This week's speaker is Dani Welniak, KC Current VP Of Communications. The topic is: "Lessons in Leadership - How the KC Current is Changing Women’s Sports."
Prior to her position at the KC Current, Dani reported at KCTV5 in Kansas City, most recently serving as the station’s Sports Director and host of The Locker Room Show on KSMO-TV.
Welniak started her news career in Dodge City, KS covering high school sports for Catch It Kansas. After two years, she moved up to Wichita’s main station, KWCH 12, before moving to Kansas City in 2016 to join KCTV5, where she became the Sports Director in 2017. She was also the sideline analyst for the Chiefs Radio Network from 2016 through 2019.
She made history in 2019 as a color analyst for the Cure Bowl when she became part of the first all-female radio crew to call a Division I college football bowl game.
“Fresh off the 50th Anniversary of Title IX, we are witnessing sports history right in our own backyard,” said Dani Welniak. “What Angie, Chris and Brittany are building in Kansas City is something that will not only impact the women of this generation, but it sets in motion a better future for our daughters and granddaughters. As a former professional athlete that wants to continue to see those barriers shattered, I am so excited to be a part of it.”
Welniak is a retired wide receiver for the Dallas Diamonds professional football team. During her time on the team, she was the 2007 Rookie of the Year, a 2008 Women’s Super Bowl champion, a three-time All-Pro member and a member of the gold medal-winning USA national team in 2010.
In her new role with the Current, Welniak will oversee the club’s communications department and public relations efforts.
President Tom Davis, welcomed all to the Club with the Camp for Kids. We stood for the Pledge of Allegiance followed by a prayer of thanks by Neil Barnett. Led by Charlie Huffman and the venerable “Maestro,” Carl Bolte, we sang the “Happy Birthday Song” to the November celebrants. Charlie then led us in the singing of “Welcome to Rotary,” that Broadway-ready, hook-filled Bolte-penned ditty. Tom Woolwine then joined Charlie and Carl in recognition of Veteran’s Day as we undertook the annual Club rite to sing the familiar songs of each military branch with the veterans standing in recognition of their service. We then welcomed seven guests from the Lake Jacomo Sailing Club and four guests of our member. In his role as “Skipper” of the Regatta recently held at Lake Jacomo in partnership with the Sailing Club there, Mr. Woolwine led the presentation of a $31,446 check to the Youth Camp. The check exceeded the goal due to the hard work of the Committee, which members came to the front of the room for recognition and photo opps. Job well done, Sailors!
President Tom recognized a Club anniversary, Terry O’Toole (20 years), followed by Tony Andresen’s Salvation Army Bell Ringing reminder to fill up the remaining open slots. President Tom announced that the Parkville Rotary Club is gifting a golf cart to the Rotary Youth Camp through a collaborative effort with The North 84, a wedding venue in Platte City, and Freedom Custom Carts. This year’s Holiday Party is December 14 and registration is now open. The party will take place at Drexel Hall beginning at 5:30 p.m. The Harvesters sorting and packing event is set for November 16 from 6 to 8 p.m. We still need volunteers so please sign up! The next 5th Thursday After Hours event will take place at Minsky’s Pizza on November 30 in lieu of a lunch meeting that day.
Our guest speaker, David Eaton, was then introduced by Nick Pryor, his work colleague at Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway (“CPKC”). Mr. Eaton is a member of both Club 13 and the Monterrey, Mexico Rotary club. He became involved in Rotary while in law school and met his wife twenty-eight years ago on a Rotary blind date. Mr. Eaton is the Director of Business Development for CPKC and has led a project in partnership with Rotary and other stakeholders to establish more monarch-friendly habitats along its migration route (which approximates the north-south route of the CPKC) and plant 130,000 Oyamel trees in the El Rosario sanctuary in Michoacan, Mexico. The sanctuary is the area where the monarch butterfly winters after its amazing journey as far north as Windsor, Ontario. By reforesting the sanctuary, it is hoped that the monarch population, which has dwindled 90% over 20 years, will gain a stronghold and bounce back from ongoing environmental catastrophes, both natural (Hurricane Otis) and manmade. As Eaton puts it, the monarch butterfly is a symbol of resiliency which connects communities, countries, and cultures. As a “keystone” species, if the butterfly experiences problems, there are environmental issues which need to be understood and addressed. Through Rotary grants and other fundraising, the goal is to raise $270K to plant 130,000 trees and establish more milk week throughout the migration path. To date, approximately 60,000 trees have been planted and local programs have helped raise awareness of the importance of and establish more milk weed.
