Thank you Rotarians for another successful and fun Rockin’ Rotary Variety Night.
I heard many positive comments about the silent auction, the Backyard Band, The Irish Dancers, the Magic of Will, and Jarod the Juggler. I am also very happy I survived the magician’s saw.
The Variety Night continues to be a great opportunity to raise funds and spread the word about the great works our club does.
Our Variety Show was a great success. One of my guests commented that the entertainment was fantastic. Thanks Ken Hola for doing a tremendous job. And also thanks to Kent Peterson for all the work he did in running the silent auction. Next up is helping out at Second Harvest Heartland on Febuary 3. Remember to wear your pin.
We are sending five volunteers to the Second Harvest location in Maplewood on Feb. 2nd and March 8th.
The big news is that we are moving ahead with a grant proposal to be part of the children’s section of the new regional library currently under construction in Shoreview. We’ll use some $3000 of our Healthy Youth funds to get a maximum match from Rotary. Roseville Rotary did a very similar project for their library, and we are doing as much cut-and-paste as we can – hence, we are rather optimistic about approval. Not only will this have a positive effect on early-child literacy, but our club will figures to enjoy good publicity both in the area and in the entrance as a donor.
Ken Hola welcomed everyone to the meeting and wished everyone a Happy New Year. The focus of the meeting was the Rockin Rotary Event scheduled on Saturday, January 30th. Ken reviewed the entertainment scheduled for the annual event-Irish dancers, jugglers, a magician, and the Backyard Band. He asked everyone to focus on ticket sales since the goal is to pack the house and also encouraged people to obtain donations for the silent auction that would be held. He briefly discussed the assignments for Rotarians to help with set up, clean up, concession sales, etc.
The Club welcomed visiting Rotarian Ron Hughes from the Excelsior Club and guest Major Scott Horrigan (who also happens to be Dan Conway's son in law). Major Horrigan briefly talked about his years of service in the military traveling to and from Afghanistan. He is heading to a new assignment working as a military planner at the Pentagon for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The guest speaker was another man in uniform, Michael Lepree, the manager of customer relations for the Minneapolis Postmaster's Office. Michael reviewed his 30 year career with the Postal Service and indicated that was nearing retirement. He noted that the although the Postal Service is always reported to be losing money, postal operations actually make money and it is an federally mandated reporting requirement of future costs that results in the appearance of actual losses.
He reviewed the many ways that the Postal Service has been changing over the past several years to adjust to the new realities of the market. He noted that the goal is to provide new infrastructure that leverages technology and data to provide world class products and services. Although they still are responsible for delivering mail six days each week, they deliver goods seven days a week. The have updated their technology with state of the art package sorting to adapt to the new e-technology world that we live in. He also talked about the new postal kiosks where a great deal of business can be accomplished without having to wait in long lines to talk with a postal employee, as well as updates to delivery vehicles that are now occurring.
The Club welcomed guest Geoff Anda and the guest speaker Judge Karen Asphaug. Karen discussed her trip to India with other Rotarians that occurred in March of 2015. She flew into New Delhi and, during her stay, visited the cities of Agra, Patna, Varanasi, and Mumbai. She said India is a country of 1.3 billion people and it anticipated that it will surpass China as the most populous country in the world by 2020. She noted the unbelievable economic contrast from northern India which is very impoverished to southern India which is wealthy and thriving.
She showed many pictures of her trip including pictures of the slums of New Delhi, a City of 22 million people, and of the Taj Mahal in Agra, one of the eight wonders of the world. She discussed the Caste system in India, which is alive and well. She also discussed the School for Girls in Patna that is run by an incredible Nun. She indicated that women in India are always working to maintain a subsistence living. She indicated that it was a very intense trip and would like to go back at some point in the future.
The Club welcomed guest Geoff Anda and the guest speaker Julie Overbye. Ken Hola talked briefly about the Rockin Rotary event that is scheduled this coming weekend. He anticipates about 150-170 people to attend this weekend.
The guest speaker, Julie Overbye, talked about the non-profit organization called Fishing for Fun whose mission is to create memories by offering free fishing and boating trips for seniors, care centers, youth in the northern suburbs of St. Paul and surrounding communities. They have purchased and outfitted a custom pontoon boat that can accommodate up to three wheelchairs. All of the fishing and boating trips are operated by trained captains and mates who volunteer their time with this program. The boat is docked at Johanna Shores on Lake Johanna in Arden Hills. They have more than 60 active volunteers who dedicated more than 1000 hours of time to take 800 people on these fishing and boating trips in 2015. Their ongoing goal is to raise about $6,000 per year to operate the program.
Thank you Rotarians for another successful and fun Rockin’ Rotary Variety Night..jpg)
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We are sending five volunteers to the Second Harvest location in Maplewood on Feb. 2nd and March 8th.