Welcome to the Rotary Club of La Crescent

Are you a passionate volunteer who wants to make positive changes in your community and the world? Our club members are dedicated people who share a passion for community service and friendship. Becoming a Rotarian connects you with a diverse group who share your drive to give back.

Avenues of Service Dinner

Posted by David Ebner on Aug 14, 2018

On Tuesday, August 14, the 9 La Crosse area Rotary Clubs gathered together to celebrate the past year, and to raise funds for the Rotary Works Foundation. This annual event is coordinated by a planning committee of members from all clubs, and is chaired by the Assistant Governor, La Crescent's own Dave Ebner. Awards are handed out in Rotary's 5 Avenue's of Service: Club Service, Community Service, Youth Service, International Service, Vocational Service.

The La Crescent Club had two of it's own recognized. Bob Spencer was named La Crescent's Rotarian of the Year, and Leo Chaput recieved a Lifetime Achievement Award. Read more below to learn more about these two amazing Rotarians.

Collaboration made Country Boom possible

Posted by Bob Spencer on Jul 17, 2018

The First Annual Country Boom took place in West Salem from July 13-15. One of its primary purposes was to bring together people from all over the Coulee Region.

Rotarian Pat Stephens was involved in the planning of the event, and due to a scheduling snafu, last minute volunteers were needed to help coordinate the parking lot. La Crescent Rotarians heard the call and knew we could do something to help. We committed to staffing the lot on Saturday, with a minimum of 60 volunteer-hours needed between 10am and 11pm. However we knew we could not do it alone. We put out a call to all area Rotary Clubs to help us, as well as to friends in La Crescent, such as the PTO, for help. The call was heard and answered.

Then the Rain came... and with the rain, mud. The parking lot that we were tasked to operate was now a muddy lake. However, with our new Clubrunner system, we were quickly and easily able to reach out to all volunteers to update them on the last minute changes, and ensure our volunteers could get to their new assignment areas where more help was most needed.

Natalie Olson from Rotary East, Tan Phan from Valley View Rotary, and Jaime Bly from the La Crescent PTO stepped up to help out out and put in an combined 20 volunteer-hours. La Crescent Rotarians put in an additional 45 Hours of help, with some putting in over 13 hours of work! Thank you to everyone who helped out!

Lets Play Together Playground Community Build Weekend

Posted by Bob Spencer on Jul 30, 2018

After years of fundraising and coordination, the La Crescent-Hokah Elementary School will soon have a more inclusive playground. Various La Crescent community members worked feverishly to finish assembling La Crescent-Hokah Elementary's new Lets Play Together Playground, a project started on Friday.

The Community Planned, Community Funded, and Community Built project aims to create a more inclusive playground for La Crescent.

Students spent five years raising over half the estimated cost of the project. A large contribution to the student's fundraising was the annual Great Green Run & Roll. The fundraiser involves students raising money for a run around the school.

The Rotary Club had $5,000 in unspent funds raised from the 2015 Music Extravaganza that we wanted to use to help the students of La Crescent. Through Grants from the Rotary Works Foundation and District 6250, we were able to contribute over $20,000 to the project.

While the funds help, this project was about more than the money, it is about bringing community together. Rotarians, Lions, PTO Members, Teachers & Community Members all worked together to assemble the playground July 27-29th. Rotary District Grant partners from Caledonia and Valley view also stepped out of their own communities to come and help us. It was a truly a collaborative effort.

The project is designed to update the school's aging playground while creating a space students of all abilities can enjoy.

"Our current equipment doesn't offer them the same accessibility or experience. We also have students who are on the spectrum who might have sensory needs, we've got students that might be in a wheelchair that want to still play with their friends," - Jeff Copp, La Crescent-Hokah Elementary Principal.

Check out a video of the entire build process... compressed to 7 minutes.

Volunteering Opportunity!!

Posted by Bob Spencer on Jul 07, 2018

The Rotary Club of La Crescent is coordinating volunteers to staff the parking lot of Country Boom in West Salem on Saturday, July 14th.

This is a great opportunity to spend some time in fellowship with some fun people, and volunteering for your community. You may get to hear some awesome live music too!

We are committed to provide the staffing, so reach out to friends and family to join you. Shifts are broken down to 2 hour sections, so please sign up if you can help for a little bit, or all day long! The club will receive proceeds for its volunteering efforts, which will go towards our youth programs!

LaCresent Rotary to Welcome 31st International Student

Posted by Bob Spencer on May 29, 2018

Rotary Youth Exchange has been a part of the Rotary Club of La Crescent since its founding in 1983. Throughout the years, La Crescent Rotarians and community members have opened up their homes and their lives to many students who want to share in the experience of living in the United States.

This fall, La Crescent Rotary is welcoming its 31st Youth Exchange Student, and it's first from Korea. Hyungeun will be arriving this August to spend a year living and going to school in La Crescent. Hosted by 3 caring families of volunteers, this young man will be experiencing the life living in our small town, and sharing his culture with our community.