Scott Foster - Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

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Welcome to Doing Good 62 20.
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Our goal is to help Rotarians do even better at doing good in their communities and around the world.
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I'm your co-host Randy Winter, along with my counterpart Chuck Reynolds.
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Our guest on today's episode is Scott Foster, a member of the Rotary Club of Eagle River, and we'll hear from Scott on an innovative program called The Imagination Library.
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But before we get to that.
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I gotta send it over to Chuck for our good question of the day, Chuck.
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Thank you, Randy.
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Our good question of the day is appropriate to the Imagination Library, which has to do with books and reading.
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And the question is simply this, recall a favorite or at least a most memorable book from your youth and maybe the impression it may have had on you.
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So at the end of the show, we'll talk about that recalling a book that is most memorable or perhaps you just recall it as your favorite.
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And with that, let's go ahead and just get into the question.
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Scott, thank you again for joining us on the program today.
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Why don't we just set the stage a little bit by giving folks some background about the Rotary Club of Eagle River? Yeah, the Rotary Club, Eagle River is about 30 members.
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We fluctuate up and down.
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One of the things, our community is very much a.
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A tour space town, but also our winters can be our success up here with the snowmobile capital of the world.
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But for me, rotary members, sometimes warm weather attracts them and sometimes we fluctuate a little bit in the wintertime, but then we gain members back in the summer.
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So we do see some fluctuation in that.
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And what kind of major initiatives has the Eagle River Club done in the community of Eagle River and maybe even globally? Yeah.
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Amazing impact for a small club, and I'm really proud to be part of it.
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And a lot of credit goes to some of our long serving members.
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One of the most recent ones is it's called the Square, downtown Eagle River.
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Rotary played a huge role in getting that developed as a piece of property.
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It was an old gas station.
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I think a lot of towns can reflect on.
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That old gas station downtown, and then pretty soon it gets to become an eyesore and what are we gonna do with this space? And our city struggled and our rotary stepped up and became the catalyst.
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And then to carry the project through financially and also vision-wise to have a some bathrooms, some green space picnic tables, a place to serve fundraisers out of.
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And it really has become the hub of our city.
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We have a very vibrant downtown, and that's a big part of it now and.
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Without Rotary Square we call it Rotary Square, but it's the Square Rotary played a huge role in it.
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You can call it Rotary Square.
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Yeah.
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Yes.
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It really has become a hub and, great partners in that.
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I think it goes to the mission of working together.
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We've also played just a significant role in we have a historic hockey dome that brings a lot of youth and higher level hockeys to Eagle River.
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A lot of people can go all over and play in a rink, but to play in a wooden dome is pretty special.
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And, but it's also being historic.
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It also has some challenges financially and the club stepped up to help with some of the ice plant.
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And then recently, and I'm really proud as being part of a school district that has a girls hockey team.
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The Rotary played a role in getting a girl's hockey locker room, and I would probably say it's the nicest girl's hockey locker room in the state.
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It means more that girls are safe, girls are feel valued.
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Our boys had a state of the art and amazing locker room, and the girls did not have any locker room.
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So they had always used whatever was available.
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And it really sent a message that to our young females in this community that they're important and they're valued and it's something that'll impact generations to come.
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And Rotary played a significant role in that project recently as well.
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And then probably one that our foundation's really big into is called Warm the Children.
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That is a community outreach.
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I think we all, we love the donated mittens and coats and all those things, but.
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What I see in the school is every winter this community steps up and our foundation has really been the backbone of that is where every kid who it's economic based, but that needs winter clothes, including jackets, pants, boots, gloves, and all that gets a chance.
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A local volunteer takes some shopping and they actually get to get brand new clothing.
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A couple of our businesses give us discounted.
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Prices on that.
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And then to see those kids though, getting brand new items in the hallway, they're just like every other kid.
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They're warm.
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They can be out on recess, they can play outside, but it's social as much as actually practical, it does both at a high level and really proud that the Rotary was able to continue that in our community and really be a catalyst to see that continue and grow off of a successful program that has existed thanks to our members.
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Yeah I, when I think of the Rotary Club of Eagle River and I went up to help in your wine tasting event in the summer and.
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I visited that, the square.
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And just, and then I think once I got there, somebody told me about the club.
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Like the first project the club did, they actually took out a loan in order to reconstruct this beach house convert this beach house sort of property.
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So that had changing rooms or whatever.
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And I was like, this is a club that is not afraid to take big swings.
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And is the, what he was just talking about, the road, the warm the children.
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The little backstory on that is that had been something that was essentially a program of the local newspaper and then that newspaper got bought out, and then this year the programs it, the threat was there would just go away.
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And Rotary had been.
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A major funder and a volunteer at Corps and and stepped up and said we'll keep it going.
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That's the sort of thing, like when I say vibrant clubs help their communities thrive, if that, if the Rotary Club wasn't there, that program would've gone away.
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And it's just awesome to see to see the club doing so much great stuff.
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So yeah, proud to be a member, I'm sure.
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Yeah, it's very fantastic.
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Inspired to see the history of it.
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It's been a great balance of people that have been with it for quite a while that teach those of us who maybe haven't been involved with it for the 20 plus years some of our members have been.
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And, I take it for granted almost when you walk around and realize the impact that same beach house you shared.
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We've since put in swimming lessons, special docks for swimming.
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And that seems simple, but to realize in Vila County, we don't have a public pool.
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To know that our kids learn in a lake.
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Yeah.
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Without that dock and that system that built onto that beach house, in addition, a lot of kids have, this is their lifetime skills and memories will be at that place.
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Yeah.
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And knowing how to swim in, in a lake community is important.
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Some huge initiatives, some huge projects.
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What do you do as far as fundraisers to raise the money? 'cause you're talking some pretty significant dollars here that you've, that you put back into the community.
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Yeah, so I would say it's threefold.
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First is as Chuck mentioned, our biggest fundraiser of the year is we do a large wine and cheese with a lot of door prizes and also cash raffles and ticket sales pre-sales.
