Lawrence Central Rotary

Author: Admin

Jim Ogle Reminds, “Never Forget”
Jim Ogle presents the Topeka Rotary flag to Lawrence Central Rotary.

History may often be “written by the victors,” said Jim Ogle, Executive Director of Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area, but by adding in and telling the stories of other voices, “we can come to terms with the impact it’s having on us now.”

That is the mission of Freedom’s Frontier, to help the regional community never forget the history that shaped us and this country.

Freedom’s Frontier covers and area of 29 counties in eastern Kansas and 12 counties in western Missouri. While not a National Park, the organization is affiliated with the National Park system and provides financial assistance and technical support to its 240 partners, including 150 historic sites and museum,. Freedom’s Frontier boasts 23 partner organizations in Douglas County alone.

This type of “collective wisdom,” as Ogle says, helps everyone tell better stories. Since many of Freedom’s Frontier’s partners have no professional staff, the organization is able to offer:
- professional development opportunities
- workshops, such as designing exhibits
- scholarship opportunities
- marketing and signage support
- grant writing assistance
To date, Freedom’s Frontier has provided nearly $119,000 in grant funding benefiting Douglas County efforts.

Ogle is proud of more than his work at Freedom’s Frontier. As a long-time Rotarian, first joining in 1994 while living in Lexington, KY, he’s especially proud of the global impact Rotary has had on polio eradication. And here in Lawrence? He knows it’s the “15 or 20 minutes we spent at lunch making connections that make a difference.”
July 31, 2018
8th Year for Lawrence Central Rotary’s Community Bike Ride

Over 200+ riders and volunteers (a record attendance) came out Saturday morning, July 21st for the 8th annual Summer Larence Community Bike Ride at the Lawrence Rotary Arboretum.

Lawrence Central Rotary’s annual event aimed at getting people out to enjoy the outdoors, by sponsoring the leisurely bike rides of various lengths starting from the Rotary Arboretum.

Sponsors from around the community and region help make this event possible, and one of the highlights of the event is that people in need of a safety helmet can be fitted on site. T-shirts and high visibility safety vests are also handed out to attendees so after the event when they are biking around the community they can be more easily seen.

If you missed this summer’s event the good news is that it will be held again this fall on Lawrence’s Eastside. The Fall Community Bike Ride is scheduled for Saturday, Sept 15th starting from the Haskell Indian Nations Stadium Parking Lot. The ride will be along the Burrough’s Creek Trail. For more information check back or our social media outlets.

Here’s a gallery of pictures taken by Lynn O’Neal, Leilani Tuttle, and Tobin Neis.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1945742048790417.1073741832.132494086781898&type=1&l=56f3f18346

July 25, 2018
Lawrence Kids Calendar Sees Improvements

Jay Holley shares an update about Lawrence Kids Calendar.

Lawrence Central Rotary knew taking on the Lawrence Kids Calendar was going to pay off, even if it meant more volunteers were needed. With an active membership, volunteers keep stepping up. As president-elect Audrey Coleman said during the July 27th meeting, “the field of nonprofit fundraising is crowded. With the Kids Calendar, we offer businesses a service they really need.”

Fortunately, that service is getting better all the time. Jay Holley shared a variety of updates with the club that the team of volunteers is focused on to improve the Lawrence Kids Calendar.

One recent change Holley is excited about is setting up a staging environment for the website. Among other things, this will give the administrative team the ability to test out and implement changes without potentially breaking or modifying the website’s existing functionality. Holley summarized, “we want to improve things without breaking things.”

The team is also looking at ways to increase site speed and performance, better manage and update all plugins that add functionality to the site, improve tracking options, and simplify the management interface.

Coleman elaborated on the initiative to generate a “Back to School Monthly Preview Guide” and ways Rotary members can get involved in promoting the Kids Calendar and selling listing promotions. As the Kids Calendar grows, so will the Lawrence Rotary Club’s ability to support and enrich daily living and opportunities in Douglas County.

June 27, 2018
The 2018 Lawrence Summer Community Bike Ride is set for July 21st!
We’ve reserved the space, got the sponsors, now we need you to come out and enjoy the Summer 2018 Lawrence Community Bike Ride!

Here’s what we’ve got on tap for this year’s event:
- Family Friendly Bike Ride With Safety
- Kids Helmet fitting
- Safety Vest Giveaway
- Training Wheel Takeoff Area
- Bike Checkup & Maintenance area
- Healthy Snack Zone provided by The Merc
- The always popular Lawrence Kids Calendar Kids Inflatable Zone!
We have some new rides planned too!
- 1-Mile “Arboretum” loop
- 4-Mile “Family” ride to Sanders Mound
- 6-Mile “Bob-Billings” ride….new for 2018
- 8-Mile “6^th-Street” ride….new for 2018
- 12-Mile “I-70” ride with SAG stop (by the Lawrence Bicycle Club)
Thanks to all our sponsors these annual events just get better and better.

All riders must fill out a release you can download one from this LINK.

(We’ll have them on hand too.)

Get this on your calendar! We look forward to seeing you!
June 3, 2018
Lawrence Rotary Arboretum awarded Level I accreditation by ArbNet

The City of Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department’s Lawrence Rotary Arboretum that is maintained by local Rotarians and the Lawrence Parks and District Department has been awarded a Level I Accreditation by the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and the Morton Arboretum, for achieving particular standards of professional practices deemed important for arboreta and botanic gardens.

The ArbNet accreditation program is the only global initiative to officially recognize arboreta at various levels of development, capacity, and professionalism. The Lawrence Rotary Arboretum is now recognized as an accredited arboretum in the Morton Register of Arboreta, a database of the world’s arboreta and gardens dedicated to woody plants.

The Lawrence Rotary Arboretum was conceived in 2003 and dedicated in 2005 as a project by the three local Rotary Clubs in Lawrence, the Lawrence Rotary Club, the Jayhawk Breakfast Rotary Club and the Central Rotary Club as a fundraising activity to commemorate the centennial of Rotary International. Funds raised went toward the waterfront gazebo. The arboretum began development with the addition of new trees having identification markers which detailed the scientific name of the tree. Gardens were also added, including a certified Monarch Watch waystation, providing habitat for butterflies.

Additional projects such as a performance stage, bike path rest station, and Westar Pergola were completed by local scout troops and other volunteer groups.

Recently, an inventory of trees was developed through the department’s use of TreeWorks mapping software and using GIS to develop an interactive storyboard. The storyboard creates a self-guided tour of the arboretum, detailing trees planted within the arboretum with photos and common and scientific names of each species of trees via the internet. It can also be helpful to those visiting the park and can pull up the site on a mobile device. To visit the ESRI storyboard of the Lawrence Rotary Arboretum, please visit: http://lawks.us/2xCmOih.

ArbNet is an interactive, collaborative, international community of arboreta. ArbNet facilitates the sharing of knowledge, experience, and other resources to help arboreta meet their instructional goals and works to raise professional standards through the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program. The accreditation program is sponsored and coordinated by the Morton Arboretum, in cooperation with the American Public Gardens Association. and the Botanic Gardens Conservation International. The program offers four levels of accreditation, recognizing arboreta of various degrees of development, capacity, and professionalism. Standards include planning, governance, public access, programming and tree science, planting and conservation. You can find more information about ArbNet at www.arbnet.org.

For more information, please contact Crystal Miles, horticulture, and forestry manager, at (785) 832-7970.

November 1, 2017