If you ever had the privilege to attend a Rotary International Convention, you had the opportunity to drink the Rotary ‘Kool-Aid’. Participation in the District’s Conference of Clubs (previously known as District Conference) provides you another opportunity to learn more about Rotary and catch the excitement. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to attend a few of both events.
Unless you have participated in an International Convention, it is hard to explain the excitement that comes along with it. Try to imagine sharing the experience with up to 40,000 other Rotarians, people of a like mind, sharing your interest in fellowship and service. My wife and I look forward to the annual convention and use it as an opportunity for a vacation. There are also great speakers. Some of the more famous that I can recall were Ted Turner, Mia Farrow (a polio survivor), Jane Goodall, Dolly Parton (literacy advocate, Ashton Kutcher (human trafficking activist), Queen Noor of Jordan, Jack Nicklaus, and Bill Gates.
Due to the pandemic, this year’s convention, scheduled for Taipei, will be virtual. While not the same as rubbing shoulders with thousand of Rotarians from across the globe, it is an inexpensive way for you to experience some of the great speakers. There is a registration fee of $49. Look for an email later this month with details
Let’s plan on a road trip in 2022 when the convention will be held in Houston. I know you may not want to visit Houston in June but the event will be great. Future convention locations are Melbourne, Australia (2023), Singapore (2024), and Calgary (2025). Mark your calendars.
April 2021 Update on the Amaravati Sewing School Project
As previously reported, the Pandemic has disrupted everything in India except for the deeply rooted poverty that is so pervasive in the ghettos in the cities and in much of the rural areas. In spite of the ongoing Pandemic, there is also a great political upheaval that has created a greater divide in India than arguably exists here in the United States with rural subsistence farmers demanding the repeal of new laws rescinding established laws regulating the sale or barter of agricultural produce. Amaravati has not been spared from the turmoil associated with either.
In a recent conversations with Gummadi Franklin, Pushpa’s founder and chair, and his wife, Shirley, who live in Arden Hills, they have been very positive about the school and the role they hope it will continue to have in Amaravati.
The school has been permitted to reopen, but only partially and only for five students. The school had come together very well prior to the onset of the Pandemic, but the Pandemic has affected everything. The elders in the community want the school to remain and Pushpa has been very frugal with the funds our District 5960 grant has provided, so there will be sufficient funds to reestablish the school as further steps in the reopening of the school can be taken.
As previously reported, a first graduating class received their certificates of completion prior to the Pandemic. A picture of the graduating class seated with their arms raised as they wait for their certificates is shown below.
Two of the graduating students are picture in another picture below, one, who was chosen to speak to the gathering at the graduation ceremony and another who is receiving her certificate from Chairman Franklin. Also with the students and Chairman Franklin is the Teacher (Suzanne) and a teaching assistant.
Pushpa's mission is to help marginalized community members of rural Guntur District villages transition from migrant, subsistent lifestyles, dependent on seasonal labor and temporary shelter, to sustainable livelihoods in healthy communities. Its mission has not changed. The organization’s main goal is to work together with underprivileged (tribal) members of rural Guntur District villages to find ways to enable socio-economic change in small ways, one person, one family, one student, at a time, through projects in which the recipients themselves participate. (See http://pushpaproject.org/vision_mission.htm )
One of the elders in Amaravati is pictured below after he was given the honor of cutting the green ribbon in a ceremony for the opening of the school in May of 2019.
A lot of hard work went into establishing the school and there are many people to thank for their hard work and significant contributions. Pushpa is working hard to fully reopen the Sewing School out of respect for the hard work that went before and out of respect for the funds received from the District 5960 Grant. The Sewing School has graduated its first class and the Organization looks forward to fully reopening the school when it is possible. We are now awaiting further word as to further progress regarding the reopening and that of the current students.
The leaders of PUSHPA, both here in Arden Hills and in Andhra Pradesh, India are especially grateful for the support for the new sewing school from the Arden Hills Shoreview Rotary Club and Rotary District 5960 and have expressed their gratitude privately and acknowledged the Club’s sponsorship of the school by erecting the sign shown in the picture below.
We and Pushpa are thankful for the matching grant received from Rotary District 5960 and to the following Rotary Clubs for their generous support of our project: Belle Plain; Brooklyn Center; Forrest Lake; Fridley Columbia Heights; New Brighton Mounds View; Prior Lake; Roseville; St. Croix Falls; St. Paul No. 10; Siren Webster; West St. Paul Mendota Heights; and White Bear Lake.
Ken Hola provided today's "Member Minute". Although we know Ken to be a multi-talented guy, he shared with us that he learned very early in his time with the U.S. Navy, that his aviation skills were limited. Turns out he's better with weapons! After leaving the military he started his career with Carnation. Many mergers and acquisitions later, this morphed into Purina where he spent the bulk of his career managing a plant in Iowa. Fortunately for us, a job transfer brought him to Minnesota and to our Club. Ken and his wife Fran have a daughter and family in Chicago and a son and family in Denver. He closed his remarks with another "lesson learned" in life: Try not to drive your high-performance motorcycle in such a way that your spouse ends up getting a call from an EMT who is taking you to a hospital due to multiple injuries sustained. Sounds like Fran hasn't quite recovered although Ken has healed nicely!
Today's speaker was Charles Goldstein, a former lawyer who has launched a second career coaching others who are looking to change career direction mid to late career. He cited many examples of famous individuals who have done just that, including Colonel Sanders, Ronald Regan, Harry Truman, George Foreman. Charles is a former member of the St. Louis Park Rotary Club and intends to re-join following the Pandemic. He has spoken to a number of clubs in our district and is aiming to hit them all if possible.