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So thanks to our community that donates a lot of those prizes, we're able to raffle those off.
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We sell, we do.
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50 50 out of that.
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And then our tickets to get in the door.
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So that's our big profitable event.
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We've done an antique show for a long time as well, where we get all the gate at the door and then we help with all the setup and arrangement and advertising and stuff as well.
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As antique shows are continuing to struggle a little bit, so that one may be in jeopardy for the long haul, but our wine and cheese are a big one.
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And then the third one is, we have some members that are really in a good way, supportive of the club and with their dollars and donations, but also in finding those partnerships and our community that works with the Rotary and through the rotary.
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So it's a threefold and we're lucky to have those because like you said we couldn't have the impact over just one fundraiser.
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It is substantial what we raise, but it really allows us to do a lot of things.
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Let's turn our attention to the imagination Library Program and your your role in the school district.
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I assume that maybe had some, something to do with this, but maybe just talk a little bit about, where the inspiration for this came from, and then and then we'll talk a little bit about what the program is.
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Yeah, so Imagination Library is a national, it's actually international program now that it goes by counties in the United States.
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So you can't do a school district or township, you have to do a county.
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Northern Wisconsin is, has a big gap.
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If you looked at the map at the few years ago and even recently.
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Very big gap of No Imagination Library counties in the northern half.
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So about two years ago, we had a gentleman who tried to get it going, worked with the libraries, came to Rotary, Hey, we think this is right up your mission.
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And unfortunately he moved to Ireland.
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So went to the wayside, but it really stuck in my craw as a good thing.
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I'm like.
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I see every day, and I think we hear a lot about no phones, cell phones in schools anymore, and the social media impact on kids.
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But I really think we're missing that.
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There's a generation of parents right now of young children who are impacted by these phones and social media and those things as well.
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And one of the things we're seeing is a great divide.
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We see kids who come in.
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Four year olds can hold a book and actually read them to a point.
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And then we have kids that don't even know how to hold the book.
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And that divide just is scary.
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And also it's really a struggle in our schools and it's across the whole country.
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So when there's a chance impact and the brain research is really reading starts at zero to three.
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It isn't.
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When we get them at four and five, yes, we play a big role in their reading, but.
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In the vocabulary, what they're seeing and really this program just aligns with that.
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It's a way to get kids books in their hands.
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I also unfortunately, see that where kids have to be moved outta homes, evicted in different things, very sad stories, but a lot of times they only get to pick one or two things to bring with them and.
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If a book could be that one or two thing, I think that would be a really amazing piece.
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For a lot of these families, they don't even know how to get books or buy books and do those.
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So this program really bridges that and makes it easy for that.
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I think if a kid holds a book up to a parent or another adult and says, please read who says no to that, whereas if they're on a phone, it's easier to give 'em another device or turn the TV on, whereas books and Homes.
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Still have the biggest impact on sustaining kids.
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This program right now has been so impactful thanks to Dolly Parton.
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And that was her dream too, to have kids have reading.
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When she had that opportunity, she wanted to pass it along.
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And right now, one in six kids in this country are impacted and get a book out of this program.
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Wow.
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So we wanted to bring it to our county.
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That's something.
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And you did say Dolly Parton, for those who are listening go, did he say Dolly Parton? Yeah.
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It's it was an initiative that she started.
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Yeah.
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And she's really.
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Help fund and support it.
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Their primary role is to pick the books and what I also like is we live in a time of divide and controversy.
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As a somebody in the school, I have dealt with controversy with books and different things, but really the list of books that come outta here, you don't have to work.
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No concerns.
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We did a lot of homework and research.
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These are just good wholesome books that if you have multiple kids in a family, they get multiple leveled books.
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So every kid gets.
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To open a package.
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I don't think any of us still mind getting that package sometimes and you forget what you ordered from Amazon.
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It's like Christmas, right? For these kids, they're gonna open a book that every time, every month they get a book and they're gonna get a new book and hey, a new chance to read and practice reading and, imagine and their imagination is really gonna take off.
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So yeah, she funds that.
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And then it's the local organization that has to fund the shipping cost, which is about $32 per student or per child, I should say.
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Each year.
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Wow.
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So how does this work for, let's say a family that's living somewhere in Vila County? What do they have to do to be part of this if they have a child and what's the age, starting age for receiving the books? So you can sign 'em up as soon as they're born.
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It's birth to five.
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When they turn five, they graduate outta the program and they get a really nice letter from Dolly.
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I was hoping she'd come and sing, but apparently it's just a nice letter.
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And just a celebration of the program with the child.
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'cause a lot of these kids have gone from zero to five in other communities.
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But for any student in any county.
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What you need to do is you can go onto the website, you can search your county, and if you're, if it comes up, you put your address in.
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That's it.
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No economic questions, no other information.
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It's not intrusive into your personal life.
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It's just, Hey, I'd like my kids to get these free books.
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So for every kid you have in your house, they get a, each kid gets a book at the right level.
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And from birth to five, they get these books for their life as long as you live at that address.
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So we did, we have done campaigns with paper copies for some of those families that maybe the the internet isn't as easy for them, but for most of them, they jump on their phone or jump on a device, go online, takes two seconds, and they're in their program.
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And they're, and they're going online to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.
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They can search on county, state, county, whatever.
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And then if, yep.
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If there's a program, they just sign it up.
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Wow.
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Yep.
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So what is the Rotary Club's involvement in this program? Obviously with a great reputation of being supportive and trying to make a difference in our community.
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Some groups will come to us more for informational at our meetings and just share what's going on.
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And then others may come with an ask for financial support.
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And really the group that I'm also part of, the group that started this is really was more of an informational.
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If the time came for a partnership or opportunity.
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And what happened is our members looked at each other and just said, this is what we want to be part of.
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This is long term.
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This is beneficial to all concerned.
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So let's get behind it and some individual members and then.
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The club itself matched some of those dollars.
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We did an internal challenge with some of our members and some of us kicked in more and then the club supported that with a match and we were able to give a sizable donation to get this thing rolling and started to get off the ground and going with some other local service organizations and donations.
