District Governor Dayle Quigley Visiting out club September 20th
District governor Quigley will be visiting our club in-person this month. Dayle joined Rotary after sending her daughter to Lativa as a Rotary Exchange student. She was so impressed she jumped right in. She has been president three times serving in 2010-11, 2015-16, and 2016-17. She has been on the District Grants Subcommittee since 20--, and an Assistant Governor for Area 14 since 2018. She has chaired her club’s Rotary Foundation committee, worked as the Youth Exchange Officer, and facilitated Visioning Programs around the district. She traveled to Delhi India in 2011 for a National Immunization Day, to Brazil for the International Convention in 2015, and to Israel with her husband on a Cultural Exchange in 2018.
Please, if at all possible, attend the meeting In-Person.
UPCOMING EVENTS AROUND THE DISTRICT
Oct 15th – Recharge MN – Northfield EV Expo – family friendly – sponsored by the Rotary Climate Action Team –
Oct 6th – DEI joint event with District 5950 – Fundraiser for the Page Education Foundation consisting of cocktail reception, dinner, and program with the Honorable Justice Alan Page – more information to come – for now…Save the Date
Sept 30th - MappingPrejudice Project, Univ of MN Libraries – 0730-0830 – Webinar – The DEI team from Rochester (made up of members of all 3 Rochester clubs) is hosting Karen . The presentation will last 30-40 minutes and be followed up by 15 minutes of Q and A. Please click the link for more information on this exciting and interesting project. Please click on this link to register in advance.
Sept 28th – Effective Leadership – The Anoka club is proud to announce that they are holding an effective leadership workshop with Michael Angelo Caruso as the keynote speaker. Breakfast at 0800 and the workshop from 0830-1130. Get your tickets early. They max out at 150 participants. It will be held at the GreenHaven Golf and Event Center in Anoka. Full write up will come out with the Around the District monthly member newsletter.
Sep 16th – All Club Luncheon at the North Star Zone Institute – Radisson Blu – MOA – noon-2pm - The speaker is the RI President for 2023-24 Gordon McNally from Scotland. Tickets are $60. Clubs can reserve a table for 10. Get tickets here.
Sept 10th – Taste of White Bear Lake – if this is anything like the Taste of Lakeville, it should not be missed. It is held at the Pine Tree Apple Orchard. Tickets are $40.
Sept 9th – NSPMO Clay Shoot Fundraiser – This should be a lot of fun. Come for the day, shoot clay pigeons, eat lunch, and win a raffle prize. Click on the link and sign up as an individual or a team.
Major activities were the planting of the rain/pollinator garden, a joint activity involving several groups in both the city and county - and two great articles in the Press newspaper, and our expanded involvement in the coat drive for Solid Ground with Incarceration Lutheran Church.
Our ongoing monthly cleanups in McCullough Park have resulted in very little to pick up and we wrap up the year in October. A couple of us enjoyed joining Rotary/Lions/other groups building bunk beds with Sleep in Heavenly Peace so that no child has to sleep on the floor. We might want to do that again with more advance notice and club participation.
During the 2021-22 Rotary year, we decided to provide $800 in support to the Rotary Club of Stillwater Sunrise’s Global Grant (GG2233338) ‘El Corozo (Nicaragua) Water Project’. The community of El Corozo is a small, rural community of approximately 140 households and 400 residents in Nicaragua that lacks a reliable source of water for much of the year.
The current water source for the whole community is piped water from a larger community of San Jose, which is about 2 miles from El Corozo. The well in San Jose has limitations in the dry season to meet the needs of their own community so in the dry season (December – May), the water source in San Jose is shut off so that San Jose can prioritize service to their own community. During this time, there is no water flow to El Corozo. Timing of delivery of water by truck is unreliable and does not visit every house in the community. Therefore, the residents can run out of water between water truck visits. The community’s only remaining source of water is another neighboring community of San Pedro, which is about 2.2 miles away. The residents must walk to San Pedro with water jugs daily to get their water.
The project is scoped to provide a single borehole well in the community. The water will be pumped via an electric pump to an elevated retaining tank. The water is then piped from the retaining tank to each residence in the community. Each household in the community will benefit from this project.
The drilling effort hit water at the 615-ft mark and continued to a depth of 800 feet in order to ensure steady access to water. Installation of the pump and water lines to each house is in progress.
