With the Pancake Festival and Riverfest well established as annual events serving the community and contributing to our Charitable Fund, what's next?

After considerable thought and discussion led by Rotarian Bill Nantell, we chose to work with the School District of Waukesha in promoting the development of positive assets among Waukesha youth. We accepted the identification by

the Search Institute of Minneapolis of the forty most important assets necessary for the successful development of young people, such as family support, community approval, and individual motivation to achieve.

Then in 1999 we backed a survey of 3,602 students in grades seven through ten to determine how many of these forty assets they feel that they experience, thus creating an overall profile.

Our White Rock School program is an excellent example. Students like Desmond Jones, whose life ambition is to buy American Motors and produce high quality automobiles, are full of great promise for the future.

My treasured memories of Rotarians include Russell Schuetze with his energetic cheerleading; the Keystone Farms strawberry festivals of Bob Rowlands; Bob Nanz' escape from Waukesha Memorial Hospital to keep his perfect attendance record; Tom Stine and his celebration of "ten happy years of marriage, plus thirty that weren't all that great"; Dick Guy's delightful recitations of deadpan humor; the elusive but creative Bill Nantell; the audacious pancake ticket