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So about how many kids would you say are served by the program? We're just about, we just our kids will get their first books in April, so we just did our big kickoff in March.
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So we have 230 kids approximately signed up.
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So it's, we figure there's about 900 in ES county.
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ES County is very large.
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It's as large as some of the small Eastern states.
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So we're, and what's unique about Wireless County is it's a split left and right.
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Or east and west, I should say.
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So in Northland Pine School District kind of makes up one half of this.
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The majority of the one half of the county.
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And the other half is minocqua is a lot of people know the minocqua, lac, de flammable area, and then far up as north as Presca and Boulder Junction.
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So we're very large.
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So getting all the public libraries, all the schools and everybody to get the word out to these families.
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It's been a little more of a challenge, but we're getting there and as boots on the ground and building relationships has really been our four focus For the first few months here, we've been raising money for almost a year to get us to this point though.
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And what is the annual cost? I was there, is there an upfront cost and then an annual cost, or is it just gonna be the same thing every year? It's the same cost every year.
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Currently it's $32 a child.
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So we, they wanted us, they had a benchmark of what the club, we have to get trained to be part of this program.
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And my my fellow colleagues who are part of this, on that side of things, all volunteers, a hundred percent.
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They had to get some of the training.
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I have not had time to get the training yet.
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I'm going to here soon.
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But.
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That will our obligation is to make sure we have enough in reserve and then also then to continue to go out and fundraise.
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So because we're so large we've had, we've been pocketed with our donations, so we're looking to expand into some of these other areas and maybe challenge some other rotary groups in the nearby areas and different service groups as well.
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But also some local generat.
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Donors we're also focused in on.
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So yeah, it's $32 per child per year.
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So we wanted to make sure we had enough for about a year and a half in our reserve to get started.
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If we were to get, that 500 to 900 right away, that would be a pretty big financial hit.
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Wow.
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Yeah and you don't have to do anything as far as shipping the books.
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They all get shipped directly from.
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Dolly Parton herself, she packages them herself.
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There licking stamps.
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Yeah.
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But they all go directly to the families.
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So there's, yeah, that's one of the greatest things about this program.
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It doesn't matter your address or where you live, as long as you're in one of the counties, that organization, yes, there's a big responsibility of our organization with the program here in Vila County.
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But overall, once we're trained, long as we're meeting the standards, there's high standards for this program.
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Obviously she's built a great reputation.
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She's served over, 3 million books across the country.
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Excuse me, she's done over.
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308 million books across the country.
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Wow.
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Wow.
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So there's a standard she wants to keep and we appreciate that 'cause that's how you build trust with organizations and individuals who donate.
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But yeah, so they, the nice thing also is like Rotary will get their name on the label.
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When the books come at their sponsor level, so like our name will be when some one of the months we have a list of groups that have donated enough to be sponsors.
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People will see Rotary had an impact on this opportunity for kids and That's wonderful Is the goodwill that is there for.
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Are the books are these books that have been written specifically for this program, or are these books like Dr.
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Seuss Hop on Pop and more familiar books that, that that you pick up? Retail.
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I do think they pick ones that are more gen general not just for them.
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These are more general books or in a larger queue, of choices, and when the and so the child doesn't have any I'm interested in sports books or whatever it is a.
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Yeah.
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Okay.
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That'd be asking a lot.
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No.
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Yeah.
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And they do what I'm, there's multiple levels, so not every age, but birth to two and, there's multiple levels.
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I think there's three levels.
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That, so it's not, it's good that every kid gets their own and is a different, could be a different book as far as what they get.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, I was just gonna ask the books obviously have to be written differently, or they have to be different books for an infant or a six month old than a 4-year-old, they're, yeah.
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Yeah, they call it the Blue Ribbon Book Selection Committee.
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So I think as reputation and vetted, they don't want this to be a political arm or getting calls.
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They want to keep good attention to this.
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They want parents to be excited to sign up and read to their kids.
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Good stories that make kids think, as much as there's, we use technology and learning.
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There's no doubt about it.
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It's a great tool in many ways, but it's also not the best tool all the time.
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And the still for a kid to read a book and have an imagination is a lifetime skill and a part of enjoyment that we don't wanna take away from kids by putting 'em in front of a screen all the time.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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So what kind of advice would you give? If a president of a club or someone else is listening to this podcast and they said, gosh I think our club should do this.
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I don't think we have this in our county.
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How do they go about, how does a club get involved? I think the first thing is to decide if you have one or not.
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If there is one, I would encourage them to reach out and see if they can be a partner in any way.
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Maybe are you listening Minocqua? I can partner Oneida County, which is right to our south, which, minocqua cuts the, across the couple lines there.
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They can see if they have one.
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If not, they can get, they can donate to the fits exists.
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If it doesn't exist, I think you gotta find the right partners to us.
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It was some of us from schools, some of us from local library, and then just some people really engaged in the project.
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And what really came out of the woodwork and even came out at our rotary presentation was we had a member who moved from Virginia and joined our club and.
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His wife actually teaches in our district, so I know her, but she, they had this program when their child was out there and he spoke so highly of it, like that word of mouth.
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It was incredible.
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Like we've had a few people join us who, their grandchildren in a different part of the country as part of this program and they're like, this is amazing.
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I wanna see other kids have this opportunity.
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So I think even just talking about within the club, you might find that people will speak highly of it and know about it.
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And if not, then you know, reach out.
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Out to me or someone else who does, and we can continue to share the word, but just we find that yes, we've, been headed up some of these major projects, but I really can't go back and look at any of 'em where we didn't have a good partner.
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I think a lot of times, whether big or small things are better when you can kinda work together with another organization and I think that's, this is a good model of that.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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That's wonderful.
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And so you it can be any citizen who's just aware of the program could bring this op could get this rolling.
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It's not like there's representatives of the, learning imagination or whatever, imagination readers running around the country, getting this program going.
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No, you do reach out to them.
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They do give you like an advisor and then they guide you through a process.
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You have to get certified.