We are supporting 3 District Grants with an international focus. These projects will be described in future club bulletins.
We were joined in person today by speaker Gary Powers, Jr. Gary is the author of "Spy Pilot", which tells the real life story of his father, Francis Gary Powers, Sr. One of the most talked-about events of the Cold War was the downing of the American U-2 spy plane piloted by Powers over the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960. The event was recently depicted in the Steven Spielberg movie Bridge of Spies, on which Powers Jr. consulted. Powers Sr. was captured by the KGB, which created an international incident. Soviet authorities eventually released him in exchange for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. On his return to the United States, Powers was exonerated of any wrongdoing while imprisoned in Russia, yet, due to bad press and the government's unwillingness to heartily defend Powers, a cloud of controversy lingered until his untimely death in 1977. Now his son has written this new account of his father's life based on files that had never been previously available. Powers began his research in 1992 following his graduation from college. He has spoken to many Rotary clubs and is a Rotarian himself. This was a fascinating presentation about a son's journey to understand his father, pursue justice and gain a measure of peace. Prior to Powers' presentation we heard from Kevin Keenan who provided today's "Member Minute". Kevin spoke of the challenges he faced after suffering a stroke while in his 40's. His father inspired him to seek new purpose in life, which led to, amongst other things, joining Rotary as a guest of Bill Klumpp.
Dave Newman provided today's "Member Minute", in which he described his worst job (putting rims on barrels) and best job (his work as a residential real estate developer). Our meeting was all virtual due to the fact that our meeting space was in use for the day as a polling place in Minnesota's election primary. We watched a video produced by the "Braver Angels" organization. This group seeks to bring Americans together to bridge the partisan divide that exists in our country. Americans are now as polarized as we have been since the Civil War. The Braver Angels program seeks to disagree accurately and avoid exaggeration and stereotype. They look for common ground where it exists, and if possible, find ways to work together. They believe that all of us have blind spots and none of us are not worth talking to. They believe that, in disagreements, both sides share and learn. The speakers exchanging views in this video were Monica Guzman and former MN Governor Tim Pawlenty. Guzman is Director of Digital and Storytelling at Braver Angels, a Seattle-based journalist, and immigrant with dual U.S.-Mexico citizenship.
Matt Rosseter provided today's "Member Minute". Asked to speak to his best and worst jobs to-date, he listed his current job as a residential mortgage broker as his favorite so far. Worst was the time he spent as a teenager working for the City of Two Harbors as a filler of pot holes. Apparently his strong work ethic and accomplishments were at odds with the general tenor of things there and he was asked to slow down and not get so darn much done!
Our speaker today was Valerie Weiss with the Ramsey County Library Friends organization. This group was initially formed in 1979 and has had a very significant, positive impact on the Ramsey County Library system since its inception. Their mission is to support, strengthen and advocate for the system as well as to foster a sense of community. In 2022 they were able to make over $100,000 in grants as a result of their fundraising efforts. While the majority of library funding comes through the state, this additional source of revenue allows the library system to offer more amenities and programs.
Dennis Erno provided today's "Member Minute", telling us of his worst and best job experiences. As with many others, Dennis' worst job was during his teen years, working on a masonry crew during the summer. His best jobs where during his time with the MN Department of Revenue. In his various roles, Dennis always tried to create a sense of community with co-workers, often through activities such as reading to elementary school kids.
Our speaker today was Colleen Toberman with the Friends of The Mississippi organization. The mission of this group is to engage people to protect, restore and enhance the Mississippi River and its watershed in the Twin Cities region. While there are many facets to the work of this group, Colleen's focus today was on the future of the 3 Twin Cities area locks and dams that have been in place for decades. The Army Corps of Engineers is currently responsible for these structures and is undertaking a study to determine a future path, given that the purpose for which they were created -- commercial navigation -- is no longer much in use. This will be a long process, involving several years of study followed by legislative action that will likely be required. There would be many benefits to removing the locks and dams, including improved fish habitats and recreational opportunities, but the process will be costly and must take into consideration structural impacts to surrounding buildings and bridges.
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During the 2021-22 Rotary year, we decided to provide $800 in support to the Rotary Club of Stillwater Sunrise’s Global Grant (GG2233338) ‘El Corozo (Nicaragua) Water Project’. The community of El Corozo is a small, rural community of approximately 140 households and 400 residents in Nicaragua that lacks a reliable source of water for much of the year.
