George Winiecki opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and Invocation.
Gerry Tietz nominated John Marg-Patton to be our Club President-Elect Nominee for the 2018-19 Rotary year. John’s nomination was unanimously approved by voice vote. Congratulations, John!
Don’t forget that next Tuesday our club meeting will be at the CPY Luncheon. Your presence at this free luncheon counts as Rotary attendance, but it’s important that you sign up so that the correct amount of food can be ordered. Please let Geoff Hollimon know if you are coming but haven’t signed up yet.
Glenna Dibrell has not received enough $50 restaurant gift cards for the Gold Plate Dinner Live Auction. Please talk your favorite restaurant into donating a gift certificate, split the cost with them or just buy it yourself.
Cindy Carlson announced that the Board has agreed to provide $750 to help the Hamsa Girls Education Center (middle school) project in Niger. Kara VanderKamp spoke to us about the project two weeks ago.
Bev Aplikowski has Gold Plate Dinner tickets for us to sell. The success of the event is dependent on members selling all 100 tickets. Talk to your friends and co-workers about the attending the event and let Bev know if you need more tickets.
Our guests today were: District Governor Jim Hunt, Sue Schabert, Andy Voorhees, Mike Scholl and Don Salverda.
District Governor Jim Hunt made a pitch for attendance at the District Conference, April 27-29, at the Holiday Inn East in St Paul. Come for all three days to learn more about Rotary, or just for a featured speaker or two. Gerry Tietz encourages all current and incoming board members to attend. Learn more by clicking here.
Our program today consisted of brief presentations by our members who are involved in financial services.
Cindy Carlson is the Senior Vice President for Commercial Banking at Western Bank. Cindy is a 23 year member of this club and has been with Western Bank for 33 years. Western Bank was founded in 1915 and now has seven branches in the metro area. Western’s primary focus areas are business banking, non-profit banking, and personal banking, but they offer a complete range of services for every banking need. Cindy’s niche is commercial banking, serving the needs of small to mid-size companies, with particular focus on real estate transactions.
George Winiecki is the owner of WIN Insurance Agency. George has been a Rotarian for 38 years and was a charter member of this club. WIN Agency was started 42 years ago and today is an independent agency, offering insurance coverage from a number of companies for almost all of your insurance needs. George focuses mainly on personal and small to medium commercial customers, offering home, auto, life, annuities long term care and worker’s comp but offers other coverage as well. George’s sons, Dan and Tom, work alongside George at the office on County Hwy. 10.
Geoff Hollimon is a Regional Vice President with Primerica. Primerica is a Main Street Company for Main Street North America. Our mission is to help families earn more income and become properly protected, debt free and financially independent. The new Primerica has emerged as one of the most dynamic companies in business today. We are now the largest financial services marketing firm in North America. Geoff has been a Rotarian since 1988 and joined this club in 2001.
Jason Miller is a partner with Smith Schafer and Associates, a full service accounting firm with offices in Red Wing and the Twin Cities. Jason describes Smith Schafer as having a small firm feel but big firm support. They offer accounting services for every stage of the business life cycle, from start-up through retirement or business transition. Jason offers support for growth, special projects, compliance, lease vs. purchase decisions, financing packages, auditing and tax planning.
Amy Wakem started her career with State Farm Insurance at 18 years old. Now she owns her own State Farm agency, Amy Wakem Insurance and Financial Services, Inc. Amy offers auto, home, life and health coverage but she believes, in the ever more complicated insurance world, that education is her real job. She offered some tips about insurance coverage:
- Look carefully at your wind/hail damage deductible. Many companies are dramatically raising the deductible on this important coverage.
- For long term care coverage, check whether your doctor, or the insurance company’s doctor is the one who will certify you for benefits.
- Look carefully at your Medicare supplement policy provisions. Policies can vary greatly.
Unfortunately, Garry Johnson, owner of a Farmers Insurance Agency, had to respond to an emergency and was unable to make his presentation.
Jason Miller, Cindy Carlson, Geoff Hollimon, George Winiecki, D.G. Jim Hunt and Amy Wakem are shown below.
