At Lincoln South Rotary Club on Friday, March 24, 2023, we learned about one of our newest members, Syd Widga.
Syd was born and raised in the small town of Polk, Nebraska. He attended UNL School of Music. His wife also graduated from UNL with a degree in Special Education. After graduating they married and started their careers. They were both hired to teach in yet another small town Marquette Nebraska.
And they are still married.
They ventured into the world of farming where they had hogs in their backyard.
And they are still married.
A couple of years before the farming crisis, someone suggested that he might want to find a more financially stable line of work. He went into financial planning in the small town of Aurora, Nebraska.
He and his wife raised 2 sons and now have 3 grandchildren. They remodeled and lived in 7 different houses throughout their marriage.
And they are still married.
While in Aurora he was introduced to Rotary and wanted to join to help build his network. His first experience with Rotary was an all-male club of community leaders that would sing and eat lunch. He enjoyed getting to know these key people in Aurora - the people that could get things done.
After he moved to Lincoln he needed some time to find his way. In the small communities, you were involved in everything. In a City he wanted to take some time to find out where he would land.
He found his most fun job at Speedy Pete's E-bikes.
He has volunteer opportunities at Community Action Partnerships in maintenance.
And his church connection where he is in the choir.
Syd pointed out that when he first joined Aurora it was for a selfish reason - networking. But, instead, he found that it was quite the opposite. Rotary opened opportunities for service.