Rotary Bingo at the Slice of Shoreview was another success due to the 17 active and 2 honorary members who volunteered their time and bingo expertise.  Thanks to all who volunteered but especially to Ken Hola who was at every session over three days and who is clearly the maestro of bingo.  Ken went way above Service to Self again.  Bingo proceeds go to help the club fund our activities and Rotary Healthy Youth Foundation programs.

   

The 3d Annual Taste of the Hops craft beer tasting and fund raiser will be held at Snail Lake Park in Shoreview on Thursday, August 15, from 5:30 to 8:30 pm.  Rotarian will need to help do set up for the event at the large pavilion and staff the event itself.  Ken Hola is asking all of us to sell as many tickets as possible so we can Pack the Park!

     

Those attending will be able to sample beers from 6 craft brewers:  Bent, Fulton, Granite City, Insight, Lake Monster and Urban Growler.  Included in the ticket price is food catered by Creative Catering including bratwurst and a vegetarian bratwurst.  The Shoreview Lions Club will partner with our club and will serve the food at the event.  There will be music and games including a wine bottle toss for the wine drinkers.  There will be other games, a raffle and a silent auction with many attractive prizes.  Northern Soda Company will provide soft drinks for designated drivers.  The Taste Committee has been hard at work for months under Ken Hola's leadership to put on a fun evening and to increase ticket sales and attendance for our major fundraiser.

     

Be sure to patronize our brewers, vendors and sponsors.  Don't forget to mention how much you appreciate their involvement in the Rotary Taste of the Hops.  Their contributions are vital to the success of the event.

 

Today's program was an interesting presentation by Jon Yankovic, who drives snow plow among other duties for Ramsey County.  He is apparently quite proficient - having been named a recent winner of the annual "Snow Plow Rodeo" held each year in St. Cloud, MN!  His winter-time duties require a 2:00 a.m. start time, with his route normally being commercial rather than residential, including Hwys.10 and 96.  Despite his non-residential route, he has developed skills to enable him to avoid obstacles like mailboxes and traffic cones, which his rodeo win proves. The County uses two types of plows which weigh 40,000 to 55,000 lbs. when fully loaded with salt.  These cost $200,000 to $250,000 each and are normally used for about 10 years before being replaced.  Jon noted the ongoing conundrum regarding the reliance on salt to melt road ice.  No other substance has been found to do the job, so we continue to rely on it despite the detrimental effect it has on area lakes and rivers.  Jon is clearly a patient man and takes in stride the obnoxious driver behaviors he sometimes encounters on his route.  He is clearly a great fit for the demanding and often thankless task of working to make our winter-time driving less dangerous!

Connie Hayes was our presenter today.  Connie is the Superintendent of School District 916, which is an "Intermediate District".  Intermediate school districts are specialty school districts that provide defined student services to a group of regular “member” school districts. Minnesota has four Intermediate Districts (916, 917, 287 and 288) that serve more than 20,000 students annually. District 916 serves 14 school districts in the Northeast Metro area.  Programming includes career and technical education, special education services, and alternative high schools.  In addition to their unique programming, intermediate districts provide purchasing power for member districts.  Member school districts pay a membership fee, then are able to utilize services on a fee-for-service basis.  Private schools and charter schools can sometimes take advantage of services but are not allowed to become members and, increasingly, they are not able to access services because the demand from member schools is very high and continuing to rise.   

Today's speaker was Fred Treiber from the White Bear Lake Rotary club.  His presentation was in regards to a Rotary Global Grant that he is in the process of securing.  The project he is seeking to fund is a "Computer Club House" in Costa Rica.  There are currently over 100 such organizations around the world - in 20 different countries - 5 in the Twin Cities.  The goal of a Computer Club House is to let disadvantaged young people become not only consumers of technology but creators of technology.  Each is a "village" that allows kids to connect not only to technology but to each other.  This concept was born in Boston as a collaboration between the Boston Museum of Science and MIT.  Treiber's organization will be in the Perez Zeledon Center in Costa Rica.  His grant has been approved at the District Level but is awaiting review and approval by Rotary International.  Costa Rica was chosen because of his prior associations there, which will help greatly with the legwork that will be required to get up and running once approved.