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Dean McHugh
Dean McHugh believes serving as a Rotary International district governor for District 6250 will give him the opportunity to encourage others to explore their potential for making a difference in the world as well as making a difference in their communities. A Holmen resident, McHugh will serve as the governor for the southern and west central Wisconsin district in 2016-17.
“Serving as district governor gives me an opportunity to share my passion and encourage others to find theirs,” said McHugh. “I truly believe every person has a skill or ability that can be put to use to improve the lives or living situations of others less fortunate. Rotary lets us join with other leaders, exchange ideas and take meaningful action.”
McHugh recently returned from San Diego, California, where he attended a weeklong training session for the 530 men and women from around the world who will serve as district governors during the coming year.
A member of Holmen Rotary since the club was chartered in 2007, McHugh served as president of the club in 2009-10. He has also served as the annual programs chair for the district for three years.
Since its start, Holmen Rotary has undertaken and supported major local projects, including the K-9 unit for the Holmen Police Department, the four-sided clock in Halfway Creek Park, renovations to Camp Decorah’s Hagerman Hall and the monthly Holmen’s Hope community dinner.
In addition, Holmen Rotary members volunteer to mentor students attending Holmen High School and take part in highway cleanup, Rotary Lights and many other local events. The Holmen Rotary has been involved internationally by providing clean water to thousands of people in Peru, a village cow project in Kenya and several student exchanges.
“The highlight of my time in Rotary was our project team’s first visit to Peru in 2009 where we met the families who were directly impacted by our clean water project,” McHugh said. “To witness the real change this project had made in their lives and to have them express their overwhelming gratitude to us was life changing for me.”
On his itinerary for his term, McHugh will travel to each of the 63 district clubs and visit Seoul, South Korea, for Rotary’s international convention. He’ll attend zone training in Cleveland and convene the district’s 2017 conference in La Crosse.
Rotary District 6250 runs roughly from Janesville to Platteville and from Menominee to Medford and has 3,000 members. Locally, Rotary has four clubs in La Crosse, two in Onalaska, and one each in Holmen, Sparta, La Crescent and Caledonia.
Rotary International is a service organization with over 1.2 million members forming 35,000 clubs and representing over 200 countries and geographic areas. Rotary International missions include providing water and sanitation facilities in developing countries, fighting disease, promoting education and literacy, supporting infant and maternal health, promoting peace and growing local economies.
Rotary also has been at the forefront of polio eradication, with cases reduced from 350,000 in 125 countries in 1988 to 72 cases in just two countries in 2015.
The Holmen Rotary meets at 7 a.m. Wednesday mornings at Holmen Village Hall. Visitors and prospective members are welcome.