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You do have to have a 5 0 1 C3 and thankfully, our community, the Northland Pines Community Foundation they were willing to be our 5 0 1 C3.
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So we didn't have to create that on our own.
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To have them be a fiscal agent also allowed them to be an advocate for us and supporter of us.
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So having a foundation of talented people.
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That we're able to take on some of the fiscal challenges that I think a lot of organizations have a hard time with.
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Finding that and being, safe and secure and transparent with the do donors but also having that talent and passion that just another organization that we could work with.
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They've been a great partner with us as well, and.
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They were able to help us.
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So you do need training.
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You need certification, and you need a board to get formed, and then that 5 0 1 C3, either yourself or a partner to be that for us.
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Excellent.
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Wow.
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Great advice.
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Great.
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Great topic.
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This is just it's been an eyeopener for me.
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I didn't know anything about this program Let's just take a step back.
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So I, I did all the club visits and so many clubs are.
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Actively involved in the schools at some level, even if it's just a scholarship.
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But without exception, they all wanna be more involved in the schools, so they want to be more involved in education.
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It's just so core to Rotary.
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And this program is so plug and play.
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It's not effortless, but it is plug and play.
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And if you take the time to develop those partnerships, it just enhances your reputation.
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'cause more people.
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Feel like they're part of something that you are helping to get rolling.
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So I think this is just a wonderful opportunity and one that we'll be encouraging clubs to look into.
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And I think, we're I don't think it's a secret.
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We're trying to find more members, right? Probably our scariest thing for our club is to have enough members.
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So we're declining in population.
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We're, we have a lot of people coming and going and moving up here and leaving and then, so one of the things I find that these partnerships do is expose the good of the club that, hey, maybe it's time for you to.
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Hey, I've been looking for something whether still in the world of work or in a retirement spot in my life.
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And I love to be part of something positive.
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And why not Rotary? 'cause it's the greatest place to become and be positive and have an impact and do good in your community.
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And we do service learning with our students.
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It's a requirement for graduation at Northland Pines.
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And, I think it just goes hand in hand with the mindset.
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If we create that at a young age, then they're gonna wanna thrive and be part of organizations like Rotary.
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Definitely.
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I'll give you one quick example.
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Last night you talked about, yeah, we do a scholarship and it's very impactful, but we gave the amount of money to go our fourth graders, like many across the state of Wisconsin.
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It's Wisconsin history, fourth grade, and probably one of the best trips of the year.
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They go to Madison, to the capital.
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And we were, our fourth graders spoke at our board meeting last night and they talked about driving down, state down right down into the capitol.
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Look at these big, tall buildings, like for some of our kids that's as big a building as they've ever seen.
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And to get them that far, that's as far as some of them have ever gone.
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But our rotary club paid for them to go to the physics museum or it's a hands-on.
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So you put fourth graders, get to learn a little physics and get them hands-on and ties them back.
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And they spoke last night how grateful they were.
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That wasn't a big donation for our club.
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But I will tell you it was extremely impactful.
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They were grateful to our organization.
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It spread goodwill.
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We impacted kids' memories for life.
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It was a combination of PTA school budget and then rotary paying for those entry tickets to a unique experience and, paid it forward to a organization that's gonna use that money to keep the museum going in a good place.
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So I just look at, you say, it doesn't always have to be big dollars 'cause it's hard to raise big dollars.
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You'd love to give 'em away, but.
337
00:24:48,137.5454545 --> 00:25:08,127.5454545
These small things and especially, and I'm my advocate for school of course, if we can invest in our youth and that, whether it's this book project or these small things that really go a long ways in a kid's life, to hear three fourth graders speak in front of a board and audience and we're so passionate speaking, our board members were like, wow, they spoke better than some of us would.
338
00:25:08,127.5454545 --> 00:25:08,187.5454545
As.
339
00:25:09,552.5454545 --> 00:25:13,422.5454545
But they spoke from the heart of gratefulness and also the impact we're having.
340
00:25:13,422.5454545 --> 00:25:17,392.5454545
And that's what I think clubs across, the whole country and the world do for Rotary.
341
00:25:17,902.5454545 --> 00:25:19,72.5454545
Yeah, that's terrific.
342
00:25:19,72.5454545 --> 00:25:19,342.5454545
Excellent.
343
00:25:20,102.5454545 --> 00:25:27,32.5454545
You've been listening to our interview with Scott Foster of the Eagle River Rotary Club, and we'll return to learn more in just a moment.
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00:25:27,790.8787879 --> 00:25:38,20.8787879
From poverty to disease, conflict to environmental issues, the world faces complex challenges, but when people unite and take action, we can make a difference.
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00:25:38,290.8787879 --> 00:25:41,110.8787879
That's why Rotary remains committed to the United Nations.
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00:25:41,170.8787879 --> 00:25:45,70.8787879
Sustainable development goals, supporting causes that foster collaboration.
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00:25:46,140.8787879 --> 00:25:49,380.8787879
Peace and prosperity for everyone everywhere.
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00:25:50,10.8787879 --> 00:25:51,750.8787879
We are people of action.
349
00:25:51,900.8787879 --> 00:26:01,260.8787879
We share a passion for improving communities and creating lasting change when local communities, governments, and experts join forces to secure access to clean water.
350
00:26:01,580.8787879 --> 00:26:05,870.8787879
Sanitation and quality healthcare diseases are prevented.
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00:26:05,930.8787879 --> 00:26:15,290.8787879
Children can attend school and everyone can prosper by creating economic opportunities, ensuring quality education and building stability.
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00:26:15,560.8787879 --> 00:26:21,710.8787879
Cycles of poverty and conflict are broken, and we can safeguard our natural world for generations to come.
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00:26:22,280.8787879 --> 00:26:22,940.8787879
Learn more.
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00:26:23,210.8787879 --> 00:26:26,240.8787879
Find your cause and take action@rotary.org.
355
00:26:26,775.3549784 --> 00:26:30,15.3549784
we're back with Scott Foster of the Eagle River Rotary Club.
