We were pleased to have Dan Stein, President/CEO of Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin, join us as our first speaker of the year.  Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending hunger in southwestern Wisconsin, where more than 100,000 people – 40 percent who are children – don’t always have enough to eat. Through food and financial donations, Second Harvest acquires and distributes food to more than 400 programs, including food pantries, shelters and meal sites, in 16 counties. In 2009, Second Harvest Foodbank distributed more than 6.8 million pounds of food. It is one of 200 affiliates of Feeding America, the nation’s largest charitable hunger-relief organization, engaging our country in the fight to end hunger. For more information, visit www.secondharvestmadison.org.

We recognized 2nd Harvest's efforts in our area by presenting Dan with a $1000 donation!

The Sertoma Club of Madison begins its 2008-2009 season on an exciting note with an appearance by Gary Close, assistant coach of the University Badger's men's basketball team.

Close will speak at Sertoma's lunch meeting on Thursday, September 11, at noon at the Coliseum Bar & Restaurant, 232 E. Olin Avenue, Madison.

The Sertoma Club of Madison is a chapter of the international service club Sertoma, which stands for Service to Mankind.

The Sertoma Club of Madison has been serving the needs of the Madison community since 1952.  Madison Sertoma members are committed to providing assistance to people with speech and hearing impairments as well as providing suppport to community programs for disadvantaged youth.

Members meet Thursdays during the school year for lunch, an update on club activities, and a speaker.

The Board is reconsidering our club's involvement in the annual Service Club Olympics.

The reason is simple: Our participation is too small to warrant the time commitment one member has been making to attend planning meetings throughout the year with the Service Club Council. Our club also is responsible for running one event at the Olympics, another major commitment. Given the situation, our board would like to see a commitment to more participation in the Service Club Olympics on the part of our members to make all the time and cost worthwhile, or perhaps someone could volunteer to attend the half-dozen or so noontime planning meetings during the year.

Our club is not alone: Overall participation in the Service Club Olympics has declined. There is also some question whether the event sufficiently accomplishes its goal of encouraging fellowship and camaraderie between members of the many service club in the Madison area.

The board will need to decide in the next few months, and may seek a commitment from members during the winter about participation in the Service Club Olympics or on the planning council. Please contact Mike McKenna if you have any thoughts on this topic.

The board also is looking ahead to next year's Hot Dog n Pop, our annual fund-raiser with the Middleton club. The event is our biggest fund-raiser of the year, and it is always an evening of fun. The event usually runs pretty smoothly, but there are some hitches, most of which can be eliminated by some better record-keeping on the part of those of us selling the tickets. This year, for instance, we had one undelivered prize and one other mixup with the name on the ticket. In each case, we don't know who sold the ticket, a detail that would have solved each problem. So consider this a reminder that when you sell tickets for next year's event, please, please write your name on the back.

The Sertoman of the Year will be honored at the holiday party on Dec. 6. Please get your nominations for Sertoman of the Year and the Service to Mankind Award to Mike McKenna before Thanksgiving.

The Sertoma Club presented HospiceCare with a check for more than $2,000 at our Oct. 11 meeting. The check represents some of the proceeds of the Vern Hellenbrand Memorial Bowl-A-Thon in the spring. Our club has now given more than $10,000 to HospiceCare.

The annual Service Club Luncheon will be Wednesday Nov. 14 at noon at the Alliant Energy Center, taking the place of our regular Thursday meeting. Rock Mackie, co-founder of TomoTherapy, will speak. Virginia Henderson, of Rotary Madison, will receive the 2007 Ruth Gordon Award at the dinner.