First all I would like you all to join me in welcoming our two new club members. They are Ginny Leutgeb and Paul McCreight. I am looking forward to hearing their new member talks.
Preparation for The Rockin’ Rotary Variety Night on January 30 is coming along. To better educate the audience about Rotary we have added a short video to the introduction developed by John Suzukida. Thanks John.
What we can all do now to make Variety Night a success is to sell tickets and bring in silent auction items.
Remember the motto for the 2015-2016 Rotary year. We want to “Be a Gift to the World.”
This month we have the most important fundraiser we have. No one likes to asks others for money, but it is vital to our club's success that we raise as much money as we can. One of my consistent contributors did not not give this year and I am really down about that. However, I must pick myself off the mat and find another donor. Remember the worse thing that can be said to you is no. Just ask.
Even though Cub wanted us to ring at only one door, we still raised $380 on Wednesday and another $445 on Thursday ($825 total). We also came up with over $900 for Solid Ground – making Christmas that much merrier for many!
• We learned in October that the primary contact person with the El Tuito Amanecer (Sunrise) Rotary Club near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico was unable (due to health) to coordinate the water filter project for which we were awarded a District 5960 grant. We did not know any other of their members. Therefore, our Board decided to not continue with the water filter project in Mexico at this time. A portion of the club’s budget that had been allocated to this international project was re-assigned to two other Rotary projects: the district 5960 grant project sponsored by the West St. Paul/Mendota Heights Rotary Club for upgrading and remodeling of a Maternity Hospital in Haiti and a scholarship for a secondary school student in a rural mountain community near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico which is the area where we previously had a water filter project. Four AH/SV Rotary club members, who have personally supported scholarships for Mexican students for several years, have also donated additional funds to be sure that poor, promising students can continue to be in secondary school. Funds were also approved to be given to the Chicago Lakes Rotary Club for their global grant project in Jamaica for hospital equipment and training but we were too late for the funds to be given.
• There were plans to host the Rotary Friendship Exchange team from Thailand in early February but, at the choice of the Thai team, the incoming exchange has been postponed to October, 2016. There will be an outgoing Friendship team going to Thailand this fall – watch for information on application for that team this spring or early summer.
• The outgoing Rotary Youth Exchange student sponsored by our Club will be Michaela Allen, a senior at Mounds View High Scholl and resident of Shoreview. She will be an exchange student in Turkey. She and her mother attended our December 29 meeting. There is another outgoing Rotary Youth Exchange student who is a Shoreview resident. She is Araina Durgin who is sponsored by the White Bear Lake Rotary Club and will be an exchange student in Indonesia.
• There is an upcoming opportunity to learn more about our Muslim neighbors. On Thursday night, January 14, at 7PM, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Shoreview will host an inter-faith program to gain understanding of the Muslim faith. It will be a presentation by three members/volunteers from the Muslim American Society of Minnesota. The event is free. Call Shepherd of the Hills at 651 483-5419 for more details.
Today we welcomed visiting Rotarian Kay Baker from the St. Paul club. Our own Blake Huffman was our speaker. Blake did an overview of the Shoreview Area Housing Initiative (SAHI), which he helped start about 8 years ago. This organization was founded to provide affordable housing for women coming out of domestic abuse shelters. It has grown to include 28 homes in the Shoreview area. SAHI's charter has recently been expanded to also include the development of affordable housing options for returning military veterans. Why is this needed? Unfortunately, between 10 and 20% of vets have PTSD, 28% have some form of physical disability and the rate of divorce is 60% higher for this group. The first home is currently under construction and is just off of Rice Street, in Shoreview. SAHI has gained a number of business partners who have been instrumental in its success. St. Paul College provides much of the labor as they have incorporated their work into the coursework for their trade programs. Dunwoody and Century College have recently signed on to also provide skilled labor. The newest SAHI proposal is to develop 3 duplexes with 6 units near Arcade street in Vadnais Heights. This project will cost $1.4 million, of which $1.2 million has already been committed. We commend Blake for the exceptional leadership he has provided to the important work of this organization!
Our speaker today was Dr. Emil Lou, MD, PhD. Dr. Lou works at the Masonic Cancer Center in the Twin Cities. John Suzukida's wife Lori assists him and was responsible for arranging his visit to our club. Dr. Lou provided his insights into what we all can do to improve our experience as consumers of medical services. Unfortunately, 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their life. To those of us who will face this or any other significant medical challenge, Dr. Lou recommends the following: Take a deep breath. Get a second opinion; it's never wrong, especially in complicated cases. Ensure that your doctor gets copies of your medical records in advance of a first appointment. Have your own copy so you can be in control of getting them. Set an agenda of what you want to talk about. Rank the issues and cover the most important ones first. Avoid "Dr. Google" or at least approach with caution. The data you find is often outdated, untrue, or irrelevant to your case. Bring any medications to your appointment so that the doctor can review with you. Write down your questions so you will remember them. Don't be hesitant to call the doctor with any concerns between appointments. Bring someone with you to the appointment to be another set of ears, but don't be afraid to ask them to step out for a few minutes if there's something you want to discuss in private. Be honest and don't leave out any information. Show up early or at least on time. This will help you to be calm and ready when the appointment begins. Minnesota has the second lowest rate of premature death in this country so we have good reason to feel optimistic in the face of a difficult diagnosis.
Today we welcomed our outbound exchange student for next year, Michaela Allen and her mom Catherine Allen. Our speaker was Roxanne Eggen. Roxanne is neighbor to John Suzukida. Her young son Bjorn has helped out at several of our club events in the past several years. Today her subject was the certification of Master Gardener, which she will soon be receiving. She is currently classified as an "intern" but will become fully certified in January. The requirements to achieve this include 40 hours of classroom training and 50 hours of volunteer work. The Master Gardener certification program is active in all 50 U.S. states as a result of the Smith-Lever Act of 1914, which established a national Extension Service to extend outreach programs through the county's land-grant universities - in our case the University of MN. A key benchmark of the program is that it is research-based. The required coursework covers many areas including botany, entomology, and pest management. Opportunities for community service are even more wide-ranging. Master Gardeners provide assistance at the many community gardens in our area. They also periodically host diagnostic clinics where people can seek assistance with gardening problems or questions. We learned that Roxanne hates bugs but has been fascinated to learn so much about them!
