go back to inperson meal service (guests will be invited in to eat).

• Time to volunteer is now 4:30-6:30 p.m.
• Masks are now optional.
• Please provide 5-6 volunteers on your assigned night if you are the only group to serve that night. If you are combined with other groups on your night provide 2-3 volunteers.
• Be adaptable. We are trying new ways of reducing the lines and crowd size as we are serving more people than we ever did before the pandemic. It might change as we get better at it and it might not look like it used to. 
• Volunteers should use their PIN to clock in/out on the iPad or sign in/out using the paper sheet. Pre-registration is still encouraged.
• We are allowing groups to bring deserts again! We are currently serving between 100 and 180 people per night. Once we get the flow and numbers routine, we will allow groups to bring meals. No group is required to do this, it is completely optional. Please let us know ahead of time if you plan to bring a dessert.
• Volunteers must be at least 12 years old. EACH volunteer under 18 years old must be accompanied by their own adult supervisor. While we love our youth volunteers, we can’t have an entire group of young people volunteering without adults.
• The Gathering Place is closed on the Friday after Thanksgiving (November 25) and Christmas Day (December 25). We are open on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.

Our Rotary District Conference is on March 31 and April 1. We are the proud home club of the incumbent District Governor Barb Bartle, and the district conference is the culminating activity of DG Barb's year. President John issued an Executive Order that for every 30 minutes at the District Conference, you get 1 attendance credit, or a potential of 28 attendance credits just for Saturday alone. If you register to start with Yo-Yo Ma concert, through Rotary's Got Talent, and Saturday, you do the math and you just secure your perfect Rotary Attendance/Perfect Engagement this year! Click here to register. 

For questions, please contact President John at John.Gessert@ubt.com.

Join us for the Dictionary Labeling Party! 
If you are new, this is a gathering of volunteers from 3 Lincoln Rotary clubs to place Rotary label stickers. in the front inside cover of almost 4,000 dictionaries.  Then we box them up in the quantities needed for each school and ship them off with the delivery volunteers.  The labeling party is also a great opportunity to come together with Lincoln South and Lincoln East for an evening of connecting, an opportunity to come together with Lincoln South and Lincoln East for an evening of connecting,  collaboration, and fun. We’ll be serving Valentino’s pizza!

Details: Tuesday, March 28, 5:30 p.m., Holy Trinity Church, 6001 A Street (east entrance). 
Sign up here:  Spring 2023 Dictionary Labeling Party
 
School delivery volunteers are still needed! Sign up here:  https://bit.ly/Rotary14-Dictionary

Hotel for event - The Scarlet, Lincoln - 2101 Transformation Drive - Lincoln, NE 68508
$139 Special Rate Wednesday March 29 through Monday April 3
Book by March 3, 2023 - Click Here to reserve your room at the special rate

What: Rotary After Hours
When: Tuesday, April 4, 2023, 5:00 PM. Doors open at 4:30 PM
Where: Lazlo's Brewery & Grill, 210 N 7th St, Lincoln, NE
Cost: $16 includes heavy hors d'oeuvres plus tea, coffee, and water. CASH BAR is available

Come and enjoy an evening with comedian and keynote speaker T. Marni Vos.

T. Marni Vos Biography

Rotary will not have a noon meeting on April 4.

Click here to register for April 4 Rotary After Hours with T. Marni Vos.

Voted “Artist of the Year” in Nebraska, this award winning speaker, former stand-up comedian and educator, now performs keynote speeches from New York to L.A. and every state in between. She has presented her inspiring, motivating and hilarious keynotes to over 10,000 people, in 46 states and Canada. She is a Master Speaker with a wealth of knowledge who is rich in experience and abundant in humor.

“I believe laughter is one of the graces granted to us all. It is a powerful tool that we were given the moment we took our first breath—because we would need it all our days.”—T. Marni Vos

T. Marni Vos became one of only seven women in 20 years to be one of the 5 finalists in the prestigious San Francisco International Standup Comedy Competition, where over 400 comics compete each year. She has performed on Life Time’s “Girls Night Out” as well as the Norwegian Cruise Lines.

Pre-registration for this event is required. Please register by visiting https://bit.ly/LNK14RotaryAfterHours. Tickets are $16 and include heavy hors d'oeuvres plus tea, coffee and water. A cash bar will also be available. This event will take place at Lazlo's Brewery & Grill in the Historic Haymarket.

Our efforts to support Habitat for Humanity continue this spring! With the support of a grant from Rotary District 5650, we have the opportunity to plant trees at two new Habitat homes in Lincoln on April 8th. We need five volunteers at each location to complete the plantings that morning. 

