Tickets for the 12 Days of Christmas cash raffle are now available. 1,000 tickets were printed and are $20 each or six for $100. Please ask family, friends, and coworkers if they would like to buy a ticket to support all of the wonderful things our club does for the community! Starting on December 1, daily cash drawings will be held... starting with $100 on the first day, going all the up to $1,200 on the 12th day to one big winner!
We are asking each Rotarian to sell at least 15 tickets each to achieve our fundraising goal of $3,250 to pay off our commitment for Babe Mann Park improvements and support other Rotary projects. Together, we can make it happen!
Tickets can be picked up at our weekly Wednesday meetings or at the Elkhorn Area School District office front desk from 7:30-3:30pm at 3 N. Jackson Street in Elkhorn. A big thanks to Jason for organizing the ticket distribution.
WEEKLY MEETING RECAP:
Our Rotary Community
There were several guests and new members for our Club Assembly today... so we decided to take a group photo! We welcomed Mr. & Mrs. Merchlewitz (aka John and Amanda) back to the club and presented them with a gift to help with their honeymoon. It was wonderful meeting Swedish Friendship Exchange Rotarians, Maria and Jesper, too!
OTHER UPDATES:
Congratulations to Mariann Hunter for achieving the Club Excellence award during her 2024-25 year!
The District is asking for Rotary member and community nominations for the 2025 Agent of Peace Award. Please speak to Katie if you would like to nominate someone from the Elkhorn Community!
The club is looking for the club's new Exchange Student Coordinator to assist with planning for the 2026/27 program. Please see John Henderson if interested and thank him for his many years of help with the program.
Our club has an unprecedented opportunity to reach thousands of people in one day to pitch tickets to our 12 Days of Christmas Raffle. We will have a booth at the Craft Bash on Saturday, October 4 from 9:00am to 4:00pm at the Walworth County Fairgrounds. We need help staffing, with two people per shift from 8:30-11:00am, 11:00-2:00pm and 2:00-4:15pm. We need cheerful folks to help sell our cause. Feel free to bring a partner or
friend too! A number of the booths are outside, which is where our main booth will be. Please sign up with Shelly or Heidi at Wednesday’s club meeting.
The Pantry Needs Our Help!
The Elkhorn Food Pantry is operating at dangerously low levels to address food insecurity in our community. To address this, the Elkhorn Rotary is going to collect needed items at our Wednesday meetings from September 24-October 22, 2025. Below is the HOT LIST of items needed most... Can YOU help?
Jelly - Grape or Strawberry
Juice - bottled not frozen
Soup - Chicken Noodle, Cream of Chicken, Tomato, Cream of Mushroom
Breakfast Cereal
Granola Bars
Pop Tarts
Canned good such as Chili, sloppy joe sauce, beef stew, Sauerkraut, Spinach, Beets, Tomato Sauce, Pasta Sauce or canned pasta, Baked Beans, Pork & Beans, Refried Beans, Mandarin oranges & Pineapple
Egg Noodles
Flour Tortillas
Microwave Popcorn
Brownie Mix
Pancake Mix
Syrup
Sugar
Flour
Oil
Condiments such as Ketchup, Mustard, BBQ Sauce
Toiletries such as Toilet Paper, Paper Towels, Laundry Soap, Dish Soap, Shampoo, Conditioner.
No time to shop? No problem! Monetary donations are welcome too.
Elkhorn Rotary Coats for Kids
Our "Operation Warm" program has a new name but serves the same goal to supply free coats, hats, and gloves to Elkhorn Pre-K through 5th grade children. This year's distribution days will be on October 11 and November 8, 2025.
Sign up for a two-hour shift to help out our smallest community members. Can you be an individual or business sponsor to support the event? Contact Committee Co-Chair Kristin Belongia at (262) 215-5436 for more information.
Signups are now open to assist with the Oktoberfest 5K Run/Walk for Rotary on Saturday morning, October 18, 2025! We need water station attendants, course helpers, and folks to help cheer on our participants. Can you volunteer? Click below to help encourage a fun community event.
Support Rotary AND Your Business With A Sponsorship!
The Fundraising Committee is excited to announce a new sponsorship program that allows businesses to support our Rotary club for a year at various price points. Sponsors receive recognition ranging from social media posts to booths at events to a year’s membership in our club.
Please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the form. It will take all of us to make this effort successful. With the Coats for Kids and Oktoberfest events coming up next month, the time is now. Consider if there are local business leaders you know who would appreciate the opportunity to make a difference in Elkhorn through Rotary.
We will hand out talking points and copies of the form at the Wednesday lunch meeting. If you have questions, please contact a Fundraising Committee member: Heidi Lloyd, Mariann Hunter, John Henderson, Bill Campbell, Tom Oehler, Shelly Higgins, Jeff Halpin, Dr. John Hall, Karen Kallem, Heather Leasure, or Kristin Belongia. Heidi can be reached at ElkhornRotarySecretary@gmail.com.
YINKA BABALOLA NAMED PRESIDENT ELECT FOR 2026/2027 RI YEAR
Olayinka (Yinka) Hakeem BABALOLA, a member of the Rotary Club of Trans Amadi, Nigeria, has been elected President of Rotary International for the year 2026/2027.
He will take office on July 1, 2026.
A Rotary member for over 30 years, he will become the second African to lead Rotary International, after Jonathan B. MAJIYAGBE (2003/2004).
A long-time supporter of peace and community development, he contributed to the creation and growth of the Rotary Peace Centre at Makerere University in Uganda, the first on the African continent.
He also became involved in the fight against polio, supporting vaccination efforts in Africa.
Yinka holds an engineering degree and has spent over 30 years in the oil and gas industry, including senior management positions at Shell PLC.
He and his wife, Preba, support The Rotary Foundation through a named endowment and are members of the Arch Klumph Society.