Today's "Member Minute" was provided by long-time member Kevin Keenan. Kevin recounted how he became a professional volunteer after suffering a stroke at the young age of 46. The lingering after-effects of this injury made it impossible for him to return to his demanding law career so he turned to volunteerism as a way to help others while keeping himself occupied. The list of organizations he has given time to is long: Rotary, Ramsey County School Patrol, Ramsey County Sheriff's Foundation, Optimist Club, Knights of Columbus and the Consumer Advisory Council for the Twin Cities Post Offices. Kevin and his wife live in Arden Hills. They are parents to 3 adult children, all doing well in challenging careers.
Our speaker was Debby Gustafson, Chief Loan Officer for the Twin Cities Metro Certified Development Company (CDC). CDC is an arm of the Small Business Association and provides loans to provide fixed asset financing for small businesses. This is an attractive form of financing because it requires only 10% down, vs. the traditional 25% from other lending institutions, and interest rates are also very favorable. As a result, business has been booming, even through the pandemic. Debbie has been with the CDC for 34 years. Their office is in Vadnais Heights. She and Mike Spellman met while both were serving on the Vadnais Heights Economic Development Council.
Elinor Jackson provided this week's "Member Minute". Elinor also recently gave a new member presentation in which she covered some of her very interesting background. She has lived and worked internationally, but now resides in Shoreview after "unretiring" several times. She is currently Administrator of the MN Hospice Association. Elinor is thrilled to have had her 22 year-old daughter living with her during the Pandemic and has stayed busy tackling many projects around her home during this time.
Diana Dalsin from Bridging also joined our meeting. Diana spoke to our club's recent project to compile cleaning kits and laundry soap for Bridging clients. This was a first for the organization and it was a resounding success - very much appreciated by their clients.
Katrina Lund and Joanna Stone, directors of Community Engagement and Customer Relations respectively for Eureka Recycling then provided today's program. We learned that Eureka is a not-for-profit organization - a rarity in the world of recycling. They are the only such organization in Minnesota and one of only four in the country. They began operations, appropriately, on Earth Day in 2003. Eureka promotes zero waste and sells recycled materials to organizations that then turn the materials into new products. Their collection employees are unionized and have benefits, a rarity in the business. As a result their employee retention stats are impressive. Typical employee tenure is 6 years, compared to 3-4 months for their competitors. Eureka processes 400 tons of recycling every day in the Twin Cities. There were many questions from members, a clear indication of the interest in this topic. Personally, I learned a lot - including about a number of items I did not realize I could be recycling, rather than throwing - happy news!
Brenda Holden provided today's "Member Minute". Brenda was elected to the Arden Hills City Council in 2002. She says she's waiting till T-Cap plans finally come together so that she can retire from this civic responsibility. She is retired from her career which included many years in MN State government - first with the Revenue Department and then with the State Health Department. Brenda and her husband suffered a life-changing event some years ago when he fell from a ladder and broke his neck. Luckily neighbors witnessed the event and got him the necessary medical help very quickly.
Today's speaker was Greta Grosch, a familiar face on the Twin Cities entertainment scene. After graduating with a theatre degree from Mankato State University in ’89, Greta moved to New York City in 1991. She soon began touring and performing with regional theatres across the country in a wide variety of roles. After returning to the Twin Cities she became a company member of the Dudley Riggs sketch comedy troupe, followed by four years in the Twin Cities production of "Tony and Tina's Wedding". She has been featured in the hit musical "Church Basement Ladies" and has became the script writer for what turned into a very successful franchise of follow-on productions over the years. Greta has also worked as a corporate trainer, does voice-over work and appears regularly in television and radio ads. Much of her work came to a halt with the pandemic, which has no-doubt been extremely stressful but Greta spoke of an upside -- the opportunity to recharge her creative batteries after decades of non-stop work. Thanks to Mike Spellman for arranging this very entertaining speaker. We got a peek into what it takes to build a career and financial stability in the famously difficult world of regional theatre arts.
Bill Kiehnbaum provided today's "Member Minute". Bill describes himself as a "river rat", having grown up in the river town of Winona, MN. He and wife Jean have two adult daughters, both of whom are involved in the medical profession, so he has had lots of advice during the past year of the pandemic. Bill has been involved with Shoreview's "Sister City" program for many years and has visited our sister city in Germany a number of times. He and Jean have also taken many trips to the Rocky Mountains to pursue their passion for hiking. Bill is retired from his career as a Certified Internal Auditor and affirms that - yes - often times good people do bad things!
Paul Gardner, who spoke to us recently about his work heading up the state board which oversees clean water activities, was again present, this time as a stand-in for the scheduled speaker. Paul is a guy of many interests and so he graciously agreed to share information about one of this avocations - the subject of genetic geneology, which he described as a "side hustle". Many of us have submitted DNA samples to Ancestry or 23 And Me in order to learn more about where our ancestors come from. Paul has taken it much further and learned how to solve mysteries using these databases. He has helped two people find birth fathers and also solved a missing persons case. The ever-increasing amount of DNA information now available online has begun helping police solve cases that have gone cold. The most well publicized of these was the identification of the "Golden State Killer" in 2018, who has been charged with 13 murders and 50 rapes dating back to the '70's and '80's. Not everyone supports the wide-spread availability of this information due to privacy concerns. Not everyone wants to be found and not all stories have happy endings.
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