356
00:26:30,15.3549784 --> 00:26:36,905.3549784
In the first half of our podcast, we learned about the Imagination Library Program, a great program.
357
00:26:37,145.3549784 --> 00:26:40,55.3549784
Scott, we're gonna talk a little bit more about you personally.
358
00:26:40,55.3549784 --> 00:26:44,705.3549784
You said that you are with the Northland Pine School District as the administrator.
359
00:26:45,35.3549784 --> 00:26:52,895.3549784
Have you been in Eagle River all your life and is that your home community or where did you grow up? I grew up in the WASA area.
360
00:26:53,175.3549784 --> 00:26:58,265.3549784
Still have family there, still passionate, grew up with a family of educators, people talk about family business.
361
00:26:58,265.3549784 --> 00:27:00,755.3549784
My mom and dad were both educators.
362
00:27:01,295.3549784 --> 00:27:04,545.3549784
And, kinda looked at some other options in my life as I was going through.
363
00:27:04,545.3549784 --> 00:27:06,555.3549784
I always loved the trades and different areas.
364
00:27:06,555.3549784 --> 00:27:13,125.3549784
I ended up going to w Stout and thought I was going into engineering and, but that teaching bug never could get outta me.
365
00:27:13,125.3549784 --> 00:27:20,115.3549784
And, had some inspirational teachers in my career and decided to go into teaching and have never regretted that.
366
00:27:20,115.3549784 --> 00:27:26,835.3549784
So as an educator, taught Eau Claire and then when we had our first child, my wife is from Three Lakes, which is the bordering town, Eagle River.
367
00:27:26,835.3549784 --> 00:27:31,305.3549784
And it didn't take somebody who loves the outdoors about two seconds to decide we should goof.
368
00:27:31,735.3549784 --> 00:27:35,990.3549784
With my parents in WASA and us being Eagle River, it's a very close, I get best of both worlds.
369
00:27:35,990.3549784 --> 00:27:40,190.3549784
I can live in God's country and still visit family nearby, and they enjoy coming here.
370
00:27:40,240.3549784 --> 00:27:42,160.3549784
I've lived here for 30 years.
371
00:27:42,160.3549784 --> 00:27:55,390.3549784
For 26 of that, I've worked in the Northland Pine School District as a teacher, principal, director of technology, director of curriculum ad for a short stint, and for the last eight years I've been the district administrator.
372
00:27:55,745.3549784 --> 00:27:55,965.3549784
Wow.
373
00:27:57,580.3549784 --> 00:27:57,640.3549784
Wow.
374
00:27:59,110.3549784 --> 00:28:07,360.3549784
How did you get involved in rotary? So one of the good things our district does is supports our district administrator of being a in a service organization.
375
00:28:07,820.3549784 --> 00:28:14,750.3549784
As a father of and a husband and when I was high school principal, extremely busy at night with school events and stuff.
376
00:28:14,750.3549784 --> 00:28:16,940.3549784
It was always hard to find that service organization.
377
00:28:16,940.3549784 --> 00:28:17,600.3549784
I probably.
378
00:28:17,905.3549784 --> 00:28:19,465.3549784
Fit in my life and time.
379
00:28:19,515.3549784 --> 00:28:28,55.3549784
But as a district administrator, one of the things is, I have a little more flexible in the middle of the day to go and participate in Rotary Eagle River meets at lunch.
380
00:28:28,115.3549784 --> 00:28:34,50.3549784
And so I had been as a guest speaker there for different events and different reasons and part of rotary.
381
00:28:34,830.3549784 --> 00:28:40,210.3549784
Events kind of thing, or as a guest and or as a volunteer, but wasn't official member mostly.
382
00:28:40,240.3549784 --> 00:28:50,460.3549784
'cause my job didn't really allow it for the most part, but our superintendent was, and then when I became, I got my chance to, join the club and I think hopefully the club would say that I just.
383
00:28:50,705.3549784 --> 00:28:52,385.3549784
I don't just join for the lunch hour.
384
00:28:52,385.3549784 --> 00:29:01,15.3549784
I've been tried to be very active in our club with volunteering when I can, I use my time wisely to give hopefully and make our club better and our community better.
385
00:29:01,15.3549784 --> 00:29:04,285.3549784
'cause I am inspired by our other members and what the work they do.
386
00:29:04,285.3549784 --> 00:29:07,375.3549784
So for the last eight years the other big part of this career.
387
00:29:07,690.3549784 --> 00:29:08,260.3549784
Journey I'm on.
388
00:29:08,260.3549784 --> 00:29:14,810.3549784
This is my last I'm retiring at the end of this year and one of the things I will say, I've very, a lot of advice.
389
00:29:14,900.3549784 --> 00:29:17,780.3549784
I never realized how much advice somebody retiring would get.
390
00:29:18,140.3549784 --> 00:29:22,190.3549784
I think, Chuck, you spoke to that when you came to our club and Yeah, I will say, I, I.
391
00:29:22,600.3549784 --> 00:29:27,420.3549784
We'll mention that I thought you did an amazing job and our club still talked about your speech and what you had to share.
392
00:29:27,420.3549784 --> 00:29:31,590.3549784
And I took away some things personally and as embroidery, Rotarian as well.
393
00:29:31,590.3549784 --> 00:29:36,665.3549784
But one of the only decisions I've made besides the Imagination Library, which we previously talked about is.
394
00:29:37,660.3549784 --> 00:29:48,485.3549784
I'm really excited to continue my journey as Rotarian and hopefully maybe able to do some things on the leadership role a little more now that my time will be more balanced into other things, including my family.
395
00:29:48,485.3549784 --> 00:30:04,915.3549784
And I'm probably still be engaged in some efforts and work in different roles, but I'm really excited to be able to be a stronger and hopefully a better member of our local club as well, with being able to maybe step into some of those leadership roles and be supportive of the people who have done it previous to me and allowed our club to flourish.
396
00:30:05,10.3549784 --> 00:30:06,120.3549784
That is wonderfully said.
397
00:30:06,300.3549784 --> 00:30:08,490.3549784
Wonderful, and thank you for the kind, kind remarks.