Club 13 has partnered with Suburban Lawn & Garden and CPKC through the sale of $13K of pollinator milk weed which led to the purchase of 11,000 trees. Club 13 was also previously involved with purchase of a potable water treatment plant in Michoacan through a District grant. Potable water is a necessity for the peasant farmers in that region and helps in the reforestation effort. In addition, Eaton secured a Global Matching Grant of $150K to which District 6040 contributed together with seven other districts in the U.S. To bring awareness to the plight of the butterfly and the cause to establish more milk weed and plant trees in the sanctuary, the MOMA (mother butterfly) statute made its way by rail from Windsor to Michoacan with a stop at Union Station. The Monterrey club has held Citizen Science training for 40 girls which are now known as Monarch Butterfly Ambassadors. Currently, Eaton is working on the MOMA Hope Tour in conjunction with the Rotary motto for this year, “Create Hope in the World.” Kansas City will be the 29th city stop. In case you were wondering, monarchs show up in the K.C. area in late September, early October in their southbound trip back to Micholacan. The migration begins all over again in late February or early March.
After the presentation, President Tom read a quote from Nathaniel Hawthorne “Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” We said the 4-Way Test together and the meeting adjourned.
Message from David Eaton following last week's meeting: In response to a question from past President Eric today, I would like to share a short video from the Monarch Monday’s social media series we taped with Past International President Jennifer Jones.
Please join the Rotary Book Discussion Group for the discussion of the book Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. The book is available at Rainy Day Books and the discussion will be led by Vivien Jennings. All Rotarians and guests are welcome. The group will meet at J. Wilbur Company; however, Zoom will be available for those you cannot attend in person.
Date: Monday, December 4, 2023, 6:30 PM
Location: J. Wilbur Company
3242 Roanoke
Kansas City, MO 64111
About the book:
It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man, faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church. This historical fiction novel is an international best seller and winner of the Orwell Prize. Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy.
The bowling league met up last Wednesday, and it seems like most of us took the night off from exceptional bowling. Pretty slow night in terms of 200 games and Nita or splits, but still some great bowling.
290 games
Matt Ho 201
Will Patrick 209
Tucker Clark 228
Splits
John Lawrence 6-7-10
Wes Gill 5-7
Dennis 2-4-6-7
See you all Thursday!
We are scheduled to volunteer at Harvesters on Thursday, Nov. 16 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm. Please click the link below for more info and to sign up for this event!
The Volunteer Engagement Center is a vital part of Harvesters’ mission to mobilize the power of our community to create equitable access to nutritious food and address the root causes and impact of hunger. In this area, volunteers sort and repack food, which assists Harvesters in feeding more than 226,000 neighbors each month.
The Parkville Rotary Club along with Freedom Custom Carts in Parkville and The North 84 presented the Rotary Youth Camp with a 4 passenger golf cart that converts to a flatbed! We have wanted one for a while and are so very grateful that this need has been met. You can go to their Facebook pages and thank them for this amazing gift!
Camp Centennial Memory
This letter shows the impact the camp had on one boy. Bob Gees and the other Club 13 Rotarians changed the lives of many youths over the last 99 years!
“Welcome to Rotary,” that Broadway-ready, hook-filled Bolte-penned ditty. Tom Woolwine then joined Charlie and Carl in recognition of Veteran’s Day as we undertook the annual Club rite to sing the familiar songs of each military branch with the veterans standing in recognition of their service. We then welcomed seven guests from the Lake Jacomo Sailing Club and four guests of our member. In his role as “Skipper” of the Regatta recently held at Lake Jacomo in partnership with the Sailing Club there, Mr. Woolwine led the presentation of a $31,446 check to the Youth Camp. The check exceeded the goal due to the hard work of the Committee, which members came to the front of the room for recognition and photo opps. Job well done, Sailors!
Please join the Rotary Book Discussion Group for the discussion of the book Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. The book is available at Rainy Day Books and the discussion will be led by Vivien Jennings. All Rotarians and guests are welcome. The group will meet at J. Wilbur Company; however, Zoom will be available for those you cannot attend in person.
@rotaryclub13
@rotary13
@rotaryclub13.jpg)
