Kevin Kressig and Chip LaClair are new members of Lawrence Central Rotary. President Fred Atchison inducted the two during the November 30 club meeting. Sponsors Steve Lane and Jim Evers participated in the ceremony.
Standing left to right in the photograph: Atchison, Lane, Kressig, LaClair, and Evers
Bob Ramsdell (left) and Kade Meyer (right) were inducted into Lawrence Central Rotary on Wednesday, November 15. After the brief ceremony, President Fred Atchison asked both men to tell the group more about themselves.
Bob Ramsdell said that before earning a law degree at KU, he spent 21 years as an artillery officer in the Army. He then worked eighteen years in a local law partnership. In July 2017, Bob set up a solo law practice in Lawrence focusing on estate planning, probate, trusts, wills, and elder law. He and his wife are originally from Maryland; they have two adult children who live in the area. Bob was drawn to Rotary because he has many friends who have been involved in the organization. He selected Lawrence Central Rotary Club because it is small enough for friendships and big enough to get things done. In his free time Bob likes to read history and biography and enjoys photography.
After a six-year stint in the Army Reserves, Kade Meyer returned to Topeka where he and his two siblings had grown up. He followed his father’s lead into the insurance industry and currently works as an insurance account representative in Lawrence, specializing in life insurance. As Kade launches himself professionally, he knows he needs to connect to the community. Joining a Rotary club has been an ideal way to do so, but he has also gotten involved with a number of other groups and initiatives in both Lawrence and Topeka. Kade chuckles as he acknowledges he chose Lawrence Central Rotary because of our reputation as “the fun group.” In his free time, Kade enjoys listening to podcasts and to a variety of other media.
In addition to the core exhibits about Douglas County history on display at Watkins Museum, such as this 1870s playhouse, there is always something new to see, according to Steve Nowak, Executive Director.
Sometimes the “new” is an addition to an existing exhibit. For example, the story of Lawrence’s efforts to establish a Fair Housing Ordinance in the 1960’s has been added to the “Enduring Struggles—Lawrence Fights for Change.” Documents, music, photographs, artifacts, and oral histories combine in an interactive display highlighting Lawrence’s spirit of activism and community spirit in various decades.
Changing exhibits can focus attention on a particular aspect of local history. For example, “Community and Culture: the Lawrence Turnverein” tells the story of the Germans who were among the earliest settlers in Lawrence.
“Hidden Treasures: Staff Favorites from the Watkins Collection” showcases artifacts in new ways. Find a cowboy hat signed by John Wayne and a sculpture made of the soles of shoes, as well as other treasures.
“Mass St. Magic—Weaver’s Window Displays” celebrates the 160th anniversary of the local department store by recreating some of the window displays it featured over the years. Founded in 1857, Weaver’s is one of the longest running department stores in the United States. Even in 1850’s, it was known to bring NYC fashion to Lawrence.
On Saturday, December 2, the museum will host “Tails and Traditions Holiday Festival.” Stop by between 9 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. for prime horse parade-viewing spots, snacks, kids’ crafts and games, and live holiday music. The Watkins Museum of History hosted 17,500 visitors in 2017, up from 6,000 seven years ago when Nowak began his tenure.
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.
Rick Randolph, M.D., knows first-hand about the impacts that changes in the environment are having on people around the world. As a long-time volunteer and now a staff member of Heart to Heart International, he has worked in developing countries for 25 years. Randolph recently returned from assisting with Puerto Rico’s recovery efforts after Hurricane Maria.
Environmental events profoundly effect the way people live. Floods are caused by hurricanes. Mud-covered roads are caused by trees uprooted or swept away in storms. Mosquito-born illnesses occur more frequent in warming regions of the world. Infectious disease rises, the cause of 90% of deaths during draught and food shortages. Diseases such as Ebola arise when humans use slash-and-burn agriculture and move to live on formerly-forested land that exposes them to fruitbats and monkeys. Increases in asthma, emphysema, heart disease, and bronchitis are linked to air pollution. Thermal expansion of the oceans is predicted to cause sea levels to rise three feet by the year 2100, threatening military installations located on the coasts of the United States. Even civil war often has roots in the environments as draught and famine force people to migrate from farms to cities that become over-crowded and poverty-stricken.
Rotary Interantional President Ian H.S. Riseley envisions Rotarians “Making a Difference” during the coming year. He urges that each club plant a tree for every Rotarian during the next twelve months and to include sustainability objectives in each project proposal.