398
00:30:08,520.3549784 --> 00:30:09,900.3549784
It was a really fun visit.
399
00:30:10,230.3549784 --> 00:30:16,920.3549784
It was one that I was it was my last visit and it was so my message was pretty polished by the time I got up.
400
00:30:17,700.3549784 --> 00:30:23,780.3549784
Got up to Eagle River, but it, very welcoming club and a great environment and really nice people.
401
00:30:23,830.3549784 --> 00:30:24,730.3549784
It's, it was great.
402
00:30:24,730.3549784 --> 00:30:26,170.3549784
That's great to hear.
403
00:30:27,730.3549784 --> 00:30:31,110.3549784
So looking forward potential leadership roles, that sort of thing.
404
00:30:31,590.3549784 --> 00:30:51,485.3549784
Do you have any I guess advice related to people who are maybe in their club and maybe they're in a position you are, where they were involved in their career or maybe they had a family family responsibilities now that maybe Nest is emptied and they're just okay, now I've got a little more time.
405
00:30:52,265.3549784 --> 00:30:54,430.3549784
How do you must have gone through some calculation there.
406
00:30:54,490.3549784 --> 00:30:59,600.3549784
What are your thoughts? What are your, what is your advice there? I mentioned growing up with, I had a great.
407
00:31:00,125.3549784 --> 00:31:00,635.3549784
Childhood.
408
00:31:00,635.3549784 --> 00:31:04,5.3549784
My parents were, did a lot for me and I still appreciate that.
409
00:31:04,35.3549784 --> 00:31:21,385.3549784
And my mom always stuck in my head my whole life and careers like, don't just say things or complain or do you gotta step up and help and be part of that, she raised us that way and I think that's one of my experiences with Rotary has been like, maybe I can't do a leadership role and be a, at this point in my career.
410
00:31:22,15.3549784 --> 00:31:24,925.3549784
But hey, I can do ticket sales for the wine and cheese.
411
00:31:24,925.3549784 --> 00:31:26,215.3549784
I can be there to help clean up.
412
00:31:26,215.3549784 --> 00:31:28,45.3549784
I can be there to volunteer that night.
413
00:31:28,325.3549784 --> 00:31:31,25.3549784
I'm not gonna be sacrificing even more time for my family.
414
00:31:31,55.3549784 --> 00:31:33,485.3549784
'cause my job takes me away from my family quite a bit.
415
00:31:33,845.3549784 --> 00:31:41,885.3549784
So I really, I think finding those few, where can I really be an asset to our club with where I'm at today? And really it's somebody who's.
416
00:31:42,620.3549784 --> 00:31:50,800.3549784
As much as I am in a very public for face forward position it's hard sometimes I'm getting in my world of school right? And spend a lot of time here.
417
00:31:50,800.3549784 --> 00:31:59,230.3549784
But Rotary has really expanded my chance to not only help and give, but to really meet some incredible people that have made me a better leader and a better human.
418
00:31:59,640.3549784 --> 00:32:03,570.3549784
So I've taken, tried to take advantage of that networking and learn from others.
419
00:32:03,570.3549784 --> 00:32:03,580.3549784
I've.
420
00:32:04,30.3549784 --> 00:32:05,290.3549784
Created some opportunities.
421
00:32:05,290.3549784 --> 00:32:15,940.3549784
We have a new teacher award program that came out of a luncheon chat that never would've happened without me being in, being rotary and really taking the time to make as many luncheon meetings as I can.
422
00:32:16,70.3549784 --> 00:32:21,560.3549784
I think where members struggle sometimes is by not coming to the luncheons and getting the value of the networking.
423
00:32:21,835.3549784 --> 00:32:24,415.3549784
Learning about their community and then learning what their club's doing.
424
00:32:24,415.3549784 --> 00:32:26,365.3549784
So it is a sacrifice.
425
00:32:26,365.3549784 --> 00:32:29,935.3549784
I don't make every single one, but I try to make as many as impossible.
426
00:32:29,935.3549784 --> 00:32:36,85.3549784
Sometimes there's a situation, I just can't leave school that day, but I would encourage members to pick and choose.
427
00:32:36,135.3549784 --> 00:32:39,675.3549784
You, maybe you can't do it all, and there's a little bit of a guilt, like wish you could do more, but.
428
00:32:40,10.3549784 --> 00:32:42,90.3549784
That shouldn't hold you back from doing something.
429
00:32:42,90.3549784 --> 00:32:49,340.3549784
And maybe it seems small to you, but maybe to the club it's a big help, fill a void that maybe some other member who did before and had to retire.
430
00:32:49,340.3549784 --> 00:33:00,210.3549784
Or maybe just coming and being part of the luncheon conversation and sharing an idea that nobody else thought of, we were talking about membership drive and a couple new people shared some things that, probably hadn't been discussed before.
431
00:33:00,210.3549784 --> 00:33:02,790.3549784
So if you can just be part of the club, whether.
432
00:33:03,170.3549784 --> 00:33:07,550.3549784
You start with a luncheon or then pick one or two little things and let it go from there.
433
00:33:07,970.3549784 --> 00:33:17,855.3549784
I just wanna bring up one thing that I talked about this at some of the club visits and probably Eagle River, but you just gave this really wonderful example of the concept of social capital, right? So you.
434
00:33:18,260.3549784 --> 00:33:23,10.3549784
You're you're deeply involved in the school district, but then you branch out to Rotary.
435
00:33:23,10.3549784 --> 00:33:26,250.3549784
And Rotary just allows you to become connected to so many other people.
436
00:33:26,250.3549784 --> 00:33:47,350.3549784
And in fact, the idea of the library that we were talking about, right? If you hadn't been at that meeting, who knows if that idea would've really flourished or taken root? And that, that's something that I think I want, is I want people to really understand this idea of just social capital, which is really just the relationships and the trust that exist between people within a community.
437
00:33:47,350.3549784 --> 00:33:48,850.3549784
And when you're part of a Rotary club.