Joe Finegan has been with Certified Piedmontese for eight years serving as the Customer Service Manager, assisting in the development and growth of the direct-to-consumer segment of the business. In addition to his duties as Customer Service Manager, he is also the Purchasing Manager for Certified Piedmontese, The Mercato, Casa Bovina and soon to be Aragon Tavern. Certified Piedmontese beef comes from the Piedmontese breed of cattle that is now raised in central and western Nebraska. Known for their extreme muscular stature, the finished beef product produces an exquisitely tender beef product while also being extraordinarily lean. USDA Prime-grade like tenderness with the nutritional profile of Atlantic Salmon or chicken –raised right here in the state of Nebraska!

Due to extremely popular demand, we ask that you register yourself and your guests to attend the April 18 meeting. Click here to register.

Hello Rotarians.  This is your invitation to Come Together Rotary on Tuesday April 18 to hear from new Husker Coach Matt Rhule with Chancellor Green!  Because we anticipate a high attendance of both Rotarians and guests, we are requesting a pre-registration and payment from all for lunch so we are able to give a more accurate count to the Talon Room which will help us be good stewards of our Rotary funds as well as make sure we are being thoughtful in our amount of food leftover.  Please use this link to register yourself and any guests by end of day this Friday, April 14.  We look forward to seeing many, many Rotarians turn out to provide a warm welcome to Coach Rhule and a kind send off to Chancellor Green as he enters retirement.  Have a wonderful week!

For questions, please contact Program Chair Sheila Odom at sheila.odom@tabitha.org.

From the Rotary Club 14 Environmental Committee: Spring Roadside Cleanup

Heads-up! Our Rotary Roadside Spring Cleanup is Saturday, April 22nd, at 10 a.m.

Please sign up and provide your safety-vest size. 

For questions, please get in touch with Pat Birch at pbirch58@gmail.com.

NEBRASKAN OF THE YEAR

LUNCH COST: $35 per person early bird price until Friday, April 7; $40 per ticket after April 7. 

 

RHONDA SEACREST

2023 Nebraskan of the Year

Click here to purchase your ticket to the luncheon celebration

 

Rhonda Seacrest grew up in North Platte. The work ethic and the culture of a rural, pioneer town helped to set her character and her focus. Hard work is part of being in Nebraska. There were pioneers that traveled on and there were those who stayed. You do a thing, because it needs doing. You see a problem, and you solve it. These are among Rhonda’s guiding tenets.  
 
Many years ago, Rhonda found a passion for supporting children and youth in our communities investing in backpack and shelter programs acknowledging that hungry children find it difficult to grow and learn. In that same vein, she is committed to the arts, “because they build ideas and vision for the future, “while inspiring children and helping them fuel their minds. Her goal is to make sure that all young people in Nebraska have the opportunity to be encouraged, successful, and make their communities better. Included in her support is Sheldon Statewide, which since 1987 has shared artworks from the Sheldon Museum of Art’s collection with thousands throughout the state. She and her late husband, James, have supported opera events and education throughout Nebraska via the James C. and Rhonda Seacrest Tour Nebraska Opera Fund. Likewise, the University of Nebraska—Lincoln College of Business benefits from the Seacrest Teaching Fellows program, as well as the funding of a popular course on philanthropy management.  
 
Seacrest serves on boards for the Lincoln City Libraries, Mid-American Arts Alliance, and Public Art Lincoln. Since the pandemic, Seacrest has added food scarcity as a priority through the Food Bank of Lincoln. She has served on the Lied Center Performing Arts Statewide Advisory Board and supports several programs, especially symphony and classical music. Additionally, the Seacrest family are benefactors of the Lincoln, Scottsbluff, Sidney, North Platte and Lexington community foundations. Whether providing arts opportunities throughout western Nebraska or filling backpacks with food for students that need it, or teaching UNL students about how best to give back to their communities, Rhonda Seacrest lives the Rotary ideal of “Service of Above Self” in quiet ways that are fundamental in making sure that all of our youth have the opportunity to be successful.  
 
We are so very proud to recognize Rhonda Seacrest as the 2023 Nebraskan of the Year.

 

Click here to purchase your Nebraskan of the Year ticket luncheon.

 

Since 1988, Rotary #14 has been honoring Nebraskans who have distinguished themselves through service to others in keeping with ideals of Rotary International. These Nebraskans have shown honesty, integrity and concern for others through leadership and significant contributions to their profession and their communities. This award is open to ALL Nebraskans except elected officials, currently in office. Nominees do NOT have to be a Rotarian. 

