We recently officially welcomed our newest member Jesse Zachay, who did a great job helping us get to know him in his "classification talk" on August 30th. Jesse. has become a strong leader at the local YMCA and will undoubtedly contribute strongly to Rotary. In addition, we've had repeat visits from several guests in September. This will hopefully lead to several additional new members. Our club accomplishes a lot for a relatively small group -- think what we might be able to accomplish with some additional "people power" in our ranks!
Rotary International is celebrating the 100th anniversary of it's Foundation this year. Our district's Foundation celebration will be on November 12th at the Double Tree Hilton in downtown St. Paul. Information on this event was sent to all members recently via email. Please consider representing our Arden Hills/Shoreview club and join in this celebration!
Most of our club's activities are during the first week of October. On the 4th we are having a club assembly to discuss our fundraiser. one issue will be whether to have a silent auction or have a raffle for the items that are donated. The other event is NYFS' "Taste of
All members will want to make a special effort to attend or upcoming offsite meeting at the new, under construction Shoreview Library October 18th where we will be presenting our check for over $5000 to the Ramsey County Library Foundation for several preschool literacy items – in addition to getting a sneak preview of the new and much larger building.
Today's speaker was Paul Gartner of Shoreview. Paul spoke to our club several years ago while serving several terms as a member of the MN House of Representatives. But, having been "liberated" from this role, he returned today to discuss his current responsibility as an elected Supervisor for the Ramsey County Conservation District. Ginny arranged this presentation to answer the question many of us have when confronted every few years with the opportunity to cast our vote to fill this position. Just what is it anyway? We are rightly confused as Paul pointed out that there are half a dozen agencies that deal with this same subject- i.e. water conservation - in different ways. Although other agencies have taxing and regulatory authority, the County Conservation Districts do not have these powers. They do, however, have some funds and contract staff available to assist local homes and businesses deal with environmental concerns such as old, unused wells and septic systems in need of repair. These County Conservation Districts started in the 1930's in response to crises brought about by the dust bowls that caused so much soil erosion and shortage of water. So - while other agencies such as the Pollution Control Agency, Department of Health, Department of Agriculture and local watershed districts help by providing oversight and regulation, the conservation districts actually help by providing help and advice!
Business:
Youth exchange program – please check the forwarded e-mail from Peggy about an alternative 1 month exchange program.
Jui, our incoming exchange student from South Korea has begun the school year at Mounds View. We are still in need of a 3rd host family.
Michaela, our outbound exchange student in Turkey, has a blog. Check it out.
Camp Enterprise, the last weekend in October, is looking for 2 students to attend.
Next year’s fundraiser will be Rotary Taste of the Hops on 8/18/17. Speaker:
Stephanie Thompson is the Managing Director of Ten Thousand Things Theater. The nationally known theater was established in 1990 by Michelle Hensley in California. She moved to Minneapolis a few years later. The theater’s goal was to elicit audience response - not to serve the community but to be woven into it. Their first show was Brecht’s Good Woman of Setzuan performed in a homeless shelter.
Ten Thousand Things Theater has a unique performance style. They don’t perform on stages, as most of their venues don’t have them and they don’t want to create divisions between the performers and the audience. They are usually in the center of a room (in the round) close to the audience. They have “bare bones” costumes, set, no special lighting, and a live musician. Actors can see the audience and the audience sees both the show and the response of other audience members. People come and go; some get drawn in to the big stories they perform, seeing it as real, close to home, relating to themes in their own lives.
They create three productions each year, with half of the performances for free in prisons, libraries, homeless shelters, the VA hospital and out-state locations. Their outreach activities are designed to draw people in. The other half of their performances are for paid public audiences. Their patrons and donors are often “repeaters” who “come once and then come always.”
Ten Thousand Things Theater has no physical space. Their home is with their artists, with 60% equity (union) contracts. Their actors also perform at local professional theaters like the Guthrie, Jungle and Park Square. They are exploring a model to provide steady employment to a core group of artists.
Nationally, they are unique and serve as a model for other companies around the country, including The Public Theatre in NYC.
Most arts serve those who can afford it. They believe in the power of theatre to move people and bring that power to those who might otherwise not be able to access the arts.
Their current show is Pericles which will tour homeless shelters, schools, community centers, hospitals and senior homes with additional shows for paid public audiences at Open Book in Minneapolis.
The Club welcomed visiting Rotarian Bill Nielson from the St. Paul Club and Tom Yuzer from Menefee California: as well as visitors Glenn Bower, Bob Freed and Miriam Zachary. Andy Sall briefly discussed the Group Study Exchange Opportunity to Queensland, Australia and East Timor.
The guest speaker was Austin Bogestad from the Hill Capital Corporation. Mr. Bogestad provided a history of James J Hill and the James Hill Reference Library. He provided the background of James J Hill calling him both and empire and community builder. Hill's St. Paul Pacific Railway was the only privately financed trans-continental railroad in the nation and was a tremendous benefit to the economic development of this region.
He also discussed the Hill Reference Library that was opened in 1921 as a business library. As the business world has become more Internet based, the Library is attempting to hold more events and activities to bring people to St. Paul. In 2014, the Hill Capital Capital Corporation was formed to connect entrepreneurs and small and medium size business owners to capital resources to grown and expand their businesses.
The Club welcomed visiting Rotarian Kay Baker from the St.Paul club, frequent guest Irene Meinen, as well as Bob Freed and Miriam Zachary. The guest speaker was Franny Dorr, from the Minnesota Department of Health. Ms. Dorr, who has Masters in Public Health, was at the meeting to talk about possible diseases from insects including ticks and mosquitoes.
She first talked about the most prevalent insect-borne disease in Minnesota being Lyme's Disease which is obtained from the Black Legged tick. She discussed the prime habitat for these ticks, as well as the best protection methods that people can use to reduce exposure to the disease including checking for ticks (a Brad Paisley Song), and the use of various bug sprays. She also noted discussed other tick related diseases.
Ms. Dorr then talked about mosquito-borne illnesses such as malaria, Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika. She showed maps of the areas where mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus have been identified and noted that this type of mosquito is not located in Minnesota due to our climate. There have been 49 cases of the Zika virus in Minnesota and all of them are people that have traveled to areas where it could be contracted. She discussed some of the symptoms of the Zika virus but noted that only 20% of people that contract the disease develop symptoms.
She discussed the history of the Zika virus dating back to 1952. However, it exploded in 2015 in Brazil and South America and is now located in many tropical areas. In the United States, it has only been identified in two south Florida neighborhoods.
.JPG)
.jpg)
.jpeg)
All members will want to make a special effort to attend or upcoming offsite meeting at the new, under construction Shoreview Library October 18th where we will be presenting our check for over $5000 to the Ramsey County Library Foundation for several preschool literacy items – in addition to getting a sneak preview of the new and much larger building.