438
00:33:49,550.3549784 --> 00:33:50,630.3549784
And you've got 30 members.
439
00:33:50,630.3549784 --> 00:33:52,820.3549784
That's 30 people who know you and you know them.
440
00:33:52,820.3549784 --> 00:33:54,950.3549784
And there's some level of relationship and trust.
441
00:33:55,70.3549784 --> 00:34:04,520.3549784
And so when you're talking about something now that just, that, that idea, that information goes into your memory bank and you're talking to the next person and then that person brings something up.
442
00:34:04,610.3549784 --> 00:34:07,960.3549784
Oh, I know Joe or Sally over at my club.
443
00:34:08,530.3549784 --> 00:34:09,220.3549784
And it's just.
444
00:34:09,885.3549784 --> 00:34:22,35.3549784
The connections that you can make, it just makes the fabric of the community so much stronger and it's just a critical role for Rotary, particularly these days where there's things that are, seem to be conspiring to tear at the fabric.
445
00:34:22,85.3549784 --> 00:34:22,565.3549784
Good stuff.
446
00:34:22,570.3549784 --> 00:34:23,945.3549784
Yeah I would agree.
447
00:34:23,945.3549784 --> 00:34:33,145.3549784
And I think the first start the first step of doing good in the world, you have to do good in your community, but you.
448
00:34:33,565.3549784 --> 00:34:37,795.3549784
Before you even do good in the community, you have to do good for yourself.
449
00:34:38,155.3549784 --> 00:34:47,575.3549784
You have to make the changes and realize that, going to a rotary meeting and meeting with your fellow Rotarians.
450
00:34:48,340.3549784 --> 00:34:52,210.3549784
Has a huge impact on you, even though you might not think it does.
451
00:34:52,480.3549784 --> 00:34:53,290.3549784
It really does.
452
00:34:53,290.3549784 --> 00:35:02,960.3549784
You learn so much from all the different people who are in your club and you you make those connections and it's a life-changing experience for a lot of people.
453
00:35:02,960.3549784 --> 00:35:04,190.3549784
So kudos.
454
00:35:04,310.3549784 --> 00:35:04,670.3549784
Yeah.
455
00:35:05,950.3549784 --> 00:35:06,70.3549784
Excellent.
456
00:35:06,70.3549784 --> 00:35:08,915.3549784
I go back to my students quite a bit as lifeless.
457
00:35:08,915.3549784 --> 00:35:16,455.3549784
I think the youth can teach us so much and when we started there were some skeptics of us making our students be required volunteers.
458
00:35:16,455.3549784 --> 00:35:20,775.3549784
So I started a charter school within our district and we made that I could do that.
459
00:35:20,775.3549784 --> 00:35:25,275.3549784
The charter school, me and the staff had some kids go there by choice.
460
00:35:25,275.3549784 --> 00:35:32,245.3549784
Anyways, so what we found is we set a pretty high standard of number of hours, but what ended up happening, to your point, Randy, is.
461
00:35:33,75.3549784 --> 00:35:36,705.3549784
Those kids saw the difference they make and what it made them feel like.
462
00:35:36,735.3549784 --> 00:35:40,305.3549784
They blew the number of required hours out of the water by their own choice.
463
00:35:40,555.3549784 --> 00:35:40,645.3549784
Yep.
464
00:35:40,745.3549784 --> 00:35:45,765.3549784
And sometimes it's families that maybe that isn't modeled in their house and didn't even know about it.
465
00:35:46,95.3549784 --> 00:35:46,185.3549784
Yeah.
466
00:35:46,215.3549784 --> 00:35:52,305.3549784
But pretty soon they're like I met so and she told me I could volunteer at the library and then I met this lady at the library.
467
00:35:52,305.3549784 --> 00:35:53,565.3549784
Now I rake their leaves.
468
00:35:53,565.3549784 --> 00:35:56,575.3549784
And I think, it just, if we can teach them.
469
00:35:56,850.3549784 --> 00:35:59,520.3549784
Model that at a young age that makes 'em grow.
470
00:35:59,520.3549784 --> 00:36:01,650.3549784
And I just think that's how it worked for me too.
471
00:36:01,650.3549784 --> 00:36:08,320.3549784
There is the more I could get involved, the more I saw the difference we could make as a whole group, and not just one individual.
472
00:36:08,320.3549784 --> 00:36:09,400.3549784
It just goes so far.
473
00:36:09,880.3549784 --> 00:36:10,90.3549784
Yep.
474
00:36:12,10.3549784 --> 00:36:13,270.3549784
I'd say, Chuck, it's time for that.
475
00:36:13,270.3549784 --> 00:36:14,50.3549784
Good question.
476
00:36:14,50.3549784 --> 00:36:14,620.3549784
Yeah.
477
00:36:14,680.3549784 --> 00:36:15,580.3549784
This is a good question.
478
00:36:15,580.3549784 --> 00:36:16,210.3549784
A reminder.
479
00:36:16,210.3549784 --> 00:36:22,420.3549784
It was just basically recall a favorite or at least a most meri memorable book from your youth.
480
00:36:23,120.3549784 --> 00:36:23,510.3549784
Randy.
481
00:36:23,810.3549784 --> 00:36:25,520.3549784
Any book come to mind? Yeah.
482
00:36:25,520.3549784 --> 00:36:32,10.3549784
I have been racking my brain throughout this process trying to come up with a specific book, and I can't come up with one.
483
00:36:32,10.3549784 --> 00:36:41,750.3549784
So I'm gonna just say that, when I was in school, I I was heavily involved in my high school newspaper and my high school yearbook.
484
00:36:42,110.3549784 --> 00:36:43,840.3549784
And my initial thought.
485
00:36:44,410.3549784 --> 00:36:53,70.3549784
Upon graduation was, I'm gonna get into photography, and I went to school for photography that kind of morphed into journalism and television.
486
00:36:53,70.3549784 --> 00:37:00,740.3549784
But during those formative years in junior high and high school I probably.
487
00:37:01,115.3549784 --> 00:37:12,165.3549784
Read more books on the art of photography and the science behind photography and framing shots and it just was absolutely amazing to me.