The goal each year is to select one honoree from a statewide field based on the following criteria:

1. Honesty, integrity and concern for others;
2. Service in charitable and civic causes and;
3. Leadership and significant accomplishments in his/her profession or volunteer activities.

The Lincoln Rotary Club #14 is pleased to announce the executive director of Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs Judi gaiashkibos as the 2022 Nebraskan of the Year. 

 

Past Recipients of the Rotary #14 Nebraskan of the Year:

• 2022 Judi gaiashkibos
  Executive Director - Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs
   
• 2019 JoAnn Martin

  CEO - Ameritas

• 2018 John Cook

  Coach - Educator - Mentor

• 2017 Anthony (Tony) O. Messineo, Jr.

  Business Leader - Philanthropist - Friend

• 2016 Dr. Martin Massengale

  Educator - Civic Leader

• 2015 Duane Acklie*

  Businessman — Civic Leader — Philanthropist

• 2014 Dr. Ron Hull

  Broadcast Pioneer — Educator — Civic Leader

• 2013 J. Paul McIntosh*

  Businessman — Civic Leader — Philanthropist

• 2012 Harold W. "Andy" Andersen*

  Businessman — Civic Leader — Philanthropist

• 2011 Lee Sapp

  Businessman — Philanthropist

• 2010 Henry H. “Hod” Kosman

  Banker — Civic Leader — Conservationist

• 2009 Roger R. Wehrbein

  State Senator

• 2008 Lt. Gen (Ret.) Roger P. Lempke

  Military Official

• 2007 Allen J. Beermann

  Public Official

• 2006 Ted Kooser

  US Poet Laureate — Cancer Survivor

• 2005 Susan S. Seacrest

  Community Leader — Environmentalist

• 2004 Leola J. Bullock*

  Community Volunteer — Civil Rights Advocate

• 2003 Donald O. Clifton*

  Entrepreneur — Author

• 2002 Charles “Charley” Thone*

  Lawyer — Civic Leader — Congressman — Governor

• 2001 S. N. “Bud” Wolbach*

  Businessman — Civic Leader

• 2000 Father Michael G. Morrison*

  Educator — Administrator

• 1999 Joan R. Burney

  Communicator — Friend

• 1998 Frank B. Morrison*

  Lawyer — Civic Leader — Governor

• 1997 James Stuart*

  Entrepreneur — Civic Leader

• 1996 Durwood B. “Woody” Varner*

  Educator — Administrator — Civic Leader

• 1995 Dr. Tom Osborne

  Educator — Football Coach

• 1994 Alice Dittman

  Businesswoman — Civic Leader

• 1993 Earl T. Luff*

  Businessman — Civic Leader — Horseman — Humanitarian

• 1992 Kenneth L. Wortman*

  Businessman

• 1991 Clayton Yeutter*

  Agricultural Policy Development — Secretary of Agriculture

• 1990 Wayne O. Tanderup*

  Businessman — Humanitarian

• 1989 Robert E. Knoll*

  Teacher — Scholar

• 1988 Judge Robert Van Pelt*

  Teacher — Lawyer — Jurist

Robert Bartle is a Lincoln lawyer, beginning his practice as an Assistant Attorney General between 1976-1981, and working as a trial attorney in his private practice for the past forty-two years. Between 1982-2009 Bob taught courses at the Nebraska law school as an adjunct professor in legal writing and trial advocacy.

Apart from his practice, Bob served as the president of the Nebraska State Bar Association from 2010-2011. He serves on the Nebraska Wesleyan Board of Governors, as well as a second year member of Rotary 14 and administrative assistant to the District Governor. Bob is an occasional poet, having studied under the late William Kloefkorn, Nebraska's first state poet. He prefers reading the poetry of other more accomplished poets, such as Ted Koozer. Barbara and Bob have raised three children and are proud grandparents of six.

Ride your bike for others who can't because of polio! Lend your legs to help with the eradication of this terrible disease. 

Suggested donation: $50 -- you can make your donation directly on the Rotary International website: https://my.rotary.org/en/donate -- just be sure to sign into your account so that our Club gets credit for the donation. OR you can bring a check with you to the event made payable to "Polio Plus" and I'll mail in all the checks together. 

To learn more about Rotary International's efforts on Polio click here: https://www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/ending-polio

The Ride: We'll meet at Van Dorn Park, head out to Pioneers Park, then over to the Haymarket for a beverage, then back to  Van Dorn Park.  It's a roughly 15-mile loop. For those wishing for a shorter ride, you can ride directly back to Van Dorn Park and then drive to the Haymarket. For anyone wishing a little longer, we can add a post-Haymarket loop before heading back to the park.  Please Register so we can get a headcount. 

The forecast right now is sunny and warm - come join us! 

-Christina