488
00:37:12,435.3549784 --> 00:37:19,555.3549784
So that really was something that I can't necessarily speak to one, one book.
489
00:37:19,865.3549784 --> 00:37:24,10.3549784
But I will tell you one photographer that really stood out, and I have photos of his.
490
00:37:24,980.3549784 --> 00:37:30,620.3549784
In my office here was Ansel Adams, who was an absolutely amazing photographer.
491
00:37:31,190.3549784 --> 00:37:34,970.3549784
And so that's how I got involved in the visual arts, yeah.
492
00:37:35,270.3549784 --> 00:37:36,80.3549784
Was because of that.
493
00:37:36,380.3549784 --> 00:37:45,910.3549784
So what about you, Chuck? I don't have, if I knew the name of the book, but it was one of two books and I was so slow to, slow to learn to read.
494
00:37:46,230.3549784 --> 00:37:47,490.3549784
Just because I wasn't interested.
495
00:37:47,570.3549784 --> 00:37:49,375.3549784
My mom had six kids and she always talks.
496
00:37:49,645.3549784 --> 00:37:52,885.3549784
You were the one who just refused to sit and learn.
497
00:37:52,975.3549784 --> 00:37:59,145.3549784
And but once I did learn, I remember in grade school a book, and I don't know the title about Vince Lombardi.
498
00:38:00,150.3549784 --> 00:38:02,490.3549784
And then there was another book about Abraham Lincoln.
499
00:38:02,490.3549784 --> 00:38:05,820.3549784
I became almost obsessed with Abraham Lincoln as a kid.
500
00:38:06,300.3549784 --> 00:38:11,550.3549784
And it was, I think it was because the book and the story of learning about his life, it just was very impactful to me.
501
00:38:11,730.3549784 --> 00:38:11,970.3549784
Yeah.
502
00:38:12,610.3549784 --> 00:38:13,970.3549784
You're tall like him too, yeah.
503
00:38:14,50.3549784 --> 00:38:14,350.3549784
Yeah.
504
00:38:14,410.3549784 --> 00:38:17,320.3549784
I can't grow beard, but, all right, Scott.
505
00:38:17,980.3549784 --> 00:38:22,570.3549784
I think you learn, you taught a good lesson because you used one of the strategies to struggling readers.
506
00:38:22,570.3549784 --> 00:38:25,210.3549784
We find their passion and find books that match it.
507
00:38:25,210.3549784 --> 00:38:31,700.3549784
But one that I actually have, and as recorded this for my office, is I have an old copy of Harry, the Dirty Dog.
508
00:38:31,700.3549784 --> 00:38:34,370.3549784
When you bring that up, it's one I like to take with me to read.
509
00:38:34,610.3549784 --> 00:38:39,320.3549784
This one's a very chewed up copy that was in our library that the librarian gifted to me.
510
00:38:39,710.3549784 --> 00:38:41,765.3549784
'cause she knew how much I enjoyed and I think it's just.
511
00:38:42,75.3549784 --> 00:38:59,625.3549784
As a kid, I was probably sitting with my mom and reading it is as much the memory and also what little boy doesn't think about an adventure of a dirty dog going through all kinds of things and then come to find out, still loved at home and even though a little bit of a crazy adventure you still loved and cared for and whatever.
512
00:38:59,625.3549784 --> 00:39:03,435.3549784
So just one that it's probably brings me memories as much as the kids.
513
00:39:03,435.3549784 --> 00:39:04,35.3549784
I read it too.
514
00:39:04,35.3549784 --> 00:39:05,715.3549784
Probably wonder what the heck I'm reading about.
515
00:39:05,715.3549784 --> 00:39:08,835.3549784
But so it's been a just one that struck with me and I.
516
00:39:08,880.3549784 --> 00:39:16,10.3549784
Keep a copy in my office as a good reminder and when I get a chance to go read to kids, which I try to do often, it's one of the ones I grab, excellent.
517
00:39:16,430.3549784 --> 00:39:16,910.3549784
Wonderful.
518
00:39:17,840.3549784 --> 00:39:20,810.3549784
That's a wrap for this episode of Doing Good 62 20.
519
00:39:20,810.3549784 --> 00:39:29,570.3549784
Special thanks to our guest, Scott Foster of the Rotary Club of Eagle River and all of the great information on the Imagination Library.
520
00:39:30,10.3549784 --> 00:39:30,640.3549784
By the way.
521
00:39:31,245.3549784 --> 00:39:34,935.3549784
It's just www.imaginationlibrary.com
522
00:39:34,995.3549784 --> 00:39:37,725.3549784
and you can, and I did look and Wapac does not have one.
523
00:39:38,85.3549784 --> 00:39:38,715.3549784
Oh, wow.
524
00:39:38,715.3549784 --> 00:39:43,575.3549784
Wapac County does not have an Imagination Library, so that might be coming up at a future rotary meeting.
525
00:39:43,755.3549784 --> 00:39:44,265.3549784
Yeah.
526
00:39:44,595.3549784 --> 00:39:45,825.3549784
Sounds like a great topic.
527
00:39:46,155.3549784 --> 00:39:46,395.3549784
Yeah.
528
00:39:46,435.3549784 --> 00:39:50,845.3549784
Please share this episode with other members of your club or connections that you may have across Rotary.
529
00:39:51,235.3549784 --> 00:39:56,185.3549784
Check out our growing list of episodes and if there's a topic you'd like to learn about or a person.
530
00:39:56,570.3549784 --> 00:39:59,990.3549784
In the district you'd like us to feature on doing good 62 20.
531
00:39:59,990.3549784 --> 00:40:00,650.3549784
Email us.
532
00:40:00,700.3549784 --> 00:40:02,560.3549784
Our email address is part of the show notes.
533
00:40:03,610.3549784 --> 00:40:13,510.3549784
I'm Randy Winter and on behalf of Chuck Reynolds, thanks for joining us and doing your part as a Rotarian to make your community and the world better for all.